Cloud Strife vs Siegfried Schtauffen (Soul Calibur)

[SuperMillionaire]

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.

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

Strife Family Crest

[krissy]

he was born in a place called nibelheim

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

[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.

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

Strife Family Crest

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

[krissy]

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.

[SuperMillionaire]

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.

[Lionx]

Whoever has to overcompensate the most wins imo.

[Mercen-X]

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.

[Ouch!]

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.

[RedPouch]

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.

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.

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

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].

[Mirage]

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

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

[SuperMillionaire]

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

[RedPouch]

he has blonde hair and blue eyes

come on

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

Is it a noticeable difference?

[krissy]

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

[Mercen-X]

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.

[SuperMillionaire]

Uhhhhh...