✅ Debunked: There is no canon moment where Cloud expresses romantic love for Aerith. The Lifestream sequence confirms his heart belongs to Tifa. The Highwind scene solidifies this. Aerith’s role was never meant as his endgame partner.

📌 Sources: FFVII OG, Lifestream scene, Highwind scene, FFVII Rebirth (Gold Saucer)

✅ Debunked: Cloud’s romantic feelings for Tifa are evident before Aerith’s death. In both OG and Rebirth, Tifa is the one he kisses and opens his heart to. Cloud’s entire hero’s journey begins because of his love for Tifa. His relationship arc with Aerith ends in tragic friendship, not romance.

📌 Sources: FFVII OG, Rebirth (Gold Saucer kiss), Lifestream scene

✅ Debunked: The love triangle is promotional and used as a narrative device – an illusionary red herring. Cloud’s heart consistently points to Tifa, emotionally and physically. Aerith returns to Zack in the Lifestream, while Cloud’s bond with Tifa deepens.

📌 Sources: Lifestream, Highwind, Rebirth kiss, Ultimanias

✅ Debunked:  Cloud and Tifa were close as small children, and played together every day.  Around age 7, Cloud began to withdraw for reasons Tifa didn’t understand. Tifa never bullied or excluded Cloud as a child. He chose not to speak to her often and avoided her and her friends. Their reconnection began when he left for Midgar and they made their promise.

📌 Sources: Traces of Two Pasts, FFVII OG, Lifestream Scene

✅ Debunked: Tifa was traumatized and confused by Cloud’s altered memories and her own amnesia. She was unsure of her own memories and concerned about his mental well-being. She didn’t understand how he could have remembered things incorrectly until the truth unraveled in the Lifestream.

📌 Sources: FFVII OG, Lifestream scene, Ultimanas

✅ Debunked: Cloud wanted to be strong like Sephiroth, but for Tifa. His motivation was to impress her and earn her attention, not to emulate Sephiroth out of admiration alone.

📌 Sources: 2000 Gil to Become a Hero, Crisis Core, FFVII OG Lifestream Scene

✅ Debunked: This interpretation stems from a well-known translation inconsistency in the final lines of Final Fantasy VII. In the English version, Cloud says: “I think I can meet her there.” This line has been widely misread as referring to Aerith and implying romantic longing. However, the original Japanese version translates more accurately to: “I think we can meet them there.” This line refers to Cloud and Tifa being able to see their loved ones in the Promised Land someday, not Cloud wanting to reunite romantically with Aerith. The scene that follows this line strengthens the true intent: after Cloud rescues Tifa from falling, he holds her in his arms with her head resting on his chest, while Tifa’s theme plays. It is a moment of quiet emotional closure between them.

📌 Sources: FFVII OG Japanese script, corrected fan translations, FFVII Ultimania, and ending cinematic analysis

✅ Debunked: Cloud only kisses Tifa. The Gold Saucer scene in Rebirth is the only canon kiss in FFVII so far, and it confirms mutual romantic feelings with Tifa.

📌 Sources: Rebirth, Gold Saucer Dates

✅ Debunked: Cloud was consumed by guilt over Zack and Aerith’s deaths and his geostigma, not romantic confusion. He returns to Tifa and the kids by the end, symbolizing healing and reunion.

📌 Sources: AC/ACC film, Reminiscence of FFVII,  On The Way To a Smile, Ultimanias, ACC Reunion Files & Prologue Book

✅ Debunked: Timelines in the Compilation confirm Cloud had only been away for a short while—about a week or two, not months or years.

📌 Sources: Timeline established in The Kids Are Alright.

✅ Debunked: They live together as partners and raise children as a family. Canon materials confirm emotional and romantic connection, not platonic cohabitation.

📌 Sources: Case of Tifa, AC/ACC, Remake trilogy, Ultimanias, ACC Reunion Files & Prologue Book

✅ Debunked: “Maiden” was never approved as canon by the creators and is not referenced in official canon game continuity.  The author, Benny Matsuya, admitted the text was his own interpretation.

📌 Sources: FFVII Compilation Materials, Ultimanias

✅ Debunked: Aerith was still waiting for Zack. Her feelings never changed—she only began to open up again years later. They were never broken up in canon.

📌 Sources: FFVII OG, Crisis Core, FFVII Remake/Rebirth

✅ Debunked: Canon sources and creators have clarified the triangle resolves in favor of Tifa. Aerith’s arc belongs with Zack, and Cloud’s with Tifa.

📌 Sources: Rebirth, Highwind, Gold Saucer, Ultimania, developer interviews

Let’s keep the discussion grounded in canon and respect. Misinformation spreads fast—but so can the truth.