Cloud Strife is the main character of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, being the main protagonist in both Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. He also appears in the spin-off games Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- as a support character. In addition, he makes an appearance in Final Fantasy Tactics as a playable character earned through completing a series of side quests. Like other heroes of the Final Fantasy series, he appears in Dissidia Final Fantasy on the side of Cosmos, representing Final Fantasy VII.
An arrogant swordsman at first, Cloud must come to terms with the fact his memories are false and rediscover who he truly is. In a theme that has carried over to many of his other appearances since Final Fantasy VII, Cloud attempts to leave his dark and tortured past behind. His arch rival Sephiroth, having killed many of Cloud's friends, is the metaphorical embodiment of Cloud's dark memories, and the two have done battle several times to finish their conflict.
Cloud is of short height with a slim build. His blond hair is spiked, and in Final Fantasy VII featured one particularly large spike emerging into the air. For this reason, Cloud's spiked hair has become one of the trademarks of his appearance, although in later appearances the spikes have been toned down. Cloud was originally conceptualized with black hair, but this was changed, and his hair is meant to serve as a contrast to Sephiroth's silver hair. Cloud has blue eyes, which glow due to the Mako flowing through his body. Because "Mako eyes" are an icon of SOLDIER, Cloud is often mistaken as one. Presumably it is this Mako that allows him to wield his iconic Buster Sword, which is seemingly too heavy for non-SOLDIER members to use. Cloud was, however, capable of using it to great effect as a Shinra guard with no special abilities. He actually used it with such strength that he was even able to overpower Sephiroth in the Nibelheim Reactor.
Cloud's outfit in Final Fantasy VII, is the standard uniform for 1st Class SOLDIERs. The clothing consists of simple pants with a no-sleeved shirt, which are indigo in color, and a belt. Cloud also wears brown boots and gauntlets with a single pauldron over his left shoulder. This is also the uniform he wears for most of his other appearances, with slight variations. In Crisis Core, Cloud wears the uniform of a Shinra guard, consisting of blue clothing with several belts and straps and a gray-green piece of cloth around the collar. He also wears his helmet to hide his identity at times.
In Advent Children, Cloud's clothing design was made with fighting in mind, and the concept began with a black robe and was restructured into the final product seen in the film. Cloud's hair in particular was changed both to show the passage of time since the game, and to be more realistic. His clothing consists of a high collar black shirt with no sleeves, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm; the cloth on his arm seems to mainly be to hide his Geostigma symptoms. Cloud also gains an entirely new pauldron, and his chest is covered by two straps, held in place by a badge representing Fenrir, the animal that has come to be associated with Cloud.
In Kingdom Hearts, Cloud's costume was designed to resemble the outfit of Vincent Valentine. Cloud wears a tattered red cloak with dark blue pants and a shirt and brown boots. He wears gloves, the left of which has golden trimmings, almost like a claw. His costume also features many crossing belts. Cloud's most distinctive trait in this appearance is a demonic black wing protruding from his left shoulder, meant to symbolize both his connection to Sephiroth, and the dark powers he is using. In Kingdom Hearts II, Cloud appears identical to his Advent Children self, save that his new sword is loosely bound as the Buster Sword was in Kingdom Hearts.
"I pity you. You just don't get it at all...there's not a thing I don't cherish!"
—Cloud to Sephiroth in Advent Children
In Final Fantasy VII, due to the combined effect of mako poisoning and the influence of Jenova's cells in his body, Cloud unknowingly holds a fake persona created by the Jenova cells mixing his memories of Zack's personality with the somewhat cocky and selfish attitude he believes a SOLDIER 1st Class would have. However, during the events of the game he eventually restores his original personality, and shows genuine concern for the fate of the planet, a sharp contrast to his persona at the start of the game where he claimed he didn't care about the planet and only agreed to help AVALANCHE for the right price. Once his true memories are restored, Cloud holds the same personality, although his guilt over the events that he allowed to occur remains as a result of his false memories never leaving him.
Cloud's portrait in the flashbacks.
