FF7: Wife-beater Cid? Am I meant to like this guy?

[VGdrumCovers]

( EDIT: I'm aware Cid doesn't actually 'beat' Shera. It would be nice to see the discussion move away from that. Cheers. )

So, I'm currently playing through Final Fantasy 7 (I never got past disk 1 when I was a kid) and I'm finding it really interesting...

Basically, most of the dialogue dialogue in the game is fucking mental.

I've just met Cid, an engineer who wants to go into space, right? I meet his girlfriend, Shera.

Poor, poor, Shera.

I go back to their place. Cid storms through the door.

CID: <obscenity> Shera. What are you, blind!? We got gusts!! GET SOME TEA <obscenity>
SHERA: I...I'm sorry."

Cloud and the gang stand there, pretty awkwardly. "Really," he says, "don't mind us."

After essentially telling us to sit the fuck down and drink out tea, he shouts "Damn, I'm pissed!"

Aeries asks if he's always like this. She's consumed by self-doubt. "It's my fault," she says. "I ruined his dream."

Flashback to Cid watching his wife work away at the rocket, telling her to get her ass in gear and that she "works like a snail."

Everything's getting prepared for the big rocket launch and Cid's ego-fuelled space exploration adventure. His wife couldn't get something finished in time. She's still working away while he's attempting to take off. Obviously, he's wondering what she's still doing down there, and tells her she's obviously going to be killed if she's in this area while the ship takes off.

Her response is pretty much "I get how much you're into this. I'm cool about dying"

But hey, guess who pushed the emergency engine shut down switch and aborted the mission, saving her life in the process? Good guy Cid.

And now for some reason, he's justified in treating and talking to his wife like shit?

Am I meant to like this character? Is this going to be PC for the FF7 remake? Is the vast majority of FF7 going to be suitable for a modern day audience or are they going to have to make a HUGE amount of editing to the story and text?

 

[SOLDIER]

She's not his wife, and he doesn't beat her.

 

[RinBestFate]

Sorry, where is the beating part?

 

[ViolentP]

Who doesn't serve tea to their guests? Really!

 

[Flandy]

Who's Aeris?

 

[diaspora]

It's not physical abuse but I mean, he's objectively a verbally abusive person.

 

[DJIzana]

Welcome to the days of old... where RPG's (or more specifically JRPG's), more frequently than not, touched on some really serious matters. Earthbound was very dark too (touched on child abuse, cults and other elements).

 

[Alec]

She's not his wife, and he doesn't beat her.

.

It's not physical abuse but I mean, he's objectively a verbally abusive person.

Yeah, to everyone pretty much.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

His final Limit Break is fuckin' sweet though.

 

[d00d3n]

Sorry, where is the beating part?

Yeah, trampling on dear childhood memories clearly requires receipts!

 

[Inuhanyou]

She is not his wife, and he doesn't beat her...the whole point is that he's supposed to really show how he appreciates her in other ways, even though he's a rough around the edges kind of guy who is bitter and angry. SHe becomes his wife later on after the game ends, but not during the game.

Er, spoilers?

 

[Kyari]

Also Cid has an actual character arc.
You understand why he is the way he is and he grows as a person and moves past it over the course of the game.

 

[SpaceWolf]

Better than that gambling addict cat motherfucka

 

[McMoneyman]

Shut up!
Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!

 

[VGdrumCovers]

Obviously it's not displayed as physical abuse, but looking at it now it pretty much translates into something a lot darker? Main worry is how is this going to translate into the remake?

 

[Lights and Waves]

He sucks. I don't get the praise for him.

 

[Velurian]

Some nitpicking aside, Cid is indeed a very unpleasant person. And I'm not entirely sure the developers understood that he is.

 

[Ashtar]

It was a different time..... But seriously without having played the game sounds more like verbal abuse then anything else

 

[Timeaisis]

It's to establish Cid as a flawed hero and give him an actual meaningful character arc in terms of forgiveness and acceptance.

I'm sorry if that's too much to ask of you.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Am I meant to like this character? Is this going to be PC for the FF7 remake? Is the vast majority of FF7 going to be suitable for a modern day audience or are they going to have to make a HUGE amount of editing to the story and text?

Likable or not, there are people like Cid and Shera in the world. I don't see why we should censor any representation of them from artistic media. These games aren't targeted at little kids, and even if they do play them it won't hurt them to know there are assholes in the world.

Regardless, I'm sure there will be lots of changes made to the new version.

EDIT - The dynamic between Cid and Shera seems almost like a Japanese trope, btw. At least, I've seen that dynamic in a lot of anime.

 

[Alec]

Main worry is how is this going to translate into the remake?

