Cloud Strife

### Sub-Powers

Artificial Enhancement, Multi-Blade Mastery, Mystical Item Usage, Entity Summoning

Cloud Strife is the main protagonist of the franchise game "*Final Fantasy VII*", part of the "*Final Fantasy*" collective franchise. His most notable appearances are *Final Fantasy VII (1997)*, *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Final Fantasy Dissidia, Smash Brothers Ultimate*, and the *Final Fantasy VII* Remake series.

## Character Bio

Cloud grew up with his single mother in the village of Nibelheim. As a child, he aspired to someday runaway to the Shinra Electric Company to join their SOLIDER program, and follow in the footsteps of his then war hero, Sephiroth.

At around age 16, Cloud would join Shinra as a trooper (as he wasn't deemed qualified for SOLDIER). He would befriend First Class Zack Fair, and get caught up in some of the conflict between Shinra and eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE. Later would be the advent of former First Class Genesis Rhapsodos, who committed various crimes of terror and mass murder in his pursuit of a cure for his genetic degradation. It would be Genesis who sabotaged the Nibelheim reactor, luring Sephiroth there to manipulate him into aiding his pursuit of a cure. Genesis' gaslighting tactics would lead Sephiroth into his mental breakdown, thus him befalling Jenova's grip and destroying Nibelheim.

To silence the possibility of Shinra's name being tainted by this event, they would have their Secret Service-like agents, the Turks, to escort all survivors to the Shinra Mansion, and become test subjects of Shinra's head of scientific research, Professor Hojo. Cloud and Zack were amongst these victims.

NOTE: Professor Hojo, was the insidious scientist behind the SOLDIER program, his experimentations involved genetics of the cosmic Lovecraftian entity, he named "Jenova", and use of mako to produce super soldiers. Sephiroth had been Shinra's greatest accomplishment.

After three years of being experimented on, Zack and Cloud would break free, and head for the city of Midgar. Tragically, Zack would be killed by Shinra's troopers, and he would give Cloud his sword, Buster.

Cloud would make his way to Midgar, and various circumstances would involve him with a new branch of the eco-terrorists AVALANCHE. Initially, Cloud would take on Zack's identity and claim many of Zack's ventures as his own, and pose as a mercenary for hire. However later on, reality would shed light on this, and he would have to come to terms with this. He would however grow fond of this ragtag team, and fall in love with Aerith Gainsborough, the last known Ancient.

In their fight against Shinra, sightings of Sephiroth became another issue as Jenova, used all who had it's/her DNA towards the goal of destroying the Planet/Gaia to usurp the Lifestream (the Planet's cosmic life force), Sephiroth being her ultimate weapon and host. This would now lead to a fight between AVALANCHE and Sephiroth/Jenova, leading to more death, including that of Aerith's, whom was killed by Sephiroth (Jenova).

As Sephiroth/Jenova summoned the immensely powerful cosmic artifact known as Meteor, Cloud and the gang would face Sephiroth head on, and with the help of Aerith's last action, activating her White Materia to summon Holy, the Lifestream would also fight Meteor and eventually, destroy the celestial weapon, and defeat Sephiroth.

This summary is based on the events of *Final Fantasy VII (1997)*, and does not reflect the narrative of the *Remake (2020)*.

## Variations

Cloud has had various appearances in other games and media, including film, OVA, and mobile. Below are a few other appearances of Cloud Strife:

* *Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring (1998)*
* *Kingdom Hearts (2002)*
* *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)*
* *Final Fantasy VII: Last Order (2005)*
* *World of Final Fantasy (2016)*
* *Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)*

## Known Powers

List the powers applicable to the character. Make sure all powers listed are **internal links** to the powers in our roster. If a power they possess is not listed, create a page for that power! (or, you can still list it, make it a red hyperlink that you can return to edit/create a page for later).

* Apex Human Durability
* Apex Human Strength
* Artificial Enhancements
* Ballistic Energy Attacks
* Magic Summoning, via Materia
* Superior Swordsmanship

## Advantages

* Due to the experiments performed on him, Cloud has incredible strength, on par with First Class Soldiers.
* Cloud can combine ballistic energy blasts with his sword wielding.
* His most notable, and powerful move is known as "Omnislash", a form of multi-directional aerial attacks using his Buster or Fusion Swords.

## Disadvantages

* Cloud frequently suffers from forms anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
* Cloud is susceptible to psychic attacks and manipulation.
* Most of Cloud's strengths are physical, therefore may fall short against supernatural forces.

## Examples

* Cloud's Omnislash move makes a great final dealing of damage against the primary enemy.
* As a super soldier, Cloud is quick, nimble, and highly agile, perfect for breaking into areas of maximum security, espionage, etc.
* He's equipped with Materia, so he can summon powerful Weapons, heal injured teammates, and increase the power of others!
* Cloud is a one man army, and can handle multiple enemies at once, especially wielding multiple swords.

## Images

Cloud Strife/Smash Bros. UltimateCloud Strife/Final Fantasy VII Remake