The thread on Cloud's design got me thinking about how strange the steady weakening of his character has become over time. There seems to be this idea that Cloud is almost powerless against the likes of Sephiroth. And I don't mean powerless in terms of physical prowess or combat. I mean in terms of character strength. Advent Children has him unable to move on with his life, and Dissidia throws around the idea that he is in a constant state of reaction to Sephiroth. The same goes for Kingdom Hearts II: Cloud can only find meaning in his fight with Sephiroth, unable to create a life outside of their relationship. As this goes on, the idea seems to be hammered home over and over again that Sephiroth is stronger in will, and why not? He's the walking embodiment of Nietzche's superman, who doesn't care about the moral fiber of the world, doesn't concern himself with other human beings, and is in the process of shaping the world as he sees fit instead of reacting to it. In light of Sephiroth's proactive approach to things, Cloud's increasing passiveness makes him look feebler and feebler in contrast as time goes on.
But here's the thing: within FF VII itself, Cloud's character is undoubtedly the stronger of the two, because he can do the one thing that Sephiroth cannot.
Both men suffer the same emotional crisis of identity: the person they thought they were turns out to be a web of lies, and they must now struggle to find a new identity. Sephiroth handles this poorly: he cannot accept that he is a genetic experiment, and subsequently goes mad. His own ego cannot cope with the idea of being someone else s project, and thus, he recreates and justifies the meaning of his life in his own mind. JENOVA isn't an alien, she is an Ancient; he isn't the son of a monster, he's the heir to the planet. He cannot (or, rather, will not) understand the idea of his own worthlessness, and in a desperate attempt to salvage what is left of his perception of life, he hastily manufactures a structure of belief that makes him even greater than before. To further justify himself, he throws away all other worldly morals, because such things would inhibit and hinder this new mindset. The world, people, and history of events that he experiences are all discarded and reformed so that Sephiroth can not only still feel good about himself, but be the ideal of perfection. He's not the problem: everyone else is.
What it boils down to is: Sephiroth cannot cope with this humbling, and has to reform his perception of the world to make satisfy his ego. He discards one delusion of identity and replaces it with another.
Cloud also experiences such a thing: through manipulation and mind games, he has been led to believe that many events of other peoples' lives (notably Zack's) are his own, and bears himself through much of the story with that belief. But eventually, the veil is taken away, and Cloud finds that most of the things he based his self worth on were lies: he was never in Soldier, and he didn't do half the things he thought he did. The things which made our hero the tough-guy disintegrate around him, and when such a heavy chunk of his identity is removed, he has to ask himself: who am I, really? But here's the thing: unlike Sephiroth, Cloud is capable of humbling himself. Maybe he wasn't a Soldier First Class, but there is still the present and the future to define himself. He has lost some sense of worth, but knows that there is the possibility of creating a new one. He is not trapped by his pride as his archenemy is.
Cloud is not only capable of getting over the past and moving on, he has done it better than Sephiroth did.
The thread on Cloud's design got me thinking about how strange the steady weakening of his character has become over time. There seems to be this idea that Cloud is almost powerless against the likes of Sephiroth. And I don't mean powerless in terms of physical prowess or combat. I mean in terms of character strength. Advent Children has him unable to move on with his life, and Dissidia throws around the idea that he is in a constant state of reaction to Sephiroth. The same goes for Kingdom Hearts II: Cloud can only find meaning in his fight with Sephiroth, unable to create a life outside of their relationship. As this goes on, the idea seems to be hammered home over and over again that Sephiroth is stronger in will, and why not? He's the walking embodiment of Nietzche's superman, who doesn't care about the moral fiber of the world, doesn't concern himself with other human beings, and is in the process of shaping the world as he sees fit instead of reacting to it. In light of Sephiroth's proactive approach to things, Cloud's increasing passiveness makes him look feebler and feebler in contrast as time goes on.
But here's the thing: within FF VII itself, Cloud's character is undoubtedly the stronger of the two, because he can do the one thing that Sephiroth cannot.
Both men suffer the same emotional crisis of identity: the person they thought they were turns out to be a web of lies, and they must now struggle to find a new identity. Sephiroth handles this poorly: he cannot accept that he is a genetic experiment, and subsequently goes mad. His own ego cannot cope with the idea of being someone else s project, and thus, he recreates and justifies the meaning of his life in his own mind. JENOVA isn't an alien, she is an Ancient; he isn't the son of a monster, he's the heir to the planet. He cannot (or, rather, will not) understand the idea of his own worthlessness, and in a desperate attempt to salvage what is left of his perception of life, he hastily manufactures a structure of belief that makes him even greater than before. To further justify himself, he throws away all other worldly morals, because such things would inhibit and hinder this new mindset. The world, people, and history of events that he experiences are all discarded and reformed so that Sephiroth can not only still feel good about himself, but be the ideal of perfection. He's not the problem: everyone else is.
What it boils down to is: Sephiroth cannot cope with this humbling, and has to reform his perception of the world to make satisfy his ego. He discards one delusion of identity and replaces it with another.
Cloud also experiences such a thing: through manipulation and mind games, he has been led to believe that many events of other peoples' lives (notably Zack's) are his own, and bears himself through much of the story with that belief. But eventually, the veil is taken away, and Cloud finds that most of the things he based his self worth on were lies: he was never in Soldier, and he didn't do half the things he thought he did. The things which made our hero the tough-guy disintegrate around him, and when such a heavy chunk of his identity is removed, he has to ask himself: who am I, really? But here's the thing: unlike Sephiroth, Cloud is capable of humbling himself. Maybe he wasn't a Soldier First Class, but there is still the present and the future to define himself. He has lost some sense of worth, but knows that there is the possibility of creating a new one. He is not trapped by his pride as his archenemy is.
Cloud is not only capable of getting over the past and moving on, he has done it better than Sephiroth did.
Something to think about.