Admiral Woofington
Member
I can't even remember lol
All I know is that whenever I saw her I knew if I ever saw a renegade option it'd happen
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FF7: Wife-beater Cid? Am I meant to like this guy?
- Thread starter TannerDemoz
- Start date
All I know is that whenever I saw her I knew if I ever saw a renegade option it'd happen
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
First it's not his wife and he never hits her IIRC. Secondly, I think it's an awkward story they didn't know how to write properly. Clearly Cid is angry at her for having 'messed up his dream' in his eyes, but he still cares about her enough to choose her over his dream. She feels like she owes him as a result, and he spends his time being a disrespectful dick, becuase that's just who he is, but with a little more intent that with other characters since he still resents her for it.
I've always thought the story lacks a point where Cid realizes that she truly does mean more to him and that he made the right choice, accepting that he owes her the apology of a lifetime. I dunno, it's weird. All the elements are there, but it's like it's missing a few bits of the script to truly close it down.
Cid was never meant to be nice though. He's a dick to everyone.
I've always thought the story lacks a point where Cid realizes that she truly does mean more to him and that he made the right choice, accepting that he owes her the apology of a lifetime. I dunno, it's weird. All the elements are there, but it's like it's missing a few bits of the script to truly close it down.
Cid was never meant to be nice though. He's a dick to everyone.
Which is ok but falls down when the character is inserted into your squad. Thereby implying protagonist, hero, the side of good - someone who you should appraise in a positive light.
Because of how late into the game Cid is shoehorned into it (outside of the core MIdgar lot, characters get decreasing amount of development), it's all you get to see from him.
Oh he is an arse. Oh he is suddenly in charge of everything for a few scenes. Oh he limps out a sorry at the end of his oh so brief loop.
Fundamentally, its all down to the poor writing of the time and it will no doubt be refined in the remake. You clearly see a step up in scripting when FF8 & 9 came out, very much a transitional Frankensteins monster of a game.
Dark Cloud
Member
She was originally his assistant on a project they were working on, like his secretary or something, so he orders her around. She kinda takes it, which is pretty shitty.
The Last One
Member
She wasn't a secretary. She was one of the scientists of the project, that's why she knew what would happen and what to do if Cid procceded with the launch.
ScherzoPrime
Member
Yeeeeah, his interaction with Sheila needs to be hella reconfigured.
Though "Sit your ass down and drink your goddamm tea" is still golden.
Though "Sit your ass down and drink your goddamm tea" is still golden.
Shera is also in love with Cid and represents a lot of women in abusive relationships. Both characters are pretty fucking dark, like most of the game.
I just love that Cid is the "old man" and he is fucking 32.
Oh, again, I totally disagree. Like I said, sometimes heroes aren't very heroic. In the case of FF7, it takes all kinds to save the planet. That's true in life, too. Plenty of war heroes are abusive to their families. We don't discount their deeds, even if we abhor their conduct. I'm sure the same is true for many rebels.
Cloud ain't no saint, neither is Beret. These characters are interesting because of their flaws and delusions.
I just love that Cid is the "old man" and he is fucking 32.
Oh, again, I totally disagree. Like I said, sometimes heroes aren't very heroic. In the case of FF7, it takes all kinds to save the planet. That's true in life, too. Plenty of war heroes are abusive to their families. We don't discount their deeds, even if we abhor their conduct. I'm sure the same is true for many rebels.
Cloud ain't no saint, neither is Beret. These characters are interesting because of their flaws and delusions.
Thinking about this, a lot of FF7 secondary and even tertiary characters have some sort of arc. Sure, there are a few one-note 'bad guys' (I think Heidegger for example), and not every arc is 'well done' but imho everyone had something going on that actually related to the story one way or another.
Adam_Vania
Banned
imo these are massive assumptions. it is up to the player to decide if the protagonist is on the side of good or not.
keep in mind from the start of the game your party is introduced as eco terrorists and you spend most of your time walking across continents killing everything you run into.
Cornbread78
Member
You think this might have to get reworked for the remake.... I wonder how they are going to handle the whole Don Corneo section?
I love how people defend factual errors to try to make flawed arguments look stronger.
She isn't his wife, he doesn't beat her, it's not portrayed as a positive aspect of his character at all and he actually develops and changes
I'm not really sure what the problem is, are characters not allowed to have any flaws?
