Super Smash Bros adds Final Fantasy 7's Cloud to roster

Nintendo ended its latest online broadcast with the shock announcement that Final Fantasy 7 protagonist Cloud Strife will be joining the roster of Super Smash Bros on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The addition of the character was likely born out of the Smash Ballot fan survey held earlier this year.

The iconic hero from Square Enix's celebrated 1997 PlayStation RPG will be fighting against a raft of iconic characters including Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man and Street Fighter's Ryu, not to mention Nintendo icons Link, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Pikachu.

What makes the news odd is that Final Fantasy 7 has never appeared on a Nintendo platform, only on PlayStation ones, including the PS4, which is getting a full remake in 2017.

During E3 in June Nintendo announced the Smash Ballot, which gave fans the chance to get their voices heard and let the powers that be know who they want to see added to the beat-em-up's roster. Due to various rights issues not every popular choice will be possible, but clearly the results spurred Nintendo on to contact Square and make this happen.

The announcement trailer ended with the promise of the special Smash Bros broadcast in December, at which more fighters will presumably be announced. With Cloud entering the fray it's safe to say most ideas are no longer off the table.

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