The Voices in Cloud’s Head

As I’ve been writing my novelized version of the events in FF7, I keep happening upon areas of the plot in Midgar that has Cloud listening and talking to voices in his head when he falls unconscious at Mako Reactors and at other places.
Despite trying into look into what could possibly be causing this, I emerged with nothing. I have no idea who it is talking to him inside his head, and as far as I know there is no reference to the voices later after they leave Midgar.
I have a couple hypotheses on this, although I’m satisfied with none of them

– Sephiroth – It is feasible based on the story that the voices are Sephiroth. Further into the story, we see that Sephiroth can exert influence over Cloud and his mind given the presence of Jenova cells in Cloud’s body, therefore hypothetically enabling him to speak to Cloud within his head, and even challenging him to a mental duel at the end of the game. However, I’m dissatisfied with this as an answer because the voice in Cloud’s head seems very friendly and familiar, which is pretty much the exact opposite of Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth. The voices tend to inform him and help him when he is in need: examples being telling him that Mako Reactors "aren’t just reactors" and encouraging him to survive and rise up after being blown off the Sector 5 reactor and into Aeris’ church.

– Zack – I guess it could be Zack considering that, at this point in the game, Cloud has adopted Zack’s personality and memories, to a certain extent. However, Zack is dead at this point, and there is nothing to suggest he would somehow be able to talk to Cloud in his head as some roving spirit. Perhaps it is the Zack ‘side’ of him, but then why do the voices seem to stop talking to him after he leaves Midgar?

– Jiminy Cricket – Yes, it could be his conscience. When one reaches to touch a candle, it is the voice inside your head that says, "You don’t want to do that, do you?" But… why on earth would they devote a number of scenes to his conscience, even having him black out in the first reactor as a consequence of his ‘conscience’ hypothetically talking to him. It seems very improbable, especially considering that no other character has similar moments where they talk with themselves in their head. And Cloud states that he has no idea who or what it is in his head talking to him, making it further unlikely. But, the voice in his head is friendly and familiar, thus possibly making it so that the truth is that is his conscience.

Anyways, I bring this up because I’m including these moments with the voice into the story, but have no idea how to end it, how or if it has an ending point in the game, or who or what the heck the voices are! If someone with more knowledge of the game knows what they are, please please let me know!

Thank you.

As far as I was aware, the voices in his head are generally believed by most FFVII players to be either Jenova, Sephiroth or Cloud’s real self, although which is the main one is still open to debate.

Having said that however, although it was obviously Sephiroth talking to him in his head in most cases, there was at least one instance where the game clearly identified the voice as Jenova – directly after defeating Jenova LIFE in the Forgotten Capital, where she tells Cloud that he is ‘a puppet.’).

And there were several locations where an apparition of Cloud’s younger form actually appears on screen and speaks to him, whom I presumed to be Cloud’s real self, trying to bring him back to reality.

So I guess this isn’t simply a case of one voice in Cloud’s muddled mind, but several. It just depended on where about in the narrative the game was at that determined which one was speaking to him.

You make good points, and I hadn’t considered the voices as being Cloud’s real self rather than his Zack oriented persona. Although, to be honest, I still don’t think that quite fits, with regards to the voice in his head in the initial Midgar portion of the game if nothing else. Altogether, Cloud has a lot of voices in his head!

In the end, I imagine I’m just going to have to make myself decide what each of the voices are so that I can write those sections more confidently. It is very difficult writing them in without me, as the author, having a clear idea of what they are. But, regardless, I’m going to do my best to write them so that they have the same ambiguous character that they do in the game, so that those reading it make their own judgments, much like we are right now.

Please, if anyone else has opinions on what and who those voices are, I would be very interested to hear what you think. Enkidoh, thanks already.

And by the way, you don’t actually say whom you believe the voices to be. I think the particular instances that are mystifying me the most are those in Midgar; in the first reactor run and when he crashes into Aeris’ church. Have you any particular opinion as to what the voices are in the Midgar ‘black outs’?

EDIT – And P.S. to all, I plan on putting a portion of it on these forums soon so that I can get your guys’ feedback on my writing style and accuracy up to a certain point =)

Just a thought..I think I remember something about Aerith hearing voices in the church…what if it’s the Lifestream? Think about it. Cloud is infused with Mako, giving him those cool eyes, and, it would make sense, a link to the Lifestream a bit beyond what all living things have..That would explain Zach theory, because as a dead dude he’d have returned to the Lifestream. The ‘real cloud’ voice fits this as well, because if the Lifestream (which I am giving a rather sentient quality, yeah) were to speak to Cloud, would it not use a familiar voice? What voice is more familiar than that of your own thoughts? As far as Jenova goes, well, Cloud had Jenova cells, right? As did Sephy, and the guys in black robe-thingies? They’re obviously connected in the same manner, though not in such a benign way.

