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Highlights
- Cloud Strife, the iconic protagonist of the Final Fantasy series, is recognized as one of the strongest characters but also has distinct weaknesses that make him vulnerable.
- Initially, Cloud shows apathy towards his missions and is only concerned about the payment, but later develops a stronger sense of purpose.
- Cloud's identity crisis, mental health issues, and connection with Sephiroth are significant weaknesses that affect his actions and relationships throughout the game.
Out of all the characters in the Final Fantasy series, Cloud Strife is easily one of the most recognizable protagonists in both the series and gaming, unofficially becoming the mascot for Final Fantasy. Equipped with the incredibly massive Buster Sword, players know full well that Cloud is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with even the scariest of foes.
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There are many ways in which Cloud is strong, but with his strength comes weaknesses that are exclusive to him as well. From his experiences with Mako energy to his harrowing past and identity issues, to say that Cloud is invulnerable would be a vast understatement, with these few weaknesses being great examples.
8 Initial Apathy
At this point, fans of Final Fantasy 7 know of Cloud's goals to defeat Sephiroth, both to get revenge for Nibelheim and to stop him from summoning Meteor. But before Sephiroth's first appearance in the game, Cloud maintained an apparent disinterest in any mission that he took on as a mercenary unless it concerned how much he was getting paid.
This trait of his is especially present during Final Fantasy 7's first act when Cloud teamed up with the infamous eco-terrorist group Avalanche to blow up the Sector 1 Mako Reactor to protect the planet. In contrast to Barret's hardcore passion to stop Shinra from harming the planet, Cloud remained completely disinterested in the task at hand, only focusing on how much money he would receive after his job was done.
7 Elemental Weaknesses
The fascinating Materia system is one of Final Fantasy 7's selling points because it allows players to configure their characters with any combination of Materia they please. Depending on the combination of Materia, Cloud and the rest of his party will experience some added effects in battle, namely protection from the many elemental attacks in the game.
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Though Cloud is not inherently weak to any elements, certain Materia combinations can make him susceptible to some elemental attacks in the game. For example, by linking an Elemental Materia to a fire magic Materia on Cloud's armor, he will receive some protection from fire attacks, but weaker to ice attacks.
6 Motion Sickness
Prior to the main Final Fantasy 7 game, Cloud worked as a Shinra foot soldier after failing to make it into the elite mercenary group SOLDIER. It was during his tenure in the organization that Cloud developed motion sickness as a result of spending a lot of time in moving vehicles, such as helicopters and trucks.
While Cloud's motion sickness was not as debilitating as those of other characters, his sickly state still drew concern from his friends, especially his close friend Zack Fair. By the time Final Fantasy 7 rolled around, however, Cloud had conquered his motion sickness to the point of offering Yuffie, another character who is prone to motion sickness, some advice on how to do the same.
5 Poor Social Skills
Initially, Cloud presented himself as an aloof mercenary with an arrogant attitude and a disinterest in anything that did not coincide with his interests. This led to Cloud having some difficulty in connecting with others as well as some conflict with other members of his party, such as Barrett and Tifa.
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During his and Tifa's time in the Lifestream, however, it is revealed that much of Cloud's mannerisms stem from an immense fear of letting others down, such as when he was unable to save Tifa from falling down Mt. Nibel when they were children. Fortunately, with Tifa's help, Cloud becomes a much more sociable person and gets along more easily with the rest of the party despite his occasional shy moments.
4 Mako Poisoning
Despite not being a member of SOLDIER, Cloud has received the same level of exposure to Mako energy as a typical member of SOLDIER, resulting in his iconic glowing blue eyes. Unfortunately, this is his only safe interaction with Mako energy. Cloud would later be subjected to dangerous levels of Mako energy, resulting in him succumbing to severe Mako poisoning.
Cloud has been exposed to near-lethal levels of Mako energy twice in his lifetime: once during his captivity in the Shinra manor and once when he fell into the Lifestream near the Northern Cave. In both instances, Cloud was left completely paralyzed, requiring someone to take care of him, and his mental state was horribly compromised to the point that his speech became fragmented.
3 Mental Health & Identity Issues
Arguably one of Cloud's most memorable arcs is his desire to assert his own identity independent of outside forces, namely Shinra and Sephiroth. Initially, however, the combined trauma of Nibelheim's destruction and losing Zack led Cloud to shape his reality in which Cloud was a part of SOLDIER and Zack never existed, which became the root of his identity crisis.
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The false identity that Cloud assumed throughout the majority of Final Fantasy 7 also led to him having numerous mental breakdowns during key moments throughout the game. Ultimately, his identity crisis reached a boiling point when Hojo manipulated Cloud into believing he was created as a clone of Sephiroth, leading to Cloud's psyche being destroyed.
2 Jenova's Cells
After surviving the destruction of Nibelheim, Cloud, alongside Zack and other surviving Nibelheim residents, was taken in by Hojo to test out his Jenova Reunion theory in the Shinra manor. It was here that Cloud was injected with cells from the malevolent alien Jenova, which would allow Sephiroth to override Cloud's will at any time.
Though this weakness is not present in the early stages of Final Fantasy 7, it would later be one of the underlying motives for Cloud's fierce pursuit of Sephiroth after the party leaves Midgar. But perhaps the most insidious example of this weakness is when Sephiroth took control of Cloud to take the Black Materia in Cloud's possession for himself at the Temple of the Ancients.
1 Connection With Sephiroth
With Sephiroth always standing opposite him in every one of their appearances, the rivalry between Cloud and Sephiroth is one of the most iconic and noteworthy rivalries in gaming. As the culprit behind the destruction of Cloud's hometown, the grudge that Cloud has towards Sephiroth runs extremely deep, even more so when taking into account the fact that Cloud initially admired him in his youth.
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake takes this weakness even further by having Cloud experience hallucinations of Sephiroth during his mental breakdowns. Due to Sephiroth's psychological torture and lingering presence in his life, he is considered to be Cloud's greatest source of weakness, which is further solidified due to both men possessing Jenova's cells and Sephiroth's mental hold on Cloud.
