Cloud

Cloud appears in Dimension Brawl as a playable character.
Name 	Cloud Strife
Affiliation 	Hero
First Appearance	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Voiced By 	Steve Burton (ENG)
Takahiro Sakurai (JPN)
== Backstory ==
Cloud is introduced as a mercenary employed by AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group opposed to the Shinra Company. Beginning the game with the placeholder name "Ex-SOLDIER" (元ソルジャー Moto Sorujā), Cloud assists AVALANCHE's leader, Barret Wallace, in bombing a Mako reactor, power plants which drain the planet's "Lifestream". Cloud claims to be formerly of SOLDIER 1st Class, an elite Shinra fighting unit. Cloud takes pride in his past and boasts of the abilities of its members. However, his background produces misgivings as to his allegiances and trustworthiness, and Cloud's blasé attitude towards the goals of AVALANCHE creates further tension. Despite appearing detached, Cloud demonstrates moments of camaraderie, and players can choose to interact in a friendlier manner with AVALANCHE's members. When approached by his childhood friend and AVALANCHE member, Tifa Lockhart, about accepting another job, Cloud at first refuses. However, when confronted with his boyhood promise to protect her were he to become a famous hero, Cloud agrees to continue helping AVALANCHE, despite neither having become famous nor a hero.
While working for AVALANCHE, Cloud encounters Aerith Gainsborough, a resident of Midgar's slums. Agreeing to serve as her bodyguard in exchange for a date, Cloud helps Aerith evade Shinra, who pursue her because she is the sole survivor of a race known as the Cetra. Aerith notes that Cloud reminds her of an old boyfriend of hers, who is implied to be Zack Fair. During the course of their travels, a love triangle develops between Cloud, Tifa and Aerith, often exploited to humorous effect. Dialogue choices impact the strength of Cloud's relationship with Tifa and Aerith, as well as with Barret and Yuffie Kisaragi. These interactions determine who accompanies Cloud through the Gold Saucer, an amusement park. If Aerith joins Cloud, she reflects on how strongly Cloud's physical appearance and mannerisms resemble Zack's, and struggles to put into words how she is still "searching for [Cloud]". Irrespective of who accompanies Cloud at the Gold Saucer, how the player interacts with Tifa may also result in a more sexually suggestive scene playing out during the night she spends with Cloud before the game's conclusion. Tifa worries instead that the party saw, rather than overheard, the two the morning after.
Following the player's departure from Midgar, Cloud is appointed group leader by the other members of the party, upsetting Barret. Shortly thereafter, Cloud narrates his history with Sephiroth, a legendary member of SOLDIER and the game's primary antagonist, and the events that led to Sephiroth's disappearance five years prior. According to Cloud, the two were "war buddies". Joining SOLDIER to emulate Sephiroth, Cloud explains that he would sign up for a "big mission" whenever they became available, as the conclusion of Shinra's war with the people of Wutai ended his chances for military fame. Cloud explains that Sephiroth started questioning his humanity after accompanying him on a job to Cloud's hometown of Nibelheim, which suffered from a malfunctioning Mako reactor responsible for producing monsters. Discovering documents concerning Jenova, an extraterrestrial lifeform and Sephiroth's "mother", Sephiroth mistakes himself for a Cetra and blames their downfall on humans. Razing Nibelheim, Sephiroth leaves for the Mt. Nibel Mako reactor, and Cloud gives chase. There, Cloud finds Tifa gravely wounded by Sephiroth outside the chamber where Jenova is stored. Cloud says that he then confronted Sephiroth, but that he is unable to remember or explain how he survived the encounter given Sephiroth's strength.
