Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife is the main protagonist in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and also appears in the spin-off games of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, including Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, as a supporting character.

Cloud is an arrogant and proud swordsman at first, Cloud introduces himself to AVALANCHE as a former member of an elite warrior unit called SOLDIER who has turned mercenary, and uninterested in anything beyond his hired task at hand. He later discovers more about his past and, with the help of his friends, learns there is more to being a hero than possessing physical strength and fame, developing compassion for the Planet and people he fights to protect. He fights to protect the Planet against his nemesis, Sephiroth.

Cloud Strife wields large broadswords in battle, including the iconic Buster Sword, and has access to the most powerful weapons in the game. His Limit abilities involve his sword, and are the strongest, but take the longest to learn. Cloud also has the best all-around stats.

Appearance
Cloud is a man with light skin and is slightly below average height, with a lean and toned build. He has spiky blond hair that in Final Fantasy VIIfeatures one particularly long spike. Cloud's hair has become one of the trademarks of his appearance, although in later appearances the spikes have been toned down. Cloud has blue eyes, which glow due to him having being exposed to Mako. Because "Mako eyes" are iconic to members of SOLDIER, Cloud is often assumed to be one. His weapon is the Buster Sword, a massive sword several feet long which he wields in most of his appearances. Cloud's other trademark weapon is a set of Fusion Swords, which he uses in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The set consists of six individual interconnecting swords that form a larger sword similar in shape and size to the Buster Sword.

Cloud's outfit in Final Fantasy VII is the standard uniform for 1st Class SOLDIER: indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, and a belt. Cloud wears brown boots, gauntlets with a pauldron over his left shoulder and a SOLDIER band in his left wrist. This is the uniform he wears for most of his other appearances, with slight variations. He has a silver earring in his left ear.

In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Cloud wears the blue uniform of a Shinra Electric Power Company infantryman with several belts and straps and a green-gray piece of cloth around the collar. He wears his helmet to conceal his identity at times. After he gains the SOLDIER 1st class uniform his appearance is the same as in Final Fantasy VII, albeit with both shoulder pauldrons in-tact and the SOLDIER logo as it is in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Cloud's clothing was designed with fighting in mind, and the concept began with a black robe and was restructured into the final version. Cloud's hair was changed both to show the passage of time since Final Fantasy VII, and to be more realistic. He wears a high collar sleeveless indigo shirt, black pants and boots, and black cloth covering his left leg and arm. Cloud gains a new pauldron, and his chest is covered by two straps, held in place by a badge representing Fenrir, a wolf that has come to be associated with him. Like the rest of the party, he wears a pink ribbon around his left arm, though it stays hidden for most of the movie. This ensemble has become known as the Cloudy Wolf attire.

In Kingdom Hearts, Cloud's costume was designed to resemble that of Vincent Valentine. He wears a tattered red cloak with dark blue pants and a shirt and brown boots. The costume features many crossing belts and gloves, the left of which has golden trimmings, almost like a claw. His most distinctive trait is a demonic black wing protruding from his left shoulder, symbolizing both his connection to Sephiroth, and the dark powers he is using. The costume can be obtained as DLC in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. In Kingdom Hearts II, Cloud is identical to his appearance in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, save that his new sword is loosely bound as the Buster Sword was in Kingdom Hearts.

Personality
In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud unknowingly holds a fake persona of a cocky and selfish SOLDIER 1st Class. Cloud simultaneously denies his true self, yet longs for an identity. Blocking the memories of the events of the Nibelheim Incident, he suffers a mental breakdown when he learns the truth. Cloud even goes so far as to accept the identity of a Sephiroth Clone and begs for Professor Hojo to number him.

After restoring his true personality, Cloud shows genuine concern for the Planet's fate, a sharp contrast to his persona at the start where he claimed he did not care and only agreed to help AVALANCHE for the right price. The true Cloud is open-minded and cares about the bonds he has forged with his friends.

