Why is Cid cranky?

[Spooniest]

Cid Highwind swears more than all the other characters in the game put together. He routinely flies completely off the handle and starts bitching people out for no reason. Barrett, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, random joke-telling NPCs, it really doesn't matter.

Why?

I would think cuz he ran out of money for cigarettes, but why do you think he's cranky?

[comma]

Dreams crushed.

[Spooniest]

Tifa and Cloud and Barrett and Vincent and Yuffie and Reeve's dreams have all been crushed. Yet the only one among them who is especially cranky is Barrett, and even he can't match Cid's vitriol.

So why is Cid so much more angry?

[comma]

Because he's angry at himself. I don't think anyone else had their dreams crushed at quite the magnitude Cid did.

People deal with things in different ways. "Why are you mad? Yuffie's not mad!"

[Spooniest]

I don't think anyone else had their dreams crushed at quite the magnitude Cid did.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

None of the others were gonna go into freakin' space.

Though the nicotine withdrawal and caffeinated tea probably don't help.

[Shorty]

Out of cigarettes seems accurate.

[Jiro]

But he always has a cigarette with him. He's fine, he just has all this ANGST about turning off the engine and not getting into space.

[Spooniest]

Is it an e-cigarette? Does he charge it with Bolt spells?

This has given me the idea of game mechanic where you have to charge Cid's e-cigarrette and buy him cartridges or he'll be inflicted with Berserk so many turns into a battle. The longer you wait, the sooner he'll be Berserked.

Which is silly, of course.

[Jinx]

It's not just that his dreams were crushed, but that he was SO CLOSE to obtaining his dream. And now he has to live with the reminder 24/7 staring down at him that he's probably never going to get his dream back.

[Sephex]

Japanese culture thing. Cid is "old" and older people are often seen as short tempered and brash.

[Cloudane]

Shera didn't make his god damn TEA!

[Gamblet]

&#"@!

[Mercen-X]

Cid hasn't had his enema.

[maybee]

It was his time of the month

[Shauna]

He's just an ass.

[comma]

So, I played FFVII again recently and realized that the characters are a lot better developed than I remember them being. Cid isn't just cranky because he's old or an asshole, it's because of his massive regret for getting so close to his dream but being the one who prevented it, anger at himself and Shera, unresolved cognitive dissonance at caring for Shera but hating her for destroying his dream, and all this while never being able to forget his past with the rocket leaning over him after so many years and living with Shera.

How you can argue anything else is beyond me.

[Spooniest]

He could be suffering from hemorrhoids.

[comma]

I suppose that would explain the spears.

[Cloudane]

Question has apparently answered itself

http://i.imgur.com/YLtgsQi.jpg

[Dante WolfWood]

I honestly just think it's a coping mechanism. Not everyone reacts the same to having their dreams crushed/lives torn apart. In this case, everyone reacts differently to ShinRa and their actions:

Barret becomes vengeful and decided to go on a terrorist rampage to exact his revenge. He regrets ever helping ShinRa in the first place and is seeking redemption through Avalanche.

Tifa decides to cling to one thing she cherished as a child, her friend Cloud; even though the cloud she encounters belongs in a loony bin. In her mind, she finally regains something she lost from ShinRa.

Vincent becomes almost completely apathetic (at least I see it this way; I wouldn't say he's moody or emo), except for one thing; stopping Hojo. His life is gone, lover is gone, and hopes at a new life are gone. ShinRa took everything from him. He also blames himself for most of this, but unlike Barret, he decides to "punish" himself and lock himself away from the world.

Yuffie embraces a carefree attitude and decides to just focus on rebuilding her home instead of exacting revenge by stealing materia. There's no point on becoming attached or serious about anything because by tomorrow, it could be gone, just like how the war with ShinRa left her home in shambles. (That's just speculation, not really conveyed in game)

Red XIII, in my opinion, just wanted to get away from it all, and just escape the situation that is going on in the world. If I remember correctly, it took him learning of his father's true courage and motivation from his "granpa" to convince him to Join Cloud and company.

Cloud...is just nuts. lol. No really, if I remember correctly, he was pretty much being manipulated by Sephy and dragged along. He later gains a more positive motivation after the fact that he was just a puppet.

Then there's Cid. After having his dreams crushed by ShinRa, AND having a divided mindset of whether he truly regrets making the decision to save Shera and cancel the launch (which ultimately led to the cancellation of the space project), he becomes EXTREMELY bitter. He even projects blame on Shera, because in his mind, if she had just listened to him, he could have still made it into space (Although she was right and saved his life). So he reacts like how many normal people do; becomes an intolerable jackass and foul mouthed jerk who pretty much hates the world.

Lawd, that's a lot of crap.

[Spooniest]

What a great post! Rep +1 for you!

I'd rep it twice for your ultra-cool avatar, if I could.

[Mercen-X]

Not everyone reacts the same to having their dreams crushed/lives torn apart.
Not everyone in this game experiences the same tragic circumstances.

Barret's town is slaughtered and so is Tifa's. Don't forget that Tifa is a member of AVALANCHE. She was a part of that group before Cloud showed up in Midgar. So her reaction started out pretty much the same as Barret's.

As you mention, Vincent blames himself, but his tragedy is witnessing his love's life ruined. He never sees her die. He otherwise probably would have sought revenge there and then, but don't forget he eventually does.
Neither Cid nor Yuffie has experienced the death of someone they care about. But Yuffie was just a brat who wasn't old enough to decide what she wanted while Cid only had the one dream of which he was callously robbed.

Red XIII... it's a little difficult to seek revenge given that Bugenhagen locked the one path through which to access the Gi that had killed his parents. Even if he could only avenge his mother (as she was the one of whose death he was aware), I'm sure he would have.

[Niale]

Personality ;)
I know some people who swears a lot, its normal for some really :)