Editing Cloud Strife

|name           = Cloud Strife

|image         = {{tabber|width=300px|title1=Final Fantasy VII|content1=[[File:Cloud Strife.png|x300px]]|title2=Advent Children|content2=[[File:AdventChildrenCloud.png|x300px]]}}

|caption       = [[File:FinalFantasySymbol.svg|50px|class=invert-dark]]<br>Official artworks of Cloud from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Dissidia Final Fantasy}}'' and ''{{iw|wikipedia|Dissidia Final Fantasy NT}}''.

|universe       = {{uv|Final Fantasy}}

|firstgame     = ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}'' (1997)

|games         = ''[[SSB4]]''<br>''[[Ultimate]]''

|lastappearance = ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII Rebirth}}'' (2024)

|console       = PlayStation

|species       = Human (augmented via Mako and Jenova cells)

|gender         = Male

|creator       = {{iw|wikipedia|Yoshinori Kitase}}<br>{{iw|wikipedia|Kazushige Nojima}}<br>[[Tetsuya Nomura]]<br>{{iw|wikipedia|Hironobu Sakaguchi}}

|artist         = Tetsuya Nomura

|homeworld     = Nibelheim (birthplace)<br>Edge (surrogate hometown)

|voiceactor     = {{iw|wikipedia|Takahiro Sakurai}}

|interwiki     = wikipedia

|interwikiname = Wikipedia

|interwikipage = Cloud Strife

'''Cloud Strife''' ({{ja|クラウド・ストライフ|Kuraudo Sutoraifu}}, ''Cloud Strife'') is a character from [[Square Enix]]'s {{uv|Final Fantasy}} series. He is the main protagonist of ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII}}'', its [[wikipedia:Final Fantasy VII Remake|high-definition remake]], and its film sequel, ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children}}''. Cloud also appears in a supporting role throughout ''Final Fantasy VII''{{'}}s related media, the ''{{iw|wikipedia|Compilation of Final Fantasy VII}}''. Cloud also makes appearances in the {{uv|Kingdom Hearts}} franchise.

Initially appearing as a proud, yet arrogant and aloof swordsman who claims to be a former member of the elite paramilitary group SOLDIER, Cloud is hired by the insurgency group Avalanche as a mercenary to help them in their cause against the Shinra Electric Power Company. As Cloud's journey unfolds, he rediscovers his past and, alongside his newfound friends within Avalanche, abandons his quest for power and fame in favor of fighting alongside his friends in order to defend their home planet of Gaia.

Cloud made his ''[[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros.]]'' debut in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' as a [[Downloadable content|downloadable]] character, and returns in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' as an [[unlockable character]].

At the age of 14, Cloud, upon learning of the legendary hero [[Sephiroth]]'s exploits and desiring to impress Tifa, left Nibelheim for [[Midgar]] to join SOLDIER, the paramilitary arm of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a megacorporation that effectively ruled the world. Although he was too mentally weak to join SOLIDER and instead became a mere infantryman, Cloud would eventually become best friends with a 1st Class SOLDIER named {{iw|wikipedia|Zack Fair}}.

Cloud and Zack were later captured by Shinra's corrupt head scientist, Professor Hojo, and experimented upon to test Hojo's Reunion Theory, a facet of the Jenova Project. This experimentation resulted in Cloud becoming as powerful as a 1st Class SOLDIER, but also rendered him catatonic. Four years after being deemed failures during the experimentation, Zack eventually escaped with a weak and delirious Cloud in his arms, but was ambushed by a massive army of Shinra troops and killed. Cloud takes up Zack's sword and attempts to be his successor, although the trauma from Zack's death shattered Cloud's mental stability. His memories warped, causing him to believe that he was an ex-SOLDIER and to forget that Zack ever existed, essentially replacing him in his mind. Eventually, Cloud discovered that he inadvertently mimicked Zack's personality in lieu of his memories; he came to terms with his past, resumed his true personality, and was able to move on. Despite Sephiroth killing Aerith and receiving the Black Materia from a mind controlled Cloud, Cloud and his friends eventually managed to defeat Sephiroth and thus save the world.

