History Sandbox / FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridgedMainCharacters

* {{BFS}}: His iconic Buster Sword, the impracticality of which is lampshaded in episode 10.
* BottledHeroicResolve: Does some drugs to get into the right mindset to get DisguisedInDrag and save Tifa. Unfortunately, they make him so loopy that he wastes two hours in the changing booth and comes down before going in.
* BrokenPedestal: Cloud was a total {{Fanboy}} of Sephiroth, and aspired to join SOLDIER because of him. [[spoiler:That is until Sephiroth went insane and slaughtered everyone in Nibelheim, including Cloud's mother, which he rubbed in his face.]]

* ChildhoodFriends: True to the source material, Tifa and Cloud are childhood friends, though here they're VitriolicBestBuds seeing how Tifa took advantage of Cloud as a kid to make him do stupid stuff for her.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He's a [[LoserProtagonist wimpy]], [[SmallNameBigEgo self-important]], [[LackOfEmpathy insensitive]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screw-up]] who's guaranteed to get on ''somebody's'' nerves--particularly one of his party members--in pretty much every episode he's in. The main reason the rest of AVALANCHE sticks around him is because they take him for a [[TheStoolPigeon Lacerated Larry]] who won't stand a chance avoiding Shinra's police.

[[folder:Aerith/Aeris Gainsborough]]

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The ongoing "Aeris" or "Aerith" debate comes up as an occasional RunningGag, notably on her naming screen, where the player flip-flops between each name a dozen times before settling on the latter.

* DudeLooksLikeALady: While certainly not evident to the viewer, he is frequently mistaken for a woman by several people. This makes it especially easy for him when he needs to [[DisguisedInDrag disguise himself as one]].

* BigBreastsBigDeal: Downplayed. She's well aware that she's very stacked whenever it's brought up, [[BigBreastPride considering her "girls" to be a "national treasure"]]. However, [[ShesGotLegs she much prefers her legs]].

->'''Voiced by:''' Justin Briner

* AnimeHair: Lampshaded quite a bit in episode 2; Barret notes that it makes him instantly recognizable from an otherwise [[StylisticSuck laughably crude police sketch]], while Tifa brings it up during her PrisonRape threat to Cloud, saying there's "so much to grab onto".

* ChildhoodFriends: True to the source material, Tifa and Cloud are childhood friends, though it seems that Tifa took advantage of Cloud as a kid to make him do stupid stuff for her.

* IAmTheNoun: In episode 12, thanks to getting his ego stroked by [[HearingVoices the voice in his head]], Cloud stops declaring himself a former SOLDIER member in favor of, "I '''am''' SOLDIER!"

* JerkassRealization: [[spoiler:The moment in episode 18 where he learns that he'd unknowingly revealed and insulted the death of Aerith's old boyfreind in front of her comes as a huge one for him, as he becomes painfully aware of how much his LackOfEmpathy comes across to others.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: He "f**ks up" so frequently that it deserves its own separate list. His friends have even discussed using the phrase "Clouding it" in his dubious honor.

* AdaptationalJerkass: Compared to TheHeart of the team she is in the original game, Tifa is a [[SirSwearsalot crass]], [[{{Jerkass}} salty]], ManipulativeBitch who tricks Cloud into doing stupid stuff for her. She also happens to be a traumatized wreck of repressed tragedy and bad memories.
* TheAlcoholic: Comes with being a bartender. In episode 15, she downs multiple shots of whiskey at Costa del Sol, and spends the next two scenes visibly drunk.
* BigBreastsBigDeal: Downplayed. She's well aware that she's very stacked whenever it's brought up, even [[BigBreastPride considering her "girls" to be a "national treasure"]]. However, [[ShesGotLegs she much prefers her legs]].

