Rufus is the son of President Shinra, head of Shinra. After his father is killed by Sephiroth, Rufus takes over, making clear that he will not lead the people by money, as his father did, but with fear. He also can take care of himself in a fight, with his trusty shotgun.

Rufus leads the chase of Cloud, making publicity stops on the way. At the Promised Land, he helps Barret and the others escape, but shows his duplicitous manner by assigning them to be executed for bringing out Meteor (it is stopped due to an appearance by Weapon. His plans to destroy Meteor fail, including shooting Huge Materia in a rocket into it. In the end, when trying to destroy Weapon and the barrier around the Promised Land, he is killed by fire from Weapon. He remained calm, cool, and collected til the end though.