Both Alexei and Duke are awesome though.

Also Zagi ftw

Never played ToV.
I freakin luv FFVII (FFVII hate is beggining to bore me... just like Nomura hate) but I have to say: Cloud was a meh protagonist. Show up hands how many think that the story would be 10 times more interesting if he in fact wasn't the Cloud from Tifa's childhood, like it was hinted? Optional characters were better than Cloud. Fuck, NPCs were cooler (the Turks ruled). Zack was cooler and he was in the game for what, 10 minutes in an optional event? Aside from Cait Sith... no, fuck that! Even Cait Sith was cooler than him in the game. At least he was a fortune telling robot controled by Reeve (which is btw cooler than Cloud too). And he has Sith in his name.
Cloud was... replaceable. I didn't feel that the game's story needed him. I felt bad that Aerith, who was so much more necessary to the story, had to die and that prick stayed alive. He should've been destroyed by Meteor. Maybe that way AC would be a better film.

Wow Johann! You say you hate the FFVII/Nomura hate that is always being touted then you goin to the whole "I HATE CLOUD" thing as if that were any different.

Ignore me if that was Sarcasm, but if not you are wrong.

What is so Meh about cloud? He is a very "human" character. As a child he wasn't seen as tough or "manly enough to hang with the cool kids. He was pushed off to the side. Tifa was the only person who ever paid him any attention.When he was 16 he decided he would join the military,SOLDIER. He made the infamous "promise" to Tifa , then departed. When he finally was able to get into the military he kept being told he wasn't good enough, not strong enough, blah blah.

Of course, as a guy looking for a good role model, he looked up to the best of the best, Sephiroth. He idolized him. So when his Hero decided to go on a killing spree on all his family and his entire town, he was devastated. Who would ever think their hero would do that to them?

As for his personality after said events. He had Mako poisoning, his memories all jumbled together. One of the last things he remembered was Zack saying "You'll just have to live out both of our lives friend...." His mind being the way it was he did just that. His personality became a mixture of his own, Zack's, and for some odd reason Sephiroth's. He put on the tough guy exterior to make himself appear to be what he thought to be manly and hero like. Of course this facade is broken down as the game progresses and he falls in love with Aeris.

And dont even get me started on the Cloud,Tifa,Aeris,Zack love triangle (square?). Cloud pined for Tifa since he was young, yet she never gave him the time of day. She was the main reason he felt so inadequate as a man and wanted to be stronger. When he came back hardened from military life she realized something was off about him. I believe she never said anything becuase she knows that he always loved her and was probably trying to impress her. Then he meets Aeris who is an enigma. She captures his heart in a whole other way. Tifa suddenly realizes new feelings for Cloud(probably becuase he is now taken and she was used to him pining over her). He is now head over heals for Aeris really, she can convince him to do anything. Then of course.......she dies. He is thrown into a pit of depression.

What is Meh about that? He is dynamic in the most natural sense. He goes throught the thought processes of every human, the feeling of inadequacy. He finds love. He suffers unbearable pain.

You're on! My team consist of:

- Kefka
- Zidane
- Jecht
- Cecil
- Golbez

I'm sorry forevercloud, I know how offended you get when someone says anything bad about FFVII.
I'm gonna clear this once again, I LOVED the game. I thought the story was really good, and (most) characters were cool enough (best Cid in FF history). I thought the soundtrack was dead on and the Materia system was SWEET. I was expecting to hate the game really, cuz I had played VI and IX before it, but ended up loving every minute of it. Love everything about it. Except for Cloud.
You did bring up some cool stuff about the story. But that's the thing, you brought up the stuff that happened to him. He wasn't much of a doer. He was mostly pushed arround during his life and the only way he was actually able to start standing up for himself was when he pretended to be somebody else. That's what you see in the game. The borrowed personality from Zack. That's a great story, but what does that make the protagonist? A wimp, that's what.

 you sould try Tales Of Vesperia out, you will love Yuri

Yea, the guy who saved the planet from meteor and total destruction, stopped an alien parisite from sapping the planet dry, brought down an evil Microsoft like empire, and single handedly took down the worlds strongest entity(3 TIMES!), is a total wimp. /sarcasm

He is no wimp. Insecure maybe, but not a wimp.

@g-value: I KNOW! But I can't get a 360 now! Waaay out of my price range. Maybe when things pick up.

Cloud is the most "human" and least cliche character in FFVII lol

@forevercloud: Tell me something, don't you think it would just be waay cooler if someone like... Vincent killed Sephiroth in the end? I mean that at least would've had some poetry in it. And it would have made a freaking SWEET ending.
That's what I mean by replaceable. Cloud was just... there. He wasn't the only one who could have stopped Sephiroth (and he wouldn't have if it weren't for his friends), he wasn't even the best guy for the job. Half the time I was wondering why was he the leader. What made him so special?