* CharacterDevelopment: Despite still being as abrasive as ever, she becomes much more friendly and sensitive towards other people's feelings over the course of season 2, as seen when she empathizes with Barret's DarkAndTroubledPast, helps Aerith through her HeroicBSOD over Zack's fate, and [[WhatTheHellHero berates Cloud for his insensitivity towards both moments]]. She also quickly bonds with Yuffie like a big sister only four episodes after [[TalkToTheFist punching the ninja in the face]].

* ArtEvolution: Her character portrait is updated in season 2 to give her a bigger mouth, eyes, and head, resulting in an overall more cartoony look.

* {{Foil}}: In terms of personality, Tifa and Aerith are polar opposites. Tifa is a crass, cynical, violent psychopath who treats Cloud like crap, but she does have a HiddenHeartOfGold. Aerith is a flighty, gentle airhead who refuses to swear and gets along great with Cloud, but she also hides a bit of a nasty side.

* HiddenDepths: Barret believes she isn't nearly as dumb as she leads on to be when she fast-talks him into a dangerous situation in episode 10. [[spoiler:As Bugenhagen suggests in episode 19, she's also not as oblivious to her own Cetra heritage as she seems, but is rather too scared to accept the truth.]]
%%* HomeschooledKids: She reveals in episode 12 that she was homeschooled by her mother.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: In season 2, her jealousy and hostility towards Tifa has grown to the point of refusing to heal her after she's been poisoned. She also shatters the party's Shiva materia after Cloud is stricken by Shiva's beauty.

* TurnTheOtherCheek: It's her creed to forgive anyone who apologizes for any wrongdoing, even something that nearly gets her killed. The only time she struggles to forgive anyone is in episode 18, when Cloud bluntly and unknowingly delivers the news of her ex-boyfriend's death to her and doesn't pick up on the obvious signs of their relationship, or how badly this crushed her. It isn't until after she's been consoled by Tifa midway through the next episode that she accepts Cloud's apology.

* {{Yandere}}: Dips into this in season 2, where her jealousy and hostility towards

->'''Aerith:''' We always invite Mr. Reno [to dinner], but he says his Turk blank-hole bosses never give him a day off, and should get off his blanking blank.

[[folder:Cloud]]
!!Cloud Strife

[[folder:Tifa]]
!!Tifa Lockhart

[[folder:Barret]]
!!Barret Wallace

[[folder:Aerith]]
!!Aerith Gainsborough

[[folder:Red XIII]]
!!Red XIII (Nanaki)

[[folder:Yuffie]]
!!Yuffie Kisaragi

[[folder:Cait Sith]]
!!Cait Sith and Mog

[[folder:Vincent]]
!!Vincent Valentine

[[folder:Cid]]
!!Cid Highwind

[[folder:The Voice ('''SPOILERS''')]]
!!Zack Fair

* CompositeCharacter: Implied. In the original game, the voice Cloud hears throughout the story is actually his "real" self that he suppressed when he gained Zack's memories. Here, the voice is hinted to be either a mental projection of Zack, or the real Zack somehow SharingABody with Cloud, but still fulfilling the same basic role.

[[folder:Cloud Strife]]

[[folder:Tifa Lockhart]]

[[folder:Barret Wallace]]

[[folder:Aerith/Aeris Gainsborough]]

[[folder:Red XIII (Nanaki)]]

[[folder:Yuffie Kisaragi]]

[[folder:Cait Sith and Mog]]

[[folder:Vincent Valentine]]

[[folder:Cid Highwind]]

* MadeOfIron: In episode 17, Barret takes multiple bullet, missle, and laser shots without even so much as flinching. [[LampshadeHanging Cloud remarks how it's possible he's still alive]].

* RantInducingSlight: When Barret is in the middle of a HeroicBSOD in episode 16 over [[MyGreatestFailure his biggest fuck-up]], Cloud's suggestion that he "[[LackOfEmpathy just get over it]]" has the exact opposite effect, sending him on a furious tirade that leads to him almost splitting from the party for good. It gets so bad, he even revokes Red's NWordPrivilages [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness and calls him a bad dog]], ([[ShooTheDog though not for entirely unsympathetic reasons]]).

