For fighter info, seeCloud (SSB4) andCloud (SSBU).For other meanings of "cloud", seeCloud (disambiguation).

Cloud Strife
Official artworks of Cloud fromDissidia Final Fantasy andDissidia Final Fantasy NT.
Universe	Final Fantasy
Debut	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (2025)
Console/platform of origin	PlayStation
Species	Human (augmented via Mako and Jenova cells)
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Nibelheim (birthplace) Edge (surrogate hometown)
Created by	Yoshinori Kitase Kazushige Nojima Tetsuya Nomura Hironobu Sakaguchi
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voice actor	Takahiro Sakurai
Article on Wikipedia	Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife (クラウド・ストライフ,Cloud Strife) is a character fromSquare Enix'sFinal Fantasy series. He is the main protagonist ofFinal Fantasy VII, itshigh-definition remake, and its film sequel,Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Cloud also appears in a supporting role throughoutFinal Fantasy VII's related media, theCompilation of Final Fantasy VII. Cloud also makes appearances in theKingdom Hearts franchise.

Initially appearing as a proud, yet arrogant and aloof swordsman who claims to be a former member of the elite paramilitary group SOLDIER, Cloud is hired by the insurgency group Avalanche as a mercenary to help them in their cause against the Shinra Electric Power Company. As Cloud's journey unfolds, he rediscovers his past and, alongside his newfound friends within Avalanche, abandons his quest for power and fame in favor of fighting alongside his friends in order to defend their home planet of Gaia.

Cloud made hisSuper Smash Bros. debut inSuper Smash Bros. 4 as adownloadable character, and returns inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate as anunlockable character.

Origin[edit]

Cloud first appears in the gameFinal Fantasy VII and is the first character the player can control directly. He was born in the mountain village of Nibelheim. During his childhood, his father died and he was raised by his mother. Due to his lack of close friends, Cloud, perhaps as a coping mechanism, considered himself to be superior to all the other village children, and thus did not enjoy their company.

At the age of 14, Cloud, upon learning of the legendary heroSephiroth's exploits and desiring to impress Tifa, left Nibelheim forMidgar to join SOLDIER, the paramilitary arm of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a megacorporation that effectively ruled the world. Although he was too mentally weak to join SOLDIER and instead became a mere infantryman, Cloud would eventually become best friends with a 1st Class SOLDIER namedZack Fair.

Cloud and Zack were later captured by Shinra's corrupt head scientist, Professor Hojo, and experimented upon to test Hojo's Reunion Theory, a facet of the Jenova Project. This experimentation resulted in Cloud becoming as powerful as a 1st Class SOLDIER, but also rendered him catatonic. Four years after being deemed failures during the experimentation, Zack eventually escaped with a weak and delirious Cloud in his arms, but was ambushed by a massive army of Shinra troops and killed. Cloud takes up Zack's sword and attempts to be his successor, although the trauma from Zack's death shattered Cloud's mental stability. His memories warped, causing him to believe that he was an ex-SOLDIER and to forget that Zack ever existed, essentially replacing him in his mind. Eventually, Cloud discovered that he inadvertently mimicked Zack's personality in lieu of his memories; he came to terms with his past, resumed his true personality, and was able to move on. Despite Sephiroth killing Aerith and receiving the Black Materia from a mind controlled Cloud, Cloud and his friends eventually managed to defeat Sephiroth and thus save the world.

In the years that follow, Cloud and the party go their separate ways. In the film sequelFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Marlene settle down in the city of Edge and set up a delivery business called the Strife Delivery Service. He also takes in Denzel, an orphan suffering from Geostigma, a disease that has started to appear after the defeat of Sephiroth.

Cloud eventually sets out to find a cure for Geostigma, having been infected himself thanks to Hojo's experimentation. He discovers that Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness, are responsible for the disease and have been kidnapping Geostigma-infected children with the intention of using the Jenova cells within them to revive her. Cloud confronts the trio but is outmatched; he is rescued by Vincent, who reveals that Geostigma is a plague caused by Jenova cells.

Kadaj eventually leads an attack on Edge to find the remains of Jenova. The former members of Avalanche reunite to face him, and Cloud manages to cure his Geostigma using Lifestream-infused water flowing in Aerith's old church. Cloud encounters Kadaj and defeats him in the ruins of Midgar, but Kadaj merges with Jenova's remains to resurrect Sephiroth. The two duel once again and Cloud emerges victorious, resulting in Sephiroth fading away while his manifestations die immediately afterward. Cloud then returns to the church with the infected children and uses the water to cleanse the Geostigma out of them.