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Actually their relationship is just as topical nowadays, if not more. The rocket is a metaphor for Nomura's hopes and dreams for Versus XIII that were crushed. Cid's behavior represents his burning anger.
For the remake, tons of things will probably be changed and refined. Don't doubt it for a second.
She was directly under him in hierachy as he was the head of the project, that's why.
She was directly under him in hierachy as he was the head of the project, that's why.
Just because a character is a protagonist, doesn't mean he's supposed to be a role model or just even a good guy what the hell.
The correct term would be crossdressing.
How exactly are abusive characters not sitable for a modern day audience? Shows like Game of Thrones, breaking bad are hella popular among "modern audiences"
TannerDemoz
Member
Not a clue, but I'm looking forward to seeing how they do it.
Can't wait to see what they do with Dio, too.
I don't feel like I'm being pressured into liking him, or that I am "supposed" to. There are dickish people everywhere, on both sides. Case by case basis.
Writers shouldn't feel like they have to make 100% great people for playable characters all the time.
Adam_Vania
Banned
yeah i don't get it. we could scrub spousal abuse from all fiction and we'd still be in a world where it happens in real life.
so i guess yay for pretending to live in a world where that doesn't happen.
Maybe if you're completely unable to understand that characters can have more than one side to them. He isn't the only character in your party who has done bad things, develops and regrets them later either.
Cid isn't abusive, he is loud, grumpy and easy to get pissed off. That are flaws, but nothing unforgivable. He doesn't hit her and doesn't try to break her down, he just isn't very sensible. Shera was also shown to have always been a quiet type, who makes too many unnecessary excuses for little things (which pisses Cid off)
There supposed to be contrasts to each other.
There supposed to be contrasts to each other.
They've already confirmed that it'll remain. I think more elements of the original will be kept in than people expect (in regards to the actual events that occur), but artifacts of the very different environment the original was localised in will probably not transfer over to the English translation - things like the retard line, "let's mosey", the censored swearing.
They dialed back that angle a fair bit in the Compilation material - at least visually, he looks like someone in his late twenties / early thirties, with the relatively prominent facial lines and wrinkles of his original art nowhere to be seen. I'm curious to see how they'll reconcile it with his original FF7 design.
LordKasual
Banned
A character in a story happens to be a character, instead of carefully written to be non-offensive? Abusive, yes, but there's no indication he ever touched her.
And even if he did, there's nothing strange about that being in FF7. The game touched on alot of mature concepts and events. And most importantly, no, Cid was not meant to be "likable" in the same sense as the other characters. His mouth was worse than Barrett's and he chain smoked.
Like everyone else in the story, Cid was a good representation of how Shinra manages to fuck everyone over. He was an ambitious man who had his dreams ripped from under him too many times, and his attitude is the result of that.
The fact that Cid is offensive, scruffy, and abusive is a part of his character. Removing that from him shallows his backstory and completely defeats the purpose of having him be a party member in the fist place. What happened between him, Sheila, and Shinra is just as important to the narrative as what happened between Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth.
And even if he did, there's nothing strange about that being in FF7. The game touched on alot of mature concepts and events. And most importantly, no, Cid was not meant to be "likable" in the same sense as the other characters. His mouth was worse than Barrett's and he chain smoked.
Like everyone else in the story, Cid was a good representation of how Shinra manages to fuck everyone over. He was an ambitious man who had his dreams ripped from under him too many times, and his attitude is the result of that.
The fact that Cid is offensive, scruffy, and abusive is a part of his character. Removing that from him shallows his backstory and completely defeats the purpose of having him be a party member in the fist place. What happened between him, Sheila, and Shinra is just as important to the narrative as what happened between Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I always thought Cid was abusive as well, but you're going to get a lot of pushback from people on this. FFVII was not well-written enough for any nuance to be identifiable.
Verbally abusive, yes. He's an asshole. He's suppose to be an asshole. And it leads up to this moment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHtSRxYmwPA. Here he realizes Shera was right and this time after insulting her he quickly apologizes for it. I believe he finally understands that he's been horrible to her and hopefully this is the start of a positive change in him,
I didn't say any of that? I'm not the OP.
I wasn't defending being wrong, I was laughing at how it made so many people flip out like it was as big of a deal as the character being called abusive. Like if I called Chris Brown a wife beater, would there be a legion of people correcing me that Rihanna was only his girlfriend?
