Writer Info
Name: Jen
E-mail: jen_006@yahoo.com
ICQ/AIM: BoobPaste
Chara Info
Name: Cloud Strife
Age: 21
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 148 lbs
Weapon(s): Murasame; it resembles a katana, or if you will, a shorter version of Sephiroth's masamune. Also, Cloud has the various tactical fighting and whatnot he learned in the army.
Appearance: Slender and diminutive, Cloud doesn't give the impression of one who has strength, even though he is obviously fit. It isn't in the way he looks that conveys leadership, but in the way he stands, talks, and gestures, though all of it is unintentional. His narrow, handsome face is generally set in varying degrees of seriousness and he has a tendency to stare too directly at people with his bright, deep blue eyes, enhanced by Mako infusions. His hair itself is extreme blonde, defying gravity to rise in spikes of different sizes, a few of which fall over his brow, most notably on the right side of his face. As for clothing, Cloud has left behind his worn SOLDIER uniform for comfortable pants, shirts, and jackets, preferring necessity over style.
Personality: Cloud is a private, quiet, serious person, who for most of his life has strived to be more than he was. What faults he can excuse in others, he has a difficult time excusing in himself, and as a result, tends to be harder on himself than most situations warrant. He feels immense, shared responsibility for the state the Planet is in now, despite knowing that he was being controlled by Sephiroth, and works himself very hard because of it.
While intelligent, Cloud tends to be somewhat socially inept and also a bit slow when it comes to the feelings of others around him. Still, Cloud possesses many redeemable qualities. He is loyal, more caring than he gives himself credit for, and strong, especially since Aeris helped him to restore his memories of himself. While he doesn't smile often, he does appreciate humor, and tends to have a dry, understated one himself. He isn't quick to temper, doesn't take things too seriously, and is, despite his sometimes distant personality, laid-back and easy to be around.
Brief History:
Cloud grew up in Nibelheim, having never known his father. His mother wouldn't talk of Shelton Strife, nor would she share snapshots of him. Resentment built, at the man he was sure left him because there was something wrong with him, and at his mother, who wouldn't tell him the truth. It left him a bit of a loner, and somewhat shy, as he stood back, watching everyone in town with their intact families, making friends easily.
There was a girl in town that Cloud admired and wanted to be friends with. Tifa Lockhart. But she was very popular with everyone in town, and he didn't have the nerve to try to insert himself into the group that hung around her. So instead, he cultivated anger, telling himself they didn't want him to be a part of the group.
When Cloud finally did get invited to Tifa's house, it was on the day her mother passed away from cancer. Grieved and angry, Tifa determined she would cross the Nibel mountains and find her mother's spirit on the other side. Cloud didn't want her to get hurt, so he chas+ed after her, though he was afraid. Her friends followed for a while, before they turned back... And so it was only Cloud and Tifa on the rope bridge when it gave out, plunging them to the rock below.
Tifa's father, and the other townspeople blamed Cloud for Tifa's injuries. Tifa herself was in a coma for many days, leaving Cloud to think she was going to die. When she came out of it, he turned self-destructive, not caring what sort of trouble he got into. He started fights, vandalized... Anything to assuage the rage. None of it worked, however, and it was at 14 that he called Tifa to the well one night.
He told her he was going away to join SOLDIER and become like Sephiroth. She made him promise to come and rescue her when she needed it. Puzzled, but agreeing, Cloud left. And in the years to come, didn't make it to SOLDIER. Instead, he remained a part of Shinra's foot soldiers, coming back to Nibelheim a few short years later, too embarrassed to be seen. He covered his face while there, and Tifa didn't even know he was watching her.
The events that unfolded scarred Cloud's heart, mind, and body. Sephiroth discovered things in the mansion that leads to his insanity and burning of the town. Cloud's friend Zack was slashed by Sephiroth, as was Tifa, leaving Cloud to stop him. Cloud stabbed Sephiroth, but Sephiroth continued on, leaving Cloud to chase after him, and be injured himself. Still, Cloud managed to hurl Sephiroth into the reactor below and passed out soon after.
To cover the incident, Shinra rebuilt the town. The only place that remained untouched, however, was the mansion, where Hojo experimented on both Zack and Cloud for five years, before the two of them escaped, hitching a ride in an old truck to make it to Midgar. Cloud was extremely sick from all of the experimenting Hojo did on them, however, and when he and Zack were shot down by Shinra soldiers and Zack was presumed dead, he managed to make his way into Midgar, memories confused with those of Zack, making him think the things that happened to Zack happened to him.
Tifa found him at the train station, and took him in, convincing him to join AVALANCHE and their cause: to save the Planet. From there on, things progressed and they picked more and more people up along the way (and lost some), so that their motley group had actually begun to get hope that they might be able to do something. It was at the temple of the Ancients, however, that Sephiroth controlled Cloud, so that Cloud gave him the Black Materia, capable of summoning Meteor and destroying the Planet.
Cloud once again blanked out, and Aeris, intent on stopping Meteor, left through the Forest of the Ancients for the city of her people. Despite his lack of confidence in his leadership abilities because of Sephiroth's control over him, Cloud led them to the City of the Ancients. There, he nearly killed Aeris himself, and if it hadn't been for Tifa, might just have... But instead, he kept her from dying by Sephiroth's sword, and in the waters of the Lifestream, Aeris gave him back his true memories and the strength to help rebuild what was left of the world, because Meteor, working with Holy to eradicate all from the Planet, had struck.
But Aeris' prayers had reached into the Lifestream and not all of humanity was wiped out. They had a world in ruins, but they were alive and they had the means to rebuild.
Anything else: Nope.