However, numerous clues suggest the unreliability of Cloud's memory. Various visual and audio cues, such as the screen flashing white or red and the sound of static, play when Cloud attempts to recall details about his identity. Cloud will spontaneously remember words or scenes from his past, sometimes collapsing to the ground while cradling his head. An unidentified voice questions Cloud in his sleep about why he and Tifa never met alone during his mission to Nibelheim despite their history. Additionally, Tifa makes various remarks suggesting that Cloud's version of events troubles her, and she feigns ignorance of who Zack is. Cloud's behavior grows increasingly erratic after searching the Temple of the Ancients for the Black Materia, an item capable of casting the destructive magic Meteor. After its retrieval, Cloud loses control of himself, handing over the Black Materia to Sephiroth and attacking Aerith. Alarmed that Sephiroth can manipulate him, Cloud realizes that he is "afraid to find out the truth" and becomes fearful of himself. Later, Sephiroth takes advantage of Cloud's insecurities, telling him that his past is merely a fiction and that Shinra created Cloud in an attempt to clone Sephiroth. Although Cloud is initially dismissive, when Tifa is unable to corroborate Cloud's account of the Nibelheim incident, Cloud realizes he cannot remember things like how or when he joined SOLDIER. Cloud, resigning himself as a "failed experiment", goes missing after Sephiroth summons Meteor. The party later discovers a comatose Cloud suffering from Mako poisoning, and Tifa helps Cloud reconstruct his past after the two fall into the Lifestream.
It is revealed that Cloud never qualified for SOLDIER, and instead enlisted as an infantryman in Shinra's army. During the mission to Nibelheim, Cloud served under Sephiroth and Zack, a SOLDIER 1st Class, hiding his identity from the townspeople out of embarrassment. Following Sephiroth's defeat of Zack at the Mt. Nibel Mako reactor, Cloud took up Zack's sword, catching Sephiroth off guard and stabbing him. Zack urges Cloud to kill Sephiroth after Sephiroth emerges alive, but when Cloud pursues him, he is run through by Sephiroth's sword. Cloud, to Sephiroth's shock, summons the strength to grab hold of the blade and lift Sephiroth off the ground, tossing him into a Mako vat below. Cloud and Zack are then imprisoned by Shinra's lead scientist, Hojo, for experimentation. Zack later escapes with Cloud, bringing him to the outskirts of Midgar before Shinra soldiers gun Zack down. Due to exposure to Mako radiation and the injection of Jenova's cells, in addition to the shame stemming from his personal failures, Cloud's mind fabricated a story blending together his own memories with accounts of Zack's heroics, creating a false personality. After piecing back together his identity, Cloud resumes his role as leader. At the game's conclusion, Sephiroth reappears in Cloud's mind a final time, but he is defeated in a one-on-one fight. [1]
== Gameplay ==
Cloud is a pretty balanced fighter with a unique gimmick, that gimmick being his Limit Gauge. Making use of his above average combo ability and array of specials, he can slowly build up his Limit Gauge as time goes or manually fill it up with Limit Charge. With a full Limit Gauge, Cloud can perform souped up versions of his special moves. However, it is imperative to not whiff any major specials or combos with Cloud, since if he gets hit, he gradually loses meter from his Limit Gauge.
== Moves ==
=== Command Normals ===
Move Name 	Command
Triple Slash 	F + H
Head Cover 	air U + H
Thrusting Attack	air D + H
=== Special Moves ===
Move Name 	Command
Blade Beam 	QCF + atk
Sonic Rave 	HCF + atk
* Sonic Return	during Sonic Rave: S
Climhazzard 	DP + atk
* Braver 	during Climhazzard: S
Finishing Touch	QCB + atk
Mad Shift 	BDP + atk
Limit Charge 	S + atk (can be held)
=== Hyper Combos ===
Move Name 	Command
Meteorain (Level 1) 	QCF + atk x2
Cross Slash (Level 1)	QCB + atk x2
Omnislash (Level 3) 	DP + atk x2
== Theme song ==
coming soon...
Category:Dimension Brawl
Category:Character
Category:Playable Character
Category:Default Character
Category:Hero
Category:Square Enix
Category:Final Fantasy