Cloud was lying, right?

[TheAbominatrix]

He did. Zack did what Cloud couldnt by becoming a SOLDIER... and from what I can tell, Zack seemed like a very personable guy, and maybe even befriended Cloud before it all went bad. Zack was the kind of guy Cloud always wanted to be, the kind of guy who would be able to impress Tifa like Cloud never could (or so Cloud believed). So, the combination of his weakened state, Zack's presence, and eventually being found by the woman he was so desperate to prove himself to all served to create this confused alter-ego sort of deal.

[Dr. Casey]

The whole things seem pretty realistic, actually. If a person just hears... a voice when they're in a semi-catatonic state, it'd make sense that once the person snaps out of it, the brain would wonder what it all meant. I should ask on some Psychology website whether screwed-up memories like this could really occur from being semi-catatonic for a while...

[Mercen-X]

A note to Dr. Casey: I think catatonic is a well-enough way to describe Cloud's state. Catatonia is the state in which someone suffers from immobility and stupor. Stupor is equal to near-unconsciousness. Even a sleeping individual can hear voices when people are talking around them.
Cloud was catatonic, not semi-catatonic. He was able to hear (though possibly not completely understand) Zack's stories even though he couldn't see him.



Anyway, I think Cloud was lying. How else would you expect a dufus like him to get so close to Aeris? He purposely acted like Zack to get into her . . . um . . . what the hell is that thing she wears?

it does use the term 'lie,' I think, which because of my misunderstanding about Tifa caused me to create a false idea of the game's story.

You are Cloud.