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and many related appearances, Cloud is a somber and brooding character, tormented by guilt over what he perceives as his past failings to save those he cares about. The final straw was contracting the terminal Geostigma plague, adding to his feelings of helplessness. Distancing from his friends and living alone, Cloud tries to keep his affliction secret. Cloud faces his past both metaphorically and literally, and with the shows of loyalty from the friends he tried to let go, he comes to forgive himself and moves on. It is unclear what this ultimately means in terms of his personality and lifestyle.

In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Cloud is a shy, but more upbeat person who idolizes Zack and Sephiroth. After being betrayed by his idol, he does not hesitate to seek revenge.

In Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, Cloud is closer to his younger persona seen in flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII. He is openly affectionate with Tifa and blames Sephiroth for murdering his mother, something that was absent in the original game.

Cloud remains steadfastly loyal and true to those he cares about and is driven to protect them, going as far as to hide his pain and emotions so he would not worry them. His selfless and kind nature lets him overcome Sephiroth time and again. Cloud has a lighter side, crossdressing as a woman to save Tifa from Don Corneo's mansion. When the party arrives at Costa del Sol, Tifa asks Cloud what he thought about Barret dressed as a sailor; one option is to reply "He looked like a bear wearing a marshmallow," much to Barret's annoyance. Cloud is also put in humorous situations, like marching at the Junon parade. He has a dry, ironic wit as shown in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.

Cloud suffers from motion sickness that is seemingly cured during the period he upholds a fake SOLDIER persona, but returns when his true self is restored. He tells Yuffie that it doesn't affect him while flying on the Highwind, so long as he can remain "nervous." During an attack of nausea while attempting to take the Shinra submarine in Junon Underwater Reactor, he claims he isn't affected if he's driving, a possible inspiration for his favored mode of transport later.

Abilities
Cloud has a unique moveset which consist of kicks and with some kickboxing movements. He also has a special skill that he can back suplex towards his opponent. His unique ability has him to wield his main weapon the Buster Sword which he can damage his opponent in three slashes as it also depletes his charge meter while wielding it. He can also utilizes most of his Limit Breaks which it was used during charge as Cloud utilizes his Meteorain. In one of his throws, he also utilizes his ultimate Limit Break, Omnislash.

Trivia

 * In his artwork and CG render showing him mounted on the Hardy Daytona for Final Fantasy VII, his weapon is the Hardedge rather than the Buster Sword, which can be stolen from SOLDIER:3rd in Shinra Headquarters.
 * In the Nibelheim flashback sequence in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's menu portrait is different from his usual portrait. Cloud is one of only a handful of characters to have more than one menu portrait in a game. This portrait is also used for Cloud in the 1996 Final Fantasy VII demo.
 * Cloud has the most player-controlled appearances of any character in the Final Fantasy series, and the second-most appearances altogether, behind Gilgamesh.
 * Cloud Strife is the central topic of two Square Enix promotional books, CLOUD Vol 1 and CLOUD message.
 * Cloud and Zack's Japanese voice actors, Takahiro Sakurai and Kenichi Suzumura, are best friends in real life and have appeared together in many anime productions, as well as having their own production mini-group, R-16.
 * If the player recruits Vincent after the events in Gaea's Cliff and Mideel, the dialogue between the two will remain as if Cloud never knew about his true past; Cloud still claims he was in SOLDIER.
 * A party of Cid and Cloud offers the fastest Materia growth out of every other combination, assuming Cid is equipped with the Javelin and Cloud is equipped with the Apocalypse. Javelin has 5 double slots for an overall growth of 10 while Apocalypse has 3 triple growth for an overall growth of 9.
 * At the start of Final Fantasy VII if one opens the menu and checks Cloud's status the amount of experience needed to level up to Level 7 is 35 EXP. However, upon winning the first battle, that amount decreases to only 6 EXP.