.:Cloud Strife:.

by Cloud Strife on December 21st 2008, 11:37 pm

Name: Cloud Strife.

Age: 24.

Gender: Male.

Home World: Gaia.

Race/Species: Human.

Appearance:

Cloud Strife is by no means a big guy -- at just under six feet, most of the male characters tower over him -- but he's a strong guy. He's small, but he's lean. Although no one will ever be able to lift that sword realistically, Cloud's small, muscular build makes the wielding of such weapons and the acrobats in battle slightly more believable. He's not some slender pretty boy forced to save the world--he's a warrior! Cloud is trained and ready for such intense face to face combat.Aside from his physical build, Cloud's most defining features -- those that are often addressed in the game itself -- are his distinct blue eyes and spiky blond hair. The eyes -- and perhaps the hair, as it refuses to obey the conventional laws of physics -- are enhanced by Mako injections required of SOLDIERs and commonplace in Hojo's experiments. These injections presumably heighten his senses, and they give his eyes an eerie glow as a side effect.One thing that has remained constant is his smile. Cloud's smile -- aside inspiring a musical piece -- is rare enough that it's considered something really special; it's a completely unguarded and true expression of his emotions.When revisiting two years later, we see that Cloud has finally changed his clothes; he has shed his SOLDIER uniform for a new look not too dissimilar from the former. Although he still favors a navy, sleeveless turtleneck, he has traded in his old one for a slimly cut alternate with a zipper down the front. His clunky gloves and shoes have also been replaced by sleeker models, giving his new look an all together darker feel. Gone are the bandages, as well, though it is to be noted that both his left arm and pant leg are sheltered by a cloth. By the end of the film, we learn that Cloud's Geostigma has developed on his left arm, so it is hardly a stretch to say that the sleeve was attached to hide his horrible scar from his family, his friends, and himself.

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Elemental Mastery: Lightning, Wind, Fire.

Personality:

When players are first introduced to Cloud, he is cool, confident and cocky. He is the tough, uncaring mercenary who will take any job so long as it pays well.

Or so he'd like to think.

Cloud is actually two people: who he wants to be and who he truly is. One persona, the first we meet, is carefully crafted from his war-hero fantasies and his late -- and only -- friend. He wants respect, he wants to be loved, and thanks to a childhood saturated with war stories, the only way he knows how is to be the cool jerk. He reasons that people will like him for his abilities and icy attitude under pressure; that's the sort of figure he was trained to look up to, and now he is attempting the emulate it. The other Cloud -- the real Cloud -- is a little different.

A big part of Cloud's character -- one that is often overlooked even by Cloud himself -- is just how genuinely nice he is. For all his craziness and attempts to feign indifference, Cloud really is a sweetheart, and the fact that he feels pressured to hide it is unfortunate. Even if he doesn't know how to express his affections, he constantly -- almost unconsciously -- puts the people around him before himself. He is willing to subject himself to total humiliation -- cross-dressing for chrissakes! -- to make sure Tifa and Aeris are alright. He sacrifices AVALANCHE's advantage to protect Barret's young daughter, and eventually steps in as a -- admittedly clumsy -- substitute father figure when Barret is unable to stay with her.

Having said this, Cloud's history continues to weigh him down during both his travels to save the Planet and his everyday life. He lived in isolation for a majority of his adolescence; he was looked down on as an outcast in his little town, and later became a test subject for Hojo's inhumane experiments. All things considered, it's only natural that Cloud would have a tough time interacting with others, no matter how considerate he really is or how cool he wants to be. Throughout the game, he bursts out with awkward and just downright ill-timed statements ("Let's mosey!") because he doesn't know how to act. Even if he trusts his companions with his life, he's uncomfortable -- especially with his leadership position -- so he says the first thing that comes to mind, whether it makes sense or not.

