Cid Highwind

"Cid is a tough talking, warm-hearted old pilot who hasn't forgotten his dreams..."

Cid Highwind is a playable character in Final Fantasy VII. He is part of a long tradition of Final Fantasy characters named Cid. He is the most uncouth of the protagonists; he constantly swears and loses his temper, and chain-smokes cigarettes. Despite this, he has a good heart, and is even voted temporary leader of the party at one point. He fits into the archetype of an Oyaji.

Final Fantasy VII
Since childhood, Cid dreamed of becoming the first human in space. He almost achieved this goal through the Shin-Ra Space Program sometime prior to the start of the game. However, just as the rocket Shin-Ra No. 26 was about to launch, Cid realized that an engineer named Shera had defied orders and ran a last-minute recheck of the oxygen tanks. Continuing the launch on schedule would have killed her. Cid scrapped the launch in order to save Shera's life. In the wake of this disaster, Shin-Ra concluded that space exploration was not financially viable, and withdrew funding from the project altogether.



The hot-tempered Cid blamed Shera for destroying his dream, and Shera, being an extremely insecure person, accepted the blame completely. After the incident Shera devoted herself to doing whatever she could to atone for her mistake, although Cid continued to treat her abominably. However, her concern over the oxygen tanks is eventually proven to have merit when an explosion temporarily traps Cid in orbit during a later successful attempt to go into space. After this, Cid finally forgives Shera.

Aside from his ambitions as an astronaut, Cid designed a number of aircrafts and was also a great pilot. Among his designs were the propeller plane Tiny Bronco, the airship Highwind, and the airship Shera, the successor to the Highwind named in honor of the woman, seen in Advent Children).

Limit Breaks

 * See videos of the various Limit Breaks here

Level 1
Boost Jump - Cid leaps up and does a diving attack on one enemy.

Dynamite - Cid lights a stick of dynamite and tosses it at his enemies, damaging all of them when the dynamite explodes.

Level 2
Hyper Jump - Cid does a leaping attack with his weapon, which gets stuck in the ground. Pulling it out creates a wave of blue light that damages all enemies. May cause instant death.

Dragon - Cid summons a serpent-like dragon that flies over the head of one enemy. It causes damage, and a small amount of drained HP and MP are given back to Cid.

Level 3
Dragon Dive - Cid does multiple diving attacks, causing a column of blue and purple energy to burst forth each time he strikes. Can hit multiple opponents. May cause instant death.

Big Brawl - Dust rises around Cid as he attacks multiple opponents with his weapon.

Level 4
Highwind - Cid gestures and a barrage of missiles fly down from overhead to strike all enemies.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
In Advent Children, Cid makes a minor appearance. He pilots his new airship Shera, and helps out Cloud in the battle against Bahamut SHIN.

By the time of Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, one year after the events of Advent Children, he is a legendary airship pilot, and one of the allies who Vincent worked with 3 years ago. He now pilots the Shera airship, and works as the leader of an airship division with support from the World Regenesis Organization.

Cid named the ship Sherra after his wife in Dirge of Cerberus. Now with the WRO, he works as a pilot for the WRO.

Trivia

 * In terms of traditional character classes, Cid is a dragoon. Dragoons use spears and lances as their weapons, have special abilities that involve jumping into the air and coming down on an enemy, and are often associated with dragons. Cid wields spears and lances, and some of his Limit Breaks are Boost Jump, Dragon and Dragon Dive.  Cid's surname also seems to be a reference to the characters Ricard Highwind from Final Fantasy II and Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV, who were both dragoons as well.
 * Cid also appears in Kingdom Hearts as a store attendant and, true to his profession, a Gummi ship expert. He also reappears in the game's direct sequel, Kingdom Hearts II.
 * His surname "Highwind" is used in Kingdom Hearts, as Riku's suggestion for the name of the raft he built along with Sora and Kairi.