So what happened to Cloud for a year?

[Fusionist]

This might have actually been explained somewhere already, but I'll ask anyways.

I read somewhere between the time Zack died and Cloud meeting up with Tifa in Midgar, a year had passed. I can't remember where, so maybe I'm wrong, but is that even true?

And assuming it is, what the heck was Cloud doing? He was already pretty close to Midgar after Zack was killed, so what took so long to get there?

Or is it that he already got there but didn't meet Tifa for a while yet?

I do remember that in the beginning of the game, at the Honey Bee Inn, if you choose the door that says something like "#%!$" or whatever, you see some weird flashback of Cloud on the ground and some taunting dialog lines on the screen about how he thought he could escape his memories, or something to that effect. So he was likely at least there before seeing Tifa again.

But to reiterate, what the heck was Cloud doing for a year?

 

[Bambi]

I always assumed that he went straight to Midgar and ran into Tifa.... if he WAS mia for a year then I think I need to go back and pay more attention in the Honey Bee in and see what I may have missed.....

 

[Ryushikaze]

Cloud was not MIA for a year. Zack's death happens, IIRC, in the middle of September. He immediately heads towards Midgar and is found by Tifa in the train station shortly thereafter, and the game begins very late at night on Dec 9 (though whether it ticks over to Dec 10 during the mission or the mission begins after midnight I do not know.)

 

[Serah]

I always thought that he went straight for Midgar, was found by Tifa and nursed during the that time because of how sick he was from the mako addiction. ...And where did you find actual dates? Do you actually spend that much time doing research on one little game? lol

 

[aki_aku]

He goes to Midgar, so we could assume it would be around 1-7 days between Zacks death and Tifa finding him.

She nurses him back to health, and I'm not sure the time period between this and the start of the game. It can't be too long as she gets him to join the missions to keep him around as she's unsure about him. Due to the personality differnce and memories he has that he shouldnt

 

[Psychomaze]

Cloud was not MIA for a year. Zack's death happens, IIRC, in the middle of September. He immediately heads towards Midgar and is found by Tifa in the train station shortly thereafter, and the game begins very late at night on Dec 9 (though whether it ticks over to Dec 10 during the mission or the mission begins after midnight I do not know.)

--- Careful on quoting dates. Someone may call you out into a fierce debate.

--- And the Honey Bee Inn $&%! room has nothing to do with this issue (it's for something else)

--- Then about the missing year:

I actually was wondering that too. In the game when Cloud tells his story, it happened "5 Years Ago". But in Crisis Core, Zack learns that they were missing for only "4 Years"

Well, I do have a few guesses but flat out there is no real answer since there is nothing (as of this date) available to know for sure.

Here are my guesses:

1) Tifa finds Cloud just like she said, immediately after he makes his way to Sector 7 himself - then spent a year sick and recovering.

2) Calender abnormality: What if something happened in the middle of the year before (let's say 2005/July) and now that the year number is different (let's say January/2007), people automatically assume that it's been 'two whole years' when in reality it has been one year, 6 months, not 2 years.

--- People just make the easy assumption that it's just been 2 years when it's actually been less that that, and it is easily confused.

I'm inclined to think towards guess number two, actually.

 

[looneymoon]

I thought from Cloud's timeline, you could deduce that time from Zack's death to Midgar was a very short period of time. I'm guessing he's at least spent a month or so with AVALANCHE before the start of the game, because if you speak with the people who live around Sector 7 after the first mission, quite a few know of Cloud's staying at the 7th Heaven. I mean, he must have been there long enough to at least establish himself as a familiar face among the community.

Anyways, here is Cloud's Compilation timeline from the 10th Anniversary Ultimania... and I think that makes sense: http://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-vii/348/cloud-strife-character-profile-p36-41/#more-348

I don't doubt he was wondering around in a drone-like state, not unlike the black caped men. I think it may have been the reunion with Tifa that was the final catalyst in forming his false persona. Before that, he was probably struggling with his head getting all screwed up, Mako poisoning, and the Jenova cells overriding his own behaviours. To be honest, I imagine him not to be much better than the guy who are sick in the pipe, though obviously Cloud was able to move around. Seeing Tifa (someone familiar) may have acted as a reminder of himself, and could have possibly snapped him out of a daze and rekindled enough of himself to be somewhat functional.

Thus the "Long time no see" scene, and the rest is history.

 

[Psychomaze]

Hmm... then if that was true... then wouldn't the people in the black cloaks find Tifa and Cloud as 'familiar faces' in Nibelheim? Why didn't they react the same way?

 

[Davey Gaga]

Those in the black cloaks couldn't hold together their own thoughts and could only mindlessly mumble about a Reunion - I find it difficult to imagine them 'recognising' Cloud as a familiar face.

 

[Psychomaze]

Tifa and Cloud are natives of Nibelheim... and you may have a point with Cloud since he was away in the military... but what about Tifa? Give or take a few months, there is not much of a difference between her seeing Cloud and her seeing those people in the cloaks.

