I'd have to greatly disagree. I can't speak for yourself of course, but I severely doubt that any other character in FF comes close to Cloud's popularity and ability to be recognized (the closest you could probably get in modern day is Lightning, but that's only because she's been forced on fans through multiple unnecessary sequels and is the most recent main character). I say this because FFVII has done what no other main entry could do, and that's become a franchise in and of itself - it has prequels, sequels, and even a full-fledged movie that's some of the most gorgeous 3D animation I've ever seen. Cloud is a central figure in each and every one of these, being a key character and undoubtedly being the main character of the franchise. No other FF game or character even comes close to the amount of attention and marketing that FFVII and Cloud have received (even the Kingdom Hearts series has featured more FFVII characters than any other FF game), so it's difficult to claim he's not the most recognizable of the bunch.
But even then, that wasn't really my point. My point was that any gamer or person who claims to be a big fan of video games could definitely tell you that the character was Cloud if you showed them a picture (I feel like not everyone could tell you who Zidane from FFIX or Bartz from FFV were from a picture). This is just like how I think anyone who is a fan of video games could recognize Master Chief and Solid Snake quite easily as well, which is why I put them together. Your average Joe who's not a fan of video games probably couldn't tell you who any of the three were (The closest he'd get would probably the "the Halo guy".)
