I don’t think most people appreciate what a groundbreaking character Cloud was. At first glance he’s the typical hero, strong, confident. To have his whole persona being a fraud and that he was instead, shy,introverted average. The unreliable narrator used to full effect truly elevated this games story.
Another brilliant aspect that actually pulls a wool over our eyes and we don't even know it til the last 1/3rd is that because of what Hojo did to him he is capable of being the SOLDIER he thinks he is. So we are given a brilliant dichotomy: The Cloud who thinks he's Zack and Fights like he thinks he is. And then we have Cloud as he truly is, Physically capable and his body having gained the experience he needed from his Journey to stop Sephiroth.
@@tyrantravealpha It also shows the power of Jenovas cells combined with mako. Through his own memories of seeing Zack fight, the cells acted as conduit effectively giving Cloud the experience and body of a 1st Class soldier. Great world building that translated into gameplay.
Cloud Strife is not only one of my favorite FF/video game characters, but one of my favorite characters in fiction. His struggle and journey through pain, tragedy and violence to find peace, a home and somewhere he belongs and becoming a true hero. Is beautiful and inspiration story that I deeply admire and relate to. Cloud Strife is an icon.
Cloud actually was rejected from soldier due to being mentally weak, which also helps explain why his identity shattered after Hojo's experiments on him.
yup he was exceptionally strong physically just mentally frail... he has flashes of his true potential in before crisis and in the nibelheim incident like he's gohan in DBZ
@@funkyfranx what does it mean to be strong is a core underlying theme of the show. Cloud has the most fragile ego and willpower out of any character ever, but he does have resilience, which is why he didnt degenerate into one of the castoffs and pulled together a new identity based on zack.
The identity us not based on zack, its based on what he thinks a first soldier wpuld be. You didnt pay attention whne playing the game and it shows. This is made more appearant in rebirth. Cloud and zack also have two very distinct styles in combat focusing on different things. @@Avenus112
Only at the last moments after the reunion, before that it was a bit shaky. Part of me feels that whole sephiroth illusion mind break couldve been avoided if they addressed it sooner, but it worked out well anyway and makes one hell of a story of self discovery.
Rhat was Aerith actually. Tifa kept him around so that started the game BUT her lack of confidence to confront his lack of memories was the reason of his downfall. If she would be gently, happy open about it he could've been eased into his lack of personality. Only Aerith adresses it. If Cloud was 100% sure his top prio is stop Sephiroth he could've stood a chance.
@@gatorssbm Yeah, but the thing is, had Tifa confronted him at the start of the game, he might've just fled, which is what Tifa feared. Was it fair to Cloud? Not really. But was it understandable from Tifas perspective? Since she too was a traumatized girl, who had lost her family, village and was left alone in the world as a 15 year old girl.... and then by chance she runs into Cloud when she's 20. Whom she had not seen since he left 7 year earlier. And she desperatly did not want to lose him. Hell, Avalanche not having the 2k gil to pay him in Remake could even have been a lie by Tifa so he'd be forced to stay... atleast one more day..... :P
For me, Cloud Strife is as important to my own self-confidence as Batman and the TMNT from my childhood. Having been born in 1984, Cloud becoming a character I cared about during the start adolescence as an introvert and someone who often got bullied terribly helped me TREMENDOUSLY throughout my life in always being myself and having the strength to push through no matter how many hardships I endured. The Nolan Batman movies and FF7 original and the new trilogy are my favorite media - period.... and this is largely driven by strong silent characters who have huge hearts though cannot often show it as others may or do. I just felt like adding this because I love this game more than any other and your video so much. Thank you!
I think Cloud's dialogue with the rest of the team when he sends them away to find their real reason to fight is a fantastic example of his growth as a character. He understands that a shallow motivation or ideal is not enough to give them the strength they need to defeat Sephiroth and passes that personal growth onto the rest of his team and like a true leader gives them all the motivation to accomplish their Goals. Cloud was not a soldier, but time and time again, he proved himself a true hero and much more of a hero than his own inspiration Sephiroth ever was. It's also interesting that in the final confrontation with Hojo, he admits that Cloud, in spite of initially being deemed as a failure, is the only actually successful attempt in recreating Sephiroth's strength. Cloud in finding his own identity and reconciling with his fractured past became a better Sephiroth than Sephiroth. There is also some subtext to the fact that Cloud's original aspiration of what a hero is was just a pawn of greedy military ambition and that the true heroism he finds is that of compassion and love for those close to him and a desire to protect the world for their sake. Just one more jab at capitalist driven imperialism.
I fucking LOVE how he uses "you can hear the cries of the planet" in the background in all of these FF7 lore videos, it's one of the best pieces of music that came from the game and makes the perfect music to play in the background of lore videos.
Cloud's self discovery reminds me a lot of Clay Kaczmarek from Assassin's Creed last words 'What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!'
I think one of the most interesting things about Cloud's story is how the Nibelheim incident was basically just a few weeks ago, in terms of his perception. After the incident, he and zack spent 5 years in tubes, then Zack gets gunned down and Cloud crawls his way to Midgar. He's still essentially just a 16 year old, desperately trying to act like the "adults" he looks up to, with his brain shutting out the most traumatic events of his life. Which would explain his instinctual, gutteral reaction to seeing Sephiroth's sword, as opposed to the looming dread Tifa feels, or the confusion of the other party members. It's still fresh in Cloud's subconscious, so he goes borderline feral about it, that's when he really begins trying to piece together what really happened, given the information he has
Cloud is the greatest protagonist ever created. When the game first came out i was a kid and didnt understand the game, but when i got a little older and revisited the game, i realized just how fantastic of a character he really is
The very first enemy you face in the game is a Shinra Grunt, which is what Cloud was during the Nibelheim incident. A nobody. The very last enemy you face is Sephiroth, considered the most powerful being in the setting. And yet Cloud beat him. The first defeats the last. The weakest defeats the strongest.
What I like is they introduce Cloud as the reliable fighter. Then they beat him down. and last secret of Cloud you learn is that Cloud was the reliable fighter.
Cloud is one of the greatest characters in anything ever....I'll never forget first time I played ff7 and seeing his journey unfold...it was mins blowing
I think I like Cloud more than many other video game and movie protagonists mostly because of how relatable and personal he feels to the player and audience. You start the game seeing a character who seems like a badass, but the truth of the character is a subversion of that badass hero archetype. Its one of the first times in any media where I had seen the typical archetypal hero character subverted, but in a good way.
Okay! A suggestion for a video! Tidus and Jecht’s relationship in Final Fantasy X shows a surprising amount of emotional depth! The relationship between angry and neglected son and a father who recognizes his faults but realizes it is too late to undo them. It’s a fascinating narrative!
One thing I really like that the remake is doing is taking the time in act 2 to show just how much of a well rounded person cloud could have been if he wasn't swept up in all the toxi masculine bs that pushed him into wanting to be a soldier. There's some of it in the original, but like, cloud is a photographer, and a good one, we know not just from snaps but also a cute side quest I won't spoil. He plays the piano well. There is virtue in him as a normal dude, and all he really needed was someone to appreciate who he was.
