Cloud Strife

[Cloud Strife]

name:Cloud Strife
age: Twenty Four
gender: Male
sexuality: Straight/Heterosexual
member group: None
canon or oc: Cannon
from game: FF VII
played by: play by here.





appearance:
Cloud stands at the fairly short height of five feet and eight inches. Along with his short frame, he has a slightly slim build, probably right at the average weight for his height. Despite the aforementioned height and weight, he has a very athletic and muscular build. He's not overly ripped or anything, but he has all the necessary muscles in all the right places giving him a very toned and 'strong' appearance.

His hair is blond, almost yellow in hue, and uniquely spiked featuring one prominent large one, and plenty of smaller spikes as well. His eyes are a bright and vibrant blue. His eyes glow due to the flow of Mako through his body, a trademark of SOLDIER.

As of now, he wears the same garb as he did during the events of 'Advent Children' as people call it. He wears a sleveless indigo shirt, with a high color. He wears ordinary black pants, as well as black boots. He nolonger wears the black cloth that he used to wear over his left arm and left leg. Across his chest he has two straps and the representational symbol of "Cloudy Wolf" or Fenrir on his shoulder.

personality:
To say Cloud's personality is complex, is an understatement.
Despite losing his memories, his true personality and character has remained. He still remains slightly dark, and brooding, however along with these there is a feeling of acceptance. No longer does he feel endlessly helpless, when confronted with the thoughts of the past and losing comrades like Aerith and Zack. However, he still prefers solitude over socializing with large groups of people, and if he must keep company would prefer it to be with a close friend or ally. As one can imagine, this makes his life as a teacher at a school as large as this one, quite interesting.

Despite his generally brooding and dark nature, when with friends or those that he trusts, he can be lighter and even funny at times. Usually his humor fluctuates from silly to sarcastic, but it all depends on the mood at the time. He also has an infallible loyalty to those he considers friends.

history:

Cloud's childhood thus far has only been covered in Final Fantasy VII, in flashbacks. Cloud was born in the sleepy mountain village of Nibelheim, and was neighbors with Tifa Lockhart. His father died when he was young and was raised by his mother. He grew up isolated from the rest of the village children, feeling himself somehow better than them, though it is implied that he longed for the friendship of the others. He developed a crush on Tifa, but hated her friends. Although the two consider each other (and are considered by others) to be childhood friends, by her own account they were not that close growing up, despite the fact he was her neighbor.

When Cloud was nine (1995), Tifa's mother died, and Tifa insisted that she could meet her mother again by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed, and when Tifa was injured, the townsfolk believed the whole expedition up the mountain to be Cloud's fault, and Tifa's father forbade Cloud to come near Tifa. Cloud blamed himself for what happened to Tifa, thinking that it was because of his own weakness that he failed to save her. As a result, Cloud developed a bit of an anger problem, always getting fights, not even caring who it was with. Yet in spite of this new show of aggression, Cloud was still just a quiet kid who rarely had much of anything to do with the other kids in the village

At the age of thirteen, Cloud learned of Sephiroth and his exploits. Resolving to become a hero like him, Cloud decided to set out and join SOLDIER. He called Tifa out to the water tower to tell her about his departure, hoping to impress her. Upon her request, he agreed to come save her if she ever found herself in trouble. The following spring, he left for Midgar in pursuit of his goal, as did Johnny, another Nibelheim youth trying out for SOLDIER.
[edit] Crisis Core/Before Crisis
Cloud as he appears in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, with a sniper rifle as his weapon.

Despite his bravado, Cloud is unable to make it into SOLDIER and becomes an ordinary Shinra infantryman. In this role he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair in Modeoheim, and the two become friends after learning they are both "backwater experts". On June 28, 2001 Cloud is ordered to protect Professor Rayleigh in Midgar from the insurgency organization AVALANCHE. Though he fails, both of their lives are saved by a Player Turk. Despite his failure Cloud shows off some impressive sword skills for just a normal human.

