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This article is about Cloud's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Cloud Strife.
โ€œ He's the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. You can also select his Advent Children outfit. Charging up his Limit Gauge increases his special move abilities! Land a powerful hit! โ€
โ€”Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Cloud is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a downloadable fighter. His return was confirmed at the E3 2018 Conference on June 12th, 2018.

How to Unlock[]

  • Play VS Matches, with Cloud being the 55th character unlocked. (fastest method)
  • Clear Classic Mode with Samus or any character in her character tree, with Cloud being unlocked after Dark Samus.
  • Have Cloud join the party in World of Light. (slowest method)

With the exception of the third method, Cloud must be fought and defeated on Midgar.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Fast movement speed on both ground and air. Under the effect of Limit Break, his Dashing Speed and Air Speed both increase.
  • Capable of wall jumping.
  • Very high jumps and double jumps.
  • Low and reliable short hop is useful for setting juggles with his Up Air.
  • Many of his attacks have hitboxes that are long in duration, with high active frames.
  • Except for the first two hits of his Neutral Attack and his Down Tilt, all of his attacks have disjointed hitboxes as he fights with a sword. Thanks to this, he has high priority on most of his attacks.
  • Strong aerial attacks that are safe on shield if properly spaced.
  • Fast and powerful Smash Attacks and Special Attacks that can score earlier KOs if used at the right time.
  • Down Tilt moves forwards along the ground, leading into various aerial combos. It also allows him to dodge some attacks.
  • His Buster Sword grants him a large range for most attacks.
  • Forward Aerial, Down Aerial and the third hit of Climhazzard can Meteor Smash.
  • Blade Beam has low startup and travels quite fast, and when Limit Break is full, it gains multi-hit properties and deals much more damage and knockback.
  • His Up Special, Climhazzard, is quite fast and launches Cloud upwards, much like Marth and Lucina's Dolphin Slash. When Limit Break is full, it sends Cloud extremely high. Similarly to Shulk's Up Special, pressing the Special button again while performing this move will cause Cloud to quickly plummet downward with his sword extended.
  • His Down Special, Limit Charge, when fully charged slightly increases all his stats, and powers up his Special Moves in terms of damage, launch power, and in some cases distance covered or even adds multi-hit attributes. Much like other charging attacks, the player can cancel the charge with side dodge or shield. It is also possible to cancel it into normal attacks. He can use Finishing Touch as his Down Special once using Limit Break, which can deal massive knockback to nearby enemies, despite only dealing 1% damage. Like Little Mac, Cloud's Limit Bar fills when he deals and takes damage. However, it can be manually filled via Limit Charge if desired.

Weaknesses[]

  • Lacks consistent KO potential due to Limit.
  • Poor recovery, especially if Limit is not active.
  • Poor grab game.
  • Easily pressured.
  • Lacks effective approach options.
  • Requires high resource management.

Summary[]

To be added.

Changes from 3DS/Wii U[]

Cloud was heavily nerfed in the transition to Ultimate, presumably due to his status as one of the best characters in the previous title. The majority of his attacks have a shorter reach and more end lag, particularly his aerials, which were notorious for being powerful options in 3DS/Wii U. Perhaps the most severe change to Cloud is the timer established to Limit, which necessitates very effective management of it when active, which can be an extreme detriment when recovering or landing a finishing blow, as well as the changes to Limit Charge, as Cloud can lose some of his Limit if he is attacked while charging.

However, due to universal changes Cloud's aerial game is still powerful due to reduced landing lag, as well as the buff in movement speed adding to his excellent mobility. The reintroduction of directional air dodging slightly alleviates his poor horizontal recovery and allows him to avoid pressure easily. Finally, his Special Moves were buffed to be given more utility, most notably Blade Beam and Climhazzard.

Attributes[]

  • The Limit Gauge is now displayed next to Cloud's damage meter similar to in his home game where his Limit Gauge was next to his HP Gauge in that game.
  • Cloud's Limit Break form only lasts for 15 seconds before requiring him to recharge it.

Ground Attacks[]

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Aerials have less landing lag.

