Weapon: Fusion Swords: Cloud's weapon is an assembly of seven smaller swords. Each sword can be removed for use, allowing Cloud dual-wielding capabilities.
Abilities: Cloud possesses above-average strength and endurance due to the experiments performed on him by Professor Hojo. He is capable of using different arts with his sword(s), as listed below.
Braver: Cloud jets towards his opponent, thrusting his sword forward, and then performing a jumping slash.
Cross Slash: Cloud slashes three times, crossing the blade strokes into a cross shape.
Finishing Touch: Cloud spins around, slashing his sword around him in an ascending assault, the sends his foe to the ground with a final, violent slash.
Meteor Rain: Cloud calls upon five small, molten rocks which rocket towards his opponent.
Omnislash: Cloud dashes forth, slashing many precise and deadly blows onto his opponent, finally ending the attack with a final slash, which explodes into a massive amount of energy.
Omnislash Version 6: Cloud'a swords disassemble, surrounding his foe as he dives around, slashing through them with each blade, then slashing straight down, the enemy exploding violently as he catches his sword.
Magicka:
Cloud is capable of utilizing the level 3 elemental spells Fire3, Bolt3, and Ice3.
He is also capable of utilizing the level 3 spell, Cure3.
Personality: Cloud Strife is a loyal, compassionate young man with a drive to protect his friends, despite his tendency to doubt himself. He has proven to be an effective fighter, overcoming nearly every challenge that has ever been thrown at him. He loves his home, and his friends, and would stop at nothing, even if it meant his own life, to protect them. Due to this, he is often referred to as 'Hero', though, he constantly denies it, almost automatically following up with "I'm no hero. I'm just a delivery boy."
Of course, his modesty isn't his biggest flaw. He tends to doubt himself at times, wondering privately if he is to be the next Sephiroth, knowing that he and Zack were experimented on for the sole purpose of becoming copies of Hojo's son. However, due to events that occurred recently, Cloud has since forgiven himself for his past sins, and has grown more confident and willing to stand up for himself and those he loves. It has always been who he is, and will always be, thus earning him that constantly turned down title of 'Hero.'
History: Cloud's childhood thus far has only been covered in Final Fantasy VII, in flashbacks. Cloud was born in the sleepy mountain village of Nibelheim, and was neighbors with Tifa Lockhart. His father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother. Cloud grew up isolated from the rest of the village children, feeling himself somehow better than them, though it is implied he longed for the others' friendship. He developed a crush on Tifa, but hated her friends. Although the two consider each other (and are considered by others) to be childhood friends, by Tifa's own account they were not that close growing up, despite the fact he was her neighbor.
When Cloud was nine, Tifa's mother died, and Tifa insisted she could meet her mother again by crossing Mt. Nibel. Cloud followed, and when Tifa was injured, the townsfolk believed the expedition up the mountain to be Cloud's idea, and Tifa's Father forbade Cloud from approaching her. Cloud blamed himself for what happened to Tifa, thinking it was because of his own weakness that he failed to save her. As a result, Cloud developed a bit of an anger problem, always getting into fights, not even caring who it was with. Yet in spite of this new show of aggression, Cloud was still just a quiet kid who rarely had much of anything to do with the other kids in the village.
At the age of thirteen, Cloud learned of Sephiroth and his exploits. Resolving to become a hero like him, Cloud decided to set out and join SOLDIER. He called Tifa out to the water tower to tell her about his departure, hoping to impress her. Upon her request, he promised to save her if she ever found herself in trouble. The following spring, he left for Midgar in pursuit of his goal, as did Johnny, another Nibelheim youth trying out for SOLDIER.