A good point. If he hadn't tried to be a soldier Cloud could have been many other things. He might have been heroic wherever he had ended up, too. I disagree with your idea of what a soldier is, though. To win a war requires many things of a Human that will destroy them and others in most other settings. War is ruthless, predatory and calculating, for the sole purpose of demolishing enemies. One must abandon Humanity to be good at war - regardless of what degree of a Human one might have been in any field or other. A soldier attempts to control themselves in war, to retain their Humanity, which requires an unshakable resolve - as Cloud discovered across the game. That said, some thinkers have seen the struggles of life as battles, and life itself to be a war. Interesting ramifications to consider.
@@dhaburuk6494 Sorry, allow me to rephrase, the toxic masculine bullshit that caused him to want to join SOLDIER. There are good an ethical reasons to want to join a military, not Shinra's military.
@@bendonatier I suppose that depends on what Cloud imagined SOLDIER to be, and what he thought he would gain by joining. He wanted to return and protect his home-town, according to his Tifa-memory, right? That isn't so bad on its own. From the little shown of Zack here, checking on the condition of mere grunts, I'd guess that Cloud got lucky to end up near a decent sort of person. The blessings upon the protagonist no doubt. SOLDIER could certainly provide him with the resources & skills training he would need to be a protector. Of course the process destroyed him, as one should expect from an evil-corporation's private military. Its a solid set-up for the plot to happen, including the half-baked ideas and ignorance of a child.
As much as Advent Children can be divisive, lore wise, this lends into Cloud's famous quote from that movie; " I pity you. You just don’t get it at all. There’s not a thing I don’t cherish!" with Zack pushing him, and allowing Cloud to unleash Omni Slash Ver. 5. Great video, once again👏🏿👏🏿
Even in the OG Advent Children, it's still the same. Sephiroth asks what he cherishes most so he can take it away from him, and then Cloud thinks of all the people he loves and realizes that everything is important to him. And that gives him the strength to defeat Sephiroth once and for all. And hey, a weakness that Sephiroth has is his overconfidence. Funny, he told Zack that overconfidence will destroy him. But it was overconfidence that destroyed Sephiroth. In Nibelheim, he gets overconfident and basically toys with Cloud instead of slashing him fully. Cloud takes advantage of it and throws him in the reactor. I guess in the end, he also gets overconfident because of his Meteor plan and he dies in the process. And in AC, he gets overconfident again. Now you can also add this to Rebirth. SPOILERS But anyway, he's so confident about his plan that he underestimates Aerith. Which might be his downfall. It's always been his weakness. Even the strongest person can be killed if they get overconfident, not pay enough attention etc.
@@bigtatsu Yeah, but it's gonna make the pay off for scene on the Highwind, talking about the meaning for strength before DIsc 3 hit WAY more and be more impactful.
With how good the character moments were until now, and how amazing the VA's were, I both look forward to and dread how that will be done in remake part 3
I would like to add a bit of my interpretation to the clouds' identity sequence. The first two memories can be reconstruction of tifa's memories, One obviously not clouds the other memory, unsure if clouds or tifa's. The final memory is truly cloud's, it's a memory he holds very dear to his heart. Finally, finding a true memory of cloud's they are finally able to reconstruct the false memory.
I finished the OG ff7 for the first time 2 days ago. This video is so well timed. Thank you for making this. It may have been 24 years later than my friends told me to play this but this game is a masterpiece
Well said. Except for the fact that after Nibelheim, Cloud was heavily experimented on by Hojo for two years with Zack (that's when he got the green eyes). They escaped, Zack died during the escape, Cloud was all messed up, took the Buster Sword and somehow managed to get to Midgar where Tifa found him.
The section about Cloud's speech on the Highwind about finding a reason to fight is reminiscent of Aerith's speech after the trials at the Temple of the Ancients in Rebirth. As integral Tifa is to Cloud's development, I think the Remake is angling to increase Aerith's relevance to Cloud even more than the OG game. In Rebirth, Cloud, through Sephiroth's influence curtly dismisses Aerith's rousing speech, but I'm betting in Part 3, Cloud would have fully learned the meaning of her words by then. Also, I theorize that Aerith's physical body has truly died in Rebirth, but Cloud has blocked out her burial in the lake in order to ignore the inconvenient truth, as he always has. When Cloud gets to the Northern Crater for the first time in Part 3, after showing him his version of the Nibelheim flashback, Sephiroth is going to make him remember the burial scene as a coup de grace to break his mind.
Cloud is the only fictional character I think I connect with on a personal level. No, I was never kidnapped, experimented on, or see my best friend die, but I knew what it was like to grow up an outcast. The constant feeling of you’re not wanted especially by the pretty girl you like. Then all of the sudden, you find something you think can help you become who you want to be, but even they tell you you’re not good enough. So you keep to yourself, hide your face in shame, do whatever you can to hide the fact that you’re so unhappy. But we’re shown through Cloud that all it takes is the power of belief, and having people care about you to bring out your good parts! I may not have unintentionally lied about what I’ve done or things I’ve been through, but I have been placed in situations where people think I’m a trained professional and I’m not, I just happened to make it seem like I’m good at what I do, so I know the feeling of success when you’ve accomplished nothing in reality. I hate that we tear each other down, compare ourselves to others, and expect so much from others, because all anyone really needs is to feel like they are enough, that they’re capable of doing great things, that they can do what they set their minds to. That’s the message of FFVII and Cloud for me even if it’s unintentional, life’s not about being who you think others will like or who they want you to be, it’s about accepting yourself and believing you can do whatever you set your mind to once you get your head in the right place.
Same. I never really had friends as a kid. I was too shy and had bad social anxiety which really hurt me. Plus Cloud also had outside factors that affected him badly such as the townsfolk’s isolating him due to his lack of a father figure.
@@mirandagoldstine8548 yea I was the quiet kid no one paid any attention to. Home life was good, but school life wasn’t, makes me wish my parents held me back a year so I’d have been around different kids growing up. I had a great father figure, but that’s life sometimes, you have everything you need to get great things but you’re still overlooked.
I like to imagine that the real reason Sephiroth hates Cloud so much is precisely because he had JUST believed himself superior to humans but it was a lowly regular soldier who took him out. He’s just insanely furious and humiliated by that.
Yeah, Sephiroth has a special hatred for Cloud because Sephiroth only recently went insane thinking he was superior being to all other humans. Yet this lowly Shinra grunt he's just meet only a day ago who should be a nobody bested him and humiliated him. Its why instead of just finishing Cloud off like he should, Sephiroth instead mentally tortures Cloud throughout the games story.
