"A reserved young man who brandishes a large sword with ease. He leads his other warriors with his rational decision-making befitting a leader, but internally he has difficulty being confident in his actions."
—Dissidia 012 Description
"An acerbic young swordsman with glowing eyes who wields a blade as large as he is."
—Description
Cloud Strife was one of the warriors fighting for the side of Chaos in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, but in the next cycle he switched sides and fought alongside the Warriors of Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. Cloud is a swordsman who deals powerful attacks that send his foes flying. Though in the eyes of his comrades he is considered composed, Cloud often questions the reasons and methods for fighting, as well as the purposes it would serve, and struggles to understand them. During the war he is forced to battle his nemesis, Sephiroth, who manipulates him into fighting at every turn.
Cloud's costume is almost identical to his original Final Fantasy VII appearance. He wears an indigo outfit, a metal pauldron, a brown belt with the SOLDIER symbol, brown gloves and black boots. The only differences between his original artwork and his Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance are the redesigned SOLDIER logo on his belt and dual-layered pauldron. His hair is spiky and blond and his eyes glow bright blue, the sign of a Mako-infused SOLDIER.
Cloud's first alternate costume, "Cloudy Wolf", is his outfit from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. He wears a sleeveless zipped-down turtleneck sweater with black cloth covering his left arm and leg, and his boots and pauldron are different with the Fenrir emblem on his pauldron. His hair has more spikes, albeit shorter ones, and he wields the main blade of his Fusion Swords, the First Tsurugi. In his EX Mode, he wields the fully assembled Fusion Swords, though for purposes of gameplay he never separates them as he does in the film.
Cloud's second alternate outfit, "Steady Light", is based on Amano's artwork of him. He wears a different shirt and white boots, and a small white pack slung over his back. His belt has the original SOLDIER symbol on it, his pauldron, gauntlets and belt have small blue and white details, and his belt has a string of beads. This outfit is Cloud's attire in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy while serving as a Warrior of Chaos.
Cloud's DLC costume, "Kingdom Hearts gear", is based on his appearance in the games of the Kingdom Hearts series, sans Kingdom Hearts II, where his attire is based on Vincent Valentine's. Cloud wears a gauntlet with a golden claw, a torn red cape, and dark blue clothing underneath. A demonic black wing emerges from his left shoulder. The Buster Sword is wrapped in bandages. In Japan, the code to unlock this outfit is included with Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, while in the United States the code was acquired by pre-ordering Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy from GameStop. In Europe it can be purchased via PSN since June 8th, 2011.
In the twelfth cycle of war, Cloud, along with Tidus and Terra, were aligned with Chaos. Unlike the other Warriors of Chaos Cloud shows concern for the opposing side to the point of warning Lightning not to underestimate his allies as they had been holding back their full power at the time, but does nonetheless fight Lightning and the Warrior of Light alongside Golbez. Golbez suspected the reason Cloud had concern for the opposing side was because someone he knows was aligned with the Warriors of Cosmos. He later has a heart-to-heart talk with Kuja, as both have no real intent to fight due to their memories of life before being summoned by the gods.
At one point, Cloud witnesses a fight between Sephiroth and Tifa. He intervenes to protect Tifa and drives off Sephiroth, beginning their rivalry that would continue in the next cycle of conflict. Cloud doesn't reveal his relation to Tifa who has no memories of him, but does tell her he is a Warrior of Chaos and warns her they will have to fight the next time they meet and he wouldn't go easy on her. Once she leaves to rejoin her group, Cloud thinks to himself he has to end the cycle of battle to save Tifa. Cloud confronts Chaos with intentions to kill the god and end the conflict before Tifa regains her memories of him, possibly losing her will to fight.
After it seems Cloud has won, Chaos mocks him and asks him if that's the extent of his power. Chaos overpowers Cloud, and he begins to fade away into oblivion. As he fades, Cloud pleas to Cosmos to protect Tifa. Cosmos receives Cloud's message and, deeming his feelings sincere, chooses him to become one of her warriors when he is revived in the next cycle of battle, taking Tifa's place after she is eliminated.
After coming to, Cloud finds himself with Firion, Cecil, and Tidus, who view him as a calm and collected figure. Cloud secretly questions his reasons for fighting and admits he feels anxious. Cloud later asks his allies why they fight; Cecil says he does not know either, Tidus says he fights to settle things with Jecht, while Firion takes time to think his answer over so he can explain it to Cloud properly.
Sometime after, Cloud finds Firion alone and Firion produces a wild rose telling Cloud he dreams of a world where they can bloom freely. Cloud challenges him to a sparring match to see how strong that dream is, and though he prevails, Firion still has the will to fight him further. Cloud grows increasingly worried that he may not have a dream at all and confides in Cecil for answers. The group encourage Cloud to go find his own reason for fighting, and he promises to return to tell them when he finds it. Continuing alone he encounters Sephiroth, who prepares to duel him. When Cloud refuses to fight him, Sephiroth reveals he holds Firion's rose, indicating he has attacked Cloud's comrades, and invites Cloud to pursue him.
