Cloud or Zack? | Making Sense of FFVII Rebirth - Part 2 | GA#33
In this second part of our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth analysis article series, we are going to find out when SOLDIER Cloud is actually Zack and when truly himself in chapter 1's Nibelheim flashback.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Greetings fellow Scholars of the Lifestream! We’re back with another deep dive into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to make sense of its mysteries and otherwise unexplained occurrences. This time, we ask the question “is it Cloud or Zack?” for each story segment of chapter 1’s Nibelheim flashback.
“But that’s easy! It’s always Zack! Why make a whole article out of this?“ I hear somebody scream from the seats somewhere in the back. Well, it’s not as simple as that, unfortunately. It jumps back and forth between both characters from scene to scene or even within a single segment. You don’t believe me? Let me lead you through this whole chapter step by step. And even if many segments paint a clear picture, I believe I can still provide value with deeper insight into why the SOLDIER 1st Class really is Cloud or actually Zack.
But before that, let’s establish the main issue which leads to this question or even conundrum. The reason why Cloud is sometimes Zack and sometimes not.
Background
In the original Final Fantasy VII, after escaping Midgar and finding reprieve in the nearby town of Kalm, Cloud tells the story about Sephiroth and what happened to him five years ago as a result of his very recent return in the form of his signature sword Masamune sticking out of a dead president Shinra’s back.
Cloud tells the tale of how he and Sephiroth were dispatched to Nibelheim to inspect its Mako reactor due to a malfunction and to dispose of brutal creatures said malfunction created.
After dealing with the issue and finding the monstrous results of human experimentation, including the name Jenova written on top of a sealed door, Sephiroth realizes that he might have been subjected to such experimentation as well, and, after researching Jenova and everything linked to it in the Shinra manor for seven days, decides he was meant for greater things and burns down the village to punish the evil humans who let the Cetra die by a calamity that struck the planet two thousand years ago. The Cetra, an itinerant race with birthrights to the planet which Jenova was apparently a part of and died with them.1
Cloud and Tifa were both present that day and lost friends and family. However, Tifa does not remember Cloud being there and Cloud does not mention Zack at all. Tifa is too confused about how Cloud knows everything that transpired back then despite not having been around as far as she can remember. So, instead of questioning Cloud’s story, she remains silent, keeps observing Cloud, and occasionally tries to start a conversation about this issue only to chicken out the last second.
At the Northern Crater, Sephiroth tells the partial truth of the Nibelheim incident to break Cloud’s fragile mental state completely and make him obedient enough to hand over the Black Materia to the real Sephiroth who is encased in a Mako crystal in the middle of the crater where his body has been in the process of reconstruction for the past five years. This partial truth revolves around Cloud not having been in Nibelheim at all and that the other SOLDIER in question was merely some black-haired dude. According to Sephiroth, having been constructed by Hojo as a Sephiroth clone, deemed a failure, and thus not even given a number, Cloud assimilated the memories of that black-haired SOLDIER and those of Tifa with the help of the Jenova cells within him. The proof for that is the photo the photographer took before the inspection team left Nibelheim which shows Sephiroth, Tifa, and the aforementioned black-haired dude.
Later in the story, when Tifa and Cloud fall into the Lifestream which erupts in Mideel where they previously found Cloud suffering from severe Mako poisoning in a clinic, she helps him piece the truth together which reveals that Cloud was indeed present in Nibelheim five years ago, though merely as a standard Shinra trooper who never took his helmet off when Tifa was around. That’s how Cloud was able to recount everything that happened five years ago without Tifa realizing he was there at all.
With this revelation out of the way, we are now ready to unravel who is actually underneath that SOLDIER Cloud’s facade at any given point in the whole flashback sequence.
Cloud or Zack?
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the Nibelheim flashback as told by Cloud to his companions in Kalm’s inn takes place in chapter 1 right after the prologue concludes and begins the same way: a truck ride to Nibelheim at night during heavy rainfall.
Inside the Truck
As soon as the scene switches to the truck’s interior, several points already stick out and show without a shadow of a doubt that the one depicted as SOLDIER Cloud is actually Zack, starting with a little detail that’s only possible due to the remake trilogy’s high-resolution fidelity.
Hair Color
The Shinra trooper who SOLDIER Cloud talks to has blonde hair sticking out from under his helmet on the back of his neck, which is a clear indicator for that trooper’s identity. It even grows from the neckline upwards, just like Cloud’s hairdo.
Voice
If that wasn’t enough already, when asked “Hey, man. Feeling any better?“ the Security Officer replies with “I’m good…“ clearly in Cloud’s voice. We could stop here already and move on to the next segment, but we still have a few more points to cover which differentiate Cloud from Zack.
Motion Sickness
While SOLDIER Cloud doesn’t feel any motion sickness, the trooper with the blonde hair does, as indicated by their conversation mentioned before.
Cloud
Hey, man. Feeling any better?Security Officer
I’m good…Cloud
Sure don’t look it. Wish I could help, but never been motion sick. Sorry, man.
The real Cloud also has issues with motion sickness, though this won’t be revealed until the third remake installment. Thanks to Cloud’s SOLDIER persona which is based on Zack, he never exhibits motion sickness throughout Remake and Rebirth, unlike Yuffie, who constantly gets motion sick. In trains, on boats, in the Buggy, in mining carts, you name it. Zack on the other hand has no history of motion sickness at all, matching SOLDIER Cloud’s reaction to the security officer’s woes mentioned above perfectly.
Squats
After talking to the other security officer and checking on the driver, SOLDIER Cloud begins squatting to kill time since he can’t just stay still, like a restless puppy. This is a key trait of Zack who squats a lot in Crisis Core, to the point of the game shoving in a whole mini-game around it.2
In Rebirth, we can go through a side quest in Gongaga where a Sonon-like member of the Gongaga Youth Coalition called Sotetsu asks Yuffie to teach him the ways of a warrior. Between the third and fourth training fight, Cloud and Sotetsu are waiting for Yuffie in Zack’s old secret gym out in the jungle. After being advised by Cloud to focus more on stamina than on strength—like Zack did in the past—Sotetsu begins squatting, Zack’s favorite exercise. However, his form is poor, and Cloud teaches him to perform the squats properly. Needless to say that squats are Zack’s signature pass-time training moves, to the point of him teaching this form of exercise to his peers.
To Become A Hero
SOLDIER Cloud claims to have joined SOLDIER to become a hero, like Sephiroth.
While the real Cloud did try to join SOLDIER because of Sephiroth, it was mainly to become strong, the “best of the best” as he calls it in Remake. He wants to be strong enough to protect Tifa since he failed to do so in the past when they fell from the bridge in Mt. Nibel.
In Crisis Core, Zack repeatedly makes it clear that he wants to become a hero. When asked by Lazard about his dream is in chapter 1, during the final conversation with a Wutaian assailant in Mission 4-3-6, culminating in his final line after he dies before the credits roll. Bonus points for mentioning it in a memory segment.
Zack
To become a hero!Zack
My dream is to become a hero.Zack
Hey, would you say I became a hero?Zack
I’ll embrace my dreams and honor!
And my dream is to become a hero!
Cloud never refers to himself as a hero, though he’s called one in Remake by Jessie multiple times and once by Aerith and Tifa respectively.3 In the original game, when Cloud and Tifa talk at Seventh Heaven about their promise seven years ago, he even specifically states that he is not a hero.
Cloud
I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. So I can't keep our promise.
In Rebirth, after the mess in the Gongaga reactor, Tifa calls Cloud a hero because when they were kids and she went to Mt. Nibel to find her deceased mom, Cloud was the only one who was actually there for her. However, after pushing her into the Mako pool just hours earlier, Cloud definitely considers himself not a hero.
Cloud
I'm no hero...
With all of this in mind, we can unequivocally conclude that whenever SOLDIER Cloud talks about wanting to become or even dreaming of becoming a hero, it’s actually Zack saying that.
Voice Expression Change
While SOLDIER Cloud is talking in this scene, he performs in a very cheerful way and is brimming with energy, like Zack. Even his choice of words like “Sorry, man“ is very Zack-like. However, when Sephiroth mentions their destination, Nibelheim, the real Cloud reacts with:
Cloud
Nibelheim? That’s where I grew up.
While we do still see SOLDIER Cloud say that line, the ever-so-slight shift in tone tells a different story. Plus, we know that Zack grew up in Gongaga, not Nibelheim. However, Cloud’s current persona has to superimpose everything trooper Cloud says onto SOLDIER Cloud to keep up the false narrative of being a true SOLDIER.