 

[Davey Gaga]

As far as I was aware, the people who were captured and used in Hojo's Jenova Project all died, bar Cloud and Zack. As such, I always assumemd that the people in black cloaks were other people from ShinRa or around the world - remember the man in the Sector 5 Slums pipe? He disappeared when you re-entered Midgar. I considered him as one of the people who took part in the Reunion.

 

[Psychomaze]

I was under the impression that with the man in the pipe may have gotten to close to Mako reactor 1 when it got blown up and it exposed the poor sap. Tho, I have no explanation on why he diapered when you can re-enter the city with the 'Key to Sector 5'

Then Zack and Cloud and the experiments - the separate notes say that 'one' had absolutely no effect due to previous SOLIDER conditioning, and 'one' (paraphrasing) that had a extreme effect to the point of death. Ergo, they did not react in the same way that Hojo wanted and it was so unexpected that he labeled the both of them as 'failures' and did not bother to give them a number.

Then the rest of the 'survivors' had the horrid fate of being on Hojo's tables and THEY had the results that he was looking for.

His goal was about his Jenova Reunion Theory - take her apart and scatter her all over the world and see if they will 'reunite' in one spot, The Northern Cave, where she came to the planet.

But then again, this is what I figured.

(I'm actually going to have to log off for a while so toodles!)

 

[aki_aku]

The people in the black robes are the survivors of the Nibelhiem incident, they were experimented on and given tattoo's.

But they didnt move to Midgar, they only started moving once Sephiroth took control of Jenova's body.

A theory I have is that it was Clouds presance in the Shinra building that somehow awakend Jenova and let Sephiroth take control of it. As he's had 5 years to move it, why wait until that exact moment, and how could he know Cloud was ever going to be near it.


Cloud and Zack were experimented on, Zack showed no signs of side effects due to his previous genetic alterations within SOLDIER. Cloud just got Mako poisening but it gave him the distict eye shine known as a SOLDIER trait.

 

[rrutter81]

The people in the black robes are the survivors of the Nibelhiem incident, they were experimented on and given tattoo's.

But they didnt move to Midgar, they only started moving once Sephiroth took control of Jenova's body.

A theory I have is that it was Clouds presance in the Shinra building that somehow awakend Jenova and let Sephiroth take control of it. As he's had 5 years to move it, why wait until that exact moment, and how could he know Cloud was ever going to be near it.


Cloud and Zack were experimented on, Zack showed no signs of side effects due to his previous genetic alterations within SOLDIER. Cloud just got Mako poisening but it gave him the distict eye shine known as a SOLDIER trait.

Jenova cells and mako are 2 different things. Jenova cells can tell if they are near each other as they had shown it in the game. Sephiroth also had the ability to manipulate the cells, hence cloud sitting upside down when sephiroth was frozen/entombed in magicite.

mako does give the eye shine which was also part of the experiment.

 

[Fusionist]

And the Honey Bee Inn $&%! room has nothing to do with this issue (it's for something else)

But was it a flashback that happened or something? 'Cause I can't imagine Cloud going there AFTER and and Tifa meet up

I thought all who tried to get into SOLDIER, even if they were rejected, got the mako injection? The Jenova cells are totally separate from that, right?

 

[joeyfinalfantasygod]

Well cloud went straight to midgar after zack died and got involved with avalanch. I really think he was involved with avalanch some time before the begining of the game. He was not missing in action maybe he should've taken a break from everything and chill out smewhere instead of going against Shinra so fast.

 

[looneymoon]

I wasn't trying to say Cloud was EXACTLY like the black-robe people wondering around in FF7, I was merely using them as an example of what I thought his behaviour would be like. Wondering around, not exactly sure of who he is etc. At the end of Crisis Core we see he's much more functional than any of them.

Tifa and Cloud are natives of Nibelheim... and you may have a point with Cloud since he was away in the military... but what about Tifa? Give or take a few months, there is not much of a difference between her seeing Cloud and her seeing those people in the cloaks.

There's a difference because the real Cloud knew Tifa. Since Cloud was probably wrestling with his identity problems during the time gap (it's at the end of CC where Cloud's mind completely breaks, thus creating the fakeCloud persona) it's not too farfetched to say that seeing Tifa would be a reminder that he is still somewhat "Cloud" and not completely someone else. But in the end, it doesn't really matter since it's a speculative anyway.

As far as I was aware, the people who were captured and used in Hojo's Jenova Project all died, bar Cloud and Zack. As such, I always assumemd that the people in black cloaks were other people from ShinRa or around the world - remember the man in the Sector 5 Slums pipe? He disappeared when you re-entered Midgar. I considered him as one of the people who took part in the Reunion.

