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Name: Cloud Strife

Age: 24

Hair Color: Bleach Blonde

Eye Color: Greenish-Blue

Height: 5' 8"

Weight: 180 lbs

Blood Type: AB

Birthday August 11th or 19th

Weapon: Broadswords

Extra Information: 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 Tifa's 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 idea, 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 into 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. 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. 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. 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 experiments, 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.

Pictures snapped of me while I wasn't looking: