Cloud Strife/Dissidia (PSP)

Cloud Strife is one of the heroes fighting for the side of Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy. An acerbic young swordsman with glowing eyes. Wielding a blade as large as he is, he deals terribly powerful attacks that send foes flying. Though considered composed in the eyes of his comrades, Cloud often questions the reasons for fighting and the purpose it would serve, and struggles to understand them. During the war, he is also forced to fight his archenemy, Sephiroth, who appears to manipulate him into fighting.

Crystal &amp; Attire
Cloud wears a dark purple uniform, a metal pauldron from which bolts stick out, a brown belt with a SOLDIER symbol on it, and black boots. His hair is spiky blonde and his eyes are bright blue, the sign of a Mako-infused SOLDIER. He carries the Buster Sword with him throughout the game, and considers the weapon to be important, an opinion inherited from his best friend and mentor Zack Fair, who possessed the sword before passing it on to Cloud. It transforms into the Ultima Weapon when he enters EX Mode. Cloud's alternate costume is his outfit from Advent Children, along with the main blade of the Fusion Swords (also known as the First Tsurugi) as his weapon, and the completed assembly (six swords interlocked together) for his EX Mode. He now wears a front zip turtleneck sweater vest, compilation hairstyle, a black half-skirt protecting his left leg, different black boots, new pauldron with a Fenrir motif in front, and a single sleeve covering his left arm, originally worn to hide his Geostigma infection. His crystallized version, Imaginary Soldier, is of a blueish hue.

Cloud's Crystal resembles a Materia from Final Fantasy VII, and may be a homage to White Materia, though it is a deeper shade of green.

Destiny Odyssey VII
After a battle through Chaos' forces, Cloud finds himself with Firion, Cecil, and Tidus, who view him as a calm and collected figure. However, Cloud secretly questions his reasons for fighting and admits he feels anxious. Cloud later asks his allies why they fight, and Tidus says he fights to settle things with Jecht, while Firion takes time to think his answer over so he can explain it to Cloud properly. Sometime after, Cloud finds Firion alone and Firion produces a wild rose, and tells Cloud he dreams of a world where they can bloom freely. Cloud challenges him to a sparring match to see how strong that dream is, and though he prevails Firion still has the will to fight him further. Cloud grows increasingly worried that he may not have a dream at all and confides in Cecil for answers. The group encourage Cloud to go find his own reason for fighting, and he promises to return to tell them when he finds it. Continuing alone, he encounters Sephiroth, who prepares to duel him. When Cloud refuses to fight him, Sephiroth reveals to Cloud that he holds Firion's rose, indicating that he has attacked Cloud's comrades, and invites Cloud to chase after him.

Cloud tracks Sephiroth to the Planet's Core, where Sephiroth calls him a puppet who has no motivations of his own, which is why he readily accepts the influence of others on his decisions. Though Cloud insists he tracked Sephiroth of his own will, Sephiroth says that Cloud followed him because Sephiroth gave him a reason and told him to, evidence Cloud is easily manipulated. The two battle, and Cloud emerges victorious, claiming Firion's rose and revealing his Crystal. Sephiroth warns Cloud that the Crystal will lead him into more battles he can't understand, a fate Cloud accepts before taking the Crystal. Sephiroth accepts Cloud's decision, but declares he will continue to manipulate Cloud, and it was only through his guidance that Cloud was able to come as far as he has.

Destiny Odyssey VI
After his fight with Sephiroth, Terra arrives at the Planet's Core and begins to lose control of her Esper powers. Cloud watches, and even though she warns him to stay away, Cloud decides to step in and "battle" her without a word of explanation, forcing Terra to fight. Though Cloud is overcome, after the battle Terra realizes that his intent was to provide her an "outlet" to vent some of her power, allowing her to regain control, and he battled her because he didn't want to see her suffer and wasn't sure what else to do. Terra then explains how she and the Onion Knight were separated after being ambushed by Kefka, and Cloud joins her to look for their ally, realizing that he can still help even in his indecisiveness, and thanks her for helping him realize that.

During the search, Cloud reveals that he also has hesitations about fighting, and shows Terra with Firion's rose, explaining Firion's dream for peace. Though neither warrior can figure out their own reason for fighting, Terra says they should both resolve to fight their hardest to protect everything they care about, and thus both realize their own dreams. The pair continues to Kefka's Tower and confront Kefka, who tries to get Terra to give in to her Esper powers and cause senseless destruction, but she refuses. Kefka then summons the Cloud of Darkness to attack them, at which point the Onion Knight returns, and he and Cloud together fight the Cloud of Darkness while Terra has her final showdown with Kefka. After Terra obtains her Crystal, the three go on to rejoin the other warriors.

