Nibleheim was his home. As a child he considered himself weak. Certain traumas like Tifa's near death experience, showed him how weak he was, and he couldn't stand having Tifa think of him that way. Cloud left Nibleheim to join Soldier in Midgar. Sephiroth was his idol, Cloud wished to be as powerfull as Sephiroth. He got his wish. As a result of inhumane experiments conducted by Hojo, Cloud along with Zack, were among a handful of people from Soldier to be turned into Sephiroth clones. Cloud was labeled a failure just before he and Zack escaped from the basement of the Shinra mansion. That is when Zack decided he wanted to be a mercenary, and since Cloud was his closest friend, Cloud was to be a mercenary also. On their way to Midgar though, Zack was hunt down by a group of Shinra troops and shot to death. Cloud was left to rot, because at that time he didn't seem worthy enough to be killed by the troops. With a sense of vengeance, Cloud gained Zack's buster sword, and that is where the adventure begins.

Cloud is definitly an offensive charachter. He is able to handle both magic and physical attacks. Cloud is most suited to physical attacks, materia such as Death Blow, and 2X Cut should definitly be given to Cloud. You should also have atleast one type of magic always in Clouds inventory, so by the second disc, Cloud would have mastered that certain magic. Of all the charachters in your team, Cloud is definitly the strongest.