One of the most iconic figures in modern role-playing, Final Fantasy's Cloud Strife cuts a very distinctive figure, largely due to a combination of spiky blond hair and his ridiculously huge Buster sword. These features set him apart. They also make him ridiculously easy to twist into whatever form the fan artist so desires.
Like a girl. Or a bunny. Hell, maybe even a girl bunny; I didn't check.
I was originally planning on doing a fan art article featuring the entire cast of Final Fantasy VII, but the sheer number of alternate-reality Clouds floating about the fan art sky gave me pause. Well, that and the fact that the armed-and-dangerous Barret Wallace doesn't get enough fan art love.
So instead I bring you the many faces of Cloud Strife, because the six faces of Cloud Strife sounded much less impressive.
Cloud Strife, Pretty Lady
This gorgeous creature, discovered via Spying on Frog Panties, represents Cloud Strife's more feminine side. Perhaps it's a riff on the cross-dressing scene from Final Fantasy VII, or maybe it's just some fan's fondest wish given visual form. Either way it's quite lovely.
I know somewhere deep inside that ethereal figure there's a stoic Soldier waiting to come out, but I can't help falling in love. As the kid's say, I'd tap that on the shoulder politely and see if she wanted to see a show with me or something.
Cloud Strife, Fuzzy Bunny
This adorable little cuddly-wuddly bunny bear is the pet of DeviantArtist ~Liz-Lxil. Not only does the widdle piddle-kins resemble the main character of Final Fantasy VII, his name is OathkeeperCloudSmudge. What are the chances of a rabbit looking like Cloud AND sharing the same name?
(Editor's Note: Fahey does not realize rabbits are not given human names by their birth parents. Let him have his fantasy.)
Cloud Strife, Dragon Warrior
What, a bunny isn't powerful enough to slake the incessant bloodlust I am associating with you without your say-so? Fine. How can you take one of the most powerful swordsmen in Midgard and make him even stronger? Poof! Cloud's a dragon now.
DeviantArtist ~Frizz-Storyteller is responsible for marrying these two unstoppable forces into one. If this were my drawing I'd have constructed an elaborate backstory involving a romance between the blond-haired hero and Bahamut. If this were my drawing it would also look like a stick-dragon with a star on its head.
Cloud Strife, My Little Pony
This was pretty much inevitable; ZeroChan's moonelf313 was just faster on the draw than everybody else in Google image search. I stumbled over this equine crusader while researching this very story, and not while randomly typing in "pony+????" as I definitely do not do every morning when I wake up, because that would be stupid.
If I knew what a cutie mark was, I would commend moonelf313 for choosing the wolf emblem Cloud wears as the magical image that appeared on the pony's flank once it became clear what his life's calling was. Since I am completely unaware, nice ass tattoo, Cloud.
Cloud Strife, Lycanthrope
Lycanthrope is just a fancy way of saying werewolf, but I was afraid that by having both "pony" and "werewolf" as search terms pointing to this page I would open up some sort of reality vortex that would ultimately destroy this entire article and several others with it, likely the neat ones about Assassin's Creed III.
This tasteful pencil and paper affair comes by way of MySpace user tyhiergrant16, who reminds us that there once was a thing called MySpace that everyone loved, but now it's a decaying husk that no one will ever ask for an HD remake of.
Cloud Strife, Manly Man
For all the forms that Final Fantasy VII's hero takes in the hearts and minds of his fans, to me he'll always be the silent hero, rugged and brave, possessing a strength that belies his slender frame. A strength that, realistically proportioned, would look something like this piece by DeviantArtist Gonzalo Ordóñez Arias, aka Genzo, aka the guy that makes me wish he had prints for sale. He's really good.
There are as many Cloud Strife's as there are stars in the sky, and this is just a small, likely salty taste of what's splashed about the internet for you to discover. Make a day of it! Your boss/teacher won't mind at all.
If you want to see a specific game or franchise featured in Freaky Fan Art, use the comment system for its intended purpose and who knows, I might actually do this weekly instead of teasing you all and then not following through!