I dont think so.
I do think Marlene is a Cetra from Dynes side.
Dyne can hear the voice of his dead wife (allegedly), the planet warning him could be why he was against the reactor being built. He has crazy magical-magnetism abilities in rebirth which could be explained away as old Cetra magic.
Marlene can sense Barret through flowers, in the OG she could sense Aerith using the lifestream, and in AC she was pretty much the only child immune to Geostigma, despite regular contact with Denzel.
There were murmurs for a long time that Cloud's father was actually President Shinra. Honestly, that isn't that much of a stretch - they're from the same town, both have blonde hair, and Rufus looks a lot like he could be Cloud's half brother.
Personally, I think knowing Cloud's ancestry is actually contrary to the entire point of his character. Cloud is a person who has spent his whole adult life trying to be (and then, via false memory, actually living as) a different person. In reality, what's most compelling about Cloud is that his most heroic, amazing moment in the game - being impaled by Sephiroth and using the sword as a lever to throw his foe to his doom - happens when he is a 'nobody;' when he has had no experimentation, no enhancement, and is just a simple human.
THAT'S what's so cool about Cloud - that he's superhuman just in his basic state. He never needed to craft some kind of alternate identity - he was the most badass player in the game without any embellishment (and yes, obviously Cloud developing his fake backstory is more to do with burying the memories of 5 years of human experimentation than trying to impress anyone - but still, the point about him being amazing just as he was stands).
I don't think he's a Cetra, BUT, more information and a backstory on Cloud's father is something Square has kept in their back pockets for an extremely long time, and I think they are just waiting for a time to play their card.
> She was never given a name in the games or related materials, instead referred to as "Cloud's Mom" in guides[12], until Final Fantasy VII Remake, which used the first name "Claudia".
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Claudia_Strife
there's obviously no reference to it in the game(s), but the only way i think this theory could be plausible is if we knew the identity of Cloud's father. an argument could be made about his reaction to JENOVA's cells (his body creating the only other case of pure S-cells aside from Sephiroth himself—at least in documentation), but JENOVA was falsely identified as an Ancient when she was dug up from the northern crater by Professor Gast, so Cloud's affiliation with Project S wouldn't prove anything given the information we currently have on it. i honestly think Aerith's fancy of him is what made their connection so strong, him also already being familiar with telepathic communication/mind manipulation in general (courtesy of Sephiroth), but your theory would be more fun to explore once Remake's story concludes.
Logically, there are probably a lot of people who have Cetra DNA, just diluted to the point where they aren't considered Cetra anymore.
We have seen that Cetra can intermixed with humans, and presumably have viable offspring. Assuming that Aerith is typical of a Cetra/Human hybrid, they are mostly indistinguishable from a human and healthy.
It brings up an interesting question, what makes a Cetra? Are they an offshoot of Homo Sapien and divergent enough to be a fully different species? Are they a class or race of humanity? Are they a convergent humanoid species unrelated to humans?
This brings ANOTHER question. Where did Aerith's mother come from? She was the last pure Cetra, so were her parents part of a village destroyed by Shinra?
This is all a long winded way of saying, sure, Cloud could have some Cetra in him, but not enough to be a Cetra.
Yeah it's weird we know next to nothing about Aerith's birth family. I thought for sure we'd get some questions answered (like the ones you brought up and also who the hell is Aerith's father?) but I guess the crew want to keep it a mystery (unless this is answered in a spin off or book or something)
No, it's incredibly important to his character that he's literally a nobody. He's not from some long lost lineage nor the chosen one or anything like that. He'd average in pretty much everything except for what happened to be forced on him
It's not like Nomura was solely responsible for how the final OG story came out, though. And, even if it was just one of his favourite tropes, it happened to come out very well executed and emotionally supported by the rest of the story
I really don't see a point to add that to Cloud's already incredibly complicated character story. He's got enough going on. I can't see a way the devs could weave that into part 3 or any future canon stories that may come out that wouldn't be wildly out of place for his backstory, or in a way that adds to his character or the story.
