Cloud Strife vs Siegfried Schtauffen (Soul Calibur)

I was watching a bunch of Soul Calibur IV videos on YouTube, and because the game allows players to create their own custom-made characters, I've seen a whole bunch of Final Fantasy characters recreated in the game. Unlike the character creation feature in Soul Calibur III, characters no longer have their own original fighting styles, but rather imitate the fighting styles of the original characters already created in the game. I notice that Cloud Strife's fighting style is always based on that of Siegfried Schtauffen, which has a number of similarities with Cloud; they both had dark pasts, they both have blonde hair and blue eyes, they both wield massive swords, and they both have German ancestry ("Strife" as a surname is of German origin). So, I wonder, if we were to match Cloud against Siegfried, which one would emerge victorious?

With that said, select the hero you want to root for and state how and why he should win the match. For me, it's anyone's game because both have massive swords and similar fighting styles, but I want to hear your opinions too, so feel free to express your opinions here.

Siegfried would win because he is the more attractive of the two.

Cloud's superhuman - even more than Siegfried - so in terms of strength, reflexes and paranormal abilities he's got the edge. He's also a couple of inches taller, giving him slightly better reach, though that counts for relatively little when you're dealing with guys whose swords can basically cleave buildings.

Well, not even a lightsaber can cut through the weapons they use in SC4!

Come to think of it, Mirage, you're right; normally, a lightsaber is supposed to cut through everything else, but not in SC4...

Pretty sure that's just a rule they decided to break, instead of breaking the game by including it. If those lightsabers could do what they're supposed to every battle would be over in like two strikes

And I'm with D, Cloud takes advantage in this kind of mash-up

So they weakened the lightsabers, eh?

Anyway, we also must take the battleground into account here; some stages will send you crashing into walls, while others knock you out of the ring.

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Pretty sure that's just a rule they decided to break, instead of breaking the game by including it. If those lightsabers could do what they're supposed to every battle would be over in like two strikes

And I'm with D, Cloud takes advantage in this kind of mash-up

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A direct hit by any of the weapons in SC4 would kill you, though. The only thing that's different is that lightsabres can't cut through their weapons :p.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Pretty sure that's just a rule they decided to break, instead of breaking the game by including it. If those lightsabers could do what they're supposed to every battle would be over in like two strikes

And I'm with D, Cloud takes advantage in this kind of mash-up

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A direct hit by any of the weapons in SC4 would kill you, though. The only thing that's different is that lightsabres can't cut through their weapons :p.

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And even in the movies, lightsabres can't cut through everything. They glance off some surfaces instead of cleaving them outright. I guess we can assume that 16th-century spring steel is one of those surfaces :p

Yes, the Soul Calibur is set in the 16th century (the 1500s). I have to wonder, though, if they made another version of the game set in the modern world. The first six Final Fantasies were set in medieval worlds, whereas Final Fantasy VII was set in the modern world.

Cloud is lame, so Siggy

By Siggy, you mean Siegfried, right?

Who else? :p

Sigmund Freud! He would have a lot to say about those enormous swords, too.

Yeah, well, my main uses a huge wooden pole.

Apparently those Germans like wielding really big swords. "Strife" is a surname of German origin, so if he were to live in the modern-day USA, Cloud would be considered a German American.

And Mirage, who is your main character in SCIV?

Kilik, or a hot babe moving like Kilik.

Kilik is moving like her :P

I love it when the females lift their legs into that strange victory pose.

You know, in SCIV, if you hit the opponent enough times, some of their armor and clothes fall off. There are three sections to their attire, and if you knock all three off, the character will end up wearing only underwear. I think that's just a little too much display. Perhaps equip clothes and armor separately, and then during battle, the characters can display visual damage involving torn clothing, but don't let the clothes come off to the point that they're almost naked. Please. (And please don't trash me for that.)

I figured I'd bring this up because you said that you like it when female characters lift their legs up when doing those victory poses, and that I also recently saw a video of recreations of Tifa and Cloud fighting, and their clothes came off until both were clad only in underwear (by the way, Tifa won that match). Anyways, back to topic.

And males end up wearing just small briefs, where is the problem?

Personally, I'd prefer they wear boxers, but that's my opinion, now enough about that.

I'm sure the female gamers don't mind.

Well that's because females wear briefs, but enough about that; I'm starting to feel a bit uneasy about talking about male and female underwears. Let's go back to the original topic.

Cloud could have equipped Summon Setsuka Materia... which could mean he'd probably win.

Because Setsuka is the pwn.

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Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire

Well that's because females wear briefs, but enough about that; I'm starting to feel a bit uneasy about talking about male and female underwears. Let's go back to the original topic.

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Grow some balls/ovaries :jess:
You could pretty much garuntee that Cloud would break into a long discussion about his past, and how he doesn't understand what's real anymore. Another reason why Siegfried would win

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Originally Posted by Mirage

I'm sure the female gamers don't mind.