* BerserkButton: He has very little tolerance towards anyone who "f*cks up" (i.e., Cloud). Understandably so, as the last time Barret "f*cked up", he lost

* MistakenForMurderer: He's suspected of going on a killing spree at Gold Saucer when multiple Shinra guards are found shot to death. Turns out he isn't the only person with a gun for a hand and a murderous grudge against Shinra.

* RantInducingSlight:

([[ShooTheDog though not for entirely unsympathetic reasons]]).

* ShooTheDog: After renouncing his friendship with Red in episode 16, Barret explains that because [[MyGreatestFailure all of his old friends were killed on his account]], he couldn't bear to lose any more the same way.

!!The Party

[[/folder]]

!!Others

[[folder:Sephiroth]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Mike "Ovarku" Varker

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In the games, Sephiroth always felt isolated from other people because of his background, but still made efforts to be sociable to his peers before his descent into madness and villainy. Here, he almost constantly agonized over his lack of direction, fulfillment, and most of all, a nurturing mother figure in his otherwise enviable life as an accomplished war hero. The result is a far more malicious and spiteful version of Sephiroth than even his game counterpart, one who would [[spoiler:singularly murder Cloud's mother so Cloud would experience the same kind of torment he himself endured]].
* AdaptationalBadass: The UI gives him 9999 HP and MP during Cloud's retelling of the Nibelheim incident, which is impossible in-game.
* {{BFS}}: His own seven-foot-long katana, Masamune. Apparently the wounds it makes can be mistaken for ones inflicted by Cloud's own Buster Sword.
* BigBad: He takes the reins of main villain once he kills President Shinra and (inadvertently) frames the heroes at the end of season 1, resulting in a series-long manhunt from both sides.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Zig-zagged. When Cloud's party encounters him on the ship to Costa del Sol, he says he has absolutely no idea who Cloud is or about his razing of Nibelheim, although he does say, "I think I'd remember something like that." However, when he and Cloud meet again at the rebuilt Nibelheim, he once again acts familiar with Cloud.
%%* ColdHam: He stands out among the series' more [[EvilIsHammy over-the-top villains]].
* CreepyMonotone: He speaks with an indifferent yet ominous baritone voice, even before his FaceHeelTurn. This extends all the way to him [[DullSurprise screaming while falling into a ravine]].
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Taken to a tragic extreme with him, since he grew up never knowing anything about his mother save her name, Jenova.
* FallenHero: He was one of Shinra's most accomplished war heroes, not to mention
%%* FreudianExcuse: His obsession with Jenova is presented in a different light than his canon counterpart.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: He didn't exactly take it well when he discovered he was spawned from the same alien life form as the Mako-infused abominations produced in the reactor near Nibelheim, nor that he was created as a tool to guide his employers to the Promised Land.
%%* HalfHumanHybrid: He's a human being who Shinra infused with Jenova's cells before his birth in
%%
%%[[spoiler:
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Sephiroth isn't obsessed with Jenova like his canon counterpart so much as the idea of meeting the mother he never knew. He even says at one point before his descent into villainy that he'd trade away all of his fame, glory, and status just to experience a mother's love.
* KnightOfCerebus: Unlike the [[ComedicSociopathy hilariously inept and evil Shinra executives]], virtually nothing about him or what he does is played for comedy, and he's had a more-or-less direct hand in making Cloud and Tifa into the damaged, broken people they are at the beginning of the series.
* {{Leitmotif}}: He has two: the first is the OminousLatinChanting of his name from "One-Winged Angel" (his iconic boss fight theme), used as a {{Sting}} whenever he makes a sudden dramatic appearance; the second is his actual theme from the game, "Those Chosen by the Planet", which plays over his more extensive scenes.
* MythologyGag: His first line ("Good to see you, Cloud") is a nod to his first line in ''Film/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren''.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: He makes his mark as one of the series' most unsettling characters with his [[KnightOfCerebus humorless nature]], [[CreepyMonotone droning voice]], and [[HellIsThatNoise a torrent of disturbing images and sounds that floods Cloud's mind]] when he first makes himself known to the party.
* NotSoAboveItAll: For all his exasperation towards Cloud's obnoxious fanboying, he admitted to liking one of his lame [[OneLiner One-Liners]] ("Sorry to ''cut'' this meeting ''short''"), and even used it against Tifa.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: He burned Nibelheim to the ground and murdered President Shinra when he came to believe he was the last remaining Cetra, created as a science experiment to help Shinra assume total control of the planet.
* VillainousRescue: Sephiroth busts out Cloud's party when they get imprisoned at Shinra HQ. Subverted when this leads to them getting OutOfTheFryingPan once they find he's also murdered President Shinra, giving Rufus the perfect incentive to pin the act on them.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: His StartOfDarkness in episode 11 paints him as a self-consciously empty and unloved man whose desire for a greater purpose than the life Shinra laid out for him eventually drove him insane. Not to mention he was partnered with an obnoxious {{Fanboy}} who'd rather [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee squee over him]] than [[LackOfEmpathy pay any mind to his existential troubles]] on the day he finally snapped.
* YouKilledMyFather: Cloud and Tifa respectively lost their mother and father to Sephiroth during the Nibelheim incident, and are driven to hunt him down and make him pay; Cloud especially since Sephiroth personally revealed how he murdered Cloud's mother to spite him. [[spoiler:Or so he recalls.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zack Fair]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Nathan "[=NateWantsToBattle=]" Sharp
%%
%%
%% Don't add any tropes regarding Cloud's personality in the flashbacks of episode 11 unless it's confirmed that they directly relate to how Zack actually acted. Remember that canon material doesn't always necessarily line up with what's shown here, and the differences between Zack's roles in the game and this series are already radically different.
%%
%%