In Advent Children and many related appearances, Cloud is a much more somber and dark character, tormented by his past, including the deaths of Aerith and Zack. The final straw broke when he suddenly contracted the terminal and incurable Geostigma, which added to his feelings of helplessness. Cloud decided to distance himself from his friends and live alone as he tries to keep his affliction secret and seek forgiveness so that he might find a cure. However, during the film Cloud faces his past both metaphorically and literally, with the rebirth of Sephiroth, his visions of Aerith and shows of loyalty from his allies. These events allow him to forgive himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith and move on, although as his appearances post-film are limited in Dirge of Cerberus, it is unclear what this ultimately means in terms of his personality and lifestyle. However, the mere fact that he is present to aid his old allies (and even cracks a slight joke), whereas in Advent Children, he would still have tried to avoid responsibility, shows that he has indeed moved on in his life.
In Crisis Core, Cloud is depicted as a rather shy but slightly more upbeat person who idolizes both Zack and Sephiroth. However, when Sephiroth has burned down Nibelheim and badly wounded his friends Zack and Tifa, Cloud does not hesitate to avenge them by hurling the madman to his apparent death whilst impaled with the Masamune.
Despite the dark feelings he may have, Cloud remains steadfastly loyal and true to those he cares about and is always driven to protect them, even going as far as to hide his pain and emotions so he could not worry them. Ultimately, it is his selfless and kind nature that gives him the ability to overcome Sephiroth time and again. His compassion is explored further when he brings Denzel back to Seventh Heaven and shares with Tifa an obligation to take care of the boy because of the guilt they felt for destroying Sector 7. In addition, Cloud vows to find a cure for the Geostigma that has infected Denzel and many others. Because Cloud saved him, Denzel looks up to him as an idol (much in contrast to Cloud's more fatal idolization for Sephiroth) and both share a strong bond as a result. This is further depicted when Denzel is the first Geostigma victim Cloud heals in Aerith's old church. It is highly possible that Denzel would be next to carry out the hero legacy.
Cloud also has a lighter side, willingly deciding to cross-dress as a woman for a special mission at one point in Final Fantasy VII. He also has a dry, ironic wit in Dirge of Cerberus, when he cracks a joke with some of his allies. Overall, while he has a rather moody demeanor, his personality is not as brooding as that of Vincent Valentine, and does have a sense of humor when in a lighter mood. Like Yuffie Kisargi, Cloud also is suffering from motion sickness. It has been cured when Cloud upholds a fake SOLDIER persona but returns when his true self is restored, although his ability to ride the Fenrir on delivery business suggests that his motion sickness has somewhat improved.
In The Reunion Files for Advent Children, Nomura explained that while Cloud was initially depicted as a more upbeat character at the end of VII, he chose to have Cloud be a character that fans would find more familiar, and the script was written to explain why Cloud had returned to such a frame of mind. Nomura also said that a great deal of care was taken to animate Cloud's face and expressions, and over thirty different models of his face were made. His face was modeled to keep "a stiff upper lip", with his emotions and thoughts being expressed through his eyes.
Cloud's childhood thus far has only been covered in Final Fantasy VII, in flashbacks. Cloud was born in the sleepy mountain village of Nibelheim, and was neighbors with Tifa Lockhart. His father died when he was young and was raised by his mother. He grew up isolated from the rest of the village children, feeling himself somehow better than them, though it is implied that he longed for the friendship of the others. He developed a crush on Tifa, but hated her friends. Although the two consider each other (and are considered by others) to be childhood friends, by Tifa's own account they were not that close growing up, despite the fact he was her neighbor.
When Cloud was nine (1995), Tifa's mother died, and Tifa insisted that she could meet her mother again by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed, and when Tifa was injured, the townsfolk believed the whole expedition up the mountain to be Cloud's idea, and Tifa's father forbade Cloud to come near Tifa. Cloud blamed himself for what happened to Tifa, thinking that it was because of his own weakness that he failed to save her. As a result, Cloud developed a bit of an anger problem, always getting into fights, not even caring who it was with. Yet in spite of this new show of aggression, Cloud was still just a quiet kid who rarely had much of anything to do with the other kids in the village.
At the age of thirteen, Cloud learned of Sephiroth and his exploits. Resolving to become a hero like him, Cloud decided to set out and join SOLDIER. He called Tifa out to the water tower to tell her about his departure, hoping to impress her. Upon her request, he agreed to come save her if she ever found herself in trouble. The following spring, he left for Midgar in pursuit of his goal, as did Johnny, another Nibelheim youth trying out for SOLDIER.
Crisis Core/Before Crisis
Cloud as he appears in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, with a sniper rifle as his weapon.
