just was thinking about it and thought why dont we put it to a vote, lol i mean squall is a soldier cloud is a ex-soldier, they both have their pros and cons.

I think Cloud will win in a fight to the finish and I just like him better than Squall.

Lets see, identity thief with someone else's ridiculously over sized sword that needs to use rocks to use magic or guy with a regular sized sword that is also a gun that can summon powerful guardians by thinking about them.
Magic battle goes like this. Cloud goes to grab his rocks to summon something, Squall shoots him.
While Cloud tries to deflect the bullets Squall thinks of his summons and they appear to beat Cloud up while he is distracted.
Regular battle goes like this. Cloud has a big heavy sword. This makes him slow.
Squall has a smaller sword, this makes him agile. Speed plus the ability to shoot your enemies = advantage.
History has proven this point time and time again.

Just thought I would get in with my vote for Squall before the poll is flooded by FF7 fanatics
(Waits for all the nonsense posts like "OMG, CLOUD IS WIN BECAZ HE IZ IN FF7 WICH IS TEH BESTEST FF GAME EVA")

good point lol glad you put both senerios

I would have to say Squall simply because when you break the GF system, you become a nearly unstoppable. The Materia system's got nothing on GF once you know how it works.

I have to disagree, DarkHyren. Don't worry. Not a fanatic just me. lol

Anyway I think Cloud would win in a sword fight because he's super human. He has cells of an alien life form in his body that makes him uber strong. True Squall's sword is smaller which makes him agile but the size of Cloud's sword doesn't matter because he's strong enough to swing it fast no matter what size it is.

Now in a summon fight I think squall would win because his summons don't cost him any mp and he can use them multiple times. Summons cost Cloud a crap ton of mp to use which makes him limited.

In a magic fight Cloud would win because Squall has to draw magic out of things and Cloud has it built into his materia so it's always there. This makes Squall more limited than Cloud in the area of magic.

Cloud wins 2/3

I have to disagree on the magic thing
Squall has to draw magic, but it's more like an item.
So if you think about it, magic materia still relies on MP to use the spells right?
Drawing magic allows you to build a stockpile that would, in essence, allow you to cast 99 firagas, blizzagas and thundagas (for example) all in the same battle.
At least that's my take on it anyways. ~shrug~

And I still question Clouds ability to stand up to being shot multiple times

yes cloud is enhanced but squalls weopons and stuff are more advanced they are both trained soldiers in there own way and this is based on melee fighting not magic or summoning

i think cloud could win at any fight because he equip some materia and be able to use powerful magic.

cloud is so cool he can spend days just fixing his hair so id say cloud

Id have to agree with XxChoasxX on this one, although DarkHyren makes a couple good points. So in conclusion I'd say Cloud would win in a melee and magic battle but Squall has the advantage in the summoning area. 2 to 3 Cloud, sorries. And no before anyone says it I am not a fanboy or whatnot VII isn't even my first or favorite VI is

i think squall would win becuz his gunblade also adds explsive damage when clouds does cloud might have more power the squall but squall has more speed and in ex mode clud might win becuz of his ultima weapon has a defense cruch and the more health hes got makes it more powerful but squall movea even faster in ex mode and it does even more damage with the lion heart and i vote for squall go squall

The argument made about Squall having better Summons doesn't really work for me, because as seen in Advent Children, Cloud, without materia, killed Bahamut Zero. Not to mention that while Squall can conjure up guardian forces, his guardian forces can be killed. Cloud on the other hand has Knights of the Round, which is pretty much 13 summons in 1, paired with w-summon or hp absorb, it becomes that much more powerful.

As far as magic goes, Squall can have 99 of each spell stocked, Cloud could also have 99 turbo ethers in stock. So that cancels eachother out.

And as cool as the gunblade may be, the Buster sword can deflect bullets, once again, take a look at Advent Children, Cloud has that thing mastered.

Um, guys? Don't you know that gunblades aren't actual guns? They're just using the gun mechanism as a way to strengthen the blows of the attacks by pulling the trigger as you strike. The explosions from the gun cause the impact of the strike to be much stronger than swords of normal means.
But, that aside, I still don't exactly think that means Cloud would win. I mean, let's think about it. While Cloud is superhuman and all, he's somewhat inexperienced compared to Squall, which has been training in a military academy for virtually most of his life.
Plus, the creator of the thread did say finishing moves and weapons only, so magic/summons aside, I'd say that with Lionheart and Ultima Weapon, they're pretty evenly matched.
Regardless, it's pretty obvious that Squall's swordplay is much quicker than Cloud's, since even though Cloud can wield such a heavy blade, he still doesn't swing that fast. Squall can since his blade isn't as heavy.
As for finishing moves, really, they're pretty darn similar. They both slash a bunch of times and then end with one showy big slash with an explosion... still kind of evened out.

With all magic taken out... Squall. I prefer him over Cloud, but that's now why I chose Squall. Seriously, do you think someone who actually was fit to be a leader, and was in military training for much of his life is realistically weaker? For one, Cloud's sword would slow him down. Squall's sword, while an awkward weapon to handle, is not as heavy from size. He also is a qualified user of his weapon.

Squall is alot more experienced, as well. Cloud had milltary training for less years than Squall, and really, he wields a weapon that only works because the game makes it so. If one was to use it in real life, and I mean one that wasn't just a copy, but a real one blacksmithed by a good blacksmith, the person would be slowed down quite a bit. In contrast, if one were to use a pistol sword,(I'm going with the real world gunblade in this comparison for realism's sake) they would have an awkward time, but the person using the Buster Blade would suffer more injuries if they don't have luck on their side, or are strong enough to use the blade.

So here's the realistic view of Squall vs. Cloud:

Squall

Pros
The blade is manageable for a well-experienced user
The blade has more power to compensate for smaller size
The blade is easier to hold in spars
The blade was used in the Civil War, even if it was discontinued due to complaints from the people who used them
In real life, guns hurt more. Even if the gun usage is more dangerous, a blow from a bullet is very lethal. If Squall used it, and aimed for a vital organ, bye bye cloud. Cloud's blade would slow him down far too much.

Cons
Awkward to handle
May cause death of the user
May be destroyed if the user of the Buster Blade is strong enough to carry his blade
Needs more experience

Cloud

Pros
Larger?

Cons
Already went over them.

I'm somewhat biased, but it just makes no sense for me to think Cloud could win. He may be strong, but he also would be a goner most likely.

Well this all depends on if Cloud has the "old school" buster blade or the new one (Advent Children's Buster blade). If he has the new one i would say that cloud would win due to the new abilities, if it was the old buster blade i would vote for squall do to the more power in magical abilities. If it was based on physical strength then it would go to cloud for his "alienated" strength.

Cloud wins. Don't get me wrong, I like Squall better (my friends all know of my love for FFVIII), but let's face it... halfway through he fight Squall is either gonna have one of those silly flashbacks or get all emo and run off. Besides, yes, Squall can get broken quickly...but Cloud has the Buster sword.

Game over, man, game over!

wow i just have to say i thought that there would be a overwhelming sweep of people to choose cloud, tho yes he is winning in the polls there are alot more votes for squall than i previously thought there would be

well what about Squalls Lionheart limit break

Cyprian : In battle, Squall doesn't do that kind of stuff. Besides, he isn't even emo. He doesn't express his emotions. He represses them to unhealthy limits. Squall also changed a lot, if you remember correctly. This battle would be post-game everything probably, anyway.