@LordMalice6d9 Because he's mad that a nobody defeated the "Chosen one" destined to rule over the planet with Jenova. To Sephiroth, "this planet is my birthright" Sephiroth believes that he's not a human and is above all humans. But here he is, the so-called chosen one getting bested in a contest of BRUTE FORCE that he loses. Of course the guy is gonna have a hate boner for Cloud; he doesn't understand how Cloud was able to do it. Sephiroth even says so! "Impossible!" He screamed as Cloud lifted him by the sword he was impaled on and threw him against the wall. People ask why Sephiroth didn't let go of the sword? Because Cloud SHOULDN'T have been able to do what he did, and Sephiroth's shattered pride wouldn't let him admit Cloud was stronger. If he let go, it was an admission of weakness
Your deconstruction of Sephiroth video convinced me to watch a playthrough of the original FFVII game. Took me three days, but now I'm back to watch your analysis of Cloud. Great stuff, man.
@17:00 The writing was strong enough that as a young 12/13 year old, I was in tears so bad I was unable to fight the boss right after this happened. I eventually finished the game, but this stands as one of two games that brought me to tears with it's writing. The other was SOM, when you get banished from the village.
Beautiful breakdown! One thing I would argue though is your claim near the end that Cloud’s true strength comes from those around him externally and not from within. While it’s true Cloud has always been weaker than Sephiroth in terms of pure power, he is able to still defeat him not only because of his friends, but his intent and will to cherish others which was always a quality of his true self, even as a child. I’d argue that learning to embrace his past & accept his weak self, including his failures, is what allows him to reconnect with himself and thus with that true inner strength within him. Denialism in the form of his false persona was the major obstacle hindering Cloud from his true potential, because it severed him from his real self. Without connecting to his true identity, he cannot authentically let others in. & in his current state for much of the game, he is severed from the origin of his innate desire to cherish and protect that makes him strong, because he already believes that he is the cool, strong SOLDIER that made 1st Class. This is why the Lifestream sequence is so important because it doesn’t just fill in forgotten memories and untangle his timeline, he is able to see that even as a teenage grunt he was capable of taking down Sephiroth. Everything is tethered to his identity as an ordinary, flawed boy from Nibelheim. This becomes further apparent in the sequel movie Advent Children Complete where he again finds himself drowing in guilt for Aerith & Zack’s deaths while suffering a terminal illness, fearing that he will fail his beloved family of Tifa, Denzel & Marlene. He wants forgiveness from Aerith for being unable to save her, but in truth it is only when he is able to accept his own failures & forgive himself that he can truly abolish Sephiroth & move on to his Promised Land (his family) wholeheartedly. Someone who does gain strength and power from his external friendships would be more akin to a character such as Sora of Kingdom Hearts. While he does have an abundance of inner strength by himself, he feels most strong and capable of believing in himself due to the bonds of friendship he fosters.
I'm glad they chose NOT to keep the scene with Cloud beating Aerith in Rebirth. With the new, extremely real looking graphics that would have been horrifying...
Cloud may look like THE stereotypical anime protagonist on the surface, but I don’t think I’ve seen one who is so deeply relateable in spite of his superhuman feats.
Cloyd is by far one of the most complex characters and overall among the richest well written when it comes to background, he is very troubled but so human at the same time, and he went through hell to stand up and fight his demons. Props for the writers for creating an iconic hero in arguably the best Final Fantasy game of all time.
The real tragedy of remaking FF7 is how the first two entire remake games you don't even play as the real Cloud, so *all these supposed new fans STILL aren't understanding how amazing Cloud is as a protagonist to this day,* and they won't fully understand until whatever years from now when the third installment comes out (unless they end up playing the original or spoiling it for themselves) - this alone might be the single biggest reason why separating the game into three different installments was a huge blunder (I mean, besides Tetsuya Nemura'ing the whole thing and completely obliterating any chance of improving on the pacing of the original). 😮💨 edit: Also, agreed, Tifa is the real MVP of Cloud's character arc 100% (though these days people gonna argue Aerith will be a big part of it with how convoluted it's getting with the extended lifestream/holy narrative stuff)
I haven’t agreed with a comment this much in a while! I am actually a huge fan of most of what the ReTrilogy has done in terms of embellishing character bonds & just overall spending more time with the party, but the biggest issue is the fact that, if Cloud does not regain his true identity early enough in the game, then we are AGAIN left with only a small segment of one of 3 games that exposes us to Real Cloud, in all his original facets. It’s so disappointing knowing that the general public who perceive Cloud, whether they be non-players, or Smash Bros fans, etc, all have this idea of a super capable, stoic cool-guy who is so far removed from who we know is the real Cloud Strife. Back in the day I understood to an extent the need to preserve that part of the story bc it served as a plot twist, but now I’m just mourning how no one really understands Cloud. I truly hope the third game will make up for all the time lost without having Real Cloud around, and amplify his dynamic with the party in ways that ACC and DoC + all the noncanon, outer-universe games he’s included in didn’t do. It’s just such a shame that the crux of FF7 and Cloud’s story is not fully comprehended, or even acknowledged, by people. They’re really missing out on why Cloud is such an amazing character that subverts a lot of traditional heroes in fantasy.
This is actually, probably unintentionally, a very accurate representation of dissociative disorders. Particularly DID, OSDD, dissociative amnesia, and fugue. It's fascinating to me and really cool because every single goddamn time a fictional character is explicitly and intentionally written to have "multiple personalities" or whatever it totally blows it, whereas this is a completely realistic representation (minus the other elements of fantasy and sci-fi in the setting itself). He literally integrates in that scene where all the Clouds converge. Very fitting in a game about identity. It adds to the narrative for me, at least.
Tifa & Cloud were not Childhood friends ? There is literally a book called Traces of Two Pasts written by Nojima that completely contradicts this falsehood spread due shit translations in the OG FF7, Id highly suggest going through it prior to doing any analysis on FF7 , Cloudn& Tifa or Aerith. Because it gives so much context on their past. Also the mistranslation in the OG is that Tifa and her freinds never let Cloud play with them.the actual line is that he was too insecure to join them, as we wanted to be special to Tifa & stand out from the other boys. Sigh, overall your videos isn't affected by these minor plot points, ill admit obviously. But wish people were more accurate with all details.
I dont know how familiar you are with the game, but I'd love an analysis like this for Persona 5 and how the characters interact with the idea of identity and rebellion, especially... the two characters from the Royal expansion (no spoilers but if you've played the game you know the ones... A***** and Y********)
#fatbrett I have an odd suggestion for a heroism video; Jean Valjean. Now, in all honesty, I have only seen the 2012 adaptation and I don't know how accurate that is to the original novel, but I was fascinated that the story was about a man's constant determination to do good in a world that had gone to hell, all because of the one positive experience he had in his life. I know you would make a fantastic evaluation if you felt inclined to do so. Thank you for the great many videos that you have made and keep up the great work.
