〈 APPLICATION 〉

Character Information

Character: Cloud Strife
Canon: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, end of chapter 14
Age: 21
History: WIKI; as Cloud is from the remake, anything past the ending of it is not relevant to him. Events that took place before FF7 hold significance to him still, though.
Possessions: Four (4) materia (wind, fire and ice, elemental, and steadfast block) equipped into his sword and Force Bracelet, his uniform, some moogle coins and some spare gil. Unbeknownst to him, he also has the black materia inside his sword.
Weapon: The Buster Sword.

Powers/Abilities:

COMBAT ABILITY He isn't SOLDIER, necessarily, but he's always been noted as being particularly good with a sword. He wields broadswords with ease despite their weight and size, forging a series of systemic attacks with them that require not just wielding the weapon but agility, core strength, and some amount of acrobatics. From his point in the game, he will have several sword abilities available to him:

BRAVER—Cloud leaps into the air and strikes an opponent, dealing burst damage in an area of effect;

FOCUSED THRUST—a lunge towards a single target with his sword, hitting multiple times and dealing significant stagger damage;

TRIPLE SLASH—attacks three enemies in quick succession with a cleaving slash, the damage improving with each subsequent blow;

INFINITY'S END—a charged attack with a long preamble that results in a devastating overhead strike;

DISORDER—a focused strike delivered like a homerun baseball bat strike to the chosen enemies torso;

BLADE BURST—a charged attack where Cloud leaps to fire a burst of Mako energy across the floor towards multiple enemies;

COUNTERSTANCE—Cloud will double back and unleash a devastating counterattack on an enemy, dealing massive damage.

FIREBOLT BLADE—Cloud jumps towards the targeted foe, hitting twice with Lightning damage before hitting a third time with Fire damage;

PRIME MODE—once activated, this makes one of Cloud's basic attack combos (Punisher Mode) stronger and gives him a different and longer attack string;

AERIAL ONSLAUGHT—while in the air, Cloud does several powerful slashes before striking downwards and landing.

LIMIT BREAKS In game, Cloud has three limit breaks: Cross-Slash (damages the foe while making an ominous symbol with the slashes), Ascension (focuses on a single enemy and delivers several powerful strikes, significantly increasing stagger), and Finishing Touch (evokes the power of a raging cyclone to strike the enemy).

MAKO ENHANCEMENT Even before being exposed to mako and Jenova cells, Cloud was considered to be pretty strong for a cadet. Now, though, Cloud is not just proficient in combat, but he can do superhuman feats (like jumping long distances without issue and cutting through a slab of street concrete to get through) with ease. It's also enough to allow him to heal, recover his strength, and go a while without nourishment.

MAGIC USE With the help of materia, Cloud can make use of magic at the cost of energy/mana.

MISC This would encompass a number of skills your typical JRPG protag would be good at. Cloud, in particular, has been denoted to be good at riding motorcycles and chocobos, snowboarding, and—hailing from a mountain town in the middle of nowhere—hiking and scaling rough terrain, as well as dancing, card games, and a myriad of minigame skills if he sets his mind to it.

How I will use them in game since there's no ATB/MP mechanism (happy to adjust if necessary):

Cloud won't be able to do his abilities nor make use of magic through the materia if he is too tired. His mana/MP will equal to his energy levels and whether he's had enough food and sleep/rest at any period of time. If he has only taken a nap here and there in a few days, he won't be able to make use of a lot of his abilities and magic until he actually does sleep a healthy 6-8 hours. Note that he will be able to cast magic, for example, but just one spell (first or second tier) before depleting his MP reserves; he would be unable to do the third tier of spells (like Aeroga, Firaga and Blizzaga).

As his (combat) abilities don't require MP usage as much as just having an ATB bar filled up, this will translate, too, into two aspects: how rested he is how long he's been fighting for. Just like with using materia, if he is too tired, he won't be able to perform his combat abilities as his 'ATB bar' will 'fill up' rather slowly. He will have to be fighting for a lot longer to get the bar to fill up. If he is, however, rested and has high energy levels, the 'ATB bar' will 'fill up' quicker, allowing him to make more use of his abilities.

I'm going to make Limit Breaks simple for myself and say that he won't be able to use them unless he has been fighting for a long time + has been taking a beating + has enough energy for it. The more dire the situation, the higher the tier (Cross-Slash is tier 1, Ascension is tier 2, and Finishing Touch is tier 3).

Application Questions

Who is the most important person in their life and why? What might be different if this person hadn't been around?

So many people have influenced Cloud one way or the other, in very deep and intrinsic ways, but the one person who holds their place as the most important one in his life is Sephiroth (unfortunately). It is Sephiroth who inspired a young Cloud to leave Nibelheim and enlist for Shinra to become a SOLDIER and a hero, just like his idol Sephiroth. It was this admiration which started his journey to become a SOLDIER, something he did not achieve and remained as a cadet. This admiration continued until the fated journey back to Nibelheim to check on the mako reactor there; it ended when Sephiroth lost his mind, burned his hometown to the ground and killed all those in it.