Unfortunately, his dreams are cut short. Despite his bravado, Cloud is unable to make it into SOLDIER and instead becomes an ordinary Shinra infantryman. While working for Shinra he meets a first-class SOLDIER named Zack Fair in Modeoheim, and the two become friends after learning they are both "backwater experts." When he and Zack infiltrate a Mako Excavation Facility on the way to Modeoheim, they encounter Genesis Rhapsodos and Dr. Hollander. When Hollander attempts to escape, Cloud is briefly successful in capturing him. However, Hollander manages to break free of Cloud's grip in the struggle.
Cloud gives pursuit, but both he and Tseng, leader of the Turks, are taken down by Angeal Hewley off screen. On June 28th, 0001, Cloud is among those ordered to protect Professor Rayleigh in Midgar from the insurgency organization AVALANCHE. Though he is unsuccessful, both of their lives are saved by the Player Turk. During this incident, Cloud shows off some impressive sword skills for a regular infantryman.
On September 22nd, 0002, Cloud later returns to Nibelheim, along with Zack and Sephiroth, to investigate a damaged reactor on Mt. Nibel and Tifa is to act as their guide. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed of his failure to join SOLDIER, Cloud hides his identity from the townspeople, and especially Tifa, by wearing his helmet constantly, though he does reveal himself to his mother. When the expedition reaches the reactor, Sephiroth discovers Professor Hojo's failed experiments with Mako soldiers as well as where Shinra had interred Jenova, who Sephiroth mistakenly believed was his mother. Cloud is also knocked out by Genesis and has to be helped back into town by Tifa. When Cloud regained consciousness he expressed anger at not being strong enough. He and Zack talked about Tifa, and Cloud was reluctant to talk about her.
Falling into madness, Sephiroth immerses himself in Professor Gast Faremis's writings and discovers his own dark past. He comes out from the Shinra Manor basement on October 1st and sets about destroying the village. Cloud witnesses his mother's death in the ensuing fire and rushes to the reactor to confront Sephiroth where he finds both a wounded Tifa and a barely conscious Zack. A grief-stricken Cloud picks up Zack's Buster Sword, catching Sephiroth off guard in the reactor core and impaling him, then returns to attend to Tifa. Sephiroth, badly wounded, emerges from the reactor core, and when Cloud attacks again, Sephiroth stabs him with the Masamune. But out of sheer force of will, Cloud summons previously unknown strength and uses the katana as a lever to hurl Sephiroth into the Mako pit below. The observing Turk, who does not see this, assumes Sephiroth jumped in of his own volition and reports back to Shinra to this effect. Cloud collapses immediately thereafter.
Afterward Cloud and Zack become Professor Hojo's test subjects. Injecting them with Jenova's cells and exposing them to Mako, Hojo attempts to test his Jenova Reunion Theory and turns them into Sephiroth Clones. Since Zack was in SOLDIER and had gone through a similar process, his body is able to resist the experiments naturally. But Cloud's body succumbs to them with ease and he develops a severe case of Mako poisoning. Hojo labels the two as failures, places them in a cryogenic sleeping state and leaves them in their pods in the Shinra Mansion basement. Four years later (December 19th, 0006), Zack breaks out of his confinement and helps a comatose Cloud escape, giving him a SOLDIER uniform to wear because his old clothes are soaked with Mako. Due to the experiments, Cloud is in a weak and delirious state. As they escape, Zack speaks continuously to the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans for both of them to become mercenaries in Midgar after finding out that four years have passed since Hojo took them. Zack carries the comatose Cloud around, and though Cloud takes no part in the events, is present when Zack defeats Genesis.
After almost a year of running, the pair finally arrive outside Midgar in September 0007. However, the Shinra forces finally catch up. Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself against overwhelming numbers. In the end, after single-handedly overcoming the majority of the Shinra soldiers, Zack is gunned down by the last few, and Cloud is left for dead after the soldiers see him in his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the chaos, Cloud manages to crawl over to where Zack is mortally wounded. In his last few seconds, a blood-soaked Zack entrusts the Buster Sword to Cloud, and tells him that his legacy will live on inside Cloud, before dying. After some time Cloud, deeply distressed, scrambles to his feet, Buster Sword in hand, and begins trudging off towards Midgar.
