Aerith and Zack <3

[Future Angel]

I love their story so much. This has always been one of my favorite scenes in FFVII, and after playing Crisis Core, I love it even more now.

Made this video this afternoon because I was so moved playing through it again today:

[nix]

What kind of relationship did Zack and Aerith display in CC?

[Future Angel]

It is true love, the Japanese voice actors for zack and aerith in crisis core got married in real life too

Zerith 4 ever!

[SOLDIER #819]

How can Zack and Aeris be together when Cloud is with Aeris?

[Future Angel]

How can Zack and Aeris be together when Cloud is with Aeris?

Keep playing the game and you shall see, it is sad, but love always finds a way <3

[nix]

It is true love, the Japanese voice actors for zack and aerith in crisis core got married in real life too

Zerith 4 ever!

How many years prior to FF7 is CC?

[Xanatos]

Crisis Core ends at the same point where VII begins, as for time and span of it's story, I would say one, max two years before VII, I might be wrong though, it's been a while since I played Crisis Core.

Zack and Aerith had such a lovely relationship, if she indeed saw anything in Cloud it's part of Zack for sure.

[nix]

Has to be a bigger time frame than that, pretty sure she said she hadnt seen him for 5 years, which would have made her 17.. And I'm assuming they met long before that? I always got the impression from the game that aeris and zack was just a small fling, first love/crush kinda thing that didnt last long and couldnt because of the time line..

So im assuming Zack and cloud are running around as teenagers in crisis core??

Doesn't really make sense does it?

Time crisis core more like

[Merlin]

How can Zack and Aeris be together when Cloud is with Aeris?

After playing FFVII:CC I came to the conclusion that FFVII would have been epic with Zack as the lead character instead of Cloud. (blasphemy! ) I personally felt that Cloud was a washed-up nobody that acted like a delusional crack addict. He already had a girl that loved him but was more interested in nabbing the one girl he can't have. I found Cloud to be a horrid lead and never thought Aerith should be with Cloud, even before I knew anything about Zack. Whether Zack and Aerith were true loves or just a fling is debatable I suppose, but Cloud + Aerith? Hell no.

[Heartless Angel]

How can Zack and Aeris be together when Cloud is with Aeris?

How can Could be with Aerith when only one of the two of them is alive?

[SOLDIER #819]

After playing FFVII:CC I came to the conclusion that FFVII would have been epic with Zack as the lead character instead of Cloud. (blasphemy! ) I personally felt that Cloud was a washed-up nobody that acted like a delusional crack addict. He already had a girl that loved him but was more interested in nabbing the one girl he can't have. I found Cloud to be a horrid lead and never thought Aerith should be with Cloud, even before I knew anything about Zack. Whether Zack and Aerith were true loves or just a fling is debatable I suppose, but Cloud + Aerith? Hell no.

But I saw the game and both Cloud and Aeris rode off into the golden sunset on a golden chocobo.

How can Could be with Aerith when only one of the two of them is alive?

vvvvv

... love always finds a way <3

[Merlin]

That wasn't love, that was Cloud looking for a Mako fix.

[SOLDIER #819]

You're THAT guy. The one that loved Eva but hated Shinji. You will never understand a loser's pure heart.

Also never played Crisis Core, or read the novels, or liked Advent Children. I hear Cloud and Tifa are in a loveless relationship and Zack and Aeris are up (down?) in heaven knocking back mako shots. This is why FFVII will be the one and only canon for me, where...

SPOILER!!:

it is a distinct possibility that the planet galactic punts every human into the atmosphere in retaliation for their carelessness.

