It’s not too great a stretch to say that Cloud Strife, the protagonist ofFinal Fantasy 7, is the most iconic lead in his franchise. Sure, other characters, like Clive Rosfield and Tidus, have no shortage of intriguing characteristics, but the sheer prevalence of theFF7IP, coupled with Cloud’s iconic design and lovably gruff personality, have effectively made himthe face ofFinal Fantasyas a whole. But there’s another key reason why he is so enduring, and it’s a far more somber one.
Major spoilers ahead forFinal Fantasy 7.
Cloud is immediately established within the context of a familiar archetype: the reluctant hero with a traumatic past. Indeed, it won’t take long forFinal Fantasy 7players to learn about the destruction of Cloud and Tifa’s village Nibelheim at the hands of Sephiroth, which Cloud was powerless to stop despite his training and SOLDIER augmentation. It’s clear that he has suffered significant psychological damage from this event, leading him down a path of psychic torture as he aids Avalanche in its anti-Shinra plot. The Cloud that players meet is a battle-hardened super-solider who witnessed the brutal destruction of his home by a man he considered an ally—a backstory that certainly fits the definition of tragic. But this story is a lie, and the truth is more unsettling than most would imagine.
Cloud’s True Backstory Is Final Fantasy 7’s Darkest Narrative Element
Cloud Isn’t Who He Thinks He Is
Sephiroth, the gleaming star of the SOLDIER program, did indeed lose his mind at Mt. Nibel and destroy Nibelheim, killing Cloud’s mother, Tifa’s father, and many others. And Cloud did, in fact, become traumatized by this event, but not in the way that he or the player initially thinks.
The truth is that Cloud was never inducted into the SOLDIER program. He joined Shinra as a teenager with the hopes of becoming a genetically modified SOLDIER, but he was rejected and forced to serve as a regular foot soldier instead. During his service, he befriended Zack Fair, a burgeoning leader in the SOLDIER program and theprotagonist ofFinal Fantasy 7: Crisis Core. It was Zack who accompanied Cloud and Sephiroth on their mission to Mt. Nibel, not a nameless Shinra soldier, as Cloud remembers.
The nameless, helmeted Shinra grunt of Cloud’s memory was actually Cloud himself, who was too ashamed to show his face back home after failing to become a SOLDIER. After destroying Nibelheim, it was Cloud who was impaled by Sephiroth, not Tifa: he once again displaced his actions onto another character in retrospect. The reason for this?Cloud remembers himself as Zack, SOLDIER 1st Class, reliving these memories from the other’s perspective rather than his own.
In reality, Cloud managed to throw Sephiroth into the lifestream in a moment of adrenaline-fueled strength, though this culminated in him falling unconscious and being captured by Hojo, who believes Sephiroth to be dead. In an effort to create a “new” Sephiroth, Hojo brought both Cloud and Zack (also unconscious at this time) to Shinra Manor and performed Mako experiments on them for four years. This is the origin of Cloud’s superhuman characteristics—not thetraditional SOLDIER Mako treatments. As one who has already undergone these treatments, Zach is able to recover from Hojo’s experimentation, eventually staging an escape from Shinra Manor with Cloud in tow.
Before escaping Shinra Manor,Zack outfitted Cloud with a spare SOLDIER uniform, which helped support the latter’s delusion of being part of the program.
Cloud, being an unmodified human, didn’t recover as well as Zack. In fact, Hojo’s experiments left him in a near-vegetative state, unable to speak or move independently. Nevertheless, Zack dragged him across half the world, attempting to get them both back home to Midgar. Sadly, the pair were ultimately cornered by Shinra, who were hunting them in an effort to eliminate all witnesses of the events at Nibelheim. Though he fought valiantly, Zack was killed by Shinra troops. The shock of the events allowed Cloud to regain some semblance of consciousness,prompting Zack to give Cloud the Buster Swordas his dying act, calling him his “living legacy.” This title would become more fitting than Zack could have imagined.
Cloud’s False Identity Is a Double-Whammy of Tragedy
Thedestruction of Nibelheimand the events that follow are horrible enough, but Cloud’s true anguish stems from a more existential place: he essentially has no identity. Of course, it’s tragic that he lost his mother and many of his friends to Sephiroth’s destruction, but he also lost almost five years of his life to Hojo’s experiments, and he doesn’t even know it. Moreover, his status as a SOLDIER, a status that he always dreamed of achieving, is a lie. He failed in the pursuit of his goal, and this defining aspect of his personality is actually a defining aspect of someone else’s, a friend who he can barely remember.
It’s also important to note that Zack and Aerith had something of a love affair prior to Zack departing for Nibelheim. Aerith, of course, never got to see him again, and while she would move on in some ways, shestill harbors some feelings for him inFinal Fantasy 7, calling him her “first love.” Though never explicitly stated, it is heavily implied that whatever romantic feelings she has for Cloud are actually displaced feelings for Zack. Cloud has adopted many of Zack’s memories and mannerisms, after all.
Cloud is a man out of time. His family is gone, and he struggles with a number of personal demons that he lacks the tools to properly fight. The root of his pain is obfuscated by a mix of amnesia, Mako poisoning, and trauma-induced delusions, making his story a heartbreakingly beautiful one.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
WHERE TO PLAY
Discover a vibrant and vast world in this standalone entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. Iconic heroes Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII have escaped from the dystopian city Midgar and are now in pursuit of Sephiroth, the vengeful swordsman from Cloud’s past who was thought to be dead. This new adventure can be enjoyed by all players, even those who have yet to play Final Fantasy VII Remake or the PlayStation original. Expect a new standard of cinematic storytelling, fast-paced combat and rich exploration across a vast world.
