Cloud Strife

23 (Advent Children)

24 (Dirge of Cerberus)[2]

Courier

**Cloud Strife** is the main protagonist in *Final Fantasy VII*, *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, and *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children*. He also appears in the spin-off games of the *Compilation of Final Fantasy VII*, including *Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-* and *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, as a supporting character.

An arrogant and proud swordsman at first, Cloud introduces himself to Avalanche as a former member of an elite warrior unit called SOLDIER who has turned mercenary, and uninterested in anything beyond his hired task at hand. He later discovers more about his past and, with the help of his friends, learns there is more to being a hero than possessing physical strength and fame, developing compassion for the planet and people he fights to protect. He fights to protect the planet against his nemesis, Sephiroth.

Cloud Strife wields large broadswords in battle, including the iconic Buster Sword, and has access to the most powerful weapons in the game. His Limit abilities involve his sword, and are the strongest, but take the longest to learn. Cloud also has the best all-around stats.

### Appearance

Cloud is a young man with a lean and toned build. Due to poor conversions from centimeters to feet in early English materials, Cloud's height has been listed as 5'7" in various manuals and websites. His height is actually 5.7ft, or 5ft8in. The *Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- Signature Series Guide* guide featured the correction conversion.

He has spiky blond hair that in *Final Fantasy VII* features one particularly long spike. Cloud's hair has become one of the trademarks of his appearance, although in later appearances the spikes have been toned down. Cloud has blue eyes, which glow due to him having being exposed to mako. Because "mako eyes" are iconic to members of SOLDIER, Cloud is often assumed to be one.

His weapon is the Buster Sword, a massive sword over five feet long which he wields in most of his appearances. Cloud's other trademark weapon is a set of Fusion Swords, which he uses in *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children*. The set consists of six individual interconnecting swords that form a larger sword similar in shape and size to the Buster Sword. However, in the key art showing him mounted on the Hardy Daytona for *Final Fantasy VII*, his weapon is the Hardedge, which can be stolen from SOLDIER:3rd in Shinra Headquarters, rather than the Buster Sword.

Cloud's outfit in *Final Fantasy VII* is the standard uniform for 1st Class SOLDIER: indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, and a belt. Cloud wears brown boots, gauntlets with a pauldron over his left shoulder and a SOLDIER band in his left wrist. This is the uniform he wears for most of his other appearances, with slight variations. Unlike the default uniform, his is customized to exclude the right shoulder pauldron, likely to make it easier to draw his sword from behind him, while his left pauldron remains, albeit with protruding screws and bolts due to makeshift repairs. He also wears a junky gear-like armlet on his left forearm.

He has a silver earring in his left ear.

When in his mid-teens, Cloud had a ponytail and wore a white loose t-shirt with a blue trim, dark blue jean shorts and shoes. When crossdressing Cloud wears a purple dress and a braided blonde wig in the original, or a black gothic style dress with plaid hair extensions in the remake.

In *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, Cloud wears the blue uniform of a Shinra Electric Power Company infantryman with several belts and straps and a green-gray piece of cloth around the collar. He wears his helmet to conceal his identity at times. After he gains the SOLDIER 1st class uniform his appearance is the same as in *Final Fantasy VII*, albeit with both shoulder pauldrons intact and the SOLDIER logo as it is in *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*.

In *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children*, Cloud's clothing was designed with fighting in mind, and the concept began with a black robe and was restructured into the final version. Cloud's hair was changed both to show the passage of time since *Final Fantasy VII*, and to be more realistic. He wears a high collar sleeveless indigo shirt, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm. Cloud gains a new pauldron, and his chest is covered by two straps, held in place by a badge representing Fenrir, a wolf that has come to be associated with him. Like the rest of the party, he wears a pink ribbon around his left arm, though it stays hidden for most of the movie. This ensemble has become known as the Cloudy Wolf attire.

In *Kingdom Hearts*, Cloud's costume was designed to resemble that of Vincent Valentine. He wears a tattered red cloak with dark blue pants and a shirt and brown boots. The costume features many crossing belts and gloves, the left of which has golden trimmings, almost like a claw. His most distinctive trait is a demonic black wing protruding from his left shoulder, symbolizing both his connection to Sephiroth, and the dark powers he is using. The costume can be obtained as DLC in *Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy*. In *Kingdom Hearts II*, Cloud is identical to his appearance in *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children*, save that his new sword is loosely bound as the Buster Sword was in *Kingdom Hearts*.