Shortly thereafter, in the Sector 7 Train Station, Cloud and his mind undergoes a radical transformation due to the combined trauma caused by the Nibelheim incident, his Mako poisoning, and witnessing the death of Zack. Cloud impresses Zack's memories and fighting abilities into his own, along with Tifa's memories of him and his own ideal image of himself as a SOLDIER, creating a new set of memories with an accompanying persona. What emerges in Cloud's mind is a reality in which he successfully joined SOLDIER and was Sephiroth's partner -- Zack did not exist -- and in most of Cloud's twisted and warped memories he takes Zack's place. Taking up Zack's plans for them, Cloud presents himself in Midgar as a former First Class SOLDIER, now a mercenary for hire.
In Midgar, Cloud is found by Tifa, who is now a member of the anti-Shinra terrorist group AVALANCHE, along with Barret Wallace. Tifa, perplexed by oddities she notices in him, requests that Cloud help AVALANCHE in their struggle. Cloud joins AVALANCHE to attack the Sector 1 Reactor on December 9th, and the mission is a success. After blowing up the Sector 5 Reactor, Cloud gets separated from the others by falling into the slum church where Aeris Gainsborough grows flowers. He then agrees to become her bodyguard in exchange for one date. While Cloud is absent, Tifa chooses to enter a kind of "dating service" with the prize being a night with Don Corneo, in an attempt to get information out of him. Cloud and Aeris, after disguising Cloud as a woman, attempt to rescue her, after which the Don admits Shinra has found out AVALANCHE's base of operations.
To crush AVALANCHE, Shinra drops the plate over Sector 7 of Midgar, crushing the entire area; Jessie, Biggs and Wedge are killed trying to stop them, and Aeris is captured taking Barret's daughter Marlene to safety. Cloud leads an attack on Shinra Headquarters to rescue her. There he meets with Red XIII, and sees Jenova's headless remains. However, the group is captured and imprisoned. During the night, Cloud awakens to find the prison doors open and the guards slaughtered. He, Aeris, Barret, Tifa, and Red XIII follow a blood trail to the top floor, only to find President Shinra impaled on Sephiroth's sword. Cloud fights briefly with the new head of Shinra, Rufus Shinra, and then escapes from Midgar on a motorcycle, the other members riding alongside in a pickup.
The group stays at an inn outside Midgar in Kalm where Cloud tells his version of the events of what happened on the day Nibelheim was burnt, with himself in Zack's place and Zack no longer present. Although Tifa knows the story is not true, she remains silent, confused and bewildered. Cloud's grudge with Sephiroth explained, the next day the group sets out to track Sephiroth down, going through the Mythril Mine where the Turks reveal Sephiroth is headed to Junon. Cloud and the group sneak into Junon and a cargo ship bound for Costa del Sol, meeting Yuffie Kisaragi on the way.
The journey to find Sephiroth leads them through North Corel and the Gold Saucer, where the manager Dio gives Cloud and his friends a buggy to assist them in their travels and the robot Cait Sith joins their cause. The buggy eventually breaks down, forcing the group to stay at Red XIII's hometown Cosmo Canyon, where the Elder Bugenhagen reveals critical information about the Planet and the Lifestream and the negative effects Shinra's drilling for Mako is having on them. When the group reaches Nibelheim, they find the town completely rebuilt, and inhabited by villagers who have no recollection of either Cloud or Tifa or the town ever having been burnt down.
In the Shinra Mansion basement they find Vincent Valentine, who agrees to accompany them when they mention Sephiroth. In the mansion library, Sephiroth appears and alludes to a "reunion" that he feels Cloud should attend. Cloud and the group traverse Mt. Nibel and go to Rocket Town, where they attempt to steal Cid Highwind's plane, only to have it shot down by Shinra soldiers. Adding Cid to their roster of allies, the group returns to the Gold Saucer and claims the Keystone from Dio. Believing the Keystone to be pivotal to finding out what Sephiroth is planning, Cloud and the group are forced to stay the night when the trolley to the park breaks down. At this time, Cait Sith is revealed to be a Shinra spy, and steals the Keystone and turns it over to Tseng of the Turks.