Grabs and Throws[]

Special Attacks[]

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Cloud kicks forward once, and then kicks with his other leg, finishing with a sword swing forwards.
  • Forward Tilt: Cloud swings his sword forwards.
  • Up Tilt: Cloud swings his sword overhead.
  • Down Tilt: Cloud slides forwards across the ground with his legs extended for a kick.
  • Dash Attack: Cloud slams forth with the entire edge of the blade.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash: Cloud rapidly slashes the sword three times in front of himself.
  • Up Smash: Cloud swings the sword upwards, hitting in front of and above himself. You can press Up Smash again to go down, sort of like Ike and his Up Special
  • Down Smash: Cloud strikes low to the ground in front of himself with the hilt of the sword, and then slams the blade of the sword backwards; first hit links into the second hit.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front):
  • Floor Attack (Back):
  • Floor Attack (Trip): Spins the sword around him in a circle on the ground.
  • Ledge Attack: Performs a low-sweep with his sword.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Cloud swings his sword around himself in a circle.
  • Forward aerial: Cloud powerfully swings the sword in a downwards arc in front of himself; spikes when sweet-spotted.
  • Back aerial: Cloud turns and swings his sword behind himself.
  • Up aerial: Cloud slams the sword upwards, holding it horizontally.
  • Down aerial: Cloud slams the sword downwards; spikes when sweet-spotted.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Pummel: Cloud throws a knee into the opponent.
  • Forward Throw: Cloud kicks the opponent forwards.
  • Back Throw: Cloud kicks the opponent backwards.
  • Up Throw: Cloud kicks the opponent upwards.
  • Down Throw: Cloud slams the opponent to the ground.

Special Moves[]

Cloud's Special Moves
3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Blade Beam
Side Special Cross Slash
Up Special Climhazzard
Down Special Limit Charge/Finishing Touch
Final Smash Omnislash

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Twirls his Buster Sword and places behind his back, referencing his victory animation from Final Fantasy VII, while saying ่ˆˆๅ‘ณใชใ„ใญ, which translates to "Not interested".
  • Down Taunt: Places his Buster Sword on his back, places his hands together, and mimics the casting animation from Final Fantasy VII, complete with the sound effect and the green glow.
  • Side Taunt: Stands his Buster Sword on its tip and poses in a casual manner while scoffing.

On-Screen Appearance[]

Drops down from the sky and catches the Buster Sword.

Idle Poses[]

Turns the sword to his side and checks it before putting the sword in front on him.

Victory Poses[]

In competitive play[]

While Cloud was initially considered to be an extremely potent character, his results have fallen off over time with some of his strongest players either not playing the game or dropping the character altogether. This is due to Cloud's noticeably worse toolkit and flaws becoming much more apparent in the current metagame. Such flaws include inconsistencies with KOing, the shortened Limit Gauge time, his linear recovery, his ability to edgeguard being lackluster at best, and his grab game being among the worst in the game. As such, top players ESAM, Raito, Tsu, Leffen, and Armada consider him to be amongst the lower half of mid tier, with many of Cloud's top players agreeing that he belongs there.

However, VoiD has noted that Cloud has had some success at top level and that he should be closer to the middle of high tier. Furthermore, Cloud has received noteworthy buffs in update 7.0.0 changing Cloud's overall perception for the better, so much so that almost every other professional now considers Cloud to be a solid high tier. Cloud also has a pretty good matchup spread, performing fairly well or at least going even against most top and high tier characters, such as Mario, Mr. Game and Watch, Peach, Yoshi, Zero Suit Samus, Ness, Snake, Palutena, and Sonic. While it is still widely agreed that Cloud is worse than he was in 3DS/Wii U, he has remained as a fairly popular character and continues to achieve great results, with Sparg0 doing incredibly well using the character as a secondary post-pandemic, with wins on Maister, Jakal, Riddles, IcyMist and Lui$.

Because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic caused most tournament play to shift to an online setting, Cloud had a stronger presence in the Wi-Fi meta, with many Cloud players performing well in online tournaments, such as The Quarantine Series and other regionals. Kola, Sparg0, and MkLeo have demonstrated Cloud's viability in that spectrum.

