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[soldier_maybe]

Player

Name: Ramen

Age: 21

Preferred Contact: kamen mist (AIM)

Other Characters Played Here: Nobody
 

 

Character

Name: Cloud Strife

Canon: Final Fantasy VII

Age: 21

History: History! I will not be using canon sources outside of the original Final Fantasy VII for sake of simplicity.

Canon Point: Between the Temple of the Ancients and the Forgotten City.

 

Preferred Team: Cosmos.
 

 

Cycle Goal: Comprehending who he is. Cloud's identity is already muddled from his memory issues back in the world of Final Fantasy VII, and with the addition of amnesia from entering the cycles of the Nightmare Realm, he has a very tenuous grasp on his sense of self. In order to attain his ultimate goal, he must try to untangle what parts of himself are himself from the parts taken from Zack, and assert that he is a real person at all, not just a copy or a fabrication.
 

 

Memories:

General-

He remembers that he was some kind of elite soldier, but lacks details on what that entailed or what he did as one.

He remembers something about being in a burning town.

Specific-

Cloud has a vivid recollection of fury directed at Sephiroth, knows that he was somehow wronged, and recalls rushing off to fight him. His memory cuts off before the fight, so he is left with a distressing blank spot in regards to the results of this battle.
 

 

Personality:

Initially, Cloud gives off an arrogant impression. He plays the role of a hardened professional, who knows he's strong and only cares about himself, not others or their causes. If one spends any time around Cloud, they'll realize that this arrogance is just posturing, and that the person beneath is more caring and less competent than he'd have other believe. As a child he was ignored and left behind by his peers, and as a young adult he failed to attain greatness in the military like he had sworn to do, which compounded his natural insecurity. He is ashamed of his perceived flaws, and uses his apparent position to cover them up and to try to impress others, since their approval is what much of his self-esteem hinges on. He consequentially also has a history of hero-worship, particularly of individuals in SOLDIER who he wished he could be more like, or even be himself. This has shaped his life in a rather unexpected manner since he left home to join SOLDIER.
 

 

Cloud lives very much within his own head. He is an introvert, dwelling on his flaws and amplifying them within the crucible of his memories. These memories are not watertight, however, and this distorts his self-conception even more. He is a very suggestible individual, easily swayed by what others tell him about himself- at one point, he is genuinely convinced that he was created in a lab five years before the present, despite him having lived for sixteen years before his supposed "birth" and having memories of the years before then. Before that, he just as easily made himself believe he had lived through his friend Zack's life, putting himself in Zack's place in all of their shared memories in his own mind. He even emulated the behavior of his friend, essentially becoming him in all but appearance and name, despite having a self underneath these delusions that ran counter to who he thought he was. These delusions and general mental fragility also cause Cloud to have rather unusual symptoms in how he thinks about himself and his past- he conceptualizes past versions of himself as separate entities and finds himself lectured by them in disjointed flashes of memory, even hallucinating separate versions of himself outside of his body at times. Ordinarily, he does not mention any of this to others, preferring to keep it secret, and the added uncertainty from losing his memories makes it both easier to keep it a secret and harder for him to tell what is going on in his mind.
 

 

Insecurity and mental instability are not all there is to Cloud as a person. He may be weak-minded, but he is also strong-willed. If he has a goal that his heart is set upon, he will pursue it regardless of difficulty. On many occasions he has put up with massive detours, impractical and convoluted routes from point A to point B, and utterly insane plans to attain his goals. He would travel the whole world in order to reach his objective, and has done so, though he doesn't specifically remember this event. Things like fear and doubt may slow him, but he is ultimately quite brave and very driven. This stubborn determination would perhaps be more admirable if it wasn't as impulsive! Cloud's most dogged pursuits of goals have been emotionally driven and rash, based on hunches or a moment's passion, though rationalized to the extreme after the fact.

 

Cloud's determination and surprising resourcefulness when it comes to problems are complements to the fact that he's generally a good, helpful person. He's protective of those he cares about, and would rather put himself in harm's way than let someone else stick their neck out. When he makes up his mind on a plan, he will check and double-check with anybody following him, which is a result of his insecurity, but also something that makes him a good leader and a good friend. Things like the individual quirks and flaws of those around him hardly bother Cloud unless they're actively harmful or result in him being jerked around, and he has a remarkable tolerance for weirdness. He never batted an eyelash at a talking cat robot or a man he found in a coffin joining his cause, and witnessed countless bizarre creatures, events and locations in his journeys.
 

