Cloud Strife

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For fighter info, see Cloud (SSB4). For other meanings of "cloud", see Cloud (disambiguation).

Cloud Strife
Official artwork of Cloud from Dissidia Final Fantasy.
Universe	Final Fantasy
Debut	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Final Fantasy Portal App (2015)
Console/platform of origin	PlayStation
Species	Human (Surgically infused with Jenova cells)
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Gaia
Japanese voice actor	Takahiro Sakurai
Article on Wikipedia	Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife (クラウド・ストライフ, Cloud Strife) is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII and its related media, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Character description

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Cloud was born in the mountain village of Nibelheim. He considered himself to be superior to all the other members of the village, and thus, did not enjoy their company; as a result, aside from his neighbor, Tifa Lockhart, he never had any close friends growing up. At age thirteen, he left for Midgar to join SOLDIER, the paramilitary arm of the Shinra Electric Power Company who ruled the world.

Much to his dismay, he was unable to join SOLDIER, and became a mere infantryman. However, he was one of the few people selected to protect Professor Rayleigh from the insurgency group known as AVALANCHE, and despite his status as an infantryman, he showed a great amount of skill with a sword. Cloud would eventually befriend a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair.

His life was changed forever when he, Zack, and another SOLDIER named Sephiroth were sent to Nibelheim to investigate a faulty reactor. During the mission, Sephiroth discovered a lifeform named Jenova and came to believe that she was his mother. He went insane, destroyed Nibelheim, and wounded Zack and Tifa, but Cloud ambushed and managed to defeat him. Afterwards, he and Zack were captured by Shinra's corrupt head scientist, Professor Hojo, and experimented upon for four years. Zack eventually escaped with the comatose Cloud and attempted to flee to Midgar, but was ambushed by a massive army of Shinra troops, overrun, and killed.

The trauma of these events combined with Hojo's experimentation drove Cloud insane; his memories warped, causing him to believe that he was an ex-SOLDIER and to forget that Zack ever existed. He joined the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, and aided them in their battles against Shinra and a revived Sephiroth. Eventually, he discovered that his memories were fake and, with Tifa's aid, came to terms with his past and was able to move on. Cloud and his friends eventually managed to defeat Sephiroth, saving the world.

In the years that followed, Cloud, Tifa, and their party go their separate ways. Cloud and Tifa build a new life together in the new city on Midgar's outskirts, called Edge. Cloud sets up a delivery business, the Strife Delivery Service. During a delivery run and a visit to Aerith's church in Midgar's 5th sector, Cloud encounters a recently orphaned boy, Denzel, whose family was killed when the Sector 7 plate fell, attempting to call a number on Cloud's cellphone, only to end in a call error. Denzel begins to cry and collapses from Geostigma, new disease that has started to appear after the defeat of Sephiroth. Cloud takes him home to live with him, Barret's daughter Marlene, and Tifa.

Cloud eventualy sets out to find a cure for Geostigma, having been infected himself thanks to Hojo's experimentation. Cloud has fallen into a cycle of guilt and depression, and so avoids calls from his friends. Cloud receives a call from Tifa that Reno, a member of Shinra's Turks, has a job for him, and he is attacked by a mysterious trio of young men, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness.

Cloud finds out that Reno's job offer was an order from Rufus, the president of Shinra, who is also suffering from Geostigma. The president offers Cloud to join them to fight the trio, led by Kadaj. Cloud rejects the offer after Reno brings up the idea of rebuilding Shinra. Cloud arrives at Aerith's church to find an unconscious Tifa on the flower bed, having been beaten by Loz when she went looking for him. Marlene, Barret's adopted daughter, is kidnapped and Cloud's Materia stash stolen. Cloud passes out from a Geostigma attack and he and Tifa are discovered by Reno and Rude who bring them to 7th Heaven to recover.

The remnants continue their kidnapping spree of Geostigma-infected children with the intention of using the Jenova cells within them to revive the eldritch lifeform. Although unsure if he should fight, Cloud goes to the Forgotten Capital after encouragement from Tifa and the Turks. On the way he is visited by an apparition of Aerith, and declares he is searching for forgiveness. Upon seeing Denzel and the other children under Kadaj's control, Cloud confronts the trio but is outmatched and rescued by Vincent Valentine who explains the true nature of Geostigma to him — a plague caused by Jenova cells.

Kadaj eventually leads an attack on Edge, where Cloud's party is reunited after two years, and dispatches Bahamut SIN to take care of the party and Edge. Cloud, having been cured of the Geostigma thanks to Lifestream-infused water flowing in Aerith's church, encounters Kadaj head-on in the ruins of Midgar, whereupon Kadaj transforms using Jenova cells that he stole from Rufus: Sephiroth is reborn! A climactic battle ensues between the one-winged angel and Cloud resulting in Sephiroth dissapating and Kadaj dying him his arms.

Cloud then returns to the church with the infected children and uses the water to cleanse the Geostigma out of them. He then polishes up the Buster Sword (having replaced it with the Fusion Sword) and plants it in a place of honor to mark where a hero began his journey.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Cloud as he appears in SSB4.

Cloud is set to appear in Super Smash Bros. 4 as Downloadable content, announced during the November 12, 2015 Nintendo Direct. This makes him the fifth third-party character to appear in SSB4, and the first representative of Square Enix.

Trivia

• Cloud is the only third-party character whose debut game has never been released on a Nintendo system in any form.
  • However, Final Fantasy VII originally began development as a Super Nintendo game before moving to the N64 and later the Playstation.
• Cloud is the second playable character in Super Smash Bros. to originate from a franchise containing M-rated entries, the first being Solid Snake. Unlike Snake, however, Cloud has never been featured in an M-rated game himself.
• Cloud is the only third party character thus far to wield a sword.

External links

• Article on the Final Fantasy Wiki