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I'm sure female gamers could care less. From what I understand, the average female doesn't like to see a man with a lot of skin exposed. The most they'd hope for is a tanned, toned, and hairless exposed torso. Possible Square qualifiers might be Sephiroth or Dauragon.

Speaking of ridiculously large swords, I just recently had a Freudmund discussion with my girlfriend about how I've grown-up hoping to be a superhero due to what psychiatrists would describe as "penis-envy." It's a personality trait you can expect to be shared by pretty much every heterosexual male. (I've never heard of a homosexual being jealous of another man's size.) It's proportionately spawned by gossip and media subterfuge and feeds on embers of inadequacy and powerlust.

Stripping Cloud and Siegfried to bear essentials and giving consideration to their respective personalities and origins, I'd have to immediately declare Cloud the winner. Siegfried grew up as a dumbass punk who accidentally killed his own father. Cloud was a MP is ShinRa's militia for five years before adopting Zack's ambition to become a mercenary. Hands down.

A toned male torso and perhaps lower legs (not above the knees) are okay, but again, I'd rather keep their clothes on to begin with. Please let's get off that topic, I'm getting squeamish here.

And by stripping them to bare essentuals, you mean removing the armor (but not the clothes), right?

I mean that the equipment bears no effect on their ability. No shielding, no enhanced weaponry, no materia, no soulcalibur/souledge.

Oh... just the ordinary big swords then?

We could allow Schtauffen to have the Soulcalibur if Strife gets the Ultima Weapon. Monkeys could duel with those weapons and provide an entertaining battle.

Soul Calibur and the Ultima Weapon... perhaps in their EX modes...

last nigh i started the original soul calibur on the dreamcast
and got all the characters
and playing until like half the mission modes

it's really good hey

i was surprised

anyway cloud strife can use materia so
also limit breaks

Wow, you still play the Dreamcast?! I thought those things would stop working since Sega dropped out of the console-making business.

Why would already manufactured Dreamcasts stop working just because Sega stopped making them?

Well, I guess you're right, but still, Sega no longer makes consoles, so support for the Dreamcast should have ended, right?

That just means no new DCs, equipment, or games are being made.

A better question is: Who has the bigger rack, Tifa or Ivy?

What are you talking about, Psychotic?

Weapons racks. To store their weapons on. On the one hand, Ivy's Magical Sausage is so large that the poor rack is put under a lot of strain, but you'd be a fool to bet against Tifa's Premium Hearts.

Oh, that. You know, when not in use, I notice that Cloud often carries his sword on his back, but he doesn't have a scabbard for it. And neither does Sephiroth.

Psychotic: banned

Oh wow, Psy.

Anyway, I'm betting Cloud Strife. There's no reason to believe Siegfried Schtauffen is super-human like Cloud is. However, I think it's better to keep characters to their own universes so their qualities can be appreciated in the context they were meant to be seen in. If you mix universes, then you decide which universe is better, and that undermines everything the developers were trying to do!

I'd just like to throw it out there that strife is an English word. If you want to get technical about its etymology, it originated in the thirteenth century from Anglo-French. It is certainly similar to the German verb strītan which has a similar meaning, but that's no reason to draw the conclusion that Cloud is (or would be) German. Further, given that English is a Germanic language, it's almost meaningless to draw this connection. A majority of English words are derivative of German, usually with a flair of French. The rest are latinate simply because of the massive intellectual hard-on scholars had for Latin during the gross majority of Middle and modern English's development.

On a side note, the thought of a German American seemed silly since such a large bulk of the white American population has Germanic ancestry.

I'm pretty sure Cloud Strife has some genetic ties to the Orient. His father was probably some Navy swinger. lol

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

I'd just like to throw it out there that strife is an English word. If you want to get technical about its etymology, it originated in the thirteenth century from Anglo-French. It is certainly similar to the German verb strītan which has a similar meaning, but that's no reason to draw the conclusion that Cloud is (or would be) German. Further, given that English is a Germanic language, it's almost meaningless to draw this connection. A majority of English words are derivative of German, usually with a flair of French. The rest are latinate simply because of the massive intellectual hard-on scholars had for Latin during the gross majority of Middle and modern English's development.

On a side note, the thought of a German American seemed silly since such a large bulk of the white American population has Germanic ancestry.

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Yes, "strife" is an English word, but "Strife" as a surname is of German origin. Here's the proof:

Strife Family Crest

he was born in a place called nibelheim

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

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Originally Posted by SuperMillionaire

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

I'd just like to throw it out there that strife is an English word. If you want to get technical about its etymology, it originated in the thirteenth century from Anglo-French. It is certainly similar to the German verb strītan which has a similar meaning, but that's no reason to draw the conclusion that Cloud is (or would be) German. Further, given that English is a Germanic language, it's almost meaningless to draw this connection. A majority of English words are derivative of German, usually with a flair of French. The rest are latinate simply because of the massive intellectual hard-on scholars had for Latin during the gross majority of Middle and modern English's development.

