Cid Highwind

Cid Highwind is a playable character in Final Fantasy VII and some other Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles. He owns an airship named the Highwind, and is part of a long tradition of Cids. He shares a last name with Ricard Highwind from Final Fantasy II and Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV, but the characters are otherwise unrelated.

Cid is 32 years old and by far the most uncouth of the protagonists, constantly swearing, losing his temper and chain-smoking cigarettes. Despite this rough appearance, he has a good heart, and is even voted temporary leader of AVALANCHE at one point when Cloud Strife is incapacitated with Mako Poisoning. The residents of Rocket Town all call him "the Captain," where he serves as something of an honorary mayor. Shinra's airship maintenance crew considers him a legend and were easily convinced to mutiny in stealing the Highwind for him.

Final Fantasy VII
The party first meets Cid when in Rocket Town, where he waits, hoping that Rufus has agreed to restart the space mission. However, he is displeased to learn that Rufus has only turned up because he wants the Tiny Bronco, and jumps on board the plane when the party attempts to take off in it. Realizing that he is finished with Shinra, Cid joins the party.

It was Cid who together with his airship crew saved Tifa Lockhart and the party from Shinra at Junon and took them on board the Highwind. And because of his role as captain of that ship he is made temporary leader of AVALANCHE during the Huge Materia missions at Fort Condor and North Corel; Cloud, the leader until then, is incapacitated after falling into the Lifestream and contracting Mako Poisoning. Once Cloud returns Cid continues to play an active role within the group and will often ask Cloud for a chance to play the snowboard game or ride the chocobos at the Gold Saucer (provided he is in Cloud's battle party).

Aside from his ambitions as an astronaut, Cid designed a number of aircraft and is an experienced pilot. Among his designs were the propeller plane, named the "Tiny Bronco", and the Highwind airship. Later, he became the pilot and captain of an unearthed airship of unknown ancient origin and christened it the Shera.

Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis
Since childhood, Cid dreamed of becoming the first human in space. He almost achieved this goal through the Shinra Space Program during Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, four years before the events of Final Fantasy VII. However, just as the rocket, Shinra No. 26, was about to launch, Cid realized that an engineer named Shera had defied orders and ran a last-minute double-check of the rocket's oxygen tanks - he had previously shared her concerns, but he had doubted that a problem would be likely. Continuing the launch on schedule would have resulted in her death, and so Cid aborted the launch in order to save her life. In the wake of this disaster, Shinra concluded that space exploration was not financially viable, and withdrew funding from the project altogether once they had discovered that Mako energy was a far more profitable venture. Shortly afterwards Cid's beloved airship, the Highwind, was confiscated by the Shinra.

The hot-tempered Cid blamed Shera for destroying his dream, and Shera, being extremely devoted to him and the achievement of his dream, accepted the blame completely. After the incident Shera devoted herself to doing whatever she could to atone for her "mistake," and Cid continued to treat her abominably, verbally abusing her. However, her concern over the oxygen tanks is eventually proven to have merit when an explosion of the oxygen tank she was checking during the original launch temporarily traps Cid in orbit during a later successful attempt to launch the rocket into space. After this, Cid finally forgives Shera, realizing that she probably saved his life by performing the investigation. As a result, he has a newfound respect for Shera and her work.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
By the time of Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, one year after the events of Advent Children, he is a legendary airship pilot and became the leader of an airship division with support from the World Regenesis Organization (he arrives in the game aboard the Shera, with other airships nearby). He leads the attack against the DeepGround Soldiers in Midgar from behind the controls of his airship. In the end of the game he does his part in defeating Omega WEAPON by destroying a Shinra reactor, cutting off the monster's power. Other reactors are destroyed by fellow AVALANCHE members and the WRO. Cid is married to Shera at this time (he even mentions that she has been worried about Vincent.

Kingdom Hearts series
In Kingdom Hearts, Cid fled his hometown of Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden and ended up in Traverse Town where he worked as a store attendant. Together with Aerith, Yuffie and Leon he aided Sora in his battle against the Heartless. Cid later gave up his job as a store attendant and, true to his love of flying, started selling Gummi ship parts. In the ending credits of Kingdom Hearts Cid is seen reuniting Cloud Strife with the other Final Fantasy characters, and mainly Aerith.

In Kingdom Hearts II Cid operates from the wizard Merlin's House in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden as a member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, where a large computer has been customized for his use. While Sora and the other heroes are off fighting the Heartless in the canyon it is Cid and Merlin who are left to defend the city of Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden. The two do not get along during the game due to Cid favoring science over magic. Cid gains a speaking role in the sequel.

In both games, Cid's infamous foul mouth is devoid of any kind of swearing, and his smoking is replaced by a long toothpick-like piece of wood that he chews on. His outfit is also different than the Final Fantasy versions. If anything, his costume is most similar to his "Final Fantasy VII" costume, but without the blue jacket.

Quotes

 * "Captain?! I'm the captain!"


 * "Can't you see we have guests? Make them some @*C$#%& tea!!" (to Shera)


 * "Shut up! Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn tea!"


 * Cid- "Ok, here we go." Vincent- "I have to say, I'm quite impressed, you have more talents than I thought, I didn't know you could drive a train as well." Cid- "Well, actually, I can't" Vincent- "What!?!"


 * "I don't want to regret not having done something later." (on his plan to stop Meteor)


 * "I don't care if it's science or magical power. No, come to think of it, if I had to, I'd put my faith in science. Because of science, humans who used to only roam around on the ground are able to fly now! And finally, we're about to go into outer space. Science is `Power' created and developed by humans. And science just might be what saves this planet. I was able to earn my living thanks to science. So to me, there's nothing greater!" (on firing a piece of Huge Materia in a rocket at Meteor)


 * "She's a beauty! My Sierra, the latest model. I'll give you the grand tour afterward!"


 * "If anyone of you are killed by those punks, I'll drag you back from Hell and kill you again!"


 * "Don't you like my @*C$#%& hospitality? Sit down!"


 * Cloud- "Alright everyone, let's mosey." Cid- "Damn man! Again! Why you always gotta say it like a wimp?! Why can't you say something cool like, 'Move out'?" Cloud- "Okay... Move out."


 * ''"When this job's done, I'm landing the ship...yeah, that's what I'll do."