Cloud to the Power of Zack

April 18, 2007, 7:20 AM

We all know the story. Zack is shot and killed on the outskirts of Midgar. A mako poisoned and jenova cell infested Cloud inches himself towards his fallen comrade to claim the Buster sword. Cloud's mind, still fragmented from the mako and jenova cells, searches for identity as all the other's have who succumb to Hojo's "cloning" experiments. Unlike the other who have nothing to cling onto simply lose their way and become mindless drones searching after Sephiroth for the reunion, Cloud manages to adopt Zack's persona to replace his shattered one. This is fueled not only out of neccessity but out of respect for Zack, as he was disappointed with his personal failure to become a member of SOLDIER. With Cloud's mind temporarily patched together, he begins where Zack left off and becomes a mercenary in Midgar. Much further down the line, the real Sephiroth, frozen in a huge glacier in the Northern Crater, manages to break the patchwork fix Zack's stolen persona provided and leaves him to drift through the lifestream, reintroducing extreme levels of mako and fragmenting his mind once again. Cloud and Tifa delve into his subconscious to reconnect and heal the scattered fragments of his own persona. When they finish, Cloud re-immerges as himself for the very first time in the game.

What I want to know is how much of Zack's persona did Cloud really take? We know he took his memories... but only dating back to his acceptance into SOLDIER. Cloud recalls his own mother and father early on in the game, showing that his mind is only fragmented... not completely erased. He is still Cloud but he's just adopted some of Zack's personality to fill in the missing pieces. I guess my question to all of you is which parts of Cloud were Zack and which were Cloud? I've heard a lot of people say that his personality was stolen, not only his memories. I'm sure that's true to an extent but which parts? Cloud was shy and loserly when he was younger and because of his timidity he failed often in life. Zack was confident and suave. Both were heroic, good natured, and generally good people. That might have been why it was so easy for Cloud to adopt Zack's personality. But what parts do you think he adopted and what parts do you think already existed in him?

My Character Profiles · April 18, 2007, 7:25 AM

Hm that's a thinker. Because when Cloud and Aerith visit Zack's parents in Gongaga, Cloud acts like he has no clue who they are. O.o

P.s. you think too much.

April 18, 2007, 8:15 AM

I don't believe Cloud took any of Zack's personality at all. As we see in the beginning, Cloud is portrayed as a man who has little concern for others, and doesn't seem to care what they do. Zack, on the other hand, seems quite friendly towards complete strangers (as we see in Last Order). Zack just strikes me as a caring individual; something which Cloud does not replicate.

As you said, he adopted memories, assuming they were his own. However these "memories" are derived from a small selection of instances. One in particular, is a small sequence which Zack and Cloud are in the back of that guy's truck, with Zack telling Cloud what it is he aims to do with his life. Cloud is blatantly conscious, and can understand what it is Zack is saying.

But then, Jenova has the power to replicate anything. Be that physical things (she assumed the form of Sephiroth multiple times), or metaphysical things (like Cloud's reconstructed thoughts and memories). Zack possessed the cells of Jenova, being in SOLDIER, so Jenova, in a sense, had 'access' to Zack's entire mind, and thus could replicate it into Cloud.

So perhaps Cloud never adopted these thoughts himself. That Jenova attempted to throw Cloud off his natural path, forcing him to believe he had a rank in SOLDIER, and thus feel obliged to 'save the world' which, as we know, resulted in Cloud handing over the Black Materia.

It all boils down to Jenova. I doubt she can copy a being's personality, but can most certainly manipulate their mind and thoughts.

My Character Profiles · April 18, 2007, 8:24 AM

I think Cloud did adopt some of Zack's personality, but the way that it clashed with his own personality made all of his "Zack moments" appear cheasy. Like his infamous line "Let's mosey". Cloud would have never been in charge of things if it weren't for his counter-personality, but Zack's personality shines through in an awkward way.
What I don't understand is the adopted memories. Like I said, Cloud seems to know nothing about zack's parents, and he seemingly doesn't hold any of Zack's memories of Aerith.

April 18, 2007, 8:35 AM

He sure took Zacks hairstyle that is for sure.

April 18, 2007, 1:00 PM

I think only the memories were transferred from Cloud to Zack. I mean when Cloud actually found out during that whole life-stream fiasco and came out of it he seemed like the regular old cloud I was playing with through the whole game.

April 18, 2007, 1:07 PM

I do think Cloud took some Zack's personality as he did his memories. It seemed that on his first mission in midgar that he was very cold and distant towards everyone, which mostly changed after he met Aeris. And you know with that Zack and Aeris connection I think somthing clicked in Cloud's mind which is why I think they had a thing for each other

April 18, 2007, 2:16 PM

Cloud took some of Zack's SOLDIER memories, but Cloud was already there when everything happened in when cloud was still following Zack. im pretty sure they will tell us in Crisis Core. Cloud did mix his memories with Tifa, but it was off by a bit.

April 18, 2007, 2:35 PM

Cloud only took Zacks memories related to SOLDIER...the other flashbacks we see are really from Clouds life as an infant!

Cloud remains silent and kind of cold while Zack seems to be a pretty lively and outspoken guy!

So their personalities don´t mix at all!