abstract
| - Cloud Strife is the main protagonist in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and also appears in the spin-off games of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, including Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, as a supporting character. An arrogant and proud swordsman at first, Cloud believes himself to be a former member of an a top-ranking member of Shinra's elite paramilitary unit, SOLDIER. Now working as a mercenary-for-hire, Cloud takes a job with the anti-Shinra organization AVALANCHE to bring down his old employers. It's revealed during the game that he isn't what he seems: Cloud failed to qualify for SOLDIER and instead took a job as an infantryman. During a mission to Nibelheim with Sephiroth and his best friend and SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair, Cloud was wounded and used as a lab experiment for Hojo. Zack broke them out years later but died in the escape, and Cloud, suffering from a great deal of physical and psychological trauma, impressed Zack's memories on his own, creating a false past and a false personality to match it. With the help of his friends, learns there is more to being a hero than possessing physical strength and fame. After the truth is revealed he suffers a stunning revelation, but thanks to a journey to the center of the mind, he comes to terms with who he is and rebuilds his persona from the ground up.
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