Cloud is an Emo

[OzDok]

I recently played through FF7 again, for about the 70th time. And nowhere - NOWHERE - in the game does Cloud exhibit any sign of being an emo. There are certain times where he is melodramatic, or where he is sad because he has a RIGHT to be, but I can't find any passage of text in the game or any act that makes him an emo.

My theory is that a load of people watched Advent Children, then played the game thinking that he was an emo.

TL;DR - Advent Children made Cloud an Emo.

 

[Squid]

I don't think Cloud is an emo at all, not even in AC (sometimes I joke that he is though, just for fun)
I think he's just a sad guy. He's had so much shit happen to him, its not like he's going to wake up and suddenly feel good about the world AC happened after all the bad stuff in FFVII so he's gone through all of that and I guess it's still effecting him.

Then CC Came before FFVII and did you notice Cloud was a lot more innocent and happier in the game?

Its all due to his terrible life experiences that he is sad and 'emo-like'
Thats what I think.

 

[Valvalis]

I guess it depends on one's definition of "emo," tbh Really I don't think it works to apply a colloquial RL term to something that happens in a game world that's someplace other than Earth. And especially since the original game was released a long time before "emo" became a commonplace term, from my understanding anyway "emo" took off around the mid-2000s and FFVII was released in 1997, I think I don't think he was intended to fit into the common "emo" stereotype that floats around nowadays.

If "emo" just refers to "overly emotional," then I still don't think it applies, because I didn't really see him as a very emotionally dynamic character tbh. He obviously had a lot of issues to deal with, but other than being short with words and rather stoic, I didn't really get much else from his personality

 

[Davey Gaga]

He's not, Squall is.

I don't remember my life/I've been experimented on/my life was ruined my a corporate bastard isn't emo.

I hate my orphanage/I will not open up to anyone/go talk to a wall/I hate Seifer cos he's mean is emo.

 

[Mr. Gorilla]

I always thought of Cloud as some sort of insane punk in FFVII; this emotionally unstable dick of a guy with more than a few screws loose. He was unhappy, and justifiably so, but not some "I HATE MY LIFE I'M GONNA WHINE ABOUT IT 24/7 K" emo.

Advent Children kinda made him in to that, but that movie's shit and it's better to pretend it never existed, if you ask me.

 

[DoomTra1n]

He's not, Squall is.

I don't remember my life/I've been experimented on/my life was ruined my a corporate bastard isn't emo.

I hate my orphanage/I will not open up to anyone/go talk to a wall/I hate Seifer cos he's mean is emo.

Squalls not even emo.

My definition? Funny haircut that covers one eye, cries too much. talks about their feelings way too much. writes crappy songs. writes even worse and sad poetry. wears eyeliner :S. likes to cut themselves (I don't remember his gunblade going over his wrists lol). Cries for attention.

Squall, doesn't talk about his feelings that much at all. He just wanted to be independent. He didn't want anyone's help (emos often cry for help). He was just a serious guy really.

Never mind Cloud, it's more like Squall had the harder start in life.

- His mom died, dad didn't even know he was born so he and his sister had to go to an orphanage.

- He was than sent to Balamb Garden to become training for the military lol, by age what was it? 6-8?

- His sister by this point had been taken away also leaving him virtually alone. No family, no one.

- Cid than forced him into the "hero" position, and into a contract (which worked out for us all though xD)

I mean the first 17 years of his life were pretty crappy. When he opens up near the end, I'd say it was a miracle.

I'm not into the cutsey up beat characters as lead males though. Probably why I liked VIII so much. + Squall was a walking beast for battles.

 

[Dragon Mage]

OzDok, you freaking nailed it! Enjoy rep cookies~

Yeah, Cloud was fairly emo in the movie; as evidenced by the fact that he was incredibly depressed, guilt-stricken and suicidal. (Not wanting nor bothering to find a cure for the geostigma was the indicator that he was suicidal -- he wanted to die.) But then he got better.

Yay.

Happy face.

Confetti.

But in the game, he was a fairly well-regulated person, as anyone else generally is -- not overly emo at all. Hell, he even makes a few jokes in some places! Shame, AC, for making everyone think Cloud is an emo. Shame!

 

[Naoto Shirogane]

Cloud isnt an Emo. He is a Angst bucket. Squall is a Emo and a Angst bucket. Its fact. Cloud has many reasons to be sad. (Aerith. Sephiroth. His town.)

Squall. Has some stuff happen as a kid. Then he becomes a Silent non caring Angstbucket.

Cloud=Angstbucket Squall=Emo Angstbucket mix.

 

[DeusExLumina]

Cloud being an "emo" is the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of any Final Fantasy fan or detractor's mouth.

