Death Battle Predictions: Link VS Cloud Strife

 

(Djangor)

 

(Cup Noodle)

 

(EpicLinkSam)

 

(Twice)

 

(Spider-Pidge)

 

(Phantom Falcon)

 

Link, the Hero of Hyrule. Cloud Strife, SOLDIER 1st Class.

 

Nine years ago, two of the biggest icons in videogame history faced off in a legendary battle for the ages. “In what might be the closest duel in Death Battle history”, these two swordsmen brought their blades to battle in the first 3D-animated fight of the show, and only one survived. 

 

Now we return, nearly a decade later, to a match that represents not just a milestone for Death Battle, but for videogame history as a whole. Zelda and Final Fantasy, two household names that have become synonymous with groundbreaking experiences and unforgettable journeys, became some of the most acclaimed franchises of all time. But all that success truly hit the mainstream with the release of 1997 & 1998’s colossal hits, Final Fantasy VII and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Even in an era of rapid revolution in video game advancement, few could pull off the transition to 3D quite like Square Enix and Nintendo’s latest outings. 

 

Not only did they leave their impact on the gaming industry, but on the hearts and minds of many a newfound fan. In those days, it wasn’t uncommon to only have one video game console per person, which led to what we now look back upon as the great console wars. With the timely rise of the internet and a fresh faction of fans ready to argue for their favorite fantasy heroes, Zelda VS Final Fantasy became the metaphorical ‘Mario VS Sonic’ for a whole new generation. 

 

Who would win? Link from The Legend of Zelda, or Cloud from Final Fantasy VII? We asked it before, and we now ask you again, one more time:

 

Who would win… a Death Battle?

A Heads Up from Ya Bois

As befitting of a match like this, you can expect this to be a rather lengthy blog. While the topic of ‘compositing’ Link in Death Battle has always been a controversial one, we’re going to operate under the assumption that Link as a whole will be analyzed, and not just focus on one individual incarnation. As for Cloud, the Remake, Tactics games, Dissidia, and Advent Children will be present. 

This is going to be a long blog so grab a drink or some food and without further ado, let the rematch begin.  

Background

Link

“A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.”

Before time began, before spirits and life existed…

Three Golden Goddesses descended from the heavens unto the chaos that would come to be known as Hyrule. Seeing the dissenting mayhem of the universe, the Goddesses created the world. Din, the Goddess of Power, created the land, weaving the terrain into a habitable space. Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, bestowed upon this new land the concepts of law and order. Naturally, this would be followed by Farore, Goddess of Courage, whose rich soul gave way to a life that would abide by the newfound laws.

With their work complete, the Goddesses took their leave from the realm of man, though not before leaving behind the artifact known as the Triforce. These golden triangles would remain under the protection of the Goddess Hylia following the departure of the Golden Goddesses.

That was until the Demon King Demise appeared. 

As it turned out, the Triforce was more than just a symbol of the Goddesses’ labor. Each piece contains part of the Goddesses’ essence, you see. When all three are collected together, anyone who touches the golden artifact is granted their wish in full. 

Seeking this immense power for himself, the Demon King amassed an army and waged war against humanity, seeking to claim the Triforce for himself. Were it not for the efforts of a single man garbed in green, the Demon King would have surely succeeded in seizing the Triforce. This man was none other than the very first incarnation of Hylia’s Champion, Link.

That’s right, the first. Following the curse of Demise, which promised to haunt the blood of the Goddess and the Spirit of the Hero, a cycle of conflict was born. Whenever the curse of Demise would manifest in a given era, the Goddesses would designate a new incarnation of the Spirit of the Hero to save the world. 

As such, “Link” refers to not just one singular entity, but many, many different individuals who have borne the name; some related by blood, others unrelated entirely.

Regardless of his upbringing, however, every Link shares similar valiant qualities, fitting of Hylia’s Chosen Hero. Whether he be a young fairy-less boy living in the forest, a simple island-dwelling child, a knight of Hyrule, or a completely mundane commoner, Link will always represent unwavering Courage in its purest form. 

Cloud Strife

“I know. I'm not alone... Not anymore.”

A normal little boy from a normal little country village called Nibelheim. As a young kid, Cloud dreamed of one day joining Shinra and becoming a legendary SOLDIER like his hero Sephiroth. Of course, life is not kind and Cloud did not enter the ranks of SOLDIER and was instead a basic bitch Shinra grunt. During his time at the corporation, he met and befriended a SOLDIER by the name of Zack Fair, who was from a remote bumpkin village just like he was.

Of course, the plot happened and eventually, Cloud returned to his hometown with Zack and his best friend Sephiroth to investigate a series of monster outbreaks at the mako reactor. To Sephiroth’s shock, he discovered multiple monstrosities created from a being called “JENOVA”, and believing himself to be another one of these genetic creations flew into a rage and massacred the entire village for shits and giggles. While Zack tried to fight off Sephiroth he was unable to deal with the overwhelming skill and power and got his shit kicked in, but thankfully Cloud took up the Buster Sword and managed to gravely injure Sephiroth and throw him into the Lifestream.

But once again, the plot happened and Hojo decided to capture Zack and Cloud in order to conduct experiments on them with mako and Jenova cells for a few years. Due to Cloud’s lack of tolerance against concentrated mako, he suffered severe mako poisoning and became a vegetable for who knows how long. Zack watched over the poor little blondie and vowed to take them both to Midgar, where they can start a new life as mercenaries, free from Shinra. Buuuuuut, they were labeled as wanted criminals and Zack sadly got gunned down right in the outskirts of the city. With his dying breath, he asked Cloud to take up his mantle and become the next wielder of the Buster Sword. However, due to the combined trauma of the Nibelheim incident, Zack's death, and the effects of Mako Poisoning, Cloud suffered a severe mental breakdown. This impressed Zack’s memories and fighting ability into Cloud, and combined with his ideal image of what a SOLDIER is, created new memories and persona to accompany it. One where Cloud took Zack’s place as a SOLDIER and his old friend, never existed.

And then the plot of Final Fantasy 7 happened. It was a hit, became an icon of the genre, got milked like Persona 5, and yada yada. You know what happened so it doesn’t need to be said.

Equipment

Link

Master Sword

The Blade of Evil’s Bane and Sword that seals the darkness, Master Sword is the final form of the Hylia’s Goddess Sword and the signature weapon of the chosen hero, Link. The Master Sword possesses a variety of unique abilities across the Zelda franchise, the most notable of which is the ability to repel, purge and destroy evil, along with gaining a huge power boost if a large source of evil is near. This allows it to harm incredibly powerful foes such as Ganon, dispel evil conjurations, destroy powerful magical barriers, purge evil substances from a person’s body or absorb and seal away powerful evil entities.

The Master Sword houses a spirit by the name of Fi, an artificial AI created by Hylia. Fi has the ability to emerge from the sword in their physical body and fly as freely as she needs to and grants the sword the ability to launch powerful bursts of sacred energy known as Skyward Strikes when raised to the sky, track even faint aura signatures from across Hyrule, offer real-time battle analysis and even inform her master when his batteries are nearly dead every 20 seconds via telepathy! However, Fi now lays dormant in the blade, diminishing or removing many of these qualities. Skyward Strikes, for example, have been supplemented with being able to launch sword beams when Link is unharmed and cannot communicate as directly as previously. Despite this, Fi is still semi-conscious within the blade, allowing her to choose who wields her. Thanks to this, she can refuse wannabe wielders of the blade by repelling them, sealing their soul, or outright draining them of all their life-force if they’re deemed unworthy.

Dubbed the ‘Sword of Time’ in Ocarina of Time, the blade also has limited influence over the flow of time, and has been shown capable of powering Gates of Time with its divine energy, allow heroes to traverse forward and backward through time as well as maintain a time-stop for centuries.

However, the Master Sword needs the support of others to operate at its maximum capacity. With Fi dormant, many of its abilities are diminished or lost. Without the consistent prayers of sages, the Master Sword loses its ‘True’ state, weakening in power and losing the ability to smite evil. Furthermore, we see in Breath of the Wild that the Master Sword can be overtaxed, taking on large rust spots and heavy gashes that require the blade to be returned to its pedestal to recover from.

Heroes have tempered and upgraded the sword with many temporary abilities across their adventures, including:

• Being infused with energy from Sols in Twilight Princess, granting it the power to dispatch beings of Twilight far more easily, giving it longer range, and dispelling magic fogs of darkness,

• Having its Hidden Seals unlocked in Age of Calamity, allowing it to heal a percentage of damage dealt per strike as well as deal more damage when Link is at full health,

• Being upgraded into the Master Sword Lv2 and Lv3, known as the Tempered and Golden Swords respectively, ultimately making it four times more powerful than the base form.

Biggoron Sword

A large claymore forged by a giant Goron at the top of Death Mountain. It is incredibly heavy, requiring Link to give up using a shield, but it can be just as powerful as the Master Sword, though without the ability to slay evil beings automatically. 

Four Sword

Also known as the Picori Blade, the Four Sword is a weapon infused with the four elements. When used, the wielder can split themselves into four multi-colored copies, each of which can act independently of one another as well as having their own personalities Similar to the Master Sword, it is also capable of sealing away evil, such as the wind sage Vaati. Link has wielded this in games where the Master Sword was sealed away or unavailable.

Skull Hammer

A massive hammer wielded by Toon Link in Wind Waker. Apart from its massive size, it possesses the same utility as most of Link’s other hammers: requires both hands to wield, incredibly strong, and creates powerful shockwaves when slammed on the ground.

Spears

Various types of spears found throughout Hyrule. Compared to Link’s other types of melee weaponry, they possess vastly superior range and attack speed but much lower damage. Like the sword and clubs though, there exist elemental variations of spears allowing Link to infuse his physical attacks with the elements of fire, ice, or electricity.

Two-Handed Weapons

Various sets of big and heavy weapons Link hoards in Breath of the Wild. Whether they are claymores, axes, or clubs he wields them all the exact same. That being “Ook ookg swing weapon and enemy go ragdoll”. Due to requiring the use of both of Link’s hands he obviously cannot use his shield with these.

Spinner

An ancient Hylian Skateboard shaped like a top, Link can use this thing to smack around enemies near him by slamming the pegs on the end into them at high speeds. The only downside is that it needs special grooves to stay at high speeds or else it slows down to a crawl (unless you use it in Hyrule Warriors, where it can maintain that high speed).

Hero’s Bow

Swords are not Link’s only weapon, as he has carried around numerous weapons and tools throughout the generations of saving Hyrule and other realms from the forces of evil. Link is a skilled archer, having used various different bows over the years, with some of these bows being capable of shooting 3 arrows at once. And with the Hawkeye Mask, he can actually further increase his accuracy by allowing him to see targets from farther away, and even comes with a crosshair to become a bootleg sniper rifle. In addition, he also carries several different arrow types these include:

• Fire Arrows: Arrows that are so hot, they can melt even the coldest of ice (a direct quote from the Great Fairy in Wind Waker)

• Ice Arrows: Arrows so cold that they can freeze even the hottest of flames (also a direct quote from the Great Fairy in Wind Waker) as well as freeze solid platforms on the water

• Lightning Arrows: Arrows that can conduct electricity and zap targets, paralyzing them if they don’t get electrocuted. If used on a wet target, creates a massive spherical burst of electricity.

• Bomb Arrows: Long-range explosives that can destroy powerful boulders.

• Light Arrows: A set of holy arrows enchanted with sacred light. Much like the Master Sword these arrows are very effective against beings of evil. They will exterminate weaker evil beings, paralyze and seriously injure strong evil entities and people with good in their hearts and, exclusively in the Wind Waker, BFR people.

• Silver Arrows: Divine arrows made of silver. Unlike Light Arrows, which merely stun evil beings like Ganondorf, these arrows can kill him altogether, reducing the demon lord to a pile of ash.

• Ancient Arrows: Arrows crafted from Sheikah technology in order to fight Guardians. Easily some of the most powerful arrows Link obtains in Breath of the Wild as most enemies that get hit by this arrow are teleported away, and those that do not take severe damage instead.

Slingshot

Link’s second resort for long-range projectile shooting, a seed-slinging slingshot. Compared to his bow it possesses inferior range and power, though it can still deal damage and even stun foes like with his boomerangs. Throughout his journey, he can get the Slingshot upgraded into different forms like the Hyper Slingshot which can fire 3 seeds at once, or the Seed Shooter, a peashooter variant of the slingshot, which is capable of shooting seeds that ricochet. Apart from the regular Deku seeds, Link also has a few unique types of ammo such as:

• Mystery Seeds: A seed of complete mystery, what will happen when they are used? Who knows.

• Ember Seeds: A seed that emits flames when cracked open, gee I wonder what it does when it hits something.

• Gale Seeds: A seed that produces a miniature tornado when cracked open. Useful for fast travel or blowing enemies far away.

• Pegasus Seeds: A seed that is capable of increasing Link’s movement speed. When fired at an enemy it instead stops them in their tracks.

Gale Boomerang

While almost every incarnation of Link can use a boomerang, Twilight Princess’s Link carried a special type called the Gale Boomerang. Possessed by the Fairy of the Winds, the Gale Boomerang functions like most other Boomerangs, able to stun opponents and even lock onto targets for Link to hit. However, this one also possesses the ability to create small whirlwinds that can activate special turbines or disorient opponents, as well as carrying back small items to him like spare arrows or bombs.

Double Clawshot

The Clawshot is basically just the Hookshot you see in other Zelda games, but the biggest difference with this one is that Link has not one but TWO. Like most grappling items in Zelda, the clawshots can grab items from a distance, stun opponents, and even let Link hang from certain targets. He can also extend or retract the chain, allowing him to move away from or towards the target respectively. In Oracle of Ages, Link also possesses a unique version of the Hookshot, known as the Switch Hook, with this item Link will swap places with whatever it grabs.

Whip

A cool whip that Link can swing around to not just stun enemies, but also to disarm enemies (literally in some cases) or strip them of items. It can also still attack enemies and even stun them temporarily.

Ball and Chain

A giant, heavy wrecking ball that Link can swing around or throw to damage opponents or...really any part of the environment it hits. In addition to its powerful offensive abilities, it can also be used as a shield while Link is holding it, though due to the immense weight it slows him down a lot. In Hyrule Warriors, however, Link can combine this weapon with his Golden Gauntlets to swing it around effortlessly.

Fire Rod

A magical rod said to have been crafted by an ancient magician. With this rod, Link can send out fireballs, summon pillars of fire, drop meteors, spew out flames like a flamethrower, and create flame dragons. In certain games, the rod can be upgraded which increases the amount of flames it can create and the size of them.

Ice Rod

A magical rod crafted from ice, with it Link can send out a wave of freezing air that can encase enemies in ice or drop blocks of ice on top of foes to crush them. Like the Fire Rod there existed upgraded variations of this rod which allow it to send out multiple projectiles at once.

Lightning Rod

Breath of the Wild also gives Link access to the Lightning Rod, and their more powerful version, the Thunderstorm Rod, letting Link create powerful balls of electricity that stun enemies and deal electrical damage to them.

Tornado Rod

A rod that summons a small whirlwind around Link, lifting him into the air and stunning all enemies around him. Like other elemental rods, it can be upgraded to increase the size of the whirlwind and make it damage enemies as well.

Sand Rod

A rod that can summon blocks of sand that Link can geokinetically control and move around. It also has the ability to summon the Spirit Train, for reasons.

Water Rod

 

A rod that summons pillars of water for Link, even if there are no sources around. The pillars can stun enemies, make Link go to higher positions, turn knobs, and provide an entire day’s fun at a water park.

Cane of Byrna

This magical cane creates a barrier around Link that not only protects him from attacks and traps, but can also damage any enemies he runs into

Cane of Pacci

The final magical cane, this one fires a beam that flips anything it connects with upside down.

Deku Leaf

This gift from the Great Deku Tree in Wind Waker is quite helpful. It allows Link to not only create large gusts of wind just by swinging it, but it also allows him to parachute to safety if he needs to.

Lens of Truth

This magical magnifying glass can see past any illusions that appear in front of Link, allowing him to see invisible enemies, discover hidden doors or pits, or even let him find out what’s in a treasure chest before the treasure chest is even opened.

Magic Powder

It’s a powder that Link can sprinkle around to set stuff on fire or transform certain enemies into slimes or even fairies.

Magic Cape

A magical cape that can make its wearer invisible and intangible for a short period of time.

Magic Clock

A special clock that freezes all surrounding enemies in time indefinitely….until Links leaves the area.

Hylian Shield

Link’s most iconic shield, the Hylian Shield is incredibly durable and reliable in combat. While the Thunder Dragon Lanayru created the first Hylian Shield, the shield’s design has been replicated over time by Hylian blacksmiths, allowing many iterations of Link the chance to obtain one. In every instance, however, the shield is typically used in conjunction with Link’s bladed weapon of choice, allowing him to swap between offensive strikes and defensive stances quickly.

It may not be indestructible, but the shield has survived nearly everything Link’s faced, from falling volcanic rock to Ganon’s mightiest blows. When all else fails, the Hylian Shield is there to protect the Hero of Hyrule.

