Is Cloud overrated? (spoilers)

[JseanjohnC]

cloud is most peoples favorite character in the game series and has recently won the favorite of this website! but do you think he is overrated? he has been in the game so far ago and he is still being talked about like hes so recent ! my opinion ...i dont think he is but what do you think? :D

[Yuzuki130]

I think Cloud is extremely overrated. But ya know, personally I think that your first FF is your favorite, and that makes me think that most people started at 7 even though they claim that they first played FF when it was still on GameBoy. That really agrivates me. I seriously think that if 8 had been released before 7 then Squall would be the equivalent of Cloud today. My first FF was 8 and Squall is my favorite character.

[Raistlin]

Cloud was the start of the fall of the FF hero from the badass to a pansy-ass, angsty teen(which then further degenerated into Squall).

So yeah, he's overrated.

[nik0tine]

Yeah, I think Cloud is pretty overrated. I mean I do like him as a main character, but he doesn't deserve the level of appreciation that he gets.

[DarknessFromAbove]

. . . I love Cloud&Squall&Locke, but I love Cloud the most, VII was my first, and I'm not sure why I love Cloud so much but I do. . . He is not a pansy! OMG's! Cloud forever!!!! :rock:

[HanaKirei]

Cloud was the start of the fall of the FF hero from the badass to a pansy-ass, angsty teen(which then further degenerated into Squall).

So yeah, he's overrated.

(Which then further further degenerated into Tidus.)

*cough* Anyway, I personally feel Cloud's a bit overrated. Not as overrated as Sephiroth, but...*shot*

[Behold the Void]

Cloud and Sephiroth are both overrated really, they just aren't that great.

Besides, you KNOW those swords are just compensating for something else...

[Eö Telrúnya]

Spoilers Ahead!

Cloud annoyed me in some parts of the game with his attitude. Sure, he isn't as moody as Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, but he definitely woke up on the wrong side of his bed every morning. I did grow to like Cloud in some ways, but I thought it was stupid how he made up his entire past and ended up believing his own lies.

He does have great hair though. :D

[Slade]

To me, Cloud just looks like Super Sayan Gohan with a sword :D

[blue_midget192]

I think Cloud is extremely overrated. But ya know, personally I think that your first FF is your favorite

not for me!:) 7 was my first, however 8 definatly surpasses 7 :D
and yes i think cloud is kinda overrated

[DMKA]

It's all about Barret people. Cloud is waaay overrated. Cloud is DA MAN that's KEEPIN' DA BROTHA DOWN YO.

Seriously though, Barret is far better...and sexy. :love:

And as for Sephiroth...he's almost the best, but he isn't...Kefka is...though I hate admitting it.

[SeeDRankLou]

Cloud is the start of Square's inability to go into enough detail about the main character to properly convery the character. There are things about Cloud that you actually have to look for in order to fully understand his character. Some things are left to implication, others are only hinted at and never touched on again, and other unimportant things are overdramafied to a point that takes away from his character rather than add to it. Cloud is actually a very strong person, it's just his situation that makes him appear weak. He is the product of a very strange and bad science experiment which warped his mind and made this false character that he shows to everyone. He is in a constant inner stuggle with his mind, attempting to remember who he really he, attempting to retain control over himself, and attempting to know why he is doing what he is doing. He's tricked into thinking that he's not even a real person but just an experimental creation, which sends him into a frenzied depression. And then he pulls himself out of that depression to finally show his true self which we only see for about five minutes. We aren't given time to appreciate who Cloud really is and are only left with the person that he was due to the experimentation performed on him. Cloud is actually one of the more interesting and more strong characters of any Final Fantasy game, Square just didn't implement his character very well. I actually don't think Cloud is at all overrated. Sephiroth maybe, but not Cloud.

And don't even get me started on the crappy job Square did implementing Squall or Tidus's character. They finally snapped out of it with Yuna.

[Necronopticous]

Cloud is the start of Square's inability to go into enough detail about the main character to properly convery the character. There are things about Cloud that you actually have to look for in order to fully understand his character. Some things are left to implication, others are only hinted at and never touched on again, and other unimportant things are overdramafied to a point that takes away from his character rather than add to it.