A 1st Class SOLDIER whose voice mysteriously pops up in Cloud's head from time to time.
----
* AdaptationalJerkass: He's much more of a dick than the voice Cloud hears in the game, speaking in vague terms just because he can, and stroking Cloud's ego whenever his delusions of grandeur come into play.
* AnimeHair: His parents describe him as having better hair than Cloud, whose gravity-defying spikes are already something to write home about.
* CompositeCharacter: Implied. [[spoiler:In the original game, the voice Cloud hears throughout the story is actually his "real" self that he suppressed when he gained Zack's memories. Here, the voice is hinted to be either a mental projection of Zack, or the real Zack somehow SharingABody with Cloud, but still fulfilling the same basic role.]]
* InsistentTerminology: Occasionally reminds Cloud that he's not just a SOLDIER, he's a ''First Class'' SOLDIER, the highest rank of SOLDIER there is.
* TheLostLenore: Though she doesn't learn of his death until episode 18, he fits the bill for Aerith, who takes a shine to Cloud because he reminds her so much of Zack.
* MellowFellow: He speaks to Cloud with a chill, stoner-like monotone.
%%* OOCIsSeriousBusiness
* PosthumousCharacter: He's supposedly dead before the series begins, though given that Cloud is hearing his voice, it's unclear just how true this is.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Whatever his intentions, Zack keeps encouraging Cloud's delusions of being in SOLDIER, leading to Cloud making more of an ass of himself than usual.
* WalkingSpoiler: Though the credits reveal the voice's name before it's mentioned, simply knowing about his true identity gives away one of the story's biggest twists, namely that [[spoiler:Cloud isn't who he says, or thinks, he is]].

* BigBreastsBigDeal: Downplayed. She's well aware that she's very stacked whenever it comes up, even [[BigBreastPride considering her "girls" to be a "national treasure"]]. However, [[ShesGotLegs she much prefers her legs]].