Traveling to the Temple of the Ancients, Tseng is found wounded by Sephiroth, and he returns the Keystone. In the heart of the temple, Cloud finds Sephiroth, who reveals his plan to call the ultimate black magic, Meteor, which will deal a critical wound to the Planet. The Lifestream will emerge to heal this wound, and Sephiroth will absorb its energy, becoming a God. Sephiroth leaves as Cloud discovers the temple itself is the Black Materia. Cait Sith sacrifices himself to get it, but Sephiroth returns, and because Cloud had been injected with Jenova cells, Sephiroth has control over Cloud, and he hands over the Black Materia. He goes berserk and attacks Aeris, but his friends knock him out. While unconscious Aeris appears to him in a dream claiming only she can stop Sephiroth. When Cloud regains consciousness, Barret and Tifa tell him Aeris has left, and Cloud resolves to follow her to find the truth behind her words.
Cloud and company pursue Aeris through the Sleeping Forest to the Forgotten Capital. He finds her praying on an altar in the center of the city's underground complex, but suddenly takes up the Buster Sword and attempts to attack her, his mind under Sephiroth's control. Stopping himself in the nick of time when his allies shout at him to stop, Cloud watches as Sephiroth descends from above the altar and impales Aeris, killing her. Her death enrages Cloud, but he is unable to chase after Sephiroth as he throws another piece of Jenova at them and a fight commences. Afterward, the entire party mourns Aeris's passing as Cloud puts her body to rest in the lake. Cloud later reveals to the party that he has been under Sephiroth's control, and may become controlled again, asking his allies to stay with him despite this.
Finally arriving at the North Crater, Cloud momentarily regains the Black Materia and gives it to a party member of the player's choosing, not trusting himself. They then find Northern Cave where Sephiroth appears and shows Cloud a partial vision of what really happened at Nibelheim, revealing Zack's presence in his stead but not Cloud's true part in the events. Shinra arrives afterwards, and Professor Hojo reveals his Jenova Reunion Theory that Cloud is a part of.
Cloud comes to believe he was entirely created by Hojo and that even his name and memories of being Tifa's childhood friend belong to someone else. The shock of his fabricated past, combined with Hojo's revelations and accusations, shatter Cloud's mind. Using an illusion to trick the party member with the Black Materia into coming to Cloud's aid, Sephiroth has Cloud take it back from them and he hands it to Sephiroth, who activates it, summoning Meteor. After Cloud apologizes to Tifa for being a fake persona, the crater begins to shake violently. AVALANCHE escapes, save for Barret and Tifa, and Cloud is left behind to fall into the Lifestream.
Surfacing at Mideel approximately a week later, Cloud has been subjected to intense Mako poisoning within the Lifestream, leaving him paralyzed and incoherent. Tifa stays to care for him while the rest of the party fights Shinra, who is risking a dangerous attempt to stop the Meteor that is now coming to the Planet. Ultimate Weapon attacks Mideel, and Tifa and Cloud fall into the Lifestream and into Cloud's Subconscious.
There, Tifa helps Cloud piece back together his true memories of his childhood by comparing their memories to find out which are true, while Tifa encourages Cloud to believe in his own existence. Restored to his true self, Cloud resumes command of the party again. With Bugenhagen's guidance, they discover Aerith had managed to summon Holy just before Sephiroth killed her; the ultimate white magic, it could stop Meteor, but Sephiroth is holding it back.