I agree to an extent, I don't think Cloud is a sign of "Square's inability to go into enough detail" I think it's more that Cloud is the first character to have so many past and present struggles inside and outside of himself. It seems like there is a lack of information given on him but if you really think about the game, a very significant portion is devoted just to handing out details about him. It's not that there isn't enough on him, it is more, I believe, that Square wanted his personality to unfold throughout the course of the game rather than just be in a paragraph when you first meet him (a la Final Fantasy VI)

In Final Fantasy VII the character personalities got a lot more realistic and involved so to Final Fantasy veterans it may seem that they are ambiguous characters with not enough info given where it's almost the opposite. They are VERY detailed and run very deep with personal, detailed past stories. Even if you have a 60 hour long game it's not going to be an easy task to fit in every aspect of every single one of the character's lives, although it is healthy to the gameplay to make it seem as if they DO in fact have these detailed, intricate past stories. Let's face it, real people do, and that's a good quality of a fictional person.

Personally I loved Cloud as a character, I thought the parts left to interpretation of the players was a plus. I don't think Cloud the character is overrated one little bit, Final Fantasy VII as a whole is a different story.

Oh yeah, plus Cloud is really really really... ridiculously good looking.

[Abbot Cluny]

SeeDRSLou, I think you're talking out of your arse. Where's the justification for anything you said?
I must say - I'm tired of all the junk I hear like that - claiming main characters from any Final Fantasy game are whiny teens akin to boyband members (not a direct quote, drr)... and then you go on to defend Yuna for no apparent reason... Crappy job implementing a character with Cloud, or Squall, or Tidus... sure it sounds intelligent when you type it, but think about what you're saying and see if you can even make sense of it yourself. NecronoptiRSL did a good job setting things straight - but I just had to point out the high levels of BS evident in arguments where people apparently don't like a character that (forgive me for making assumptions) is ten times the badass of anyone you've ever met in real life.

Prove me wrong. Seriously think about what you're saying - wouldn't Cloud (or Squall, or Tidus, or even friggin Zidane) be the most incredible person you've ever met in your life - provided you got to spend any considerable amount of time with them.

[SeeDRankLou]

SeeDRSLou, I think you're talking out of your arse.
Ummm....and I think your hair looks funky. :confused: :screwy: :confused:

You may want to try implementing a little courtesy around people, you might enjoy the benefits.


Where's the justification for anything you said?
I must say - I'm tired of all the junk I hear like that - claiming main characters from any Final Fantasy game are whiny teens akin to boyband members (not a direct quote, drr)... and then you go on to defend Yuna for no apparent reason... Crappy job implementing a character with Cloud, or Squall, or Tidus... sure it sounds intelligent when you type it, but think about what you're saying and see if you can even make sense of it yourself. NecronoptiRSL did a good job setting things straight - but I just had to point out the high levels of BS evident in arguments where people apparently don't like a character that (forgive me for making assumptions) is ten times the badass of anyone you've ever met in real life.

Prove me wrong. Seriously think about what you're saying - wouldn't Cloud (or Squall, or Tidus, or even friggin Zidane) be the most incredible person you've ever met in your life - provided you got to spend any considerable amount of time with them.
You may also want to try reading a little more thoroughly. You seem to be thinking that I am putting down Cloud, when I am actually doing the opposite. Everything I said about Cloud was a good thing, I think Cloud is a very good character. The negative comments I was making were being directed at the story writers and their less than par characterization method (i.e. implementing the character) that they used on Cloud, in my opinion. My comment about the other characters were that I saw the writers using a similar characterization method with Squall and Tidus (especially Squall) and that they finally stopped doing that and used a good one with Yuna in FFX-2. I don't even see where you got what you were saying from what I said, seriously.