Great video. However, there is a video idea that I have been waiting a long time for you to make, At the end of the “Why are we obsessed with the lore of Dark Souls and Elden Ring?” You mentioned a possible video essay about how every soulsborne game is based on a post apocalyptic world. Such a simple insight but I would love for you to expand on that idea and I am sure the video about it will be great.
after finishing rebirth and seeing the lifestream segment again here I totally missed the fracture in the background from the edge of creation while their in cloud's subconscious
I was under the impression that Cloud literally IS super strong and super powerful; he spent several years being augmented by Hojo Yeah Hojo calls him a failure but I took that as him just being a dick and to help keep him giving in to Sephiroths will Rather than a random power of feelings thing
Cloud is physically strong, but mentally weak. That's why the experiments messed him up so bad, and also why he wasn't allowed to be a SOLDIER in the first place. Hojo's own research notes plainly state that Cloud's physical strength is off the charts, but his psyche was destroyed by the experiment and he would be more useful if they turned him into a monster. Hojo ended up being wrong because he didn't account for the power of friendship (Zack) and love (Tifa), but he was also analyzing Cloud while Zack was unconscious and they were both in captivity, so he couldn't have predicted that anyway.
Reliving through ff7 and playing rebirth really makes you realize how they really missed the mark in portraying Cloud in any cameo or sequal after the original game. Whether it was Kingdom Hearts or Advent Children, they regressed him into an even more angsty version of his character. Which shaped public perception for so long.
I always interpreted Cloud beating Sephiroth twice, is because he's able to transcend his limits. Limit break, if you will. This is what makes Cloud special despite being a lowly grunt.
It's more straightforward than that. Cloud always did have the potential to become a SOLDIER 1st class. But what was always holding him back was his own doubt and his weak mental state. Cloud doesn't defeat Sephiroth until his will and true identity is repaired.
hey fatbrett! you inspired me to do my own character analysis! got any tips for a newbie? also, love binging your vids while playing games after work. keep it up 👍👍
I too would love to hear whatever advice FatBrett has. All I have right now is 'iron sharpens iron' aka osmosis, following the thought-processes of smarter & wiser people and making those mine.
All this time i thoght cloud got his memories mixed up with zacks and tifa had little to do with anything. Looking at this video now i dont understand how i could have thoght that😅. Then again i played ff7 when i was like 12 or so i most likely wasnt paying enough attention.
wrong, Tifa had a circle of friends that Cloud was never apart of. He never fit in and was always the outcast. They were never actually best friends...
@@tylerdurden7965 Have you even read the novel Final Fantasy VII Remake: Trace of Two Pasts? It was confirmed they used to play together but grew apart after Thea’s death, afterwards they didn’t hang out much.
@@rileyduncan3927 final fantasy 7 remake is fan fiction, alternate time line, multiverse nonsense. How about you go play the original game and learn the REAL STORY?
I never could understand - and still don't after watching this video - how Cloud was able to overpower Sephiroth at 25:50. That he draws his strength from his love for the people around him is not a sufficient explanation for how he physically overpowered the most elite warrior in the world. It's a good explanation for the strength of his willpower and source of courage, but being motivated by your love for others does not make you physically stronger or more skillful in battle.
Hey Brett, I was wondering if you would ever do some analysis of the characters of Fallout New Vegas? I feel like there is a lot to look at there that is incredibly interesting, and fits with a lot of other stuff you’ve covered. Just a thought! (Do take it with a grain of salt, I’m a huge FNV fan)
The only other story i can think of that does the multiple identity thing sort of like this is ironically a game that came out one year later by the same Devolper,Xenogears. To a lesser extent maybe Eteral Sonata also.
Sir you talk about keeping a video to a reasonable length I say make it as long as you want 15 minutes or 11 hours I'm still going to watch the whole thing
Highly disagree Aerith is supposed to be the most empathic character of the game. She can be petty, frivolous, and insensitive to those around her (especially Tifa). It's ok for character flaws to exist, why does she have to be the' most powerful' character while being the most morally righteous too? That's Mary Sue territory. Why do 'fans' have this desperate need to remove anything remotely human about her?
Nomura did have a pretty big part of FF7's development, so it only makes sense. It could be argued that Kingdom Hearts is basically _FF7_ in that regard - but that's selling both short.
I don’t think most people appreciate what a groundbreaking character Cloud was. At first glance he’s the typical hero, strong, confident. To have his whole persona being a fraud and that he was instead, shy,introverted average. The unreliable narrator used to full effect truly elevated this games story.
Another brilliant aspect that actually pulls a wool over our eyes and we don't even know it til the last 1/3rd is that because of what Hojo did to him he is capable of being the SOLDIER he thinks he is. So we are given a brilliant dichotomy: The Cloud who thinks he's Zack and Fights like he thinks he is. And then we have Cloud as he truly is, Physically capable and his body having gained the experience he needed from his Journey to stop Sephiroth.
@@tyrantravealpha It also shows the power of Jenovas cells combined with mako. Through his own memories of seeing Zack fight, the cells acted as conduit effectively giving Cloud the experience and body of a 1st Class soldier. Great world building that translated into gameplay.
The sad thing about it is with advent children and kingdom hearts, they made him a edgelord not unlike Squall.
@@SamJulesGilliansI don't think you know what an edgelord is if that was your conclusion about those iterations.
@@andyknightwarden9746 maybe I should of said sulking then. Either way Cloud should have been neither of those after the events of FFVII.
5:33 "My flowers cushioned your fall!" [coughs blood] "No, they didn't."
You f*cked up! -Barret
Good to know the abridged version is alive and well in the fans!
".....what even is f*ucking up?" - Cloud@@giovanniprovost
Cloud Strife is not only one of my favorite FF/video game characters, but one of my favorite characters in fiction. His struggle and journey through pain, tragedy and violence to find peace, a home and somewhere he belongs and becoming a true hero. Is beautiful and inspiration story that I deeply admire and relate to. Cloud Strife is an icon.
cloud is one of the most unique protagonists i’ve encountered, gotta love him
Cloud actually was rejected from soldier due to being mentally weak, which also helps explain why his identity shattered after Hojo's experiments on him.
yup he was exceptionally strong physically just mentally frail... he has flashes of his true potential in before crisis and in the nibelheim incident like he's gohan in DBZ
Is there a source for this? First Solider is not canon so far as I know
@@funkyfranx what does it mean to be strong is a core underlying theme of the show. Cloud has the most fragile ego and willpower out of any character ever, but he does have resilience, which is why he didnt degenerate into one of the castoffs and pulled together a new identity based on zack.
The identity us not based on zack, its based on what he thinks a first soldier wpuld be. You didnt pay attention whne playing the game and it shows. This is made more appearant in rebirth.
Cloud and zack also have two very distinct styles in combat focusing on different things. @@Avenus112
Cloud deserves a hug.
Yeah
Tifa was the real MVP of Cloud's character arc. She believed in him when absolutely no one else did.
Tifa is his Rock.
Only at the last moments after the reunion, before that it was a bit shaky. Part of me feels that whole sephiroth illusion mind break couldve been avoided if they addressed it sooner, but it worked out well anyway and makes one hell of a story of self discovery.
