highwind takes to the skies

Cid has a colorful personality, to put it mildly. He's not much for keeping his opinions to himself, and he tends to punctuate these opinions with curses. Down on his luck after the failure of the Shinra space program, Cid still harbors a dream of being the first man in space, but it's muted by the loss of everything he worked so hard for.

Let's talk about that, to start with. While at first glance Cid might seem like something of an uncouth jerk, he's a brilliant engineer and mechanic who built the world's only airship, the Highwind. Sure, he might never be seen without a cigarette in his mouth, and he might carry around sticks of dynamite for no apparent reason, but there's a reason he was chosen as the first astronaut in the world.

But the launch of the Shinra no.26 failed, and Cid's dreams went up in smoke. Cid himself cancelled the launch when he realized one of the engineers, Shera, was still in the engine room as the rocket was about to take off. She would have been killed if he went through with the launch, and Cid stopped the rocket just after it took off, causing it to crash back down to the ground.

All of Cid's life had been building up to that moment, but he couldn't bring himself to take another life for his own dreams. It was a heroic deed, but Cid himself never saw it that way because of what it cost him: the space program, and his dreams. Shinra cancelled the launch, and he was left with nothing.

We don't know what all Cid was up to in the four years between the rocket launch and when the game started, but I think Cid got pretty bitter in that time. He certainly has no love lost on Shinra, to that point that when a spiky-haired mercenary comes walking through his door and ends up accidentally hijacking his plane, Cid's pissed off enough to join up with their harebrained cause.

Still, even then, Cid doesn't have much of a stake in what's going on in the game. He's involved to the point he has to be, but when it comes to the plot, he's fairly disconnected until later in. (He falls asleep during the meeting in the Gold Saucer, for crying out loud.) Yet when the team falls apart, with Cloud succumbing to mako poisoning and Tifa leaving to care for him, it's Cid they turn to to lead them.

Barret: Every group's gotta have a leader. An' that's me! Or at least I wanna be... But I ain't cut out to be no leader. I never knew that till lately. An' that's what is......
Cid: ......ZZZZ...... hmph? [He wakes and gets to his feet.] Wha? What's goin' on?
Barret: You been chosen to be the new leader.
Cid: Pain in the ass. Forget it.
Barret: But for us to fight, we gotta have Highwind, and you. We need it to save the Planet. An' who's runnin' this ship? You! That's why you're our new leader. Ain't no one else can.
Cid: Hm...... this ship's gonna save the Planet, huh? Ain't that gonna be just a little tough? Oh man, that went straight to my heart. I'm a man, too! Okay, I'll do it! Everyone, follow me!

For Cid, it's really about finding the right motivation to do something. He was miserable all those years in Rocket Town because he had nothing driving him anymore, but with AVALANCHE he finally has a purpose again, and a damn important one at that. Cid runs into his fair share of problems during his missions, but (providing the player succeeds) they manage to pull through.

Of course, then there's the rocket mission, and Cid finally gets his dream to go up in space. He clashes with Cloud about the reason they're even on the mission in pursuit of that dream, because to Cid space has always been more important than anything else. Sure, Shinra's plan to stop Meteor might not work, but for Cid, who's put his entire life in the power of science, it's a cause worth fighting for. I think it's worth remembering that up until the rocket program got canned, Cid himself was a Shinra man, likely having spent many years working with them while developing both his airship and the rocket program.

Not that it's long before he changes his tune.

Cid: ......If you want the Materia, do whatever you want! The Materia should be there after you climb that ladder.
Cloud: ...You sure?
Cid: I dunno... I know what I said a minute ago. But maybe all that I really wanted was just to go into outer space. So, why don't you all do whatever you think is right?

Oh, Cid. We all know you just wanted to see your rocket take off. You're not fooling anyone.

Escaping the rocket is trickier, and when there's an explosion in the engine room Cid gets caught under some debris. The party can't get the tank off him, and Cid tells them to just leave him and go for the escape pod. The tank that broke, of course, is the same one that made the original launch fail years ago, and Cid realizes Shera was right all this time. Just when things look bleakest, Shera appears, having hitched a ride on the rocket herself, and helps free Cid from the debris.

It's not a complicated story, and it's one that's been told many times before. Cid blamed Shera for years, and found out in the end he was wrong and forgives her. I suppose it's part of the nostalgic charm of Final Fantasy VII itself that's made me enjoy such a simple story all these years. Sure, the rocket doesn't succeed in blowing up Meteor, but Cid got to go to space and he's acknowledged his mistakes. Maybe it's the simplicity itself that makes it a story that endures.

There's also the speech he gives after they get back from space, which I think speaks a lot to what makes him stay with AVALANCHE to the end.

Cid: Maybe you're right. But I came up with something different. I always thought this planet was so huge. But lookin' at it from space, I realized it's so small. We're just floatin' in the dark. ......kind of makes you feel powerless. On top of that it's got Sephiroth festerin' inside it like a sickness. That's why I say this planet's still a kid. A little kid sick and trembling in the middle of this huge universe. Someone's gotta protect it. Ya follow me? That someone is us.
Tifa: Cid... that's beautiful.
Barret: Yo! Cid! You even got to me! So, now what? How're we gonna protect the planet from Meteor?
Cid: [Cid scratches his head and sits down.] ...............I'm still thinkin' about that.

After that, it's the push to figure out how to get to Sephiroth and stop Meteor. Cid doesn't factor a whole lot in the plot here, either, but it's worth noting that despite what he says on the Highwind when Cloud says they need to go figure out what they're fighting for, he's right there waiting for Cloud and Tifa when they come back. Cid's not the kind of person who'll see this kind of thing half-done: he's going to be there right to the end of it, no matter what. It might get him killed, but he'll damn well go down fighting.

Besides, who could have flown them out of the crater in the end but Cid fuckin' Highwind?

So that's Cid. He might not come across as a serious character at first, but he's got a lot of dedication to the causes he believes in, and proves to be a surprisingly deep thinker at times. He provides a lot of comic relief, but there's lots of heart right along with it.

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