Emo, in it's purest form, refers to a person who conforms to a certain style and listens to a certain type of music, then way the terms Punk or Headbanger do. But as with those other terms, the Emo genre of human has characteristics that are applied to them.

Such characteristics are constant mood swings over nothing, acting like being depressed is something to be proud of, and the all important self mutilation.

While Cloud is cold and distant towards some (another characteristic of the Emo) he is by no means emo. Emos seem to be depressed over nothing and be melodramatic about it simultaniously, and while Cloud (in AC more than any of his other appearances) is sort of depressive, he certainly has good reason.

More than anything, Cloud's just quiet and serious and is for some reason labeled as Emo when he's more of just a classic Stoic archtype who needs to be drawn out of his shell.

Furthermore, Squall, I think, isn't emo either. He's just a moody teen with a... unique taste in clothes, but many Final Fantasy character do have a strange fashion sense (Tidus, Lulu, Vaan, Zell etc.). And on the part of his moodiness, while it does get annoying and childish at times, growing up is a central theme of Final Fantasy VIII so his childish attitude does serve a purpose.

 

[Noize]

He is emo.

He lost his best friend due to ShinRa, and his past was pretty much shittin all over him.

Not to mention in AC, still brooding over the past events, AND taking it upon himself to solve it all.

No matter how many times the group told him it's not his fault, he showed classic signs of emo by not listening and continuing to think it is his fault and that it's his problem.

 

[L]

I recently played through FF7 again, for about the 70th time. And nowhere - NOWHERE - in the game does Cloud exhibit any sign of being an emo. There are certain times where he is melodramatic, or where he is sad because he has a RIGHT to be, but I can't find any passage of text in the game or any act that makes him an emo.

My theory is that a load of people watched Advent Children, then played the game thinking that he was an emo.

TL;DR - Advent Children made Cloud an Emo.

he was emo, then he got over being emo. advent children made him emo again.

but let's not just limit the term "emo" to "wrist cutting suicidally depressed morons".

Cloud is a very emotional character. He shoulders everything on his own, blames himself for many things that are out of his control, constantly has subconscious pow-wows with himself and keeps everyone but a few select people at arm's length.

But really, I can't even personally consider Advent Children canon content. The entire movie was just a fanservice.

But I think the reason a lot of people slap Cloud with the Emo label is because he's not on an over-the-top level of heroic heroes that are ready to go all in at the drop of a dime.

 

[Rutlawski]

Hey, people? Do you even know what "emo" means?

Let's see how you could cope with things, he had to.



Off course... For everyone if a character isn't Cecil, Locke, or Sephie, he is "emo" but seriously in FF there are many features of character and the reason for them. You pretty much can't judge them in that way.

 

[Eight]

Depends on what you mean by emo. The label? Or literally emotionally drained and depressed individual, the term of which the style (the label mentioned just now) was adapted from, and added clothing, make-up, and music taste?

He isn't the 'label' form of emo, by any means. But there are stages both in game and pretty much dominately shown in the film where Cloud is depressed and shows little emotion and blames himself for everything, and basically needs to cheer up. He makes a couple of jokes in VII, but we all know in that inside he's still bummed out.

Shit doesn't get entirely solved in VII, there's still the death of Zack and Aerith, all of which, he doesn't show to forgive himself for during the game, but with all the shit that goes down in that relatively short space of time, who has time to stop and think "Oh no, maybe their death was my fault?" something that happened between the space of the game and the film since things calmed down and he had time to think. Let's not forget that the loss of a father figure may have done damage beforehand, and the Nibelheim incident which included the death of his mother.

To summarise, he's not emo in the style and culture sense, but in the depressed sense. And just putting this out there, not every emo cuts themselves, that's a personal thing more than anything, there are jocks, gangstas, chavs, even Barbies/plastics that cut themselves. It's just easier to link emo with it because of the whole emotional thing.

But tbh, don't take what every fan says to heart. People are often just saying he's emo to produce jokes and all that sorta stuff. Half the time, they don't even mean it. Hell, I call Cloud emo at times but never actually mean it. It's just a laugh if anything.

 

[Bambi]

Ehhh dont see why my post was deleted, just because it was short doesnt mean i dont think it was a valid point

So I repeat, the term emo didnt even exist back then.

meaning, that he can't have been emo, he was just introverted, brooding whatever. Emo? No

Hope that's passable for a post

 

[OzDok]

A post was deleted? IN MY THREAD?! BLASPHEMY!

And to clarify guys, my definition of emo is the attention-seeking "depressed" people who "cut themselves" horizontally across the wrist, shouting "No-one understands me!".

That's what emo means to me.

I mean seriously, if you want to kill yourself then you cut vertically. Silly emos.

