Vincent's backstory is possibly the most confusing of any character in the game besides Sephiroth. Very few hard facts are known about his past, and most of what is taken as common knowledge is the result of speculation.

   For example, no one is exactly sure where Vincent is from originally, but many believe he came from Wu-tai. This is really only because of one scene, where he says Yuffie looks familiar. However, this is not real evidence that he came from Wu-tai, considering where he's been the entire time Yuffie has been alive...

   Many years before the beginning of the game, Vincent was a Turk, working for Shinra. He was assigned to accompany the scientists working on the Jenova Project to Nibelheim. Somewhere along the way, he became infatuated with one of them, a woman named Lucrecia.

   The details of what happened with Lucrecia are not certain, since they were only shown in brief, vague flashback sequences without much dialogue. The many theories of exactly what happened include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Hojo and Lucrecia were married, and Lucrecia had an affair with Vincent. Vincent thought Lucrecia was pregnant with his child, and felt responsible when she died in childbirth.
• Lucrecia loved both Hojo and Vincent, but Hojo proposed to her first. Vincent didn't know whose child she was pregnant with.
• Lucrecia loved Hojo, but thought Hojo did not love her in return, so she slept with Vincent because she knew he loved her. Vincent didn't know that Hojo had impregnated her, and thought the child was his, and he was responsible when she died in childbirth.
• Lucrecia was raped by Hojo, which he excused by saying it was for science, and she committed suicide. Vincent felt bad for not protecting her better.
• Lucrecia agreed to be impregnated by Hojo solely for the purposes of the Jenova Project, but really loved Vincent. Vincent felt bad that he couldn't save her life.

   What we do know is that Vincent loved Lucrecia, Lucrecia was impregnated by Hojo, and Vincent and Hojo argued about her, until the argument ended with Vincent being shot by Hojo. Vincent was then used as a guinea pig. Hojo altered his body bizarrely, giving him a metal claw in place of one hand, and the ability to change into a monster when angered. After that, Vincent was left in a coffin in the basement below Nibelheim in a deep slumber, until he was awakened by Cloud and the others.