Let’s not forget all that Aerith did for him as well
Rhat was Aerith actually. Tifa kept him around so that started the game BUT her lack of confidence to confront his lack of memories was the reason of his downfall. If she would be gently, happy open about it he could've been eased into his lack of personality.
Only Aerith adresses it. If Cloud was 100% sure his top prio is stop Sephiroth he could've stood a chance.
@@gatorssbm Yeah, but the thing is, had Tifa confronted him at the start of the game, he might've just fled, which is what Tifa feared. Was it fair to Cloud? Not really. But was it understandable from Tifas perspective?
Since she too was a traumatized girl, who had lost her family, village and was left alone in the world as a 15 year old girl.... and then by chance she runs into Cloud when she's 20. Whom she had not seen since he left 7 year earlier. And she desperatly did not want to lose him.
Hell, Avalanche not having the 2k gil to pay him in Remake could even have been a lie by Tifa so he'd be forced to stay... atleast one more day..... :P
For me, Cloud Strife is as important to my own self-confidence as Batman and the TMNT from my childhood. Having been born in 1984, Cloud becoming a character I cared about during the start adolescence as an introvert and someone who often got bullied terribly helped me TREMENDOUSLY throughout my life in always being myself and having the strength to push through no matter how many hardships I endured. The Nolan Batman movies and FF7 original and the new trilogy are my favorite media - period.... and this is largely driven by strong silent characters who have huge hearts though cannot often show it as others may or do.
I just felt like adding this because I love this game more than any other and your video so much. Thank you!
There's nothing wrong with a 2 hour video, in my humble opinion. I'd watch it.
I've literally watched 4 hour videos in one sitting.. granted I was at work at the time xF
True but if you can get it done in less and the process is easier then do that. Editing a 2 hour long video is a Herculean task
I think Cloud's dialogue with the rest of the team when he sends them away to find their real reason to fight is a fantastic example of his growth as a character. He understands that a shallow motivation or ideal is not enough to give them the strength they need to defeat Sephiroth and passes that personal growth onto the rest of his team and like a true leader gives them all the motivation to accomplish their Goals. Cloud was not a soldier, but time and time again, he proved himself a true hero and much more of a hero than his own inspiration Sephiroth ever was.
It's also interesting that in the final confrontation with Hojo, he admits that Cloud, in spite of initially being deemed as a failure, is the only actually successful attempt in recreating Sephiroth's strength. Cloud in finding his own identity and reconciling with his fractured past became a better Sephiroth than Sephiroth.
There is also some subtext to the fact that Cloud's original aspiration of what a hero is was just a pawn of greedy military ambition and that the true heroism he finds is that of compassion and love for those close to him and a desire to protect the world for their sake. Just one more jab at capitalist driven imperialism.
I fucking LOVE how he uses "you can hear the cries of the planet" in the background in all of these FF7 lore videos, it's one of the best pieces of music that came from the game and makes the perfect music to play in the background of lore videos.
It is my personal favorite piece of music from the entire game. Nobuo Uematsu knows how to accomplish a lot with such simple melodies.
I'm glad to know that Reggie stepped down from Nintendo to pursue more creative aspects of his life
TF does this have to do with VII
@@cytota8613 He's talking about @FatBrett's pfp
Cloud's self discovery reminds me a lot of Clay Kaczmarek from Assassin's Creed last words 'What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!'
Idk, I'd hardly call Cloud's reaction to Aerith's death "inelegant."
It was cathartic, if anything, calling out Sephiroth for the psycho he is.
I think one of the most interesting things about Cloud's story is how the Nibelheim incident was basically just a few weeks ago, in terms of his perception. After the incident, he and zack spent 5 years in tubes, then Zack gets gunned down and Cloud crawls his way to Midgar. He's still essentially just a 16 year old, desperately trying to act like the "adults" he looks up to, with his brain shutting out the most traumatic events of his life. Which would explain his instinctual, gutteral reaction to seeing Sephiroth's sword, as opposed to the looming dread Tifa feels, or the confusion of the other party members. It's still fresh in Cloud's subconscious, so he goes borderline feral about it, that's when he really begins trying to piece together what really happened, given the information he has
Cloud is the greatest protagonist ever created. When the game first came out i was a kid and didnt understand the game, but when i got a little older and revisited the game, i realized just how fantastic of a character he really is
The very first enemy you face in the game is a Shinra Grunt, which is what Cloud was during the Nibelheim incident. A nobody. The very last enemy you face is Sephiroth, considered the most powerful being in the setting. And yet Cloud beat him. The first defeats the last. The weakest defeats the strongest.
What I like is they introduce Cloud as the reliable fighter. Then they beat him down. and last secret of Cloud you learn is that Cloud was the reliable fighter.
Cloud is one of the greatest characters in anything ever....I'll never forget first time I played ff7 and seeing his journey unfold...it was mins blowing
Mind
Ever since I dicovered the Remake, I went and checked out the original game and fell in love with Clouds character
I think I like Cloud more than many other video game and movie protagonists mostly because of how relatable and personal he feels to the player and audience. You start the game seeing a character who seems like a badass, but the truth of the character is a subversion of that badass hero archetype. Its one of the first times in any media where I had seen the typical archetypal hero character subverted, but in a good way.
It's criminal this doesn't have more views. Truly
Cloud is legendary.
Okay! A suggestion for a video! Tidus and Jecht’s relationship in Final Fantasy X shows a surprising amount of emotional depth! The relationship between angry and neglected son and a father who recognizes his faults but realizes it is too late to undo them. It’s a fascinating narrative!
Jecht was the real hero of FFX if you really stop to think about it.
One thing I really like that the remake is doing is taking the time in act 2 to show just how much of a well rounded person cloud could have been if he wasn't swept up in all the toxi masculine bs that pushed him into wanting to be a soldier. There's some of it in the original, but like, cloud is a photographer, and a good one, we know not just from snaps but also a cute side quest I won't spoil. He plays the piano well. There is virtue in him as a normal dude, and all he really needed was someone to appreciate who he was.
A good point. If he hadn't tried to be a soldier Cloud could have been many other things. He might have been heroic wherever he had ended up, too.
I disagree with your idea of what a soldier is, though. To win a war requires many things of a Human that will destroy them and others in most other settings. War is ruthless, predatory and calculating, for the sole purpose of demolishing enemies. One must abandon Humanity to be good at war - regardless of what degree of a Human one might have been in any field or other. A soldier attempts to control themselves in war, to retain their Humanity, which requires an unshakable resolve - as Cloud discovered across the game.
That said, some thinkers have seen the struggles of life as battles, and life itself to be a war. Interesting ramifications to consider.
@@dhaburuk6494 Sorry, allow me to rephrase, the toxic masculine bullshit that caused him to want to join SOLDIER. There are good an ethical reasons to want to join a military, not Shinra's military.
@@bendonatier I suppose that depends on what Cloud imagined SOLDIER to be, and what he thought he would gain by joining.