It’s hard to hear, but if you listen to several previous lines before the aforementioned one, you do hear a slight change. Listen below:
Disgorgon Battle
We are still in the same segment and SOLDER Cloud still represents Zack, but for completion’s sake, I wanted to include this section anyway.
After everybody runs or jumps of the truck to deal with the two Disgorgon4 fiends who assaulted the truck moments before, Sephiroth tells SOLDIER Cloud to take on one of them while he takes on the other himself.
Sephiroth takes charge and immediately dispatches the first one with ease while looking very cool in the process. This leads a star-struck SOLDIER Cloud to pay attention to his hero instead of the second Disgorgon who attacks from the side and knocks SOLDIER Cloud prone hard, rendering him unable to stand back up. Just like the dragon in the original game knocks out Cloud in one hit and Sephiroth has to finish the job.
Now, is Zack this incompetent? Yes. He didn’t pay enough attention and paid dearly. We also see one of the troopers kneeling down and lay a hand on SOLDIER Cloud’s shoulder to see if he’s alright. Since we know that Zack and Cloud are good buddies at this point, having bonded over both being country boys during their mission to Modeoheim to retrieve Genesis and Hollander in Crisis Core, we can deduce that SOLDIER Cloud is Zack and the Shinra trooper the real Cloud in this scene.
To wrap up this scene, after Sephiroth dispatches the second Disgorgon fiend, both SOLDIER Cloud (Zack) and the Shinra trooper (Cloud) stare in awe at Sephiroth’s battle prowess. Sephiroth is an idol for both and bedazzles them every time he does his superhuman SOLDIER thing. Especially here, since it’s the first time both of them see their hero in action like this.
Well, more so Cloud than Zack since the latter witnessed Sephiroth defeat Ifrit with ease in Crisis Core’s first chapter and during one of their missions shown in a randomly occurring memory during combat.
Home Sweet Home
With this juicy introductory segment out of the way, we finally arrive at Cloud’s hometown where this story’s genesis will bear fruit. No, not that Genesis. Go, shoo! You’re not welcome here. Stay in Crisis Core where you belong and don’t leave, you hear me?
*ahem…*
Where was I… ah, yes.
The Gates of Nibelheim
This next scene is quite short yet still one of the more unclear ones in regard to SOLDIER Cloud’s identity. Like in the original game, Sephiroth asks Cloud about how it feels to return to one’s hometown as Sephiroth himself doesn’t have one. Naturally, he’s talking to the real Cloud in this instance as Nibelheim is the town where Cloud was born and grew up in. Yet, as displayed in the original game and Crisis Core, Zack is the one flanked by the two security officers. At least in terms of positioning, Zack should be where we see Cloud stand. However, Sephiroth addresses his fellow SOLDIER 1st Class in this scene. And it’s even the true Cloud who asks Sephiroth about his parents, according to the different tone he uses compared to Zack when speaking through the SOLDIER Cloud facade, as well as the original game where that question is labeled with Cloud as the speaker.
Sounds complicated? The solution is actually a simple one. During the big revelation in the original game’s so-called Lifestream sequence, Sephiroth is actually addressing the Shinra trooper on the right, the same one who initially arrives without a helmet, then quickly puts it back on after he spots Tifa waiting further ahead. During the flashback told by Cloud in Kalm, we don’t see anybody besides Sephiroth in the shot where he asks Cloud if this is his first time back since he left his hometown. Sephiroth is also facing more towards the center where SOLDIER Cloud would enter the scene. Quite clever.
In Rebirth, however, it gets a bit more complicated. Sephiroth clearly addresses the one in the SOLDIER attire who is standing in between the two security officers. So, either Zack is actually standing to Cloud’s right here or it’s simply the same superimposition of Cloud onto Zack as in the truck where we see and hear Zack with Cloud’s visage say what Shinra trooper Cloud would have said in that instance. So, in reality, Sephiroth would be looking at the trooper on the right who would also be the one talking to Sephiroth in that scene, despite the visual delivery being different to throw us off.
Since a SOLDIER 1st Class would be most likely flanked by his subordinates, the original character positioning would make sense. Meaning, another superimposition is in play. However, right after the scene, that perspective changes because we are actually playing as Cloud afterwards. Why? Many reasons. Let’s get into it.
Exploring the Village
When running around with Cloud and talking to his colleagues, townsfolk, and family, it soon becomes apparent that we are playing the true Cloud in this section, one still in his Shinra trooper attire, helmet included. Why? Firstly, he doesn’t want to accidentally bump into Tifa and let her see the truth, that he never made it into SOLDIER. “But Cloud doesn’t wear a helmet here!” True, he visually doesn’t but did you notice that some people he talks to or who talk to him through environmental chatter don’t instantly recognize him? You can thank the Shinra helmet covering half of his face and signature hairstyle for that. Here are a few examples:
Innkeeper
No… Cloud!?Villager
Wait a minute—is that you Cloud!?General Store Clerk
I didn’t recognize you, Cloud. How you’ve grown.Claudia
Cloud!? Is that you!?
Woman
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that little Cloud Strife!? Why, I almost didn’t recognize you in that uniform of yours!Villager
Well, as I live and breathe… Cloud!
Furthermore, the photographer doesn’t want to waste his film on Cloud as he doesn’t know who Cloud is. This behavior only makes sense if you consider Cloud in a generic security officer outfit. To be fair, the same photographer doesn’t want to take Zack’s picture either because he’s apparently only a minor figure.5 The photographer is only interested in the war hero Sephiroth. While this is not strong evidence in itself, the difference becomes noticeable when combined with previous points.
Photographer (Rebirth)
Sorry, but I can’t afford to waste my film on, uh…who are you again?Photographer (Crisis Core)
I have no interest in taking pictures of minor figures.
Moreover, Cloud can optionally visit his mother who also recognizes him and invites him in. While we already know that scene from the original game, it’s interesting how Cloud receives a slight memory glitch when she touches his arm and says that “You SOLDIERs sure do clean up nice!“ plus another one when she lets him know that “You’re my son. Of course I’ll always be—“ which probably ended in “proud of you“ and was a response to Cloud’s worries about not living up to expectations by not having made it into SOLDIER.
Claudia’s first line in the official English localization has lost a bit of context as the Japanese original6 translates to “Is this a SOLDIER's uniform?“ which clearly warrants a memory correction glitch since Cloud isn’t wearing one here. Claudia most likely doesn’t know that, hence her question. Which leads nicely into the second excerpt where she reassures him that she’s proud of Cloud no matter which type of uniform he’s wearing.
But what about those kids calling Cloud a Shinra shoulder and remark on the heavy sword? Same reason why we hear Claudia and others like the General Store Clerk and her kids refer to Cloud as a SOLDIER: his mental delusion. To keep up the false persona, he needs to remember others treating him like a SOLDIER.
Some kid
Whoa! Are you really a Shinra shoulder, mister?Another kid
That sword looks really heavy.
Another explanation could be that Zack’s also nearby and those kids actually comment on Zack’s attire and weapon. But that’s pure speculation.
Speaking of, do we actually know where Zack is at in this segment of the flashback? Probably just off somewhere out of reach pestering villagers, fighting fiends and tackling side quests? Crisis Core says yes, but what about Rebirth? Well, he’s right there with the other Shinra troopers standing guard at the entrance. The driver is trying to clean off the mud from the tires, the one who sat close to the driver’s cabin has positioned himself in front of the Nibelheim entry gate’s left post, and then there’s a third one posted on the entrance’s right side. And something is indeed peculiar about him.
Although the fact that everybody in town—Cloud’s mother included—recognizes Cloud should be evidence enough for the Cloud we run around as to be the real one, there’s one more for the pile. When talking to this trooper posted on the right, he asks Cloud about a potential girlfriend and bets that Cloud is eager to hear about his. When playing through this chapter for the first time, you wouldn’t think twice about it. Now, let’s jump ahead to chapter 11 for a minute. There, Cloud remembers having a chat with Zack in their room on Nidhogg Inn’s upper floor. And would you look at that! We’ve heard those lines before!
Zack
So, any friends here you wanna see? Maybe a girlfriend?
Speaking of which I’ll bet you’re dying to hear about mine. Am I right?