[DarknessFromAbove]

Prove me wrong. Seriously think about what you're saying - wouldn't Cloud (or Squall, or Tidus, or even friggin Zidane) be the most incredible person you've ever met in your life - provided you got to spend any considerable amount of time with them.
I SO agree! Square did a great job of creating these larger-than-life characters, and you shouldn't whine about them, just because you have to do a little surching, or reading between the lines. That's the way life is, you don't just KNOW everything about everyone the moment you first meet them, and I don't know about you all, but I like the realistic feel of VII & VIII(and IV & X too I guess).
P.S. Cloud is hot! :love:

[Necronopticous]

If I
Looked like Cloud.
Had Squall's jacket.
Had the social skills of Zidane.
And had the athletic ability and lung capacity of Tidus
I'd get all the ladies. That includes you. YES YOU.

[DarknessFromAbove]

I'd get all the ladies. That includes you. YES YOU. Me?
Get rid of the Zidane part and replace it with 1part Cloud and 3parts Squall, and you got a date :love:

[Raistlin]

Prove me wrong. Seriously think about what you're saying - wouldn't Cloud (or Squall, or Tidus, or even friggin Zidane) be the most incredible person you've ever met in your life - provided you got to spend any considerable amount of time with them.
I'd still smack him if he said "Let's mosey" to me.

[Hawkeye]

cloud had too much attention in the story and thus is overrated because of his fame...
but some friends of mine were talking about football and stuff today and saying how this quarter back is overrated and stuff, and then i said:

the quarterback is overrated because he's good right? you wouldnt necassairly get some nobody rookie football player and start overrating him would you?

in a way, cloud did deserve his fame, but he got too much than need be

[UltimateSpamGrover]

I'd get all the ladies. That includes you. YES YOU.

you're sadly mistaken. I'm not a lady, and even if I was, it would be a snowball's chance in hell if I dated you, I would rather be a lesbian! :lovers: :smash:

*cough* sorry to be off topic.

Yes, I think Cloud is too overrrated. S-E has 4 sequels to FFVII, count em, 4 !!!!

Before Crisis
Crisis Core
FFVII : AC
FFVII: DOC

[Imperia]

He's somewhat overrated. A lot of people like him because of his stoicism, and his "tough guy" attitude (like with Squall). They'll also bash heroes who are emotional (like Tidus). What's wrong with a hero being sentimental?

[Danger]

Big sword = super cool
Swinging huge big sword = damn!

Cloud put Final Fantasy in the mainstream. I still remember the commercials on TV showing him jump from the bridge to the train with that sword that was taller than him and just as wide thinking "man they're actually showing a commercial for a Final Fantasy video game... and I want it."

The one thing everyone knows about Final Fantasy VII is Cloud and his disgustingly big and cool sword. His character is also bad ass (all be it he has his times of weakness towards the later parts of the game) and he had Omnislash.

One thing I keep telling people is put things into perspective. At the time, a character like him had never been done before. Squall, Tidus, Auron... all came afterwards. He is the original truly in dept charcter square tackled up to that time.

I say he is not overrated. I started playing FF on SNES with Mystic Quest, then IV and VI. I've now played them all and I consider FFVI the best off all time. But the only character that comes close to the depth of Cloud in a previous game is Terra. Cloud was a trend setter, he deserves the hype.

[m4tt]

The entire game is overrated.

[feioncastor]

The entire game is overrated.
You can't fairly say that. There's a reason why it was so popular, and called the best game in the world by so many people. I mean, you're entitled to your opinion, so I guess I can't really fairly say all this right now.

Cloud was an excellent character. He was the first "don't give a sh*t" bad-asses that Square put out. After Cloud, they tried to do it again with Squall, but it just didn't work out because they had already done it once.

Cloud had a lot of mystery surrounding him. Like, I've played through FF7 about 10 times, and I still don't know if he really was just a failed Sephiroth clone, and if he wasn't, then why did no one in Nibelheim recognize him? I know he never joined SOLDIER, because he was just a Shin-Ra troop, like the ones with the blue hats and stuff. Now I'll have to play FF7 again to see if I can figure this out.

Cloud is not really over-rated. I think he filled the role sufficiently, and FF7 was and is an amazing game, having a lot to do with Cloud and his contribution to the game.

Plus, who can forget seeing the pictures the gaming magazines where you would see Cloud standing there with his HUGE sword, and thinking, "Oh my god, that's a big sword". I remember that. I remember wondering why they didn't call it FF4, since FF3 was the one right before it.

