Cloud Strife's Sword

Cloud wields a variety of weapons throughout his appearances. His most iconic weapon is the Buster Sword, a massive two-handed broadsword that he wields in Final Fantasy VII and most of his spin-off appearances.

In Advent Children Cloud has abandoned the Buster Sword and instead wields the Fusion Swords, a collection of six swords that can combine together into one, the individual swords having a variety of designs and their fused form being directly based on the Buster Sword. In Final Fantasy VII Cloud is able to equip katanas and other greatswords as well, though he continues to wield the Buster Sword in cutscenes.

Just look at the left picture,that is the sword he uses.

FF7 Cloud Strife Weapons

Length:65"

Material：PVC、PMMA、Metal

100% handmade

Cloud talking to Zack in Nibelheim

Despite his bravado, Cloud is unable to make it into SOLDIER and becomes an ordinary Shinra infantryman. While working for Shinra he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair in Modeoheim, and the two become friends after learning they are both "backwater experts." When he and Zack infiltrate a Mako Excavation Facility on the way to Modeoheim, they encounter Genesis Rhapsodos and Dr. Hollander. When Hollander attempts to escape, Cloud is briefly successful in capturing him. However, Hollander manages to break free of Cloud's grip in the struggle.

Cloud gives pursuit, but both he and Tseng, leader of the Turks, are taken down by Angeal Hewley off screen. On June 28th, 0001, Cloud is among those ordered to protect Professor Rayleigh in Midgar from the insurgency organization AVALANCHE. Though he is unsuccessful, both of their lives are saved by the Player Turk. During this incident, Cloud shows off some impressive sword skills for a regular infantryman.

On September 22nd, 0002, Cloud later returns to Nibelheim, along with Zack and Sephiroth, to investigate a damaged reactor on 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, who Sephiroth mistakenly believed was his mother.

Falling into madness, Sephiroth immerses himself in Professor Gast Faremis's writings and discovers his own dark past. He comes out from the Shinra Mansion basement on October 1st and sets about destroying the village. Cloud witnesses his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushes to the reactor to confront Sephiroth where he finds both a wounded Tifa and a barely conscious Zack. A grief-stricken Cloud picks up Zack's Buster Sword, catching Sephiroth off guard in the reactor core and impaling him, then returns to attend to Tifa. Sephiroth, badly wounded, emerges from the reactor core, and when Cloud attacks again, Sephiroth stabs him with the Masamune. Cloud summons previously unknown strength and uses the katana as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into the Mako pit below. The observing Turk, who does not see this, assumes Sephiroth jumped in of his own volition and reports back to Shinra to this effect. Cloud collapses immediately thereafter.

Afterward Cloud and Zack become Professor Hojo's test subjects. 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 19th, 0006), Zack breaks out of his confinement and helps a comatose Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform to wear because his old clothes are soaked with Mako. Due to the experiments, Cloud is in a weak and delirious state. As they escape, 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 have passed since Hojo took them. Zack carries the comatose Cloud around, and though Cloud takes no part in the events, is present when Zack defeats Genesis.

After almost a year of running, the pair finally arrive outside Midgar in September 0007. However, the Shinra forces finally catch up. Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. In the end, after single-handedly overcoming the majority of the Shinra soldiers, Zack is gunned down by the last few, and Cloud is left for dead after the soldiers see him in his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the 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 dying. After some time Cloud, deeply distressed, scrambles to his feet, Buster Sword in hand, and begins trudging off towards Midgar.

Shortly thereafter, in the Sector 7 Train Station, Cloud and his mind undergoes a radical transformation due to the Nibelheim incident, the Mako Poisoning and Jenova cells he received from Hojo's experiments, and finally the death of Zack. Cloud impresses Zack's memories into his own, along with Tifa's memories of him and his own ideal image of himself as a SOLDIER, creating a new set of memories with an accompanying 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 -- and in most of Cloud's twisted and warped memories he takes Zack's place. Taking up Zack's plans for them, Cloud presents himself in Midgar as a former First Class SOLDIER, now a mercenary for hire.

Cloud talking to Tifa about his childhood

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 he was raised by his mother. Cloud grew up isolated from the rest of the village children, feeling himself somehow better than them, though it is implied he longed for the others' friendship. 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, Tifa's mother died, and Tifa insisted she could meet her mother again by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed, and when Tifa was injured, the townsfolk believed the expedition up the mountain to be Cloud's idea, and Tifa's Father forbade Cloud from approaching her. Cloud blamed himself for what happened to Tifa, thinking 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 promised to 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.

Personality of Cloud

In Final Fantasy VII, due to the combined effect of Mako poisoning and the influence of Jenova's cells in his body, Cloud unknowingly holds a fake persona created by the Jenova cells mixing his memories of Zack's personality with the somewhat cocky and selfish attitude he believes a SOLDIER 1st Class would have. However, during the game events he eventually restores his original personality, and shows genuine concern for The Planet's fate, a sharp contrast to his persona at the start of the game where he claimed he did not care about the Planet and only agreed to help AVALANCHE for the right price.

