I don't disagree Cloud is the most important and recognizable FF character. I'm just saying that from Nintendo's history with the franchise, Cloud really has no Nintendo affiliation. FF1-6 were on Nintendo consoles.(NES, Famicon, SNES) Where 7 onwards were not. Thats why to me he seems the most odd out of all third party characters because his game literally was never on a Nintendo console.
Everyone else has been, Sonic, Snake, Megaman, Ryu, Pac-man and even Bayonetta 2 was ported to a Nintendo console.
I see your point, but I’m pretty sure Sakurai said something about how he wanted characters from 3rd parties to be historical to gaming as a whole, not just Nintendo. This seems to fit every character’s reasoning.
Cloud - Main protagonist of FF7, the most beloved entry in the biggest RPG franchise. FF is basically the most known RPG franchise outside of Pokémon, and many pull influence from it, and since 7 was the pinnacle of the series to many, I feel he fits.
Sonic - Mascot of the second biggest gaming company in the 90s, creating the ultimate rivalry between Sega and Nintendo. Sonic not only introduced more ‘organic’ level design in 2D platformers, having loops and hills instead of straight paths, but Sonic also introduced personality in a big way, being one of the first game characters to have idle animations, and a real identity.
Ryu - From one of the most influential fighting game franchises, Street Fighter. The game fighting game as notable as SF is Mortal Kombat, but Street Fighter had one of the biggest influences on fighting games, mainly of the cartoony variety.
Snake - Metal Gear Solid 4 was considered one of the best games ever made. It took full advantage of cutscenes, portraying a story that gripped players in. If anything, Metal Gear really helped in pushing more cinematic and story driven games up.
Mega Man - a platforming legend from the NES. Many take influence on the style of Mega Man for 2D platformers.
Pac-Man - It’s Pac-Man, the biggest arcade franchise ever. He really doesn’t need an explanation.
Bayonetta - She’s a rule breaker, as Bayonetta was yet to really leave an impact on the industry even though most see her as the perfection of the action genre, being better than Devil May Cry. She mainly got in due to Nintendo buying out her sequel’s productions, making her a somewhat defacto Nintendo character. She has clearly become Nintendo’s M-Rated title.