Myrth – Hmm… That is a possibility. The tricky part with that one is that we don’t really get a sense that any other people infused with Mako hear similar voices in their heads. Although, it definitely seems like Sephiroth is talking to himself sometimes… But, I always assume he is talking to Jenova. I wonder if anyone who has played Crisis Core could let us know if Zack ever has moments where there are voices in his head. Thanks!

I played Crisis Core just recently, and I can assure you there are no voices in Zack’s head, at least as far as I can remember.

If I remember correctly, the black-robed dudes going through the Reunion thingy sure as hell weren’t talking to Cloud..

And in Crisis Core, was Zack like struggling internally as Cloud was in FFVII? Maybe he didn’t NEED any mental nudges from the Lifestream/Jenova/whoever..

I figured he heard his own voice the first few times, judging by the transparent copy that attacks him in the Honeybee Inn. Could be him or Jenova, but he appears to hear himself.
Some are flashbacks, and are repeated later, and others are more obvious.
They may not be the actual words of someone else, and may just be that he isn’t quite sane.

Are there any particular lines you’re talking about?

The voices that he hears before leaving Midgar are the trickiest ones for me to ascertain where or who they come from. It is pretty obvious that almost all of them after Midgar are Sephiroth, but the earlier ones seem almost friendly in what is said to Cloud and the manner in which they are said. Here are some examples:

1. Setting – Cloud about to set the bomb in the first reactor. There is a flash, he falls over, and hears a voice say briefly…

The voice – "Watch out… This isn’t just a reactor."

2. Setting – Cloud has just fallen away from the explosion of the second reactor, landing in Aeris’ church. He has a little chat with the voice in his head before coming to consciousness.

The voice – "Are you all right?" "Can you hear me?"
Cloud – "… Yeah."
The voice – "Back then you could get by with just some skinned knees…"
Cloud – "What do you mean by ‘back then’?"
The voice – "How about now? Can you get up?"
Cloud – "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
The voice – "Don’t worry about me. You just worry about yourself now."

3. Setting – Cloud is falling asleep at Aeris’ house. The voice speaks just before we see a memory of him in his old house with his mother.

The voice – "… Seem pretty tired." "Haven’t slept in a bed like this… in a long, long time." "Ever since that time…"

With the third one it seems pretty reasonable to assume that it is Cloud mentally talking to himself, but the other ones are nowhere near as easy to deduce. I would say that the first two I mention are ones where I’m still not sure who the hell is talking to Cloud or why. Any feedback you guys have would still be welcome, as I imagine I’m probably going to have to explain those voices at some point in my novelization.

Well I always believed that it was Zack & Sephiroth the voices in Cloud’s head, check out the dialogues in honey bee inn the $%&!"� Room and this ones that you have and compare them. I hope I been helpful. =D

The voices that he hears before leaving Midgar are the trickiest ones for me to ascertain where or who they come from. It is pretty obvious that almost all of them after Midgar are Sephiroth, but the earlier ones seem almost friendly in what is said to Cloud and the manner in which they are said. Here are some examples:

1. Setting – Cloud about to set the bomb in the first reactor. There is a flash, he falls over, and hears a voice say briefly…

The voice – "Watch out… This isn’t just a reactor."

That’s Sephiroth. He repeats in again Nibelheim flashback. Just before you enter the Reactor that houses all those monsters, and Jenova.
So, it’s kind of a memory recall.

2. Setting – Cloud has just fallen away from the explosion of the second reactor, landing in Aeris’ church. He has a little chat with the voice in his head before coming to consciousness.

The voice – "Are you all right?" "Can you hear me?"
Cloud – "… Yeah."
The voice – "Back then you could get by with just some skinned knees…"
Cloud – "What do you mean by ‘back then’?"
The voice – "How about now? Can you get up?"
Cloud – "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
The voice – "Don’t worry about me. You just worry about yourself now."

I think it’s Aerith. Except she not in his head.
Although the skinned knee comment is reference to Clouds past, so maybe what Aerith is saying is getting jumbled in with the voices. Who’d I think was Clouds subconsious.

3. Setting – Cloud is falling asleep at Aeris’ house. The voice speaks just before we see a memory of him in his old house with his mother.

The voice – "… Seem pretty tired." "Haven’t slept in a bed like this… in a long, long time." "Ever since that time…"

I’d say it was his subconsious again if anything. It’s quite likely he’s just thinking to himself though.