After taking their revenge upon the Shinra for all the wrongs the company has wrought to each member of the party, the group lands in the North Crater and descends through Northern Cave to the depths of the planet to confront Sephiroth. After the party defeats Sephiroth's new god-like form, his mind is sent back into the Lifestream. Cloud, sensing Sephiroth is not dead follows him mentally into the Lifestream and defeats Sephiroth in one final duel of will. Returned to his body by Tifa just in time, Cloud and the party escape the crater on the Highwind moments before Holy emerges to destroy Meteor. The proximity of Meteor, however, causes Holy to hold back its full power, until Aeris commands the Lifestream to emerge and push Meteor back so that Holy may unleash its full power to destroy Meteor and save the planet.
In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa, Cloud and Tifa build a new life together in the new city on Midgar's outskirts, called Edge, after the fall of Meteor; Cloud quits his mercenary job and takes up a job as a delivery boy via his new business, the "Strife Delivery Service".
One day while visiting Aerith's ruined church, a recently orphaned boy, Denzel, whose family was killed when the Sector 7 plate fell, finds Cloud's cellphone on his motorcycle. After Denzel attempts to call his home in Sector 7 and receives an error message, he calls 7th Heaven which he finds in Cloud's recent call log. Tifa picks up and asks Denzel why he has Cloud's cellphone. Denzel begins to cry and collapses from his Geostigma. When Cloud discovers Denzel, he takes him home to live with him, Marlene, and Tifa.
Although their new life as a family with Marlene and eventually Denzel is happy, Cloud eventually becomes insular. He eventually admits to Tifa that his problems are due to the fact that "you can't reclaim lost lives", referring to his perceived guilt in the deaths of Aerith and Zack. As the novella ends, Cloud moves out of their home and into the Sector 5 Church prior to the film.
In Case of the Lifestream, Cloud is mentioned as being the core of Sephiroth's being. By focusing on his hatred of Cloud, Sephiroth is able to avoid dissolution in the Lifestream, and believes that Cloud's memories of him can allow him to survive and eventually be revived. Aerith also thinks of Cloud during her attempts to battle Sephiroth's influence, eventually resolving to contact him and help him fight Sephiroth's infection on the Lifestream at the source - the plague Geostigma on the planet's surface.
Cloud has a few mentions in Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, a story focusing on Aerith. Here Aerith philosophizes around the Lifestream, and also contemplates her decision to leave Cloud. She later recalls Cloud's personality traits which were created by Cloud impressing Zack's memories into his own, and this conjures Zack's spirit to her. Aerith protects Tifa's mind from Mako poisoning when she and Cloud fall into the Lifestream, and when Cloud defeats Sephiroth, she helps him return to his body.
In Final Fantasy VII Lateral Biography Turks -The Kids Are Alright-, needing fuel for his truck, Evan calls Strife Delivery Service from the phone in Dr. Drake's office and talks briefly with Denzel to arrange a meeting with Cloud. While waiting, Dr. Drake discusses a book he's reading, which details the experiments conducted on Jenova by the Shinra Science Department.
When Cloud arrives, he informs Evan that if he wants to buy fuel, there are three sources: the remnants of the Shinra Company, the World Regenesis Organization, and Don Corneo of Wall Market. Evan explains that he's going to travel to Nibelheim to find a missing SOLDIER, and Cloud tells him to ask about the village at Seventh Heaven. There he speaks to Tifa Lockhart, who reluctantly tells him the route to Nibelheim. Evan explains that he's looking for his mother, and it's revealed that she was also pictured in the photograph of Gould, and that the man who gave the photo to Tyran Arde was actually Nick Foley.
Cloud left to look for a cure for Denzel's Geostigma and is infected himself to a different degree due to his Jenova cells. Because of this and his reminiscences on the past, Cloud falls into a cycle of guilt and depression, and so avoids calls from his friends.
In 0009, two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, Cloud receives a call from Tifa that Reno has a job for him, and he is attacked by a mysterious trio of young men, three manifestations of Sephiroth's consciousness. In Healen Lodge Cloud is surprised to find Rufus still alive and suffering from Geostigma. The president offers Cloud to join them to fight the trio, led by Kadaj. Cloud thinks about this, but rejects after Reno brings up the idea of rebuilding Shinra.