Despite his bravado, Cloud is unable to make it into SOLDIER and becomes an ordinary Shinra infantryman. In this role he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair in Modeoheim, and the two become friends after learning they are both "backwater experts." When he and Zack infiltrated a Mako Excavation Facility on the way to Modeoheim, they encountered Genesis and Professor Hollander. When Hollander attempted to escape, Cloud was briefly successful in capturing Hollander. However, Hollander managed to break free of Cloud's grip in the struggle. On June 28th, 0001, Cloud is ordered to protect Professor Rayleigh in Midgar from the insurgency organization AVALANCHE. Though he fails, both of their lives are saved by a Player Turk. Despite his failure Cloud shows off some impressive sword skills for just a normal human.
On September 22nd, 0002, Cloud later returns to Nibelheim, along with Zack and Sephiroth to investigate a damaged reactor in Mt. Nibel, and Tifa is to act as their guide. Ashamed of his failure to join SOLDIER, Cloud hides his identity from the townspeople, and especially Tifa, though he does reveal himself to his mother. When the expedition reaches the reactor, Sephiroth discovers Professor Hojo's failed experiments with Mako soldiers as well as where ShinRa had interred Jenova, which Sephiroth mistakenly believed was his mother.
Cloud impaled with Sephiroth's sword, shown from Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-.
Falling into madness, Sephiroth immerses himself in the writings of Professor Gast and discovers his own dark past. He comes out from the basement of the Shinra Mansion on December 1st and sets about destroying the village. Cloud witnessed his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushed to the reactor to confront Sephiroth. There he found both Tifa unconscious from an attack from Sephiroth and Zack barely conscious after a furious and desperate struggle with Sephiroth. A grief-stricken Cloud picked up Zack's Buster Sword, catching Sephiroth off guard in the reactor core, and impaling him. Wounded, Sephiroth was left as Cloud went to care for Tifa, in some accounts also having an affectionate conversation with her. Sephiroth emerged from the reactor core, and when Cloud attacked again, Sephiroth stabbed him with the Masamune. Cloud summoned unknown strength, and used the katana as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into the Mako below, though the observing Turk, who did not see this, assumed Sephiroth jumped in of his own volition and reported back to ShinRa to this effect. Cloud collapsed immediately thereafter.
Cloud and Zack become test subjects of Professor Hojo when they are found afterward. Injecting them with Jenova's cells and exposing them to Mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turns them into Sephiroth Clones. Four years later (December 19th, 0006), Zack broke out of his confinement and helped a comatose Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform that was in Shinra manor to wear because his old clothes were soaked with mako. Due to the experiment, Cloud was in a weak and delirious state as he had reacted more strongly to the experiments than Zack, who was surprisingly not affected by the Mako experiments. However as they escaped, Zack speaks continuously to the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans for both of them to become mercenaries in Midgar after finding out that four years had passed since Hojo took them. Zack carries the comatose Cloud around, and though Cloud takes no part in the events, is present at Genesis Rhapsodos's defeat by Zack.
Cloud after his and Zack's final conversation.
After almost a year of running, they finally arrive outside of Midgar in September 0007. However, the Shinra forces that have been searching for them finally catch up. Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. In the end, after single-handedly and heroically massacring the majority of the thousands of Shinra soldiers present, Zack is gunned down by the last few remaining soldiers and Cloud is left for dead after being seen in his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the whole chaos, Cloud manages to crawl over to where Zack is mortally wounded. In his last few seconds, a blood-soaked Zack entrusts the Buster Sword to Cloud, and tells him that his legacy will live on inside Cloud, before finally dying. After some time Cloud, deeply distressed, scrambles to his feet, Buster Sword in hand, and begins trudging off towards Midgar. His final words to Zack were, "Good-night, Zack".
Shortly thereafter, in the Sector Seven Train Station, Cloud's shattered mind undergoes a radical transformation. Hojo's experiments, combined with his own weakened psyche, Jenova's mimicry abilities and the trauma of the events he has experienced, cause Cloud to impress Zack's memories, his ideal image of himself as well as Tifa's memories of him together to create an entirely new persona. What emerges in Cloud's mind is a reality in which he successfully joined SOLDIER and was Sephiroth's partner - Zack did not exist. Taking up Zack's plans (hinting that he may have been vaguely aware of what Zack was telling him), Cloud presents himself as a mercenary, believing himself a former First Class SOLDIER. Since the official SOLDIER process is similar to the experiments Hojo performed on him, Cloud possesses the same abilities as a SOLDIER does and his claim is accepted as true.