AsFinal Fantasy VII became the best-selling and most recognized game in its series, Cloud is widely considered the most famousFinal Fantasy character. Despite the unconnected nature of each main game, Cloud is often used to represent the franchise as a whole (much likeMarth forFire Emblem), and frequently shows up in crossovers with other series. In some of his more notable side appearances, Cloud has been playable in everyDissidia Final Fantasy title to date, and has served as a boss, side character, or an ally in multipleKingdom Hearts titles.

Cloud was originally voiceless in his game of origin; although he is voiced byKenyu Horiuchi andNozumu Sasaki in the arcade and PlayStation versions, respectively, ofEhrgeiz, it was not until his appearance inKingdom Hearts that he was given a consistent voiceover. In Japanese, Cloud is voiced byTakahiro Sakurai in all appearances sinceKingdom Hearts. In English, Cloud is voiced bySteve Burton in most media fromKingdom Hearts onwards, withCody Christian replacing Burton as the English voice for theFinal Fantasy VII Remake series. However, Burton was not asked to reprise his role forSuper Smash Bros. due to conflicts regarding his contract with Square Enix, so Sakurai's voice is used in all international versions.

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Cloud, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Cloud appears as anewcomer inSuper Smash Bros. 4, and was formally announced during aNintendo Direct on November 12, 2015.^[1] This makes him the second character to be bothdownloadable and from a third party developer, the sixth character overall to be from a third party developer, and the first fighter hailing fromSquare Enix. According toSuper Smash Bros. series creatorMasahiro Sakurai,Final Fantasy characters were heavily requested to appear in theSuper Smash Bros. series, with Cloud receiving the most support out of all of them.^[2]

While discussing potential candidates from theFinal Fantasy series to include inSSB4, Sakurai stated in an interview with Square Enix veteran Tetsuya Nomura that he could have included characters such as,Bartz Klauser fromFinal Fantasy V, orTerra Branford fromFinal Fantasy VI.^[2] However, Sakurai ultimately said it was difficult to imagine aFinal Fantasy character to include that was not Cloud, primarily owing to his design and iconic status.^[2]

Unlike most playable characters, Cloud has two distinct models that comprise his costumes: his classicFinal Fantasy VII design (albeit with his slightly modified attire fromDissidia Final Fantasy^[2]) is his default costume alongside the Buster Sword, while his "Cloudy Wolf" design fromFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children is an alternate costume alongside the Fusion Sword.

Cloud's strengths include highlydisjointed range thanks to hisBuster Sword, surprisingly fast attacks relative to his range and power, and quick overall mobility.^[2] Despite being a heavyweight, these traits collectively give him a heavily offensive playstyle that is useful for combos and excellent at aerial combat, especiallyedgeguarding. Additionally, Cloud's uniqueLimit Breakfighter ability slightly boosts his attributes and converts his special moves into powerful, single-use KOing options once it is full, further improving his offensive presence to the point that he can score KOs even at fairly low percentages.

However, Cloud has a few glaring weaknesses in spite of his tremendous strengths. The most notable of these is his inconsistent KO potential, which is due to his very small number of easy-to-land KOing options outside of his Limit Break special moves. Aside from this, Cloud's polarized aerial movement results in his recovery and off-stage endurance both being lackluster.^[2] Lastly, his grab game is one of the worst among the cast, and some of his moves have noticeable amounts of ending lag.^[2]

Overall, Cloud, likeMario, boasts numerous advantages that are supplemented by a relatively low learning curve,^[2] which have contributed to him achieving very noticeable tournament results and representation. As a result, Cloud is ranked 2nd/3rd out of 54 on the currenttier list, tied withDiddy Kong; this places him in the S tier and posits him as a top tier character.

Trophies[edit]

Cloud's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Cloud's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Cloud

The protagonist of FINAL FANTASY VII, Cloud wields the enormous Buster Sword, a memento from his comrade Zack. Once a SOLDIER of Shinra, he now fights as a mercenary against the corporation he originally served. His decision to join AVALANCHE’s insurgence, however, will transform his destiny.

FINAL FANTASY VII (11/1997)

Cloud (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Cloud (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Cloud (Alt.)