Although, the Shinra trooper guy in chapter 1 has a different voice to not give it away too early. They either deliberately had a different voice actor perform those lines or Caleb Pierce—Zack’s English voice actor—was instructed to record those lines in a different voice to conceal the truth. Still, their tone, inflection, and overall performance is nigh identical. Listen for yourself:
How jumbled up must Cloud’s memory be if he has to superimpose Zack and a conversation they had in the inn much later onto a security detail standing guard at the village entrance right after their arrival in Nibelheim? The answer: very. And this is not the only instance of a temporal inconsistency in Cloud’s re-telling of those events. But that’s for later.
Conversation with Sephiroth
To finish up the day, Cloud needs to return to the inn and turn in for the night. But before doing so, he has a short conversation with a contemplative Sephiroth standing in front of their room and looking out of the window, taking in the scenery. In Crisis Core, however, we see Zack having that same conversation.
Sephiroth
This Landscape…
I could swear I’ve seen it before.
Now the question arises when this switch happens. In the Inn’s reception area Cloud has this peculiar confrontation with an eccentric Rashard Zangan, which clearly happens to Cloud. For one, Zack does not meet Zangan in Crisis Core at all and in the original game only has a brief interaction with him during the fire where Zangan orders Zack to come over and help with salvaging survivors.
To be fair, Zangan opens with “Hey it’s you!“ suggesting they did meet beforehand. But this can be explained twofold. Firstly, Zangan definitely saw Zack enter the inn or roaming around Nibelheim beforehand and certainly knows about those new arrivals from Shinra here in Nibelheim. Secondly, this scene is part of Sephiroth’s misdirection, which insinuates that Cloud was not around at all five years ago.
But back to the question of when the switch from the real Cloud to Zack happens. The answer lies in Rebirth’s chapter 11 again as well as in the original game’s flashback segment. When Cloud enters Nidhogg Inn during chapter 11, he suffers from another suppressed memory glitch episode and sees Zack climbing the stairs to the upper floor. This memory shows the lead-in to the very conversation between Zack and Sephiroth this section is about. How do we know this? In the original game, and only there, we see a blue Shinra trooper come up the stairs, walk past Zack and Sephiroth, and enter their room while SOLDIER Cloud and Sephiroth are having their conversation. That Shinra trooper is the real Cloud! It’s how he overheard and thus remembers that conversation, which allows him to imagine himself in Zack’s shoes during the flashback.
The perspective switch from Cloud to Zack thus happens while going upstairs.
Tifa the Guide
On the next morning, everybody meets in front of the stairs leading out of the village eastward into the direction of Mt. Nibel. In the very first shot, we can already spot Sephiroth and both security officers. Since we know one of them has to be Cloud—courtesy of the original game’s big revelation and Crisis Core—the second SOLDIER 1st Class who arrives late must therefore be Zack. Tifa only guides four Shinra units to the Nibelheim reactor after all. Case closed. Let’s move on.
I’m kidding! We’re not done yet. While it is true that we can deduce who’s beneath the SOLDIER Cloud facade with this knowledge in tandem with the process of elimination, there are still a few more noteworthy pieces of evidence left to mention in order to solidify this conclusion.
First of all, Cloud claims he couldn’t get to sleep that night. Too excited and too nervous. Yet, the SOLDIER Cloud we see entering the scene has overslept and barely makes it to their meeting point before their guide arrives. Either you oversleep or you cannot sleep at all. Meaning, SOLDIER Cloud here is actually Zack.
Cloud
I tried, but I couldn’t get to sleep that night.
Was too excited—too…nervous.
Our next piece of evidence is SOLDIER Cloud’s interaction with Tifa. Yes, he seems to know her and is surprised that she’s their guide but her answer and both of their general behavior towards each other does not suggest they’ve known each other since childhood and haven’t met in two years. They both sound more like two people who briefly got acquainted the previous day and one didn’t suspect the other to be their guide. That’s it. Furthermore, Zack drops the same line in Crisis Core as well.
Cloud/Zack
Tifa!7 You’re our guide?
In Crisis Core, Zack and Tifa only briefly meet on the main plaza next to the water tower and in front of the inn before the next day when their trek to the reactor begins. And Cloud is purposefully avoiding Tifa. Thus, the helmet stays on despite Zack thinking it’s weird. In Rebirth, a woman standing next to Tifa’s house notes that the latter is not at home at the moment. Which results in fewer opportunities for Tifa meeting Zack and allowing Cloud to enter her home without being seen.
Zack
Yeah. Zack, of SOLDIER. 1st Class, mind you.Zack
Why is your helmet still on?Woman
[…] Oh—did you come looking for Tifa?
Hehe… If you did, I’m sorry to tell you that she’s not home at the moment.
Additionally, SOLDIER Cloud’s mannerisms remind more of Zack than the Cloud we know. But that’s a recurring point which can be felt all over this flashback, so I will only mention it again when it’s especially noticeable and relevant to the context.
Lastly, we have the infamous photograph being taken of Cloud… I mean…Zack, Tifa, and Sephiroth. Since Crisis Core and the photo in Sephiroth’s manipulative revelation shows Zack in the frame, SOLDIER Cloud is actually Zack in this scene, as already established and beaten to death. Still, this photograph is an important cornerstone in Cloud’s story and the eventual unveiling of the truth, hence its inclusion here.
An Uphill Journey
Alright, we’ve established by now that whenever SOLDIER Cloud is accompanied by at least one security officer, the former is actually Zack and the latter young Cloud, so we could just fast forward until they’re all back in Nibelheim, right?
Technically yes, but that would do this part of the story and our analysis a disservice as there are several instances where the aforementioned situation shines through and all of them are worth mentioning, especially since most are new to Rebirth.
Ascending Mt. Nibel
The survey group’s trek to the reactor in the original game is essentially one big cutscene and the only two events worth of note are the bridge collapse with the conversation after, and the Materia lore dump at the Mako fountain. The only gameplay segment takes place within a greenly-lit cave just before that. Crisis Core boils it down even more and merely shows a series of photographs with a few lines from Zack.
Rebirth’s vast expansion of this section thus allows for many more scenes and hints at what’s really going on and who’s who, and we would be remiss not to include every single one of them.
Let’s start off with their real-time dialogue while free-running across the pathway towards the foot of the mountain. Cloud responds with “Everyone, eventually“ to Sephiroth’s rhetorical question “Who could tire of it?“ in regard to the breathtaking view around them. A few lines later, Cloud adds his two gil to the apparently boring “business trips” with “Though you do learn stuff on ‘em.“
The first line is clearly said by the real Cloud as he’s familiar with this area. Too familiar, as he had to bring back Fluffy, Tifa’s white cat countless times from the mountain after she ran off.8 Why would Zack drop such a jaded line regarding the view of a place he’s never been to before? The second line could be said by either Cloud or Zack since both have been on such business trips, but when you listen to how that line is delivered, it sounds more like the real Cloud. Though in the end, it doesn’t really matter in this case and it could be either.
On the other hand, there’s the following situation to consider. If the real Cloud talks, wouldn’t Tifa notice that it’s him? Not necessarily. Here, Tifa is running ahead and probably doesn’t pay too much attention to who says what. Additionally, before Cloud left Nibelheim at 14 years old, he did sound differently compared to now, which is emphasized by Square Enix using a different English voice actor for both Tifa and Cloud in their promise flashback scene in Remake. This suggests that Cloud’s voice fully broke by puberty hitting him in those two years he was away. This, paired with her not expecting Cloud to be here with them at all makes it easy for her not to notice Cloud’s voice underneath that Shinra helmet and uniform.
When we move on to the next batch of real-time dialogue, Tifa and SOLDIER Cloud talk to each other directly. Cloud’s delivery also sounds closer to how Zack would talk. Additionally, the real Cloud would want to talk as little as possible to minimize the chance for Tifa to notice that something’s off.
Afterwards, a few battles come up where Tifa and SOLDIER Cloud also talk to each other. There’s no point in dissecting any of that besides one line after Tifa dispatches the first incoming Velociwing9 that was aiming for SOLDIER Cloud which says it all:
Tifa
Come on, SOLDIER.
You can to better than that, can’t you?
She refers to “Cloud” as a SOLDIER and no green memory glitch effect appears. Which means she’s talking to Zack, same with any other instance during this mountain ascent where they talk directly to each other.
Further on, a flock of Velociwings attacks the group and something interesting happens. The SOLDIERs and security officers position themselves around their guide and shoot and slice at the encroaching menace to defend her and themselves. The camera focuses on one of the two security officers who relentlessly unloads unto the assailants, looking like a rookie while doing so. Then, when one of the attacking avians targets Tifa, that same rookie trooper immediately reacts and pushes Tifa away and out of the danger trajectory while putting himself at risk. Luckily, he only gets kicked the spit out of him and falls on his butt. Sephiroth commends that trooper’s courage and Tifa rushes to his side to thank him.