He wanted to return and protect his home-town, according to his Tifa-memory, right? That isn't so bad on its own. From the little shown of Zack here, checking on the condition of mere grunts, I'd guess that Cloud got lucky to end up near a decent sort of person. The blessings upon the protagonist no doubt.
SOLDIER could certainly provide him with the resources & skills training he would need to be a protector. Of course the process destroyed him, as one should expect from an evil-corporation's private military. Its a solid set-up for the plot to happen, including the half-baked ideas and ignorance of a child.
As much as Advent Children can be divisive, lore wise, this lends into Cloud's famous quote from that movie;
" I pity you. You just don’t get it at all. There’s not a thing I don’t cherish!" with Zack pushing him, and allowing Cloud to unleash Omni Slash Ver. 5. Great video, once again👏🏿👏🏿
Cloud's best and most badass moment. What he says RIGHT AFTER is incredible too!
"Stay where you belong. In my memories"
Even in the OG Advent Children, it's still the same. Sephiroth asks what he cherishes most so he can take it away from him, and then Cloud thinks of all the people he loves and realizes that everything is important to him. And that gives him the strength to defeat Sephiroth once and for all.
And hey, a weakness that Sephiroth has is his overconfidence.
Funny, he told Zack that overconfidence will destroy him. But it was overconfidence that destroyed Sephiroth. In Nibelheim, he gets overconfident and basically toys with Cloud instead of slashing him fully. Cloud takes advantage of it and throws him in the reactor.
I guess in the end, he also gets overconfident because of his Meteor plan and he dies in the process.
And in AC, he gets overconfident again.
Now you can also add this to Rebirth.
SPOILERS
But anyway, he's so confident about his plan that he underestimates Aerith. Which might be his downfall. It's always been his weakness. Even the strongest person can be killed if they get overconfident, not pay enough attention etc.
Cloud is such an underrated character not just in games but in fiction. I think he’s really unique without losing that relatability factor
20:26 - 20:55
Man, with how Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth ended...this entire part of the game in Part 3 is gonna so dark and upsetting to watch...
Cloud breaking fully is going to be heartbreaking to see in part 3.
@@bigtatsu Yeah, but it's gonna make the pay off for scene on the Highwind, talking about the meaning for strength before DIsc 3 hit WAY more and be more impactful.
With how good the character moments were until now, and how amazing the VA's were, I both look forward to and dread how that will be done in remake part 3
I would like to add a bit of my interpretation to the clouds' identity sequence.
The first two memories can be reconstruction of tifa's memories, One obviously not clouds the other memory, unsure if clouds or tifa's.
The final memory is truly cloud's, it's a memory he holds very dear to his heart.
Finally, finding a true memory of cloud's they are finally able to reconstruct the false memory.
I finished the OG ff7 for the first time 2 days ago. This video is so well timed. Thank you for making this. It may have been 24 years later than my friends told me to play this but this game is a masterpiece
MAsterclass game and writing, it is shock for me how some ppl can call it overrated
Well said. Except for the fact that after Nibelheim, Cloud was heavily experimented on by Hojo for two years with Zack (that's when he got the green eyes). They escaped, Zack died during the escape, Cloud was all messed up, took the Buster Sword and somehow managed to get to Midgar where Tifa found him.
I lost something I couldn't live without:
My Identity!
I love your breakdowns man. Finished ragnarok recently and found your videos and they really add more depth to these games for me
And The Legend of a Big Boy’s Sword
The "badass Soldier" act Cloud put on was him imitating Zack because to him Zack was how a Soldier should act.
Which is ironic, because Zack is a huge goofball and nerd. So it's more so how Clouds misunderstanding of who Zack is.
It was more like it was his idea of a hero. He took heroic traits from Zack and amplified them.
And Zach is a goofball we all love and miss
@@pancakes8670 how is Zack a "nerd", exactly?
He deeply studies the art of squatting@@GooseGumlizzard
The section about Cloud's speech on the Highwind about finding a reason to fight is reminiscent of Aerith's speech after the trials at the Temple of the Ancients in Rebirth. As integral Tifa is to Cloud's development, I think the Remake is angling to increase Aerith's relevance to Cloud even more than the OG game. In Rebirth, Cloud, through Sephiroth's influence curtly dismisses Aerith's rousing speech, but I'm betting in Part 3, Cloud would have fully learned the meaning of her words by then.
Also, I theorize that Aerith's physical body has truly died in Rebirth, but Cloud has blocked out her burial in the lake in order to ignore the inconvenient truth, as he always has. When Cloud gets to the Northern Crater for the first time in Part 3, after showing him his version of the Nibelheim flashback, Sephiroth is going to make him remember the burial scene as a coup de grace to break his mind.
We love your longer videos.
It’s just more brett to enjoy☺️
Cloud is the only fictional character I think I connect with on a personal level. No, I was never kidnapped, experimented on, or see my best friend die, but I knew what it was like to grow up an outcast. The constant feeling of you’re not wanted especially by the pretty girl you like. Then all of the sudden, you find something you think can help you become who you want to be, but even they tell you you’re not good enough. So you keep to yourself, hide your face in shame, do whatever you can to hide the fact that you’re so unhappy. But we’re shown through Cloud that all it takes is the power of belief, and having people care about you to bring out your good parts! I may not have unintentionally lied about what I’ve done or things I’ve been through, but I have been placed in situations where people think I’m a trained professional and I’m not, I just happened to make it seem like I’m good at what I do, so I know the feeling of success when you’ve accomplished nothing in reality. I hate that we tear each other down, compare ourselves to others, and expect so much from others, because all anyone really needs is to feel like they are enough, that they’re capable of doing great things, that they can do what they set their minds to. That’s the message of FFVII and Cloud for me even if it’s unintentional, life’s not about being who you think others will like or who they want you to be, it’s about accepting yourself and believing you can do whatever you set your mind to once you get your head in the right place.
Same. I never really had friends as a kid. I was too shy and had bad social anxiety which really hurt me. Plus Cloud also had outside factors that affected him badly such as the townsfolk’s isolating him due to his lack of a father figure.
@@mirandagoldstine8548 yea I was the quiet kid no one paid any attention to. Home life was good, but school life wasn’t, makes me wish my parents held me back a year so I’d have been around different kids growing up. I had a great father figure, but that’s life sometimes, you have everything you need to get great things but you’re still overlooked.
ITS FINALLY HERE!!!!!
A good retrospective look at Cloud Strife's character arc in the original Final Fantasy 7 game.
I like to imagine that the real reason Sephiroth hates Cloud so much is precisely because he had JUST believed himself superior to humans but it was a lowly regular soldier who took him out.
He’s just insanely furious and humiliated by that.
Yeah, Sephiroth has a special hatred for Cloud because Sephiroth only recently went insane thinking he was superior being to all other humans. Yet this lowly Shinra grunt he's just meet only a day ago who should be a nobody bested him and humiliated him.
Its why instead of just finishing Cloud off like he should, Sephiroth instead mentally tortures Cloud throughout the games story.