Destiny Odyssey II
Much to Firion's surprise, Cloud, who arrived after helping Terra, and Tidus, who had just defeated his father, join him at the last minute when he is attacked by the Emperor, declaring that they could not leave him alone for too long and that they all share a dream. The Emperor attempts to attack Firion again, but Cloud and Tidus deflect his blows, and the Emperor then flees and invites Firion to his stronghold for a final battle. Firion decides to go face the Emperor alone in order to end this, and Cloud gives back the Wild Rose, expressing his desire to see Firion's dream continue.

Shade Impulse
With the crystals in their position, the Warriors of Cosmos return to Cosmos' Throne in an effort to restore the goddess's strength only to have Chaos incinerate her before their very eyes. But, with the last of her strength, Cosmos prevents the heroes from fading back to their worlds, giving them one final chance to strike back at Chaos and end the war for good.

With Cosmos' strength dwindling, Cloud faces his nemesis Sephiroth once again. Though his enemy was strong, Cloud perseveres and emerges victorious. After the battle, Sephiroth asks Cloud what drives him to do battle, Cloud simply answers that he drove himself to fight, and that he had no further ties with his enemy, but Sephiroth counters Cloud's words, stating that his shadow will be forever in his heart, and that he will always be in control of him, no matter what he may think. Cloud tells him to leave him alone after he disappears and said he never wants to see him again. Shortly after that, he and the other nine heroes band together to defeat Chaos. At that battle's end, Cloud finds himself on an open field near Cornelia Castle, along with the other nine warriors, where they find each other parting ways to their respective worlds, with Cloud returning to The Planet with Crystal in hand.

Battle
Cloud is described as a Buster Basher, and specializes in knocking away opponents with strong melee attacks. However, his ranged capabilities are highly limited. He also uses his Limit Breaks from Final Fantasy VII as HP attacks, with the exception of Blade Beam and Climhazzard, which are Brave attacks. Unfortunately, his ground speed leaves a lot to be desired, together with his friends, Cecil and Terra.

Boss
Cloud is fought in Destiny Odyssey VI, Distant Glory: Heroes, and Inward Chaos, and can also be fought as a randomly-selected opponent in Arcade Mode (Western releases only).

EX Mode
Cloud's EX Mode, Equipped Ultima Weapon, transforms the Buster Sword into the Ultima Weapon (in his alternate costume, his EX Mode is called The power of mako and he gains the fully assembled Fusion Swords/First Tsurugi), and grants the Regen status, as well as the Guard Break ability, which prevents his attacks from being blocked (although there is an exception; Exdeath's All Guard blocks this ability). Also, during EX Mode, Cloud's damage output depends on the amount of current HP he has in relation to his maximum HP; the more HP Cloud has, the more damage he will do. This is the exact same way that Cloud's Ultima Weapon functioned in Final Fantasy VII.

Cloud's EX Burst is Omnislash, his strongest Limit Break in Final Fantasy VII, where the player rapidly taps to completely fill up a Limit Break bar, allowing Cloud to bombard opponents with fourteen sword slashes leading up to a stronger fifteenth slash. Failing to follow the requirements will have Cloud doing fewer hits.

Equipment
Cloud can use mostly light equipment as well as swords and giant swords.

