Cloud Strife

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	Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ (update, 2016)
Console/platform of origin	PlayStation
Species	Human (biologically augmented with Jenova cells and Mako)
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Gaia
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 from the Final Fantasy series by Square Enix.

Character description

Cloud's appearance in Kingdom Hearts II, based on his attire from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which inspired his alternate costume in Super Smash Bros. 4.

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 lifelong neighbor Tifa Lockhart, he never had any close friends growing up. At the age of 13, 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 a comatose Cloud in his arms 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. At Tifa's behest, he joined the second generation of AVALANCHE led by Barret Wallace, and aided them in their battles against Shinra and a revived Sephiroth alongside allies including Aerith Gainsborough, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid Highwind, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Vincent Valentine. 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. Despite Sephiroth killing Aerith, Cloud and his friends eventually managed to defeat Sephiroth, saving the world.

In the years that follow, Cloud, Tifa, and the party go their separate ways. Cloud and Tifa settle down in the city of Edge and set up a delivery business called the Strife Delivery Service. He also takes in two children; Denzel, an orphan suffering from Geostigma, a new disease that has started to appear after the defeat of Sephiroth, and Barret's adopted daughter Marlene.

Cloud eventually sets out to find a cure for Geostigma, having been infected himself thanks to Hojo's experimentation. He discovers that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness, are responsible for the disease and have been kidnapping Geostigma-infected children with the intention of using the Jenova cells within them to revive her. Cloud confronts the trio but is outmatched; he is rescued by Vincent, who reveals that Geostigma is a plague caused by Jenova cells.

Kadaj eventually leads an attack on Edge to find the remains of Jenova. The former members of AVALANCHE reunite to face him, and Cloud manages to cure his Geostigma using Lifestream-infused water flowing in Aerith's old church. Cloud encounters Kadaj and defeats him in the ruins of Midgar, but Kadaj merges with Jenova's remains to resurrect Sephiroth. The two duel once again, and Cloud emerges victorious, resulting in Sephiroth fading away while his manifestations die immediately afterward. Cloud then returns to the church with the infected children and uses the water to cleanse the Geostigma out of them. He then says a final farewell to the spirits of Zack and Aerith.

Cloud was originally voiceless in his game of origin, and it was not until his appearance in Advent Children that he was given a voice-over; he was voiced by Takahiro Sakurai and Steve Burton in Japanese and English respectively throughout later appearances (the latter does not reprise in Smash).

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Cloud as he appears in SSB4.

During the November 12, 2015 Nintendo Direct, Cloud was announced to appear in Super Smash Bros. 4 as downloadable content. This makes him the fifth third-party character to appear in SSB4, and the first representative of Square Enix. According to Masahiro Sakurai, Cloud was the most requested Final Fantasy character to appear in Super Smash Bros..

Cloud ranks 2nd out of 58 on the Smash 4 tier list, making him one of 7 characters in S tier. Cloud's strengths include a high disjointed range with his Buster Sword, surprisingly fast attacks relative to his reach, and effective movement speeds, giving him a very offensive-based style that excels at combos and aerial edgeguarding despite being a heavyweight. Additionally, his unique Limit Break mechanic slightly boosts his attributes and converts all his special moves into fast and powerful KO options once its full, further improving Cloud's offensive presence to the point that he can score KOs even at fairly low percentages. However, Cloud has some glaring issues, such as one of the weakest grab games among the cast, polarized aerial movement and a lackluster recovery that gives him low off-stage survivability. Most notably, his KO potential fluctuates due to having very few easy-to-land KO moves outside of his Limit Break special moves. Overall, Cloud, like Mario, has a relatively low learning curve. His tournament results and representation have been very noticeable, with his ease of use and potent Limit Break-boosted finishers contributing to his success.

Trophies

Cloud

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's insurgence, however, will transform his destiny.

Cloud (Alt.)

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 foes' damage is still low!

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

Trivia

• Cloud is the only third-party character whose debut game never released on a Nintendo system in any form, though Final Fantasy VII originally began development as a Super Nintendo game before moving to the Nintendo 64 and then finally moving to and releasing on the PlayStation.
• Cloud is the second playable character in Super Smash Bros. to originate from a franchise containing an M-rated entry, the first being Solid Snake, and the third being Bayonetta. Unlike Snake or Bayonetta, however, Cloud himself has never been featured in a Mature-rated game.
• Cloud is the only third-party character who didn't debut in the first game of his series.
• Cloud is one of the only three swordfighters in the Super Smash Bros. series to have the ability to wall jump, the others being Toon Link and Young Link.
• Cloud is one of the few playable characters who is only voiced in Japanese, much like Marth and Roy. However, unlike them, Cloud already had a well-established English voice actor, Steve Burton, and yet he did not reprise his role. According to Burton, he was never asked to voice Cloud in Super Smash Bros. 4.

External links

• Article on the Final Fantasy Wiki