Classic Mode: A Ride? Not Interested.[]

All of Cloud's battles are done on vehicle stages. This is a reference to the fact that he usually suffers from motion sickness. His song in the credits is "Fight On!", the main boss battle theme from Final Fantasy VII.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Toon Link Spirit Train Full Steam Ahead
2 Fox and Falco Corneria Main Theme - Star Fox 64 (Brawl) Falco being on this stage is a reference to his unlock battles in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
3 Meta Knight Halberd Meta Knight's Revenge
4 Mario, Yoshi, and Peach Rainbow Cruise Slide
5 Captain Falcon Big Blue Big Blue
6 Wolf Lylat Cruise Space Armada This is a reference to Wolf's battle in the Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand On Intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle.

Role in World of Light[]

Although Cloud does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Cloud was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is unlocked in the Sacred Land sub-area in the Realm of Darkness, guarding the Master Sword required to dispel the darkness clouding the top part of the land which makes up the Triforce of Power after Sonic has been awakened, making his unlocking mandatory.

In Sephiroth's reveal trailer, Cloud is seen in his Advent Children design (specifically the P6 variant as indicated by the ribbon on his left arm) with the other fighters trying to fend off Galeem. When Sephiroth arrives and disposes of Galeem, Cloud recognizes him, and later fights him one-on-one in a manner similar to their final battle in Advent Children. After hitting Sephiroth with Omnislash Ver. 5, he and Sephiroth have an exchange - word-for-word from Advent Children - before Sephiroth transforms into Safer Sephiroth as a prelude to his own Final Smash.

Palette Swaps[]

Cloud Palette (SSBU)

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Before the release of Sephiroth, Cloud was the only character to remain fully voiced by a Japanese voice actor in Ultimate, as Marth and Roy received English voices during the transition from 3DS and Wii U to Ultimate.

External links[]

Smash Ultimate logo glow  ยท Fighters
Veterans Bayonetta  ยท Bowser  ยท Bowser Jr.  ยท Captain Falcon  ยท Cloud  ยท Corrin  ยท Dark Pit  ยท Diddy Kong  ยท Donkey Kong  ยท Dr. Mario  ยท Duck Hunt  ยท Falco  ยท Fox  ยท Ganondorf  ยท Greninja  ยท Ice Climbers  ยท Ike  ยท Jigglypuff  ยท King Dedede  ยท Kirby  ยท Link  ยท Little Mac  ยท Lucas  ยท Lucario  ยท Lucina  ยท Luigi  ยท Mario  ยท Marth  ยท Mega Man  ยท Meta Knight  ยท Mewtwo  ยท Mii Fighters (Mii Brawler  ยท Mii Gunner  ยท Mii Swordfighter)  ยท Mr. Game & Watch  ยท Ness  ยท Olimar  ยท Pac-Man  ยท Palutena  ยท Peach  ยท Pichu  ยท Pikachu  ยท Pit  ยท Pokรฉmon Trainer (Charizard  ยท Ivysaur  ยท Squirtle)  ยท R.O.B.  ยท Robin  ยท Rosalina & Luma  ยท Roy  ยท Ryu  ยท Samus  ยท Sheik  ยท Shulk  ยท Snake  ยท Sonic  ยท Toon Link  ยท Villager  ยท Wario  ยท Wii Fit Trainer  ยท Wolf  ยท Yoshi  ยท Young Link  ยท Zelda  ยท Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie  ยท Byleth  ยท Chrom  ยท Daisy  ยท Dark Samus  ยท Hero  ยท Incineroar  ยท Inkling  ยท Isabelle  ยท Joker  ยท Kazuya  ยท Ken  ยท King K. Rool  ยท Min Min  ยท Piranha Plant  ยท Pyra/Mythra  ยท Richter  ยท Ridley  ยท Sephiroth  ยท Simon  ยท Sora  ยท Steve  ยท Terry
FinalFantasySymbol Final Fantasy universe
Characters Cloud Strife (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Sephiroth (Ultimate)
Side Characters Mii Fighter Costumes Chocobo  ยท Tifa Lockhart  ยท Aerith Gainsborough  ยท Barret Wallace
Stage Hazards Bahamut ZERO  ยท Ifrit  ยท Leviathan  ยท Odin  ยท Ramuh
Stages Midgar  ยท Northern Cave
Music List of Music (Final Fantasy VII)
Collectibles Trophies 3DS Trophies  ยท Wii U Trophies
Spirits List of spirits (Final Fantasy series)
Related universe Kingdom Hearts
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