Cloud Strife

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Character
Name: Cloud Strife
Occupation: Soldier (formerly), Mercenary
Relationships: Tifa (friend/love interest), Barrett (friend), Aerith (friend/love interest), Red XIII (friend), Cait Sith (friend), Yuffie (friend), Cid (friend), Vincent (friend), unnamed mother, Sephiroth (friend turned enemy, precursor), Zack (friend), Leon (rival)
Fandom: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
Other:
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Cloud is the protagonist in the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy VII, and a minor character in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts.

Canon

'Created' by Dr. Hojo as an attempted clone of the 'perfect soldier' Sephiroth, Cloud is much more than the emotionless, battle-hungry mercenary he at first seems.

Having seen one 'friend' burn down his hometown, another die saving his life, and a potential love interest killed at the hands of the first, Cloud understandably has trouble trusting people. Throughout the events of Final Fantasy VII and its many offshoots, Cloud is eventually shown to open up to others and realise that the right people have been there, all along.

Fandom

Being the central character of a very popular video game, it comes as little surprise that Cloud is heavily portrayed in fan fiction. These vary from many alternate universe scenarios, to more in depth explanations of his past, or just simple cameos in other game universes. Much like his existence in Kingdom Hearts

Shipping

Cloud is a popular character in shipping, featuring strongly in both het and slash fiction. Common pairings include:

Common Tropes in Fanworks

  • Time Travel Fix-It: Fix-it fics in which Cloud travels back in time in order to prevent the events of the main game (and occasionally Crisis Core as well) from occurring. Other characters are sometimes sent to the past alongside or instead of Cloud, but he’s by far the most popular choice.

Example Fanworks

Cloud portrait by lofter user ooten (2021)

Fanfiction

Fanart

Meta

Fansites & Communities

Character shrines:

Fanlistings:

LiveJournal communities:

Other Links & Resources

References