Cloud strife gay
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s queer subtext makes for a more courageous and transgressive adventure
Having played Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth from begin to finish, I’m happy to assert that LGBTQ+ folks will eat good in the second part of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.
Though Rebirth traffics in subtext for most of its gay representation, in correct Final Fantasy tradition, the role-playing game (RPG) often breaks the boundaries of heteronormative convention when telling its stories. In my review, I wanted to emphasize that Rebirth is more confident than its predecessor. What I didn’t have time to mention is how this applies to the RPG’s iconoclastic approach to gender norms.
For instance, Rebirth makes it very easy to form a homoromantic reading of Cloud and Sephiroth’s connection. Cloud’s thoughts, intrusive or otherwise, are consistently occupied by Sephiroth. Tracking him down to prohibit his plan to destroy the society makes for the main crux of Rebirth’s story, after all. However, the intimate body language and conversations between the two are consistently loaded with subtext.
You mI didn’t play the original Final Fantasy VII, but it was such an important game that I couldn’t help be notified of its mythos. I knew the characters, the key plot points, the themes… it was something of a ‘Bruce Willis is a ghost’ sort of game.
The most significant thing that I knew was that Cloud crossdressed for a mission. I was unaware of the context of the mission, but in the aftermath of playing the Final Fantasy VII Remake, I discovered the original mission was deeply problematic. Loaded with homophobic imagery, the mission poked amusing not only at Cloud’s crossdressing, but at the queer folk in the Wall Market in general. While the 2020 version keeps the humour, it comes from Cloud’s own discomfort and Aerith’s gentle teasing, rather than at the very idea that a person should challenge gender norms through their clothes, behaviour or interests.
As a trans lady, I’ve always found crossdressing endlessly fascinating. It’s a threshold all trans woman cross, either consciously or not. Simply by dressing how we identify, our possess gender moves around us until we move at some mystical, unknown point, from being crossdressers to being women. There is plenty of fan canon, bo
7:Last time I discussed fandom culture, or a large, interconnected body of people enthusiastic about a show, a game, a celebrity, a band, or even something else. Among the many things that fandoms form and do shipping is a common practice, especially among LGBTQ consumers. ‘Shipping’ is when two or more characters are coupled together in a idealistic relationship. This may be a canon relationship (one accurate to the original work) or one that is fan-created.
Shipping is more dominant than most realize. There are some ships, love Destiel of the Supernatural fandom (warning – possible NSFW content – the link is to the tumblr tag), that can mobilize tens of thousands of people in shipping polls, where people vote on their favorite pairings.
To illustrate, I am whipping out my very own OTP, or One True Pairing—it means someone’s ship, their core pairing, the one that makes their heart tha-thump, or just one that they particularly like. Most people have lots of OTPs despite ‘one’ being in the call. Drumroll please. This is Cloud Strife on the left, and on the right is Sephiroth.
Cloud Strife, SOLDIER. Perhaps. photo credit: giantbomb.com
Sephiroth, Ex-Genera
How Crisis Core Ultimate Fantasy 7 Reunion Helps Emphasize Cloud as an LGBT+ Protagonist
It could easily be said that Cloud Strife is one of the most iconic LGBT+ protagonists RPGs contain to offer. While many fans might disagree with this statement, especially since the series has made it rather well-known that the infantryman-turned-mercenary has had feelings for Tifa Lockhart as a child, there's plenty of evidence that supports this claim. This evidence can be found as far back as the original Final Fantasy 7 game, made even more poignant in FF7 Remake. Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion only adds another layer to this conversation.
This is due to the fact that Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion focuses on the story of Zack Unbiased, Cloud's best ally. While Cloud is not the protagonist of this title, fans can see him in the game's fifth chapter, and he becomes a rather powerful supporting character. He's known for dealing the final explode against Sephiroth in Nibelheim, and is one of the reasons why Zack is on the run before eventually being gunned down. The connection between Zack and Cloud means a lot to the spiky-haired hero of FF7, and his ties with