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[backwatertrooper]

[OOC]

Your Name: Chibi
Contact: litenviol @ plurk, Princess of Yuri @ AIM, or PM
Are you at least 16 years of age or older?: Yes
Current Characters(s): N/A
Reserve Link: Please link us to your comment on the Reserves page.

[IC]

Is this a re-app?: No.
Character Name: Cloud Strife
Journal: backwatertrooper
Canon: Final Fantasy VII
Canon Point: The Nibelheim mission, the day before Sephiroth leaves the mansion to burn down Nibelheim.
Species: Human
Age: 16

History: Link to Cloud's story on the Final Fantasy wiki (of course only part of it is relevant), and another for Crisis Core, and Cloud's episode in Before Crisis.

Personality: Cloud's a quiet boy, both in the sense that he doesn't talk a lot, and doesn't do it loudly; for all that he wants to be noticed and be strong, he doesn't really take up much space. He's shy in addition to being quiet (probably partly why he's quiet in the first place aside from that just being part of his personality), something which really didn't help him while growing up in Nibelheim. He was ignored (deliberately or unintentionally) by the other kids in favour of them gathering around each other and Tifa, and had he at least not been shy or not been as quiet, perhaps he would've had an easier time fitting in and making friends.

Said ignoring or not noticing, especially by Tifa (probably because she was the most popular in the small group of children in the village), left Cloud trying to cope with it by casting the other children as immature and childish compared to himself, no matter - or rather, particularly because - that he actually did want to play with them. He tried to be there for Tifa (even though she didn't notice him at all at the time), when the girl's mother died when Tifa was eight and he was nine. He knew what that felt like, after all, since his own father had died when he was younger.
Cloud's attitude didn't exactly get better after Tifa's mother died, as an incident that left Tifa in coma for several days but Cloud barely injured had Tifa's father accusing him of causing her injuries and forbidding him to come close to her. Cloud accused himself of the same, of not being strong enough, or quick enough, to help her, despite that it he was hardly responsible. His usual defensiveness developed into something of an anger problem, and he started getting into constant fights for a while after.

Even when Cloud stopped getting into fights sometime prior to leaving for Midgar, the anger from being blamed, not noticed and just wanting attention settling back into his more usual defensive sullenness, his self-esteem issues and how he viewed himself as not good enough, not strong enough, didn't get any better at all. All of that, plus wanting to be noticed and his discarded attitude of being better than the other kids in Nibelheim probably all contributed to Cloud latching onto SOLDIER and specifically Sephiroth when he found out about these and the SOLDIER's feats of strength and heroism. He started to think that if he could just be like Sephiroth, be a hero, he'd be able to help people (help Tifa) and be worthy of being noticed. At least, that's how Cloud thought of it, given his abysmal sense of self-worth and such thoughts probably didn't get any better when, upon telling Tifa he was leaving, she made him promise to be there should she ever need to be rescued.

Aside from Cloud's issues with his self-esteem and being blamed/blaming himself and thinking he's not strong enough, he's over all determined and works hard. He worked hard to try and get into SOLDIER, and when that didn't happen, works hard and takes his duties in the regular ShinRa army seriously in such a way that, even when faced with much stronger enemies during a mission escorting a ShinRa professor, doesn't give up or step aside, even when told to by the Turk agent there.
Cloud doesn't seem to have much of a temper or a short fuse, even with his anger issues and getting into fights when he was younger; pointing out failures merely makes him depressed. What rather seems to get Cloud angry is behaving as if lives aren't important (he is not impressed by the Turk's initial behaviour during his mission to escort the professor), for one thing. The fights were more probably a deliberate acting out rather than letting loose a temper in response to his treatment (real or imagined). Cloud simply cares about other people and keeping them safe (in the future extending this to the planet as a whole, when he gets his memories/personality back), and may minimise his own issues or injuries to not 'burden' others.

He also reacts quickly in combat situations, being able to shoot down a griffon that surprises Zack while they are on a mission to Modeoheim, showing that even without any sort of enhancements and with basic military training, Cloud can react to a tense situation and respond in a way that ensures other people's safety, something Cloud cares a lot about. His escort mission (during Before Crisis) was to escort and protect a ShinRa professor, but he does it in such a way that isn't quite reasonable for the situation or his own abilities or safety. He was also the only one of the kids who followed Tifa the whole way before she and then Cloud fell, having tried to help her when she misstep and fell.

And for all that Cloud's a shy, quiet boy with self-esteem issues, he's got a dry sense of humour (saying "maybe I'll come with you too" when Zack asked two other troopers if they thought Cloud would be up for food and they they took it as an invitation for them too and Zack turned it around into inviting them... if they would hang around Cloud later) and he can be drawn into smiling and being pretty relaxed. Especially if your name is Zack, because he manages to make Cloud relax from the start and laughing with him instead of feeling like he's being laughed at when they first meet during the mission to Modeoheim.