 

Cloud isn't without a sense of humor. He can be sarcastic and downright sassy at times, particularly towards those that he doesn't hold a high opinion of. He is not a cool, deadpan snarker, though. As much as he is capable of dealing with and joking about strange things, he is fairly strange and awkward himself. His word choices are frequently quirky or outright embarrassing- the time he said "let's mosey" to his party members as they went off to the final battle stands out in particular- and he can make some very foolish decisions. Many of the plans he's carried out to attain his goals have been convoluted, bizarre, and nonsensical, with a tendency to involve disguises, unusual vehicles, and considerable detours. He can sell people on them, but there is something undeniably dorky about everything Cloud does, even underneath his insecurity and heroism and outright insanity.
 

 

Skills and Abilities: Cloud is a strong physical fighter above all else. His massive Buster Sword isn't just for show- it's a weapon with a huge impact, if and when it hits. Opponents close to his size or smaller can be launched a great distance by a single blow, and the weapon does punishing damage against those who can stand their ground. Given how large the blade is, it may come as a surprise that he can also execute fairly acrobatic leaping attacks and swing it with quite a range in midair, giving him further range as a physical fighter.

 

He is also decently capable of magic. Everyone in his home world has the capacity to use magic by way of materia, though some have a much easier time with it than others, and he is one of the ones who doesn't have much of a hard time with it. He may not be the most magically gifted, but he always keeps a few materia on hand for a quick spell or special attack.
 

 

The flip-side to this strength and versatility, of course, is speed and accuracy. Cloud does not have much of either, thanks to the Buster Sword's size and weight. On the ground, he is not a very fast runner with it on his back or in his hands, and any attack requires a noticeable amount of windup, giving opponents ample time to dodge or outmaneuver him. Spells cast also require time to activate and use, further slowing him down as a cost for his offensive versatility.
 

 

Thunder/Thundara/Thundara - Casts offensive lightning magic.

Blizzard/Blizzara/Blizzaga - Casts offensive ice magic.

Deathblow - A stronger-than normal critical attack, with proportionately larger windup.
 

 

Braver - A downward slash that's about three times stronger than a regular attack.

Cross-slash - A powerful series of slashing attacks that can paralyze the opponent.

Blade Beam - A wave of energy sent out from the sword that sends out further shockwaves when it strikes the opponent.

Climhazzard - A stabbing attack followed by a leap in the air, sword still in hand.

Meteorain - Launches six small meteors at the opponent, which strike at random.

Finishing Touch - A powerful tornado that can hit multiple opponents for physical damage.

Omnislash Version 5- A series of five very powerful slashing attacks, with a sixth and final blow.
 

 

Ex Mode - Ultima Weapon

In place of the Buster Sword, Cloud equips the Ultima Weapon. His attack is increased based on how much HP he has left, and he can now break through normal guarding abilities and block weaker incoming attacks.

Ex Burst - Omnislash

Cloud attacks with a series of fifteen very powerful, very quick slashing attacks.
 

 

 

Arena:

Arena Name: Nibelheim

Physical Description: A small, cozy town nestled in forbidding, craggy mountains, lit ablaze. The arena is centered on an old-fashioned water tower in the town square, surrounded by houses and shops that were initially built in a rustic style but built up with more and more industrial smokestacks and additions over time as the town modernized. Beyond them is a large and vaguely sinister mansion surrounded by a tall fence and dark pine trees, looming in front of a backdrop of even more sinister peaks. In daylight, the town might be dominated by greenish, hazy light, but that has been replaced by the orange glow of fire. The buildings are all merrily ablaze, and the flames have spread around to form a vague circle with the water tower at the center. Parts of buildings have collapsed and there are beams and rubble, also on fire, blocking the road in and out of town.

Media: Video / Image 1 / Image 2 / Image 3

Effects: The stage is on fire in many areas, and coming into contact with the fire is harmful to anyone who does not have a special resistance to it.

Music: Those Chosen by the Planet / Remastered Version