Mirror Shield

Another shield that Link is known to use. This shield has a reflective surface that allows Link to reflect light, absorb and redirect certain magical energy, and still be a valuable piece of protection like the Hylian Shield is.

Red Mail

A magical tunic that reduces damage Link receives by 75%.

Zora Armor

Custom armor crafted specifically for the chosen hero. When worn it grants Link the ability to breath underwater and swim with the speed and skill of a Zora.

Breath of the Wild Outfits

Various sets of armor Link obtains throughout his journey in Breath of the Wild. Each one being a suitable piece of armor that offers special enhancements, if Link wears a full set of armor he will receive a special set bonus only. The types of armor sets he can use in (worth noting anyway) are:

• Ancient Set: A set of armor designed after the ancient Guardians. When Link wears it, he is able to resist attacks from Guardians and also deal more damage with ancient Sheikah weaponry.

• Barbarian Set: An armor fit for a warrior, after being obtained (on some very cool labyrinths I might add) Link’s strength and attack potency are raised up exponentially. When fully upgraded his charged attacks with any weapon use less stamina and do more damage. 

• Flamebreaker Set: An armor built from heat resisting rocks to traverse the smoldering heat of the Goron’s domain. This armor grants protection to scorching hot areas (like volcanoes and what not) with the flame-resistant ability, when upgraded it also grants Link fire-proof, that minimises damage from fire-based attack, at its best it protects him from ever being set on fire.

• Hero of the Wild Set: Obtained after completing all shrines and seeking one last temple, this set is the traditional green garb that we all so love and hold dear. When upgraded, this outfit strengthens the Master Sword’s beam based attacks.

• Rubber Set: Link pulls out the rubber, skin-tight clothing (kinky) as you might guess from the name, when Link puts on this fully-upgraded armor he can obtain the status of “unshockable” which basically means he cannot ever in the history of nevers get electrocuted, pretty useful when dealing with thunderstorms.

• Sheikah Set: Based and inspired by the ancient tribe of the Sheikah, this set of armor, tho not being as good in the defence and offence department, grants Link an uncanny amount of sealthness, making him basically silent, it also speeds him up when at night. 

• Snowquill Set: A very comfy and warm set of clothing made with feathers that grants Link probably the best cold-resistance in the game, allowing him to survive freezing temperatures with ease, and helping him traverse snowy terrain better.

Magic Armor

A set of magical armor that takes the form of a magic barrier in Wind Waker or an actual suit of armor in Twilight Princess. When used it protects Link from any and all damage by sacrificing his magical power or wallet. Of course once either run out, the enchantment ends and he can get his shit kicked in again.

Outfits

An assortment of costumes that Link wears in Triforce Heroes. Each costume grants him a special power to enhance his combat skills or provide protection against the environment.

• Big Bomb Outfit: While wearing this outfit, all bombs Links uses will double in size, doubling the damage and blast radius. 

• Boomeranger: It basically just improves the regular boomerang in many ways which include, a bigger size, overall higher damage, the ability to make enemies dizzy and passing through enemies so that it allows them to hit other people.

• Cacto Clothes: Link basically becomes a cactuar, and gains the ability to deal damage through physical contact.

• Dapper Spinner: It turns Link into a French, it increases his swordsmanship, and makes the spin attack easier to spam perform.

• Fierce Deity Armor: You’ve seen it, you know it, and you love it, the classic armor of Majora’s Mask. In this game it allows Link to shoot 4 beams at once from a sword slash or spin-attack it also doubles his strength. 

• Hammerwear: It turns Link into NOT TOTALLY A HAMMER BROTHER, this costume will grant the hammer item a larger radius and an increase in damage.

• Ninja Gi: Channeling the inner weeb, Link can deal triple damage when dashing through an enemy. 

• Robowear: A boat for the Hookshot item, allowing it to have a bigger reach and longer range. 

• Serpent’s Toga: Remember the Tanooki suit from Super Mario? Well it’s that, if you stop moving you get turned into stone and what not. 

• Spin Attack Attire: Link fully achieves weebness and becomes a samurai, allowing him to perform an even stronger version of the spin attack. 

• Torrent Robe: Increases the power and radius of the water rod. 

Pegasus Boots

A magical pair of boots that allows Link to dash at high speeds, slamming into any enemies in the way. The addition of something called the Roc’s Feather also allows Link to run up walls if he needs to for a short period.

Roc’s Cape

A more advanced version of the Roc’s Feather, the Roc’s Cape allows Link to glide long distances, giving him quite a distance to his jump and allowing himself to get across large pits.

Golden Gauntlets

Not so much a protection item, but still a useful tool no less, the Golden Gauntlets increase Link’s physical strength, allowing him to push around massive pillars of stone, or lift entire columns of stone and toss them around like they were mere pebbles. While not used for combat in his original games, in Hyrule Warriors Link uses it to suplex pillars, chuck massive boulders, and generate electricity. 

Magic Rings

A set of magical rings Link carries during the Oracle of Seasons and Ages.

• Red Ring: Doubles Link’s damage output.

• Protection Ring: Significantly minimizes the damage Link takes.

• Expert’s Ring: Gives Link the ability to punch.

• Steadfast Ring: Reduces knockback taken.

• Pegasus Ring: Increases the duration of the Pegasus Seed.

• Toss Ring: Increases Link’s throwing distance.

• Heart Ring: Regenerates Link’s health.

• Light Ring: Allows Link to use sword beams even when not at full health.

• Blue Luck Ring: Halves damage taken from beam attacks.

• Transformation Rings: Turns Link into an octorok, moblin, Like :ike, or Subrosian.

• Spin Ring: Let’s Link spin attack twice in a row.

• Bombproof Ring: Negates damage from bombs.

• Whisp Ring: Protects Link from curses or jinxes.

Masks

Link has a wide variety of masks that he collected in Majora’s Mask. Each one has specific uses, though some of them are more useful in battle than others. We’ll save the four most important masks for later

• All-Night Mask: That weird hockey mask-looking thing is actually a torture device that Link can willingly wear in order to induce Insomnia within himself while he wears it. It’s likely that enemies that force people to sleep probably cannot do so if Link wears this mask.

• Blast Mask: Link can use this mask to actually create a small explosion in front of Link’s face. The only downside is that the damage will also hurt Link if he uses it, though he can apparently use a shield to prevent himself from taking damage

• Bunny Hood: This adorable little item not only prevents Stalchildren from rising out of the ground at night, but it will also increase Link’s movement speed by about 68%, including increasing his jump distance

• Stone Mask: Mysteriously, this mask allows Link to become so uninteresting he appears invisible to most foes. Those with heightened perception, or those who can see through illusions, can still see him, however.

• Giant’s Mask: Allows Link to grow in size to the size of a giant. Granted, this can only be done in Twinmold’s arena, but it’s possible that is merely a gameplay limitation.

Badges

A set of enhancements in Hyrule Warriors that unlock Link’s hidden potential. Most of the effects are simple yet effective: allowing Link’s attacks to partially bypass the enemy’s guard, greatly reducing damage from elemental attacks, increasing health recovery, lengthening the duration of power ups or Focus Spirit.

Bottles

Link tends to carry around a ton of bottles for him to contain things in. There are a vast number of liquids he’s needed to carry in them, and each one can provide various amounts of benefits depending on what exactly is it Link is drinking. Even empty, they’re surprisingly good at reflecting magic.

• Lon Lon Milk: A delicious milk drink that can be held in two servings per bottle. From one serving, Link will restore 25% of his health

• Red Potion: A basic healing potion that restores about 40% of Links maximum health to him

• Green Potion: Restores Link’s magic reserves fully.

• Blue Potion: Fully repleneshes Link’s health and magic reserves.

• Chateau Romani: A magical milk mixture that is incredibly potent, to the point that children are not allowed to drink it (yet Link was given permission to). This drink not only restores Link to full health, but also increases his magical stamina, giving him essentially infinite magic for three days straight

• Rare Chu Jelly/Great Fairy’s Tears/Elixir Soup: These three substances look very different, but they all have the same effect. Whenever Link drinks them, not only is his health fully restored, but his strength is doubled for a short time, or whenever he takes damage.

• Glittering Spores: Mushroom spores that magically stun enemies if thrown on them

• Fairy: Link doesn’t just hold liquids in his bottles. If he captures a fairy, he can save it in a bottle. If he ever meets his untimely end a little early, he can use a captured fairy to save him, though not fully healing him

• Golden Bee: Also known by the mistranslated “Good Bee”, Link can store these Bees in a bottle, and when he releases them, they will attack any nearby enemies for a small amount of time.

Food and Elixirs

Link is apparently a culinary master despite having never gone to school. He has found various recipes from ingredients found around Hyrule, which not only heal him but also give him temporary buffs to certain stats, resistances to certain elements, and increased stamina. There are way too many to list here, so have a link to all of them instead. :)

Bombs

Bombs. You want them? They’re yours, my friend. As long as you have enough Rupees.

Link has a ton of different explosives at his disposal. He typically carries around these dark blue acme-style bombs that detonate after a few seconds. They’re powerful enough to destroy large stone barriers or even penetrate through the metal shell of a Beamos, not to mention they’re great for bombing dodongos. However, these are not his only type of explosives he carries on him. For a small list of explosives, he has:

• Bombs: As seen above

• Bombchus: Rat-shaped bombs that will travel along the ground and detonate upon hitting certain enemies, or after a few seconds of detonating

• Bomblings: Same as the Bombchus, only they’re shaped like bugs

• Water Bombs: Bombs that work underwater.

Deku Nuts

Essentially Hylian versions of flashbangs, Deku Nuts can be thrown at the ground or at enemies in order to create a blinding flash. This can be useful for getaway tactics, or to stun anyone not fast enough to look away. Sheik even used them to help get away from Link’s vision whenever the time was needed.

Beetle

Introduced in Skyward Sword, the Beetle is essentially a tiny drone that Link can send around to scout out locations, pick up items and kill small enemies. It can even pick up bombs and drop them on unsuspecting opponents below.

Gust Bellows

An ancient Hylian vacuum, the Gust Bellows can be used to blow away dust or sand by creating massive gusts of wind, similarly to the Gale Boomerang, only more directional in where it goes. It’s also one of the more BS items in Smash Ultimate

Magnetic Gloves

These gloves can be attached to Link’s arms and allow him to attract and repel magnetic or metal objects. Perfect for moving around giant metal blocks, or disrobing an enemy covered in armor, or even preventing a giant metal object from hitting him in the face.

Paraglider

If Link ever falls from a really high distance up and needs to control where he falls, he can use the Paraglider to glide around and keep him from taking any fall damage. Just make sure you have enough Stamina when you use it, or you’re going to be in for a world of hurt

Transformation Masks

When in the world of Termina, Link gained four special masks that gave him unique transformations, with each mask containing the spirit of a being of that race. Each one had its own positives and negatives to them. Also, Link can freely swap between them, even when he’s already wearing a mask

Deku Mask

This mask, rumored to possess the soul of the Deku Butler’s son, transforms Link into a Deku Scrub. With it, Link can fire bubbles from the whole in his mouth, spin around to strike anyone near him, skip across water, and can even use upward drafts of air to float around and drop Deku Nuts from above. Of the four masks, this one is the weakest of the four and also possesses a weakness to fire attacks.

Goron Mask

This mask, containing the soul of the fallen Goron hero Darmani, turns Link into a Goron. As a Goron, Link gains their immense physical strength and can fight without relying on a sword. The Goron form can also curl up into a ball and roll around, and by using magic Link can grow spikes to move around even faster. Additionally the Goron form is the only form strong enough to allow Link to use Powder Kegs, a set of explosives far greater than any type of bomb Link carries. Though Gorons also possess a weakness to the cold and their weight makes them unable to swim.

Zora Mask

This mask, containing the soul of the Zora guitarist Mikau, turns Link into a Zora. As a Zora, Link can swim freely underwater, even being able to create an electrical magical shield around him to attack with electricity. For ground combat Link can use the fins on his arms like boomerangs (somehow) to hit opponents from a distance. Like the Deku form, Zora Link is weak to fire.

Fierce Deity’s Mask

Easily Link’s most powerful transformation, the Fierce Deity. This form is roughly 8 feet tall and wields a giant helix sword capable of shooting out sword beams. The only drawback is that this form doesn’t have a shield to protect it with, but the sword is so powerful and swung so quickly that it hardly matters in combat.

Sheikah Slate

A special tablet created by the Sheikah Clan in the distant past. This handy little device has a ton of different functions and special abilities. It’s got a map of Hyrule, a Camera, a guide for all weapons, monsters, and resources, and a ton of runes actually useful in combat:

• Magnesis: Functions much like the Magnet Gloves do. Link can grab a magnetic object and control where it's placed. Yes, that includes weapons and armor as well

• Stasis: Temporarily freezes objects and creatures in time. While frozen, any kinetic energy gained upon being hit will stack before being unleashed all at once. However the stronger the opponent is, the shorter the effects of Stasis last.

• Cryonis: This lets Link create a tower of ice that stays on the surface of any liquid. Perfect for getaways, or erecting barriers of ice to block incoming attacks

• Remote Bombs: Bombs Link can create and then detonate at will. These bombs don’t explode with fire, but instead with energy, allowing them to be detonated underwater if needed. There’s a spherical and cube-shaped variant. Deal surprisingly little damage to enemies, but good at clearing obstacles.

• Master Cycle Zero: Let’s Link summon the Master Cycle Zero to him, which is a much faster and more comfortable source of travel than horses. It requires a lot of fuel though.

By the events of Age of Calamity all of the Sheikah Runes got an incredible boost in their natural power thanks to Terrako, allowing Link to create several bombs and ice pillars or affect multiple objects with Stasis and Magnesis. Apart from the strengthening of the slate, Link also does not need to wield nor possess the Sheikah Slate in order to utilize the Runes anymore.

Epona

Link’s trustworthy steed. Epona is incredibly fast, being a horse and all, and can attack enemies by charging into them. Being a skilled horse rider, Link is skilled enough that he can even use his sword or bow while on Epona’s back. He can also make her move faster for a short burst as well as leap off of her to attack with his bow at rapid speeds.

Crimson Loftwing

The knights of Skyloft all have the ability to ride on giant birds called Loftwings. These birds can fly at high speeds and can even attack others if needed. Link’s, however, is special, as he is one of the few to ride on a Crimson Loftwing, which is said to move faster while being harder to tame. Link’s Loftwing, however, is loyal and faster than any other Loftwing out there. Much like Epona, Link can also make the Loftwing move faster in short bursts.

The Triforce of Courage

A piece of the Triforce which symbolizes courage. Bestowed upon the many different Link’s due to their status as a hero facing the odds and vanquishing evil across the millenia. 

By wielding the Triforce of Courage, Link is afforded a number of benefits. The most basic of which being that - like with anyone that wields any Triumph Fork - Link overall stats and ability are significantly boosted. It’s difficult to really quantify this boost given how much it varies from game to game, but it’s worth a mention. Another boon is that Link becomes protected from unholy powers, such as the influence of the Twilight Realm which transforms those lost in its embers into wandering souls, yet somehow not dead, whereas Link was transformed into the form of a wolf. Shit’s weird. 

The Triforce has also shown the ability to completely restore Link’s health and vitality in seconds when it resonates. This is seldom seen power, only really displayed moments before you face Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time.

In the original Hyrule Warriors, Link is able to weaponize the triforce, summoning it’ power to rain down innumerable blasts of sacred energy to destroy keeps, monsters and niggas alike. Young Link in the same game is capable of dashing at high enough speeds that he can trace the outline of a triangle on the floor, pushing targets inwards, then making the sigil erupt with sacred energy and scorching those trapped within. Finally, Link’s hand will glow with a brilliant light while fighting with certain weapons, denoting that he’s brimming with enough energy to pop off a special attack.

Cloud

Buster Sword

This oversized blade, almost resembling a machete, is Cloud’s most iconic weapon. The Buster Sword was originally owned by Angeal Hewley, the mentor to Zack Fair. When Angeal left Shinra (long story), Zack inherited it until his death at the hands of Shinra. Before he died, however, he handed the blade to Cloud. The Buster Sword is roughly 6 feet long from the pommel to the edge of the blade. This single-edged broadsword is, quite obviously, very useful for striking. However, both Angeal and Zack have shown that the blunt side of the blade makes for a good bludgeoning weapon. Cloud has also been shown to use the flat sides of the Buster Sword to protect from oncoming attacks.

When upgraded in Final Fantasy 7 Remake it boosts the power of his Punisher Mode attacks and Limit Breaks and slightly amplifies his ability to regenerate MP.

Iron Blade

A greatsword cast perfectly from iron ore. This blade is slightly weaker than the Buster Sword when it comes to raw power, but provides Cloud with somewhat better magical strength, guarding skills, and counter-attacks. Additionally, when Cloud’s health is high he is given a boost to his magic and defensive stats, while if his health drops he can use his Limit Breaks faster and his healing spells gain a huge boost in potency. Also, it restores MP if Cloud sustains large amounts of damage, and will even let him survive a single fatal attack in battle.