The three remnants begin luring and kidnapping children with Geostigma, intending to have the children lead them to Jenova's lost head. Although unsure if he should fight, Cloud goes to the Forgotten Capital after encouragement from Tifa and the Turks. On the way, he is visited by an apparition of Aerith, in which he declares he is searching for forgiveness. Upon seeing Denzel and the other children under Kadaj's control, Cloud confronts the trio for a second time but finds himself outmatched and is rescued by Vincent Valentine, who tells him about the true nature of Geostigma - a plague caused by Jenova's cells.
Marlene runs into Cloud's arms worried about what had happened to Denzel but refusing to go home when Cloud asks Vincent to take her. Giving much thought about the conversations he previously had with his friends, Cloud resolves to take Marlene home and confront Kadaj.
Back in Edge, Kadaj threatens Rufus and summons Bahamut SIN to attack the city. After Cloud drops Marlene off at the bar, where she tells him not to give up, he finds the strength to take up arms again. After rescuing Tifa and Denzel from life threatening perils, he defeats Bahamut SIN with help from his old allies. He takes on Loz and Yazoo one while chasing Kadaj through the highway, and slices their weapons (and Loz's bike) in half. Loz and Yazoo are seemingly killed in the explosion set by Reno and Rude during the chase. Confronting Kadaj the battle takes Cloud back to Aerith's church, where the Lifestream-infused water cures him of his Geostigma.
Cloud battles Kadaj once more and prevails, but the remnant absorbs Jenova's cells at the last moment and Sephiroth is reborn. The ensuing battle at the ruins of the Shinra Building nearly kills Cloud, but Sephiroth makes the mistake of asking what is most important to Cloud and how he can take that away from him. Inspired by thoughts of his friends, living and dead, Cloud regains his strength and overwhelms Sephiroth with "Omnislash Version 5". Defeated again, Sephiroth dissipates, leaving a dying Kadaj in his place. Seeing Aerith and hearing her voice, and believing her to be the "mother" he has been longing for, Kadaj reaches for her hand as he is diffused into Lifestream particles.
Loz and Yazoo set off a kamikaze explosion that apparently kills all three of them, but Cloud is not dead, merely in critical condition, and is healed by the intervention of Aerith, reawakening in the pool that now occupies the church. After helping Denzel into the Lifestream-infused water in the old church to cure his Geostigma, Cloud sees apparitions of Aerith and Zack near the doorway. Before they leave, Aerith's final words ensure Cloud will be all right. He replies that he will, because he knows he is not alone anymore.
In Advent Children Complete, the climax of Cloud's battle with Sephiroth is more brutal; after being thrown through a wall, Cloud attacks Sephiroth with renewed strength using Omnislash, but Sephiroth repels the attack and impales Cloud through the chest, and flings him into the air, continuing his assault with a flurry of thrusts, stabbing Cloud multiple times before flinging him back to the ground. Zack appears to Cloud and speaks to him, giving him the strength to climb to his feet and keep fighting, finishing off Sephiroth with a longer variation of "Omnislash Version 5".
After everything is over, the newly polished Buster Sword is moved to Aerith's church from the hill Zack died on, and the hill has a grove of yellow flowers. Denzel asks if the place is a grave, to which Cloud responds it is not; it is the place where a hero began his journey.
During the events of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, which take place one year after Advent Children (0010), Cloud is not seen during the attack on Edge (assumed to have spirited away Denzel and Marlene).
He later assists the World Regenesis Organization and Vincent Valentine in their struggle against the threat of Omega and Deepground. He leads the ground assault on Midgar, eventually facing Rosso the Crimson. He and the others eventually aid Vincent in Omega's destruction.
Cited source:
finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_Strife 
