Cloud Strife

Name: Cloud Strife
Age: 21
Gender: Man
Race: Human-Soldier

Appearence
Skin: Caucasion
Clothing:
Tattoo's/scars: None
Accessories: Lion Shaped Earing

Personal Information
Origin: Midgar
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, silently 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.

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 28th, 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 22nd, 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.

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 Sephiroth's cells and exposing them to Mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turn them into Sephiroth Clones. Four years later (December 19th, 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 did. 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 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 hundreds 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 he 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 gone, 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, Barret, Tifa, Red XIII and Aeris 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 driven by Tifa.
Cloud and Aeris, 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. Tifa, confused by this account, doesn't say anything. 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, they explore 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 cause a critical wound on 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 Sephiroth 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. Cloud initially refuses to follow, worried that he may be controlled again, but after encouragement from Tifa, he resumes his chase.
Cloud in an FMV

Cloud and company pursue Aerith 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 to rescue a falling Tifa, Cloud and the party escape the crater on the Highwind moments before Holy emerges to fight Meteor. The nearness of Meteor, however, cause Holy's 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.