Tifa Lockhart is one of the primary characters in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. She appears as a playable character in Final Fantasy VII, and is the deuteragonist of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- she plays a move supportive role. Tifa is Cloud Strife’s childhood friend from Nibelheim and is strongly opposed to the Shinra Electric Power Company, joining the resistance group AVALANCHE to fight them.
Though she has a strong will and possesses great physical strength, Tifa also has a motherly streak and is caring, though she is shy to express herself. She supports Cloud as his comrades and helps him fight his nemesis Sephiroth, bearing the same deep hatred for him as Cloud does due to his destruction of their hometown. Since her appearance in Final Fantasy VII, Tifa has become one of the most famous women in video games due to her strength and sex appeal.
Appearance
Artwork of Tifa by Yoshitaka Amano
Tifa has dark brown hair, occasionally appearing black, which falls below her waist and is tied at the tips to form a distinctive dolphin-tail split. In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and some other appearances, her hair is shorter and reaches to her lower back – in Advent Children this was done due to longer hair being more difficult to animate. Tifa’s eye color has been officially addressed as red, but they have also been depicted as a rich brown in some appearances. Tifa’s most famous traits are arguably her large breasts and long legs, though their exact sizes have varied. According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω, Tifa’s Bust-Waist-Hip measures are 36-24-35.
In all her outfits across her many appearances Tifa has always worn some variation of a sleeveless shirt that exposes some part of her midriff with a miniskirt and white teardrop earrings. In Final Fantasy VII Tifa wears a white tank top and black mini-skirt with a belt and suspenders. She dons red and black gloves that extend to her elbows with red boots, and a metal elbow guard on her left elbow. She wears the same outfit in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, as well as in Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring and the Itadaki series. In Crisis Core, and in flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII when she is a guide at Nibelheim, Tifa wears a cowgirl outfit with a short leather skirt and vest, a white shirt, cowboy boots and hat. In Crisis Core this outfit is given more detail, changing the top into a patterned, button-up corset, giving pockets and tassels to the skirt and vest and adding a belt around her hips.
In Advent Children Tifa wears a white shirt under a black zip-up vest with black shorts that fold at the waist, forming an additional utility pocket at the front and a short duster at the back extending to her heels. She also wears a pink ribbon around her left arm in remembrance of Aerith Gainsborough, and a Fenrir ring on her right hand. Her gloves are black and shorter than in Final Fantasy VII, covering only her hands. Tifa wears this attire in the Kingdom Hearts series and in Dirge of Cerberus, and it is available as an alternate outfit for her in Dissidia 012.
Character
While deceptively strong, Tifa is an empathic and emotionally shy character. While identifying and responding to the feelings of others, Tifa does not express her internal feelings often, and when she does she often has trouble doing so.
Nomura and Nojima had a hard time creating the new Tifa and focused on developing the emotional backbone that her character is to the cast. They made sure to portray her as a modern woman who can function without a man, rather than a clingy one. When Tifa finally tells Cloud what’s inside her heart, the original scene had Tifa feeling a little guilty about being blunt, but Nojima decided to cut it for time.
As she is in Final Fantasy VII, on the outside Tifa is a hard worker and spends her time caring for everyone but herself. On the inside, she keeps the feelings of uneasiness towards Cloud locked up. She has a strong motherly streak and tends to offer sanctuary and physically protects those in need. Seeking to do all that she can for those in need she spends her time caring for others at the consequence of herself, often comforting the other AVALANCHE members; finding in them similar spirits seeking to find an end to the tyranny and corruption the Shinra Electric Power Company has brought unto the Planet, although initially her motivation for joining the rebel group was to seek revenge for the destruction of her hometown and the deaths of her family and friends therein.
Story
Tifa’s childhood is revealed through various flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII. Tifa was born in Nibelheim and was Cloud’s next-door neighbor. She was out-going, lively and had a lot of friends. Although she and Cloud lived right next to each other, and were only a year apart in age, they were never close. Tifa and the others did not really know Cloud through most of, or all of their childhood. Tifa’s mother died when Tifa was eight years old in 1994, leaving her upset and confused. Tifa believed her mother had gone to Mt. Nibel, and that she could meet her again if she crossed the mountain.