Cloud tracks Sephiroth to the Planet's Core where Sephiroth calls him a puppet who has no motivations of his own, which is why he readily accepts the influence of others on his decisions. Though Cloud insists he tracked Sephiroth of his own will, Sephiroth counters that Cloud followed him because he gave him a reason. The two battle, and Cloud emerges victorious, reclaiming Firion's rose and revealing his Crystal. Sephiroth warns Cloud the Crystal will lead him to more battles he cannot comprehend, a fate Cloud accepts stoically before taking the Crystal. Sephiroth accepts Cloud's decision, but declares he will continue to manipulate Cloud, and it was only through his guidance Cloud was able to come as far as he has.
After his fight with Sephiroth, Terra arrives at the Planet's Core and loses control of her esper powers. Cloud walks in on her and looks on, and even though she warns him to stay away, Cloud steps in and battles her without a word of explanation, not knowing what else to do. After the altercation, Cloud successfully calms Terra down, and she realizes his intent was to provide her an outlet to vent some of her power, allowing Terra to regain control of herself.
Cloud admits he battled her because he did not want to see her suffer, although he was not expecting Terra's formidable transformed state. Terra thanks Cloud for saving her, then proceeds to explain how she and the Onion Knight were separated after being ambushed by Kefka, and Cloud joins her to look for him, realizing he can still help despite his indecisiveness, and thanks her for helping him recognize that.
During the search Cloud reveals his hesitations about fighting, and shows Terra Firion's rose, explaining Firion's dream for a peaceful world. Though neither warrior can figure out their reason for fighting, Terra suggests they share the same dream, along with the wild roses their own preferred flowers representing a bright future. The pair continues to Kefka's Tower and confront Kefka, who tries to compel Terra to give in to her esper powers and cause senseless destruction, but she refuses. Kefka summons the Cloud of Darkness to attack them, at which point the Onion Knight reappears, and he and Cloud fight the Cloud of Darkness together while Terra has her final showdown with Kefka. After Terra obtains her Crystal, the three go on to rejoin the other Warriors.
Much to Firion's surprise, Cloud, who arrived after helping Terra, and Tidus, who had just defeated Jecht, joins him at the last minute when he is attacked by the Emperor, declaring they could not leave him alone for too long and they all share a dream. The Emperor attempts to attack Firion but Cloud and Tidus deflect his blows, and the Emperor flees and invites Firion to his stronghold for a final battle. Firion decides to face the Emperor alone to end it, and Cloud returns the wild rose expressing his desire to see more of Firion's dream. Afterward, he is seen traveling with Tidus and Squall back to the Warrior of Light.
With the Crystals in their possession, the Warriors of Cosmos return to the Order's Sanctuary to restore the goddess's strength, only to have Chaos incinerate her before their very eyes. With the last of her strength Cosmos prevents the heroes from fading giving them one final chance to strike back at Chaos and end the war for good. With Cosmos's strength dwindling, Cloud and the others confront Chaos's minions regarding how and why Cosmos disappeared, and along the way, he faces his nemesis Sephiroth. Though his enemy is strong, Cloud perseveres.
After the battle, Sephiroth asks Cloud what drives him to fight, and Cloud answers it is his will. He further declares he no longer has ties with Sephiroth, who counters that his shadow will forever be in Cloud's heart, and will always return as long as Cloud exists. Upon his enemy vanishing, Cloud admits he would rather prefer to never see him again, and that he wants to meet someone. Shortly after that, Cloud and the other nine heroes band together to defeat Chaos.
At the battle's end Cloud finds himself on an open field of flowers near Cornelia Castle, the flowers similar to those grown in the Sector 5 Church in Final Fantasy VII. Cloud smiles at Squall as if accepting his offer of fighting together again, then replies "not interested" and walks off into the flower field, returning home with his Crystal in hand.
In "Tidus' Quest 012: A Dream in Chaos" during the 12th cycle, Tidus speaks to Cloud of his desire to speak to Chaos about his faded memories. Cloud muses that Tidus cannot remember anything except the name "Jecht" and that without memories Tidus is without direction, but the lack of memories has benefits as well. In "Cloud's Quest 012: You Should Have Disappeared", Sephiroth challenges Cloud to battle, but the two are stopped by Garland who prohibits battle between comrades. Cloud pursues Garland when he leaves and challenges him, but Garland holds back as there is no point to the two of them killing each other. Garland warns Cloud his suspicious actions during the 12th cycle have not gone unnoticed. In "Squall's Quest 012: The Shadow I Know I Saw", Squall battles Cloud, Cloud alluding to he and Squall having met in a previous cycle that Squall cannot remember.
