Today's character is a spiky headed punk. He's like a character straight out of "My So-Called Life"... he's not really sure who he is, he's got a few crushes, he's full of emotion, and (sometimes) he uses the girls' bathroom, despite the fact that he's got a sword. Who is this angsty character? Well, it's:


Cloud!

B: Blade Beam - Cloud swings his sword, shooting a beam that rides along the ground. This move behaves like Kirby's ^B move, except that once it hits something, it'll split off into two more beams that travel upward and downward at 45 degree angles. The initial wave will hit for a maximum of 10% damage, and the splits will hit for a maximum of 7% damage.
< or >B: Cross-slash - Cloud dashes out and slashes his opponent in the form of a kanji. I'm assuming this symbol is a curse, because on top of the attack dealing a maximum of 9% damage, it also has a 20% chance of paralyzing an opponent for a maximum of 5 seconds.
^B: Climhazzard - Cloud leaps up into the air slashing through anything in his way as he goes. This attack will do a maximum of 12% damage.
vB: Braver - Cloud's very first limit break is one of his most deadly moves in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. If you use this move to come down hard on an opponent, you can do a maximum of 20% damage!
Final Smash: Omnislash - Cloud's ultimate attack! He'll rush in towards his opponent and once he makes contact, he'll unleash an attack of epic proportions. Each hit done during this flurry of blows inflicts damage, and when all is said and done, the person hit will be dealt a maximum of 65% damage. But there is a weakness to this attack... if your opponent dodges, and you hit into something else (such as a destructible wall, a box, or an assist trophy) your Final Smash will be wasted on it. Make sure you've got your opponent locked in before using this Final Smash!

Cloud's Stage:


What better place in the whole world of Final Fantasy 7 to have a battle than in the Golden Saucer's battle arena! This stage is just a flat stage, about as big as Brinstar in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The real fun in this stage begins when the slots start spinning! The picture is also just for illustrative purposes... there would never be 7 effects at once! The wheel will spin in the beginning of the brawl, and the effects will stay until the wheel spins again in another 2 minutes.

Hazards:
The hazards in this stage are randomly determined by the slot machine that will appear at the bottom of the screen during your brawl. The slot will spin, and the effect is dependant on what it lands on! The effects are as follows:

Fist: No basic (on a GC controller it would be the 'A' button) attacks. It's like your hands are tied!
Explosion: No special (on a GC controller it would be the 'B' button) attacks. Can you KO someone without your special moves?
Lucky 7: You're in luck! Coins start falling from the sky! It's a cash-grab brawl!
Hammer: No items will appear, and all items currently in play will disappear. At no time will the Fist, Explosion, and Hammer all show up in a fight. You've got to have some way to attack!
Bob-omb: The arena starts raining bob-ombs, just like as if it were sudden death!
Block: No character can block. You've got to go all out when this happens!
Mini-Cloud: All fighters are shrunk to mini-size. Is it still a disadvantage when you're all tiny? Of course!

Now, for the icons not shown in the picture above.
Mother Badge: All players have reflect status. No guns allowed!
10-ton Weight: All players have metal status. You're so tough... but so slow!
Pokeball: A pokeball appears in the middle of the stage, and a random pokemon appears. This pokemon will damage ALL players in the field.
Heart Container: All players' damage is reset to 0%! You'll get a fresh start if this shows up!


How many people would like to see Cloud in the game? I think a lot of people would! He was in the GBA Kingdom Hearts game, so he was in a Nintendo game at one point in time, but not as a major character. If he does wind up in the game, it'd be a pretty big deal as I'm sure there would be people who would buy the game for that reason alone! Squeenix and Nintendo do seem to be on good terms as of late, but I think the chances of Cloud being put into the game are pretty slim.

Come back tomorrow for more rampant, unfounded speculation as I count down the days until the US release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl!

As always, if you've missed any of the old updates due to the holiday season (or just want to go back and read or discuss about your favorite predictions) then just go here. I'll keep the links current, so you can bookmark the page and check back later for any updates.