Cloud's History
Cloud was born in the mountain village of Nibelheim and was a neighbor of a girl a year younger than him, Tifa Lockhart. His father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother. Cloud had no close friends, and perhaps as a coping mechanism, convinced himself he was superior to the other village children and so didn't care for their company. He had a crush on Tifa, but hated her friends, calling them immature. Although the two consider each other (and are considered by others) to be childhood friends, by Tifa's own account they were not close growing up, despite him having been her neighbor.
When Cloud was nine, Tifa's mother died, and Tifa insisted she could meet her by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed her and when she took a misstep, he tried to catch her but they both fell. He escaped unharmed but Tifa's life was in grave danger. The townsfolk believed the expedition up the mountain to have been Cloud's idea, and Tifa's father forbade Cloud from approaching her. Cloud blamed himself for failing to save her and developed an anger problem, getting into fights for little to no reason.
At the age of fourteen Cloud learned of Sephiroth and his exploits. Resolving to become a hero like him, Cloud decided to set out and join SOLDIER. He called Tifa out to the water tower to tell her about his departure, hoping to impress her, and upon her request promised to save her if she ever found herself in trouble. The following spring, he left for Midgar, the metropolis that is Shinra's seat of power.
Shinra militant
If only I were a SOLDIER...
Cloud's dreams are cut short as, despite his bravado, he never makes it into SOLDIER and instead becomes a mere Shinra infantryman. Ashamed of his failure, he doesn't keep in contact with the people from his hometown. On June 28th, 0001, Cloud is among those ordered to protect Professor Rayleigh in Midgar from the insurgency organization Avalanche, as depicted in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. Though he is unsuccessful, their lives are saved by the Player Turk. During the incident, Cloud displays impressive sword skills for a regular infantryman.
In autumn, while working for Shinra during Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, at the age of fifteen, he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair on their way to Modeoheim and the two befriend after learning they are both "backwater experts". When he and Zack infiltrate a Mako Excavation Facility, they encounter Genesis Rhapsodos and Dr. Hollander, former Shinra employees who have turned against the company. When Hollander attempts to escape, Cloud briefly captures him. Hollander breaks free and Cloud gives pursuit, but both he and Tseng�??the leader of the Turks, Shinra's intelligence agency�??are taken down by the rogue SOLDIER 1st Class Angeal Hewley.
At the age of sixteen, Zack and Cloud meet again on September 0002 while protecting the city of Junon from Genesis's attack. On September 22nd, 0002, Cloud returns to Nibelheim along with Zack and Sephiroth to investigate a damaged mako reactor on Mt. Nibel, and Tifa is to act as their guide. Cloud did not expect to return to Nibelheim so soon and feeling embarrassed of his failure to join SOLDIER, he hides his identity from the townspeople, and especially Tifa, by wearing his helmet prominently, although he does visit his mother who asks about his new life with Shinra.
When the expedition reaches the reactor Sephiroth discovers Professor Hojo's experiments with humans mutated into monsters dubbed makonoids and Jenova, whom Sephiroth mistakenly believes to be his mother. Cloud is knocked out by Genesis and is helped back into town by Tifa. When Cloud regains consciousness, he is depressed over his lack of strength. Sephiroth locks himself in the Shinra Manor's basement for several sleepless days, immersing in Professor Gast Faremis's writings, and discovers his dark past, as well the secrets regarding the Cetra and the promised land. On October 1st Sephiroth destroys the village on a rampage, fueled by his newfound hate for the "traitors" of the Ancients: the humans.
Cloud witnesses his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushes to the reactor to confront Sephiroth where he finds both a gravely wounded Tifa and a barely conscious Zack. Cloud picks up Zack's Buster Sword, catches Sephiroth off guard in the reactor core, and impales him before attending to Tifa. When a wounded Sephiroth emerges from the reactor core, Cloud attacks him intent on avenging the deaths of his mother and all the townspeople Sephiroth had killed. Though impaled on Sephiroth's Masamune, Cloud summons the strength to overpower him with sheer willpower. Using the katana as a lever, Cloud lifts Sephiroth and hurls him into the mako pit below before collapsing.
Cloud and Zack, as well as other survivors in the town (except for Tifa who was rescued by Zangan before Shinra arrived), become Professor Hojo's test subjects. Injecting them with Jenova's cells and exposing them to mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turns them into Sephiroth Clones, people whose wills can be over-ridden by Sephiroth's. Since Zack had gone through a similar process in SOLDIER, his body resists the experiments. Cloud succumbs and develops a severe case of mako poisoning. Hojo labels the two failures places them in a cryogenic sleeping state and leaves them in their pods in the Shinra Manor basement.
Four years later (December 19th, 0006) Zack breaks out of his confinement and helps a vegetative Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform to wear as his old clothes are soaked with mako. Due to the experiments, Cloud is weak and delirious, but during their journey, Zack tells the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans for both of them to become mercenaries in Midgar. Though Cloud is unable to participate in the events, he is present when Zack defeats Genesis.
After almost a year of running, the pair arrives outside Midgar in September 0007. The Shinra forces catch up and Zack fights to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. Zack is gunned down, but the soldiers ignore the catatonic Cloud. He regains some awareness and crawls over to Zack who entrusts the Buster Sword to him, telling him his legacy will live on inside Cloud, before dying. Buster Sword in hand, Cloud trudges off towards Midgar.
Cloud transforms due to the combined trauma caused by the Nibelheim incident, his mako poisoning, and witnessing Zack's death. He impresses Zack's memories and fighting abilities into his own, along with Tifa's memories of him and his own ideal image of himself as a SOLDIER, creating a new set of memories with an accompanying persona. What emerges in Cloud's mind is a reality in which he joined SOLDIER and was Sephiroth's partner�??Zack did not exist�??and in most of Cloud's twisted memories he takes Zack's place. Cloud presents himself in Midgar as a former 1st Class SOLDIER, now a mercenary for hire.
It's not my problem. The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come.
Tifa ran into Cloud at the Sector 7 slums train station, finding him mumbling deliriously and being attended by a confused station worker. Though he became lucid upon recognizing her, his inconsistent memories, bouts of blackouts, and head pains concern her, especially since once he recovers from these bouts he has no idea they'd happened. Now a member of the anti-Shinra terrorist group Avalanche, Tifa requested Cloud join the cell she belongs to so she can secretly keep an eye on his condition.
