Whose Hero is Cloud?
by Anastar
Part of what is learned in the Lifestream Event is that Cloud picked Tifa up in the Nibelheim reactor and carried her to the side, which Tifa perceives as a fulfillment of the Promise. In actuality, Cloud didn't make the Promise willingly or readily. Look at the sequence where Cloud makes the Promise to Tifa:
Tifa "Hey, why don't we make a promise?"
Tifa "Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind....."
Tifa "You come save me, all right?"
Cloud "What?"
Tifa "Whenever I"m in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me."
Tifa "I want to at least experience that once."
Cloud "What?"
Tifa "Come on--! Promise me----!"
Cloud "All right.... I promise."
Does Cloud really sound all that anxious to make the Promise in the first place? He says, “What?” twice before he finally agrees to it, and Tifa actually talks him into it. Does this sound like something Cloud agrees to readily and willingly from his heart, or like something he is coerced into by Tifa? Tifa is the one who comes up with the idea. It’s not something that Cloud offers to do for Tifa.
What does Cloud actually do for Tifa in the Nibelheim reactor? He picks her up and carries her to the side, then he goes in to fight Sephiroth. However, Tifa was bleeding to death at the time and may have died despite Cloud’s actions. When Cloud is telling about the Nibelheim event in Kalm, he even tells Tifa: “I thought you were a goner”. In comparison, look at what Zangan did for Tifa in the Nibelheim reactor:
From Zangan’s letter found in Tifa’s piano:
"I went to the reactor to kill Sephiroth."
"But he was nowhere to be found. Instead, I found you, collapsed inside. I felt saving you was far more important than going after Sephiroth. There were several others that were still alive inside, but I was only able to save you."
"As I was coming out of the reactor, Shinra troops were just arriving. I recall a scientist named Hojo was in charge. He ordered the troops to gather up everyone still alive for the experiment. I didn't know what type of experiment he was talking about, but I wasn't about to let them have my dearest student."
"Putting you on my back, I headed down the mountain to the village. I used the Cure spell on you many times."
"And started to head for Midgar to look for a doctor for you. I don't like that city, but my Cure spells weren't helping."
"I decided to go to Midgar to find a doctor I could trust."
Notice that Zangan says he felt that saving Tifa was far more important than going after Sephiroth. Zangan took Tifa from the reactor, carrying her on his back down the mountain, used the Cure spell on her numerous times, then took her all the way to Midgar to find a good doctor. How much did Cloud do for Tifa in comparison? If Squaresoft truly wanted to portray Cloud as Tifa's "hero", as someone who is there for her as much as she is there for him, then why write the story so that Zangan does this for Tifa instead of Cloud?
Cloud is also absent when Tifa needs help in Junon, where she is put in a gas chamber by Scarlet for public execution. Barret is the one who rescues her, so once again we see someone other than Cloud acting as a hero for Tifa. Wouldn’t Squaresoft have written the story so that Cloud is able to help her at that time if the writers had truly wanted to portray Cloud as Tifa’s hero?
How can the “rescue” of Tifa at Don Corneo’s mansion even begin to compare with what Cloud had to face in order to rescue Aerith from the Shinra Building? Tifa wasn’t captured and placed in forceful captivity in Don Corneo’s mansion. She went there voluntarily to get information from Don Corneo. How does the ordeal of climbing all the way to the upper plate up a wire, fighting his way up 69 floors of the Shinra building, obtaining the Keycards, sneaking past the guards, solving the Midgar puzzle, fighting boss battles with HO512 and ultimately with Rufus to rescue Aerith compare to the humorous escapades of dressing up like a woman in order to get into Don Corneo’s mansion?
Look at all that Cloud does for Aerith in comparison. When Cloud first meets Aerith, he rescues her from Reno in the Church and sees her home safely. As already discussed, Cloud goes through a tremendous ordeal in order to rescue Aerith from the Shinra building when Hojo starts experimenting on her.
One of the very reasons that Cloud goes through the whole ordeal of pursuing and killing Sephiroth is in order to avenge Aerith’s death. In addition, the death of Sephiroth also frees Aerith’s spirit, since her spirit had been “trapped” by Sephiroth. Cloud acknowledges this on the Highwind before they head to the North Crater:
Cloud "Although [Aerith] should've returned to the planet by now, something stopped her and now she's stuck..."
Furthermore, the only time that Cloud is able to fight off and battle Sephiroth’s will is when Sephiroth tries to make Cloud kill Aerith in the Forgotten City. Even when it meant the fate of the world, Cloud was unable to keep himself from giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth at the Reunion, despite the others asking him to stop in the same way they asked him to stop in the Death Scene. The only time Cloud was able to fight off Sephiroth’s will was when he had to do it for the sake of Aerith.
Cloud also states at the end of the game that he thinks he can meet Aerith in the Promised Land, and is then shown trying to find it in Final Fantasy Tactics. Nomura has also confirmed that Kingdom Hearts I can be interpreted to mean that Cloud was searching for Aerith. All of this would indicate that Cloud is actually portrayed as Aerith’s hero in Final Fantasy VII, rather than as a hero for Tifa.
--------------------------------
~ Script excerpts taken from the
Final Fantasy
VII script at RPGamer