However, during the film Cloud faces his past both metaphorically and literally, with Sephiroth's rebirth, his visions of Aerith and shows of loyalty from the friends he tried so hard to let go. These events allow him to forgive himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith and move on, although it is unclear what this ultimately means in terms of his personality and lifestyle. However, the mere fact that he is present to aid his old allies (and even cracks a slight joke), shows that he has indeed moved on in his life.In Advent Children and many related appearances, Cloud is a much more somber and dark character, tormented by guilt over what he perceives as his past failings; being unable to prevent the deaths of Aerith Gainsborough and Zack Fair. The final straw was when he contracted the terminal Geostigma plague, which added to his feelings of helplessness. Deciding to distance himself from his friends and live alone, he tries to keep his affliction secret so as not to cause further grief.

In Crisis Core, Cloud is depicted as a rather shy, but more upbeat person who idolizes both Zack and Sephiroth. However, when Sephiroth burned down Nibelheim and badly wounded his friends Zack and Tifa Lockhart, Cloud does not hesitate to avenge them by hurling the madman to his apparent death whilst himself being impaled with the Masamune.

Despite the feelings he may have, Cloud remains steadfastly loyal and true to those he cares about and is always driven to protect them, even going as far as to hide his pain and emotions so he could not worry them. Ultimately, it is his selfless and kind nature that gives him the ability to overcome Sephiroth time and again. His compassion is explored further when he brings Denzel back to 7th Heaven and shares with Tifa an obligation to take care of the boy because of the guilt they felt for Sector 7's destruction. Because Cloud saved him, Denzel looks up to Cloud as an idol and both share a strong bond.

Cloud also has a lighter side, willingly crossdressing as a woman in order to save Tifa Lockhart from Don Corneo's mansion. He also has a dry, ironic wit in Dirge of Cerberus, when he cracks a joke with some of his allies. Overall, while he has a rather moody demeanor, his personality is not as brooding as that of Vincent Valentine. Like Yuffie Kisaragi, Cloud also suffers from motion sickness, and has even given her advice on how to handle it while aboard the Highwind. It is seemingly cured during the period when Cloud upholds his fake SOLDIER persona, but returns when his true self is restored, although his ability to ride the Fenrir on delivery business suggests his motion sickness has somewhat improved.

In The Reunion Files for Advent Children, Tetsuya Nomura explained that while Cloud was initially depicted as a more upbeat character at the end of Final Fantasy VII, he chose to have Cloud be a character that fans would find more familiar, and the script was written to explain why Cloud had returned to such a frame of mind. Nomura also said that a great deal of care was taken to animate Cloud's face and expressions, and over thirty different models of his face were made. His face was modeled to keep "a stiff upper lip", with his emotions and thoughts being expressed through his eyes.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII of Cloud

In the cell phone game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Cloud appears in a minor role. During the course of the game, which takes place over the six years leading into Final Fantasy VII, the player encounters Cloud while he works in Shinra to be a SOLDIER, assisting Shinra's group Turks in one of their missions and repraising the events from Nibelheim's rise.

In the CGI film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Cloud, two years following the conclusion of Final Fantasy VII, lives with Tifa in the city of Edge, working as a delivery boy for the "Strife Delivery Service" that Tifa set up in her new bar, having given up his life as a mercenary. Staying with them is Marlene, Barret's adopted daughter, and Denzel, an orphan with a rampant and deadly disease called Geostigma. When confronted by Tifa following the disappearance of Denzel and Marlene, it is revealed that Cloud suffers from the effects of Geostigma, and he responds that he is unfit to protect his new family and other friends. However, when urged by Tifa to let go of the past, Cloud sets out for the Forgotten City in search for the children, and confronts Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, genetic remnants of Sephiroth left behind before he could diffuse into the Lifestream completely. In confronting Kadaj, the battle takes them back to Aerith's church, where the Lifestream-influenced water cures Cloud of his Geostigma. Kadaj later merges with the remnants of Jenova, causing Sephiroth to be reborn. When Sephiroth is once again defeated, he dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place. At the movie's end, Cloud reunites with his friends, sees Aerith and Zack and assures them that he will be fine.

Cloud is also featured in the novella On the Way to a Smile, in which set between Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children. The chapter "Case of Tifa" shows his life alongside Tifa, Marlene and Denzel. Cloud is also one of the main characters in the original video animation Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. It depicts Cloud in two events that were shown in flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII; one at Nibelheim when he fights Sephiroth, and the other while escaping from Shinra with Zack.

Cloud appears in a supporting role in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. A year after the events of Advent Children, Cloud, working alongside Barrett and Tifa, lends his support to the ground forces of the World Regenesis Organization and Vincent Valentine in their siege of Midgar and counterattack against the rogue Shinra military unit, Deepground. In the prequel Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Cloud is presented as a young Shinra infantryman who befriends Zack. During the game's conclusion, a dying Zack gives Cloud his Buster Sword, telling him that he is his legacy, as he goes to Midgar reprising the start of Final Fantasy VII.