Cloud appears in "Cecil's Quest 013: Even I Don't Remember It", where in the 13th cycle he travels with Terra, Tidus, Cecil and the Onion Knight after the five obtain their Crystals. When Kuja alerts the group Firion is on his way to confront the Emperor, Cloud and Tidus go assist him.
Cloud's fighting style is called Buster Basher. He specializes in slow, powerful melee attacks that do heavy damage and knock the opponent across arenas. Many of Cloud's attacks have the Wall Rush ability, letting him slam opponents into floors and walls to deal additional damage. His Limit Breaks from Final Fantasy VII are included as attacks, and his two chainable HP attacks do a great deal of additional Bravery damage. However, Cloud is a slow ground mover, his attacks are fairly easy to block or dodge, and he lacks ranged capabilities. His HP attacks require him to charge before attacking, leaving the opponent time to dodge and counterattack.
Send several meteors up into the air that rain down on the opponent. The meteors will stun the opponent if they are hit by them while they are being sent into the air.
Braver
Aerial
40 (20)
180
Melee High
Wall Rush
Physical
Initial
Dash towards opponent to stab them, then jump up and slam them down.
Send several meteors up into the air that rain down on the opponent. The meteors will stun the opponent if they are hit by them while they are being sent into the air. Each meteor tracks the opponent individually.
Braver
Aerial
30 (15)
130
Melee High
Wall Rush
Physical
Initial
Dash towards opponent to stab them, then jump up and slam them down.
Send several meteors up into the air that rain down on the opponent. The meteors will stun the opponent if they are hit by them while they are being sent into the air. Meteors scatter to hit over a wide area. When near the top of some closed-in arenas, the meteors may spawn in front of Cloud and fire straight forward.
Cloud's EX Mode is Equipped Ultima Weapon, which transforms the Buster Sword into the Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy VII. Cloud gains the abilities "Ultima Weapon (ATK)" and "Ultima Weapon (CRUSH)". The first ability boosts Cloud's ATK according to the amount of HP he currently has in relation to his max HP, doubling his ATK at max HP and giving no bonus at 1 HP. The second ability gives all of Cloud's melee attacks Melee High priority, allowing them to crush normal guards and deflect lower-priority attacks. Other attacks with Melee High priority, and some high priority block abilities like Exdeath's Omni Block and Jecht's Jecht Block, will still block Cloud's blows.
Cloud's EX Burst is Omnislash, his strongest Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII. The player must rapidly tap to fill up a Limit Break meter. Filling the meter in time will have Cloud bombard his opponent with fourteen sword slashes then finishing up with a powerful overhead slash that hits six times before applying HP damage. Failing to fill the meter will have Cloud perform up to three swings and an upward finishing slash.
In his first alternate outfit, Cloud's EX Mode is The power of mako and he equips the completed Fusion Sword from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, but his EX Burst and his EX Mode bonuses remain the same.
Several references are made to Zack Fair who wielded the Buster Sword before Cloud.
Cloud states Firion reminds him of a friend, and when Tidus questions the difficulty in using the Buster Sword due to its size, Cloud replies, "It's not heavy. It's... a memento."
The scene where Cloud crosses the Buster Sword over the Masamune is identical to part of Sephiroth's battle with Cloud in the Nibelheim reactor in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.
After being knocked back, Cloud descends after Sephiroth, who rights himself and knocks Cloud through the air, a reference to Sephiroth's first scene in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
When Cloud lands, the camera pans along the Masamune up to Sephiroth's face, similar to the climax of their Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children battle.
Finally, as the two face off at the end of the scene, the camera angles and poses are identical to their scripted battle at the end of Final Fantasy VII.
Cloud asking Tidus, Cecil and Firion to think for a reason of their own to fight other than to end the war mirrors the speech he gave his teammates at the end of Disc II of Final Fantasy VII, where he asks everyone to leave and to go and think why they must fight, instead of fighting for the Planet. Should they find their answer, they could come back.
Before returning to his homeland, Cloud stands in a field of yellow flowers, similar to the ones located in Aerith's church in Sector 5.
Cloud's strongest weapon, Fenrir, is named after his motorcycle and the symbol on his pauldron. His other exclusive weapons, the Force Eater (also known as the Force Stealer) and the Butterfly Edge, are weapons he uses in Final Fantasy VII, and are exclusive to the game itself.