On a side note, the thought of a German American seemed silly since such a large bulk of the white American population has Germanic ancestry.

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Yes, "strife" is an English word, but "Strife" as a surname is of German origin. Here's the proof:

Strife Family Crest

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Alright, I'll give you that. Regardless, Germany doesn't exist in FFVII, so it's irrelevant.

neither did asia but yuffie and her pagodas came from somewhere. somewhere that looks like a thin island chain, actually. huh i never noticed until now.

its interesting to note that midgar, an industrialized town with a fearful military, sits on a continent where you can find chocobo stables (where 'cowboys' reside), and if you go further south you find a society based around condors reminiscent of culturally relevant things from south americas and the andes.

Good point, Krissy.

Yes, I guess the game developers really researched American society; in fact, early plans for the game had the setting in New York City, but that was later dropped and added to Parasite Eve; nonetheless, Midgar does resemble New York somewhat.

Whoever has to overcompensate the most wins imo.

Cloud's hair is spiky. Sieg's is long. Cloud's sword is huge. Sieg's sword is huge. Cloud wears a bracelet as armor. Sieg's armor is outrageous. Cloud is an expressionless dork. Sieg is a bit of an ass. Sieg's clothes can be broken off. Cloud has dressed like a girl.

I'm stumped.

You can draw all the parallels you want. Certainly Wutai is inspired very obviously from Asian culture, but that does not make Yuffie Japanese, Chinese, Korean or any of the above. She's Wutanese (?). It's one thing to identify the real-world origins of elements found in Final Fantasy VII. It's another entirely to then extrapolate that identifying characters or objects within the world of FFVII as parts of that inspirational culture.

This is why that although Sora may appear to be Caucasian, his name is a Japanese word and in the diegesis of Kingdom Hearts, it would not make sense to give him an English last name such as Smith. It's the same thing with calling Cloud German. It doesn't translate properly from an imaginary world to the real world.

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Originally Posted by Mercen-X

I'm sure female gamers could care less. From what I understand, the average female doesn't like to see a man with a lot of skin exposed. The most they'd hope for is a tanned, toned, and hairless exposed torso. Possible Square qualifiers might be Sephiroth or Dauragon.

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Who told you that? I certainly don't speak for females everywhere [or any females from here], but I'm going to say that 90% of females I've met past the age of 22~ish and higher can't seem to get enough of the male body [and for the record, a lot of them seem to prefer guys in boxer-briefs or briefs, though there are still a few hardcore boxer fans]. I constantly end up getting into discussions with girls all the time about hot guys, hot male bodies, and other things male-related that are inappropriate for this topic, but you might be able to guess anyways. From my experience, a lot of girls are more boy crazy than they let on, though I think they're only slightly more open with this information towards me because I'm gay. Who do you think most of the male-Lingerie designers are?

For the record, I specified the age of 22~ish part because most girls I've met prior to age 22~ish [a lot from high school, so basically the ages of 16~ish] were generally "ew boys, cooties!", where basically they liked them without their shirts, but that was as far as it went. Knowing them several years later though, I've seem so many of them transition into watching guys in briefs, swimming trunks, male lingerie, modest speedo at the beach, primitive loincloth, or anything along those lines screaming "Oh my god Khalin!! Did you see that bulge?!" in my face. I also know plenty of women that will go on and on about what they imagine being under those briefs, which is another fun and giggly discussion I get wrapped into a lot by a lot of women. ;)

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Siegfried would win because he is the more attractive of the two.

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Hm, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Siegfried definitely looks more badass, and reminds me of Gades. However, though he may have a "handsome" look to him, I definitely wouldn't say that Siegfriend is the more attractive of the two. I think Cloud has a much sexier look, and also wears clothes that show his physique more, which is nice fanservice to some. Cloud also looks badass, but more of in a "sexy" way, as opposed to a "mighty and powerful" way as Siegfried does. They both appear to be quite strong though. Beyond this, I'm not really sure who I'd declare to be the victor of a duel between the two, though I lean slightly more towards Cloud only due to Cloud's powers and enhanced strength from Mako poisoning and injected Jenova cells, along with his ability to use magical powers through Materia [not sure if this should count though].

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Originally Posted by krissy

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

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That's actually more common in Finland than in Germany :p.

Yes, that is true; Finland is the blondest country in the world.

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Originally Posted by Mirage

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Originally Posted by krissy

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

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That's actually more common in Finland than in Germany :p.

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Is it a noticeable difference?

obviously what occured was that clouds mother was a fin and clouds father was ze german, and after being conceived they sent him to the world of ff7 on a rocketship which landed in nibleheim mts

No. Cloud's father was a Finnish alien who caused "strife" by accident with the crash-landing of his rocketship. He screwed Cloud's Nibelheim mom and then was killed on Nibel by the Materia Keeper.

Or maybe Cloud's mom doesn't have a last name. Maybe she's psychic and knew his life would be full of strife.

Uhhhhh...