[Crescent]

I assume your just going off of Crisis Core and not the main game. It depends on how you interpret it. Tifa lacks the connection with Cloud. The Zack and Aerith pairing is more of a mirror relationship and in the past. Cloud and Aerith have that spark connection that could understand each other without talking. The last thing I want to do is get into the Love-triangle debate but it amazes me how many morons esp those fangirls I can't seem to avoid when browsing the latest FFVII news, think still to this day that Tifa belongs with Cloud and Aerith is still with Zack "WOOHOO LETS DOUBLE DATE! HAPPY DAYS!" crap. If you take in to account the Advent Children COMPLETE ending after the credits, there are two voices heard (in japanese) showing a bunch of flowers where the Buster Sword was at the start of the movie and the sword now placed at the church at the end of the movie:

Tifa: "Who's grave is this??"
Cloud: "No. This is where a hero begun his journey."

Cloud has transferred the Buster Sword from Zack’s grave to the church as a sign he has moved on from everything from Aerith's and Zack’s death which he believes both were his fault.

Now 2 years after FFVII, in AC, Cloud is running away from everything and everyone because of the guilt (manifested into that (cute)wolf) he feels so deeply because he 'let her die'. In FFVII, Cloud fell in love with Aerith. He took on Zack’s memories & feelings and confused it as his very own, so he believed he's (and he did fall) in love with Aerith even though those feelings originally belonged to Zack but also at that time Aerith truly fell for Cloud Cloud, not Zack Cloud hence on their date she says the following:

Aerith: "...first off it bothered me how you looked exactly alike. Two completely different people but look exactly the same. The way you walk, gesture..I think I mustve seen him again, in you....but your different...things are different..Cloud...Im searching for you."
Cloud: "..........?"
Aerith: "I want to meet you."
Cloud: "But Im right here."
Aerith: "(I know, I know..what I mean is)...I want to meet....you."

Now...Life and death. That is the theme behind Final Fantasy VII. Some would say that death is the end and that Cloud & Aerith's relationship can not progress or continue, but it clearly shows, not only in the (fanservice) movie Advent Children/Complete but at the end of FFVII whilst Cloud and Tifa are hanging off the ledge after Sephiroth's defeat that death was not the end of Cloud’s love towards Aerith, nor the end of their relationship. Death was only the beginning...:

*Whilst Cloud is hanging off the ledge holding Tifa tightly*

Cloud: "....I think Im beginning to understand."
Tifa: (looks up to him) "What?"
(She holds on tighter and leans her head against his chest.)
Cloud: "An answer from the planet...the Promised Land..I think I can meet her...there."
(*the look on Tifa's face made me cry, like she admitted defeat*)
Tifa: (looks up at him, then closes her eyes and leans her head into him) "..Yeah. Lets go meet her."

Cloud states that meeting Aerith again in the Promised Land, a land of supreme and utter happiness; is what he truly desires. This desire clearly shows the deep affection Cloud has for Aerith, an intense longing that carries over into Advent Children/Complete, On the Way to a Smile and other FFVII misc. Also CloudxAerith in Kingdom Hearts, Dissidia, Itadaki street opening, Final Fantasy Tactics and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (which was proposed by Ichiro Hazama after working in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children HEHE).

FFVII is very read-between-the-lines, you need to understand the things that are implied, but are not written/spoken. A lot of the things in FFVII are obscure, unexpressed or possess a hidden meaning in something said (e.g..the Promised Land) or written n i don't mean poor translations and plotholes loool. All in all, Id like to end this lame but factual essay with..Aerith is just a goddamn, ANNOYING skank and Tifa is a HELLUVA LOT BETTER (see awesome sig lol) and should be paired with a MAN not a little bitch. In my mind thats Sephiroth or Vincent. I thought the situation was crap where Cloud was an unpleasant, male chauvinist pig but he was very nice, warm, caring and protective —— of Aerith but watevaarr..

[Heartless Angel]

You're THAT guy. The one that loved Eva but hated Shinji. You will never understand a loser's pure heart.

Also never played Crisis Core, or read the novels, or liked Advent Children. I hear Cloud and Tifa are in a loveless relationship and Zack and Aeris are up (down?) in heaven knocking back mako shots. This is why FFVII will be the one and only canon for me, where...