On September 22, 2002 Cloud later returns to Nibelheim, along with Zack and Sephiroth to investigate a damaged reactor in Mt. Nibel, and Tifa is to act as their guide. Ashamed of his failure to join SOLDIER, Cloud hides his identity from the townspeople, and especially Tifa, though he does reveal himself to his mother. When the expedition reaches the reactor, Sephiroth discovers Professor Hojo's failed experiments with Mako soldiers as well as where ShinRa had interred Jenova, which Sephiroth mistakenly believed was his mother.
Cloud impaled with Sephiroth's sword, shown from Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-.

Falling into madness, Sephiroth immerses himself in the writings of Professor Gast and discovers his own dark past. He comes out from the basement of the Shinra Mansion on December 1st and sets about destroying the village. Cloud witnessed his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushed to the reactor to confront Sephiroth. There he found both Tifa unconscious from an attack from Sephiroth and Zack barely conscious after a furious and desperate struggle with Sephiroth. A grief-stricken Cloud picked up Zack's Buster Sword, catching Sephiroth off guard in the reactor core, and impaling him. Wounded, Sephiroth was left as Cloud went to care for Tifa, in some accounts also having an affectionate conversation with her. Sephiroth emerged from the reactor core, and when Cloud attacked again, Sephiroth stabbed him with the Masamune. Cloud summoned unknown strength, and used the katana as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into the Mako below, though the observing Turk, who did not see this, assumed Sephiroth jumped in of his own volition and reported back to ShinRa to this effect. Cloud collapsed immediately thereafter.

Cloud and Zack become test subjects of Professor Hojo when they are found afterward. Injecting them with Jenova's cells and exposing them to Mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turns them into Sephiroth Clones. Four years later (December 19, 2006), Zack broke out of his confinement and helped a comatose Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform that was in Shinra manor to wear because his old clothes were soaked with mako. Due to the experiment, Cloud was in a weak and delirious state as he had reacted more strongly to the experiments than Zack, who was surprisingly not affected by the Mako experiments. However as they escaped, Zack speaks continuously to the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans for both of them to become mercenaries in Midgar after finding out that four years had passed since Hojo took them. Zack carries the comatose Cloud around, and though Cloud takes no part in the events, is present at Genesis Rhapsodos's defeat by Zack.
Cloud after his and Zack's final conversation.

After almost a year of running, they finally arrive outside of Midgar in September 2007. However, the Shinra forces that have been searching for them finally catch up. Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. In the end, after single-handedly and heroically massacring the majority of the thousands of Shinra soldiers present, Zack is gunned down by the last few remaining soldiers and Cloud is left for dead after being seen in his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the whole chaos, Cloud manages to crawl over to where Zack is mortally wounded. In his last few seconds, a blood-soaked Zack entrusts the Buster Sword to Cloud, and tells him that his legacy will live on inside Cloud, before finally dying. After some time Cloud, deeply distressed, scrambles to his feet, Buster Sword in hand, and begins trudging off towards Midgar. His final words to Zack were, "Good-night, Zack".

Shortly thereafter, in the Sector Seven Train Station, Cloud's shattered mind undergoes a radical transformation. Hojo's experimentations, combined with his own weakened psyche, Jenova's mimicry abilities and the trauma of the events he has experienced, cause Cloud to impress Zack's memories, his ideal image of himself as well as Tifa's memories of him together to create an entirely new persona. What emerges in Cloud's mind is a reality in which he successfully joined SOLDIER and was Sephiroth's partner - Zack did not exist. Taking up Zack's plans (hinting that he may have been vaguely aware of what Zack was telling him), Cloud presents himself as a mercenary, believing himself a former First Class SOLDIER. Since the official SOLDIER process is similar to the experiments Hojo performed on him, Cloud possesses the same abilities as a SOLDIER does and his claim is accepted as true.