Cloud also happens to carry around a case of admiration for and hero worship of Sephiroth, but he's perfectly capable of keeping that locked down and on the down-low.

Powers & Abilities: Cloud learns quick and can pick up new skills without too much trouble (he can, apparently, already in his escort mission with the professor only a few months after joining ShinRa handle a sword well enough to fight with it). As a part of the ShinRa military forces, Cloud's proficient with firearms and knows how to use a sword, as well as the single tonfa that's strapped to his thigh while he's in uniform. ShinRa's army is pretty much your standard military institution, so marksmanship, hand-to-hand and close quarters combat, plus swordfighting, are all things he's learned. As he knows CPR (or at least rescue breathing), basic first aid is probably something he was taught in the military as well. Given he grew up in a mountain village, knowledgeable about cold weather survival and how to navigate such environments, at the least.
Hasn't yet, but will in the future, manifest use of Limit Breaks, which are special, magical attacks, drawn on in moments of need, though they need training to be accessed, even the first one. An individual can learn at least around eight different ones (in terms of gameplay, level one to four, with two in each level), and when Cloud is sixteen he hasn't yet learned how to access his first one yet, but it's certainly something he's capable of. Most of Cloud's Limits are special physical attacks with his weapon (swords), which deals far more damage than he'd normally be able to do (Braver and Cross-slash, both level one, and Climhazzard, level two), or adds an additional effect (Blade Beam, level two, hits one enemy and then hits any other opponents with shockwaves). They might also only use the weapon as a channeling point, like Meteorain (level three), which calls six meteors to fall and hit the opponents, or Finishing Touch (also level three), which creates a tornado and may even instantly kill any opponent). The level four Omnislash hits random enemies fifteen times for more damage, but also needs to be taught by a separate item in the game, not just learned through killing enemies or using earlier Limits.

Has at least theoretical knowledge of how to use materia (he has no problem using materia in FFVII, and gives the tutorial knowledge for how to use materia in that game, so presumably he'd have some knowledge by this point in his career) but hasn't, at this point in canon, been shown using any - none of the ShinRa Infantry enemies in Crisis Core uses any materia. Materia being the local form of magic, appearing as glowing rocks of various colours, attuned to different sort of magic (somehow); elemental magic like fire or ice, status boosting, protective like barriers, or even summoning beings that can be used to attack your opponents. They're solidified pieces of mako, which is formed from the planet's life energy (the Lifestream), created by the flow of life on the planet itself, as all life contain some bits of this energy and dissolve into it upon death. He can apparently also talk to chocobos, which are large birds used as mounts.
Aside from that he's a noodly teenager and not a SOLDIER, so his strength, healing, reflexes and endurance is nothing to write home about, even if he's certainly fit, what with having been in a military institution for the last year and a half. He also gets motion sickness.

Misc: If possible, I'd like any suit upgrades to go to learning some of the Limit Breaks Cloud has - with an exception for Omnislash since its learning mechanism is different - which is why I added them to the Powers and Abilities section even if Cloud technically doesn't know any of these yet.

Sample: Cloud was miserable. Completely, utterly, and irrevocably. Curled up in his seat, the helmet pressed against his forehead and the front of it digging into his knees, where he'd pulled those up towards him. He'd also closed his eyes, but the shadows behind his eyelids still pitched and rolled with the movement of the airship, and his stomach clenched.

He wouldn't throw up as that had been taken care of, but that was only a small part of his misery. Reluctantly, trying to think of anything to try and distract himself, Cloud remembered the last email he'd gotten from Zack.

Something about being bored, the sun being hot, and the sand being soft and grainy between his toes. Cloud wondered what Zack had to complain about, really. He was used to heat, wasn't he? And Cloud had never been to Costa del Sol, and definitely not on a vacation, even if he knew what sand felt like and he'd bathed in several mountain lakes while growing up that could be found around Nibelheim.

Turbulence made even the huge airship pitch, and Cloud swallowed a wave of nausea and pressed his forehead more firmly into the helmet to stave off the dizziness. It didn't really work. Taking anything - a necessary precaution to avoid throwing up - never helped as much as he hoped it would. He hoped they'd get to Junon soon, but also that he'd have a chance to collect himself before he had to get to work. Otherwise he wouldn't be much help at all, and that would be just perfect wouldn't it?

Not even being able to do even that much, to keep up with his work and duties on this mission when this was much less than he'd wanted to be capable of by now, when he'd wanted... Cloud sighed and didn't finish the thought. It wasn't a new one, after all; it was one he'd had an uncounted number of times since he'd failed to get into SOLDIER.

A TDM link as well.