Nail Bat

A crudely reinforced baseball bat designed to beat the tar out of anything and everything. The weakest “greatsword” Cloud has but it focuses entirely on having a REALLY high chance of landing critical hits, enhancing the power of his Limit Breaks, and blocking detrimental status effects. When Cloud is especially low on health this weapon goes into overdrive, increasing his defensive abilities, speeding up the rate at which he can use Limit Breaks, and boosting his critical hit chance even further. 

Hardedge

A mighty blade able to cleave in one stroke anything foolish enough to stand in its wielder’s way. The most powerful sword Cloud has (in the Remake) when it comes to raw physical strength, trading power over magic. It strengthens most of Cloud’s offensive options whether it be his regular attacks, Punisher Mode attacks, aerial attacks, or Limit Breaks. It also extends the duration of any positive status effects and heals Cloud if he manages to stagger his opponents.

Mythril Saber

An immense sword made from magic-infused Mythril ore. The magic opposite of the Hardedge and primarily focused on enhancing Cloud’s magical abilities. It enhances the power of Cloud’s elemental spells, greatly restores his MP when taking severe damage, massively boosts his natural magic regeneration, enhances the power of his spells when at maximum MP, and even reduces the amount of MP needed to cast magic. It also slightly strengthens his physical moves when his health is above 75% and offers some resistance to status effects.

Twin Stinger

A sword forged from two pre-existing blades, well suited for Materia usage. An overall balanced sword, akin to the Buster Sword, with equally physical and magical might, but it is on the lower end in both categories compared to most weapons. To make up for it, this sword has a lot of abilities in it. On the offensive side, it raises the power of all of Cloud’s elemental spells, lengthens the duration of any buff Cloud places on himself or debuff inflicted on his opponents, and greatly increases the regeneration of his MP. On the defensive side, it enhances Cloud guarding against physical and magical attacks, lowers damage from elemental attacks, raises magic defense at high health, reduces the MP cost of healing spells, and allows Cloud to survive a fatal attack once.

Ultima Weapon

Cloud’s ULTIMATE WEAPON is obtained after beating ULTIMA WEAPON. Haha, very funny Square. Provides Cloud with 8 whole Materia slots for him to jam those orbs in, as well as some resistance to magic attacks. On top of having the biggest attack boost, the power of this sword is also determined by Cloud’s health, the higher Cloud’s health is the more powerful his attacks become.

Fusion Sword

A six-piece sword assembly wielded by Cloud during the events of Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. Resembling his iconic buster sword, this blade is a combination of six different swords that are stored within Cloud’s motorcycle, Fefnir.

Knight Swords

Weapons exclusive to only righteous knights. Akin to their status as blades wielded by holy knights, they typically possess a holy element and bless their wielder with protection magic.

• Excalibur: It is said that only the true heir to the throne can wield this legendary knight's sword. When wielded the user’s given the Haste buff and gains protection against Holy.

• Durandal: A holy knight's sword said to have been forged by spirits. This blade possesses a holy element and provides its wielder with Protect and Shell.

• Chaos Blade: This holy knight's sword is said to have been a gift from the gods themselves. When wielded it slowly regenerates the holder’s stamina and can also turn whoever it hit by the blade to stone.

Fell Swords

Unholy swords were only usable by the most despicable of classes, the Dark Knight. Each blade offers unfathomable power and debilitating effects on its victims. The Fell Swords that can be used are:

• Chaosbringer: A sword that makes its wielder bear the sins of his previous lives, robbing them of all hope. Anyone cut by this blade will have their sight stolen from them (Blind).

• Deathbringer: A sword that brings death to all of those who kill in the name of truth and justice. If struck by this blade, the victim will not have long to live (Doom).

• Arondight: A sword rumored to have been given to a knight that died an unnatural death by a witch. All struck with this blade will be slowed down in time.  

• Balmung: A sword wielded by a hero from the north. With a beautiful blue jewel embedded in its handle, this sword freezes all its victims in time.

• Valhalla: A tainted blade spoken of in legends about the end of the world, it is said to feed upon the souls of all it slays. This blade instantly kills any who come into contact with it.

Katanas

Foreign blades that contain spirits of the deceased within them, only able to be freed and utilized by the Samurai. They would be listed here as they don’t really have any special effects like the others, normally, so instead they’ll be mentioned later in the Samurai’s ability section.

Knives

Knives which are useful for classes that prioritize speed and mobility over sturdy and heavy gear. These blades uniquely rely on the wielder’s speed for damage over their physical power.

• Mage Masher: Created especially for the purpose of fighting mages, this knife has the power to silence its target.

• Assassin’s Dagger: Popular among assassins, this dagger has the power to doom its victims to certain death.

• Zwill Straightblade: A knife manufactured in a region renowned for its blades, this blade has the power to put its victims to sleep.

Ninja Blades

Blades specifically tailored to suit the need of a ninja, while longer than a knife the reach is inferior to that of a regular sword. Like knives, however, they deal more damage the faster the wielder is.

• Spellbinder: A sword with the power to stop its targets in their tracks, preventing them from taking any actions.

• Orochi: A katana that strikes like a savage serpent and absorbs the vitality of its victims.

Spears

Spears wielded by the iconic dragoon class. They possess a longer reach than most physical weapons.

• Holy Lance: A holy-elements spear that shines a brilliant blue. Possesses the power to cast Holy when used as an item.

• Gungnir: A powerful spear wielded by the infamous Odin with the power to pierce anything. Each hit contains the power of lightning.

Slasher

An axe in Final Fantasy Tactics, unique in that it possesses very high power but a randomized damage output. This particular axe, Slasher, is also capable of slowing down its targets in time.

Poles

Close range weapons for magic users. Similar to a knife, this weapon’s power is influenced by the magical strength of its wielder instead of their physical strength….somehow.

• Gokuu Pole: A pole that figuratively and literally beats the religion out of anyone it hits. 

• Eight-fluted Pole: A shaft of boxwood, carved into a hexagonal shape and reinforced with metal plates. Capable of removing Blind, Silence, Oil, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Immobilize, and Disable.

Bows

A set of long-range weaponry best used when on higher ground than the opponent for optimum range. The types of bows Cloud can use are:

• Ice Bow: A bow that fires freezing arrows.

• Lightning Bow: A bow that imbues its arrows with the speed and strength of lightning. When used as an item it casts the Thundara spell.

• Windlash Bow: A bow that shoots arrows at extremely high speed, the vacuum of air created by their flight not only increases their damage output but adds in wind elemental damage.

Crossbows

Another set of long-range weaponry. Unlike regular bows, these aren’t better or worse depending on your altitude. The types of crossbows Cloud can use are:

• Knightslayer: A crossbow that fires specifically fashioned bolts infused with a special poison that blinds the victim.

• Poison Bow: A crossbow that fires...poisoned arrows.

Guns

Magical guns rely on the user’s strength and faith to deal damage. Useful for their long-range and high accuracy. Each of the magical guns possesses the ability to cast three tiers of elemental magic at random when used as an item: with a 60% chance to use level 1 magic, 30% chance to use level 2 magic, and 10% chance to use level 3 magic.

• Stoneshooter: A firearm with the power to petrify its targets.

• Glacial Gun: A firearm that fires freezing bullets. Can cast the spells Blizzard, Blizzara, or Blizzaga.

• Blaze Gun: A firearm that shoots blazing bullets. Can cast the spells Fire, Fira, and Firaga.

• Blaster: A firearm that shoots electrically charged bullets. Can cast the spells Thunder, Thundara, or Thundaga.

Harps

Delightful musical instruments that are used to literally kill people with music and play the wonderful melodies of the Bard class. These weapons are meant for fighting enemies at a set distance and have no use in close combat, which makes sense, like how are you going to damage someone with a fucking harp? The type of harps that can be used are:

• Lamia’s Harp: The strains of this harp are able to affect one’s soul and confuse anyone who listens to its tune.

• Bloodstring Harp: A harp imbued with a rich timbre and wide tonal range. Drains the health of any who get harmed by the music.

• Faerie Harp: A harp that possesses such a pure melody it can charm anyone who listens to it.

Throwing Weapons

Projectiles designed to be chucked at people.

• Yagyu Darkrood: A cross-shaped throwing star used by a famous ninja school. Its blades are serrated to maximize the damage it can inflict.

• Flameburst Bomb: An explosive sphere that damages any it hits in a powerful explosion of fire.

• Snowmelt Bomb: An explosive sphere that damages whoever is struck by it with water.

• Spark Bomb: An explosive sphere that electrocutes whoever is struck by it.

Rods

The iconic weapon for mages. As always it is not meant for physical combat but is useful for enhancing magical attacks.

• Flame Rod: A rod imbued with the power of fire. As its name implies it enhances all fire spells used by its wielder and will cast the Fire spell when used as an item.

• Ice Rod: The same as above but with ice. 

• Thunder Rod: The same as above but with earth, just kidding it’s thunder.

• Poison Rod: A rod that can poison people.

• Rod of Faith: A rod that purges doubt from those it touches, turning them into pillars of faith and making magical attacks more effective on them.

• Stardust Rod: A rod tipped with a meteorite fragment, it is capable of performing Gravity magic when used as an item.

Staves

The white mage variant of rods, better suited for combat compared to their brethren. f

• Healing Staff: A sacred staff imbued with the power of spirits. Rather than cause harm it heals any that is struck by it.

• Nirvana: A holy-elemented staff whose power is only mastered by the truly enlightened.

Zeidrich Ring

A ring that offers zero materia slots but instead a strong boost to Cloud’s physical and magical strength and resistance to Fire, Ice, Thunder, Earth, Poison, Water, Gravity, Wind, Holy, Cut, Punch, Hit, and Shoot type damage.

Ribbon

A cute little ribbon that is worthless as armor but blocks almost every single status effect in Final Fantasy 7: Sleep, Poison, Sadness, Fury, Confusion, Silence, Frog, Mini, Slow- Numb, Petrify, Death Sentence, Berserk, Paralysis, and Darkness. In Final Fantasy Tactics the ribbon also provides protection against Instant Death, Slow, Stop, Undead, Traitor, Vampire, Charm, Disable, and Immobilize.

Materia

Orbs of crystallized lifestream energy that allow the user to call upon the knowledge of the Cetra, the people who originally walked Gaia’s surface. Typically created over thousands of years but by the events of FF7 it can be artificially made and can be easily bought at a store. Equipping materia into one’s weapons or armor grants a myriad of powerful abilities, including casting magic, summoning otherworldly beings, or gaining new skills and options in a fight. 

Magic Materia

Materia which gives its wielder the ability to cast various magical spells that range from simply creating a small fireball to summoning the grim reaper to harvest souls. In the original FF7 and Remake, equipping Magic Materia will also enhance the user’s magical capabilities and give them slightly more resistance to spells. The ultimate type of Materia in this category is the Master Magic Materia which gives Cloud access to all magic spells.

Summon Materia

Cloud’s favorite Materia! In a form of red orbs, this type of materia allows Cloud to summon magical creatures, ranging from the simple Chocobo to the mighty Bahamut. With the Master Summon Materia, Cloud can call upon any summon he desires, even ignoring their typical summon limit.

Command Materia

Materia that grants the user various new abilities or techniques that amplify their preexisting ones such as the ability to dual cast or attack all foes. And like Magic and Summon Materia, there exists Master Command Materia which gives Cloud all the Command abilities.

Support Materia

Materia that provide passive abilities and enhancements to Cloud’s physical and magic attacks. Most of these Materia rely on getting linked to have an effect.

• Added Cut: Follows up all magic or summons with a physical attack.

• Added Effect: Materia that, when linked on a weapon, allows Cloud to inflict status effects with his physical attacks. When used with armor it grants Cloud a resistance to whatever is linked instead.

• All: Allows Cloud’s spells to target multiple people at once in exchange for reducing their power.

• Counter: Makes Cloud counter with a command ability.

• Elemental: Makes Cloud’s attacks deal elemental damage with whatever Materia he has linked up. For armor, it will make him resist whatever is linked.

• Final Attack: Uses whatever materia is linked if Cloud dies. Can even cast Life or Phoenix if linked to auto revive the user after they die. Still need MP to cast the spells, however.

• HP-Absorb: Restores health by 10% of all damage inflicted.

• MP-Absorb: Restores MP equal to 1% of the damage inflicted.

• Magic Counter: Makes Cloud automatically counter with a magic spell or summon linked to this materia.

• MP Turbo: Raises the power and MP cost of magic and summons.

• Quadra Magic: Casts linked magic four times in succession.

• Magnify: Gives Cloud’s magic the ability to bounce off to other opponents at the cost of reducing its power by 25%.

Independent/Complete Materia

I wonder if these Materia don’t need to be linked to grant special abilities?

• Long Range: Melee attacks do full damage regardless of range, it even allows an attack to reach opponents who are usually too far. 

• Counter Attack: ….A counter attack. 

• Speed Plus: It increases Dexterity (basically the stat that dictates the rate of attack).

• MP Plus: When fully mastered, it increases Clouds total MP by 50%

• HP Plus: Same as above but for HP. 

• Luck Plus: Again, same as above but this one affects the Luck stat (the stat that determines Critical Hits and missed attacks). 

• Magic Plus: Third verse, same as the first, raised the Magic stat (the one that determines the power of magical attacks) by 50%.

• EXP Plus: Cloud is going to get 2x EXP from killing Link using this materia. 

• Mega All: When mastered it makes all attacks, magic, or commands affect all enemies at once. 

• HP<----->MP: Exchanges HP and MP levels.

• Underwater: Allows Cloud and the gang to breathe underwater.

• Deadly Dodge: Gives Cloud the ability to perform a strong AoE attack after dodging.

• Parry: Allows him to tech that shit

• Item Master: Increases the strength of items used in battle.

Items

Restorative Items

• X-Potions: Fully restores Cloud’s HP.

• Turbo-Ether: Fully restores Cloud’s MP

• Elixir: Fully restores both HP and MP

• Hyper: Grants Fury normally but if Cloud has the Sadness status it will neutralize that instead. (Cloud became addicted to these after drowning Aerith)

• Tranquilizer: Basically the opposite of Hyper, Grants Sadness to one target but if the target has Fury it will neutralize that instead.

• Remedy: Cures Sleep, Poison, Sadness, Fury, Confusion, Silence, Frog, Mini, Slow-numb, Petrify, Berserk, Paralysis, and Darkness.

Support Items

• Light Curtain: Casts Barrier on Cloud.

• Lunar Curtain: Casts Manaward on Cloud.

• Mirror: I wonder if this has something to do with the Reflect spell....

• Speed Drink: Cloud drinks a Red Bull and gets the Haste status

• Hero Drink: Raises Cloud’s Strength, Magic, Defense, and Spirit by 30%; This is stackable up to four times.

• Vaccine: I am very much struggling not to make the joke here so I’ll just say it gives Cloud the Resist status.

• Holy Torch: The power of Christ removes the Haste, Slow, Stop, Mini, Regen, Barrier, MBarrier, Reflect, and Shield statuses from all targets.

Debuff Items

• Impaler: Turns one opponent into a frog which is actually what you’d expect the item named “Impaler” to do.

• Shrivel: Gives the Mini status to one target.

• Ink: Throws printer ink at someone’s face in order to give them the Darkness status, and some nice eye damage.

• Dazers: Paralyzes one opponent

• Cauldron: With the power of witchcraft it inflicts the Poison, Sleep, Mini, Frog, Confuse, and Silence statuses on one enemy.

• Ghost Hand: Drains MP from one opponent (effect reverses on Zombie-typed enemies).

• Hourglass: Inflicts Stop on all enemies with 80% precision

• Spider Web: Inflicts Slow upon all enemies.

• Dream Powder: Inflicts Sleep upon all enemies with 80% precision.

• Mute Mask: Inflicts Silence upon all enemies with 80% precision.

• War Gong: Inflicts Berserk upon all enemies with 80% precision. Works 100% of the time when used on Cloud’s party.

• Loco Weed: The smell of weed inflicts Confuse upon all enemies with 80% precision.

Attack Items

• Molotov: Why use fire magic to harm your enemies when you can just throw a Molotov and set them on fire.

• T/S Bomb: Casts Demi2 on one enemy halving their HP

• Fire Veil: Inflicts fire damage upon all enemies; equivalent to Fire3

• Swift Bolt: Inflicts lightning damage upon all enemies; equivalent to Bolt3.

• Ice Crystal: Inflicts ice damage upon all enemies; equivalent to Ice3

• Earth Mallet: Inflicts earth elemental damage upon all enemies; equivalent to Quake3.

• M-Tentacles:  Inflicts poison damage upon all enemies with a 20% chance of inflicting Poison; equivalent to Bio3.

• Bird Wing: Inflicts wind damage on all enemies

• Dragon Scales: Inflicts water damage on all enemies.

• Dragon Fang: Inflicts lightning damage on all enemies.

• Vagyrisk Claw: Has a 68% chance of turning an enemy into stone.

• Kiss of Death: Has a 68% chance of instantly killing all foes.

• Grenade: It is a grenade what do you think?

• Right Arm: Moderate explosive damage on all enemies.

• Stardust: Calls down comets on all opponents.

• Vampire Fang: Drains health out of a foe. Gee what a surprise there.