In Midgar, Cloud is found by Tifa, who is now a member of the anti-ShinRa terrorist group AVALANCHE, along with Barret Wallace. Tifa, perplexed by oddities she notices in Cloud, requests that he help AVALANCHE in their struggle. Cloud joins AVALANCHE to attack the Sector 1 Reactor on December 9th, and the mission goes successfully. After blowing up the Sector 5 Reactor, Cloud becomes separated from the others by falling into the slum church where Aeris Gainsborough grows flowers. While Cloud is absent, Tifa allows herself to be captured by a Shinra informant, Don Corneo in an attempt to get information out of him. Cloud and Aeris, after disguising Cloud as a woman, attempt to rescue her, after which the Don admits that Shinra has found out AVALANCHE's base of operations is in Sector 7.

To crush AVALANCHE, Shinra drops the plate over Sector 7 of Midgar, crushing the entire area; Biggs, and Wedge and Jessie are killed trying to stop them, and Aeris is captured taking Barret's daughter Marlene to safety. Cloud then leads an attack on Shinra Headquarters to rescue Aeris. There he meets with Red XIII, and sees the headless remains of Jenova. However, the group is captured and imprisoned. During the night, Cloud awakens to find the doors of the prison open and the guards slaughtered. He, Aeris, Barret, Tifa and Red XIII follow a trail of blood to the top floor, only to find President Shinra impaled on Sephiroth's sword. Cloud fights briefly with the new head of Shinra, Rufus Shinra, and then escapes from Midgar on a motorcycle, the other members riding alongside in a pickup.
Cloud and Aerith, artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.

The group stays at an inn located outside Midgar in Kalm. There Cloud tells what he thinks are his own memories of what happened on the day Nibelheim was burnt, with himself in Zack's place and Zack no longer present. His grudge with Sephiroth explained, the next day the group sets out to track Sephiroth down, going through the Mythril Mines where the Turks reveal Sephiroth is headed to Junon. Cloud and the group sneak into the Shinra controlled Junon and onto an oil tanker bound for Costa Del Sol, meeting Yuffie Kisaragi on the way.

The journey to find Sephiroth leads them through North Corel and the Gold Saucer, where the manager Dio gives Cloud and his friends a buggy to assist them in their travels and the robot Cait Sith joins their cause. The buggy eventually breaks down, forcing the group to stay at Red XIII's home Cosmo Canyon, where the Elder Bugenhagen reveals critical information about the planet and the Lifestream and the negative effects Shinra's drilling for Mako is having on them. When the group reaches Nibelheim, they find no trace of what happened.

Although Cloud and Tifa are confused, the group explores the rebuilt town and find that no one remembers the town ever being burnt down. In the ruins of the Shinra Mansion, they find Vincent Valentine, who agrees to accompany them when they mention Sephiroth. In the mansion library, Sephiroth appears and alludes to a "reunion" that he feels Cloud should attend. Cloud and the group traverse Mt. Nibel and go to Rocket Town, where they attempt to steal Cid Highwind's plane and have it shot down by Shinra. Adding Cid to their roster of allies, the group returns to the Gold Saucer and claims the Keystone from Dio. Believing the Keystone to be pivotal to finding out what Sephiroth is planning, Cloud and the group are forced to stay the night when the trolley to the park breaks down. At this time, Cait Sith is revealed to be a Shinra spy, and steals the Keystone and turns it over to Tseng of the Turks.