If it was portrayed in a positive light I could understand why people would find it offensive but it's clearly not.
(Also again it's not spousal abuse, but w/e)
(Not a) spoiler alert: The audience is supposed to feel uncomfortable, and maybe even aggravated, at those verbal interactions. Cid's implied realization that he mistreated (cares about?) her probably reflects an underlying hope that people can change by the writer. Or at least that was supposed to come across in the script. FF7 is far from the best writing you'll find in the wild. That said, a character doing bad things but then also doing good things (or eventually doing a good to prove to themselves that the bad things aren't "who they are") is probably one of the more nuanced things in FF7's writing.
Apart from that, I hope people realize how serious/damaging verbal abuse can be. Yes, even compared to physical abuse.
Apart from that, I hope people realize how serious/damaging verbal abuse can be. Yes, even compared to physical abuse.
I think it's fine to portray characters in a terrible light, even if they're the protagonists. The only thing I don't like about the way Cid is handled in FF7 is how lightly the game treats his verbal abuse and how he ends up getting away with it and it never really becoming a point of contention. He never openly atones or apologizes for it even though he has (what is meant to be) a redemption arc.
It gives off the air that Cid's abusive nature is not that big of a deal in the eyes of the writers, which is at odds with how much gravitas many other things in FF7 are treated with.
It gives off the air that Cid's abusive nature is not that big of a deal in the eyes of the writers, which is at odds with how much gravitas many other things in FF7 are treated with.
I really hope Nomura has a weido artist side enough to include anything like this into Remake.
Beside,most of pervert parts in original game was our favorite Toriyama's idea (some of them can't even pass pre production) so, I hope he is an assistant in Remake too if we want all extreme elements of original still be there.
Beside,most of pervert parts in original game was our favorite Toriyama's idea (some of them can't even pass pre production) so, I hope he is an assistant in Remake too if we want all extreme elements of original still be there.
Hence why the remake is super interesting to me. They are going to have to go all in on changing tons of things to flow well for today, especially just by definition of having a more well established and realistic world view.
Things will change, so i would not expect a lot of that to remain. This is a game based on FF7 after all, but its its own game too.
The Last One
Member
And Cid is basically an asshole with everyone, I mean, that's how he asks you to drink the tear:
TheGreatDirector
Banned
Barret's a completely different character in the American version because of the jive/slang accent they gave him.
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
I'm 32, so I'm now officially an old man :|
Anyway, yeah, Cid was a verbally abusive, bitter man, but he never beat Shera.
Cid Verger?
TannerDemoz
Member
Digital on PS4. Not sure if it's original? Localisation looks really shoddy in general.
AlexFlame116
Member
Well everyone here already mentioned the fact that they aren't married
as well him not actually using physical violence on her. He gets a lot better and even names his future airship after her. Basically he realizes how important she is to him and mans up.
yet
Ugh.....please no. No no no. NO.
If it's not suitable without heavy editing it will be better to not remake it, you begin the game by helping terrorists, this should be enough for some for be highly offended today.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
It's all that smoking.
Bartholomuse
Member
FF7 Cid is best Cid, he seems like a legit crazy person who lights dynamite with lit cigarettes and has a space program in his backyard. He is obsessed with going to the "moon", something which he is not even sure is possible.
His relationship with Shera also seems within the remit of a complete wacko, as you've pointed out he thinks Shera is completely worthless in the maingame, but by Dirge of Cerberus he's named his new airship after her.
He also braces people for potentially lethal emergency landings with advice such;
"This's gonna be a big splash. Hold on to your drawers, an' don't piss in 'em!!"
-Cid Highwind (1997)
thats a legit quote btw, I cant wait for the remake, if only to see how the fuck they handle Cid.
His relationship with Shera also seems within the remit of a complete wacko, as you've pointed out he thinks Shera is completely worthless in the maingame, but by Dirge of Cerberus he's named his new airship after her.
He also braces people for potentially lethal emergency landings with advice such;
"This's gonna be a big splash. Hold on to your drawers, an' don't piss in 'em!!"
-Cid Highwind (1997)
thats a legit quote btw, I cant wait for the remake, if only to see how the fuck they handle Cid.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Out of curiosity, why is Cid being an asshole to everyone a defense?
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