• 8-Inch Cannon: An extremely powerful item that deals massive damage to a single opponent.

Fenrir Motorcycle

(Sorry I couldn’t help myself)

Cloud is a skilled cyclist and can not only travel quickly on his trusty Fenrir but also use it as a way to store and protect the six blades that make up the Fusion Sword. While riding on a motorcycle, Cloud can also attack with it and is even capable of destroying giant robots like the Motor Ball while riding on it, as well as keeping up with other skilled cyclist swordsmen like Kadaj and Roche. It’s also so badass that even the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy XIV gets to ride one (provided you pay Square-Enix real-world money).

Abilities

Link

Special Techniques

Sword Beam

Certain incarnations of Link can fire beams of energy from the Master Sword when at full health. These attacks are as strong as getting hit with the Master Sword itself, but it does mean that Link needs to keep himself safe in order to use the attacks

Spin Attack

By concentrating and then moving quickly, Link can perform a powerful spinning strike, slashing everything around him. This attack is perfect when Link is getting surrounded. And by imbuing some magic into the attack, Link can even extend the reach of the Spin Attack itself.

Jump Slash

Pretty standard attack. Link leaps into the air to try and slash at the opponent with twice the strength compared to his regular attacks.

Hidden Skills

After some training with the Hero's Shade, a skeleton ghost of the Hero of Time, the Hero of Twilight learned 7 techniques that would help him to stop the forces of evil. So yes, Link learned these abilities from himself. Anyway, these techniques include:

• Ending Blow: When Link sees a downed opponent, he will leap into the air and attempt to drop on them sword-first, plunging his sword into their heart...or if they’re unlucky, their crotch. However, if Link misses, he’ll accidentally impale the ground and need to take a second or two to unstick himself.

• Shield Attack: A shield bash technique that lets Link momentarily stun enemies, or deflect non-magical projectiles.

• Back Slice: By jumping and rolling behind an enemy, Link can perform a spinning leap to strike at the enemy’s spine, dealing more damage than he could if he attacked from the front.

• Helm Splitter: After an enemy is stunned or vulnerable, Link can leap over their head and attempt to slash at them from above, doing more damage that way

• Mortal Draw: A very risky technique, Link keeps his sword sheathed until the last second, where he then quickly draws the attack to strike at any enemy who thinks he’s vulnerable enough to be attacked. This attack is incredibly powerful and is capable of one-shotting most enemies, and even a few mini-bosses.

• Jump Strike: By concentrating as he does with the Spin Attack, Link can do two quick strikes in rapid succession while jumping in the air, the first hitting multiple opponents and the second dealing a powerful slash while their defenses are open, creating a shockwave on the ground when he lands. Great for multiple enemies.

• Great Spin: A more powerful and deadly Spin Attack, with a wider attack radius, but it can only be performed when Link is at max health.

Skyward Strike

By holding the Master Sword straight up, Link can charge it with power before unleashing a sword beam when he swings the blade forward. Unlike the normal sword beams, this attack can be done even if Link isn’t at full health.

Flurry Rush

A technique of Link’s where he slows down his perception of time by focusing, allowing him to perform attacks far faster. He can also enter a ranged attack version of this if he fires his bow while in midair.

Hurricane Spin

A dangerous attack, but a risky one as well, Link can charge up the power of the Spin Attack before spinning around at high speeds like a Beyblade, slashing at anything and everything multiple times. The attack is more powerful than the normal Spin Attack, but it also leaves Link dizzy and vulnerable as well, meaning it’s best used against a group of enemies.

Up Thrust and Down Thrust

When jumping in the air, Link can stab directly upward or directly downward, allowing him to attack vulnerable enemies that are above him or to pogo stick off of enemies below him.

Magic

Bombos, Quake, and Ether Medallions

A set of three medallions that work specifically with the Master Sword, each one has its own abilities that let Link damage and kill anything within a general vicinity of him. The Bombos Medallion (the one that looks like a fan turbine), creates massive explosions of fire all around. With the Quake Medallion (the one that looks like two attached circles), he can make a massive earthquake. And with Ether (the one with the lightning bolt on it), Link calls down lightning to zap everything around him.

Nayru’s Love

Similar to Magic Armor, this spell forms a protective barrier around Link, keeping him safe from forms of damage. He can still be knocked back by particularly powerful strikes, however, and attacks from especially powerful beings can still damage him.

Din’s Fire

By slamming his fist into the ground, Link can create a dome of fire around him, burning any enemies that come near him. Perfect if surrounded by enemies or unlit torches.

Farore’s Wind

Allows Link to teleport. This is typically only done to warp to certain points in dungeons, but it’s possible that Link could do so in battle as well if needed.

Other Magical Spells

Link has a whole host of spells he needed to use in order to traverse the many temples around Hyrule and awaken Zelda from a cursed sleep. These 8 spells include:

• Shield: A magical spell that increases Link’s defenses, letting him take half the damage he would otherwise. It also turns his tunic red.

• Jump: A spell that increases Link’s jump height, as well as lets him jump farther. Perfect for going across a wall or getting across deadly pits.

• Life: A healing spell. It’s expensive, but definitely helpful in a pinch if he doesn’t have any healing items.

• Fairy: This one temporarily turns Link into a small fairy, allowing him to fly about, avoid attacks, and slip through small openings like keyholes. But it also prevents him from attacking and leaves him vulnerable to damage if he does get hit.

• Fire: This lets Link shoot fireballs...out of his sword! This makes it more awesome than any of the other ranged sword attacks by far.

• Reflect: This actually increases the power of Link’s shield, not only letting it protect him from more powerful attacks but also lets him reflect projectiles back at opponents.

• Spell: Yeah, he just has a spell called “Spell”. I don’t know why either. This one is normally only used to open a very specific temple entrance, but it can also be used to turn certain enemies into blob enemies.

• Thunder: This attack creates powerful thunder around Link, heavily damaging any non-boss enemies. But it’s also the most expensive of his spells to cast.

Focus Spirit

A special technique that temporarily enhances Link with the elemental attribute of his weapon, boosting all of his stats and he will not suffer any form of knockback. Any special technique Link performs will be greatly enhanced while in Focus Spirit, and once his magic is empty the form ends by creating a massive explosion of elemental energy around Link.

Champion Abilities

*Note: While the Champion Abilities possess a usage limit and cooldown in Breath of the Wild, they have not shown such restrictions in cutscenes or Age of Calamity, so it can be argued they are just game mechanics.

Mipha’s Grace

A special healing power Link receives from the Zora Champion Mipha. Should Link ever perish in the midst of battle, or from this, he will be automatically resurrected with full health (and a little bit extra). Additionally, given Link can use all the other Champion Abilities whenever he wishes, he should be able to use Mipha’s power without needing to die first. 

Daruk’s Protection

A protective power Link receives from the Goron Champion Daruk. When used, it erects a barrier around Link that will protect him from any incoming attacks and reflect most ranged attacks. Though only usable 3 times against any attack in-game before needing to recharge, multiple cutscenes show that Daruk's Protection has no such limitation and can withstand sustained assaults and shrug off even blows from Ganonblights without a scratch.

Revali’s Gale

A blusterous power Link receives from the Rito Champion Revali. When used it creates a powerful upward draft that sends Link into the sky, allowing him to use his paraglider and soar around the sky at will. 

Urbosa’s Fury

A destructive power Link receives from the Gerudo Champion Urbosa. Gives Link the ability to call down powerful lightning, allowing him to summon massive single bolts or powerful AoE attacks. It should be noted that Urbosa could use this ability to imbue her weapons with electricity, fire beams of plasma, and launch electrified blade beams, though Link himself has not showcased these.

Wolf Form

After being brought into the Twilight Realm, Link gained the ability to transform into a wolf thanks to the protection of the Triforce of Courage. Link is completely sapient in this wolf form, though he can’t speak to others. He can, however, talk to animals, as well as being more agile. He can leap nimbly across small platforms and ledges, walk along ropes, charge after enemies, and has a powerful bite like a wolf. He also has incredible senses in this state, being able to track scents across entire regions of Hyrule down to the last step, and can even fight ghosts without being able to see them.

Cloud

Jenova Cells

As a victim of Hojo’s experiments, Cloud has infused the cells of an ancient space alien known as Jenova. These are the same cells that Sephiroth was injected with before his birth, and are something that all SOLDIER members have. As a result, these cells make Cloud significantly faster and stronger than a normal human being, which is why Cloud is able to swing around the Buster Sword with ease.

Stances

In the Remake Cloud fights with two distinct fighting styles: Operator Mode and Punisher Mode with both stances specializing in certain areas. 

• In Operator Mode, Cloud has an even balance of offensive and defensive capabilities. He can attack normally, block against physical and magic attacks, run around yada yada.

• In Punisher Mode the focus is shifted entirely to close quarters offense. His attacks become very wide, quick, and damaging and he gains a counter-attack whenever he blocks any physical moves. However, this style isn’t meant for movement and lacks any defensive options towards magic attacks.

Sword Techniques

Special techniques linked to each of Cloud’s weapons in both the remake and the Dissidia games. In the case of the latter, once Cloud has mastered a technique, he can use it on his own no matter what weapon he has equipped. 

• Focused Thrust: Lunges toward an enemy with a piercing thrust. Makes it much easier to stagger.

• Triple Slash: Slashes three times in quick succession, with every consecutive attack dealing more damage.

• Disorder: A devastating attack that can switch Cloud’s combat stances at the same time.

• Infinity End: Wind up and release a strong overhead strike.

• Blade Burst: Unleashes a wave of non-elemental mako energy.

• Counter Stance: Brace for attacks and retaliate with a strong counter.

• Sonic Break: A slow, but powerful three-hit combo. The first strike creates a gust of wind that draws in the enemy.

• Slashing Blow: Two quick aerial attacks that either knocks the opponent into the ground or further into the air.

• Cyclone Rush: Cloud charges forward while he performs a whirlwind of attacks.

• Aerial Fang: A downward dive that slashes the opponent into the air.

• Rising Fang: Cloud jumps into the air and circles around his target delivering many quick attacks.

Limit Breaks

When his anger is pushed to its very limit, Cloud can use his signature Limit Breaks, incredibly powerful techniques. Cloud’s emotional state also influences his ability to utilize them, with anger allowing more uses and sadness decreasing them. Of course, going by other media he can use them whenever soo.

• Braver: A single physical attack in the form of a downwards slash, this attack deals 3 times the usual physical damage. 

• Cross-Slash: A series of lunges and slashes that spell the kanji for “evil” or “bad luck” When performed it deals hefty damage alongside causing the Paralysis status effect. 

• Blade Beam: Channeling his energy through the blade in his hands, Cloud fires a powerful green wave that strikes opponents from afar, when it makes contact it explodes, dealing damage to adjacent enemies as well. 

• Climhazzard: An extremely powerful slashing attack Cloud performs after lunging an enemy, think of it like Braver on steroids. This attack deals almost 5 times the usual damage (more specifically 4.375).

• Meteorain: Cloud swings his sword and jumps into the air, after which he proceeds to summon 6 small meteors to strike the enemy.

• Finishing Touch: Cloud raises his sword towards the sky and proceeds to shoot out a giant tornado towards the enemy, this attack will inflict Death, Stone, and Stop on beings that do not have some sort of immunity, however, if they do it will still deal 3 times the usual damage. 

• Omnislash: Cloud’s iconic limit break and his most powerful physical attack, a relentless barrage of 15 swords slashes all back to back, all inflicting damage akin to a critical hit. 

• Omnislash Version 5: A version of Omnislash that implements Cloud’s Fusion Sword and he basically impales his enemy with all the swords that make up the blade...with illusionary copies or some shit cause he can apparently do that.

• Omnislash Version 6: A version of Omnislash where Cloud uses 13 slashes with the Fusion Sword. (Note: This is not the official name of the attack. It’s merely an extended version of Omnislash Version 5 that we see in Advent Children Complete, and is dubbed this by the fans)

• Cherry Blossom Slash: Combines the elements of thunder, ice, and fire to create Cloud’s strongest Limit Break….in Tactics anyway.

Materia Abilities

Magic

A special power that was wielded by the Dodo Race (Cetra) in the distant past. Normally unusable by humans but, with Magic Materia, Cloud can utilize the same power for himself. Here is all the magic usable in FF7 and here is all the magic usable within the remake.

• Fire: Grants Cloud the ability to use fire magic. With every additional spell increasing in range and destructive power (applies to the other spells). 

• Fire: Burns an enemy with a small amount of fire in the original. In the remake, Cloud throws a small fireball to burn his opponent.

• Fira: Summons a pillar of fire beneath the opponent in the original. In the remake, Cloud throws a strong fireball with explosive power behind it.

• Firaga: Surrounds the enemy in a small explosion. In the remake, Cloud throws a fireball with immense explosive power when it lands.

• Ice: Grants Cloud the ability to use ice magic..

• Blizzard: By summoning the bitter cold, cloud attacks using icicles, this one deals minor ice-elemental magic

• Blizzara: Same as above but deals mid-ice-elemental magic

• Blizzaga: Summons strong ice-elemental magic.

• Earth: Grants Cloud to use earth magic which creates small but potent tremors underneath his targets, conveniently named Quake. 

• Quake 1: Weak earth-elemental magic.

• Quake 2: Moderate earth-elemental magic.

• Quake 3: Heavy earth-elemental magic.

• Lightning: Grants usage of thunder magic. It is important to note that this particular element is very effective against machines.

• Thunder: Low lighting-elemental damage which summons down a single bolt of lightning.

• Thundara:  Moderate lighting-elemental magic which zaps an enemy with a strong bolt of lightning.

• Thundaga:  Strong lighting-elemental magic which electrocutes an enemy with an extremely powerful bolt of lightning.

• Wind: Grants usage of wind magic.

• Aero: Surrounds the enemy in a small gust of wind which knocks them toward the user.

• Aerora: Surrounds the enemy in a small vortex which...also knocks them toward Cloud.

• Aeroga: Surrounds the enemy in a small tornado which...figure it out.

• Poison: Grants Cloud the ability to give people COVID.

• Bio: Low poison-elemental damage with a 48% chance of inflicting the status poison. Compared to other spells, these do not miss.

• Bio 2: Mid poison-elemental damage also with a 48% chance of inflicting poison.

• Bio 3: High poison-elemental damage with a 72% probability to inflict the poison status.

• Restore: Grants the usage of spells that heal damage.

• Cure/Cura/Curaga: Healing spells that cure any ouchies Cloud has.

• Regen: Gifts Cloud with constant health regeneration.

• Heal: Grants the usage of spells that cleanse the body of impurities.

• Poisona: A spell that, as the name implies, heals the poison ailment. 

• Esuna: A particularly powerful healing spell that cures a myriad of ailments which include: Sleep, Poison, Sadness, Fury, Confusion, Silence, Frog, Small, Slow-numb, Petrify, Berserk, Paralysis, and Darkness.

• Resist: Protects the individual from various status ailments as well as locking any statuses currently on the individual at the time (Including Insta-death). Spells such as Esuna cannot remove any status effects while Resist is in effect and the spell will need to be removed before it can.

• Revival: Guess

• Life: Revives a party member with minimal health back. Kinda pointless in this fight unless his opponent is a zombie.

• Arise: the highest form of the revival materia, it will fully bring back a fallen ally and revive them to full health as well. 

• Binding: Allows Cloud to use spells that disable enemies.

• Sleep: Has a 72% chance to put the target to sleep.

• Silence: Has a 72% chance to silence the target and prevent them from using any form of magical abilities.

• Mystify: Allows Cloud to use spells that disrupt his opponent’s senses.

• Confuse: By casting Confuse, Cloud has a chance of inflicting well… confusion, making his enemies erratic and unable to properly attack.

• Berserk: A spell with a 72% chance of inflicting the so-called “Berserk” status, making it so the one that has been afflicted becomes much stronger, at the cost of losing control of their senses becoming more erratic (this spell can even be used on one-self). 

• Transform: Allows Cloud to use spells that change the form of his opponent.

• Mini: Has a 72% chance to shrink the target, vastly lowering their strength.

• Toad: Has a 72% chance to turn the target into a helpless frog. Preventing access to many of their abilities except for the usage of items. 

• Exit: Allows Cloud to use little bitch spells.

• Escape: A spell that immediately ends a battle to escape, but without reaping any rewards. 

• Remove: Removes an enemy from the battlefield by banishing them to another dimension.

• Gravity: Allows Cloud to manipulate gravity.

• Gravity: An un-reflectable gravity-elemental attack that deals damage equal to 25% of the current target’s HP.

• Gravira: Same as above, but instead the damage is cranked up to 50% of the current target’s HP. 

• Graviga: Just as above it's based on the current targets HP, this time it’s a staggering 75%. 

• Barrier: Allows Cloud to use defensive spells to protect himself.

• Barrier: Creates a barrier around Cloud that halves all physical attacks.

• Manaward: Surrounds Cloud in a mystical wall that shields him from magical attacks. Also reduces healing magic as well.

• Reflect: Summons a reflective barrier that directs magic back at the caster up to 4 times.

• ManaWall: A combination of Barrier and Manaward.

• Comet: Allows Cloud to summon even more meteors.

