Cloud Strife - The Making of a Hero 

I don’t think most people appreciate what a groundbreaking character Cloud was. At first glance he’s the typical hero, strong, confident. To have his whole persona being a fraud and that he was instead, shy,introverted average. The unreliable narrator used to full effect truly elevated this games story.

Tifa was the real MVP of Cloud's character arc. She believed in him when absolutely no one else did.

Cloud Strife is not only one of my favorite FF/video game characters, but one of my favorite characters in fiction. His struggle and journey through pain, tragedy and violence to find peace, a home and somewhere he belongs and becoming a true hero. Is beautiful and inspiration story that I deeply admire and relate to. Cloud Strife is an icon.

cloud is one of the most unique protagonists i’ve encountered, gotta love him

I'm glad to know that Reggie stepped down from Nintendo to pursue more creative aspects of his life

5:33 "My flowers cushioned your fall!" [coughs blood] "No, they didn't."

Cloud deserves a hug.

Cloud's self discovery reminds me a lot of Clay Kaczmarek from Assassin's Creed last words 'What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!'

There's nothing wrong with a 2 hour video, in my humble opinion. I'd watch it.

I fucking LOVE how he uses "you can hear the cries of the planet" in the background in all of these FF7 lore videos, it's one of the best pieces of music that came from the game and makes the perfect music to play in the background of lore videos.

Cloud actually was rejected from soldier due to being mentally weak, which also helps explain why his identity shattered after Hojo's experiments on him.

I think one of the most interesting things about Cloud's story is how the Nibelheim incident was basically just a few weeks ago, in terms of his perception. After the incident, he and zack spent 5 years in tubes, then Zack gets gunned down and Cloud crawls his way to Midgar. He's still essentially just a 16 year old, desperately trying to act like the "adults" he looks up to, with his brain shutting out the most traumatic events of his life. Which would explain his instinctual, gutteral reaction to seeing Sephiroth's sword, as opposed to the looming dread Tifa feels, or the confusion of the other party members. It's still fresh in Cloud's subconscious, so he goes borderline feral about it, that's when he really begins trying to piece together what really happened, given the information he has

Okay! A suggestion for a video! Tidus and Jecht’s relationship in Final Fantasy X shows a surprising amount of emotional depth! The relationship between angry and neglected son and a father who recognizes his faults but realizes it is too late to undo them. It’s a fascinating narrative!

Cloud is the only fictional character I think I connect with on a personal level. No, I was never kidnapped, experimented on, or see my best friend die, but I knew what it was like to grow up an outcast. The constant feeling of you’re not wanted especially by the pretty girl you like. Then all of the sudden, you find something you think can help you become who you want to be, but even they tell you you’re not good enough. So you keep to yourself, hide your face in shame, do whatever you can to hide the fact that you’re so unhappy. But we’re shown through Cloud that all it takes is the power of belief, and having people care about you to bring out your good parts! I may not have unintentionally lied about what I’ve done or things I’ve been through, but I have been placed in situations where people think I’m a trained professional and I’m not, I just happened to make it seem like I’m good at what I do, so I know the feeling of success when you’ve accomplished nothing in reality. I hate that we tear each other down, compare ourselves to others, and expect so much from others, because all anyone really needs is to feel like they are enough, that they’re capable of doing great things, that they can do what they set their minds to. That’s the message of FFVII and Cloud for me even if it’s unintentional, life’s not about being who you think others will like or who they want you to be, it’s about accepting yourself and believing you can do whatever you set your mind to once you get your head in the right place.

Cloud got the growth over his journey that his childhood denied him.

Ever since I dicovered the Remake, I went and checked out the original game and fell in love with Clouds character

20:26 - 20:55 Man, with how Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth ended...this entire part of the game in Part 3 is gonna so dark and upsetting to watch...

Cloud is one of the greatest characters in anything ever....I'll never forget first time I played ff7 and seeing his journey unfold...it was mins blowing

Idk, I'd hardly call Cloud's reaction to Aerith's death "inelegant." It was cathartic, if anything, calling out Sephiroth for the psycho he is.

