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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 12, 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.
  • 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 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 preforming 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. 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

Changes from SSBWU/3DS

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 Super Smash Bros. 4. 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 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, sorta like Ike and his Up B
  • 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):
  • Ledge Attack:

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 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

To be added

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 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.

Palette Swaps

Cloud Palette (SSBU)

Gallery

Trivia

  • Cloud is one of the two characters to lack any Primary or Secondary Spirits from their universe, with the other being R.O.B.
  • Cloud is the only character to remain fully Japanese voiced 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
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Characters Boss Rathalos
Assist Trophies Akira Yuki  ยท Bomberman  ยท Rathalos  ยท Shovel Knight
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Background characters Athena Asamiya  ยท Chang Koehan & Choi Bounge  ยท Goro Daimon  ยท Iori Yagami  ยท King  ยท Kyo Kusanagi  ยท Ralf Jones & Clark Still  ยท Ryo Sakazaki  ยท Yuri Sakazaki
Enemies Pooka  ยท Bacura
Items Boss Galaga  ยท Special Flag
Music Lists List of Music (Namco games)  ยท List of Music (SNK games)  ยท List of Music (Monster Hunter / Undertale / Cuphead / Shantae)
Songs "MEGALOVANIA"  ยท "Psycho Soldier Theme"
Collectibles Trophies 3DS Trophies  ยท Wii U Trophies
Spirits List of spirits (Others)
Universe List of minor universes
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