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Lots of reasons, really, but probably not the same ones as other people might have. He's not the usual hottie, or the usual hero, or even the usual tragic hero. (And please, let's just forget for a moment the occasionally ridiculous translations ["that man are sick!"] and the occasionally awful dialogue in the game. ["I'll never fogrive...Sephiroth..."]) I always see loads of people complaining about the hero in fiction being too perfect; too flawless; too selfless; too infallible.
Cloud is none of those things. He's marvelously flawed. He's a young kid; arrogant, careless, and selfish. When you first meet him in the game, your first reaction is "what a jerk!" until you find out his backstory. Of course, not only is Cloud so insecure that he feels he has to act sure of himself, but he also knows that showing weakness is a sure way of getting your ass kicked. Cloud's definition of "getting your ass kicked" has less to do with taking a few punches than it does with having genetic experiments run on you and then getting left for dead in a ditch with your murdered friend. Cloud's been to that place and he bounces back from it as much as he can. That's saying something.
But Cloud's flaws are a lot deeper and more interesting than the whole weakness issue. He is full-on psychotic. This is a hero who has seizures during key moments in the plot. Once even in a whorehouse, in a very, err, original scene. (The rest of the characters have a hard time trusting him because of this. TraumaWhore, however, just loves him. ^_~ )
If he's standoffish or even cruel to his childhood best friend and the new cute girl who has a crush on him, it's likely because he can't fully remember his childhood best friend and isn't certain what to make of the cute new girl. (And let's be totally honest about Tifa, too; she wasn't entirely nice to Cloud when they were kids together.) Cloud sometimes doesn't even remember his own name; his mind and memory have been so effed with by ShinRa that, by halfway through the game, he doesn't even know if the life that he remembers ever existed. But he is totally hung up on the people who messed him up remembering his name. It's one of the biggest issues he has with Hojo. (Hojo: "Oh... the failure." Cloud: "At least remember my name! It's Cloud!")
And even with all of that going on, he still manages to function most of the time.
That's totally not to say that he shouldn't be held accountable for his weakness. Tseng beat the hell out of Aerith in the helicopter, but Cloud beat the hell out of her, too. Cloud walked upside down in a tree and handed the Black materia right over to Sephiroth. In one of the most intense scenes in the game (for me,) Cloud turned his back on his allies and begged Hojo for a project number. Cloud is seriously damaged. But as seriously damaged as he is, he still manages to figure everything out in time to make the most powerful person on the Planet his bitch.
I'm aware that Sephiroth kicks nine kinds of ass in a five ass town, (duh, look who you're talking to here!) but let's look at it this way: Cloud and Sephiroth were equally frigged up in the head. They both had Jenova cells. They both had been human experiments and they both had been showered with Mako. Each of them were told, and consequently believed, that they had been pieced together in a lab. (Neither of them had; they'd each had a mother and father.) And yet, Sephiroth is the one who finally can't handle any of it, who finally has a total mental breakdown, who doesn't return from it, and who finally dies. Sephiroth was ShinRa's biggest victim and Jenova's puppet. Cloud is the one who is strong enough to piece his life together and, not only survive, but save the Planet. Even Cloud realizes it, and towards the end, he has the perspective (and the compassion) to acknowledge this. Right before the final battle with Hojo, Cloud blames the scientist for "the illusionary crime against Sephiroth." I think he's the only one in the game who says anything like this.
This doesn't stop him from "settling up with Sephiroth" as he calls it, (true to his word, he never does forgive Sephiroth for kebobbing Aerith and trying to destroy the Planet,) but he does, at least, understand that ShinRa and Jenova are the real villains.
Well, all of that aside...Cloud also had really stupid hair, and that takes guts. He went in drag to save his friend. The sword he carries is easily the width of his waist. He had a few cute, humorous lines. ("Crispy critters!") And, I said that he wasn't the usual video game hottie. I didn't say that he wasn't one at all, especially in a certain artist's hands. And then, recently? Mmmmm. ^_____^
Cloud is none of those things. He's marvelously flawed. He's a young kid; arrogant, careless, and selfish. When you first meet him in the game, your first reaction is "what a jerk!" until you find out his backstory. Of course, not only is Cloud so insecure that he feels he has to act sure of himself, but he also knows that showing weakness is a sure way of getting your ass kicked. Cloud's definition of "getting your ass kicked" has less to do with taking a few punches than it does with having genetic experiments run on you and then getting left for dead in a ditch with your murdered friend. Cloud's been to that place and he bounces back from it as much as he can. That's saying something.
But Cloud's flaws are a lot deeper and more interesting than the whole weakness issue. He is full-on psychotic. This is a hero who has seizures during key moments in the plot. Once even in a whorehouse, in a very, err, original scene. (The rest of the characters have a hard time trusting him because of this. TraumaWhore, however, just loves him. ^_~ )
If he's standoffish or even cruel to his childhood best friend and the new cute girl who has a crush on him, it's likely because he can't fully remember his childhood best friend and isn't certain what to make of the cute new girl. (And let's be totally honest about Tifa, too; she wasn't entirely nice to Cloud when they were kids together.) Cloud sometimes doesn't even remember his own name; his mind and memory have been so effed with by ShinRa that, by halfway through the game, he doesn't even know if the life that he remembers ever existed. But he is totally hung up on the people who messed him up remembering his name. It's one of the biggest issues he has with Hojo. (Hojo: "Oh... the failure." Cloud: "At least remember my name! It's Cloud!")
And even with all of that going on, he still manages to function most of the time.
That's totally not to say that he shouldn't be held accountable for his weakness. Tseng beat the hell out of Aerith in the helicopter, but Cloud beat the hell out of her, too. Cloud walked upside down in a tree and handed the Black materia right over to Sephiroth. In one of the most intense scenes in the game (for me,) Cloud turned his back on his allies and begged Hojo for a project number. Cloud is seriously damaged. But as seriously damaged as he is, he still manages to figure everything out in time to make the most powerful person on the Planet his bitch.
I'm aware that Sephiroth kicks nine kinds of ass in a five ass town, (duh, look who you're talking to here!) but let's look at it this way: Cloud and Sephiroth were equally frigged up in the head. They both had Jenova cells. They both had been human experiments and they both had been showered with Mako. Each of them were told, and consequently believed, that they had been pieced together in a lab. (Neither of them had; they'd each had a mother and father.) And yet, Sephiroth is the one who finally can't handle any of it, who finally has a total mental breakdown, who doesn't return from it, and who finally dies. Sephiroth was ShinRa's biggest victim and Jenova's puppet. Cloud is the one who is strong enough to piece his life together and, not only survive, but save the Planet. Even Cloud realizes it, and towards the end, he has the perspective (and the compassion) to acknowledge this. Right before the final battle with Hojo, Cloud blames the scientist for "the illusionary crime against Sephiroth." I think he's the only one in the game who says anything like this.
This doesn't stop him from "settling up with Sephiroth" as he calls it, (true to his word, he never does forgive Sephiroth for kebobbing Aerith and trying to destroy the Planet,) but he does, at least, understand that ShinRa and Jenova are the real villains.
Well, all of that aside...Cloud also had really stupid hair, and that takes guts. He went in drag to save his friend. The sword he carries is easily the width of his waist. He had a few cute, humorous lines. ("Crispy critters!") And, I said that he wasn't the usual video game hottie. I didn't say that he wasn't one at all, especially in a certain artist's hands. And then, recently? Mmmmm. ^_____^
