Character from Final Fantasy VII by Square Enix
A foul-mouthed pilot and mechanical genius whose lifelong dream of space travel was sabotaged by Shinra, channeling his bitterness into tea, cigarettes, and devastating spear combat.
Cid Highwind was supposed to be the first man in space. Shinra's space program, headquartered in the aptly named Rocket Town, built a rocket and chose Cid as its pilot. On launch day, a technician named Shera discovered an oxygen tank malfunction and crawled into the engine housing to fix it. Cid had seconds to choose: launch and kill Shera, or abort and lose everything. He aborted. Shinra pulled the program's funding, and Cid spent the next years as a bitter, chain-smoking mechanic in a dead-end town, building aircraft nobody wanted and taking his frustration out on Shera — the woman who saved herself at the cost of his dream. It's not pretty, and Cid doesn't pretend it is. When AVALANCHE arrives, Cid initially wants nothing to do with their crusade, but Shinra's attempt to commandeer his prized plane, the Tiny Bronco, drags him into the fight. Cid becomes the party's pilot and eventually its temporary leader when Cloud is incapacitated. Beneath the profanity and the gruff exterior is a man who never stopped looking up. His journey climaxes when he finally reaches space aboard the very rocket that Shinra abandoned — and learns to stop punishing the people around him for a dream deferred.
Weathered man in his mid-thirties with short blond hair, stubble, and perpetually squinting blue eyes. Wears a blue jacket over a white T-shirt, with flight goggles pushed up onto his forehead and a cigarette permanently clamped between his lips. Green cargo pants and heavy boots complete the look of a man more comfortable in a hangar than a boardroom. Fights with a long spear — a polearm he wields with surprising precision for someone who smells like engine grease and nicotine. A pack of cigarettes always visible in his jacket pocket.
Also known as: Cid, Highwind, Captain, Old Man, Chief