By the way, I've since then figured this out, so dont' bother explaining it to me.

Holy crap, I wrote a lot.

Feion

[Raistlin]

Big sword = super cool
The one thing everyone knows about Final Fantasy VII is Cloud and his disgustingly big and cool sword. His character is also bad ass (all be it he has his times of weakness towards the later parts of the game) and he had Omnislash.
His character is really really not badass. His sword his bad ass, his moves(Omnislash) are bad ass, but his character is weak, whining, and stubborn. I wanted to smack him lots.

[Necronopticous]

The entire game is overrated.
I tend to think that every other game in the series is just underrated. Every Final Fantasy is as good as Final Fantasy VII is made out to be.

[Martyr]

The gigantic sword is just so stupid that Cloud loses al credibility immediately.

It's unrealistic in comparision with the insanely unrealistic content of the game.

Because cloud is the unlucky loser who artists wanted to carry the sword, he becomes one of the poorest designed characters in video game history.

Backstory doesnt save him because similar stuff is found all over the world in all kinds of stories.

Thus: The only original thing about Cloud is this massive sword. But the sword's originality comes from the fact that it is sop stupid that nobody would use that idea. Until Cloud! Who sucks.

[Necronopticous]

The gigantic sword is just so stupid that Cloud loses al credibility immediately.

Just because you deviate from the fact that most people think Cloud's unrealistically large sword is cool doesn't mean that it's stupid, and it doesn't jeopardize or have anything to do with anything about him as a character.


It's unrealistic in comparision with the insanely unrealistic content of the game.

Realistic, sure. The series isn't called Final Reality.


Because cloud is the unlucky loser who artists wanted to carry the sword, he becomes one of the poorest designed characters in video game history.

So his large sword makes his character design... Right... So what does he become when he equips the Murasame? Then he's cool by your logic, right?


Backstory doesnt save him because similar stuff is found all over the world in all kinds of stories.

What?


Thus: The only original thing about Cloud is this massive sword. But the sword's originality comes from the fact that it is sop stupid that nobody would use that idea. Until Cloud! Who sucks.

See sentence #1 of this post.

--

Ugh, and why do you have a good quote in your signature, take it out before I vomit all over myself.

[SeeDRankLou]

Backstory doesnt save him because similar stuff is found all over the world in all kinds of stories.
Oh, so experimentation where alien cells are injected into people with the intent of creating an army of superhumans but results in a neurological breakdown whereby people either enter a vegatative state or rarely are affected by their surroundings and create a psychologically adaptive replacement for themselves, causing debilitating cerebral pain due to neurological conflict, and in either case allow the original alien being subconcious neurological control over the host is commonplace in this world? Huh....

Sorry I couldn't help myself.... :D :love:

[Martyr]

So his large sword makes his character design... Right... So what does he become when he equips the Murasame? Then he's cool by your logic, right?


Correct!

As for the other things you said, I'm of the opinion that I'm always right. About my opinions.


Perhaps his story is actually somewhat original, but I still found myself overwhelmingly annoyed with Cloud. Maybe it's me.


Edit/Note: Glad you like my sig. I ain't never gonna change it, I don't think.

[bEoWuLfX]

wait jenova is an alien? I thought she was anchient? Cloud never got injected, just bombarded by mako energy.

[SeeDRankLou]

wait jenova is an alien? I thought she was anchient? Cloud never got injected, just bombarded by mako energy.
Jenova is the "threat from the skies" which came down on the....meteor (I guess) that caused the crater in the north where the lifestream is gathering to fix itself. And yes, Cloud was injected with Jenova cells, go to Nibelheim and read Hojo's notes after you regain control of Cloud in disc 2.