The "badass Soldier" act Cloud put on was him imitating Zack because to him Zack was how a Soldier should act.

The very first enemy you face in the game is a Shinra Grunt, which is what Cloud was during the Nibelheim incident. A nobody. The very last enemy you face is Sephiroth, considered the most powerful being in the setting. And yet Cloud beat him. The first defeats the last. The weakest defeats the strongest.

As much as Advent Children can be divisive, lore wise, this lends into Cloud's famous quote from that movie; " I pity you. You just don’t get it at all. There’s not a thing I don’t cherish!" with Zack pushing him, and allowing Cloud to unleash Omni Slash Ver. 5. Great video, once again👏🏿👏🏿

Cloud is legendary.

I would like to add a bit of my interpretation to the clouds' identity sequence. The first two memories can be reconstruction of tifa's memories, One obviously not clouds the other memory, unsure if clouds or tifa's. The final memory is truly cloud's, it's a memory he holds very dear to his heart. Finally, finding a true memory of cloud's they are finally able to reconstruct the false memory.

Mako poisoning is one hell of a experiment and drug. Half buster sword, half hair spray. Gosh, Cloud was a unique character in Final Fantasy.

The real tragedy of remaking FF7 is how the first two entire remake games you don't even play as the real Cloud, so *all these supposed new fans STILL aren't understanding how amazing Cloud is as a protagonist to this day,* and they won't fully understand until whatever years from now when the third installment comes out (unless they end up playing the original or spoiling it for themselves) - this alone might be the single biggest reason why separating the game into three different installments was a huge blunder (I mean, besides Tetsuya Nemura'ing the whole thing and completely obliterating any chance of improving on the pacing of the original). 😮‍💨 edit: Also, agreed, Tifa is the real MVP of Cloud's character arc 100% (though these days people gonna argue Aerith will be a big part of it with how convoluted it's getting with the extended lifestream/holy narrative stuff)

Cloud is such an underrated character not just in games but in fiction. I think he’s really unique without losing that relatability factor

been watching your videos recently, really good stuff ! keep it up

I love your breakdowns man. Finished ragnarok recently and found your videos and they really add more depth to these games for me

This is a great video/analysis/summation. I really enjoyed it. Subscribed.

Great videos, keep it coming!

You always deliver. Solid video.

We love your longer videos. It’s just more brett to enjoy☺️

ITS FINALLY HERE!!!!!

I'm a huge fan of these videos. You're the best storytelling analysis channel on youtube.

I like to imagine that the real reason Sephiroth hates Cloud so much is precisely because he had JUST believed himself superior to humans but it was a lowly regular soldier who took him out. He’s just insanely furious and humiliated by that.

And The Legend of a Big Boy’s Sword

Love your content. Not done rebirth yet but I wanna throw a like to the video. It's saved for later viewing. Keep it up Brett!

I finished the OG ff7 for the first time 2 days ago. This video is so well timed. Thank you for making this. It may have been 24 years later than my friends told me to play this but this game is a masterpiece

I cannot wait until all three remake games are out and you do analysis on them! Fantastic video

The section about Cloud's speech on the Highwind about finding a reason to fight is reminiscent of Aerith's speech after the trials at the Temple of the Ancients in Rebirth. As integral Tifa is to Cloud's development, I think the Remake is angling to increase Aerith's relevance to Cloud even more than the OG game. In Rebirth, Cloud, through Sephiroth's influence curtly dismisses Aerith's rousing speech, but I'm betting in Part 3, Cloud would have fully learned the meaning of her words by then. Also, I theorize that Aerith's physical body has truly died in Rebirth, but Cloud has blocked out her burial in the lake in order to ignore the inconvenient truth, as he always has. When Cloud gets to the Northern Crater for the first time in Part 3, after showing him his version of the Nibelheim flashback, Sephiroth is going to make him remember the burial scene as a coup de grace to break his mind.