This very short scene packs a bunch of important factoids. First off, the security officer who’s highlighted in this scene acts like a rookie but rushes in without hesitation to protect his childhood friend from danger. This is peak Cloud behavior. He left only two years ago and is not that well trained yet. Still, he honored his promise to come and save Tifa when she was in a bind. And this won’t be the last time he does so. Of course, he says nothing when Tifa thanks him since he doesn’t want her to notice who’s underneath that Shinra helmet. He didn’t make it into SOLDIER and thus regards himself as a failure. He promised to come and save her as a SOLDIER and a hero, and he is neither. Yet, he still saves her, but doesn’t want her to know. That’s the duality of a coward and a brave soul.
A quick aside: During the photograph slide show in Crisis Core’s representation of their trek through Mt. Nibel to the Mako reactor, they also encounter an avian foe and it is implied that Cloud protected Tifa there as well. At least Zack told him to do so.
She’ll be just fine, if you protect her.
Stay back.
It’s just unconscious. Or do you actually
want to get eaten?
It’s not quite a Velociwing, but it’s safe to assume that the scene detailed previously is based on this little tidbit of their journey and heavily expanded upon.
The rest of this segment contains no further items worthy of discussion, so let’s jump ahead to their arrival at the fateful rope bridge.
The Fateful Bridge
Since nothing has changed in terms of character lineup and SOLDIER Cloud is still Zack just like Cloud is still hiding underneath one of the security officer’s uniforms, we could skip this section entirely and move on to the second part of the mountain ascent. However, there are a few details worth mentioning that come into play later in the game.
After everybody eventually falls into the roaring currents of the Gunnthra River,10 Sephiroth and SOLDIER Cloud regain ground and stability first, and try to save Tifa and the two security officers. While Sephiroth manages to grab and pull Tifa to safety11 and SOLDIER Cloud does the same with one of the security officers, the second one rushes past all of them without any chance of being caught and saved like the other two. According to Sephiroth, “he’s in fate’s hands now.” We also never see that second nameless security officer ever again.
Why is this important? In chapter 11 while en route to the Nibelheim reactor to retrieve Deputy Commissioner Murasaki’s keycard which will allow them access to the Shinra manor, Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie run past the place where Sephiroth, SOLDIER Cloud, Tifa, and the surviving security officer managed to get to safety after falling into the Gunnthra River five years ago. Seeing that spot again triggers a memory in Cloud’s mind. However, instead of just remembering the same event he told everybody back in Kalm, he weaves Zack into that memory. After being reminded of Zack’s existence back in Gongaga and remembering seeing Zack walking up the stairs to the Nidhogg' Inn’s upper floor and having a conversation with him earlier when revisiting Nibelheim, Cloud’s mind needs to perform a correction to make sense of Zack’s existence five years ago while still being SOLDIER Cloud in his own memories of that time.
How does Cloud do that? He replaces the nameless security officer with Zack to conveniently have Zack be dragged away by the currents and disappear into the abyss, never to be seen again. Cloud then claims to remember what happened here five years ago. Tifa knows that it’s not true but is still unable to grasp the full picture and thus indulges Cloud in his delusions for now. We also know that this version of Cloud’s story is not true even without knowing the original story thanks to Cloud’s headaches and the green memory glitch effects accompanying his jumbled memories.
Naturally, the true Zack is still represented by SOLDIER Cloud in this bridge collapse scene as is Cloud still underneath the security officer who gets saved by SOLDIER Cloud a.k.a. Zack. Nothing has changed since leaving Nibelheim in terms of identities. But given Cloud’s memory adjustments in chapter 11, this scene receives a different context and acts as a nice setup for Cloud’s continued spiraling into layers of self-deception.
While this poor second Shinra trooper was also lost to natural forces in the original game, we did not see how and he wasn’t relevant at all afterwards. Subtracting one Shinra trooper only served to put more focus on the real Cloud hidden underneath his uniform.
Here in Rebirth, that second security officer is actually relevant and even important to strengthening Cloud’s delusions and keeping up his false identity. This additional scene after falling from the collapsed bridge thus represents an important setup for later in the game.
Mako Spring
When reaching the Mako spring, the scene leads off with an additional exchange between SOLDIER Cloud and Tifa which does not exist in the original game. Tifa is worried about such beautiful products of nature disappearing when humans keep using too much Mako. SOLDIER Cloud on the other hand believes that Mako will never run out because the planet is so huge.
And it is this additional segment of this scene that once again shows that we’re dealing with Zack here. His happy-go-lucky attitude and naive world view paired with his gestures, mannerisms, and way of speaking practically ooze Zack’s personality from all pores. Furthermore, Tifa mentions that she learned about Mako being finite from her dad and Mayor Zander. Which means that Cloud would most likely know about that sentiment, too, given his similar origin. Not Zack, though. He left Gongaga Village to become a SOLDIER seven years prior to the reactor’s malfunction and subsequent explosion which itself happened three years before his death.12 At that time, the villagers wouldn’t have been worried about Mako running out, especially given the lush nature all around them and how secluded a life they’ve led and still do.
In addition to that, this conversation is one expected to happen between a villager and an outsider who has never been around these parts before. One that has enjoyed city life for around five to six years at this point and seen the world during his missions with nature seemingly still doing perfectly fine.
It’s interesting how the real Cloud underneath the security officer uniform is barely seen during this whole scene, making sure not to detract from SOLDIER Cloud.
In any case, when we revisit this place in chapter 11 with Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie, and the girls are in awe of this naturally formed Materia crystal’s beauty, Cloud suddenly sees Sephiroth standing in front him for a second and then begins to recite Sephiroth’s explanation about this naturally formed Materia, word for word. Until Tifa is spooked enough to step forward and interrupt Cloud’s creepy Sephirothification.
Sephiroth/Cloud: “For the mako energy to condense into something like this, it must have taken an eternity.“
Since Tifa doesn’t remember Cloud being there with them, for reasons laid out enough times before, she’s even more worried that she should be. Why would Cloud suddenly quote Sephiroth without having experienced this conversation five years ago? Again, those additional scenes in Rebirth manage to beautifully deepen existing narrative threads.
Materia Guardian
After a lot of climbing, fighting, shimmying, and Mako vacuuming, we finally reach the first boss in this game. Not only that, but also a few more not so subtle hints that SOLDIER Cloud is not who we are made to believe. When the Materia Guardian appears, Sephiroth tells Tifa to stay back and the remaining security officer beckons her outside with an urging “This way!“
If you listen closely, that voice sounds like a younger Cloud, doesn’t it? Another instance where he was there for Tifa to keep her out of harm’s way, without her even realizing.
Before the fight begins, Sephiroth teases SOLDIER Cloud about the latter wanting to be a hero. As we’ve laid out earlier during the introductory scene in the Shinra truck, Zack is the one all about becoming a hero. Not Cloud. Additionally, SOLDIER Cloud’s mannerisms, gestures, and way of speaking during this whole section reeks of Zack yet again.
Between the second and third boss battle phase, SOLDIER Cloud begins panting, apparently from excitement. To which Sephiroth calls him a “Puppy.” Who else has been called a puppy several times?
Gilian
Are you Zack, the puppy?Gilian
Zero attention span, restless as a puppy.Genesis
…Zack, the puppy.Angeal
Ever the restless puppy…
This one is so on the nose that literally everybody who has played through Crisis Core at least once should have gotten the memo by now.
Nibelheim Reactor
Upon reaching the reactor, SOLDIER Cloud tells Tifa to wait outside and Sephiroth provides a disgruntled Tifa “no civilians allowed” as a reason for denying her entry. He then instructs the security officer to keep her safe, to which the “nameless” trooper just nods without saying a word. When a disobedient Tifa still tries to follow the SOLDIERs, the security officer stops her. Pouting, she reiterates that he better keep her safe, as instructed. Still not a single word from the trooper’s mouth. Of course, doing so in a calm and almost intimate situation like this would give away his identity immediately. Or at least that’s the fear of the real Cloud beneath the helmet.
If any doubt should still linger: during the original game’s Lifestream section where the truth about Cloud is revealed, this specific scene is also shown among those depicting how Cloud had been there all along. And in Crisis Core, we know that this is Cloud from the get-go.