As far as we know, the people involved in the Jenova experiment were: Hollander Genesis, Gillian and Angeal; and Hojo, Lucrecia and Sephiroth. This experiment was to create the perfect SOLDIER. Of the subjects, Sephiroth becomes the success.
The black cape men were part of the Jenova Reunion Theory, which is slightly different from the Jenova Project. The experiment was to prove that Jenova cells regroup into a "Reunion". Of this experiment, Cloud was the only success, as he is the only one that actually makes it to the Reunion (even though Hojo calls him a failure... then again, Hojo isn't quite as all knowing as he likes to think he is).
SOLDIER members just got special surgery including MAKO and Jenova cells, that's why Cloud got the SOLDIER traits, as the procedures Hojo did on Cloud weren't too different from what SOLDIERsm recieve (that's the reason Zack was unaffected).

 

[Ryushikaze]

I always thought that he went straight for Midgar, was found by Tifa and nursed during the that time because of how sick he was from the mako addiction. ...And where did you find actual dates? Do you actually spend that much time doing research on one little game? lol

No, but the dates are easily discernable thanks to the 10th Ani Ulti.

--- Careful on quoting dates. Someone may call you out into a fierce debate.

And I will win that debate. I have empirical evidence on my side.

--- And the Honey Bee Inn $&%! room has nothing to do with this issue (it's for something else)

--- Then about the missing year:

I actually was wondering that too. In the game when Cloud tells his story, it happened "5 Years Ago". But in Crisis Core, Zack learns that they were missing for only "4 Years"

Well, I do have a few guesses but flat out there is no real answer since there is nothing (as of this date) available to know for sure.

Here are my guesses:

1) Tifa finds Cloud just like she said, immediately after he makes his way to Sector 7 himself - then spent a year sick and recovering.

Close, but it's more like two to three months.

2) Calender abnormality: What if something happened in the middle of the year before (let's say 2005/July) and now that the year number is different (let's say January/2007), people automatically assume that it's been 'two whole years' when in reality it has been one year, 6 months, not 2 years.

Non parsimonious, not supported anywhere.

--- People just make the easy assumption that it's just been 2 years when it's actually been less that that, and it is easily confused.

I'm inclined to think towards guess number two, actually.

Actual explanation: They had to travel most of the way, on foot, while on the run. Progress was incredibly slow, to say the least.

I thought from Cloud's timeline, you could deduce that time from Zack's death to Midgar was a very short period of time. I'm guessing he's at least spent a month or so with AVALANCHE before the start of the game, because if you speak with the people who live around Sector 7 after the first mission, quite a few know of Cloud's staying at the 7th Heaven. I mean, he must have been there long enough to at least establish himself as a familiar face among the community.

Anyways, here is Cloud's Compilation timeline from the 10th Anniversary Ultimania... and I think that makes sense: http://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-vii/348/cloud-strife-character-profile-p36-41/#more-348

I don't doubt he was wondering around in a drone-like state, not unlike the black caped men. I think it may have been the reunion with Tifa that was the final catalyst in forming his false persona.

It was, as that Timeline states, and it clarified in more detail elsewhere.

Before that, he was probably struggling with his head getting all screwed up, Mako poisoning, and the Jenova cells overriding his own behaviours. To be honest, I imagine him not to be much better than the guy who are sick in the pipe, though obviously Cloud was able to move around. Seeing Tifa (someone familiar) may have acted as a reminder of himself, and could have possibly snapped him out of a daze and rekindled enough of himself to be somewhat functional.

Thus the "Long time no see" scene, and the rest is history.[/quote]

More or less.

As far as I was aware, the people who were captured and used in Hojo's Jenova Project all died, bar Cloud and Zack. As such, I always assumemd that the people in black cloaks were other people from ShinRa or around the world - remember the man in the Sector 5 Slums pipe? He disappeared when you re-entered Midgar. I considered him as one of the people who took part in the Reunion.

He was. Number 3, IIRC.

 

[aki_aku]

I thought members of SOLDIER got both showered in MAKO and JENOVA cells injected into them.

I know Sephiroth had the ability to manipulate them, I was saying what triggered this abilty. As it's only after you come in contact with JENOVA in the Shinra HQ that this becomes apprant. So with Cloud carrying the cells being close to JENOVA somehow stimulated it allowing Sephiroth to control its cells.

Otherwise how would he know Cloud was going to be in the Shinra HQ and wait five years before launching his plan even when his body was not completly regenerated.

 

[looneymoon]

I know SOLDIER members were given intense amounts of Mako treatment, which seem to pretty much act as steroids. Continuous exposure to that mako would make them turn out like the Makonoid monsters in the Nibelheim reactor.

REUNION experimentees were given S-Cells, in attempt to make Sephiroth copies. Sephiroth had the ability to manipulate these cells. Since Sephiroth is made up in part by Jenova cells, he could control them too, I presume. How he was able to control them, probably a trait he inherited from Jenova or something he learned when spending 5 years in the Lifestream.

The Reunion test subjects in turn had Jenova's cells in them through Sephiroth's cells. So like... Sephiroth is exposed to Jenova Cells from the primary source while still in the womb, Cloud and etc. had J-Cells in them through a secondary source (S-Cells). Basically Jenova--->Sephiroth--->Reunion test subjects (including Cloud).