Why does President Shinra recognise Cloud at the reactor?

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At the sector 5 reactor, president shinra recognises cloud, which should be impossible given that cloud was never in SOLDIER and was just a nameless infantryman. And nothing in the game suggests that Cloud had specifically let Shinra know he was ex-soldier and joined up with avalanche.
 
Because cloud wears the uniform of Soldier. Which nobody else does recognize at Shinra.
 
He could be mistaking him for Zack, similar height and build, spikey hair and the bright blue eyes which he does mention.
 
He doesn't know Cloud. He just said "former SOLDIER" because his eyes were glowing. It's likely that there were reports of a SOLDIER working with AVALANCHE since those infantry were so eager to shoot him on sight.
 
This was discussed by me and Luksy, because I was sure it had to be a translation error. It is made worse in the original localization if I recall.  It's already been discussed somewhere else, but basically you are left with these 2 options:

1. Shinra personally congratulates all people who make it into Soldier, and Cloud is somehow expecting that he'll be remembered (Cloud says "long time no see", which is the main offending line). Shinra then tells him he can't be expected to remember every Soldier's name unless they are as great as Sephiroth.  In other words, he meets every new member of Soldier for a very brief time to give out a medal or something.

2. This is forced exposition. The writers needed a way to introduce Sephiroth into the conversation.  Think about it... how else were they going to get him mentioned here otherwise?

Personally I think it's probably both - but mainly number 2. The writers wanted to introduce Sephiroth here and had to manufacture something that seems very out of place. It's clearly bad exposition because no-one buys for a second that Cloud would say that out of nowhere. Which is why this thread exists :P

I guarantee you that this exposition will be left out of the remake, because they'll have a rethink.
 
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Well at that point, Cloud had his memories jumbled up and his SOLDIER memories were from what Zack said. Since Zack knows President Shinra, Cloud "knew" him too which is why he said that line.

Probably the best explanation was that President Shinra assumed that Cloud was ex-soldier based on his eyes and maybe whatever info he got about AVALANCHE. Or maybe its a remnant of an early script.

President Shinra assuming that Cloud is Zack wouldnt make sense because Zack was used as an experiment before being killed (which again doesnt make sense because if first class was so rare and valuable, Hojo wouldnt have been allowed to do that) and never "quit".

Theres one continuity error though, in the original FF7 game, SOLDIER first class wasn't as big of a deal as the other games like Crisis Core made them out to be, where 1st class is incredibly rare and everyone knows them by sight/name. Cloud claiming to be ex-first class would have fallen apart really quickly if first class was that famous because nobody would know who he was and Tifa would have wanted to look up info on Cloud (which would have been really easy if first class was as famous as Crisis Core made them out to be).
 
There's absolutely no issue with shinra knowing cloud is an ex soldier.(even though he is not) His eyes and the reports from people concerning his past make that plausible. The issue is bad writing in that cloud is expecting to be remembered when he simply wouldn't. It's been done to shoehorn in sephiroth exposition.  There is no way anyone in Cloud's position would say "long time no see" as if they were best buddies with the president. If you really want to stretch it and make a poor excuse you can maybe just say that clouds head is knackered and he is delusional.
 
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I've never played Crisis Core, but doesnt that make 1st class SOLDIERs to be super famous? Cloud at this point has his memories merged with some of Zack's so he could be expecting to be remembered. If Zack ever met President Shinra and mentioned it to Cloud, that might explain it as well.
 
The original game makes no claims that people in Soldier are super famous—and Shinra explains that he wouldn't remember a Soldier's name unless they were as great as Sephiroth. It's possible they get some notice (Tifa asks Cloud if he will make the headlines, and he says he will try) - but not to the point of being on first name basis with the president. It has nothing to do with Zax or Cloud.  If you switched Cloud with Zax in this scene, it would still be ridiculous to say "long time no see" as if they are best buddies being reunited.  It's just quick and poor writing to bring Sephiroth into the discussion. It would have been better if they just didn't use the silly "long time no see" line at all. But if you do that it becomes very difficult to work a way of bringing Sephiroth into the discussion.

Maybe

"Oh, you're the Soldier. The one that joined this Avalanche or whatever.  Tell me, traitor, what is your name?"

"Cloud!"

"Well, I can't be expected to remember every Soldier's name. You would have to be another Sephiroth."

It's still crap - but at least it doesn't make it sound like Cloud and President Shinra meet up for a drink now and then :P
 
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Crisis Core made 1st class SOLDIERs to be big deals. At least the three that we meet are and we don't even hear of another until Zack is promoted.

Somewhat contrary to this, we meet first class SOLDIER enemies somewhat late in the game so there are bound to be more.
 