I won’t lie, I got excited seeing this pop up on my feed

A good retrospective look at Cloud Strife's character arc in the original Final Fantasy 7 game.

great vid

Cloud has arrived! :D

Tifa is basically the Samwise Gamgee of FFVII.

I love your true amazing videos PS I'm going to be honest we need a full massive video on Resident Evil for Leon Kennedy in his entire life story

hey fatbrett! you inspired me to do my own character analysis! got any tips for a newbie? also, love binging your vids while playing games after work. keep it up 👍👍

These videos are so good! I want you to do some Witcher 3 videos, I think you'll have a field day with it.

I need to finish remake. Part 1 has been really nice

Great video. However, there is a video idea that I have been waiting a long time for you to make, At the end of the “Why are we obsessed with the lore of Dark Souls and Elden Ring?” You mentioned a possible video essay about how every soulsborne game is based on a post apocalyptic world. Such a simple insight but I would love for you to expand on that idea and I am sure the video about it will be great.

No way this video dropped I must be hallucinating

Last time I was this early, she texted all her friends about it.

#fatbrett I have an odd suggestion for a heroism video; Jean Valjean. Now, in all honesty, I have only seen the 2012 adaptation and I don't know how accurate that is to the original novel, but I was fascinated that the story was about a man's constant determination to do good in a world that had gone to hell, all because of the one positive experience he had in his life. I know you would make a fantastic evaluation if you felt inclined to do so. Thank you for the great many videos that you have made and keep up the great work.

My friends are my power! ~sora/cloud

I always interpreted Cloud beating Sephiroth twice, is because he's able to transcend his limits. Limit break, if you will. This is what makes Cloud special despite being a lowly grunt.

I dont know how familiar you are with the game, but I'd love an analysis like this for Persona 5 and how the characters interact with the idea of identity and rebellion, especially... the two characters from the Royal expansion (no spoilers but if you've played the game you know the ones... A***** and Y********)

Another awesome essay. Have you ever thought of diving into movies or tv shows?

after finishing rebirth and seeing the lifestream segment again here I totally missed the fracture in the background from the edge of creation while their in cloud's subconscious

One thing I really like that the remake is doing is taking the time in act 2 to show just how much of a well rounded person cloud could have been if he wasn't swept up in all the toxi masculine bs that pushed him into wanting to be a soldier. There's some of it in the original, but like, cloud is a photographer, and a good one, we know not just from snaps but also a cute side quest I won't spoil. He plays the piano well. There is virtue in him as a normal dude, and all he really needed was someone to appreciate who he was.

The music is "the cries of the planet" from the ff7 osr, but from what i hear, it might some kind of arrangement rather than the original.

I would love to see you do a video on Fear and Hunger.

Hey Brett, I was wondering if you would ever do some analysis of the characters of Fallout New Vegas? I feel like there is a lot to look at there that is incredibly interesting, and fits with a lot of other stuff you’ve covered. Just a thought! (Do take it with a grain of salt, I’m a huge FNV fan)

FINALLY

Ah just in time, I do wonder what's meant by the true self

Babe, wake up. New FatBrett upload.

Reliving through ff7 and playing rebirth really makes you realize how they really missed the mark in portraying Cloud in any cameo or sequal after the original game. Whether it was Kingdom Hearts or Advent Children, they regressed him into an even more angsty version of his character. Which shaped public perception for so long.

I reckon Cloud is the best FF protagonist.

I was under the impression that Cloud literally IS super strong and super powerful; he spent several years being augmented by Hojo Yeah Hojo calls him a failure but I took that as him just being a dick and to help keep him giving in to Sephiroths will Rather than a random power of feelings thing

Cloud may look like THE stereotypical anime protagonist on the surface, but I don’t think I’ve seen one who is so deeply relateable in spite of his superhuman feats.

Amazing analysis but I always wondered why they kept letting him hold the black materia lol

The only other story i can think of that does the multiple identity thing sort of like this is ironically a game that came out one year later by the same Devolper,Xenogears. To a lesser extent maybe Eteral Sonata also.