* CharacterDevelopment: Despite still being as abrasive as ever, she becomes much more friendly and sensitive towards other people's feelings over the course of season 2, empathizing with Barret's DarkAndTroubledPast, helping Aerith through her HeroicBSOD over Zack's fate, and [[WhatTheHellHero berating Cloud for his insensitivity towards both of these]]. She also quickly bonds with Yuffie like a big sister only four episodes after [[TalkToTheFist punching the ninja in the face]].

* TookALevelInKindness: Tifa starts acting much more like a considerate and understanding person towards her friends in season 2, helping them get through their problems when she learns about their deep-seated troubles. She also softens somewhat towards Cloud despite their earlier falling out in the previous season finale, only letting him have it when [[NiceJobBreakingItHero he really deserves it]].

[[folder:Aerith Gainsborough]]

* HeroicBSOD: She spends the last third of episode 18 in mournful silence after Cloud reveals

* TheIngenue: She's canonically 22 years old, yet she behaves like a young child who believes in fairies. However, it's implied that she may have some sexual experience from her relationship with her boyfriend, [[spoiler:Zack]].
* InsaneForgiveness: It's her firmly held belief that she ''must'' forgive anyone who apologizes to her for any wrongdoing, no matter how severe. The only time she struggles to forgive anyone is in episode 18, when Cloud bluntly and unknowingly delivers the news of her ex-boyfriend's death to her and doesn't pick up on how badly this crushed her; it isn't until after she's been consoled by Tifa midway through the next episode that she accepts Cloud's apology.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: In season 2, her jealousy and hostility towards Tifa has grown to the point of refusing to heal her after she's been poisoned. She also shatters the party's Shiva materia after Cloud is stricken by
* {{Yandere}}:

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: He's a [[LoserProtagonist wimpy]], [[SmallNameBigEgo self-important]], [[LackOfEmpathy insensitive]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screw-up]] who's guaranteed to get on ''someone's'' nerves in pretty much every episode he's in, especially his own party. The only reason they don't up and ditch him is because they take him for a [[TheStoolPigeon Lacerated Larry]] who won't stand a chance avoiding Shinra's police.
* IJustWantToBeBadass: {{Discussed|Trope}} and {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. As Barret puts plainly in episode 12, Cloud is a SmallNameBigEgo-type character driven by the need to validate his own strength so that others--and above all, he himself--might see him as the badass 1st Class SOLDIER he so frequently labels himself as. However, he's so deep in denial that he ends up thrusting himself and his friends into dangers they can't possibly overcome.

* SmallNameBigEgo:

* BrokenPedestal: Cloud used to drool all over Sephiroth until he went insane and killed everyone in Nibelheim, including Cloud's mother.

A mysterious voice in Cloud's head who pops up from time to time, usually telling him what to say, or just to dick around with him.

* CompositeCharacter: Implied. [[spoiler:In the original game, the voice Cloud hears throughout the story is actually his own subconscious, struggling against the fake "ex-SOLDIER" persona Cloud made for himself after gaining Zack's memories. Here, the voice is hinted to be either a mental projection of Zack, or the real Zack SharingABody with Cloud instead of simply giving him his memories, but still fulfilling the same basic role.]]

* MellowFellow: He speaks with a chill, stoner-like monotone.

* {{Troll}}: He's painted in this light in episode 12, as Cloud begins to doubt his own strength after multiple failures against the Zolom, Zack's voice pops in and gives Cloud some deluding words of encouragement, saying he's even stronger than [[WorldsStrongestMan Sephiroth]] because he isn't just an ex-SOLDIER; [[IAmTheNoun he]] ''[[IAmTheNoun is]]'' [[IAmTheNoun SOLDIER]].

* AdaptationalJerkass: He's much more of a dick than the voice Cloud hears in the game, withholding vital information just because he can, and stroking Cloud's ego when he tries convincing himself he's strong enough to kill a monster he stands no chance against.