[Cloud Strife fanatic]

undefinedundefined
The entire game is overrated.
Final fantasy VII and cloud are the best things to ever happen to video games :mad2: :mad2:

In my opinoin cloud is the best thing that happend to video games since time begain!!!! :chop: he kicks major ass

EDIT: Please don't double post. -Murder

[DarknessFromAbove]

In my opinoin cloud is the best thing that happend to video games since time begain!!!! :chop: he kicks major ass LoL, that's right! Cloud rulez :love: Maybe not THAT much, but if you don't like him. . . well don't even bother playing FFVII. . . or any other FF for that matter because he has a lot of influence on main characters in a lot of the newer games(ie tidus, (vaan), squall, even sora(not an FF character, but oh well), and zell, and who knows who else. . .

[kikimm]

Big sword = super cool
Swinging huge big sword = damn!

Keep in mind, I am NOT directing this towards you, Danger, or anyone else here, but that is one of the reasons why Cloud is overrated---in my opinion, of course. Plenty people just look at his "awesome cool bitchin` hair" and huge-ass sword, and automatically he's their favorite video game character ever, because he's this "badass"....and in reality, he actually isn't. He's somewhat of a coward. There's so much more to this game (and Cloud too, for that matter) that a lot of people I've seen haven't understood.

But anyways---I think part of the reason why i think Cloud is overrated is because people mistake him for something he's not. And as for the game being overrated....well...that's another thread, for another day. :)


:D

[DarknessFromAbove]

I see what you're saying, kikimm. I've played FFVII about 5 or so times, paying close attention to Cloud during the last 3. . . because at first I really hated Cloud, he was a demented freek, I didn't get him at all. . . Now of course I love him, but at least it's not just because he looks cool(well maybe just a little). . . but I think that's true, people don't really look into things, befor deciding that they're cool. . . like Cloud is :love:

[Ryth]

Sorta he does get a little too much hype.

[Dante WolfWood]

when I first played, I also thought he was over-rated and barret was under-rated (I thought he was a better leader) but as I played the game more and more and finally realized what cloud went through his child life and what happened at nibelheim, I started to see my self in cloud....

And to point out, most the people saying he was overrated either didnt beat the game, play the game, or understand a damn thing going on.(just like the people who hate vincent for no reason) so to those people, Dont Be HATIN!

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!
(also, umm, cloud wasnt mad that he was a loser and started believing his own lies to make himself feel better, he was f**cked up in the head after the injections and listened to jack which caused him to believe that they happened to his-self, so b4 you start hatin, MAKE SURE YOU GOT YOUR SH*T STRAIGHT!!!!)

[Mage_of_Fire]

I think the people that hate FF7 are people that have actually played most of FF1-6. And I think Cecil started a lot more than Cloud.

[Raistlin]

And to point out, most the people saying he was overrated either didnt beat the game, play the game, or understand a damn thing going on.
I've played the game more times than I can readily count. I've been discussing Cloud, Sephiroth, Jenova, Holy, etc. for years. I know a bit about the game.
And Cloud is just plain annoying. He's incredibly stubborn and arrogant through the vast majority of the game. He was also the beginning of the lead male character in the FF series being an angsty teen.


just like the people who hate vincent for no reason
Wha? I've never seen anyone dislike Vincent for no reason. However, I've seen plenty of people like him for no reason. He's an awesome character(story-wise), but he's the second-crappiest character to have in your party in the game(the first being Cait Sith).

[Weimar Pluto Knight VII]

I think Martyr meant they weren't original ideas.

Okay, before I continue, the mod should put a spoiler warning on the title of this thread, b/c people aren't marking their spoilers in here.

But I don't think Cloud is overrated. I love naming him after myself! It's so fun. Instead of someone like Locke, who is extremely underdeveloped (well, his character could have been worse) and is a bit too cheerful and corny for me -- Cloud is much more human, and it was really emotional when he was going through his depression and whenever his will was being tampered with. I can totally relate to feeling very depressed.

But, yanno, I learned to respect FFVI when I played it through the 2nd time, but it was hard, b/c FFVII seemed so great b/c the only other RPG I played was Super Mario RPG, and the rest of the games I played before that were platformers. The characters by SNES standards in FFVI are extremely well done, especially exhibited in the ending. However, by Playstation standards, most of the character and story in FFVI suck.

EDIT: If a character in FF sucks, it's Tidus, or at least up to where I keep quitting from boredom. Maybe it's just his voice, or maybe I haven't played far enough.