Traveling to the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng is found wounded by Sephiroth, and he returns the Keystone. In the heart of the temple, Cloud finds Sephiroth, who reveals his plan to call the ultimate black magic, Meteor, which will deal a critical wound to the planet. The Lifestream will emerge to heal this wound, and Sephiroth will absorb its energy, becoming a God. Sephiroth leaves as Cloud discovers the temple itself is the Black Materia Sephiroth needs to call Meteor. Cait Sith sacrifices himself to get it, but Sephiroth returns, and because Cloud had been injected with Jenova cells, Sephiroth has control over Cloud, and he hands him the Black Materia. He faints, and Aeris appears to him in a dream claiming only she can stop Sephiroth. When Cloud regains consciousness, Barret and Tifa tell him Aeris has left, and Cloud resolves to follow her to find out the truth behind her words.
Cloud in an FMV

Cloud and company pursue Aeris through the Sleeping Forest to the Forgotten Capital. He finds her praying on an altar in the center of the city's underground complex, but suddenly takes up the Buster Sword and attempts to attack her, his mind under Sephiroth's control. Stopping himself in the nick of time when his allies shout at him to stop, Cloud watches as Sephiroth descends from above the altar and impales Aeris, killing her in an iconic scene. Her death enrages Cloud, and the rest of the party mourns her passing. Cloud puts Aeris to rest and reveals to the party he has been under Sephiroth's control, and may become controlled again, asking his allies to stay with him despite this.

Finally arriving at the Northern Crater, Cloud momentarily regains the Black Materia and gives it to a party member of the player's choosing, not trusting himself. They then find the center of the crater, where Sephiroth appears and shows Cloud a partial vision of what really happened at Nibelheim, revealing Zack's presence in his stead but not Cloud's true part in the events. Shinra arrives afterwards, and Professor Hojo reveals his Jenova Reunion Theory that Cloud is a part of. Cloud comes to believe he was entirely created by Hojo and that even his name and memories of being Tifa's childhood friend belong to someone else. The shock of his past being fake, combined with Hojo's revelations and accusations, shatters Cloud's mind. He takes back the Black Materia and hands it to Sephiroth, who activates it. After Cloud apologizes to Tifa for being a fake, the crater begins to shake violently. AVALANCHE escapes, save for Barret and Tifa, and Cloud is left behind to fall into the Lifestream.

Surfacing at Mideel approximately a week later, Cloud has been subjected to intense Mako poisoning within the Lifestream, leaving him babbling and incoherent. Tifa stays to care for him while the rest of the party fights Shinra, who is risking a dangerous attempt to stop the Meteor that is now coming to the planet. Ultimate Weapon attacks Mideel, and Tifa and Cloud fall into the Lifestream and into Cloud's subconscious. There, Tifa helps Cloud piece back together his true memories of his childhood by comparing their memories to find out which are true, while Tifa encourages Cloud to believe in his own existence. Restored to his true self, Cloud resumes command of the party again. With Bugenhagen's guidance, they discover Aeris had managed to summon Holy just before Sephiroth killed her; the ultimate white magic, it could stop Meteor, but Sephiroth is holding it back.

After taking their revenge upon the Shinra for all the wrongs the company has wrought to each member of the party, the group lands in the Northern Crater and descends into the depths of the planet to confront Sephiroth. After the party defeats Sephiroth's new god-like form, his mind is sent back into the Lifestream. Cloud, sensing Sephiroth is not dead follows him mentally into the Lifestream and defeats Sephiroth at last in one final duel of will. Returned to his body by Aeris just in time, Cloud and the party escape the crater on the Highwind moments before Holy emerges to fight Meteor. The nearness of Meteor, however, causes Holy to hold back its full power, until Aeris commands the Lifestream to emerge and push it back so that it may unleash its full power to destroy Meteor and save the planet.
[edit] Novellas
Cloud, as he appears in the animated version of Case of Denzel.

In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa, Cloud and Tifa build a new life together in the new city on Midgar's outskirts, called Edge, after the fall of Meteor; Cloud quits his mercenary job and takes up a job as a delivery boy via his new business, the "Strife Delivery Service".

One day while visiting Aerith's ruined church, a recently orphaned boy, Denzel, who had his family killed when the Sector 7 plate fell, finds Cloud's cellphone on his motorcycle. After Denzel attempts to call his home in Sector 7 and receives an error message, he calls 7th Heaven which he finds in Cloud's recent call log. Tifa picks up and asks Denzel why he has Cloud's cellphone. Denzel begins to cry and collapses from his Geostigma. When Cloud discovers Denzel, he takes him home to live with him, Marlene and Tifa.