 

[Shaissa]

Well if that is your definition then no one in FF series is "emo" Cause I don't think they would have anyone cut their wrist in a FF game.I mean seriously if your going stereo type emo to that, then why would you make a thread about it? Name one emo you know in a FF game if thats your definition?
Just a little fwi
Definition of emo: a type of music combining traditional hard rock with personal and emotional lyrics

So basically "emo" is a emotional person, which I think is how they wanted Cloud to be, a very emotional person.

 

[The Witch]

Ugh, Cloud wasn't an EMO in ADVENT CHILDREN. He was depressed, as any man would be after losing a woman he was supposed to protect...

Spoiler

he lost the love of his life at his own fault

(so he thought). On top of his guilt for her death, Cloud thought he wasn't able to protect anyone not even his friends who made up his family. He was depressed for good reasons. He was supposedly suffering in loneliness until he realized that both Aerith and his best friend were always with him.

The guy kinda has the tendency to FAIL. It's not unthinkable that someone who's lived through what Cloud lived through would be prone to getting just a TAD depressed when they're DYING of an INCURABLE disease, and also suffering from loneliness after losing the one they love. It happens.

Cloud, of course wasn't emo in VII. And to be honest, we didn't have the time to see any sadness from him other than at Aerith's death scene and all the times he spoke of her. But in AC, Cloud might be depressed and reticent and closed off from his friends, but he has many reasons to be. He's not depressed just to be depressed(which is what emo is) he's suffering sadness and depression because he actually has reasons to be sad and depressed, making him not just some whiny emo.

Cloud does not equal an adult "emo" man that most paint him to be. He's a man facing hardships that he couldn't handle, pushing him to depression.

 

[OzDok]

Ugh, Cloud wasn't an EMO in ADVENT CHILDREN. He was depressed, as any man would be after losing a woman he was supposed to protect...

Spoiler

he lost the love of his life at his own fault

(so he thought). On top of his guilt for her death, Cloud thought he wasn't able to protect anyone not even his friends who made up his family. He was depressed for good reasons. He was supposedly suffering in loneliness until he realized that both Aerith and his best friend were always with him.

The guy kinda has the tendency to FAIL. It's not unthinkable that someone who's lived through what Cloud lived through would be prone to getting just a TAD depressed when they're DYING of an INCURABLE disease, and also suffering from loneliness after losing the one they love. It happens.

Cloud, of course wasn't emo in VII. And to be honest, we didn't have the time to see any sadness from him other than at Aerith's death scene and all the times he spoke of her. But in AC, Cloud might be depressed and reticent and closed off from his friends, but he has many reasons to be. He's not depressed just to be depressed(which is what emo is) he's suffering sadness and depression because he actually has reasons to be sad and depressed, making him not just some whiny emo.

Cloud does not equal an adult "emo" man that most paint him to be. He's a man facing hardships that he couldn't handle, pushing him to depression.

Depression is one thing - Cloud in AC MAY be depressed, but most depressed people don't go around talking constantly in a monotone voice, whining. And considering the whole of FFVII take place in about 2-3 months at most and she was absent for half of it, Aeris wasn't the love of his life anyway. They were interested in each other sure, but not in love. Tifa is much more the love interest in Cloud's life than Aeris - even though slightly one-sided.

And you people take things too literally. If you ask an average person in the street what an emo is, it's fairly certain that they will say "Aren't those the moody kids who act depressed and melodramatic?"

Although they probably won't know what melodramatic means.

 

[Noize]

he was emo, then he got over being emo. advent children made him emo again.

but let's not just limit the term "emo" to "wrist cutting suicidally depressed morons".

Cloud is a very emotional character. He shoulders everything on his own, blames himself for many things that are out of his control, constantly has subconscious pow-wows with himself and keeps everyone but a few select people at arm's length.

But really, I can't even personally consider Advent Children canon content. The entire movie was just a fanservice.

But I think the reason a lot of people slap Cloud with the Emo label is because he's not on an over-the-top level of heroic heroes that are ready to go all in at the drop of a dime.

I pretty much agree with this post, although when i said it my post got deleted for some reason....

If Cloud just learned to trust more and confide more in his party members he would be a much happier guy than what he had become. Poor Tifa stands by him through thick and thin it's got to be hard on her.....

IMO Tifa should be the emo one, not cloud.

 

[Alpha Spirit]

Emo has to pass these two things:
1. Personality: Extremely emotional and not wanting to change his personality, ...
2. Looks: Heavy eye make-up, black clothes, weird hair, ...

So... Cloud surely doesn't look like an emo, but he is a bit more emotional, so does that make him an emo?
No, he is just a character that shows his emotions a little too much.

Squall is nowhere near anything emotional and just acts independent. He wears black clothes... So? He doesn't cut himself or anything else for that matter.