As ''Final Fantasy VII'' became the best-selling and most recognized game in its series, Cloud is widely considered the most famous ''Final Fantasy'' character. Despite the unconnected nature of each main game, Cloud is often used to represent the franchise as a whole (much like [[Marth]] for {{uv|Fire Emblem}}), and frequently shows up in crossovers with other series. In some of his more notable side appearances, Cloud has been playable in every ''{{iw|wikipedia|Dissidia Final Fantasy}}'' title to date, and has served as a boss, side character, or an ally in multiple {{uv|Kingdom Hearts}} titles.

Cloud was originally voiceless in his game of origin; although he is voiced by {{iw|wikipedia|Kenyu Horiuchi}} and {{iw|wikipedia|Nozumu Sasaki}} in the arcade and PlayStation versions, respectively, of ''{{iw|wikipedia|Ehrgeiz}}'', it was not until his appearance in ''{{iw|wikipedia|Kingdom Hearts|video game}}'' that he was given a consistent voiceover. In Japanese, Cloud is voiced by {{iw|wikipedia|Takahiro Sakurai}} in all appearances since ''Kingdom Hearts''. In English, Cloud was voiced by {{iw|wikipedia|Steve Burton|actor}} from ''Kingdom Hearts'' up until ''Final Fantasy VII Remake'', with {{iw|wikipedia|Cody Christian}} replacing Burton as the English voice for ''Final Fantasy VII Remake''. However, Burton was not asked to reprise his role for ''Super Smash Bros.'' due to conflicts regarding his contract with Square Enix, so Sakurai's voice is used in all international versions.

While discussing potential candidates from the ''Final Fantasy'' series to include in ''SSB4'', Sakurai stated in an interview with Square Enix veteran Tetsuya Nomura that he could have included characters such as, [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bartz_Klauser Bartz Klauser] from ''Final Fantasy V'', or [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Terra_Branford Terra Branford] from ''Final Fantasy VI''.<ref name=SakNom>[https://www.sourcegaming.info/2016/01/20/sakurai-x-nomura-creator-interview-2016-part-one/ Sakurai x Nomura: Creator Interview 2016 (Part One) - Source Gaming]</ref> However, Sakurai ultimately said it was difficult to imagine a ''Final Fantasy'' character to include that was not Cloud, primarily owing to his design and iconic status.<ref name=SakNom/>

Cloud's strengths include highly [[disjointed]] range thanks to his [[Buster Sword]], surprisingly fast attacks relative to his range and power, and quick overall mobility.<ref name=SakNom/> Despite being a heavyweight, these traits collectively give him a heavily offensive playstyle that is useful for combos and excellent at aerial combat, especially [[edgeguard]]ing. Additionally, Cloud's unique [[Limit Break]] [[fighter ability]] slightly boosts his attributes and converts his special moves into powerful, single-use KOing options once it is full, further improving his offensive presence to the point that he can score KOs even at fairly low percentages.

However, Cloud has a few glaring weaknesses in spite of his tremendous strengths. The most notable of these is his inconsistent KO potential, which is due to his very small number of easy-to-land KOing options outside of his Limit Break special moves. Aside from this, Cloud's polarized aerial movement results in his recovery and off-stage endurance both being lackluster.<ref name=SakNom/> Lastly, his grab game is one of the worst among the cast, and some of his moves have noticeable amounts of ending lag.<ref name=SakNom/>

Overall, Cloud, like {{SSB4|Mario}}, boasts numerous advantages that are supplemented by a relatively low learning curve,<ref name=SakNom/> which have contributed to him achieving very noticeable tournament results and representation. As a result, Cloud is ranked 2nd/3rd out of 54 on the current [[tier list]], tied with {{SSB4|Diddy Kong}}; this places him in the S tier and posits him as a top tier character.