Although their new life as a family with Marlene and eventually Denzel is happy, Cloud eventually becomes insular. He eventually admits to Tifa that his problems are due to the fact that "you can't reclaim lost lives", referring to his perceived guilt in the deaths of Aerith and Zack. As the novella ends, Cloud moves out of their home and into the Sector 5 Church prior to the film.

In Case of the Lifestream, Cloud is mentioned as being the core of Sephiroth's being. By focusing on his hatred of Cloud, Sephiroth is able to avoid dissolution in the Lifestream, and believes that Cloud's memories of him can allow him to survive and eventually be revived. Aerith also thinks of Cloud during her attempts to battle Sephiroth's influence, eventually resolving to contact him and help him fight Sephiroth's infection on the Lifestream at the source - the plague Geostigma on the planet's surface.

Cloud has a few mentions in Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, focusing on Aerith. Here Aerith philosophizes around the Lifestream, and also contemplates her decision to leave Cloud, whom she admits she loves more than she did Zack. She later recalls Cloud's personality traits which were created by Cloud impressing Zack's memories into his own, and this conjures Zack's spirit to her. Aerith protects Tifa's mind from Mako poisoning when she and Cloud fall into the Lifestream, and when Cloud defeats Sephiroth, she helps him return to his body.


Before the start of the movie, Cloud leaves his family to look for a cure for Denzel's Geostigma. Unfortunately he fails to do anything more than get himself infected, though with a much less serious case than Denzel. Thanks to his failure, Cloud falls into a familiar cycle of self-pity and grief, and so avoids calls from his friends.

When Advent Children opens, it is 2009, two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII. Cloud receives a call from Tifa that Reno has a job for him, and he is attacked by a mysterious trio of young men, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness. Having reached Healin Lodge, Cloud is surprised to find Rufus still alive but suffering from Geostigma. The president offers Cloud to join them to fight off the trio, led by Kadaj. Cloud thinks about this, but rejects after Reno brings up the idea of rebuilding Shinra.

The three remnants begin luring and kidnapping children that possessed Geostigma, intending to have the children lead them to Jenova's lost head. Although reluctant to fight for fear of failure, Cloud goes to the Forgotten Capital after encouragement from Tifa and the Turks. On the way, he is visited by an apparition of Aerith, in which he declares that he is searching for forgiveness as well. Upon seeing Denzel and the other children under Kadaj's control, he confronts the trio for a second time but finds himself outmatched and is rescued by Vincent Valentine, who tells him about the true nature of Geostigma - a plague caused by Jenova's cells. Suddenly, Marlene runs into Cloud's arms worried about what had happened to Denzel but refusing to go home when Cloud asks Vincent to take her. Giving much thought about the conversations he previously had with his friends, he finally resolves to take Marlene home and confront Kadaj.

Back in Edge, Kadaj threatens Rufus and summons Bahamut SIN to attack the city. After Cloud drops Marlene off at the bar, where she tells him not to give up, he finds the strength to take up arms again and defeats Bahamut SIN with help from his old allies. He eventually takes on Loz and Yazoo one more time while chasing Kadaj through the highway, and manages to slice their weapons (and Loz's bike) in half. Loz and Yazoo are seemingly killed in the explosion set by Reno and Rude during the chase. Confronting Kadaj once more, the battle eventually takes him back to Aerith's church, where the Lifestream-influenced water cures him of his Geostigma.
Cloud and his motorcycle, Fenrir.