• Comet: Cloud summons forth a small comet (duh). A very powerful non-elemental magical spell that targets a specific target. Due to its nature, it cannot be either reflected or resisted.

• Comet 2: Same as above, but instead of one comet it summons four, they deal massive non-elemental magic and are amongst Cloud’s strongest spells. 

• Time: Allows Cloud to use time magic.

• Haste: Speeds up Cloud’s time, allowing him to act and move faster.

• Slow: Slows down an opponent in time, reducing their speed and ability to act. Will always land.

• Stop: 60% chance to completely freeze an enemy in time.

• Subversion/Destruct: Allows Cloud to cast spells that remove all positive effects on the opponent.

• Breach: Removes defensive magic from the opponent such as Barrier, Manaward, and Reflect.

• DeSpell: Removes any and all positive magical enhancements from the target.

• Death: It inflicts die, as in you die… very hard. 

• Contain: Gives the user the most strongest forms of elemental magic.

• Freeze: Very potent ice magic which can freeze the enemy in time. (Ha)

• Break: Strong earth magic which can turn the target to stone.

• Tornado: Powerful wind magic which can potentially confuse its victims.

• Flare: A nuke

• Full Cure: The strongest healing spell, fully restores all health and cannot be reflected.

• Shield: The strongest defensive magic, protects its caster from all physical attacks while absorbing all elemental attacks. It cannot be removed with magic either.

• Ultima: The most powerful spell that Cloud can use. Creates a massive explosion of...mako or something which nukes all enemies and cannot be reflected.

Summons

Beings called upon by summon materia. In the original game, all summons possess the ability to transport their opponent into a pocket dimension in order to unleash their full-scale destruction without harming the original world. In the FF7Remake they are also capable of fighting alongside their summoner for a short period of time. Here are all the summons in the original and remake.

• Carbuncle: A small bird or mammalian creature reportedly sighted in South America by Spanish conquistadors (though very much mammalian like in all FF games where it’s a summon). While it doesn’t fight directly, the gem on its forehead can provide Cloud with a myriad of buffs, such as halving physical and magic damage, doubling his speed, and offering a full heal and revival of party members.

• Chocobo Chick: A cute little baby Chocobo that can use a variety of magical spells such as Chocofire, Chocoblizzard, Chocothunder, Chocowind, and Chocoflare.

• Cactuar: The ever-elusive and speedy cactuar. Assist its summoner in battle by pelting enemies with its signature technique 1000 Needles. When its time is ready, it will unleash its ultimate move 10000 Needles? to barrage all around it with prickly needles.

• Choco/Mog: A titular Chocobo was ridden by a cute little Moogle. Its Deathblow!! The attack deals wind-elemental damage by charging into the opponent and can inflict Stop, which prevents the enemy from moving. It has a 1/16 chance of summoning a very chunky Chocobo, simply called Fat-Chocobo, which deals much higher damage.

• Shiva: The Hindu god (tho in this case goddess) of destruction. In battle, she aids Cloud by summoning icicles and ice constructs to freeze and pierce foes, and her diamond-dust attack freezes and shatters a wide area.

• It should be noted that Shiva’s Diamond Dust is stated in multiple games to reach temperatures of Absolute Zero, so while not outright confirmed to be the case in FF7, it is highly likely that her ice is this cold here.

• Ifrit: The arabian Djinn of fire. When called forth, it fights with its massive physical strength and fists, as well as possessing various pyrokinetic abilities, including its hellfire. Side materials state that Ifrit’s fires are capable of turning the entire world to ash.

• Ramuh: A great sorcerer king from the lost continent of Mu, master of lighting and storms. When summoned into the battlefield, he shall strike the unfit with his Judgment Bolt spell.

• Titan: A race of mighty deities from Greek myth, progenitors of the Olympians. Using its godly strength, it attacks enemies using “Anger of the Land”, a technique where it literally lifts the earth from underneath its foe(s) and flips it over, dealing massive Earth-elemental damage. 

• Odin: The One-Eyed god and All-Father of Norse myth, king of the Aesir (though he always has both eyes in Final Fantasy games). When called into battle, Odin will perform either one of two techniques depending on if the enemy is immune to “Insta-death” or not. If the enemy is not immune, Odin will attempt Zantetsuken, a devastating sword slash with a 92% chance to strike a grievous blow, If the enemy is immune to such an effect, Odin will instead perform Gunge Lance using his legendary weapon Gungnir. 

• Leviathan: A violent and demonic sea monster of Hebrew lore. Upon being summoned, it will unleash its terrifying Tidal Wave upon the enemy. 

• Bahamut: A legendary whale-like monster of pre-Islamic Arabia (though this is FF so he’s a cool dragon now, thanks D&D). If called upon, it will unleash its most powerful attack, Mega Flare, a powerful breath weapon that, despite its name, has no element. It’s essentially a laser beam of death

• Neo Bahamut: Same as above with “neo” on the front (it means new or young in Greek btw). When summoned, this red version of Bahamut will perform Giga Flare, where it lifts the opponents into the Troposphere before blasting them with an even bigger laser breath weapon than before

• Bahamut ZERO: Essentially Bahamut if he were fused with a space satellite, this version uses Tera Flare, a massive laser even more powerful than the last two, which it fires from orbit, vaporizing any poor soul that pissed Cloud off that week

• Bahamut SIN: A unique case, in that although Cloud himself has not outright used it, he is confirmed to have access to its materia. This one’s laser weapon doesn’t have a name, though given that another Bahamut form, Bahamut Fury, has an attack called “Exaflare”, it’s theorized that Bahamut SIN’s is called Peta Flare

• Kujata: The cosmic bull of Arabian myth, the one who sits on the back of the mighty Behemoth. When summoned it will perform Tetra-Disaster, a powerful blast that combines the elements of Lighting, Ice, and Fire (yes, I know the attack is called Tetra-Disaster, but it really does only count as three attacks. It’s just that it also attacks with earth in the animation and it’s actually a mistranslation of the recurring attack Tri-Disaster)

• Alexander: A living automaton of immeasurable power and protector of mankind. When called forth, it will cast Judgement to deal Holy damage. 

• Phoenix: The immortal firebird of legend, aids Cloud in battle by using its signature move, Phoenix Flame, which not only deals massive fire damage but revives fallen allies to full HP. 

• Hades: The Greek lord of the Underworld, and king of all souls that have entered the afterlife. When called to battle, it brings with itself his Black Cauldron, first it deals non-elemental damage to all enemies, and later it proceeds to deal with various random status effects. 

• Typhon: A great and horrid monster of Greek legend, forever imprisoned in the bowels of Mt. Edna. When Clouds calls for its aid, it will cast Disintegration on the foe. This attack deals immense Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth damage to all enemies that ignore magic defense. (Though called Typhoon in the original translation, Typhon is considered to be the correct translation, going by more recent entries such as the Final Fantasy 1 Remake)

• Knights of the Round: The most powerful summon in all of the OG FF7, by casting it, Cloud brings forth the 13 legendary knights of Arthurian legend, led by King Arthur himself they perform the ultimate attack, Ultimate End. This attack strikes the opponent thirteen times, ignoring the target’s magic defense.

Commands

• W-Magic: Let’s Cloud cast two spells at once.

• W-Summon: Let’s Cloud cast two summons at once.

• W-Item: Let’s Cloud use two items at once.

• Sense/Assess: Displays detailed information about the opponent including their stats, weaknesses, and resistances.

• Throw: Gives Cloud the amazing ability to chuck his shit at people. 

• Morph: A weak attack that turns the opponent into an item, provided the attack actually kills them.

• Deathblow: An attack at ⅓ accuracy that will always land a critical hit.

• Manipulate: Grants Cloud the ability to control the actions of his enemy.

• Mime: Allows Cloud to copy the last action that happened, without using any magic or anything.

• Chakra: Restores health equal to 40% of damage taken.

• Prayer: Restores health without using magic.

• Enemy Skill: Let’s Cloud use the abilities of his enemy. There are quite a few.

• Frog Song: Inflicts Sleep and Frog on all opponents.

• Magic Hammer: Summons a mystical hammer that knocks the MP right out of an opponent.

• White Wind: Restores HP and status to all allies.

• Big Guard: Adds Barrier, Manaward, and Haste to all allies.

• Dragon Force: Raises defense and magic defense.

• Flame Thrower: Spews a stream of fire at an opponent.

• Laser: Fires a stream of lasers that halves the opponent’s health.

• Matra Magic: Nonelemental damage to all opponents.

• Bad Breath: Spews a disgusting smog that inflicts poison, confuse, sleep, silence, small, and frog.

• Beta: Surrounds the enemy in a flaming vortex that deals major fire damage.

• Aqualung: Surrounds the enemy in a torrent of water orbs.

• Trine: Summons a pyramid of lightning to electrocute all foes.

• Magic Breath: Spews a stream of magic bubbles enchanted with fire, water, and lightning. 

• ???: Deals damage equal to the user’s current health.

• Death Sentence: Casts Doom on the target.

• Shadow Flare: A dark version of flare which bombards all in a fury of dark explosions.

• Pandora’s Box: A mysterious ability that deals massive damage to all targets while ignoring their defense.

Job Class Abilities 

One time, Cloud was summoned to the world of Ivalice in order to help Ramza Beoulve fight off the catholic church in Final Fantasy Tactics. While there, he was able to take on the various job classes that Ramza and company can take on. Note if any ability (like magic) is one Cloud already has, it won’t be listed. Here is a video of all types of abilities obtainable in Tactics.

Chemist

A class specializing in item usage and protection. Makes Cloud really good at using items or chucking shit at people.

Passive abilities:

• Safeguard: Protects Cloud’s equipment from being stolen or destroyed.

• Reequip: Grants the user the mystical power to change equipment...when fighting!

Knight

A brave class that employs the expert tactics of destroying his opponent’s arsenal with sheer force.

Abilities:

• Rend Helmet/Armor/Shield: A set of techniques capable of breaking the opponent’s armor.

• Rend Weapon: A technique that breaks the opponent's weapon.

• Rend Stats: A set of techniques that can quite literally cut down an opponent’s MP, speed, and physical/magic strength.

Archer

A class specializing in ranged attacks using bows and crossbows

Abilities:

• Aim +1-20: A technique that focuses the next attack on a specific area. The higher the number the more focus is needed, but the greater damage that is dealt.

Passive abilities:

• Adrenaline Rush: Raises speed when damage is sustained.

• Concentrate: Makes attacks unblockable.

White Mage

The classic healing class that allows Cloud to cure his allies (or himself) in a pinch, or, nuke the shit out of some poor fool with Holy

Abilities:

• Curaja: A really strong version of the Cure spell.

• Reraise: Endows the unit with a protective force that revives them once after death.

• Holy: Attacks the target with sacred light.

Passive abilities:

• Regenerate: Gives Cloud the regeneration status whenever he takes damage.

• Arcane Defense: Reduce damage from magic.

Black Mage

A class that uses magic to channel elemental power into strong magical attacks.

Abilities:

• Firaja: Gathers a bundle of energy before creating a massive explosion.

• Blizzaja: Rains down massive icicles to crush foes.

• Thundaja: Calls forth many many bolts of lightning to electrocute the victim.

• Death: While the same in name, this version of Death is a tad different in that it rips the soul of the victim out to be harvested by Death Gods, instantly killing them.

Monk

A class, devoted to physical training, that employs the use of deadly martial techniques. Who needs a giant fuck-off sword when you can Bruce Lee the shit out of your opponent?

Abilities:

• Cyclone: Spins around and attacks all nearby foe with a backhand.

• Pummel: Strike many times in quick succession.

• Aurablast: Sends out a wave of martial spirit to attack from afar.

• Shockwave: Release spiritual energy that can rend the earth itself and strike distant targets.

• Doomfist: Invite a slow and certain death by attacking one’s pressure points.

• Purification: Release positive energy to remove debilitating effects.

• Chakra: Draw out the energy within the body’s chakra points to restore health and magic.

Passive abilities:

• Critical Recover HP: Recover health when critically injured.

• First Strike: Attack preemptively when an opponent is trying to launch an attack.

• Brawler: Deliver more powerful unarmed attacks.

• Lifefont: Recover health just by walking.

Thief

A class that can steal anything from anyone with unmatched skill. Wait, that’s illegal

Abilities:

• Steal Heart: Capture the target’s heart, completely enthralling them.

• Steal Equipment: Plunder the target’s armor.

• Steal Weapon: Purloin the target’s weaponry.

• Steal Accessory: Robs a target of their accessories.

• Steal EXP: Steals someone’s experience….somehow.

Passive abilities:

• Vigilance: Automatically assumes a defensive stance when under attack.

• Sticky Fingers: An ability that lets Cloud catch any items thrown at him and use them for himself.

Mystic

A class that manipulates the fabric of the universe to inflict debilitating effects on their enemy.

Abilities:

• Umbra: Robs a target of their vision.

• Empowerment: Absorbs the MP of the target.

• Belief: Fill’s target’s soul with a zealous fervor and increases their Faith.

• Disbelief: Drain’s the target’s soul of piety.

• Corruption: Transform target into the walking dead.

• Trepidation: Drains the victim of their courage and makes them a coward.

• Hesitation: Renders the target incapable of performing any action.

Passive abilities:

• Absorb MP: Restore MP equal to the amount used by the opponent when hit by their magic.

• Manafont: Recover MP with each step.

Time Mage

A class that uses time and spatial magic to toy with the laws of the universe.

Abilities:

• Immobilize: Creates an anomaly in space to prevent the target from moving.

• Float: Warps space to allow the target to walk above ground.

• Quick: Hastens the passage of time to allow the user to act again.

• Meteor: Warps space-time and causes a giant meteor to fall on the battlefield.

Passive abilities:

• Critical Quick: Hastens the user’s time when critically injured.

• Mana Shield: Any damage Cloud sustains will be dealt to his MP rather than HP.

• Teleport: A teleport. Useful but can fail when attempting to travel long distances.

• Levitate: An ability that grants the user constant floating.

Geomancer

A class that uses Geomancy to harness powers lying dormant in the natural terrain.

Abilities:

• Sinkhole: Damages an opponent by opening rifts in space-time. Also immobilizes the victim.

• Torrent: Drops a torrent of water on the opponent. Can also turn them into a frog.

• Tanglevine: Attacks an opponent with a barrage of vines. Can also bind them in place and prevent them from acting.

• Tremor: Creates a powerful tremor underneath the opponent. Can also confuse them.

• Wind Slash: Summons a barrage of wind slashes to damage the opponent. Also, prevent the opponent from being able to act or use their abilities.

• Will-o’-the-wisp: Summons a satanic fire to scorch the opponent. Can also send them into a slumber.

• Quicksand: Despite its name, it instead creates poisonous bubbles underneath the opponent. Can inflict Doom.

• Sandstorm: Summons a sandstorm on the target. Can inflict blind.

• Snowstorm: Summons a snowstorm. Can inflict silence.

• Wind Blast: Creates a small blast of wind on the target. Can also slow them down in time.

• Magma Surge: Attacks the opponent with a ball of lava. Can instantly kill them.

Passive abilities:

• Nature’s Wrath: When sustaining damage, counters with a Geomancy skill.

• Lava Walking: Allows Cloud to walk across the lava.

Dragoon

A class is great at soaring jump attacks regardless of the weight of their armor. Yes, you read that right, Cloud can obtain the same class as badasses like Kain Highwind and Freya Crescent

Abilities:

• Jump: The signature dragoon ability. Jumps high into the air and dives down on the target.

Passive abilities:

• Dragonheart: This allows the user to revive once from death.

Orator

A class that participates in battle with speechcraft. Words, instead of weapons, are the main weapon of this class. And because of this, magic resistance does not have any effect on their abilities.

Abilities:

• Entice: Persuades a foe to become an ally.

• Stall: Persuades a foe to wait before acting.

• Intimidate: Plays upon the target’s doubts and fears, making them more cowardly and likely to run.

• Condemn: Tells a target they are going to die so convincingly that they actually die. 

• Insult: The expert tactic of saying mean words to piss someone off.

Summoner

A warrior that summons powerful espers from the realm of spirits. Note: While some are of the same name, the summons in this game are still different beings. I won’t list them but if you want to see all the different summons just click here.

Abilities:

• Moogle: An esper that soothes injuries with a purifying breeze.

• Golem: An esper that absorbs physical attacks on behalf of its summoner until its limit is reached.

• Salamander: An esper that scorches the battlefield in searing flames.

• Sylph: An esper that employs the lingering life force of windswept leaves to silence its targets.

• Faerie: Another esper that restores health!

• Lich: An esper born in, of, and to darkness. Attacks with the power of… you guessed it, darkness.

• Cyclops: An esper whose forceful blow tears the battlefield asunder. 

• Zodiark: An esper that bathes the battlefield in radiant beams of focused starlight.

Passive abilities:

• Critical MP Recover: Recovers MP when critically wounded.

• Halve MP: Reduces the cost of all magic spells.

Samurai

Following an ethic from a foreign land, this class uses special Iaido attacks to draw out the spirit within their katanas to perform various techniques. However, performing Iaido also has a possibility of breaking the katana with each use.

