the other hayseed

English Name: Cloud Strife
Japanese Name:
Age: 15 at the start of Crisis Core; 21 at the end of Crisis Core
Gender: Male
Eye Colour: Blue, with glow as a result of being infused with Mako energy
Hair Colour: Black
Height: 5ft8in/173cm at age 21
Birth Year: August 11^th, 1986
Blood Type: AB
Hometown: Nibelheim
Relatives: Mother
Weapon: gun; later the dying Zack bequeathes his Buster Sword to Cloud.
Seiyuu: Takahiro Sakurai
English Voice actor: Steve Burton

Spiky Haired Kid. Cloud grew up in Nibelheim with his Mother. He was not a well liked kid, in fact the other kids shunned him. Wanted to make something of himself, he decides to join soldier. Unfortunately, he fails to make it in to SOLDIER, and is just an ordinary soldier

The Meeting. Cloud and Zack first talk on a mission to Modeoheim. They become fast friends, as they learn they are both from small villages. The next, and final mission, the two go on together is to Nibelheim. Ashamed of having not having been able to become a SOLDIER, Cloud does not remove his uniform and helmet.

Incident and Exodus. Sephiroth discovers his true origins in Shinra Mansion, and burns Nibelheim to the ground, slaughtering anyone who gets in his way. Cloud's mother was either killed by Sephiroth or burned alive. Zack follows Sephiroth to the reactor to stop him, but is defeated. Finding both Zack and Tifa wounded, Cloud runs to Tifa, who murmurs that he promised to rescue her if she were ever n danger, Zack tells Cloud to finish Sephiroth off. Cloud picks up the Buster Sword and goes inside the Reactor Room containing Jenova's remains. While Sephiroth is in his reverie, Cloud stabs him with the Buster Sword. Although Sephiroth impales Cloud with his Masamune, Cloud manages to grab the blade, and fling it out of his body, knocking Sephiroth off the Reactor platform and into the LifeStream below. He return to the room where Zack is waiting, and falls down the stairs, critically injured. Both he and Zack are taken by Hojo to be exam specimens.

For Four Years. Hojo experiments on Zack and Cloud, they are held in tanks of Mako. Being a strong-willed SOLDIER, the Mako and Jenova had no effect on Zack, but Cloud succumbed to Mako poisoning, rendering him in a catatonic state . During feeding time, Zack manages to break out. In another room in the Shinra mansion, he finds a SOLDIER uniform and dresses Cloud in it. Zack manages to make it as far as a cliff overhanging Midgar before he must fight what seems to be all he infantry men in Shinra. He dies. As he goes off to fight, Cloud reaches toward him, still unable to speak. When the battle ends, Cloud drags himself over to his dying friend. Zack tells Cloud he is will be his living legacy; the proof that he was alive. He gives Cloud the Buster sword and tells him my pride, my dreams, I leave them all to you and passes away. Cloud screams in anguish. When the rain stops and the sky clears, Cloud arise, dragging the Buster Sword too heavy for him to lift, saying thank you to Zack and bidding him good night. Cloud is later discovered by Tifa, wearing the SOLDIER uniform and carrying the buster Sword, wondering aimlessly in the slums.

Who Am I?. The result of shame in having not achieved his dream to become a SOLDIER, guilt in having to watch his friend die to protect him, along with Sephiroth's will and the Jenova cells injected his body, resulted in Cloud blurring his memories with his memories of Zack and Tifa's memories of Cloud. In essences, he forgets their was a Zack, and thinks that he was the SOLDIER Class 1^st and the great hero. He only discovers the truth when he falls into the LifeStream in Mideel that Tifa helps him piece together his memories,it is only then Cloud remembers Zack..

The Nature of Blood. It's very hard for me to pin the nature of Zack and Cloud's relationship. At the end of the day, what's certain is that Cloud was an infantry man, and Zack was a SOLDIER: Class 1^st, so it's not like they were in the same department and saw each other frequently. They form their friendship based on the fact they are both ~~hayseeds~~ from small towns. They were friends, but no doubt Zack would've been a lot more closer to others, like Kunsel, than to Cloud. Zack encouraged Cloud in his pursuits to become a SOLDIER. And for Cloud, Zack became someone he could look up to, as Zack represented everything he himself wanted to be: strong, both mentally and physically, and well-liked.

Living Legacy.In the end, Zack saved his friend, Cloud, but I think even more than that whether friend of not, leaving a wounded comrade behind would not have been the honorable thing to do. Zack didn't even leave Genesis behind after their battle, he carried him out of the cave and back into he open. What good would becoming a SOLDIER be to Zack if he didn't use that strength to help others> Afterall, he wanted to be a hero, and isn't saving people part of a hero's job description? Echoing Angeal's words, which Zack later used to address the SOLDIER recruits: Regardless the situation, never relinquish your pride as a SOLDIER". As it is the way in FFVII, death doesn't mean an end to anything, like Aeris, Zack is still there for Cloud in death throughout the events that occur in Advent Children. In a way similar to Angeal, Zack supports Cloud. He talks to Cloud with a slight authoritiveness that contrasts Aeris' gentleness with Cloud, but is meant to urge him on. After all that happened and all the time that had passed, Zack is still very much concerned with Cloud's welfare. What he does not want is for his death, which he had no regrets over, to be a regret for Cloud. He died to help save Cloud, and even after death he is still there to 'save' Cloud, this time from his self. He stays with Cloud until he is certain that his friend is capable of standing on his own two feet.