Tifa headed off to Mt. Nibel, and Cloud followed to keep her safe, but both fell from a rickety bridge. Tifa’s Father found her severely injured, and blamed Cloud for leading her to Mt. Nibel. Five years later, in 1999, Cloud decided to become a SOLDIER, like his idol Sephiroth, in part to impress Tifa. He called Tifa out to the water tower, a local date spot, to tell her of his plans, and Tifa made Cloud promise to protect her if she was ever in trouble. He agreed, and left to join SOLDIER the following spring. Afterward, Tifa constantly worried about him, reading the newspaper every day looking for some mention of Cloud, and asking Shinra personnel if they knew him when they came to Nibelheim. She would find nothing, for Cloud never made into SOLDIER, becoming only a lowly infantryman.
Crisis Core / Before Crisis
- “I hate you! I hate Shinra! I hate SOLDIER! I hate you all!“
- —Tifa to Zack after the Nibelheim Incident
Two years later on September 21, 2001, at the age of 15, Tifa is working as a tour guide in the Nibelheim mountains and is taking martial arts lessons from Zangan. In Before Crisis she is hired by the player’s Turk to lead a Shinra expedition from up Mt. Nibel to investigate a faulty Mako Reactor. The expedition includes Sephiroth and a SOLDIER named Zack. During their stay, she drops hints to Zack that she dreams of specifically having a blond-haired SOLDIER protecting her, obviously referring to Cloud. Unbeknownst to her, Cloud happens to be one of the two Shinra guards with Zack and Sephiroth, but is hiding his identity due to his shame of failing to enter SOLDIER. Without her knowing it the entire time, he happens to be the guard who prevents her entry to the reactor, attempts to protect her from a monster attack that occurs shortly after (trying to anonymously keep his promise in the process) with little success, and whom she helps down the mountain. Afterward, Tifa leaves messages for Zack expressing her worry for the soldier who helped her. She thanks Zack for his help and asks him if they could talk about SOLDIER.
Tifa in Last Order.
At the reactor, Sephiroth goes berserk when he learns who “his mother” is, and upon his return to town and spending several days studying, is driven fully insane. On October 1st, he sets Nibelheim ablaze and razes the town, then sets off to the reactor. Tifa’s father and others follow, but Sephiroth slays them. At the reactor, Tifa finds her father’s corpse with Sephiroth’s Masamune. Declaring her hatred of Sephiroth and Shinra, she rushes into the reactor and attacks Sephiroth, but he disarms her and cuts her down. Tifa falls down the steps and slumps to the ground, unconscious. After learning of Sephiroth’s madness, Zack goes to the reactor and finds Tifa severely injured. He engages Sephiroth in combat, but is defeated. Not long after, Cloud arrives and carries Tifa aside to make sure she will be safe while he confronts Sephiroth; Cloud later admits he thought Tifa’s wounds were fatal. Tifa, heavily wounded, would later be taken to Midgar by Zangan for medical treatment. He continuously cast Cure on her to try and heal her, but succeeded only in keeping Tifa alive, and it is implied she has no recollection of the journey to Midgar.
The exact time frame is not given, but at some point after this, Zangan leaves Midgar, and Tifa recovers from her wounds and joins AVALANCHE, an anti-Shinra resistance group led by Barret Wallace. She also becomes the owner and proprietor of the bar and restaurant 7th Heaven, which houses AVALANCHE’s base in a secret basement.
When Cloud returns to Midgar as a mercenary in late 2006, he meets Tifa. Unaware that Cloud was in Nibelheim during its destruction, but suspecting something is off about his behavior, Tifa recruits him to work for Barret in order to keep him close to examine him further. Later realizing Cloud knows several things he should not and has forgotten things he should know, and also initially doubting her own recollections when faced with Cloud’s, Tifa decides to keep this information to herself while she tries to figure out the reason behind Cloud’s strangely different character and inconsistent memories.