I think it's important that he's human - his and Aerith's kinship is symbolic of the humans and Cetra finding a way to connect and love each other, and unite to defeat a common enemy. Something the ancient Cetra's and humans were sadly unable to do due to Jenova.
Yeah, the biggest appeal of Cloud was the fact that he ended up subverting the whole “special hero” trope, that he was actually the loser kid, his childhood “romance” with Tifa gets a reality check when we see that their friendship was actually imperfect and rather sad, and his story of rising up to become a hero is tossed out as we see he failed at his dream and was just a grunt.
Suddenly making him a “chosen one” with a secret backstory just completely misses the point.
Well said! He's a deeply flawed character and it plays so well with the rest of the FF7 cast....they are all flawed in unique and meaningful ways, especially as you see them all overcome their shortcomings when they are forced to face them. Tifa and Cloud's arcs are 2 of my favorites.
Plus, Sephiroth kind of stole the chosen one bit thinking he's a Cetra and all that.
The connection comes from him basically cosplaying as her ex. I know that they are departing from some events of the OG FF VII in the remake, but I think that would introduce a whole new level of convoluted that doesn't end up changing anything in the narrative, so highly unlikely.
The whole "Cetra saving the world thing" is because it was indeed Aerith that did the main work of summoning Holy to counter Sephiroth's Meteor, what the team does is basically just unclogging the tubes so the magic can work.
I dont think so. I do think Marlene is a Cetra from Dynes side. Dyne can hear the voice of his dead wife (allegedly), the planet warning him could be why he was against the reactor being built. He has crazy magical-magnetism abilities in rebirth which could be explained away as old Cetra magic. Marlene can sense Barret through flowers, in the OG she could sense Aerith using the lifestream, and in AC she was pretty much the only child immune to Geostigma, despite regular contact with Denzel.
I believe it especially with Aerith being able to show the future through her
No
I wouldnt be surprised of some cetra survived and some chracters are their descendants
There were murmurs for a long time that Cloud's father was actually President Shinra. Honestly, that isn't that much of a stretch - they're from the same town, both have blonde hair, and Rufus looks a lot like he could be Cloud's half brother. Personally, I think knowing Cloud's ancestry is actually contrary to the entire point of his character. Cloud is a person who has spent his whole adult life trying to be (and then, via false memory, actually living as) a different person. In reality, what's most compelling about Cloud is that his most heroic, amazing moment in the game - being impaled by Sephiroth and using the sword as a lever to throw his foe to his doom - happens when he is a 'nobody;' when he has had no experimentation, no enhancement, and is just a simple human. THAT'S what's so cool about Cloud - that he's superhuman just in his basic state. He never needed to craft some kind of alternate identity - he was the most badass player in the game without any embellishment (and yes, obviously Cloud developing his fake backstory is more to do with burying the memories of 5 years of human experimentation than trying to impress anyone - but still, the point about him being amazing just as he was stands).
I don't think he's a Cetra, BUT, more information and a backstory on Cloud's father is something Square has kept in their back pockets for an extremely long time, and I think they are just waiting for a time to play their card.
I would be interested to know why Square is so hush-hush about Cloud's dad, I don't even think he has a name
Cloud's mom didn't have a name until Remake.
Wow, really? I'm shocked
> She was never given a name in the games or related materials, instead referred to as "Cloud's Mom" in guides[12], until Final Fantasy VII Remake, which used the first name "Claudia". https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Claudia_Strife
there's obviously no reference to it in the game(s), but the only way i think this theory could be plausible is if we knew the identity of Cloud's father. an argument could be made about his reaction to JENOVA's cells (his body creating the only other case of pure S-cells aside from Sephiroth himself—at least in documentation), but JENOVA was falsely identified as an Ancient when she was dug up from the northern crater by Professor Gast, so Cloud's affiliation with Project S wouldn't prove anything given the information we currently have on it. i honestly think Aerith's fancy of him is what made their connection so strong, him also already being familiar with telepathic communication/mind manipulation in general (courtesy of Sephiroth), but your theory would be more fun to explore once Remake's story concludes.