|name=Cloud

|desc=The protagonist of FINAL FANTASY VII, Cloud wields the enormous Buster Sword, a memento from his comrade Zack. Once a SOLDIER of Shinra, he now fights as a mercenary against the corporation he originally served. His decision to join AVALANCHE’<!--Do not change to a normal apostrophe, single-quote is used in the game-->s insurgence, however, will transform his destiny.

|name=Cloud (Alt.)

|desc=Filling the Limit Gauge allows Cloud to perform a Limit Break, supercharging his next special move. His down special becomes Finishing Touch. With a huge swing of his sword, Cloud summons a whirlwind that inflicts only 1% damage, but boasts brutal launch power. Go for a KO while his foes' damage is still low!

|gamelist={{Trophy games|game1=FINAL FANTASY VII|release1=11/1997}}

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Cloud returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. He was formally announced alongside the rest of the cast via ''Ultimate''{{'}}s E3 2018 trailer on June 12th, 2018.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83o Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - E3 2018 - Nintendo Switch]</ref> Although his moveset is largely unchanged aesthetically, Cloud received noteworthy mechanical changes, particularly to his Limit Breaks. Unlike in ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', the Limit Gauge is now constantly displayed next to his [[damage meter]], and a full Limit Charge must be used within 15 seconds or else it will deplete entirely.

 

As of update 10.1.0, Cloud's "Cloudy Wolf" costumes use Omnislash Ver. 5 like in ''Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children'', complete with Takahiro Sakurai reprising his role as Cloud's voice actor. Compared to [[Omnislash]], Omnislash Ver. 5 has the same total damage output and knockback, but consists of 11 initial hits instead of 14 (with each hit inflicting 0.6% more damage to compensate) and has different hitbox placements. This same update also made Tetsuya Nomura's artwork of Cloud from the PlayStation release of ''Final Fantasy VII'' into his default fighter spirit, although the player can still swap between it and his ''Ultimate'' render fighter spirit.

{{clr}}

|zh=Cloud<ref>Prior to version 10.0.0</ref><br>{{rollover|克劳德|Kè láo dé|?}}, ''Cloud''<ref>In version 10.0.0 onwards</ref>

*Due to having access to his "Cloudy Wolf" attire from ''{{iw|wikipedia|Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children}}'', Cloud is the only character with an alternate costume directly taken from a movie.<!--As opposed to referencing one indirectly, like Luigi's purple-yellow alt or Terry's OVA alt.-->

*Cloud is the first character to have his [[victory theme]] continuously play over the results theme.

*Prior to update 10.1.0 in ''Ultimate'', Cloud was the only third-party character in the game who did not use pre-existing artwork for his [[fighter spirit]]s. However, his ''Advent Children'' costume's fighter spirit continues to feature his ''Ultimate'' render only.

*Cloud, Sephiroth, and Hero each hail from one of the two companies that merged into Square Enix, as Cloud and Sephiroth were from Squaresoft and the Hero was from Enix.

*Prior to update 10.0.0 of ''Ultimate'', if the game's [[language]] was set to either variant of Chinese, Cloud's name was shown in English on the [[character selection screen]] and the [[Spirits (mode)|Spirits mode]], as with several other characters in the Chinese and Korean translations of the game. As of update 10.0.0, he has his name written properly in hanzi. This is presumably due to the release of ''Final Fantasy VII Remake'', which is the first game in the ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'' series to receive an official Chinese translation.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.twitter.com/Peachi_Ying39th/status/1339843168905252867|title= クラウド、ついに繁体字中国語で名前が「漢化」!欧文から漢字表記に変更されたことを確認。 #中国語 #スマブラSP #SmashBrosSP #NintendoSwitch|language=ja|author=@Peachi_Ying39th on Twitter|date=December 18, 2020}}</ref>

[[Category:Third-party characters]]