I fail to see pure heartedness in wanting to see Cloud, the angsty emo kid who's life has been a lie, standing on and taking credits for the achievements of Zack, a man who defeated two of the three One Winged Angels, and survived a one on one battle with third, singlehandedly, rather relying on a party of 7 friends, achieved Soldier First class solely on his own strength whereas Cloud never actually made it IN to Soldier, and made the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, get the girl.

Shit man, he already took his memories, his sword, his legacy, his rank, his achievements, his life, and yet you wanna see Cloud take his woman too? That ain't pure, that's cold XD

[SOLDIER #819]

Hahahahaha.

Pretty sure Zack was just some peppy kid that didn't last more than a few seconds against Sephiroth (and was thus jettisoned from the room) and got beat by 2 (or 3?) Shin-Ra soldiers. Plus, Cloud isn't an emo kid. I take offense. He's like 21, making him a proper emo adult!

[nix]

I fail to see pure heartedness in wanting to see Cloud, the angsty emo kid who's life has been a lie, standing on and taking credits for the achievements of Zack, a man who defeated two of the three One Winged Angels, and survived a one on one battle with third, singlehandedly, rather relying on a party of 7 friends, achieved Soldier First class solely on his own strength whereas Cloud never actually made it IN to Soldier, and made the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, get the girl.

Shit man, he already took his memories, his sword, his legacy, his rank, his achievements, his life, and yet you wanna see Cloud take his woman too? That ain't pure, that's cold XD

I think people are too harsh on Cloud, they don't take the time to think just how ****ed up one man would be for being tested on for years, floating in a test tube. We didnt learn about this until far into the game, so there is always the uncertainty and mystery to Clouds history (and probably why people lacked the patience with his character), he is completely ****ed in the head incase you guys couldnt gather that, hes constantly having weird dreams throughout and is losing his mind here and there and getting mind controlled. So yeah id let the guy have whatever fuckin characteristics he wanted.. And with all that ****ed up mental baggage, Cloud still always rises to the occasion and fought for the people he loved, all the while constantly fighting with the jenova cells in his body and mind, trying to cling on to his identity..

Perhaps showing empathy for Cloud will make you understand him, as opposed to thinking what you would do in that situation as it would be highly inaccurate, unless you were a lab rat for 4 years also and were being mind ****ed by apowerful alien

[Future Angel]

Crescent u realize sephiroth would kill you regardless of how slutty you look.

[nix]

Crescent u realize sephiroth would kill you regardless of how slutty you look.

Whats with the inaccurate personal insult?

Idiot..

[Rhaps]

I think people are too harsh on Cloud, they don't take the time to think just how ****ed up one man would be for being tested on for years, floating in a test tube. We didnt learn about this until far into the game, so there is always the uncertainty and mystery to Clouds history (and probably why people lacked the patience with his character), he is completely ****ed in the head incase you guys couldnt gather that, hes constantly having weird dreams throughout and is losing his mind here and there and getting mind controlled. So yeah id let the guy have whatever fuckin characteristics he wanted.. And with all that ****ed up mental baggage, Cloud still always rises to the occasion and fought for the people he loved, all the while constantly fighting with the jenova cells in his body and mind, trying to cling on to his identity..

Perhaps showing empathy for Cloud will make you understand him, as opposed to thinking what you would do in that situation as it would be highly inaccurate, unless you were a lab rat for 4 years also and were being mind ****ed by apowerful alien

This is what I've been screaming, although most everyone in this thread had made a good point. Cloud isn't doing anything intentionally; what were Zack's last words to him?

"You'll be my living legacy."

Now, most people would just take this as "Oh, I should spread his legend around and do my best to be like him," but since Cloud has woken up from a coma while his brain is still not able to completely grasp anything going on, he interprets it as "I'll be you, reborn." Then FFVII happens.