You'll drink your tea and like it.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I think if rewritten today they would probably update their relationship to make him more curmudgeonly and less outright abusive. If they were trying to make a point about trauma and how it generates abusers, that point was lost in the bizarre swear-filled-but-censored dialogue.

 

[Rad Shadow]

Doesn't he slap her?

 

[MadClacker]

Cid is my favorite character in the game. He's an asshole, but his character has a rather interesting arc as the game goes on. Don't hang yourself up on modern societal values. Lighten up.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

I think you're taking this a bit serious. It's a JRPG developed 20 years ago.

 

[Golnei]

Not quite related, but we probably won't be getting Tifa's "stop acting like a retard and climb" line in the remake either.

 

[Cornbread78]

Yeah, trampling on dear childhood memories clearly requires receipts!

LMFAO

Bravo, I just lost it..

 

[zerokoolpsx]

He doesn't beat her.
Sit down and drink your god damn TEA!

 

[The Elite]

He's an asshole but you haven't presented a compelling argument for wife or beating.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

You're making me feel bad for always hilariously slapping the news reporter in mass effect

 

[Kyari]

It's to establish Cid as a flawed hero and give him an actual meaningful character arc in terms of forgiveness and acceptance.

I'm sorry if that's too much to ask of you.

Pretty much this, Cid starts his story troubled and problematic, a depressed mess stuck in the failings from his past and acting out against the person he feels responsible. Joining AVALANCHE gives Cid a purpose and the later events in the game let him grow and see what an asshole he has been as he comes to peace with his past and makes amends for his actions since then.

 

[Pankratous]

Likable or not, there are people like Cid and Shera in the world. I don't see why we should censor any representation of them from artistic media. These games aren't targeted at little kids, and even if they do play them it won't hurt them to know there are assholes in the world.

Regardless, I'm sure there will be lots of changes made to the new version.

Pretty much this.

I hope they keep him like that. Characters in games don't need to be fairy tales and sunshine, we should be able to observe abhorrent behavior and recognize it for what it is.

 

[Kanann]

Typical grumpy old man with attitude LOL

 

[Gemeanie]

I'll never understand why people automatically assume she's his wife. I played the game at 12 and never came to such conclusion.

Also need receipt for wife-beating part. Just played the PS4 port a few months and don't recall seeing it

Edit: off topic but I've not really followed anything after vanilla FF7, did they get married after vanilla?

 

[Corpekata]

I love that half the rebuttals are about the abuse and the others are like "She's not his wife" as if that really has much bearing on the scene.

 

[Dark Cloud]

The sad part is the FFVIIR won't be kept pure to how VII was. I love Cid and all the cursing from him and Barret.

 

[Easy_D]

You're making me feel bad for always hilariously slapping the news reporter in mass effect

Slap? I thought Shepard straight up gives her a knuckle supper? Multiple times over the course of the games?

 

[Adam_Vania]

as the audience it is your role to decide what to feel about any work. if you decide you don't like this character then that is perfectly fine.

i don't think removing bad elements is the answer unless you want to scrub all fiction of anything bad, ending up with a sterile world even more unreal than real life.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I think you can like him as a character but dislike him as a person, if that makes sense. He is interesting and very flawed.

Sometimes heroes aren't very heroic.

 

[Mendrox]

Obviously it's not displayed as physical abuse, but looking at it now it pretty much translates into something a lot darker? Main worry is how is this going to translate into the remake?

Eh... it's really not as bad.

 

[Stone Ocean]

You're not supposed to like him, he's a dick. That's where his character growth comes in.

 

[bigol]

Not quite related, but we probably won't be getting Tifa's "stop acting like a retard and climb" line in the remake either.

I wonder what about the don Corneo/transvestite Cloud part,will they cut it?

 

[ZeroX03]

Avalanche were mass murderers. Those reactors you blow up at the start weren't empty. Game is dark and the main characters aren't great people. The villains are a lot worse of course.

Cid mellows out substantially. That was the point.

 

[SOLDIER]

I'll never understand why people automatically assume she's his wife. I played the game at 12 and never came to such conclusion.

There are people to this day who think Tifa is Barret's ex and Marlene is their child.

 

[MaulerX]

I always pronounced his name backwards because I always thought he was a Dic.

 

[diaspora]

Pretty much this.

I hope they keep him like that. Characters in games don't need to be fairy tales and sunshine, we should be able to observe abhorrent behavior and recognize it for what it is.

I think the problem people have is when it's not clear if the game itself knows that it's wrong.

 

[VGdrumCovers]

Assumed she was his wife, my bad. Didn't realise it would upset so many people.

 

[Carn82]

that theme tho.

 

[bjork]

hold onto your pants and don't piss in em

 

[SenkiDala]

She's not his wife, and he doesn't beat her.

Yep... Wtf...

And people wonder why we have only soft/blank characters and stories in video games...