Several of Cloud's moves (Braver, Cross Slash, Blade Beam, Climhazzard, Meteorain, Finishing Touch, Omnislash) are all Limit Breaks he used in Final Fantasy VII, while Omnislash Version 5 is the move he used against Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Cloud's Aerial Fang could be a reference to the way he sliced Loz's bike in half during the motorcycle battle in the tunnel of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
If the player completes Chapter IV of Shade Impulse with Cloud, they will unlock a set of "Pretty Princess" equipment set for Cloud, Kefka, and female characters. The equipment consists of the Sexy Cologne (weapon), Member's Card (glove), Blonde Wig (helmet), and Silk Dress (armor). This is a reference to Cloud's crossdressing scene in Final Fantasy VII, where he dresses like a girl to save Tifa from Don Corneo. The equipment set is made up of the best items the player can obtain for Cloud to wear during the quest. The combinations that results in equipping all four items, Allure of Honey, is a reference to the Honey Bee Inn.
Cloud's reply to Squall's line in the ending before disappearing is his usual "not interested" line, commonly said during the earlier stages of Final Fantasy VII while he was still in his cold mercenary persona, and also said towards Rufus Shinra in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. During a scene in Destiny Odyssey VII-V, Sephiroth also uses this line. Cloud's intro quote "do I feel sorry for you" is what he said to Rude upon meeting Rufus in Advent Children. A victory quote, "My reality is mine alone", is a quote Cloud said after Sephiroth revealed the true Nibelheim Incident story in Final Fantasy VII.
The offer Squall makes to Cloud of fighting again in the future is a possible allusion to the part in Kingdom Hearts II in which they fight back to back against a horde of Heartless.
When using an HP attack in his normal outfit, the Buster Sword glows orange, but in his alternate outfit, the Fusion Swords glow blue. This is a reference to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children where the swords glow blue when Cloud uses his Limit Breaks, but he and other characters glow orange in Final Fantasy VII.
While performing his EX Burst, Cloud declares he's "breaking [his] limits," a reference to the term "Limit Break". Tifa shares this convention as well.
After the battle with Sephiroth on Shade Impulse, Cloud states "the one I really want to meet is...", referring to the ending of Final Fantasy VII where he says "I think I can meet her... there.", presumably referring to Aerith.
When Cloud holds the Buster Sword to Sephiroth's neck while protecting Tifa, it mirrors Zack confronting Sephiroth in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, after Sephiroth discovers Jenova during the Nibelheim Incident. Also, when Cloud points the Buster Sword at Sephiroth in Shade Impulse from his waist, it mirrors what he did in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children using the Fusion Sword at Rude.
During the FMV scene when Cloud begins to fight Sephiroth in Destiny Odyssey VII, Cloud tells him to, "Go back to sleep!", reminding him of the hibernation Sephiroth was in for five years in Final Fantasy VII.
The name for Cloud's first alternate costume, "Cloudy Wolf", refers the wolf that was implied to be a personification of Cloud's immense guilt tailing Cloud in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children until he came to terms with his past.
When Cloud saves Tifa, she comments that Cloud was "like a hero, charging in to save the girl," which is what Cloud promised he would do when he left to join SOLDIER in Final Fantasy VII. Ironically enough, as stated in his bio in the Museum, at the end of Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, it is Tifa who sacrifices herself to protect Cloud.
In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, one of the chests in Cloud's storyline contains 1997 gil. Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation was released in 1997.
At the end of Cloud's Destiny Odyssey in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, the gateway Cloud tracks Sephiroth to is Mount Gulg, an allusion to the North Crater.
Cloud's encounter quote against himself in Dissidia Final Fantasy ("If I win, are my sins forgiven?") and against Kain in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy ("Can sins be redeemed?") refer to a question he asks of Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, referring to his inability to defend his friends, Aerith and Zack, from death.
One of Cloud's victory quotes against a weaker enemy, "Can't smile about this one", is a reference to the song Cloud Smiles, played in the final scene of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children when Cloud is first seen smiling.
Cloud is the only character with an EX Mode that has a different name for one of his alternate outfits, although it functions identically.
In Dissidia Final Fantasy, Cloud's EX Burst, Omnislash, has the highest base power in the game, assuming he has full HP when using it. His EX Burst is the second-highest in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, outranked by Gilgamesh.
In Dissidia 012 Final FantasyPenelo erroneously states Cloud can equip heavy armor.
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Added by Oranejo
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to fill up a Limit Break meter. Filling the meter in time will have Cloud bombard his opponent with fourteen sword slashes then finishing up with a powerful overhead slash that hits six times before applying HP damage. Failing to fill the meter will have Cloud perform up to three swings and an upward finishing slash.
In-game render of Cloud.
Alt outfit EX Mode.
Third outfit EX Mode.
DLC outfit EX Mode.
CG render.
CG render.
CG render from Dissidia 012.
Cloud's manikin, Imaginary Soldier.
Cloud's Buster Sword.
Cloud's Ultima Weapon.
Cloud's First Tsurugi.
Cloud's Fusion Swords.
Cloud's bandaged Buster Sword.
Cloud's Crystal
Concept art of third outfit.
Concept art of Cloud's Ultima Weapon.
Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Omnislash.
