Cleaving large enemies

Question

Are there any clarifications or thoughts on if you can use cleave to get more than 1 attack against a large enemy (say takes up 4 tiles)?
The feat says "If you hit (with the first attack) you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach." it seems to be clear but the concept behind cleave is you make a big swipe to hit a wide arc, so why not use it to attack multiple limbs of a larger creature, getting 2 attack and damage rolls as if both giant arms were 2 separate small foes?

Answer 1

The rules as written require a separate foe. A Large or larger creature does not count as adjacent to itself, and so cannot be eligible for the Cleave attack (its larger size is instead modeled by the AC penalty it takes for being Large or larger).

All things considered, it might make an interesting houserule, though. Cleave is not exactly the greatest of feats; usually it’s most useful against large numbers of weak enemies (which tend to not be too dangerous as a group, so it’s a bad choice for specializing). So giving it a use against big solo opponents seems like a good idea to me, anyway.