Verbal Abuse

[Forsaken Lover]

While a lot of people growing up with VII loved Cid and his foul mouth and "sit down and drink your goddam TEA!", it seems one thing people look at with mild discomfort once they get older is his treatment of Shera. As kids we just kinda laughed at the grumpy old guy who swore a lot but when you retrace your steps with a more mature mind, it comes off as rather horrible. Nothing justifies the way he treats her or the way he submits to being treated this way.

I hear this is a translation issue and Cid wasn't that horrid in the original but even still.... The only reason Cid isn't a piece of crap is his later 180 with regards to her.

[MJN SEIFER]

While a lot of people growing up with VII loved Cid and his foul mouth and "sit down and drink your goddam TEA!", it seems one thing people look at with mild discomfort once they get older is his treatment of Shera. As kids we just kinda laughed at the grumpy old guy who swore a lot but when you retrace your steps with a more mature mind, it comes off as rather horrible. Nothing justifies the way he treats her or the way he submits to being treated this way.

To be honest, I looked at it with discomfort as a kid as well.

[Mirage]

I actually can't really make myself feel too sorry for Shera. It's not like she was forced to stay as his assistant against her will or anything. There's got to be limits on how much trout she'd be willing to take from what professionally wasn't a wrong decision and that also happened like a decade ago.

[Pumpkin]

Its one of the reasons I dislike Cid's character so much. He's awful to her

[Psychotic]

Just gonna quote this from my article on Cid's theme.

He is a complete and utter jerk, but who on earth does not like Cid Highwind? Even those who dislike FFVII will not speak against him. Why is it that we find him so endearing? It is because, ultimately, he is a good person. Despite it all, he gave up his dream to save someone’s life. Visualise again. You’re in the cockpit and the countdown is getting closer to 0, to your destiny. “What am I…. what am I supposed to do?” is such an incredible line of dialogue. The cocky and confident test pilot reduced to this. Then the poignant “Oh man, outer space, the moon, my dreams….” hits home.

The grumpy and cranky Cid we all know and love… that’s not a curmudgeon, that is a broken man. His dreams have been shattered. It’s never stated in the game, but Cid has clearly experienced some form of depression.

No, he shouldn't treat Shera that way but I don't hold it against him given that he sacrificed it all to save her - he is a good person at heart. He's just hurting and grieving for the dream he lost and lashing out because of it. I still think he shows signs of depression. So I pity him, I do not revile him.

[Wolf Kanno]

I was never bothered by it as a child or as an adult, Shera made Cid lose his dream and she felt bad about it and allowed herself to be treated poorly by him out of repentance. She could have left at any time but chose to stay behind and I always felt Cid knew it wasn't her intention to screw him out of his years of work and sweat but who the hell does a safety check during the launch? It should have been done an hour before he ever left and technically since he was only going into space, they could have waited for all the final checks to be done. To be honest the whole scenario feels a bit contrived.

[maybee]

Cid is one of my least favorite male characters because of this. It's rather domestic abusive.

[Jinx]

I've always hated Cid and don't find him funny at all.

[Spooniest]

He's a real garbage mouth, isn't he?

You get the feeling they were going a bit too far in the translation to make him seem like a "mature" character, but tbh, the game's characterization never gets beyond a certain surface level. We never, for instance, find out who taught Cid to swear...

I blame the schools in Midgar.

[Bubba]

Yes but Shera is a venereal disease-ridden whore. She deserved what she got.

Cid Highwind forever.

[Mirage]

I'm with Kanno on this one. The entire scenario seemed very forced, like they had to make up whatever sort of crazy idea for him to hate her for no good reason. The entire space program reeks of amateurness. No rocket scientist would even dream of being where she was anytime near the launch, and none of the crew or staff would hesitate even for a second with aborting the launch if there was a person in there. And lastly, no one would have aborted the entire program because of one delay. The entire thing is less realistic than mothersmurfing magic is.

[Forsaken Lover]

This is Shinra we're talking about and they are completely inept and useless so I find the whole rocket scenario feasible.

[Mirage]

But they aren't inept. You don't become the world's largest energy supplier by being inept. You don't become the world's most powerful military force and arms manufacturer by being inept.

[Ayen]

I seldom remember any of his scenes so that should tell you where I stand on this. I don't even remember Shera.

[Uchu]

I don't mind his character as a potty mouth and I was never bothered by it (or impressed for that matter), it was just how he was. Some people in real life use such terms like they're going out of fashion. However, now that you mention it, his anger is misplaced and unnecessary and in all honesty Shera doesn't deserve it at all.

So Cid's swearing, that's okay. His abuse to Shera, not okay.

I think the real issue is why Shera put up with his crap. She says she is in debt to him or something, for ruining his dream... but damn, he would have blown up if she didn't do anything. She cared that much for him she was willing to die. Cid should be alone, but she sticks around. I think the real issue is her mental state, but that's a psychology discussion that I would rather avoid as it touches on issues that women (and men) face in real life. Furthermore, I don't think there is such meaning to it in the game.

But the rocket scene is okay in my eyes, a little melodramatic, but okay within the realms of the story. Apart from the fact that it launched. It lifted off the ground, fire blazing, hovered, and then came crashing down and everyone, including Shera is a-okay. That's my main issue with the scene. I think she would be dead.