@LordMalice6d9 Because he's mad that a nobody defeated the "Chosen one" destined to rule over the planet with Jenova. To Sephiroth, "this planet is my birthright"
Sephiroth believes that he's not a human and is above all humans. But here he is, the so-called chosen one getting bested in a contest of BRUTE FORCE that he loses. Of course the guy is gonna have a hate boner for Cloud; he doesn't understand how Cloud was able to do it. Sephiroth even says so! "Impossible!" He screamed as Cloud lifted him by the sword he was impaled on and threw him against the wall.
People ask why Sephiroth didn't let go of the sword? Because Cloud SHOULDN'T have been able to do what he did, and Sephiroth's shattered pride wouldn't let him admit Cloud was stronger. If he let go, it was an admission of weakness
Cloud has arrived! :D
I cannot wait until all three remake games are out and you do analysis on them! Fantastic video
Your deconstruction of Sephiroth video convinced me to watch a playthrough of the original FFVII game. Took me three days, but now I'm back to watch your analysis of Cloud. Great stuff, man.
Cloud has mental and emotional strength, an Iron Will. That is much greater than physical strength in several key moments and situations.
I'm a huge fan of these videos. You're the best storytelling analysis channel on youtube.
@17:00 The writing was strong enough that as a young 12/13 year old, I was in tears so bad I was unable to fight the boss right after this happened. I eventually finished the game, but this stands as one of two games that brought me to tears with it's writing. The other was SOM, when you get banished from the village.
Beautiful breakdown! One thing I would argue though is your claim near the end that Cloud’s true strength comes from those around him externally and not from within. While it’s true Cloud has always been weaker than Sephiroth in terms of pure power, he is able to still defeat him not only because of his friends, but his intent and will to cherish others which was always a quality of his true self, even as a child.
I’d argue that learning to embrace his past & accept his weak self, including his failures, is what allows him to reconnect with himself and thus with that true inner strength within him. Denialism in the form of his false persona was the major obstacle hindering Cloud from his true potential, because it severed him from his real self. Without connecting to his true identity, he cannot authentically let others in. & in his current state for much of the game, he is severed from the origin of his innate desire to cherish and protect that makes him strong, because he already believes that he is the cool, strong SOLDIER that made 1st Class.
This is why the Lifestream sequence is so important because it doesn’t just fill in forgotten memories and untangle his timeline, he is able to see that even as a teenage grunt he was capable of taking down Sephiroth. Everything is tethered to his identity as an ordinary, flawed boy from Nibelheim.
This becomes further apparent in the sequel movie Advent Children Complete where he again finds himself drowing in guilt for Aerith & Zack’s deaths while suffering a terminal illness, fearing that he will fail his beloved family of Tifa, Denzel & Marlene. He wants forgiveness from Aerith for being unable to save her, but in truth it is only when he is able to accept his own failures & forgive himself that he can truly abolish Sephiroth & move on to his Promised Land (his family) wholeheartedly.
Someone who does gain strength and power from his external friendships would be more akin to a character such as Sora of Kingdom Hearts. While he does have an abundance of inner strength by himself, he feels most strong and capable of believing in himself due to the bonds of friendship he fosters.
You should really do more of this kind of content!!! I love making of a hero
I won’t lie, I got excited seeing this pop up on my feed
I'm glad they chose NOT to keep the scene with Cloud beating Aerith in Rebirth. With the new, extremely real looking graphics that would have been horrifying...
been watching your videos recently, really good stuff ! keep it up
Cloud may look like THE stereotypical anime protagonist on the surface, but I don’t think I’ve seen one who is so deeply relateable in spite of his superhuman feats.
Last time I was this early, she texted all her friends about it.
😂😂 funny joke. Made me laugh after a rough day
@@SuperNeos2 :P
This is a great video/analysis/summation. I really enjoyed it. Subscribed.
Love your content. Not done rebirth yet but I wanna throw a like to the video. It's saved for later viewing. Keep it up Brett!
I love your true amazing videos PS I'm going to be honest we need a full massive video on Resident Evil for Leon Kennedy in his entire life story
You always deliver. Solid video.
No way this video dropped I must be hallucinating
Cloyd is by far one of the most complex characters and overall among the richest well written when it comes to background, he is very troubled but so human at the same time, and he went through hell to stand up and fight his demons. Props for the writers for creating an iconic hero in arguably the best Final Fantasy game of all time.
The real tragedy of remaking FF7 is how the first two entire remake games you don't even play as the real Cloud, so *all these supposed new fans STILL aren't understanding how amazing Cloud is as a protagonist to this day,* and they won't fully understand until whatever years from now when the third installment comes out (unless they end up playing the original or spoiling it for themselves) - this alone might be the single biggest reason why separating the game into three different installments was a huge blunder (I mean, besides Tetsuya Nemura'ing the whole thing and completely obliterating any chance of improving on the pacing of the original). 😮💨
edit:
Also, agreed, Tifa is the real MVP of Cloud's character arc 100% (though these days people gonna argue Aerith will be a big part of it with how convoluted it's getting with the extended lifestream/holy narrative stuff)
I haven’t agreed with a comment this much in a while! I am actually a huge fan of most of what the ReTrilogy has done in terms of embellishing character bonds & just overall spending more time with the party, but the biggest issue is the fact that, if Cloud does not regain his true identity early enough in the game, then we are AGAIN left with only a small segment of one of 3 games that exposes us to Real Cloud, in all his original facets.
It’s so disappointing knowing that the general public who perceive Cloud, whether they be non-players, or Smash Bros fans, etc, all have this idea of a super capable, stoic cool-guy who is so far removed from who we know is the real Cloud Strife. Back in the day I understood to an extent the need to preserve that part of the story bc it served as a plot twist, but now I’m just mourning how no one really understands Cloud. I truly hope the third game will make up for all the time lost without having Real Cloud around, and amplify his dynamic with the party in ways that ACC and DoC + all the noncanon, outer-universe games he’s included in didn’t do. It’s just such a shame that the crux of FF7 and Cloud’s story is not fully comprehended, or even acknowledged, by people. They’re really missing out on why Cloud is such an amazing character that subverts a lot of traditional heroes in fantasy.
"defeats Sephiroth with a single swing of his sword"
*1 plus 14 swings later*
Great videos, keep it coming!
I need to finish remake. Part 1 has been really nice
This is actually, probably unintentionally, a very accurate representation of dissociative disorders. Particularly DID, OSDD, dissociative amnesia, and fugue. It's fascinating to me and really cool because every single goddamn time a fictional character is explicitly and intentionally written to have "multiple personalities" or whatever it totally blows it, whereas this is a completely realistic representation (minus the other elements of fantasy and sci-fi in the setting itself). He literally integrates in that scene where all the Clouds converge.
Very fitting in a game about identity. It adds to the narrative for me, at least.
