Back كلاود سترايف Arabic Cloud Strife Spanish کلاود استرایف Persian Cloud Strife French Cloud Strife ID Cloud Strife Italian クラウド・ストライフ Japanese Cloud Strife Dutch Cloud Strife NB Cloud Strife Polish
| Cloud Strife | |
|---|---|
| Final Fantasy character | |
 Cloud Strife artwork by Tetsuya Nomura for Final Fantasy VII. | |
| First game | Final Fantasy VII (1997) |
| Created by | Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima, Tetsuya Nomura, Hironobu Sakaguchi |
| Designed by | Tetsuya Nomura |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Weapon | Buster Sword |
| Family | Mother - Claudia (Deceased) Father - Unknown |
| Home | Nibelheim |
Cloud Strife (Japanese: クラウド・ストライフ, Hepburn: Kuraudo Sutoraifu) is the protagonist of Square Enix's (previously Square's) role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII (1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024) & the animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005). He acts in a supporting role in other Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles, and is featured in several other games in the wider Final Fantasy series. He has also made guest appearances in various titles outside the franchise, such as the Kingdom Hearts series by Square Enix and Disney and the Super Smash Bros. series by Nintendo.
Cloud was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, a character artist for the Final Fantasy series, whose role expanded during the title's development to include supervision over Cloud's personality. Yoshinori Kitase, director of VII, and Kazushige Nojima, one of the game's events planners, developed the story and wanted to create a mysterious character who acted atypically for a hero. After VII, Nomura redesigned Cloud for Advent Children, giving him a more realistic appearance alongside new weaponry and a new outfit. For Remake, the team aimed to adapt his classic design for a more realistic artstyle.
Cloud has garnered primarily positive reception from critics, and has been described as one of the most iconic video game protagonists. He has also been cited favorably as an example of complex character writing in video games, as one of its first unreliable narrators and for the game's depiction of his mental disorder. Additionally, he is seen as a messiah figure in both the game and film for opposing Sephiroth's schemes and supported by his allies.