[[spoiler:He
* CompositeCharacter: Implied. [[spoiler:In the original game, the voice Cloud hears throughout the story is actually his own subconscious, struggling against the fake "ex-SOLDIER" persona Cloud made for himself after gaining Zack's memories. Here, the voice is hinted to be either a mental projection of Zack, or the real Zack SharingABody with Cloud instead of simply giving him his memories.]]
* MellowFellow: He speaks with a laid-back, stoner-like monotone.
%%* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: He drops
* SplitPersonality: [[spoiler:Assuming he's not actually the real Zack.]]
%%* {{Troll}}

[[folder:"Cloud"]]

A mysterious voice in Cloud's head who pops up from time to time, usually telling him what to do or just to dick around with him. His true identity isn't exactly a mystery, but for the sake of

%%* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
%%* {{Troll}}:
* WalkingSpoiler: Though the credits reveal the voice's name before it's mentioned[[note]]it's [[spoiler:Zack]][[/note]], simply knowing about his true identity gives away one of the story's biggest twists, namely that [[spoiler:Cloud isn't who he says, or thinks, he is]].

!!The Party

!!The Villain

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Before his descent into madness and villainy, Sephiroth is far more pensive and melancholy here than in canon, who at least got along well with his peers. Specifically, he feels empty without having had a mother figure in his otherwise enviable life as an accomplished war hero. The result is a far more malicious and spiteful version of Sephiroth than even his game counterpart, one who would [[spoiler:singularly murder Cloud's mother so Cloud would experience the same motherless torment he himself endured]].

* BigBad: He takes the reins of main villain once he kills President Shinra at the end of season 1, leading to the heroes getting framed.

* ColdHam: He stands out among the series' more [[EvilIsHammy over-the-top villains]].

* {{BFS}}: His own katana, Masamune. Apparently the wounds it makes can be mistaken for ones inflicted by Cloud's own Buster Sword.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: He didn't exactly take it well when he discovered he was spawned from the same alien life form as the Mako-infused abominations produced in the Nibelheim Reactor, nor that he was created as a tool to guide his employers to the Promised Land.

* MythologyGag: His first line ("Good to see you, Cloud.") is a nod to his first line in ''Film/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren''.

* BrokenPedestal: Cloud used to drool all over Sephiroth before he went insane and killed everyone in Nibelheim, including Cloud's mother.

!!AVALANCHE

!!!Cloud's party

[[folder:Tifa Lockhart]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SarahWilliams
[[/folder]]

!!!Other members

[[folder:Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie]]
[[/folder]]

!!Shinra, Inc.

!!!Presidency

[[folder:President Shinra]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rufus Shinra]]
[[/folder]]

!!!Executives

[[folder:Reeve Tuesti]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Heidegger]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Scarlet]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Palmer]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professor Hojo]]
[[/folder]]

!!!The Turks

[[folder:Tseng]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Reno]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rude]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Elena]]
[[/folder]]

!!!SOLDIER

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zack Fair]]
[[/folder]]

!!Relatives

!!!Cloud's family

[[folder:Cloud's Mother]]
[[/folder]]

!!!Tifa's family

[[folder:Tifa's Father]]
[[/folder]]

!!!Barret's family

[[folder:Marlene Wallace]]
[[/folder]]

!!!Aerith's family

[[folder:Elmyra Gainsborough]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ifalna]]
[[/folder]]

!!!Red XIII's family

[[folder:Bugenhagen]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Seto]]
[[/folder]]

!!Others

[[folder:Tom Lastastaname]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Don Corneo]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Remirez]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zangan, Master of the Fist]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Choco Bill and Choco Billy]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Priscilla]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dyne]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dio]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mr. Coates]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ester]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Curtis "[=Takahata101=]" Arnott

->'''Voiced by:''' Nick "Creator/{{Lanipator}}" Landis