Abilities:

• Ashura: Creates an unseen specter sword to slash the target.

• Kotetsu: Let’s loose a wave of howling dark spirits.

• Osafune: Sends the whispering dead to feed on the target’s magic.

• Murasame: Summons tears of an enlightened soul to restore health.

• Ame-no-Murakumo: Releases a phantom of pure mist to attack the target and slow them down in time.

• Kiyomori: Releases a spirit that bestows protection from physical and magic attacks with its effervescent life force.

• Muramasa: Releases a spirit that will only be quelled by a living soul. Confuses its prey and inflicts Doom.

• Kiku-ichimonji: Sends out a spirit that wreaks havoc with its all-consuming hatred

• Masamune: Releases a spirit that bestows physical healing and increased speed.

• Chirijiraden: Releases a spirit that pursues the living as a blue flame.

Ninja

A class that uses stealth to be all but invisible. Also capable of throwing various weaponry from far away to attack. Sadly not as cool as other ninjas, but who are we to judge?

Passive abilities:

• Vanish: Turn invisible in response to being attacked.

• Dual Wield: The mystical and unique ability to hold two weapons!

• Water walking: Allows Cloud to walk across water.

Arithmetician

A very unique class that relies on arithmetics to analyze and pinpoint magical attacks. By using various calculations they can instantly cast any spell currently known to them without using MP. That’s right, Cloud uses the dark magic known to all as Math

Abilities:

• Math: A curse from Satan and also the ultimate power of this class. Calculates damn near everything around them to pinpoint the next victim of their spells.

Passive abilities:

• Soulbind: Split any damage with the opponent who inflicted it.

Bard

A class that relies on their voice in order to bolster allies. No word on if it makes the character more spoony as a result.

Abilities:

• Seraph Song: A song that pleads for angelic protection and restores MP.

• Life’s Anthem: A song that praises the vibrance of life and restores HP.

• Rousing Melody: A song full of so much encouragement and inspiration it raises speed.

• Battle Chant: A gallant song of all the battles fought and won, raises power.

• Magickal Refrain: A song about the laws of sorcery and the nature of magic, raises magic power.

• Nameless Song: A mysterious song passed around by many through the ages. Bestows a multitude of beneficial effects such as Reraise, Protect, Shell, Haste, and Rege.

Passive abilities:

• Fly: Let’s Cloud fly!

Dark Knight

A warrior that exchanges their life force for power, using the power of darkness to disintegrate all who stand before them.

Abilities:

• Sanguine Sword: Absorbs HP from the target.

• Infernal Strike: Absorbs MP from the target.

• Crushing Blow: Inflict damage with a sinister sword and freezes the target in time.

• Abyssal Blade: Sacrifice health to damage all nearby, the closer the victim the stronger the attack.

• Unholy Sacrifice: Sacrifice health to damage all in range with the power of darkness. Also slows down all victims in time.

Feats

Link

Overall

• Has slain Ganon countless times

• Rescued Princess Zelda many times through the ages

• Has defeated his own copy, Dark Link, on multiple occasions

• Vanquished many of Ganondorf’s minions, including but not limited to, Twinrova, Knox, Vearn, Zant, and Ghirham

• Slew the Demon King Demise 

• Vanquished the living embodiment of Ganondorf’s malice: Calamity Ganon. And could fight off the powerful monsters created by it, like Harbringer Ganon and Ganonblights

• Slew Ganondorf’s Lorule counterpart Yuga

• Stopped Majora from destroying Termina

• Restored the Sacred Realm after Ganon corrupted it

• Saved the Lorule Kingdom from the brink of destruction

• Saved Hyrule in the Hero Timeline

Power

• Physically capable of tossing a massive Goron aside effortlessly 

• Casually lifts up and tosses Dangoro into the lava

• Can lift Koloktos’ massive swords 

• Strong enough trip over Twilit Igniter Fyrus

• Can chuck a pillar (0.96-8 tons)

• Goron Link’s punches can break rocks (11 tons)

• Toon Link can effortlessly throw and break boulders (17 tons)

• Link’s Bombos Medallion is capable of evaporating ice (150 tons)

• Link’s Fire Arrows can vaporize blocks of ice (296 tons)

• Link’s bombs can break large rocks (971 tons-2 kilotons)

• Golden Gauntlets have been stated to “move mountains” (19 kilotons)

• Capable of breaking rocks in Zelda 2 (55 kilotons)

• Link’s bombs cause a volcanic eruption

• With the Ether Medallion, can disperse clouds (14.37 gigatons)

• Comparable to Faron, who could flood and later drain an entire forest (6.3 gigatons)

• Defeated Majora, who could pull the moon and raze Termina (1 exaton) 

• Can flip the planet in Hyrule Warriors (2 tenatons) 

• Defeated Ganondorf with all three Triforce pieces in Hyrule Warriors 

Speed

                           

• Has supersonic arrows (Mach 1.6)

• As Goron Link, can move fast enough to catch on fire

• Can shoot his arrows to an island quickly (Mach 15.64)

• Comparable to Onox, who moves in tandem with his own lightning (Mach 459.75 - 938.905)

• Able to swing his sword multiple times within a lightning strike (Mach 1735.16)

• Can move in tandem with Beamos lasers in Twilight Princess (0.12c)

• Blocked a Guardian laser with a pot lid

• Comparable to Zelda, who can dodge Guardian scout lasers (1.67c)

• Can play tennis with Ganondorf

• Comparable to Ganondorf, who can dodge Light Arrows

Durability

• Can survive a lightning strike

• Endured the heat of Gleerok’s fire attacks (1 kiloton)

• Can endure Ganondorf’s magical attacks, which can levitate castles (49 kilotons)

• Ganondorf also nuked Hyrule Castle in Twilight Princess (288 kilotons)

• And caused an endless night by creating a severe thunderstorm spanning the entire ocean

• Blasted constantly by magic from fodder Wizzrobes who can create thunderstorms (11.9 megatons)

• Can withstand Onox’s onslaught, who can make thunderstorms with ease (2.31 megatons)

• Can survive attacks from Goht who causes a snowstorm in the Goron’s home (12 gigatons)

• Same for Gyorg who heated up the Zora ocean (500 gigatons)

Cloud

Overall

• Managed to defeat Sephiroth when he was going insane with zero Mako enhancements

• Committed ecoterrorism

• Faced the Shinra corporation and their many, many mechs

• Slayed the many forms of Jenova

• Could fight many of the powerful monsters that roam his world like Lost Number, Materia Keeper, Bottomswell, Red Dragon, Schizo, and many other monstrosities

• Fought Hojo and many of his genetic experiments such as Unknown Entities and Type-0 Behemoth

• Faced Shinra’s special investigation team: The Turks

• Destroyed WEAPONS, giant bio-mechanical engines of destruction that exist to protect the planet

• Defeated God Sephiroth and saved Midgar

• Helped Ramza fight the Catholic Church and kill the Lucavi demons, and this was when he lost his memory and was weakened due to the Lifestream

• Teamed up with many Final Fantasy protagonists to help Cosmos fight Chaos and his army of Final Fantasy villains

• It was a long and horrible process but he managed to run up those damn stairs…

Power

• Very good cutter

• Attacks Sephiroth hard enough to indent the metal they are standing on when he blocks

• Pushes Sephiroth through multiple floors of a building

• Throws Sephiroth after being stabbed hard enough to break machinery on the wall

• He got hops 

• Can overpower Reno and Rude, who survived being in the epicenter of an explosion (150 Kilotons)

• Can harm Jenova, who survived a meteor impact (19 megatons)

• Comparable to Tifa, who can suplex Diamond Weapon (327 Megatons - 1.3 Gigatons)

• Easily suprasses lesser summons such as Odin and Bahamut Zero who both manage to part a lot of clouds (2 teratons and 301 petatons respectively)

• Fought the Weapons, who can create earthquakes with their awakening (20 teratons) and make massive craters (351 petatons)

• The strength of the average materia is around 48 teratons-760 teratons

• Comparable to Sephiroth who can casually make a massive storm (14.2 petatons)

• Comparable to Zack Fair, who scales to Bahamut Fury’s Exaflare blowing up an entire moon (31 yottatons)

• Zack also fought Ifrit, a djinn with flames hot enough to turn the world to ash (1 exaton- 57 zettatons)

• Another higher tier summon, Typhon, is also capable of flipping an entire planet (1 tenaton)

• Comparable to Vincent Valentine, whose clash with Omega created an explosion that dispersed clouds (16 exatons)

• Well above the Turks who can battle Zirconiade, the strongest summon in the series. 

• Besides the aforementioned Bahamut, other summons like Knights of the Round can destroy a dimension full of stars and galaxies

• On par with the cast of Tactics at their endgame (and in the case of Luso and Balthier: their post-game)

• On par with multiple characters in Dissidia, including:

• Wife of Darkness, who intended to devour both the World of Light and Darkness

• Exdeath, who was able to harness the power of the Void

• Ultimecia, who wanted to compress all of time and space into herself

Speed

• Blocks and avoids bullets then block some more while fighting someone else

• Blocks even more bullets from a closer range, fight two people mid-air, then blocks bullets again as he recovers

• Even more close-range bullet blocking

• Can avoid arrows in Final Fantasy Tactics, a game where weaker bows can shoot arrows as fast as lightning (Around Mach 280)

• Comparable to Sephiroth, who can telekinetically move clouds (Mach 444.91) and attack at the speed of light

• Comparable to Bahamut Zero, who can fly across the planet (Mach 4688)

• Comparable to Typhon, who flipped the planet with his telekinesis (0.12 c)

• Comparable to Vincent, who can outspeed Omega Weapon, who can fly into space (0.19 c)

• The aforementioned Bahumut Fury can fly between solar systems (17,828,728 c)

• Said Bahamut was beaten by Zack early in his SOLDIER career

• Comparable to Red XIII who’s limit break can call energy from the stars (65,900,000 c)

• Keeps up with Sephiroth, who can manipulate the comet that causes Supernova (7,503,713,688,000 c - 20.571 trillion c)

Durability

• Takes a solid hit and doesn't slow down fighting

• The attack was capable of this in the same fight

• Shot in the face and doesn't suffer much damage. Most likely the goggles deflected the bullet to some degree

• Survived this long fall

• Kicked far and hard enough to go through concrete and stands back up to keep fighting

• Stabbed through the chest by Sephiroth again

• After being stabbed is conscious and able to stand back up after being stabbed multiple times and thrown back to the ground 

• Tanked Sephiroth’s Supernova to the face (7.629 KiloFoe - 178 MegaFoe)

• Supernova is also stated to completely destroy the dimension it’s in. Said dimension has a galaxy in it and likely much more

• Survived a fall into the lifestream while mentally incapacitated, which should have killed him by destroying his physical body

Weaknesses

Link

Link doesn’t have any specific physical weaknesses. He’s a fairly well-rounded fighter. However, most of Link’s weapons are focused solely on exploration and puzzle-solving, and not exactly on actual combat. On top of that, certain versions of Link can be arrogant, or naive, allowing him to be outsmarted by certain opponents.

Link also doesn’t really have a strategy whenever he runs into a fight, usually improvising. While this does mean he is quick to change plans on the fly, it also means he will often need to take unnecessary risks in order to succeed.

Cloud

Cloud’s skill as a fighter makes him quite impressive amongst Final Fantasy’s large roster, but don’t mistake this for the idea that Cloud is unstoppable. For one, Cloud’s past is a very touchy subject for him. Having witnessed the deaths of both Zack and Aerith (spoilers, sorry), Cloud often lacks a drive to really do anything without beating himself up over it. In addition, it often leads him into being mentally manipulated by people like Sephiroth into doing what he wants.

In terms of stuff that might actually hinder him in a fight, Cloud doesn’t have any obvious physical weaknesses, but some of his more advanced techniques do leave him wide open to counterattacks if he misses.

Summary

Link

“Well, excuuuuuuuse me, Princess!”

Advantages:

• More mobile

• Generations of experience

• With the Four Sword that means there are four times as many Links to deal with

• Can reflect projectiles and magic with the Mirror Shield and Deadman’s Volley

• With Chateau Romani, he does not have to worry about any limitations on some of his magical abilities

• Mipha’s Grace can heal him throughout the fight as well as fully revive and heal him from incapacitation, with bonus vitality

• Ancient Arrows can BFR Cloud if he fails to resist it

• Has resistance to some of Cloud’s status spells like the mind manipulation spells, transmutation spells, sleep spells, and soul fuckery spells

• Likely the better crossdresser

• Rapping Skills

 

Disadvantages:

• Far below Cloud in strength and durability

• Leagues slower

• Cloud can resist or is flat out immune to a majority of Link’s hax

• Conversely, he does not have much resistance or counters to most of Cloud’s hax

• When he speaks, which he rarely does

 

Cloud Strife

“Survival can be a matter of luck or skill. And you can't rely on luck.”      

Advantages:

• Vastly superior strength and durability

• Has speed by several magnitudes

• Possesses abilities and spells that allow him to catch projectiles, reflect magic, or absorb elemental attacks

• Can easily restore his health with Cure or Potions and have an auto revive with Reraise or Dragonheart

• Stealing or destroying Link’s gear is well within his options

• Can resist some of Link’s more potent abilities like the time stop, transmutation, and BFR

• Has status effects that can affect Link like Bio, Blind, Silence, Disable, Immobilize, Manipulate, Slow, Stop, Remove, Doom, or Death

• Summon Materia can let Cloud call upon many powerful beings to help him in battle

• Can just talk to Link and befriend him thus ending the battle instantly :)

• Link has generations of experience for Cloud to steal

• Has the power of 2006 Advent Children AMVs on his side

 

Disadvantages:

• Less mobile overall

• Less experienced

• Many of his abilities are reliant on limited MP or consumable items

• His actions are under the strict authority of the Time Jannies

• Supernova and Dissidia don’t FEEL right tbh fams

• Dissidia NT

Verdicts

That One Munchlax

Hello and thank you Grand Blazer for giving me access to this blog. As a big fan of Final Fantasy and a recent fan of Zelda it was pretty enjoyable working on this. Oh heads up though, do not listen to anything Tinnie says, he cannot be trusted. That’s it, now onto the verdict.

So yeah if you read the blog, or didn’t and just glanced at the summary (you know who you are), you can tell that Cloud has many, many advantages over Link. Going by just FF7 material, Cloud is planet level and millions C by the start of his own game, at minimum. And by the end of the game, he can be all the way up at Multi Solar System and trillions c if you want to fully scale him to Supernova. Meanwhile Link, on a good day, might be planet level and relativistic. So as you can see, Cloud holds the advantage in being very stronk.

Ability wise he has all the standard RPG abilities like transmutation, mind fuckery, poison, instant death, and etc. And Cloud can inflict it through various means like his weapons, magic, fucking with space time, or telling Link to just die. And while Link can reflect magic, he can’t reflect words. Sticks and stones may break his bones and Cloud’s words will definitely kill him. 

So now you might be thinking, if Cloud has all of these advantages and haxes at his disposal, then surely he is the obvious winner right? Wrong. You see, it doesn’t matter how powerful Cloud is, how fast he is, how many abilities he has, or how many haxes he has, as there is one thing he cannot overcome: Link’s status.

Link is the Hero of Time, wielding a sword that transcends time and has the Ocarina of Time. So as you can see, he is very important to the timeline. And do you really think the Time Jannies will just sit there and let Cloud kill him? They won’t. When Cloud is about to deliver the final blow, the Time Jannies will show up to prevent Link’s death, and push Cloud into Link’s Sword. Thereby preserving the timeline and making sure it does not deviate from the original 2012 fight.

The end of this rivalry, will result in Link coming out on top.

Agent

(I’m just gonna be some cool Tetsuo fanart I found cause why not. Might as well be the Sephiroth before Sephiroth existed)

So we got Link vs Cloud 2, a matchup that a year ago, I kinda disliked, but kinda grew to think that, hey, maybe I should give this a chance, and realize that it’s actually something that should happen. And boy oh boy does this look badass already from the previews. I have some good expectations at hand, and I expect the fight to be badass as all hell. Link vs Cloud as a matchup in general is just a pretty fun concept that definitely is historic with the show, so I feel a part 2 is warranted given the history it has, and since it’s the season all about history, it was the perfect time to do it now. Oh, another fun note, Link vs Cloud is actually my second favorite Season 1 episode behind Goku vs Superman, so of course I’m hyped to see what the new one can do for me.

So on with the verdict, who in the Hell is gonna win? Well, at this rate, Cloud’s most likely gonna win the episode, but in my mind, who wins? I think given what we’re doing, and since we said Dissidia was all fair game, I gotta say, and it was sorta given away already but, I think Cloud would win it. But first, let's compare the two to see how they stack up. On Link’s side, he’s got some decent Rela and FTL laser timing feats, as well as another um, more controversial feat right here. So that would make him around FTL-FTL+ at his peak in terms of speed. As for AP, he has many Country and Continental feats as we listed already, as well as that one Dwarf Star feat from Hyrule Warriors. Then on the high end of the spectrum, if we scale him to Windfish, it’s dream was described as a parallel universe, which would boost him up to potentially universal levels of power at peak. Not to mention, Yuga Ganon was gonna devour Hyrule and Lorule while empowered by the Triforce of Power, putting him potentially even Low Multiversal levels of Power?

