Final Fantasy VII's diverse and memorable cast of party members certainly have their own individual strengths and weaknesses to call their own, but intelligence is one factor that is definitely unequal between these nine fantasy protagonists. You'll be spending quite a bit of time with them throughout your adventure, and it quickly becomes clear who is the brains of the group.

RELATED: Final Fantasy: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chocobos

Fighting your way up from being a lowly resistance group to become the saviors of the planet requires quick thinking and careful planning, where some of these characters excel more than others.

9 Barret Wallace

Not to say that any party member from FF7 isn't smart, as that's far from the case. However, Barrett tends to make the rashest decisions out of the group and has a tendency to not think through situations as much as the rest of the cast.

Barrett is a very emotionally driven character, so while he truly cares for his friends and comrades and would protect them at all costs, there are others in the party that should be left to make the big-brain plays.

8 Tifa Lockhart

Tifa is pretty similar to Barrett when it comes to handling stressful situations, but a tinge more thoughtfulness can go a long way. Tifa is a pretty intelligent person but is often caught being pretty spacey and not being the best at reading situations.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 7 Remake: 10 Burning Questions Fans Have About The Sequel (That We'll Wait Years To Find Out)

This is most apparent when she asks if Cloud slept well, where his response is "next to you, who wouldn't", where Cloud's attempt at flirting goes right over her head. Although, with the ability to punch just about anything and everything into dust, she gets by just fine.

7 Yuffie Kisaragi

As the youngest member of the party at 16 years old, Yuffie has the least amount of life experience out of the group, but that doesn't make her unintelligent. She's a pretty strategic and cunning fighter, even if her cockiness ends up being her downfall sometimes.

Both thieves and ninjas need to be pretty intuitive to get by, showing that Yuffie is a cut above the rest. She's more immature than anything, revealing that she's pretty smart underneath her snarky persona.

6 Cloud Strife

FINAL-FANTASY-VII-REMAKE_20200407191435-710x400

Our favorite, lovable, Byronic hero, Cloud Strife, is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. He comes off as unenthusiastic and dismissive towards going about missions and interacting with the rest of the party, but he always seems to have a sense of confidence and intelligence while doing so.

RELATED: 10 Times Classic Final Fantasy Creatures Drastically Changed Their Design

When it comes to battle smarts, Cloud is unrivaled by many, as he possesses the traits of only the most elite of soldiers. What he lacks in emotional intelligence he makes up for with street smarts, as he's at a pretty severe disadvantage when characters like Aerith can pick apart his stoic attitude with ease.

5 Aerith Gainsborough

As a girl that has grown up poor in the slums of Sector and has dealt with frequent run-ins from Shinra her entire life, Aerith has shown time and time again that she has the capabilities to outsmart just about anyone.

She makes fools out of the Turks whenever they attempt to take her back for themselves and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. She also sees right through Cloud's otherwise seemingly impenetrable emotional wall and knows exactly how to get right through to the real him.

4 Cait Sith

This cute cat's intelligence is a little harder to judge than the other characters, as he is actually robotic in nature. While he does possess some sentience as shown in different parts of the story, he is being remotely controlled for the most part.

Cait Sith's master, Reeve, is a higher-up at Shinra who works to stop their attempts to continually destroy the planet, and he's shown to be pretty dang smart. Since Reeve is controlling Cait Sith, it's safe to assume that it has a higher than average intelligence level.

3 Vincent Valentine

Getting as close as a person can possibly get to being classified as a vampire, Vincent Valentine is certainly one of the stranger characters out of the bunch. Not a ton is known about him, other than the fact that he used to be a member of the Turks around 30 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII.

RELATED: Which Final Fantasy Protagonist Are You Based On Your Zodiac Sign?

He's similar to Cloud in that he doesn't say a whole lot, but, as story writer Kazushige Nojima describes him, he usually has much to say when he does. He's reserved until he needs to take action where you can see his skills and knowledge come through as a former Turk.

2 Cid Highwind

Cid may seem like nothing more than a rude and selfish prick with an affinity for explosives and cursing at first glance, but there's quite a bit more to him than meets the eye. Like the other incarnations of Cid in Final Fantasy, he is a highly skilled engineer that excels in the creation of the infamous airships.

During the course of the story, you find out that Cid had initially planned to embark on a journey through space on a rocket, showing that he's quite the accomplished scientist. While not the best in battle, if you stuck this man on a deserted island with nothing but a screwdriver, he'd probably somehow return home on a fancy, homemade yacht.

1 Red XIII

As a part of an ancient tribe that lives much longer than any human could hope to, Red XIII has bountiful wisdom at his paws that he uses for the betterment of the planet that he calls home. Prideful, strong, and intelligent, Red XIII knows much that the rest of the party doesn't, especially in the Remake.

He has information regarding J-E-N-O-V-A, Sephiroth, and Shinra, and is a truly invaluable member of the party. He possesses incredible strength and knowledge of battle as well, making him an all-around smart cookie.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 9: 5 Reasons Why It Needs A Remake (& 5 Why It Should Be Left Alone)