Final Fantasy VII
"It's not my problem. The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come."
—Cloud about AVALANCHE's mission to blow up the Sector 1 Reactor.
Cloud outside Midgar.
In Midgar, Cloud is found by Tifa, who is now a member of the anti-ShinRa terrorist group AVALANCHE, along with Barret Wallace. Tifa, perplexed by oddities she notices in Cloud, requests that he help AVALANCHE in their struggle. Cloud joins AVALANCHE to attack the Sector 1 Reactor on December 9th, and the mission goes successfully. After blowing up the Sector 5 Reactor, Cloud becomes separated from the others by falling into the slum church where Aeris Gainsborough grows flowers. While Cloud is absent, Tifa allows herself to be captured by a Shinra informant, Don Corneo in an attempt to get information out of him. Cloud and Aeris, after disguising Cloud as a woman, attempt to rescue her, after which the Don admits that Shinra has found out AVALANCHE's base of operations is in Sector 7.
To crush AVALANCHE, Shinra drops the plate over Sector 7 of Midgar, crushing the entire area; Biggs, and Wedge and Jessie are killed trying to stop them, and Aeris is captured taking Barret's daughter Marlene to safety. Cloud then leads an attack on Shinra Headquarters to rescue Aeris. There he meets with Red XIII, and sees the headless remains of Jenova. However, the group is captured and imprisoned. During the night, Cloud awakens to find the doors of the prison open and the guards slaughtered. He, Aeris, Barret, Tifa, and Red XIII follow a trail of blood to the top floor, only to find President Shinra impaled on Sephiroth's sword. Cloud fights briefly with the new head of Shinra, Rufus Shinra, and then escapes from Midgar on a motorcycle, the other members riding alongside in a pickup.
Cloud and Aerith, artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
The group stays at an inn located outside Midgar in Kalm. There Cloud tells what he thinks are his own memories of what happened on the day Nibelheim was burnt, with himself in Zack's place and Zack no longer present. His grudge with Sephiroth explained, the next day the group sets out to track Sephiroth down, going through the Mythril Mines where the Turks reveal Sephiroth is headed to Junon. Cloud and the group sneak into the Shinra controlled Junon and onto an oil tanker bound for Costa Del Sol, meeting Yuffie Kisaragi on the way.
The journey to find Sephiroth leads them through North Corel and the Gold Saucer, where the manager Dio gives Cloud and his friends a buggy to assist them in their travels and the robot Cait Sith joins their cause. The buggy eventually breaks down, forcing the group to stay at Red XIII's home Cosmo Canyon, where the Elder Bugenhagen reveals critical information about the planet and the Lifestream and the negative effects Shinra's drilling for Mako is having on them. When the group reaches Nibelheim, they find no trace of what happened.
Although Cloud and Tifa are confused, the group explores the rebuilt town and find that no one remembers the town ever being burnt down. In the ruins of the Shinra Mansion, they find Vincent Valentine, who agrees to accompany them when they mention Sephiroth. In the mansion library, Sephiroth appears and alludes to a "reunion" that he feels Cloud should attend. Cloud and the group traverse Mt. Nibel and go to Rocket Town, where they attempt to steal Cid Highwind's plane and have it shot down by Shinra. Adding Cid to their roster of allies, the group returns to the Gold Saucer and claims the Keystone from Dio. Believing the Keystone to be pivotal to finding out what Sephiroth is planning, Cloud and the group are forced to stay the night when the trolley to the park breaks down. At this time, Cait Sith is revealed to be a Shinra spy, and steals the Keystone and turns it over to Tseng of the Turks.
Traveling to the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng is found wounded by Sephiroth, and he returns the Keystone. In the heart of the temple, Cloud finds Sephiroth, who reveals his plan to call the ultimate black magic, Meteor, which will deal a critical wound to the planet. The Lifestream will emerge to heal this wound, and Sephiroth will absorb its energy, becoming a God. Sephiroth leaves as Cloud discovers the temple itself is the Black Materia Sephiroth needs to call Meteor. Cait Sith sacrifices himself to get it, but Sephiroth returns, and because Cloud had been injected with Jenova cells, Sephiroth has control over Cloud, and he hands him the Black Materia. He faints, and Aeris appears to him in a dream claiming only she can stop Sephiroth. When Cloud regains consciousness, Barret and Tifa tell him Aeris has left, and Cloud resolves to follow her to find out the truth behind her words.
