blitz_0623 posted...

I think it's more FF7 than Cloud that wins him the character battles, although you could probably say the same for Link

Pretty much. FF7 and OoT were raised up as the figureheads of that generation's console wars, a console war which many of GameFAQs current users are still nostalgically invested in. Link and Cloud just represent that; I don't think anyone considers them to be particularly great characters.