With the third one it seems pretty reasonable to assume that it is Cloud mentally talking to himself, but the other ones are nowhere near as easy to deduce. I would say that the first two I mention are ones where I’m still not sure who the hell is talking to Cloud or why. Any feedback you guys have would still be welcome, as I imagine I’m probably going to have to explain those voices at some point in my novelization.

I’m unsure. Was there much internal monologue in VII? If there was more, then yeah. Sorted. I can’t remember though. Does the voice have to belong to anyone? Could it not just be a disembodied voice brought on by his fractured mind? Kinda like a spilt personality.

Thanks for the feedback all.

And no, the voices don’t have to be someone, I just seek some understanding of whom the majority of you think the voices belong to because, when writing a novelization of this, it helps in giving the voices cadence and/or word selection. For example, so far I’ve attributed to Sephiroth’s voice (or what I know to be Sephiroth’s voice in his head) a sort of deep and cultured association, but it is a voice that sounds cold and unfriendly. Such little additions I feel I can add only if I know who the hell the is speaking within his head.

I always presumed the voices were the jenova cells in his body affecting his consious thoughts and thus his actions, this is why he is called a Puppet at many times in the game.

Who is controlling those cells is another matter, as cloud is being driven towards the reunion its possible these cells have a semi-mind of their own, pushing him towards the reunion. I doubt this as most of the mind sayings are not directly suggesting he get a move on.

The other choice is Jenova or Sephiorth (whos controlling jenova) are sending the messages, however again they dont really fit in with what you would expect them to say to cloud.

The only idea i get is that cloud hears these vocies when near mako energy, in a reactor, in a church thats close to the lifestream, aeris can only hear the voices there, meaning it must be closer then usual to the lifestream, in advent children its shown as having a close link with the planet too.

The third time has me stumped as theres nothing in Aeris house that suggests a high level of mako, unless the mako energy is powering everything in the house. Cloud doesnt really hang around in one place for too long in midgar, except the AVALANCHE hideout which I assume has given up using mako energy.

Those quotes definitely make it seem like Zack.

end thread

As I’ve been writing my novelized version of the events in FF7, I keep happening upon areas of the plot in Midgar that has Cloud listening and talking to voices in his head when he falls unconscious at Mako Reactors and at other places.
Despite trying into look into what could possibly be causing this, I emerged with nothing. I have no idea who it is talking to him inside his head, and as far as I know there is no reference to the voices later after they leave Midgar.
I have a couple hypotheses on this, although I’m satisfied with none of them

– Sephiroth – It is feasible based on the story that the voices are Sephiroth. Further into the story, we see that Sephiroth can exert influence over Cloud and his mind given the presence of Jenova cells in Cloud’s body, therefore hypothetically enabling him to speak to Cloud within his head, and even challenging him to a mental duel at the end of the game. However, I’m dissatisfied with this as an answer because the voice in Cloud’s head seems very friendly and familiar, which is pretty much the exact opposite of Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth. The voices tend to inform him and help him when he is in need: examples being telling him that Mako Reactors "aren’t just reactors" and encouraging him to survive and rise up after being blown off the Sector 5 reactor and into Aeris’ church.

– Zack – I guess it could be Zack considering that, at this point in the game, Cloud has adopted Zack’s personality and memories, to a certain extent. However, Zack is dead at this point, and there is nothing to suggest he would somehow be able to talk to Cloud in his head as some roving spirit. Perhaps it is the Zack ‘side’ of him, but then why do the voices seem to stop talking to him after he leaves Midgar?

– Jiminy Cricket – Yes, it could be his conscience. When one reaches to touch a candle, it is the voice inside your head that says, "You don’t want to do that, do you?" But… why on earth would they devote a number of scenes to his conscience, even having him black out in the first reactor as a consequence of his ‘conscience’ hypothetically talking to him. It seems very improbable, especially considering that no other character has similar moments where they talk with themselves in their head. And Cloud states that he has no idea who or what it is in his head talking to him, making it further unlikely. But, the voice in his head is friendly and familiar, thus possibly making it so that the truth is that is his conscience.

Anyways, I bring this up because I’m including these moments with the voice into the story, but have no idea how to end it, how or if it has an ending point in the game, or who or what the heck the voices are! If someone with more knowledge of the game knows what they are, please please let me know!

Thank you.

Honestly, I believe that it is Cloud remembering the first time he went to a reactor with sephiroth. As he did say that. But the thing is, I think he remembers it, but doesn’t know why. Think if you went to a pool and someone said, "hey, watch out there’s sharks in there". You would remember it the next time you went to that pool right? I think he’s remembering a thought as a conscious warning from someone telling him before, (Sephiroth) that he should be careful, but yet he doesn’t know why he remembers it. So its like for him, what the heck was that??