While this scene is nigh identical to the original version, the more cinematic presentation allows for subtle hints with the camera focusing on the “nameless” Shinra trooper and showing his facial features that differ from those of the truly nameless ones. The facial movements give away some form of inner conflict on top of that.
Later, before entering the reactor core where Jenova and those numerous experimental pods reside, Sephiroth tells SOLDIER Cloud to say a few words to his sword before they enter to deal with some unknown entity lurking inside. This English line may sound a bit strange, since nobody has ever actually talked to the buster sword. However, this line makes a bit more sense in the Japanese version. There, Sephiroth says: “If you're going to pray to your sword, do it now.“13 Well, that’s different, isn’t it? Who else prays to his sword? Both Angeal and Zack do that on different occasions in Crisis Core. Here are a few notable examples:
Angeal: Before starting their mission in Wutai (chapter 2)
Zack: after Angeal dies (chapter 5)
Zack: when welcoming new SOLDIER recruits (chapter 5)
Zack: In Nibelheim’s inn with Cloud present before checking on Sephiroth (chapter 8)
Zack: right before his last stand (chapter 10)
This reference is a bit more subtle but nonetheless a very clear hint to SOLDIER Cloud actually being Zack.
Seven Days of Waiting
In the following story segment, SOLDIER Cloud goes to visit Sephiroth in the Shinra manor’s basement twice. Once on the same night after the reactor visit and a second time seven days later. We know from the original game as well as Crisis Core that Cloud and Zack were both in the inn before heading over to the Shinra manor to check on Sephiroth the first time and in both games, Cloud follows into the manor albeit not into the basement.
Since only one Shinra trooper is around at this point, it has to be Cloud by process of elimination. Meaning, Cloud knows about everything that has been happening during those seven days, though nothing about Sephiroth’s and Zack’s conversations in the basement since Cloud is never seen descending into or roaming around in it. So, how does he know about those conversations and Sephiroth’s ramblings? Either Jenova’s memory copy abilities, which would completely undermine the whole plot about Cloud having witnessed everything five years ago without Tifa realizing that, or Zack simply told Cloud about his first meeting with Sephiroth in the basement during those seven days of waiting and recounted the second meeting sometime during their captivity or on their way back to Midgar four years later, for example.
In the original game, Shinra trooper Cloud and SOLDIER Cloud Zack sleep at the Shinra manor while waiting for Sephiroth. In Rebirth, they rest at the inn instead. Though in both instances, SOLDIER Cloud goes to check on Sephiroth again on the seventh day, alone. Interestingly, the Shinra trooper remains on the manor’s upper floor in the original game and is completely absent from this section in Rebirth.
The Infernal Night
After meeting Sephiroth for the second time, he leaves the Shinra manor and sets Nibelheim ablaze. This transition is different for each iteration. This is important because a slight change in Rebirth makes everything more complicated yet more coherent.
In the original game, Sephiroth just leaves the basement and SOLDIER Cloud—a.k.a. Zack—has to walk back up and outside while being controlled by the player. On the way, we run past the chair where the Shinra trooper—a.k.a. Cloud—was sitting and find it empty. He’s already back in town as we’ll see later.
In Crisis Core, it cuts from Sephiroth scouring the books in the library right to the burning village seven days later where Zack runs out of the inn and right into the blazing town square. We therefore don’t know what happens during their second confrontation and how Zack managed to be surprised by the sudden flames since Zack was supposed to exit the manor after Sephiroth like in the original game.
Later in chapter 8 while Zack is fighting Sephiroth in the reactor, a DMW14 memory appears which shows Sephiroth summarizing his seven-day research to Zack in Shinra manor’s basement. This coincides with the events established in the original game and faithfully recreated in Rebirth. With this, we know Zack was in the manor just before Sephiroth decided to play with fire in town.
Yet for some reason, Zack was hanging around at the inn when excrements hit the Aero spell. In Sephiroth’s depiction of events at the Northern Crater in the original game, Zack is shown exiting the Shinra manor to find Nibelheim ablaze, suggesting Sephiroth exited the manor first. Crisis Core’s depiction of events is therefore a retroactive change to the established continuity which serves no purpose and is most likely a result of cut and streamlined content.
Rebirth depicts those events more in line with the original game, albeit without the security officer present and with a new addition. Instead of merely walking off, Sephiroth is held back by SOLDIER Cloud upon which the former tosses the latter down the corridor and into a whiteboard.
This causes SOLDIER Cloud to pass out, allowing Sephiroth enough time to set fire to every structure in town and even the surrounding greenery before SOLDIER Cloud finally manages to come to and exit Shinra manor. And it is this very change that allows Cloud to justify how he was unable to stop Sephiroth. As explained before, Sephiroth casually walks back outside but still exits first. SOLDIER Cloud would have easily been able to catch up to Sephiroth, especially for how slowly the latter walks away. Rebirth actually fixes this minor plot hole with this slight alteration.
This also allows for placing yet another hint that Cloud isn’t quite telling the truth. After Cloud bemoans how he wasn’t able to stop Sephiroth due to being passed out, we see Tifa letting her head hang, presumably from being overtaken by those harrowing memories rushing back. However, I personally find this a bit of an extreme reaction. It’s therefore more likely that she is distraught by Cloud’s words while not remembering his presence at all back then.
Cloud
I keep asking myself…
”Why couldn’t I have come to sooner?”
If I had…maybe I coulda saved the village.
Anyway, why are we focusing so much on this one point? Well, the whole burning Nibelheim segment doesn’t make it easy for us to determine who SOLDIER Cloud represents at any given point. This new addition might help us solve it more elegantly.
Through the Fire and Flames
The sequence of events that follows SOLDIER Cloud exiting the manor contains many switches of perspectives and some of them aren’t that obvious to the point of being fluid without a clear cut. So, let’s go through them step by step.
Out of the Frying Pan
After finally emerging from Shinra’s old property, SOLDIER Cloud notices the inferno and runs back towards the village. At this point, we can comfortably say that we’re still looking at Zack here. The main argument for this can be found in the original game where we see Zack exiting the Shinra manor when Nibelheim is in flames before being called over by Zangan to help out. Granted, this is Sephiroth’s version of events, though he’s not lying per se. He just leaves out the important bits. In Rebirth, the same thing happens. SOLDIER Cloud—a.k.a. Zack—exits the manor and is then told by Zangan to “Get in there!” Speaking about the village entrance right next to them, of course.
Into the Fire
There’s another parallel to the original game but we’ll get to that. Now, it’s time for the first perspective switch. As soon as SOLDIER Cloud passes the Torii15 like village gate, it collapses from embers that had been eating at it for some time and buries him under smoldering logs. After he gets back up, he starts limping. This is the first of several hints that we just switched to the real Cloud here. Zack was never shown getting injured or limping around during the Nibelheim incident. Not in the original game, nor in Crisis Core.
The second piece of evidence that speaks for the real Cloud is what he says shortly after: “Mom…“ Followed by the next main scenario step shown in the top-left corner: Check on Mom. Zack’s parents are still alive and well residing in Gongaga. It’s Cloud’s mother who's in danger in this scenario.
Interesting tidbit: before Cloud turns the corner to walk towards his house, we hear a woman cry out “Sephiroth… No!“ Her scream at the end suggests that Sephiroth either stabs her or somebody close by right then and there. Keep this in mind.
Now follows the most annoying section on replays. Instead of letting you approach Cloud’s house, falling logs glistening with embers block your path and you have to walk all the way around to finally reach the objective. However, before you can actually get there, the water tower collapses, and SOLDIER Cloud has to dodge. I specifically say SOLDIER Cloud because right after when the camera shows Cloud’s house, we can already see a security officer lying on the ground near the house’s entrance.
This suggests that we just switched back to Zack. There’s one sneaky hint the game provides to strengthen this notion. We hear Cloud say: “Please… Please be okay.“ In Japanese, he even directly refers to his mother: “Mom, please be safe.“16 And during that, we briefly see SOLDIER Cloud standing up with his lips not quite moving in sync with the words being uttered. This happens just within a second and it’s hard to really tell with this shot being shown within the pause in the middle of his line.
Right after, we hear the security officer on the ground saying “Sephi…roth“ just like in the original game, as well as Crisis Core when you talk to him after the probably most famous and redone Final Fantasy VII pre-rendered scenes of Sephiroth walking through the flames concludes. Furthermore, the same security officer also mumbles “Mo…“ right after, indicating that he’s calling out to his mother. This implies through the process of elimination that it’s Zack underneath SOLDIER Cloud here.