### Personality

**Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow.***

In *Final Fantasy VII*, Cloud unknowingly holds a fake persona of a cocky and headstrong SOLDIER 1st Class. Cloud simultaneously denies his true self, yet longs for an identity. Blocking the memories of the events of the Nibelheim Incident, he suffers a mental breakdown when he learns the truth. Cloud even goes so far as to accept the identity of a Sephiroth-clone and begs for Professor Hojo to number him.

After restoring his true personality, Cloud shows genuine concern for the planet's fate, a sharp contrast to his persona at the start where he claimed he did not care and only agreed to help Avalanche for the right price. The true Cloud is open-minded and cares about the bonds he has forged with his friends.

In *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, Cloud shows more of his softer side even when he still holds onto his SOLDIER persona. Despite at first only helping Avalanche for the right price, he comes to care for his new friends despite remaining distant. Tifa calls him kind under the surface, and Biggs says Cloud has a lot in common with the children he used to care for in a school in the slums. Cloud is awkward when dealing with Tifa and Aerith's feelings for him, and depending on affection mechanics may comfort Tifa over the death of their friends, or become saddened when Aerith tells him not to fall in love with her. Cloud can be ruthless, as he shows no hesitation in attempting to permanently silence Johnny for potentially revealing information on Avalanche, with Tifa fearful of how he's changed. Unlike in the original continuity where Cloud is dismissive of Avalanche's desire to destroy Shinra, Cloud outright holds the company he once served in contempt, especially Hojo for his immorality. When people assume he is in SOLDIER due to his mako eyes, he is quick to affirm that he is no longer affiliated with Shinra. He shows greater signs of psychological trauma than in the original continuity, and reacts strongly to Sephiroth's presence with both fear and rage.

In *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children* and many related appearances, Cloud is a somber and brooding character, tormented by guilt over what he perceives as his past failings to save those he cares about. The final straw was contracting the terminal Geostigma plague, adding to his feelings of helplessness. Distancing himself from his friends and living alone, Cloud tries to keep his affliction secret. Cloud faces his past both metaphorically and literally, and with the shows of loyalty from the friends he tried to let go, he comes to forgive himself and moves on. It is unclear what this ultimately means in terms of his personality and lifestyle.

In *Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-*, Cloud is a shy, but more upbeat person who idolizes Zack and Sephiroth. After being betrayed by his idol, he does not hesitate to seek revenge.

In *Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-*, Cloud is closer to his younger persona seen in flashbacks in *Final Fantasy VII*. He is openly affectionate with Tifa and blames Sephiroth for murdering his mother, something that was absent in the original game.

Cloud remains steadfastly loyal and true to those he cares about and is driven to protect them, going as far as to hide his pain and emotions so he would not worry them. His selfless and kind nature lets him overcome Sephiroth time and again. Cloud has a lighter side, crossdressing as a woman to save Tifa from Don Corneo's mansion. When the party arrives at Costa del Sol, Tifa asks Cloud what he thought about Barret dressed as a sailor; one option is to reply "He looked like a bear wearing a marshmallow," much to Barret's annoyance. Cloud is also put in humorous situations, like marching at the Junon parade. He has a dry, ironic wit as shown in *Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-*.

Cloud suffers from motion sickness that is seemingly cured during the period he upholds a fake SOLDIER persona, but returns when his true self is restored. He tells Yuffie that it doesn't affect him while flying on the *Highwind*, so long as he can remain "nervous." During an attack of nausea while attempting to take the Shinra submarine in Junon Underwater Reactor, he claims he isn't affected if he's driving, a possible inspiration for his favored mode of transport later.

### Abilities

Despite being a mere infantryman considered not fit enough to join SOLDIER, Cloud already displayed impressive skills with a blade that impressed one of the Turks. After undergoing and surviving the same process used on SOLDIER members, and incorporating Zack's fighting abilities into his own, Cloud acts on the level of a SOLDIER Class First and easily handles SOLDIER members and Turks. In time, his skills became independent of his copying of Zack. He can simultaneously go up against the remnants of Sephiroth while suffering from Geostigma, and defeat Kadaj once he has recovered. A true testament to Cloud's skill and might is how he has repeatedly fought, and even at times defeated, Sephiroth himself, who is considered the best SOLDIER of all time and unbeatable.

Cloud can ride a motorcycle or a chocobo, snowboard, and is adept at scaling a snowy mountain, as noted by Zack in *Crisis Core* in discovering that they are both "country boys". When the situation calls for it, Cloud can adapt to do what is needed, even reviving a drowned girl with CPR or convincingly enough disguising himself as a woman.