cloud =/= squall
There seems to be some sort of popular idea going around that Cloud and Squall are basically the same person. I assume this is based off the fact that they are both main characters in installments of a popular video game series, and because they do act in similar ways. However, this idea is far from the truth.
Squall and Cloud may have similar personas, but their reasons for them are completely different. Squall pushes people away because he wants to be alone. He's been hurt and doesn't want to be again. He doesn't want human interaction. The cold looks and monotone voice are made to drive people away. Bottom line is, Squall doesn't want people to like him.
Cloud is the exact opposite. As a child he got the idea into his head that being cold and mean was good. He saw Sephiroth, the icy Shinra general and the people that worshipped him, and figured if he was like that, people would like him. Cloud was alone, and didn't want to be. He wanted friends and people who loved him. Unlike Squall, Cloud wanted people to like him.
This changes radically by the end of each game, when both men have undergone transformations as characters and as people. But the idea is the same. Squall is shown by Rinoa that he can be strong while still baring his emotions. Cloud is shown by his friends that he can be strong while still being himself and not the ideal of Sephiroth or Zack. They are both changed for the better and in similar ways, but for totally different reasons. Their lives are different, and thus their personalities are different as a result of these events.
Therefore, Cloud is not Squall. Likewise, Squall is not Cloud. The end.
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