Admittedly I've never had a problem with this exchange in any version. The intent seemed to get through just fine. Going by the dialogue, President Shinra clearly knows nothing of Cloud beyond the news of an ex-SOLDIER joining Avalanche. Likewise, Cloud doesn't necessarily expect Shinra to remember him; the familiar greeting simply makes clear that they've met before (or so he thinks). A similar exchange happens minutes later with Reno in the slum church, except this time Cloud slips up.
 
No, the second time is completely different. That is an exchange where Cloud's inner-self is prompting him to remember that he does know who these people are (at least that seems to be the overwhelming explanation given the other occurrences of his inner self).  It is not any kind of "slip up". It's not remotely related.

#xy 168 128
{CLOUD}
“I don’t know who you are,
  or where you’re from,but…”
------------------------------
#xy 168 128
{CLOUD}
“Or do I?”
------------------------------
#cy 64
{GRAY}I believe you do. <<<<< this is the real Cloud.
------------------------------
#xy 176 128
{CLOUD}
“Oh yeah…
  I do know you.” [as in 'know you are from the Turks' very likely. Not "I know you are Reno"]
Click to expand...
The Shinra dialogue is flawed, imho. It's flawed for the reason mentioned - Cloud states "Long time no see" [and it's the same meaning in japanese too] - a greeting that is only used when people are on first-name basis with one another.  You do not go up to people you do not know using that dialogue. Nobody would. The only reason Cloud does is entirely due to bad writing - probably deliberate here as I said to shoe-horn in Sephiroth. Even Cloud (thinking he is Zax) wouldn't suppose that he is on first name basis with the president.

Even if Shinra does meet every Soldier briefly, the writing as-is does not give that impression at all. Even the dialogue that exists shows that Shinra doesn't know any Soldier's name apart from Sep.  Writers are not perfect.  :P
 
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What I mean by the Turks scene his that memory falters for a moment, an inversion of how he falsely remembers meeting the President, only this time his inner Cloud corrects him. And I'm guessing the Japanese version of that expression has a stricter use, but this being English it could be taken to simply mean "we met before". Maybe that's all the change that's needed.
 
I agree that his memory is knackered; the issue isn't that.  The issue is that he thinks he's on first name terms with the president - which he would not. There's nothing leading up to it and nothing after it that allows for that jump in logic. As I say, even if you factor in that he thinks his life is Zax's, it does not make any sense. I remember a few times thinking "huh" at the scene. I even took this to Luksy, the Japanese translator for the retranslation project, because I was sure it had to be some sort of mistake.  The very fact I did that—and that this thread is here—should prove the exposition is bad - even if one can find an excuse for it. I just don't buy it. The writers can get away with it because we can just say "Yup.  Cloud is bonkers." but it doesn't really satisfy scrutiny. It's a small thing anyway - there are far bigger issues with FF7s story as a whole, but, thankfully, it's mostly a well-written and clever fiction.

The OPs question is explainable - President Shinra has heard reports about a rogue ex-Soldier joining Avalanche and now he sees Cloud with blue Mako eyes talking about a time they met.  My issue with this exposition is a different and worse one.
 
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Does that expression truly depend on being on a first name basis with the other party? If so, then perhaps they should have used a different choice of words - although who knows what the writer truly intended.

On the other hand, I think this exchange had to happen in some form even if Sephiroth was never created. Being Avalanche's first encounter with the President, players would have found it strange that the presence of one of Shinra's former elite troop passed by without comment. The exchange makes clear that yes, the President is aware of the traitor, and no, he doesn't remember or care the slightest bit about Cloud himself. With that out of the way, they don't need to bring it up in subsequent events. The opportunity to hint at Sephiroth again is a happy bonus.
 
Yeah. If you go up to someone and say "It's been a while" "long time no see"  you know the other person and they know you. The Japanese is pretty clear on it from what I can gather.

If they wanted to convey that he'd only met Shinra at some sort of inauguration ceremony, then they needed to make it far clearer.
 
"We meet again, Mr. President" would probably do the job just as well then, much like how Aeris greets Cloud shortly after. It doesn't convey that it's been a long time like the original, but that's not a big deal.
 
Maybe the original intent was for Zack to have met Shinra? Does that ever happen in Crisis Core?
 
It wouldn't matter if it did.  It's nothing to do with what Zax did or did not do.  All Soldiers probably meet Shinra at some point very briefly (we can suppose) - but that will not explain away the poor dialogue stated above.  I know I'm repeating myself, but that's as simple as this gets without complete conjecture or retconning. It is poor dialogue and poor exposition - the latter rather deliberately so. This is a writing problem because this is a fictional and imperfect story.
 
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How is it a writing problem if :

-Zack knew Shinra well enough to address him familiarly

-Cloud "remembers" this and reacts accordingly

Obviously at this point square had not filled in all the details and Zack was only a minor background character. They probably weren't thinking that far enough ahead.
 
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