Now about Cloud? Uh, Dissidia is totally fair game here, and is even outright canon, so I will give it to Cloud even if it’s technically optional for him. But that’s besides the point. Even in his own game, he has feats of Large Planet level, and even Multi Solar System, maybe even higher thanks to the Supernova destroying the dimension, which seems to have a galaxy (or maybe even two) in it, clocking in at Galaxy to Multi Galaxy. Knights of the round can also even get Multi Galaxy without the need of Supernova to buff it, as shown here, and even here. Just wait till FF7 gets galaxy chucking buffs. As for speed, Cloud can scale to the likes of Red XIII using his Limit Break to call energy from Stars, getting him in the Millions C range, and Sephiroth’s Supernova meteor, which gets in the Trillions, putting him easily faster than Link, but weaker than him if we’re going high end Link against Cloud just scaled to this. But remember Dissidia and it being canon? Tides are about to turn over hard.

As we have been mentioning, Dissidia is a crossover Final Fantasy sub series in which every character in it fights on par, and is generally seen as comparable to each other. And of the strong boys here, we got the likes of Exdeath, who can use the power of The Void, which as shown in Dissidia, connects all Universes in the Final Fantasy multiverse, and there are many instances of it being stated to have infinite universes, as shown here, an- Damnit the second Link on Vs Battles broke. Anyways, I can’t find the proper scan, but The Void being Multiverse+ seems to be fairly solid. And that Dissidia doc I showed glosses over a shit load of other Tier 2 feats, from the Tactics Crew tanking Universe destruction (technically a 3-A feat iirc, but meh), Cloud of Darkness, who intended to devour two universes, Ultimecia compressing Space Time of the Universe, etc, etc, you get the point. As for other speed buffs? Oh yeah, the Guardian Force (or Summon), Eden from FF8 has the Eternal Breath, which is this strong, and fast. I can explain why Squall scales too, but I don’t wanna bog you down too much.

Anyways, with all this said, I think Cloud has what it takes to win. He has a much larger arsenal, and while Link can counter many haxes, his overwhelming strength and speed are no match for even highballed Link. Thanks Dissidia, for buffing Final Fantasy for us. But without Dissidia, who do I think wins? I have tried not to touch this with a 10 foot pole thanks to the bad debates I’ve had in the past about subjects like this, and me just wanting to remain neutral, but y’know, if I was held at gunpoint….. I’ll just go Cloud I guess. You can feasibly scale FF7 Cloud to the Tactics crew, or even Gilgamesh for that matter via heavy backscaling, which could still make him stronger than Link, and the speed seals the deal. Sorry Link, I would’ve gone for you, but I just had to bite the bullet. 

But regardless, I just wanted to thank Death Battle for the nice season we’ve had so far. Some matchups haven’t totally caught my hype the way I want, but I’m glad they’ve made great episodes still, and the many fun times I’ve had. And a special thanks to both Nintendo, and Square Enix, for giving me Zelda, and Final Fantasy, two series I absolutely love, and that still inspire me as much as they do now as much as they did when I was a pretentious nerdy kid. This show and Vs helped me get back to remembering how much these games mean to me, even if I haven’t always had the best debating memories with them. But outside of that, I’ll always cherish these games, forever. Until next time my friends, to a great rest of the season. Amen my friends!

This has been your boy, Agent, or Your Boi Jotaro. Signing off, on a hopefully fabulous episode. Oh one last thing? Since this is Final Fantasy and all, might as well, drop the idea, I’ve been hoping to see come to light one day. Tis my most wanted matchup…..

Yeah, Squall Leonhart vs Tatsuya Suou (Final Fantasy VIII/8 vs Persona 2)

Made this nearly a year ago, but like, yeah. Until then, we’ll meet again! Now gimmie Blonde sword husbando battle!

Spider-Pidge

(“All right, everyone, let’s mosey.”)

The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy are two series I've always wanted to get into more than I had. Their worlds are captivating, their gameplay entertaining, and their OSTs are fuckin’ bangers like damn. The announcement of this fight has gotten me to play FFVII from start to end, to appreciate it as the humorously aged yet phenomenal game it is, and is getting me more interested in replaying Zelda games I've adored for years and seeing if I can reach their conclusions properly for once. They're both franchises I enjoy discussing with people, and I’m glad I’ve been able to get even more invested in them because of this fight’s announcement last December.

But you didn't come here to see the gaming opinions of someone who genuinely thought that naming themself after a Voltron character twice was a reasonable decision fr how’d anyone on the blog tolerate me lol, you came here to see how well "the closest duel in Death Battle history" has aged over the past 8 years.

...Yeah, there's a reason this fight's getting redone.

It's no secret that Cloud's physically the better of the two in raw stats. Both versions of Super Nova are leagues beyond almost every Zelda feat beyond maybe a couple creation feats, and even then, Sephy's feat tends to edge out in raw numbers and reliability. I'm not the person to go into more detail on why Super Nova's the better option, or why Dissidia's canon and both shits on Link's maximum benefit of the doubt and makes more sense to use than any composite Link.

That's what the rest of you losers are for! >:)

For real though, this particular verdict is going to go over Link and Cloud's major abilities and win-cons beyond "he hit him with a sword really hard", and as such, I'll write the rest of this verdict as if AP and durability are equal. Keep in mind that I don't believe that, just that I'm writing it for the sake of the argument.

Firstly, speed ain't exactly the closest, like, at all. At minimum, Cloud massively upscales from Bahamut Fury's interstellar travel feat, which can range from 1593.7c at its lowest all the way up to nearly 18 million c. Cloud was already on the same level as Zack Fair and Pre-Lifestream Sephiroth at the start of the game, the former of which kept up with Bahamut Fury in direct combat, and Cloud would later defeat Sephiroth significantly amped by the Livestream twice after. And as you can imagine, scaling Cloud to Super Nova’s attack speed gets some really solid results, and by solid I mean trillions c oh boy.

There are occasional light timing feats from Beamos lasers and a few variations of Guardians, and Flurry Rush shenanigans can get neat enough results. But even so, Link’s best would struggle to even hit double digits above lightspeed, while Cloud’s beginning of game speed, at absolute minimum, is quad digits.

As for abilities, well, it’s a composite Link VS Master Materia Cloud, it’s gonna have a lot to talk about. There’s lots of weapons and abilities to go through beyond “strong attack of x element”, and all the potentially game-changing abilities are the focus here.

On Link’s end, we have multiple arrow types that reasonably BFR, items that can slow opponents’ movement, multiple methods of freezing foes solid, Magic Powder for transmutation, items that can freeze time, he can freeze opponents in place with Stasis, deal extra damage against opponents the Master Sword considers “evil”, briefly turn intangible, reflect magic attacks, can become invincible so long as he has magic with the Magic Armor, gain infinite magic for multiple hours after drinking Chateau Romani, can negate curses and jinxes with the Whisp Ring, and has natural protections from unholy magic thanks to the Triforce of Courage.

Cloud can poison his opponent, transform them into a frog, can BFR with Remove, stop time, remove magical defenses, cause Instant Death, can potentially reach absolute zero freezing, can bypass defenses outright, can take control of his opponent, disable his opponent’s magic usage, reduce his opponent’s stats, cause instant death but through pressure points so slightly different ig, can turn his opponent undead (lmao what’d Tactics do to this boy damn), has multiple methods of forcing the opponent to act confused or feral, can damage foes by tearing into spacetime, and-

“Condemn: Tells a target they are going to die so convincingly that they actually die.“

Okay, for real, what’d Tactics give this boy holy shit.

As far as resistances go, Cloud’s combination of Ziedrich Ring and Ribbon can negate freezing, resist transmutation, avoid being slowed through his movements and by time manipulation, and can resist Remove’s BFR properties by being immune to instant-death because that’s just how that resistance works. The only thing notable Link has offensively is ironically the “Jenova Cells'' argument 2012’s sidebar had, which at the very least is more-so based on interpretation, but is also one that I don’t vibe with well given Jenova’s character not fitting a definitive evil like the malice of Zelda enemies.

Link can negate transmutation through use of the Master Sword, potentially negate BFR with the Magic Mirror, and the Triforce’s mental protection means spells like Berserk can’t stop him from strategizing and utilizing his arsenal. Also, his natural curse resistances and being able to negate abilities similar to Cloud’s can lead to him likely negating them, such as potentially resisting the main death hax in Tactics thanks to the Triforce’s protection of his soul, and possibly turing undead depending on ReDead’s connections to the magic the Triforce resists? He can also possibly work around attacks he has experience with, such as Cloud’s freezing magic, since he’s dealt with those kinds of attacks before even if he doesn’t naturally resist them.

...That’s about it, huh?

Yeah, um, Cloud still has a lot of stuff that Link simply lacks answers for, and can negate a lot of the Hylian’s options or get outright instant-wins.

While Link can potentially resist at least one of Cloud’s instant-death abilities, both his standard VII and alternate Tactics ones are options Link’s never had to combat against before, and would likely work fine regardless. And while not specified in VII proper, Shiva is established to freeze at absolute zero temperatures, which would just kill him outright.

Despite being the exact kinda thing Composite Link benefits hard from, infinite Magic Armor actually isn’t very usable at all. Breach and DeSpell negate the barrier’s effects, and Silence can make Link unable to use his magic for anything, which instantly negates the Magic Armor’s energy. On top of that, several Summons ignore magical defenses, such as the Bahamut trio, meaning that not only the Magic Armor, but other barriers like Nayru’s Love and Daruk’s Protection are worthless against them. In fact, Knights of the Round goes a whole step further by bypassing both magical and physical defenses. Link can stack every defense boosting armor, item, barrier, and shield all on top of each other, and Knights of the Round will still hit him as if he has nothing but his base durability. Because Cloud’s strongest attack really needed that extra oomph, y’know?

Cloud also has spells that Link literally can’t reflect back at all, and can simply reduce Link’s base stats on top of already nullifying the defenses on top of them. Link has little defenses against poisoning, Cloud manipulating his body as a puppet, or just using Immobilize to stop him from moving at all. You can also argue that some of Link’s resistances aren’t usable, such as the Magic Mirror negating BFR, since it’s explicitly tied to the Dark World and might fail at sending Link back from wherever Remove sends him. But that’s splitting hairs at this point, and it’s not like benefits of the doubt’ll change much here.

Fact of the matter is, Cloud’s winning the hax war by a country mile, and can effectively end this match instantly whenever he wants. Link’s sheer versatility could almost be a fair enough challenge, or at least delay the inevitable, but Cloud’s still at least hundred of times faster at absolute minimum, leaving little room for Link to utilize any of it before either being overwhelmed or dying instantly. For all the stuff this ruleset gave Link access to, none of it even came close to being enough to compare to everything Cloud gained.

At the end of the day, Cloud is far faster than Link, can negate nearly all of his notable hax options, and has enough uncounterable abilities to win this without an AP edge. An edge that, again, Cloud realistically should have no matter what anyone argues for Link.

Tri as he might, this match with a Link to Death Battle’s Past left the chances of Hyrule’s hero Awakening after this as his Final Fantasy.

...Okay that’s kinda shit, uh…

Hope Link takes this defeat in Strife, after all, he’s held onto that win for ages...and seas-

Wait nah DB already did that one, maybe uh...

Ah screw it.

Cloud Strife wins.

Anyway, blog’s been fun, hope next fight ends up being my fave of this season’s first half.

Also Owl House based please watch it maybe perhaps yes I’m using my last line on the blog to shill okay byeeeeee

Dragonmasterxyz

Whew lad, my second blog. Last time I was here, I voted for the loser. Here’s hoping that wasn’t a bad omen right? In all seriousness, unlike HeiGeese I am 100% certain on who wins between these two. Whether Death Battle will agree is yet to be seen, although I am confident they will. Ever Cloud was teased to be in the season I have been looking forward to this rematch the most. I have more history with Final Fantasy than Legend of Zelda, but unlike others, these two franchises weren’t a part of my childhood. That was taken up by Pokemon, Digimon and Soul Calibur. But enough with the introductions, who am I voting for?

Well, it may be a shock to you, but I am voting Cloud. Honestly, I feel like this match is pretty easy to decide contrary to popular belief. I will be going over both the baseline’s for the characters and the high ends for both to come up with my verdict.

Attack Potency: This will be the longest section as I want to cover multiple different bases. We will have this scale to durability for simplicity and to keep this verdict “short”

• Link: The baseline feat that will be scaled to him is Majora’s feat which is 1 exaton, i.e Multi-Continental. There is also that planet flip feat which I doubt many would accept, but it does end up at 2 tenatons, so Dwarf Star level which is neat (good luck getting that accepted for this Link as HW is seen as non-canon for some). At the absolute high end people use is scaling Link to the Full Triforce (which is very contentious to many even though I don’t really care). Regardless, based on what I can gather, this would put Link at Universal. So basically at max, Link could possibly be Universal even though I doubt DB will buy it.

• Cloud: Going by the preview, Cloud will be scaling to Zack and Bahamut Fury whose Exaflare can nuke a moon which is calced by DB at Moon level. However, this is pretty much nothing compared to all the other stuff Cloud scales to. We have Ifrit who can literally burn the entire world to ashes. This has been calced between 1 exaton to 57 zettatons, i.e Multi-Continental to Small Planet level. There is also Typhon who has a planet flip feat which was calced at 1 tenaton which, like the other one, is Dwarf Star level. Next we have Knights of the Round, in which can destroy a dimension full of stars and even galaxies. So that would range from Solar System to Multi-Galaxy level depending on which end you wanna use. And now for the one everyone and their mother is arguing about...Supernova. Simply put, Supernova is legitimate and can be tanked by Cloud and crew. At minimum, Supernova is Solar System level. No amount of “Sephiroth holding back” will change the power of this skill. These are just the general feats Cloud would scale to. However, we have the fact that Cloud has scaling outside of just FF7. I know many will start foaming at their mouths hearing this but, Tactics and Dissidia are canon to FF7 and thus can be scaled to Cloud. As such Cloud would scale to many characters such as Gilgamesh, who has multiple forms of Universal scaling. The likes of Bartz who aided in defeating Neo Exdeath who had harnessed the Power of the Void which ranges from Universal to Multiversal, Squall who fought Ultimecia who could compress time which alone is a Universal feat. The FF4, FF6 cast and FF12 cast who have fought Gilgamesh and Lightning, who scales to multiple Universal feats from XIII. There is also Cloud of Darkness who was going to devour both the World of Light and World of Darkness which is at minimum Low Multiversal. So with both Tactics and Dissidia (which are canon), Cloud’s high ends range from Universal, Low Multiversal and Multiversal as a whole. I doubt this will be brought up in the episode though.

If it couldn’t be more obvious, Cloud blatantly has the higher AP without a doubt. Whether it revolves around the “lower end” feats from FF7 or his higher end feats from Tactics and Dissidia, he completely overwhelms even Full Triforce Link in power.

Speed: This is gonna be quick (no pun intended)

• Link: Link has multiple laser dodging feats that have been calced around Relativistic to FTL. Not really much to cover here. 

• Cloud: You have Cloud who can scale to characters such as Vincent and Typhon who range around .12-.19 c which is Relativistic. However, Cloud has many big boy feats such as scaling from Zach who could keep up and defeat Bahamut Fury who could fly from Neptune to Earth within a short periods of time. This was calced at over 17 million times faster than light. There is also Red XIII limit break which has been calced at over 65 million times faster than light. There is also the Supernova calc which can react up to trillions of times faster than light.

So once again, Cloud takes the advantage here in spades. And no amount of Pegasus Boots will close the gap.

Abilities: Not really gonna go into detail on this considering that this verdict has already gotten too long (Plus Spider-Pidge above already took care of that). Overall, both have a wide variety of abilities at their disposal. Not to mention, both can counter many of each other’s abilities with their various tools and resistances. If I went through every single ability both shared, we’d be here all day and you got other verdicts to read and a life to live.

All in all, Cloud takes the stat trinity and can match most of Link’s arsenal. Link may have more experience, but that will do fuck all to a guy who is millions if not trillions of times faster and thousands of times stronger and more durable. Even with giving both of their high ends, Cloud takes the advantage in all stats. In truth Link’s vast arsenal is kinda pointless here as in theory, all Cloud has to do is run up and cut the Hero in half before the guy even knows what happened.

Link’s victory against Cloud is a mere fantasy and Cloud will put an end to Link’s legend. 

Winner: Cloud

the real cal howard

Let me just start off by saying I’m not a happy camper. My boi Steven got vaped and I’m sending Link to the same slaughterhouse.