Cloud battles Kadaj once more and prevails, but the remnant absorbs Jenova's cells at the last moment and Sephiroth is reborn. The ensuing battle at the ruins of the Shinra Building proves to be fierce and nearly ends Cloud's life. He almost seems to be on the verge of defeat when Sephiroth stabs him through the shoulder, then makes the mistake of asking what is most important to Cloud and how he can take that away from him. Inspired by thoughts of his friends, living and dead, Cloud regains his strength and overwhelms Sephiroth with "Omnislash Version 5". Defeated again, Sephiroth dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place. Seeing Aerith and hearing her voice, and believing her to be the "mother" he has been longing for, Kadaj reaches for her hand as he is diffused into pyrefly-like lifestream particles.

At this point, Loz and Yazoo appear and set off a kamikaze explosion that apparently kills all three of them. However, Cloud is not dead, merely in critical condition, and he is healed by the intervention of Aerith, reawakening in the pool that now occupies the church. After helping Denzel into the Lifestream-infused water in the old church to cure his Geostigma, Cloud sees Aerith and Zack near the doorway. Before they leave, Aerith's final words try to make sure that Cloud will be all right. He replies that he will, because he knows he's not alone anymore.
Cloud fighting Sephiroth

In the credits of the movie, Cloud is seen driving down a long highway. He passes a series of flower fields of varying sizes and flowers, and other shots of forests, mountains, and coasts are shown. The song that plays is Safe and Sound, the thrust of which is of protecting's one's hopes and dreams, and never giving up, no matter how painful the struggle becomes. Aerith is seen standing in a field of yellow flowers and she turns towards the camera. The credits end with a shot of Cloud's desk, showing a picture of AVALANCHE taken after Cloud's awakening has joined the picture of his family, with two flowers in front of it.

In Advent Children Complete, the climax of Cloud's battle with Sephiroth is much more brutal. After being thrown through a wall, Cloud attacks Sephiroth with renewed strength using Omnislash. However, Sephiroth repels the attack and impales Cloud through the chest, and then flings him into the air, continuing his assault with a flurry of thrusts, stabbing Cloud multiple times before flinging him back to the ground. At this time Zack appears to Cloud and speaks to him, giving him the strength to climb to his feet and keep fighting, finishing off Sephiroth with the new "Omnislash Version 6." In the credits, after the shot of Cloud's desk, a shot of the hill Zack died on can be seen, now devoid of the Buster Sword, but with a grove of yellow flowers in its place. The voice of Denzel can be heard to ask if this place is a grave, to which the voice of Cloud responds that it is not, but rather the place where a hero began his journey. The camera then fades to the Sector Five Church, where the Buster Sword, now shined and free of rust, now rests beside the waters.

In the original version of Advent Children, the song playing during the ending credits was "Calling", the theme of which was continually pressing on to overcome your troubles. Also during the same section of credits, a few short shots of Aerith in a large field of flowers are shown, as well as one where she turns around, watching Cloud drive by. Calling, and these shots of Aerith were removed for the Advent Children Complete version of the credits. There is also a scene showing flowers blooming on the hill where Zack died, and the Buster Sword laid to rest in the church.

Reminiscence

In a DVD extra, Cloud is seen on a regular work day making deliveries, while taking calls from his friends. One call in particular came from Vincent Valentine, who has recently purchased a phone and tells Cloud that Yuffie has no right to call him. Cloud makes a run to Barret's place and receives three packages: one for Marlene, one for Denzel, and a "Closed for Business" sign from Yuffie, who has been trying to get a hold of him. The last call is to Tifa, asking her to close the bar the next day.

Cloud in Dirge of Cerberus.

During the events of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, which take place one year after Advent Children (2010). Cloud is not seen during the attack on Edge (assumed to have spirited away Denzel and Marlene as well) but later assists the WRO and Vincent Valentine in their struggle against the threat of Omega and Deep Ground. He leads the ground assault on Midgar, eventually facing Rosso the Crimson. The outcome of the duel is unknown, but both survive the encounter. He and the others eventually aid Vincent in Omega's destruction.

Interestingly, there are several posters of him found around Edge, showing a shadow of his original artwork from Final Fantasy VII on a green background. In addition, the sleeve that he tore off at the end of Advent Children is now back for unknown reasons.