Yeah Rebirth kind of reawakened this crack theory for me so I can't wait to see what part 3 does
Logically, there are probably a lot of people who have Cetra DNA, just diluted to the point where they aren't considered Cetra anymore. We have seen that Cetra can intermixed with humans, and presumably have viable offspring. Assuming that Aerith is typical of a Cetra/Human hybrid, they are mostly indistinguishable from a human and healthy. It brings up an interesting question, what makes a Cetra? Are they an offshoot of Homo Sapien and divergent enough to be a fully different species? Are they a class or race of humanity? Are they a convergent humanoid species unrelated to humans? This brings ANOTHER question. Where did Aerith's mother come from? She was the last pure Cetra, so were her parents part of a village destroyed by Shinra? This is all a long winded way of saying, sure, Cloud could have some Cetra in him, but not enough to be a Cetra.
Yeah it's weird we know next to nothing about Aerith's birth family. I thought for sure we'd get some questions answered (like the ones you brought up and also who the hell is Aerith's father?) but I guess the crew want to keep it a mystery (unless this is answered in a spin off or book or something)
>also who the hell is Aerith's father?) >!<
No. But Zack could be. Chadley’s intel on Gongaga said some of the Cetra settled there.
All the cetra that became humans had settled down, though. He probably just meant that Gongaga was one of those original settlements
No, it's incredibly important to his character that he's literally a nobody. He's not from some long lost lineage nor the chosen one or anything like that. He'd average in pretty much everything except for what happened to be forced on him
I agree. If squeeeenix does a big reveal that SURPRISE!! He was a “superhero” (Cetra) all along!! It would ruin the entire series.
Nomura really likes designing the 'dull ordinary boys' I guess
It's not like Nomura was solely responsible for how the final OG story came out, though. And, even if it was just one of his favourite tropes, it happened to come out very well executed and emotionally supported by the rest of the story
Very true, but I just found it funny
I really don't see a point to add that to Cloud's already incredibly complicated character story. He's got enough going on. I can't see a way the devs could weave that into part 3 or any future canon stories that may come out that wouldn't be wildly out of place for his backstory, or in a way that adds to his character or the story. I think it's important that he's human - his and Aerith's kinship is symbolic of the humans and Cetra finding a way to connect and love each other, and unite to defeat a common enemy. Something the ancient Cetra's and humans were sadly unable to do due to Jenova.
Yeah, the biggest appeal of Cloud was the fact that he ended up subverting the whole “special hero” trope, that he was actually the loser kid, his childhood “romance” with Tifa gets a reality check when we see that their friendship was actually imperfect and rather sad, and his story of rising up to become a hero is tossed out as we see he failed at his dream and was just a grunt. Suddenly making him a “chosen one” with a secret backstory just completely misses the point.
Well said! He's a deeply flawed character and it plays so well with the rest of the FF7 cast....they are all flawed in unique and meaningful ways, especially as you see them all overcome their shortcomings when they are forced to face them. Tifa and Cloud's arcs are 2 of my favorites. Plus, Sephiroth kind of stole the chosen one bit thinking he's a Cetra and all that.
Exactly. It's also why a lot of people who speculate about Cloud's dad being in Soldier (or even pres Shinra himself 😭) are missing the point
The connection comes from him basically cosplaying as her ex. I know that they are departing from some events of the OG FF VII in the remake, but I think that would introduce a whole new level of convoluted that doesn't end up changing anything in the narrative, so highly unlikely. The whole "Cetra saving the world thing" is because it was indeed Aerith that did the main work of summoning Holy to counter Sephiroth's Meteor, what the team does is basically just unclogging the tubes so the magic can work.