However, this is the point where things become confusing and seem to flow non-linearly.
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whimey
SOLDIER Cloud, who we determined to be Zack at the moment, approaches Cloud’s house, mutters “Mom…” before the camera switches to behind the left shoulder of the security officer—a.k.a. the real Cloud—who’s still lying on the ground. This calls into question who SOLDIER Cloud actually is right now. But don’t worry, it will all make sense in a bit.
When SOLDIER Cloud tries to open the door, an explosion occurs and he is flung backwards and onto the ground, presumably to the exact same spot where that security officer was lying just before. All accompanied by greenish glitch effects. While on the ground, he stares at the open door and burning building when the scene changes to the recollection Cloud experienced in Remake’s chapter 2 during his first encounter with Sephiroth. A memory in which Sephiroth reveled. A memory of exactly this moment during the Nibelheim incident where Cloud laments losing his home and his mother who told him to leave and to live shortly before Zack’s arrival. The very same words Sephiroth chose to rile up Cloud back in Remake.
Another prediction come true!17
Sephiroth/Claudia
Run, Cloud… Run away.
Right after, Cloud falls unconscious for a short time. But before we continue, let’s put the timeline of events into order. If we take the events depicted in the original game at face value18 and combine that with what we see in Rebirth, I can see the following happening.
Zack gets knocked out in the basement and Cloud, who was waiting upstairs sees Sephiroth emerging without Zack. With Sephiroth probably remaining silent and paying Cloud no mind, in addition to Cloud not knowing a thing about what happened in the basement, Cloud might have decided to check on Zack downstairs and finds him either unconscious or conscious enough to warn Cloud about Sephiroth. Then, Cloud immediately rushes back upstairs in time to witness Sephiroth’s rampage through town. When Cloud attempts to enter it through that wooden Torii-like gate, it collapses and leaves Cloud’s leg injured. He then hobbles towards his house—detour included—to check on and save his mom.
Now it becomes a bit complicated, so please bear with me. According to Sephiroth’s words in Remake’s chapter 2, Claudia pleaded for Sephiroth to spare Cloud before she was stabbed to death.
Sephiroth
The sound of her voice pleading for me to spare you.
The shiver of her flesh yielding to cold steel.
Those words are said over the footage of Cloud looking at his burning home, just like he does again in Rebirth’s depiction of the Nibelheim incident. Before that, Sephiroth talks about all those precious memories that would be lost were the planet to die, including their crowning moment together, which was when Cloud killed Sephiroth five years ago in the Nibelheim reactor.
All of this suggests that Cloud managed to reach his house while it was still intact and his mother still alive. Sephiroth then made an attempt to end Cloud’s life, probably due to the latter’s effort to stop the former, but was stopped by Claudia’s plea, leaving her enough time to urge Cloud to run, leave, and live before her own demise.
Claudia
Run, Cloud… Run away.
You have to leave… You have to live.
She manages to say that just before Sephiroth stabs her to death and lights their house on fire, with the resulting explosion and blast wave flinging an escaping Cloud outside and leaving him prone on the ground before Zack’s arrival.
Rebirth even provides us with another piece of evidence that supports this notion. After the memory glitch effect and Cloud remembering his mother’s words for him to run, leave, and live, a short visual glitch is shown, followed by a smaller explosion coming from the house’s entrance. The image before said visual glitch is de-saturated, indicating that it’s not what Cloud sees while hearing his mother’s words. After the visual glitch, the colors are back, visualizing that this is what Cloud sees after the explosion that pushed him away from the house and onto the ground.
Now, remember that woman calling out to Sephiroth and screaming “No!” while Cloud was hobbling his way towards his house? It’s possible that this was actually a memory of the event I just detailed above but moved to an earlier point to make Cloud believe that he just heard it from afar in order to maintain his SOLDIER identity from Zack’s point of view. On the other hand, there’s no memory glitch effect happening, so this voice might belong to just some other random female resident, despite the matching location of that voice’s origin.
In any case, I still maintain that SOLDIER Cloud leaving the manor and being told by Zangan to “Get in there!“ and help the villagers is still told from Zack’s point of view, given how he touches the bruised back of his head right after he exits the building and how this is the original game’s depiction of the true events with Shinra trooper Cloud already lying barely conscious on the ground near his burning home (see the quartet of images at the start of this segment).
Speaking of Cloud lying prone on the ground, this is also where another shift in perspective takes place. When SOLDIER Cloud hobbles past the water tower, it suddenly collapses and he has to jump to safety. However, he does so with his left leg, the same leg that was injured and that Cloud wasn’t able to stand on properly before and constantly let his right leg carry the brunt of his weight.
This hints towards the following scenario: everything about the real Cloud’s experience detailed above happens before the water tower’s collapse, including SOLDIER Cloud hobbling around and through other buildings to reach his house. However, the collapsing water tower bit happens when Zack arrives afterwards. Especially since we can already see security officer Cloud lying on the ground while Zack as SOLDIER Cloud gets back up to his feet and then walks towards the house.
Plus, when SOLDIER Cloud walks towards Cloud’s house right after, he’s walking rather normally, albeit worn down. Before, SOLDIER Cloud was hobbling while holding his left thigh with his left hand and more or less letting his right arm hang and flop around. Here, however, he’s walking while using both legs and arms equally like a non-injured but worn-down person would walk. Nor more hobbling.
When approaching the house, SOLDIER Cloud—a.k.a. Zack—does say “Mom…“ but since the camera switches to an angle which puts the security officer on the ground into focus while still showing SOLDIER Cloud in the background, it’s either security officer Cloud saying those words, just like he tried to just before in the form of environmental chatter dialogue (“Mo…”) or both Zack and Cloud are being overlaid on top of each other since both approached the house at different times the same way. In either case, as soon as Zack tries to open the door, time and perspective shift from one frame to another, as evidenced by the green memory glitch effect.
So, to summarize Zack’s point of view, he exits Shinra manor, touches the sore back of his head, is told to save the villagers by Zangan, makes his way through the remains of the burning town, is able to barely avoid being buried by the collapsing water tower and then goes to check on Cloud’s home, just like he does in the original game as SOLDIER Cloud. There, he checks on the Shinra trooper on the ground, enters Cloud’s house, and exits again with hanging shoulders and a shaking head, indicating he found no survivors inside.
Lastly, let’s circle back to Cloud’s words at Kalm’s inn I mentioned in the previous segment.
Cloud
I keep asking myself…
”Why couldn’t I have come to sooner?”
If I had…maybe I coulda saved the village.
He’s referring to having been knocked out by Sephiroth leading him to come to the rescue much too late. If the real Cloud really went to the basement to check on Zack before rushing after Sephiroth, he’d be aware of the circumstances and could easily incorporate this into the memories of his current SOLDIER persona. Alternatively, Zack could have told those words to Cloud either at some point during their four years in captivity or afterwards during their escape. It’s all conjecture for now, but something to think about nonetheless.
Sephiroth’s Stabbing Spree
An undefined amount of time later, Cloud comes to, just in time to witness Sephiroth stabbing a militiaman in the back who just wanted to help Cloud. From this point on, we only ever see SOLDIER Cloud on screen. No more security officer on the ground. This makes it difficult to precisely determine when SOLDIER Cloud in this scene is meant to show the real Cloud and when to represent Zack.
However, we can look at the original game and Crisis Core again to at least have a valuable reference at hand. In both games, it’s actually Zack who watches Sephiroth stab and slice other residents and walk away through the flames while the real Cloud is still lying on the ground in his Shinra trooper uniform.
Additionally, neither the original game nor Crisis Core ever shows Zack crawling along the ground during the Nibelheim incident. With those two pieces of information in mind, we can paint a clearer picture.
After watching the previously mentioned militiaman being killed right in front of him, SOLDIER Cloud begins to crawl helplessly towards Sephiroth who continues to cut people’s lives short, including the one of Mayor Zander. In a quick but awfully gruesome way, I might add. Very effective storytelling. But who thought it’s a good idea to have Sephiroth surrounded with gun wielders who, instead of defending their home and themselves, just stand there in wait for being slain? But that’s neither here nor there. Just an obnoxious gripe I have with this scene. Like that slow crawl using R2 and L2…
OK, I’ll stop. Back to the analysis.
There are essentially two phases to this section. Phase one encompasses the real Cloud slowly crawling towards Sephiroth. After all, Cloud is the one being shown lying on the ground in both the original game and Crisis Core. When Cloud gets close enough, he begins to stand up just before the cutscene with Sephiroth and Mayor Zander—and thus phase two—begins.