Filling the Limit Gauge allows Cloud to perform a Limit Break, supercharging his next special move. His down special becomes Finishing Touch. With a huge swing of his sword, Cloud summons a whirlwind that inflicts only 1% damage, but boasts brutal launch power. Go for a KO while his foes' damage is still low!

FINAL FANTASY VII (11/1997)

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Cloud, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Cloud returns as a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was formally announced alongside the rest of the cast viaUltimate's E3 2018 trailer on June 12th, 2018.^[3] Although his moveset is largely unchanged aesthetically, Cloud received noteworthy mechanical changes, particularly to his Limit Breaks. Unlike inSuper Smash Bros. 4, the Limit Gauge is now constantly displayed next to hisdamage meter, and a full Limit Charge must be used within 15 seconds or else it will deplete entirely.

As of update 10.1.0, Cloud's "Cloudy Wolf" costumes use Omnislash Ver. 5 like inFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children, complete with Takahiro Sakurai reprising his role as Cloud's voice actor. Compared toOmnislash, Omnislash Ver. 5 has the same total damage output and knockback, but consists of 11 initial hits instead of 14 (with each hit inflicting 0.6% more damage to compensate) and has different hitbox placements. This same update also made Tetsuya Nomura's artwork of Cloud from the PlayStation release ofFinal Fantasy VII into his default fighter spirit, although the player can still swap between it and hisUltimate render fighter spirit.

Spirits[edit]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Cloud's Poster forSmash 4.

• 

  Cloud in hisAdvent Children costume, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

• 

  Cloud in hisAdvent Children costume, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name
Japanese	クラウド,Cloud
English	Cloud
French	Cloud
German	Cloud
Spanish	Cloud
Italian	Cloud
Chinese	Cloud[4] 克劳德,Cloud[5]
Korean	클라우드,Cloud
Dutch	Cloud
Russian	Клауд
Portuguese	Cloud

Trivia[edit]

• As ofUltimate, Cloud,Mewtwo,Luminary andSephiroth are the only characters to use Japanese voice acting in the international versions of theSuper Smash Bros. series despite having established English voice actors.
  • He and Sephiroth are the only ones whose speaking lines are not replaced with generic grunts in the international versions.
• Cloud, Sephiroth,Richter Belmont, Joker and Hero are the only third-party characters who did not debut in the first game of their respective home series.
• Cloud,Young Link andToon Link are the only swordsmen in theSuper Smash Bros. series capable ofwall jumping.
• Due to having access to his "Cloudy Wolf" attire fromFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Cloud is the only character with an alternate costume directly taken from a movie.
• Cloud is the first character to have hisvictory theme continuously play over the results theme. He would later be preceded byJoker and Sephiroth inUltimate.
• Prior to update 10.1.0 inUltimate, Cloud was the only third-party character in the game who did not use pre-existing artwork for hisfighter spirits. However, hisAdvent Children costume's fighter spirit continues to feature hisUltimate render only.
• Cloud, Sephiroth, and Hero each hail from one of the two companies that merged into Square Enix, as Cloud and Sephiroth were from Squaresoft and the Hero was from Enix.
• Cloud is the first fighter whoseFinal Smash was substantially altered in an update, and consequently the first fighter whose Final Smash varies in name and appearance depending on thealternate costume.
• Prior to update 10.0.0 ofUltimate, if the game'slanguage was set to either variant of Chinese, Cloud's name was shown in English on thecharacter selection screen and theSpirits mode, as with several other characters in the Chinese and Korean translations of the game. As of update 10.0.0, he has his name written properly in hanzi. This is presumably due to the release ofFinal Fantasy VII Remake, which is the first game in theCompilation of Final Fantasy VII series to receive an official Chinese translation.^[6]
  • However, theofficial site forUltimate was never updated to reflect this in either variant of Chinese.

External links[edit]

• Article on theFinal Fantasy Wiki
• Article on theKingdom Hearts Wiki

References[edit]

v • d • e Final Fantasy universe
Fighters	Cloud (SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Sephiroth (SSBU)
Stages	Midgar ·Northern Cave
Other	Aerith Gainsborough ·Bahamut ZERO ·Barret Wallace ·Chocobo ·Ifrit ·Leviathan ·Odin ·Ramuh ·Tifa Lockhart
Trophies &Spirits	Trophies ·Spirits
Music	SSB4 ·Ultimate
Related universe	Kingdom Hearts

• Characters
• Final Fantasy universe
• Cloud
• Third-party characters
• Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
• Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
• Square Enix
• Spirits