Despite his optimism and compassion -- no matter how awkward it may be -- Cloud does have his doubts. Although his aforementioned past is heavily intertwined with the events of the present, his understanding of it hardly exceeds that of his companions. He spends a majority of the game painfully confused -- to say the least -- which is hardly surprising when considering the shattered past he unravels. He essentially learns that everything he believes is an intricate fabrication of his own making, which is predictably damaging to his already wounded psyche.

Weapons: First Tsurugi

Fighting Style: Cloud is known as a supreme swordsman, taking the fight up front and using spells to help him in ranged battles.

Affinities: Excellent Fighter, acrobatic skills, superior driving skills. And overall a super human due to the SOLIDER program.

Weaknesses: Cloud has a soft spot for his friends and would do anything to help them should they come into danger. Also, Cloud has a rather shaky mental state ever since becoming a SOLIDER. This has caused various problems with his companions as he pushes himself away from the group many times, being rather withheld despite his feelings for his friends.

History:

Cloud is the main protagonist of the game. He is introduced as a mercenary and former member of SOLDIER. During a mission in which he worked with the anti-Shinra organization AVALANCHE, he encounters a young woman by the name of Aerith Gainsborough, who is wanted by the Turks. Cloud was born in the sleepy mountain village of Nibelheim, along with Tifa Lockhart. He grew up isolated from the rest of the village children. However, when Tifa and the others attempted to climb Mt. Nibel, Cloud followed them, Tifa fell from a bridge and her father blamed Cloud. He resolved to join ShinRa's elite SOLDIER force, hoping to prove to the others that he could be as strong as the well-known SOLDIER 1st Class Sephiroth.

Early in the game, however, Cloud's past is a mystery. He claimed that he was in the village of Nibelheim when Sephiroth went berserk and massacred the local population. After finding Tifa wounded, Cloud confronts Sephiroth. Yet, when examined closely, Cloud's memories of these events and others are filled with empty plot-holes that prevent them from making sense. It all comes together later in the game. As it turns out, Cloud suffers from a mixture of amnesia and mind control. Although he had been in Nibelheim during Sephiroth's rampage, he was not there as a top ranking member of SOLDIER, but a regular ShinRa guard under the command of both Sephiroth and another man named Zack. Following the incident, Cloud and Zack were captured by ShinRa and experimented on with Jenova cells for several years. The two escaped but were chased down. Zack was killed after trying to protect Cloud from the many Shinra foot soldiers, Cloud crawls to Zack a few minutes before he dies. Zack barely states "Live... You're the evidence that I lived," to Cloud who answers "I won't forget," showing the two's friendship. Cloud leaves in a stupor, then is again seen on a train.Where he says, "I'm Cloud. SOLDIER 1st Class.", this is where they leave off for Final Fantasy VII to begin.

Cloud lives with Tifa in the city of Edge. Staying with them is Marlene, Barret's adopted daughter, and Denzel, an orphan with the geostigma disease. Cloud works as a courier for the "Strife Delivery Service" that Tifa set up in her new tavern. Over time, Cloud began suffering symptoms of the geostigma, keeping his left arm cloaked to hide the symptoms. Since the end of Final Fantasy VII, Cloud grew apart from the others out of the guilt for Aerith's death, and as result, he moved out of the tavern and took refuge in the old church in which Aerith once raised flowers.

Cloud is attacked by a mysterious trio of young men; Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. The three are remnants of Sephiroth left behind before Sephiroth himself could diffuse into the Lifestream completely. The three begin luring and kidnapping children that possess geostigma, intending to have the children lead them to the remnants of Jenova. Upon confronting them for a second time, Cloud finds himself outmatched by the trio and is rescued by Vincent Valentine. Cloud confronts them once again and defeats Loz and Yazoo. In confronting Kadaj, the battle takes them back to Aerith's church, where the Lifestream-influenced water cures Cloud of his geostigma. Kadaj later merges with the remnants of Jenova, causing Sephiroth to be reborn. The two battle until Cloud clinches the battle with a Limit Break attack. When Sephiroth is once again defeated, he dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place.

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