Afterwards, SOLDIER Cloud is back on his feet watching Sephiroth walk past, who pays him no mind at all. Until SOLDIER Cloud calls out to Sephiroth by name, which causes the latter to stop in his tracks and slowly turn around, leading into the famous ‘Sephiroth in flames’ scene. In my opinion, Sephiroth would never stop and turn for a random security officer. Zack on the other hand would elicit such a reaction. They know each other from previous missions and Zack was the only one left who Sephiroth would consider a friend or at least a respectable colleague.
Hence my conclusion that the section before Sephiroth kills the mayor shows the real Cloud crawling along the ground while the section afterwards shows Zack staring at and calling out to Sephiroth.
But if we play as Cloud while crawling towards Sephiroth and helplessly watching him kill fellow residents, where is Zack? Most likely still in Cloud house, only to emerge when Sephiroth begins slicing the militiamen around the mayor, too far to intervene. This puts everything nicely in line with the original game, doesn’t it?
Height Matters
There’s also the argument involving character heights. The image above is a good reference for SOLDIER Cloud and Sephiroth’s height difference, even though the former isn’t quite standing fully upright. In any case, we need to determine Sephiroth’s height first. In the original game’s manual,19 Sephiroth’s height is revealed as 1.85 meters, though it’s been labeled “unknown” ever since. Given that Zack’s height has been consistently set at 1.85 meters and yet he looks significantly smaller than Sephiroth in the photograph taken in Nibelheim in both the original game and Crisis Core, the original height of Sephiroth is clearly bunk.
However, thanks to a diligent fan who placed Barret’s Remake model next to Sephiroth’s with their scalp hair made invisible, we do have a nice reference on hand. Barret’s height is set to 1.97 meters and Sephiroth looks a tad bit taller than him, placing the legendary SOLDIER at around 2 meters.20
With this in mind, let’s return to our image from before. Using pixel measurements, we can see that even a not quite upright-standing SOLDIER Cloud already stands a bit above Cloud’s height of 1.73 meters. Would he be standing completely upright like Sephiroth currently is, he would probably reach the 1.85 meters mark.
To properly compare their heights at where SOLDIER Cloud’s head resides in that shot, we’ll have to perform a few more comparisons including some reference measurements to see whether we’re on track or completely out in the boonies.
First off, let’s compare Cloud’s height to Zack’s during their mission in Modeoheim in Crisis Core to have a reference.
It looks like the top of Cloud’s head reaches Zack’s ridge of the nose between its tip and the eyes. Now, let’s take this as a reference for the photograph taken in Crisis Core.
Looks like it’s the same for Zack in relation to Sephiroth. The ridge of the nose right beneath Sephiroth’s eyes. We can also see that Cloud would reach to Sephiroth’s collar bone, as he does in the burning Nibelheim shot with the pixel-measured height lines overlay from before. So it checks out. By comparing our approximated height lines with the white vertical make-shift ruler, the top short line which represents 1.75 meters is close enough to Cloud’s height of 1.73 meters to validate our measurement.
Let’s do the same with Rebirth’s version of this photograph and include Tifa’s height as another reference.
We can see that our approximated height lines work out nicely. However, Tifa’s height line is a bit too low since her height difference to Cloud with 6 centimeters is only half of Cloud’s height difference to Zack with 12 centimeters. Visually, this is not the case. But worry not! Tifa does not quite stand upright here like the two SOLDIERs next to her, so let’s fix this. Before assuming this specific hip-tilt position, she actually is standing upright. In the following image, I tried to overlay an earlier frame onto the previous image to maintain the measurements and positioning.
There. Looks much more accurate now, doesn’t it? Now, let’s return to our initial image and use approximated height lines this time. Do you notice something?
While Zack’s height of 1.85 meters is too close to the 1.75 meters mark on the vertical reference ruler, SOLDIER Cloud is also in a somewhat hunched position with an arched back and slightly bent knees. The camera unfortunately cuts away before he finishes to fully stand up. Would he be standing upright like Sephiroth here, the earlier pixel measurement version of our height lines would be much more accurate.
Another interesting comparison is how SOLDIER Cloud sees Sephiroth in this scene compared to Cloud in Remake’s chapter 2 where he gazes at a towering Sephiroth who suddenly appears in front of him.
In Remake, Cloud seems to at most reach Sephiroth's collarbone, which is what we’ve already established in our earlier comparisons. In Rebirth, Sephiroth looks less tall compared to SOLDIER Cloud, especially considering the latter is not even standing upright when the former walks past, whereas Cloud is standing upright in the comparison scene from Remake. Interesting, isn’t it? Of course, it’s hard to tell for sure due to inconsistent camera angles, but still worth mentioning.
Long story short, even their height difference reveals SOLDIER Cloud to represent Zack in the section after Mayor Zander’s execution.
The Final Confrontation
The final segment to cover today takes place at the Nibelheim reactor. When we compare Rebirth’s take to the original version, we see a very faithful recreation of the source material:
The camera introduces the reactor again,
Cloud enters it and climbs down the chain/ladder,
Then he watches Tifa expressing her grief, sorrow, and anger before taking Sephiroth’s Masamune blade to confront its owner with it.
Top: Rebirth — Bottom: Original After Sephiroth strikes Tifa down and the latter tumbles down the stairs, Cloud takes care of her and puts her out of harm’s way with her thanking him for coming to her rescue like he promised two years prior.
Rebirth 
Original Finally, Cloud takes the buster sword and confronts Sephiroth within Jenova’s chamber. Then the flashback ends.
Left: Rebirth — Right: Original
However, when we compare this chain of events to what truly happened there, we notice that some pieces are out of order. In the original game’s Lifestream sequence and in Crisis Core, the following happens:
Zack runs into the reactor, watches Sephiroth cut Tifa down and then sees her lying on the ground at the foot of the stairs.
Left: Original — Right: Crisis Core Zack tries to check on her, but she turns away, expressing her disdain for Shinra and SOLDIER, including Zack.
Tifa rejects Zack's help in Crisis Core 
Zack simply runs past an injured Tifa in the original game Leaving her there, Zack runs after Sephiroth to confront him in Jenova’s chamber. After their battle, Sephiroth tosses Zack back out, separating the latter from the buster sword in Crisis Core.
Zack's clash with Sephiroth in the original game (imagine Cloud being Zack on images 1 and 2) 
Zack's clash with Sephiroth and subsequent defeat in Crisis Core Then Cloud comes rushing onto the scene, immediately picks up the buster sword and runs into Jenova’s chamber to backstab an inattentive Sephiroth with his new weapon.
Top: Original — Bottom: Crisis Core Back outside the chamber, he takes care of Tifa and puts her out of harm’s way with her thanking him for coming to her rescue like he promised two years prior.
Left: Original — Right: Crisis Core Sephiroth hobbles out of Jenova’s chamber while carrying the latter’s head and aims to leave. However, Zack tells Cloud to kill Sephiroth and the latter happily obliges, leading Sephiroth to be tossed into the reactor’s Mako pool.
How Cloud kills Sephiroth in the original game 
How Cloud kills Sephiroth in Crisis Core
While Crisis Core’s depiction differs a bit by not showing Tifa mourning her dad, adding an extensive Sephiroth battle, or even completely change how Cloud and Sephiroth’s final confrontation plays out, to the point of Cloud tossing Sephiroth into the Mako within Jenova’s chamber instead of the bridge outside, the core events remain the same.
In any case, have you already noticed the overlapping pieces and how they are arranged differently? Let’s break down Rebirth’s version to learn when we’re looking at Cloud and when at Zack, and which shots are out of order.
First off, we see SOLDIER Cloud approach and enter the reactor. This could be either Cloud or Zack as both made their way there. But with him still staggering a little, I’m inclined to believe that this is Cloud we are looking at since Zack would be in much better shape at this point. Though this new retelling might change some details, so we don’t really know. And it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
However, once inside, SOLDIER Cloud climbs down the latter and then witnesses Tifa hunched over her dead father, mourning and expressing heavy disdain for anything Shinra. Since Zack enters the reactor first but also witnesses this scene including Sephiroth striking Tifa down afterwards, the Cloud we see here should logically be Zack. However, Cloud has also witnessed this event as seen in reactor five’s Mako storage in Remake chapter 7, as well as in the original game in the same place. This leads me to conclude that the real Cloud is watching from above while Zack is already on the lower level closer to Tifa.