So although Cloud does make a pretty poor Zack, he never meant any harm in it. That's why he was such a broody bastard in Advent Children; he felt he had failed his promise to Zack, and by proxy, had failed everyone he knew and loved.

[Crescent]

Crescent u realize sephiroth would kill you regardless of how slutty you look.

DAFUQ?!

@Nix

LOVE YOU!! XX XD

I think people are too harsh on Cloud, they don't take the time to think just how ****ed up one man would be for being tested on for years, floating in a test tube. We didnt learn about this until far into the game, so there is always the uncertainty and mystery to Clouds history (and probably why people lacked the patience with his character), he is completely ****ed in the head incase you guys couldnt gather that, hes constantly having weird dreams throughout and is losing his mind here and there and getting mind controlled. So yeah id let the guy have whatever fuckin characteristics he wanted.. And with all that ****ed up mental baggage, Cloud still always rises to the occasion and fought for the people he loved, all the while constantly fighting with the jenova cells in his body and mind, trying to cling on to his identity..

Perhaps showing empathy for Cloud will make you understand him, as opposed to thinking what you would do in that situation as it would be highly inaccurate, unless you were a lab rat for 4 years also and were being mind ****ed by apowerful alien

I completely agree with everything! Please don't get me wrong I LOVE Cloud, I believe he's the best protagonist in FF n if ppl are to compare the two which isn't really necessary I think, I'll always prefer him over Zack, I just don't feel so nice about bout him just whenever Tifa's concerned

[Merlin]

I believe that was in reference to you calling Aerith an "annoying skank". Grammar fail.

[SOLDIER #819]

In FFVII, everyone loves a skank. Even Sephiroth couldn't help running her through. It just proves how great she is.

[Crescent]

I believe that was in reference to you calling Aerith an "annoying skank". Grammar fail.

..And I still stand by that ha.

[nix]

I didn't know moderating meant making up excuses for people, I'd have been warned in a heart beat..

[Heartless Angel]

I think people are too harsh on Cloud, they don't take the time to think just how ****ed up one man would be for being tested on for years, floating in a test tube. We didnt learn about this until far into the game, so there is always the uncertainty and mystery to Clouds history (and probably why people lacked the patience with his character), he is completely ****ed in the head incase you guys couldnt gather that, hes constantly having weird dreams throughout and is losing his mind here and there and getting mind controlled. So yeah id let the guy have whatever fuckin characteristics he wanted.. And with all that ****ed up mental baggage, Cloud still always rises to the occasion and fought for the people he loved, all the while constantly fighting with the jenova cells in his body and mind, trying to cling on to his identity..

Meanwhile, Zach who underwent the same experimentation over the same course of time, got out, snapped back into reality like it was nothing, and dragged Cloud's comatose ass across two continents, and fought off an army to save him. Yes, an ARMY Soldier #819, not 3 men. An ARMY. And he was weakened by the experiments, he was aware that he was weakened and didn't stand a chance, yet he hid Cloud, and challenged the ARMY by himself.

Perhaps showing empathy for Cloud will make you understand him, as opposed to thinking what you would do in that situation as it would be highly inaccurate, unless you were a lab rat for 4 years also and were being mind ****ed by apowerful alien

I dunno, it didn't seem to bother Zack at all. And Sephiroth didn't start working his magic until the events of VII began, long after Cloud went cuckoo for cocoa puffs and started pretending to be Zack (we saw him identify himself as Soldier First Class, the rank Zack earned, long before we encountered Sephiroth), likely due to trying to suppress traumatic memories, again, memories Zack also had, and didn't give two shits about because he was busy fighting to save himself, his friend, and to return to his girl. I should also point out, Zack's the one who held out hope of escape and ended up breaking the two of them out of Hojo's lab in the first place. And while we're talking about traumatic events, let's look at Zack's life.

He experienced an actual WAR, didn't give a ****. It looked like he was enjoying it actually.

