Starting out with our “Icons” series. We wanted to get two profiles to work in tandem, between here and fullsync.co.uk. It feels ideal, then, to go at two icons from the same game. Cloud Strife and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, and more specifically the newly re-imagined versions from Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The blonde, spiky hair. The attitude. The Buster Sword and ex-SOLDIER back story. Combined with a properly human internal struggle.
A perfectly designed poster boy for one of the biggest JRPGs ever made. Iconic in every sense.
Cloud Strife
He carries a sword that should be impossible, possesses memories that feel borrowed, and walks with a swagger that masks a deep-seated fragility.
Cloud Strife, the enigmatic hero of Final Fantasy VII Remake, is far more than just a stoic ex-SOLDIER. He is a psychological puzzle, a man pieced together from shattered fragments of trauma, hero worship, and a desperate need for identity.
Final Fantasy VII Remake masterfully reimagines this internal struggle, externalising Cloud’s fractured psyche in compelling new ways.
Where the original game saved its big reveals for later, Remake sprinkles clues from the very beginning. The jarring headaches, the flashes of Sephiroth, and the haunting whispers of “Reunion” are not just plot devices; they are windows into a mind at war with itself.
Zack Fair
At the heart of Cloud’s identity crisis is Zack Fair. After the traumatic events at the Nibelheim reactor and his subsequent Mako poisoning, Cloud subconsciously constructs a new persona.
He adopts Zack’s confident, easy-going mannerisms and even his memories of being a SOLDIER 1st Class. He isn’t lying, not in the traditional sense.
His mind, shattered by trauma and infused with Mako, has simply taken the raw materials of his hero—the man he looked up to—and used them to build a functional identity.
We see this most clearly in his interactions. The cool, detached mercenary he presents to Barret and AVALANCHE is a direct imitation of how he perceived Zack.
Yet, the facade constantly cracks. Around Tifa, who knew the real, shy, and awkward Cloud from their childhood, he becomes flustered and uncertain.
Her presence is a constant, quiet reminder that the person he pretends to be doesn’t align with his past. Cloud is like all of us, trying to present ourselves to be something we want to be, but not neccessarily what we are.
The Whispers and the Glitches
Remake’s most significant addition, the Whispers, can be interpreted as a physical manifestation of destiny, but they also serve as a powerful metaphor for Cloud’s internal conflict.
They appear when the timeline—and by extension, Cloud’s fragile narrative—is threatened.
Furthermore, the “glitching” effect that accompanies his headaches is a brilliant visual representation of his Mako-addled memory.
It’s like a corrupted data file trying to load.
A flash of Sephiroth in an alleyway isn’t just a jump scare; it’s a symptom of his Jenova-cell infestation and the deep-seated trauma trying to force its way to the surface. These aren’t just memories; they are psychological wounds, festering and demanding to be seen.
Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Remake is not just on a mission to save the Planet; he is on a desperate, subconscious quest to save himself. A living, breathing example of how we build ourselves from our heroes and our hurts.
As players, we are not just controlling a spiky-haired mercenary; we are guiding a lost soul through the labyrinth of his own mind, hoping he can find the real Cloud Strife waiting at the centre.
Iconic
We’ve already said how how style and desgin are iconic. Timeless, even. Cloud Strife has appeared in so many games, films, manga etc.
Tetsuya Nomura understood the assignment and at the dawn of 3D games, the playstation hitting the West and people learining about JRPGs. Final Fantasy VII delivered an experience that a lot of us hadn’t really been a part of before.
With a real, human personality and anime stylings. How could the world not fall for Cloud? FMVs and custscenes in Final Fantasy VII and Remake show him to be this borderline super hero.
You know who he is from a sillhouette. Gamers recognise him the world over. And whilst he’s not quite as famous as say Mario. Cloud is Iconis and sits on a pedastal above so many other gaming protagonists.
Flawed, broken, but trying to hold it all together. We maybe don’t have the skills and flair, but we understand Cloud Strife.
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