Allusions

 * Several references are made to Zack Fair throughout the game, both in reference to the Buster Sword he received from Zack, and to the optimistic and purpose driven Firion, who Cloud states reminds him of "a friend". Additionally, his battle quote "If I win, are my sins forgiven?", said when facing himself, is a reference to the regret that he is plagued with throughout Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Another reference is in Destiny Odyssey VII-3, where Tidus calls the Buster Sword heavy (referring to its large size), to which Cloud replies “It’s not heavy. It’s... a memento.”. Lastly, Cloud casts his Fire spells and runs reminiscent to how Zack would in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.
 * Before returning to his world, Cloud stands in a field of flowers of the same colors that the ones Aerith used to grow.
 * In the cutscene of Cloud's battle with Sephiroth in Destiny Odyssey VII, several scenes allude to other titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The scene where Cloud crosses the Buster Sword over the Masamune is identical to part of Sephiroth's battle with Zack in Crisis Core. After being knocked back, Sephiroth rights himself and knocks Cloud through the air, a reference to their battle in Advent Children. Finally, as the two face off at the end of the scene, the camera angles and poses are identical to their scripted battle at the end of Final Fantasy VII.
 * Cloud's strongest weapon, Fenrir, is named after his motorcycle and the symbol on his pauldron. His other exclusive weapons, the Force Eater (also known as Force Stealer) and the Butterfly Edge, are weapons he uses in Final Fantasy VII. Though at first their inclusion may seem random, if one examines the other weapons Cloud uses in the game, the Force Stealer and Butterfly Edge are among the few weapons Cloud uses that don't appear in any other games in the series.
 * If the player completes chapter four of Shade Impulse with Cloud they will unlock a set of female-only equipment in which Cloud, as well as Kefka, can equip. This is a reference to Cloud's infamous cross-dressing scene in Final Fantasy VII. The equipment set includes the best items in the sidequest, which results in Don Corneo picking Cloud over Tifa and Aerith, namely Sexy Cologne (weapon), Member's Card (glove), Blonde Wig (helmet) and Silk Dress (armor). The Combination Ability that results in equipping all four items, the Honey's Charm, a reference to the Honeybee Inn.
 * After defeating Sephiroth in Destiny Odyssey VII-5, or when he wins a battle, Cloud states “My reality is mine alone”, reminiscent of dialogue he says after regaining his true memories.
 * Cloud's reply to Squall's line in the ending before disappearing is his usual "Not interested" line, commonly said during the earlier stages of the game while he was still in his cold mercenary persona, and also said towards Rufus Shinra in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. During a scene in Destiny Odyssey V, Sephiroth also uses this line.
 * One of Cloud's Brave Attacks, namely Aerial Fang, slightly resembles a move he performed in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete when he sliced Loz's bike in half.
 * One of Cloud's victory quotes, "I will live your life for you.", is a reference about Cloud being Zack's living legacy, as seen at the end of Crisis Core.
 * One of Cloud's opening quotes, "Do I feel sorry for you.", is from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children when he says the quote toward Rude about still working with Rufus Shinra.
 * Cloud's dream to fill the world with flowers is a reference to Aerith's dream to fill Midgar with flowers.

Trivia

 * Cloud is the only character that has a different EX Mode for his two outfits: for his normal EX Mode, "Equipped Ultima Weapon", he transforms the Buster Sword into the Ultima Weapon. While in his Advent Children outfit, his EX Mode is called "The power of mako", and turns the main blade of his Fusion Swords into the completed assembly.
 * As in the original Final Fantasy VII, there are some inconsistencies with his SOLDIER uniform. In Destiny Odyssey 1, during the large scale battle, and in his artwork, his uniform is black. However, during the game, it is purple.
 * Cloud, at twenty-one years of age, is presumably the oldest current Warrior of Cosmos, though the Warrior of Light - who has no explicit age - may be older than he is, and previous warriors Jecht and Shantotto were older when they aided Cosmos.
 * Cloud is storyline wise the second character to gain his crystal according to Destiny Odyssey 38.
 * Cloud, Terra, Squall, and the Onion Knight are the only ones who fight an ally as a midboss. Cloud's midboss fight is against Firion, and Cloud himself is Terra's midboss fight in her story arc, marking his first unofficial "loss," fighting Terra only to take the brunt of her strength while defending himself to prevent taking too much damage from her.
 * Cloud is the only character to learn all three levels of a spell - in this case, Fire, Fira, and Firaga. However, in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud debuted without the Fire Materia; he instead began with the Thunder and Ice Materia.
 * Cloud is the only character who is allied with two groups of heroes; he is first allied with Firion, Cecil, and Tidus, then goes on his own to defeat Sephiroth, then later joins up with Terra and the Onion Knight, and then goes back to his original group.
 * Excluding Shantotto and Gabranth, Cloud and Terra were the last two characters confirmed for the main roster of characters; Sephiroth was confirmed before Cloud.
 * According to the game developers, Cloud's storyline is the easiest to play as, and the character's abilities are the most suitable for "pick-up-and-play" game players.
 * If you look closely at Cloud's Buster Sword, you can clearly see that it has no lines or indentations running across the blade as it was seen in Crisis Core and Advent Children, instead looking closest to the original Final Fantasy VII design, even though Crisis Core took place before Final Fantasy VII in its associated Compilation.
 * Cloud and Squall are the only two heroes to openly challenge another hero in their story, for a good reason. Cloud fights to see the strength of Firion's dream.
 * While performing his EX Burst, Cloud declares he's "breaking [his] limits," a clear reference to the use of his Limit Break.
 * Although allied with Cecil, Tidus, and Firion, Cloud seems to be closer to Terra than to any character in the game, because he seems to be more willing to share his thoughts with her than with his three friends.