Cloud in an FMV.
Cloud in a flashback.
Cloud and company pursue Aeris through the Sleeping Forest to the Forgotten Capital. He finds her praying on an altar in the center of the city's underground complex, but suddenly takes up the Buster Sword and attempts to attack her, his mind under Sephiroth's control. Stopping himself in the nick of time when his allies shout at him to stop, Cloud watches as Sephiroth descends from above the altar and impales Aeris, killing her in an iconic scene. Her death enrages Cloud, and the rest of the party mourns her passing. Cloud puts Aeris to rest and reveals to the party he has been under Sephiroth's control, and may become controlled again, asking his allies to stay with him despite this.
Finally arriving at the Northern Crater, Cloud momentarily regains the Black Materia and gives it to a party member of the player's choosing, not trusting himself. They then find the center of the crater, where Sephiroth appears and shows Cloud a partial vision of what really happened at Nibelheim, revealing Zack's presence in his stead but not Cloud's true part in the events. Shinra arrives afterwards, and Professor Hojo reveals his Jenova Reunion Theory that Cloud is a part of. Cloud comes to believe he was entirely created by Hojo and that even his name and memories of being Tifa's childhood friend belong to someone else. The shock of his past being fake, combined with Hojo's revelations and accusations, shatters Cloud's mind. Using an illusion to trick the party member with the Black Materia into coming to Cloud's aid, Sephiroth has Cloud take it back from them and he and hands it to Sephiroth, who activates it. After Cloud apologizes to Tifa for being a fake, the crater begins to shake violently. AVALANCHE escapes, save for Barret and Tifa, and Cloud is left behind to fall into the Lifestream.
Cloud wields various broadswords and katana in battle, including the joke weapon Nail Bat and the iconic Buster Sword. His stats are well-balanced both physically and magically but he is best put in the front row to ensure solid attack power, though he can also be a great mage too. His Limit Breaks are the strongest in the game, but Cloud also learns them slower than anyone else. Cloud's stronger weapons include the Ultima Weapon, the strongest Base Attack stat weapon in the game, with 100, that grows stronger as Cloud has more HP, and the Apocalypse, one of only two equipment pieces in the game to give Triple Materia Growth.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, Cloud has similar stats to what he has in Final Fantasy VII, having good numbers in attack and magic but in order for him to use his Limit command, his Materia Blade must be equipped, though it does not need to be the primary weapon if two swords are equipped. He can still equip all other swords, save knight swords, as a SOLDIER, as well as ribbons. His worst feature is his Speed-oriented parameters, and will need the assistance of Time Magic to execute his attacks without fail, but all efforts are rewarded because his attacks can deal heavy damage to the targets.
Abilities
*BraverブレイバーBureibāAlready known Single physical attack with a downward slash dealing three times normal damage.
*Cross-slash凶斬りKyōgiri
(Curse Slash)
Use Braver 8 times. Single physical attack with three slices dealing 3.25 times normal damage and inflicting paralysis.
*Blade Beam
破晄撃
Hakōgeki
(Rending Flash Attack) Kill 120 enemies with Cloud. Strikes and unleashes a wave of energy at a single enemy dealing 3.5 times normal damage, and hits other enemies for approximately 1.0 times damage with shockwaves.
*Climhazzard
クライムハザード
Kuraimuhazādo
(Crime Hazard) Use Blade Beam 7 times. Strikes enemy, then jumps upwards running the sword along the enemy dealing 4.375 times normal damage.
*Meteorain
メテオレイン
Meteorein Kill 200 enemies with Cloud after learning Blade Beam. Six meteors fall and hit random targets for 1.625 times normal damage each.
*Finishing Touch
画龍点睛
Garyōtensei Use Meteorain 6 times. Hits all enemies with a tornado causing death and dealing 3.125 times normal damage for any enemy immune to death.
*Omnislash
超究武神覇斬
Chōkyūbushinhazan
(Super-Ultimate War God Supreme Slash) Purchase at the Battle Square in the Gold Saucer Hits random enemies 15 times under the effect of automatic critical hits for 0.75 times normal damage each hit.