And yes, I’m not gonna beat around the bush. Cloud wrecks Link. By Jove, I hope I’m wrong this time, but Link’s advantages aren’t...major, even composited. Link has more weapons but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a versatility advantage due to the all-in-one grab-bag the Materia system is (let’s not even get into Tactics). Link might have a better range game due to the sniper arrows (Hawkeye + Bow) but that gets taken away via Summons freaking nuking things from orbit or beyond. Link’s smarter but that doesn’t help and Cloud isn’t lacking in that department. I wanna say Link has more hax and resistances which might be true, but either way, Cloud resists it back and some of the hax he has are among the few Link doesn’t resist. Link is more defensive but that’s only in the way of items. Cloud’s natural durability and Materia should more than make up for that. And that leads to the elephant in the room: the insane stat advantage Cloud has. If Shaduko and Starven didn’t happen then this would be the highest gap in the season. Cloud in all realism can end this in a split second, hax or no. And while I”m one of the few who buy uni level Comp!Link, I know DB doesn’t (even then it might not save him from Cloud due to the speed advantage and the *eugh* cross-scaling via Dissidia/Tactics). Even if they did, it would be exclusive to the Full Triforce and Link is primarily just ToC. So yea. End of the day, Cloud brings me strife by killing my boy. I don’t hold it against you though. You still cool af, Cloud.

Wolf

Let me preface this by saying that I was super excited and happy to hear this episode being announced. The original Link vs. Cloud was easily my favorite Season 1 episode, and is still one of my favorite episodes in the show’s history. It is incredibly fun and I was hoping to see it be the next fight to be rematched like Mario vs. Sonic. Let me also preface this by saying that I do not agree in giving Cloud any stats from Dissidia or any of the things he gets from Tactics. They’re helpful if you want to be thorough, but I don’t consider either canon to Cloud (though the opposite I do consider to be true)

Not like it really matters because MY GOD does Link have no chance against Cloud. Let’s break it down

First: Cloud is SO MUCH BETTER in stats. In terms of just DC and Durability, he is extremely ahead. At the most reasonable highball estimate, Link is Planet Level via scaling to Demise, who - according to the Hyrule Hystoria - had the power to raze the surface of the planet. Granted, this is dubious and Demise has never shown to do so before, but it’s there for those wondering. Got that? Good. CLOUD IS SOLAR SYSTEM LEVEL! And that’s just stuff from his games. Cloud’s being able to withstand the power of Supernova multiple times shows this to be the case. In terms of Speed, Link is - at best - sub-relativistic, capable of dodging Bemos lasers and the lightning bolts fired by the likes of Onyx and Aghanim. Cloud, however, can fight against Bahamut SIN, who we see in Crisis Core was able to fly at millions of times faster than the speed of light. Cloud could easily pull a Kenshiro and just kill Link, step behind him, and monologue about how dead Link is before Link can even close his eyes.

Then there’s that hax. While Cloud is very weak to mental hax, Link has no way of exploiting this. The things he can try to exploit? Cloud has protection against them thanks to the Barrier spells AND the Ribbon protecting him from things like Instant Death, Burns, Paralysis, etc. Even if you try to use the logic the original fight did by saying that Link’s sword could actually destroy the Jenova Cells, and thus make Cloud weaker, it still requires Link to hit him with it. That’s the major issue here: Link has to hit Cloud with things like the Ancient or Light Arrows to use their abilities.

“But how can Cloud be considered Solar System level? The Supernova is gravity elemental, so it can’t actually kill him, only weaken him down to a fraction of his HP. Also, it’s clearly an illusion, because if Sephiroth could really do that, why would he need to get the Black Materia to summon Meteor?” I heard a similar argument like this from an idiot who tried to argue why Sephiroth was actually weaker than Kefka, another Final Fantasy villain. I’m just modifying it to apply to Cloud. The answer to the latter is easy: Sephiroth wasn’t trying to destroy the planet outright. The plan was to basically smash Meteor into the planet, and then have the lifestream come out to restore it. Then, when that happens, Sephiroth would absorb the lifestream and become a god. The only reason Supernova didn’t destroy the planet is because, as stated in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania, summons actually draw their victims into their own pocket dimension, which we also see is backed up in Crisis Core. As for the former, nevermind the fact that it’s gameplay/story segregation, because I know some people aren’t going to understand what that means. But beyond that, that was only in the international version. In the original Japanese version of the attack, it looked something like this. Different animation, but it still shows the complete obliteration of the solar system, AND it’s in less than 30 seconds, AND it’s not gravity-elemental, so characters can actually die from it. Yeah, Cloud can still tank that.

“But what about Hyrule Warriors!? Link could flip the planet around with the Ball and Chain!” I consider Hyrule Warriors the same way I treat Tactics and Dissidia in that it’s not canon to the actual main story, but the opposite is true (Age of Calamity counts though). However, let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re right. Then by Death Battle’s own rules, we need to consider the non-canon stuff that Cloud gets. Even disregarding Dissidia (trust me, I can get around to that), Cloud ends up in the world of Ivalice, and he fights on even footing with Ramza Beoulve. You know who else is also on even footing with Ramza? Balthier from Final Fantasy XII, and Balthier was able to beat Gilgamesh. Not only is Gilgamesh scalable to the crystals in Final Fantasy V, which can also move the planet, but he also is scalable to Seifer Almasy, rival of Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII, who survived Ultimecia’s Time Compression. Basically? Cloud - if given the non-canon stuff - is UNIVERSAL! Then, if you decide to add in the Dissidia scaling, it makes it even worse because not only does Link not have a chance against Cloud, it suddenly means that NOBODY from Zelda should be taking on anyone from Final Fantasy at all since it makes pretty much every Final Fantasy character Universe-level at least

“But what about giving Link the full Triforce! He gets it in some games! Can’t he just wish Cloud away!?” First of all, that’s not standard equipment. Link has only ever really possessed the full triforce once: at the end of Zelda II, when he used its power to wake Zelda up from her cursed sleep. Every other time he’s found all three pieces, he never wielded them for any purpose. But let’s say for the sake of argument that we decide to give Link the Triforce. What would that even really do to give him the win? The Triforce has never been shown to erase anyone from existence or alter reality to such a degree that it is possible. What, would he use it as a power boost? Okay, let’s say he does that, which would be more reasonable. The Triforce is made up of three pieces left by the golden goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore as a fraction of their power, who created Hyrule and the planet that it resides on. Okay, now let’s assume that each piece has the power of that planet, just as a reasonable point, since we don’t know how much power any of the goddesses put into the triforce, but we can assume it wasn’t enough to overpower themselves and to give any who would wield it for evil purposes the ability to be stopped by their chosen heroes. That means you have 3 planets worth of power in one three-piece set. That means...nothing. That’s, what, Large Planet Level? Maybe Star Level at best? Not much of a power boost to someone who can tank a Supernova multiple times.

“But what about the fact that Link beat Majora, who created its own universe!” First of all, there’s no saying that the little area inside the Majora’s Mask moon is the size of an actual universe. The way that it looks, it seems more like an illusion cast by Majora, or maybe a pocket dimension inside of the moon what with the four dungeons that are in there. But if we decide that it’s somehow possible that Majora made another universe and Link beat him, thus making Link Universe-level, remember: Cloud did a similar thing by beating Bahamut SIN, who is ALSO able to create its own universe essentially by the logic of the Majora argument. Sure, I’d love to see Fierce Deity fight against one of the summons like Knights of the Round or Bahamut, but that doesn’t mean it helps Link win. And on that subject: If Cloud uses one of the summons, and they decide to drag Link into an alternate universe, Cloud could just do what Sephiroth did in his DB and use that as a distraction while he restores himself to full health and mana without interruption. Link doesn’t have any way of doing the opposite to Cloud, however.

I would love it if Link could win again; it would be awesome. Link’s one of my favorite characters from my most favorite video game franchise, which includes my most favorite game of all time. Final Fantasy is a close second, but VII isn’t even my favorite in that series, as it’s probably my 3rd favorite in the franchise (IV and XIV are both ahead of it). I feel like Dracula in the Season 2 finale of Netflix’s Castlevania, where I just look at what’s going on and go “I’m killing my boy” over and over. The more I dove into the research on this topic, the more obvious it became that not only should Link have not won his fight, but that “Closest Duel in Death Battle History” title Wiz mentioned in the original is just flat-out wrong. It also goes to show that Yang should not have won her fight against Tifa and that Vergil shouldn’t have come anywhere close to beating Sephiroth. This might be the personally saddest outcome I have to experience with this show, maybe even beating out how I felt about the Dragonzord losing to Kiryu

I don’t want to say it, because it makes me this sad, but Link is no match for Cloud. Cloud’s too fast, too strong, has way too much hax, and has far bigger of an arsenal. Link may have the experience advantage, but it will mean nothing. Poor Link won’t be on Cloud Nine after this Strife is over. My vote goes to Cloud Strife

Tin Knee

God bless Ani for this image

Aight, so before we can properly discuss this match, I feel like between all the inflated Flurry Rush calcs and 100 page Zelda documents hovering around, there needs to be some common misconceptions cleared up for the sake of accuracy. That said, I’m far more knowledgeable on Zelda than FF, so let’s get into it. Oh, and don’t trust anything that comes outta Munch’s mouth. He takes credit for stuff he steals from minorities.

 

First off,

 

No, Link is not Multiversal.

The only Zelda characters that hit any degree of Multi are the Golden Goddesses, whom no other Zelda character scales to, not even Hylia. This’ll (hopefully) become clearer as we go on.

 

No, Link is not Universal.

Honestly, just apply the point above to this or just keep reading. Saves us all some time.

 

No, Majora did not create Termina.

All Majora did was copy paste Skull Kid’s memories of Hyrule’s inhabitants onto the residents of Termina. I don’t care what Hyrule Encyclopedia says, the actual game, the primary canon, shows us otherwise. We see that Skull Kid’s been a frequent visitor of Termina for a while via the numerous lines of dialogue and multiple, actual backstory cutscenes that show and explain his befriending the fairies, Tatl and Tael, in Termina before owning the mask, being a long-time friend of the Giants, him having a history of pestering the residents of Termina and said pestering not being as bad as it was back then AKA before he was ousted from Termina by the Giants and consequently before he could have even possibly owned Majora’s Mask.

We are not going to ignore heaps and heaps of actual, in-game content because there’s a single line in a book released two decades later that says some vague shit. Actually, the line from the book is as follows, 

“When a Skull Kid steals Majora's Mask from a traveling mask salesman, the combination of the Skull Kid's burdened heart and the evil magic within Majora's Mask transforms the world into the land of Termina.”

He transformed the world. Transformed. He did not create the dimension, he made people look different. Termina is simply the name of this altered setting, hence, he ‘made’ Termina. Stop taking things outta context.

 

No, the Wind Fish did not create a universe.

I don’t care about Hyrule Encyclopedia’s realm map either. In the actual game, the Wind Fish straight up speaks about the island as if it is the entirety of the dream world, Link goes to space at the end of the game, is somehow able to survive and speak and we see that the ‘stars’ turn out to be just mere twinkles floating in the sky.

Oh, and the ending cutscene literally shows JUST the island disappearing but not anything else around it, with Link left behind floating in the same sea.

The ‘Other Realms and Lands’ page doesn’t list the Wind Fish’s dream world alongside equivalent realms like Lorule or the Twilight Realm either, instead relegating it to its own paragraph and treating it as a special case. Not to mention that entire world map is wonky as fuck. They list the Wind Fish’s dream as its own world despite actual ingame cutscenes showing the island physically existing out in the open ocean, whereas the Sacred Realm and Lorule are both designated as kingdoms rather than realms which is some high horseshit. Hell, the Dark World is listed as an alternate dimension whilst the Sacred Realm isn’t, even though they’re the exact same place. They even call that realm an illusion on two separate occasions, so that doesn’t help its case either.

No, turning the Sacred Realm into the Dark World is not Universal.

The Sacred Realm itself is stated on multiple occasions to be a mirror world that will reflect the hearts of those who enter or of he who wields the Triforce. As such, it required no power on Ganon or the Triforce’s part to alter the world, and even if it did, it wouldn’t grant anything to how hard he can hit, just reality warping.

No, Ganondorf was not combining worlds together.

Shit like this is why we gotta stop valuing this damned book over the actual games – again, we’ll get to that. There’s a line that says that ‘Ganondorf was fusing worlds together,’ but anyone who’s actually played the game will tell you that all he was doing was making Zant blanket different regions of Hyrule in the Twilight. Zant did that shit bit by bit too, so it’s really not that impressive.

No, the Triforce does not scale to the Golden Goddesses.

Both A Link to the Past’s manual and Ocarina of Time’s creation story cutscene say the full Triforce is a mere fraction of the Goddesses’ power. Stop it.

No, Ancient Arrows are not existence erasure.

Nah. They teleport shit. The Ancient Arrows use the exact same ingame visual effects as literally everything else that teleports whereas other Sheikah tech does not share this trait. They’ve also got the exact same limitations as teleportation. Teleportation can’t be conducted when there’s too much mass, stated outright in Age of Calamity (prior to their upgrade near the end of the story), and ancient arrows don’t work on enemies that are too big such as Hinox and Molduga, despite affecting stronger, smaller beings like Lynels. They also don’t warp entities with guardian parts as, just as the Ancient Armor Sets description states,

 

No, Light Arrows are not actually light speed.

If I throw a flashlight at you, is it light speed? Nah, cause it’s a physical object that gives off light and is propelled by normal means. “Oh, but Tinnie, you eloquent and elegant embodiment of effervescence,” I hear you say, “Surely you know that they can be reflected off of the Mirror Shield in a single game, they clearly MUST be light!” And you’d be right.

I really am that nigga.

However, the arrows are manifested from light and they give off light, but they themselves do not act like light and thus should not be given the properties of it. Speaking of physical properties, they’re literally physical objects. That alone de-confirms them as being lightspeed because they hold mass. They also don’t travel on straight, continuous paths as light should, instead arcing after being fired. For that matter, light has to be constantly moving, not stationary. Them exploding into bursts when they hit something also isn’t something light does. Sure, they can be reflected off the mirror shield in Wind Waker, but the mirror shields of Zelda tend to be able to reflect some ridiculous shit. Like flamethrowers. And clouds of frost. And beams of fire and ice. Or physical objects like arrows and rocks. Yes, rocks. And the mirror shield that does that happens to be identical to the shield from WW. Hmm…

 

No, Hyrule Encyclopedia is not always correct.

This book is rife with errors and contradictory statements. On God. I know cause I own it and have read the damn thing cover to cover. One of the first things in this book is it getting the plot of Four Swords Adventures mixed up with another game when talking about the History of Hyrule. Then you have shit I mentioned earlier in my verdict like the Majora, Wind Fish and realm merging nonsense. Now you may have noticed that for as much as I’ve been berating this thing, I also cited it for the illusory world bit to reinforce my point about Koholint being a sham. That’s because this book is perfectly acceptable for shedding light on things that happen in Zelda, but its words should never be held above the actual primary source, the games. Especially not when the book says as early as page 8 that the details of the book include ‘interpretations’ of events in many cases, especially revolving around earlier games, and that,

 “Where necessary, the writers of this book added their own interpretations and expanded upon the games’ stories. It should be noted that the events described here are also subject to revision, as new trials may await the people of Hyrule in the ages to come.”

So not only does the book preface itself with the fact that much of it is comprised of interpretations from people on the Zelda team who didn’t actually work on some titles as well as people not on the team at all, but that it’s all interpretations and it’s all liable to be changed in the future, so it’s not even concrete. Look no further than Hyrule Encyclopedia and Age of Calamity and their extensive retcons to Hyrule Historia and Creating a Champion respectively for proof. Oh, you also have to consider the fact that any number of things could have been lost or muddied in translation. Let this book be a secondary source if anything. Stop taking random ass screencaps you see online from it as gospel, especially when so much of what it says is contradicted by the primary source material.

-

With all that out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks and try not to beat this dead horse too much. 

As everyone’s pointed out, Cloud’s got a major advantage in stats, with or without Tactics or Dissidia – which is very much so canon as even fucking Square themselves consider Dissidia a mainline Final Fantasy entry. Cloud, at the beginning of FF7 is already sitting at planet. That’s already the peak of where Zelda characters are at, and only if you highball them. And then there’s the fact that Cloud resists or is straight up immune to most of Link’s haxes and this is ignoring the fact that he’d never get to use or be able to land them because of the massive speed gap.

But Let’s give Link a fighting chance for argument’s sake. We’ll ignore Dissidia and other weird shit like Tactics, leaving an endgame FF7 Cloud at MSS and MFTL. Now, to beef up Link’s stats, we’re gonna look at Vaati from the Minish Cap, who creates a dimension full of what appear to be stars and nebulae during the final phase of his boss fight. Yay. MSS Zelda cast. No outlier there at all, nope, no sir. So now we’ve got MSS and very slightly FTL Link vs MSS and MFTL Cloud who still vastly outspeeds, dodges everything, resists or no sells everything else, and has more reliable methods of healing, depowering his foe, etc. I want to reiterate that I don’t actually believe these stats are wholly accurate, I just want to illustrate a point. Even wanking Link to what I believe to be the highest realistic level and nerfing Cloud as much as humanly possible, Link’s still at a heavy disadvantage. So where’s that leave us?

Well, ultimately,

No, Link does not win this matchup.

...And I really hate that I have to say that.

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That does it for the first half of the year, but we’ll still be around as DBX takes over for a while with a new slew of mid-season blogs to keep ourselves busy. Come back next week to see the first matchup on the list, Little Mac VS Makunouchi Ippo!