Lore of Cloud Strife - The Making of a Hero momentum 100
Tifa & Cloud were not Childhood friends ? There is literally a book called Traces of Two Pasts written by Nojima that completely contradicts this falsehood spread due shit translations in the OG FF7, Id highly suggest going through it prior to doing any analysis on FF7 , Cloudn& Tifa or Aerith. Because it gives so much context on their past.
Also the mistranslation in the OG is that Tifa and her freinds never let Cloud play with them.the actual line is that he was too insecure to join them, as we wanted to be special to Tifa & stand out from the other boys. Sigh, overall your videos isn't affected by these minor plot points, ill admit obviously. But wish people were more accurate with all details.
I dont know how familiar you are with the game, but I'd love an analysis like this for Persona 5 and how the characters interact with the idea of identity and rebellion, especially... the two characters from the Royal expansion (no spoilers but if you've played the game you know the ones... A***** and Y********)
#fatbrett
I have an odd suggestion for a heroism video; Jean Valjean.
Now, in all honesty, I have only seen the 2012 adaptation and I don't know how accurate that is to the original novel, but I was fascinated that the story was about a man's constant determination to do good in a world that had gone to hell, all because of the one positive experience he had in his life. I know you would make a fantastic evaluation if you felt inclined to do so.
Thank you for the great many videos that you have made and keep up the great work.
Great video. However, there is a video idea that I have been waiting a long time for you to make, At the end of the “Why are we obsessed with the lore of Dark Souls and Elden Ring?” You mentioned a possible video essay about how every soulsborne game is based on a post apocalyptic world. Such a simple insight but I would love for you to expand on that idea and I am sure the video about it will be great.
great vid
after finishing rebirth and seeing the lifestream segment again here I totally missed the fracture in the background from the edge of creation while their in cloud's subconscious
Summary of Cloud:
_Strife: Become Hero_
I was under the impression that Cloud literally IS super strong and super powerful; he spent several years being augmented by Hojo
Yeah Hojo calls him a failure but I took that as him just being a dick and to help keep him giving in to Sephiroths will
Rather than a random power of feelings thing
Cloud is physically strong, but mentally weak. That's why the experiments messed him up so bad, and also why he wasn't allowed to be a SOLDIER in the first place. Hojo's own research notes plainly state that Cloud's physical strength is off the charts, but his psyche was destroyed by the experiment and he would be more useful if they turned him into a monster. Hojo ended up being wrong because he didn't account for the power of friendship (Zack) and love (Tifa), but he was also analyzing Cloud while Zack was unconscious and they were both in captivity, so he couldn't have predicted that anyway.
Reliving through ff7 and playing rebirth really makes you realize how they really missed the mark in portraying Cloud in any cameo or sequal after the original game. Whether it was Kingdom Hearts or Advent Children, they regressed him into an even more angsty version of his character. Which shaped public perception for so long.
Mako poisoning is one hell of a experiment and drug. Half buster sword, half hair spray. Gosh, Cloud was a unique character in Final Fantasy.
I always interpreted Cloud beating Sephiroth twice, is because he's able to transcend his limits. Limit break, if you will. This is what makes Cloud special despite being a lowly grunt.
It's more straightforward than that. Cloud always did have the potential to become a SOLDIER 1st class. But what was always holding him back was his own doubt and his weak mental state. Cloud doesn't defeat Sephiroth until his will and true identity is repaired.
You say this could become a 2 hour essay like that's a bad thing
hey fatbrett! you inspired me to do my own character analysis! got any tips for a newbie? also, love binging your vids while playing games after work. keep it up 👍👍
I too would love to hear whatever advice FatBrett has.
All I have right now is 'iron sharpens iron' aka osmosis, following the thought-processes of smarter & wiser people and making those mine.
Ah just in time, I do wonder what's meant by the true self
All this time i thoght cloud got his memories mixed up with zacks and tifa had little to do with anything. Looking at this video now i dont understand how i could have thoght that😅. Then again i played ff7 when i was like 12 or so i most likely wasnt paying enough attention.
My friends are my power! ~sora/cloud
Such a good story
Actually Cloud and Tifa are childhood friends and they used to play together, but after Tifa’s mom died, they grew apart.
wrong, Tifa had a circle of friends that Cloud was never apart of. He never fit in and was always the outcast. They were never actually best friends...
@@tylerdurden7965 Have you even read the novel Final Fantasy VII Remake: Trace of Two Pasts? It was confirmed they used to play together but grew apart after Thea’s death, afterwards they didn’t hang out much.
@@rileyduncan3927 final fantasy 7 remake is fan fiction, alternate time line, multiverse nonsense. How about you go play the original game and learn the REAL STORY?
@@tylerdurden7965Final Fantasy VII Remake is literally a different continuity.
@@rileyduncan3927 exactly, different. Not a replacement to the OG games story. its alternate timeline, space time continuum drivel.
Babe, wake up. New FatBrett upload.
I never could understand - and still don't after watching this video - how Cloud was able to overpower Sephiroth at 25:50. That he draws his strength from his love for the people around him is not a sufficient explanation for how he physically overpowered the most elite warrior in the world. It's a good explanation for the strength of his willpower and source of courage, but being motivated by your love for others does not make you physically stronger or more skillful in battle.
Wedge is my favorite character in this game. I'm not joking
I still wonder how a "regular human" can effectively use the Buster Sword, did the extended stay in the Mako Chamber give him super strength?
Hey Brett, I was wondering if you would ever do some analysis of the characters of Fallout New Vegas? I feel like there is a lot to look at there that is incredibly interesting, and fits with a lot of other stuff you’ve covered. Just a thought! (Do take it with a grain of salt, I’m a huge FNV fan)
The only other story i can think of that does the multiple identity thing sort of like this is ironically a game that came out one year later by the same Devolper,Xenogears.
To a lesser extent maybe Eteral Sonata also.
I would love to see you do a video on Fear and Hunger.
Another awesome essay. Have you ever thought of diving into movies or tv shows?
Sir you talk about keeping a video to a reasonable length I say make it as long as you want 15 minutes or 11 hours I'm still going to watch the whole thing
Amazing analysis but I always wondered why they kept letting him hold the black materia lol
fatbrett posted
Why isnt this called A Reconstruction of Heroism
Now that you've mentioned it, I can't help but wonder.
Highly disagree Aerith is supposed to be the most empathic character of the game. She can be petty, frivolous, and insensitive to those around her (especially Tifa). It's ok for character flaws to exist, why does she have to be the' most powerful' character while being the most morally righteous too? That's Mary Sue territory. Why do 'fans' have this desperate need to remove anything remotely human about her?
Now can you please make an analysis of Leon Kennedy from RE4 (remake or original)
FINALLY
I would've watched a 2hr essay..
So, what you're saying is, that FFVII is basically Kingdom Hearts?
Friendship is the greatest and mightiest magic/power of all?
Nomura did have a pretty big part of FF7's development, so it only makes sense.
It could be argued that Kingdom Hearts is basically _FF7_ in that regard - but that's selling both short.
At least FF7 wasn't so in your face with the friendship theme like Kingdom Hearts is. It was more subtle about it.