Highlights

  • Cloud Strife's voice actor, Cody Christian, found it challenging to a particular scene in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, due to the silliness of the scene.
  • Despite the comedic moment, Christian took the task seriously, carefully selecting the right inflections for Clouds' lines.
  • While the scene in question brought levity, Cloud's journey in FF7 Rebirth remains emotionally intense as he faces his past.

Mild spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ahead

Cody Christian, the actor behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth hero Cloud Strife, recently discussed one of the most challenging scenes for him to record: the part where Cloud turns into a Moogle. When Square Enix released the long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake in 2020, the game’s entire cast received new voice actors, including Cloud himself. While Steve Burton voiced Cloud in the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 and the Kingdom Hearts games, All American alumni Cody Christian picked up the Buster Sword for Final Fantasy 7 Remake and its eventual sequel, this year’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Cloud goes through a pretty dark and emotional experience throughout Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, with his fractured memories starting to surface and Sephiroth’s continued gaslighting leading him to question his own reality multiple times during the party’s quest to uncover the secrets behind the ancient Cetra. However, FF7 Rebirth also has moments of levity sprinkled throughout, especially during FF7 Rebirth’s Moogle side quest. The culmination of this comes after Cloud and company help round up the wayward Moogles one last time, and they temporarily transform Cloud into one himself, complete with a miniature version of his iconic Buster Sword weapon for added comedy.

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Cody Christian recently discussed what it was like to record this scene in an interview with Deadline, during which he said that it was one of the hardest parts to act through due to how “goofy” it all was. At first, he thought the production staff had made a mistake when he first saw the Moogle Cloud’s dialogue, which consisted solely of the word “Kupo” being spoken 30 times. He says that it was especially jarring after the more serious parts of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth he was recording beforehand, and that the challenge came from saying the same word repeatedly with different inflections.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Moogle Cloud Was A Challenge To Record

Christian described the whole ordeal as “ridiculously funny,” but he nonetheless took his job seriously, going back and listening to each “Kupo” to pick out the right one for the mood of the in-game moment. According to him, it was especially tough to pick out one take from another when they sounded similar, and the process was surprisingly meticulous for what was ultimately such a brief and lighthearted moment within Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s emotionally intense plot.

Cody Christian went on to describe how he performed Cloud’s darker moments in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, focusing on the human aspects of the character as he struggles to come to terms with his traumatic past and his role in the battle to save the future from annihilation at the hands of his former idol Sephiroth. This journey left Cloud in a troubled place at the end of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and fans can’t wait to hear more of Cody Christian in the third and final chapter of the series.