Cloud feels an amalgamation of negativity towards Sephiroth (anger, even fear). This assortment culminates into one specific emotion: hatred. Hallucinations of the supposed-dead Sephiroth plague his mind, tormenting Cloud into reliving his past and thus facing his failings in stopping the SOLDIER from destroying his home. This hatred that he feels is a driving force in many of Cloud’s brash actions, wherein he acts impulsively instead of thinking things through when facing the man—which might as well be a reflection of his own guilt; a reflection of shame over how much he admired this man to the point Cloud’s life goal was set due to this, only to live the nightmare version of the phrase 'never meet your heroes'.

Even now that he finds himself resolute and certain of his intentions (stopping Sephiroth from summoning Meteor), the real driving force behind him is this hatred for Sephiroth, who has taken everything from him, all without knowing that he is being manipulated like a puppet.

read: this is hella unhealthy

Is there an event in your character's life that they'd do differently? How so and why?

If Cloud remembered the last five years as they actually were, perhaps he would choose never to leave his hometown to become SOLDIER as what he would do differently (given that he never made it anyway). Because of his unreliable memories, he would instead wish that he had been able to have figured out earlier that something was going on with Sephiroth in the Shinra Manor's basement, and in that way to stop him from going on his killing spree in Nibelheim. This, of course, is what Zack experienced, but Cloud laments that he didn't figure it out. If 'he' had been able to clock that something was up with Sephiroth sooner, he would have stopped him from delving further into what Jenova is and Sephiroth's connection to her, and likely stopped his hometown from being burnt to the ground and its inhabitants killed.

It is clear that his biggest regret during this time (regardless of whether he remembers correctly or remembers through Zack's retelling of events) was that he couldn't save his mom, and that he couldn't protect Tifa (believing her to have been killed at the time).

Sephiroth had been someone he admired and looked up to, so getting the war hero to stop from going on this rampage would have been best case scenario. Otherwise, ideally, Cloud wishes he could have saved his loved ones, even if it meant losing his town to the fires that burnt. Regardless, Cloud feels that he should have been stronger to achieve any of these scenarios—in the real world, had he been strong enough to not just be a cadet, he could have been a strong enough SOLDIER to face Sephiroth; in his delusions, he should have pulled Sephiroth away from the Shinra Manor sooner.

What's the greatest challenge you foresee your character facing in the setting? How might this impact their ability to adapt and in what ways will they confront this challenge?

Cloud will be dropped into Diadem as he is underway to find Sephiroth and fight him along with the rest of the party, thus fulfilling his promise to Aerith to do his part in stopping him. Getting to be here instead of on the Tiny Bronco will be frustrating, somewhat worrisome, and he'll wonder where the rest of his crew is. He will even consider this part of Sephiroth's plan to stop him, and because of that specifically, he will force himself to adapt and find a way 'through'. This will likely take shape in him taking up odd jobs like he did back in the slums and throughout the different regions he's been to, perhaps even build himself a little reputation as a mercenary for hire. His logic will be that if there is a way to get here, there is a way to leave, too.

Additionally, something of note is that though Cloud is in tip-top shape, he is, however, mentally ill. This is due to trauma he lived through, and this usually presents itself through short and sharp headaches that leave him immobile and pretty vulnerable for however long it lasts, though it has been shown to make him pass out unconscious depending on the severity of it. This happens when he is somehow reliving some past memory or exposed to something adjacent to the truth which contests against his own understanding of reality. This may hamper him now and then, as there is no treatment to it (he is convinced it's his cells degrading), but as long as he isn't exposed to vestiges of his past, he should be able to cope.

What's the easiest thing you foresee your character adapting to in the setting?

Existing despite his delusions, his hyper fixation with Sephiroth ('reunion'), and his fragile mind, Cloud will quickly conclude that this place is not all too different from Midgar and its surrounding towns and cities. Because of this, Cloud will find himself motivated to take a similar course of action as when he first linked up with Avalanche and got to become familiar with the slums: to put his skills to work. As a self-titled mercenary for hire, he would be willing to do just about anything, and this will be an easy enough way for him to build new relationships and interact with this new world at large.

Although he comes off as a cold and aloof individual, Cloud is also heavily aware that things need to be done for survival. As he gains a reputation for himself, Cloud will warm up to individuals he would run into or do jobs for, specially for those he could call 'friends' or comrades of sorts. He's resolute about the "persona" he puts out for the world to see—of this really cool dude that is unbothered by everything—that he will just trudge through it with the supposed military training he has allegedly been through. He will be quick to make connections, make a name for himself as a mercenary for hire (he'll do most anything, truly), familiarize himself with the city and be open for some adventuring beyond its borders.

Samples

Sample:

( 1 ) LINK
( 2 ) LINK