Now it gets interesting. After Tifa’s unfortunate encounter with Sephiroth’s blade, SOLDIER Cloud enters the pod room, checks on Tifa, and carries her to the side and out of harm’s way. During that, Tifa is barely conscious but still manages to talk to Cloud about his promise:
Tifa
You promised you’d save me…
if I was ever…trapped…or in trouble…
This alone is unequivocal proof that we’re looking at the real Cloud here. Tifa rolled away as Zack wanted to help her and then went on a hating tirade regarding Shinra and SOLDIER, including Zack. But this also means that we’re watching a scene that should happen later after Zack’s defeat against Sephiroth as well as after Cloud stabbing Sephiroth. However, both of those segments also take place after the flashback ends.
When Cloud finishes taking care of Tifa, the perspective switches back to Zack who yells out to Sephiroth and follows him into Jenova’s chamber to confront him, just like in Crisis Core. Afterwards, the flashback ends.
In short, we’re always looking at Zack presented to us as SOLDIER Cloud except for Cloud taking care of Tifa—which is a scene from later in the Nibelheim incident timeline and after the flashback segment—and potentially Cloud approaching the reactor.
Wrapping up
Phew, that was a lot to go through. Much more than I initially anticipated. Because of this, I’d like to provide you with a brief overview that summarizes the individual Cloud and Zack segments in this flashback.
On their way to Nibelheim, SOLDIER Cloud is actually Zack. In the truck, against the Disgorgon fiends, and the scene in front of Nibelheim’s main entrance.
Right when control returns to the player, we’re running around as the real Cloud in the village.
As soon as Cloud ascends the stairs to Nidhogg Inn’s upper floor, the perspective switches to Zack, which remains like that until their mission concludes in the depths of the Mako reactor.
And even then, we know that it’s Zack who visits Sephiroth twice in the Shinra manor’s basement, including him exiting it afterwards.
When Zack reaches Zangan, we slightly jump backwards in time to switch to Cloud who gets injured by falling logs. We remain in Cloud’s perspective until the water tower collapses, at which point we jump ahead in time and switch over to Zack until he attempts to open the doors to Cloud’s house.
The transition to the explosion which flings Cloud backwards coincides with another time jump backwards and a perspective switch to Cloud.
We then remain as Cloud during the crawling section until the scene with Sephiroth and Mayor Zander.
Afterwards, we switch back to Zack who watches Sephiroth disappear into the flames.
At the reactor entrance, we’re probably looking at Cloud again. Inside, however, we’re back in Zack’s shoes with the actual Cloud probably looking down from atop the ladder at the scene with Tifa and her dad.
After Tifa is struck down by Sephiroth, we jump ahead in time to after Cloud stabbing Sephiroth where the former takes care of an injured Tifa.
Then we switch back to Zack and also move back in time to right after Tifa was struck down by Sephiroth, who is then followed by a livid Zack into Jenova’s chamber where their confrontation is about to take place.
Then the flashback ends.
That’s it! Very easy and intuitive to understand, right? …right…?
In any case, I really do hope this minute dissection of Rebirth’s take on the flashback to the Nibelheim incident five years prior to the main events helped you understand when we’re playing as which character and why. I also hope you were able to learn a few more details you weren’t aware of before. If you already knew everything and learned nothing new, then good on you! And thank you for still reading through this whole article. My sincerest thanks and appreciation regardless of the extent of your takeaway.
The next articles will cover some interesting bits from Rebirth’s chapter 2 including the radio broadcast in Kalm and the Midgardsormr battle’s aftermath.
Until then and take care!
Jenova, who was found in a two thousand year old geological stratum was believed to be a Cetra by Professor Gast. this find was the catalyst for Project Jenova that aimed to create people with the power of the Cetra. However, it was later discovered that Jenova was actually the calamity from the skies that killed off nearly all of the Cetra upon which Professor Gast left the project and Professor Hojo took over. The latter’s research eventually ended in the creation of Sephiroth, who found professor Gast’s records in the Shinra manor’s basement decades later in which Jenova was still believed to be an ancient, hence Sephiroth’s belief to be the savior and new ruler of the planet by taking it back from those evil humans with his “mother” Jenova at his side.
Though the reason for this mini-game’s existence lies most likely in honoring the one in the original game’s Wall Market where Cloud had to win a squat-off against a body builder to win a wig from the gym owner Big Bro in order to complete the disguise for rescuing Tifa from Don Corneo’s clutches.
When he pulls Jessie out of the rubble after defeating the Scorpion Sentinel in chapter 1, during their bike ride topside in chapter 4, and her last words before she dies on the sector 7 plate pillar in chapter 12. Aerith playfully calls Cloud a hero when he catches her after she trips and falls at the end of their rooftop stroll. Tifa’s use of the term is interesting because she says “play the hero“ which Cloud is effectively doing by embodying Zack’s legacy. He is none but plays one.
However, this applies only to the English version. In Japanese, the first four lines equal: “Thank you!“— “Isn’t that nice!“ — “I got saved again.“ — “Reliable!“
Tifa’s line on the other hand is quite accurate. There are more instances in the English version, like Cloud being dubbed the Wall Market hero or the hero of the kids/Leaf House, but that goes too much into the weeds.
Disgorgons are remade versions of the Velcher Task enemy—a mistransliteration of ベルチャータスク a.k.a. Belcher Tusk—which only appears in the area around Rocket Town (and the Gold Saucer’s Battle Square) in the original game.
Those lines are very similar in nature in the Japanese versions. In Rebirth, he says「でも 無名だろ？ここじゃフィルムも貴重でね 悪いね」which translates to “But you're not famous, are you? Well, film's a precious commodity in this town. Sorry.“ And in Crisis Core, he says「マイナーな人の写真は、とらない主義なんですよう。」which translates to “I don't take pictures of minor people.“ The official English localization is thus very accurate in these cases.
The Japanese line for reference:「これが ソルジャーさんの制服なのかい？」
Cloud addresses Tifa by name in Rebirth, too, but in the previous line not visible on the screenshot, whereas Zack’s line in Crisis Core contains both the name and his surprised realization in one chunk.
This is mentioned several times early on in Tifa’s chapter within the light novel Traces of Two Pasts by scenario writer Kazushige Nojima.
The Velociwing is Rebirth’s version of the Sonic Speed enemy in the original game, which is called “Sonic Sound” (スピードサウンド) in Japanese.
Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie cross the rebuilt bridge over a river in chapter 11 which is called the Gunnthra Bridge. It leads to the plateau above where Sephiroth’s survey team managed to get to safe and dry ground after falling into the aforementioned river 5 years ago.
Additionally, in Tifa’s chapter in the light novel Traces of Two Pasts, she meets her future martial arts master Rashard Zangan for the first time, with the latter standing in the Gunnthra River performing his training exercises and Tifa thinking he might be in danger.
Which is ironic given how he tries to drive a wedge between her and Cloud over the course of the rest of the game, and even attempts to get rid of her completely via Cloud and then by himself in the Gongaga reactor scenario in chapter 9. More on that in a future article.
According to Zack’s parents in Gongaga in the original game, he left ten years ago, and according to a woman at the cemetery, the Gongaga reactor exploded three years ago.
Original Japanese line: 「剣に祈るなら いまのうちだ」
DMW refers to the Digital Mind Wave mechanic in Crisis Core’s battle system which is responsible for randomly popping a wide variety of effects, including level-ups. One of those effects triggers certain memories of Zack as a means to tell further stories outside of the main story event chain.
A Torii is a symbolic gateway marking the entrance to the sacred precincts of a Shinro shrine in Japan. The one in Nibelheim does not show this specific architecture and lacks the traditional red paint but has enough similarities in its base structure to warrant a comparison.
Original Japanese line: 「母さん 無事でいてくれ」
That theory was proposed in a video analyzing the aforementioned scene from the E3 2019 trailer. Not by me but by another YouTuber called Soldier_1stClass whose conclusion I included in the video (timestamped).
The original game is the blueprint for this remake trilogy project after all and “fate” hadn’t been messed with until Cloud’s first original canon-breaking meeting with Sephiroth in Remake’s chapter 2. Which means that this flashback should still be perfectly in line with an unchanged—albeit expanded upon—original chain of events.
See Height under Physical description on Sephiroth’s Fandom Wiki page and the scan excerpt below taken from this reddit post.
If you’re too unfamiliar with the metric system, don’t fret. It’s about the absolute numbers in relation to each other and not the units. We could be measuring in carrots or even burgers if we wanted to and the analysis would still work.