He discovered his mentor and best friend is a monster, and is forced to kill him with his own two hands. Cried for a while, moved on with his life, living on for Angeal as well as himself. And note, he knew the difference between himself and Angeal in spite of this. And unlike Cloud, who just happened to find Zack's body after everything was over, Zack had to kill Angeal himself.

Watched Sephiroth, a friend descend into madness and become an enemy. Didn't give a shit, fought him head on at full power without hesitation. Lost, sure, but survived, and wore him down so Cloud could sneak up on him and stab him in the back like a pansy.

He had to fight Cissnei, a friend, after he'd been labeled a target due to Hojo's experiments. Betrayed by the organization he'd worked and bled for. Didn't give a shit. Kept a smile on his face for Cloud's sake.

The man even DIED with a smile on his face, knowing he'd die so close to home, but just not making it.

Zack had an inner strength that Cloud could never match. He was a better Soldier, and a better man.

[SOLDIER #819]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...S3sg9es#t=232s

Something doesn't sync up friend. Though I was aware of how much more competent Zack was in Crisis Core. Though perhaps not so much in Last Order.

I don't mind that Zack is a better hero than Cloud. Zack is legit. Cloud's just an imitator with a weak psyche, but that's what I like about him. It makes him a more interesting character, and (though it shouldn't matter at this point) he ends up redeeming himself both in the past and present. He does what he can given who he is.

AND OBVIOUSLY, HE'S A MUCH BETTER MATCH FOR AERIS. Even after death, their souls cry out to one another. Awww.

Time to write me some fanfic/head canon.

[nix]

Skip to the end, He got shot by one shinra, like a dawg..

Cloud didnt Stab Seph in the back, and he also tried to stop Seph escaping, unarmed and then over powered him with a sword through his body lifted him up with the wrong end of the sword and hurled him into the mako reactor..

Yeah, what a puss Cloud is


Skip to 3:20 and 6:30

The whole Crisis core is composed by a completely different team and their sloppyness in the story telling shows in regards to the correlation of the two games, they boosted Zack up more to make sales =/

Cant have your character be crap at fighting can we? Wouldnt be a good game

Also, Cloud was the one who defeated Sephiroth, perhaps they experimented on him more because of this? who knows!

[Heartless Angel]

[HD] Secret Scene ~ Zack&#39;s Death! ~ Final Fantasy VII ~ "Cloud&#39;s Flashback" - YouTube

Something doesn't sync up friend.

Skip to the end, He got shot by one shinra, like a dawg..

The three soldiers seen were just the ones who finished him off. Naturally that wouldn't all be in Cloud's memory, because he spent 90% of that battle hiding behind a rock barely concious while Zack guarded him with his life.

Cloud didnt Stab Seph in the back, and he also tried to stop Seph escaping, unarmed and then over powered him with a sword through his body lifted him up with the wrong end of the sword and hurled him into the mako reactor..

Yeah, what a puss Cloud is

In fact, he did. After Zack fought him, in what was actually a series of two boss fights.



Incredible, he managed to overpower a man who'd just gone two rounds with Zack, and was impaled from behind by the buster sword. And in spite of this, he still ended up in just as bad a shape as the guy who just went two rounds with him in a fair fight.

Call Crisis core whatever you like, it's still a part of the FFVII canon, the fact that it makes Cloud look like even more of a pansy little bitch than he already did doesn't make it any less valid.

[nix]

I consider it less valid as it was created to just make money, the very existence of it wobbles the foundations of the FF7 world/story.

And Cloud defeats Seph multiple times and Jenova and the Turks and Shinra and the Weapons, **** me Zack aint got shit on Cloud

Plus Zack died outside Midgar, nowhere near home =/

Perhaps Cloud was having a bad mako trip and was coming down badly and Zack was still buzzing, having an imaginary battle against 1000 soldiers in the space of 3 seconds, heck as long as were assuming and making shit up lets go hog wild no?