Cloud Strife

Cloud Strife is the main protagonist from Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII and its spin-off material of the Final Fantasy series and is a newcomer for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U confirmed during the November 2015 Nintendo Direct. Claiming to be a former first-class SOLDIER, Cloud leads a group to stop the evil Sephiroth's plan to use the Black Materia to summon Meteor and destroy the planet. While using his original design, Cloud's appearance in Super Smash Bros. is specifically based upon that of Dissidia Final Fantasy. Players who purchase Cloud from the Nintendo eShop will also get his stage based on Final Fantasy VII, Midgar.

Cloud is able to move quickly on the ground, though in the air he moves more slowly and falls quickly. He wields the Buster Sword, a giant sword given to him by his deceased friend Zack Fair that gives his attacks power and range, though they generally start more slowly. He also has a Limit Break mechanic, similar to Little Mac's Power Meter. When Cloud attacks or is attacked, his Limit Gauge fills up, and when it is full Cloud is covered by a blue aura that boosts his stats, and for one use only powers up one of his special moves when one of them is used. Cloud can also charge his Limit Gauge manually with his Limit Charge down special.

Most of Cloud's special moves are taken from the Limit Breaks he can obtain in Final Fantasy VII. His neutral special is Blade Beam, in which Cloud swings his sword to fire a beam forward. His side special is Cross Slash, in which Cloud swings his sword in the shape of a Japanese character to damage opponents. His up special is Climhazzard, in which Cloud swings his sword to propel himself directly up into the air. When the Limit Gauge is filled, Cloud's down special becomes Finishing Touch, a whirlwind that deals little damage but high knockback. His Final Smash is Omnislash, in which Cloud hits opponents into the air and rapidly and repeatedly slashes them.

When customizing Cloud, he can be equipped with Sword, Suit, and Boots equipment. However, like with the other DLC characters, he lacks any custom special variations of his special moves.

Cloud's alternate colors are based upon the uniforms for the different classes of SOLDIER. He also has alternate costumes using his Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children design, which includes the Fusion Swords in place of the Buster Sword. Two of his Advent Children costumes have a sleeve covering his Geostigma-infected arm, while the others leave his arm bare, revealing the ribbon he wears in memory of Aerith Gainsborough.

Trophy information
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance
The following dialogue applies also to Mewtwo, Roy, Lucas, Ryu, Corrin, and Bayonetta, who are also downloadable fighters.


 * Pit: Who is THAT?
 * Palutena: I have no data on this fighter. I can't believe it!
 * Viridi: It must be an intruder from another dimension!
 * Pit: Whoever it is, the goal remains the same: to fight and win!

Trivia

 * Cloud is the only Final Fantasy character appearing in a Nintendo crossover to be a named character rather than a generic class or creature (such as Black Mage or Moogle).
 * Despite having almost all of his home series appearances dubbed in English (and a few earlier appearances dubbed in additional languages), Cloud only speaks Japanese in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, similar to Marth and Roy. This likely has to do with his voice actor, Steve Burton being a Union voice actor while Super Smash Bros. is a non-Union game.
 * Cloud is the first and only third-party character thus far in the Super Smash Bros. series whose debut title was never released on a Nintendo console.
 * Early concepts for Final Fantasy VII, however, were created with the intention of developing a SNES title before production was delayed in favor of other projects and later restarted for Sony's PlayStation console.
 * Cloud is one of two characters whose weapon changes depending on the costume, wielding the Buster Sword in his default Final Fantasy VII outfit and the Fusion Swords in his Advent Children variations.