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Cloud Strife (クラウド・ストライフ Kuraudo Sutoraifu?) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square's (now Square Enix's) role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII and several of its sequels and spin-offs. He was originally designed by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura. Cloud's appearance is marked by spikey blond hair, striking blue eyes, dark clothing and his Buster Sword (バスターソード Basutā Sōdo?),[3] which previously belonged to his friend Zack Fair.<br />
In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud is a mercenary and self-proclaimed ex-member of SOLDIER, an elite, genetically augmented military unit operating under the de facto world government, the megacorporation Shinra Electric Power Company. Fighting against Shinra in the resistance group AVALANCHE, and driven by a feud with the primary antagonist, Sephiroth,[4] Cloud learns to accept his troubled past and adapts to his role as a leader. Cloud has also appeared in several other titles outside the Final Fantasy VII continuity, such as Itadaki Street Special, Final Fantasy Tactics, Dissidia Final Fantasy, Ehrgeiz and the Kingdom Hearts series.<br />
Cloud has garnered a primarily positive reception from critics. Described as "iconic," the character has been ranked highly in various published character lists. He remains popular among fans, and continues to place highly in popularity polls. He has also become the basis for a variety of merchandise, such as action figures and jewelleryIn Final Fantasy VII, Cloud is introduced as a mercenary-for-hire and a former SOLDIER 1st Class, an elite military unit operating under the Shinra Company. Presented at the game's start as apathetic to everything unrelated to his current job, Cloud's blasé attitude towards the goals of AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist resistance group fighting against Shinra and the threat posed to the Planet, causes conflict with the other characters,[5][6][7] while his background produces misgivings as to his motivations and trustworthiness.[8][9] Cloud, meanwhile, takes pride in his past, confident in his abilities as a "former member of SOLDIER."[10][11] Despite appearing detached to members of AVALANCHE,[6][12][13] Cloud does display moments of camaraderie, some depending on the player's choices.[14][15] When confronted by his childhood friend and AVALANCHE member, Tifa Lockhart, Cloud agrees to keep his boyhood promise to protect her,[16] continuing his AVALANCHE membership despite never having become a famous hero.[17][18] Following the player's departure from Midgar, Cloud is appointed group leader by the other members of the party, upsetting Barret Wallace, AVALANCHE's original leader.[19]<br />
In interacting with Aerith Gainsborough, a flower girl wanted by Shinra because she is sole survivor of an ancient race known as the Cetra,[20][21] Cloud's character is further expanded upon. He shows increased signs of good-natured humor[22][23][24] and protectiveness,[25][26][27] as opposed to his antagonistic use of sarcasm with Barret.[13] The love triangle aspect between Cloud, Tifa and Aerith is primarily focused on in the first disc, and at times is used to humorous effect.[26][28][29]<br />
When the player arrives at the inn in the town of Kalm, Cloud narrates to the group his history with Sephiroth, a legendary member of SOLDIER and the game's primary antagonist. According to Cloud, the two were "war buddies," having worked together on previous missions.[30] Having joined SOLDIER to emulate Sephiroth,[16][30] Cloud states in the flashback that he signs up for "big missions" whenever they become available, as the war between Shinra and the people of Wutai had already ended and thus his chances for military fame.[31] When Sephiroth, upon discovering documents surrounding the nature of Jenova and his birth, mistakes himself to be a Cetra[32] and razes Nibelheim, Cloud chases after him. Finding Tifa wounded by Sephiroth at the Mt. Nibel Mako reactor, Cloud discovers Sephiroth releasing Jenova, an extraterrestrial lifeform and Sephiroth's "mother," from imprisonment. Cloud relates to the group that he then confronted Sephiroth, but he is unable to remember the events directly following.[33]<br />
In fact, these events did not occur as Cloud describes; rather, they are an amalgamation of Cloud's actual past (as a member of the Shinra army who failed to enter SOLDIER) along with his friend Zack Fair's own past, mixed with memories gleaned from Tifa's mind, created out of a combination of shame, Jenova cells and manipulation by Sephiroth.[34][35] The effects of this self-fabrication are made noticeable to the player prior to Cloud's discovery of the truth; at the mention of names from the past or moments related thereto, Cloud will experience a brief flashback and collapse momentarily, suffering from apparent physical pain,[36][37] and visual and audio cues are given to indicate discrepancies.[38][39] It is not until after he and Tifa fall into the Lifestream that he, with her encouragement, can piece his past back together, and restore his own personality from underneath the amalgam where he had subconsciously hidden it, ultimately dismissing Sephiroth's deceit that he is an artificially-constructed Sephiroth-clone.[40In the cellphone game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Cloud appears in a minor role. During the course of the game, which takes place over the six years leading into Final Fantasy VII, the player encounters Cloud while he works in Shinra in his efforts to join SOLDIER, assisting the Shinra group the Turks on one of their missions and repraising the events from Nibelheim's rise.[41]<br />
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Cloud's design in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was one of the most difficult to make to look realistic.[42]<br />
In the CGI film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Cloud, two years following the conclusion of Final Fantasy VII,[43] lives with Tifa in the city of Edge, working as a delivery boy for the "Strife Delivery Service" that Tifa set up in her new bar, having given up his life as a mercenary.[44] Staying with them is Marlene, Barret's adopted daughter, and Denzel, an orphan with a rampant and deadly disease called Geostigma. When confronted by Tifa following the disappearance of Denzel and Marlene, it is revealed that Cloud is also suffering from the effects of Geostigma, and he responds that he is unfit to protect his new family and other friends.[45] However, when urged by Tifa to let go of the past,[46] Cloud sets out for the Forgotten City in search of the children, and confronts Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, genetic remnants of Sephiroth left behind before he could diffuse into the Lifestream completely.[47] 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 remains of Jenova, causing Sephiroth to be reborn. When Sephiroth is once again defeated, he dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place.[48] At the film's conclusion, Cloud reunites with his friends, sees Aerith and Zack and assures them that he will be fine.<br />
Cloud is also featured in two of On the Way to a Smile novellas, which are set between Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children. "Case of Tifa" shows his life alongside Tifa, Marlene and Denzel, and "Case of Denzel" relates how Cloud first met Denzel.[49] Cloud is also one of the main characters in the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, which depicts him in two events that were shown in flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII; one at Nibelheim when he fights Sephiroth, and the other while escaping from Shinra with Zack.[50]<br />
Cloud appears in a supporting role in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. A year after the events of Advent Children,[51] Cloud, working alongside Barret and Tifa, lends his support to the ground forces of the World Regenesis Organization and Vincent Valentine in their siege of Midgar and counterattack against the rogue Shinra military unit, Deepground.[52]<br />
In the prequel to the original Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Cloud is presented as a young Shinra infantryman who befriends Zack.[53] During the game's conclusion, a dying Zack gives Cloud his Buster Sword, telling him that he is his legacy.[54] The game ends with Cloud heading to Midgar, reprising the start of Final Fantasy VII.[55]].