Cloud Strife's modded abs have Final Fantasy 7 players in a tizzy

Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy 7 Remake with a cropped leather jacket and turtleneck mod.
(Image credit: Square Enix / juijub)

I've always been of the mind that anyone looks great in a crop top, and Final Fantasy 7's Cloud Strife is no exception. For some reason, not everyone seems to agree with me though. A mod from juijub on NexusMods has put the grumpy protagonist in a pretty sweet cropped leather jacket, showing off the typical JRPG protagonist washboard abs (thanks, Kotaku).

While I'm a fan of the mod, not everyone was into it. Comments were asking juijub to cover up his exposed midriff, with one writing "any way we can get a version without the belly exposed? Otherwise looks great" while another said "this is very cool! But I would also like one without the lewd belly exposed." Now I'm not sure I'd go as far to call a man's stomach lewd, especially considering the same modder literally has a mod that makes Cloud naked, but the cropped look isn't for everyone.

In response to the comments about Cloud's tum, juijub cheekily threw together an update, writing "his stomach's covered now." Though instead of sewing back on the missing half of his turtleneck, juijub has instead plastered a tattoo of what looks to be a tribal-themed womb across his lower stomach. It's the perfect tongue-in-cheek response, one that almost makes me want to nab a copy of the game on PC just to play with the new, lewdly improved Cloud. Though I also saw someone say it gave them big "the guy in School of Rock" energy, so now I'm not so sure.

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One of my favourite things about seeing console games ported over to PC is getting to peep all the dumb and cool shit people end up modding into it—like getting to play the entire game with Cloud in his signature dress or slapping some Ronald McDonald face paint on Sepiroth. It almost makes up for the paltry PC release we got of this game. Almost.

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.