All this time i thoght cloud got his memories mixed up with zacks and tifa had little to do with anything. Looking at this video now i dont understand how i could have thoght that😅. Then again i played ff7 when i was like 12 or so i most likely wasnt paying enough attention.

You say this could become a 2 hour essay like that's a bad thing

Wedge is my favorite character in this game. I'm not joking

fatbrett posted

Sir you talk about keeping a video to a reasonable length I say make it as long as you want 15 minutes or 11 hours I'm still going to watch the whole thing

I got the original ff7 that cloud is completely different I'm thinking about playing threw it one more time before I buy rebirth I like both clouds though

Now can you please make an analysis of Leon Kennedy from RE4 (remake or original)

Why isnt this called A Reconstruction of Heroism

Jack Garland is the man Cloud is pretending to be.

I'm glad they chose NOT to keep the scene with Cloud beating Aerith in Rebirth. With the new, extremely real looking graphics that would have been horrifying...

I would've watched a 2hr essay..

What makes a hero? 🤔

He faked it, till he made it

So, what you're saying is, that FFVII is basically Kingdom Hearts? Friendship is the greatest and mightiest magic/power of all?

Tifa & Cloud were not Childhood friends ? There is literally a book called Traces of Two Pasts written by Nojima that completely contradicts this falsehood spread due shit translations in the OG FF7, Id highly suggest going through it prior to doing any analysis on FF7 , Cloudn& Tifa or Aerith. Because it gives so much context on their past. Also the mistranslation in the OG is that Tifa and her freinds never let Cloud play with them.the actual line is that he was too insecure to join them, as we wanted to be special to Tifa & stand out from the other boys. Sigh, overall your videos isn't affected by these minor plot points, ill admit obviously. But wish people were more accurate with all details.

"And this time he does not wear a dress" and a shame for us all that is u.u

ok

I'm playing FFVII Rebirth, and it occurs to me that none of the characters are special. Cloud is only supposed to be somewhat special because he had a walk-on roll to Sephiroth's mental breakdown, and then you find out that he isn't even that. Aerith and Red are supposed to be special, because they're both the last of their kind, but for the most part, they really aren't. They're just regular people that, because of what they can all collectively accomplish, are able to kill a threat to all life on the planet. It's a renunciation to the sort of anti-life that's represented by the cyberpunk genre "High tech, low class" thing. All sentient life stands up to that force of nihilistic greed and strikes it straight down. Hi, no I haven't been overthinking this game for twenty plus years whatever do you mean?

Please. When you're done with the FFVII cast, please do IX, or at least Zidane Tribal. That's a character begging to have his personality stripped down and talked about

Actually Cloud and Tifa are childhood friends and they used to play together, but after Tifa’s mom died, they grew apart.

Cloyd is by far one of the most complex characters and overall among the richest well written when it comes to background, he is very troubled but so human at the same time, and he went through hell to stand up and fight his demons. Props for the writers for creating an iconic hero in arguably the best Final Fantasy game of all time.

Enjoyed this video, I prefer First Lore's analysis overall ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rcHthM54cT0.html , but yours was still great.

Damn I'm early First I guess

This is the kind of unreliable narrator that works. Being a bethesda fan for so long, you kinda forget its an actually GOOD tool. Not just an excuse for poor and unmanaged writing lmao

8th

Only 0 views in 4 minutes? Oof

I think this is exactly why his portrayal in media that came about after this falls apart. He was never an emo-ey lone wolf type. Advent children was not a good portrayal of him at all (personal opinion). I'd even argue that the remakes currently being made, while more accurate to the original character than any other spinoff media did, still falls short in the storytelling department. Rebirth flat out kneecaps a lot of the main beats of the story, and specifically Tifa's help in unravelling Cloud's memory, by having him remember Zack himself in a random moment in the Nibelheim hotel room.

why did they make him so feminine