Final Fantasy VII
Tifa threatening Don Corneo.
On December 9th, Cloud’s first mission with AVALANCHE is a success, and he returns to Tifa’s bar. The next day Tifa accompanies him and Barret on their next mission. The bombing of Sector 5 Reactor is successful, but Cloud is separated. When the rest of AVALANCHE returns to the hideout, they find someone spying on them, who points to the crime boss Don Corneo as a Shinra informant. Tifa comes up with a plan in order to get close to him. Don Corneo is known for calling up girls in his mansion and then choosing the one he likes best to be his “bride” for the day. Cloud catches Tifa being taken to Don’s, and infiltrates Corneo’s mansion with Aeris. In the ensuing confrontation, Corneo reveals Shinra is planning to drop the Sector 7 plate to crush the slums. Tifa and Cloud race to help Barret defend the pillar supporting the plate while Aeris takes Barret’s daughter Marlene to safety. Most of the other AVALANCHE members are killed, and the pillar is destroyed. Tifa, Cloud and Barret escape while Shinra captures Aeris.
The remains of AVALANCHE fight their way into Shinra Headquarters to save Aeris, but are captured. That night, Sephiroth appears to attack the building, and in the chaos the group is mysteriously released from their cells. After battling various Shinra war machines and the new president of the company, Rufus Shinra, the group flees from Midgar to Kalm. At Kalm, Cloud tells the group about how Sephiroth destroyed Nibelheim. His version of events is faulty, but Tifa, confused by his story, does not confront him on these issues both to protect him and because she now doubts her own recollection.
The group travels around the world tracking Sephiroth, with Tifa supporting the party when she can. When they arrive at Nibelheim, they discover the town has been rebuilt, and the villagers (who are really Shinra employees hired to cover up the Sephiroth incident) do not remember Cloud or Tifa ever living there.
When the group reaches the Northern Crater, Sephiroth appears and begins to show Cloud the true events of Nibelheim’s razing. Tifa, worried what this could do to Cloud, pleads for him to stop, but Sephiroth’s manipulations take their toll. Cloud submits to Sephiroth’s will and hands over the Black Materia, a powerful Materia that can summon Meteor, then apologizes to Tifa as the crater begins to shake. Tifa and Barret flee on the Shinra airship Highwind as the crater collapses and are captured, with the rest of AVALANCHE escaping another way. Tifa and Barret are brought to Junon, where they are to be executed as scapegoats to show Shinra is still in control as Meteor looms in the sky.
Tifa is thrown into a gas chamber, while the other party members hidden in the crowd save Barret. While gas seeps into the chamber, Tifa breaks out of her restraints. Sapphire Weapon attacks Junon, blasting a hole in the gas chamber, which saves her. Running to escape the Shinra forces, Tifa climbs up onto the Sister Ray. The Sninra executive Scarlet confronts Tifa, and the two women descend into a catfight. The Highwind appears below the cannon and Tifa jumps down to the airship and safety from Shinra. She is elected the party’s temporary leader while Cloud is gone.
Cloud is later found in Mideel, suffering from a Mako overdose. Tifa stays behind to watch over him, and Cid is elected leader. Later, the friends decide to check up on Cloud, who is not showing signs of improvement. The Ultimate Weapon appears, and Lifestream swallows Mideel, Tifa and Cloud falling into it as Tifa tries to push the unresponsive Cloud to safety.
Tifa in the ending FMV.
Inside Cloud’s Subconscious Tifa uncovers the truth about the Nibelheim incident, and restores Cloud’s memories and motivations. Later, in the aftermath of Midgar’s siege by Diamond Weapon and the impending chaos of Shinra’s destruction, Cloud dismisses the party members, instructing them to find a reason to fight. Tifa stays behind with Cloud, as she has nowhere else to go. Depending on the player’s interactions with her during the game, the following scene has two possible dialogue courses, one implying a strong romantic connection, the other less of one: the more romantic scene is considered the canon option.
In the game’s ending in late January 0007, Tifa stays behind to help Cloud to safety as he descends into the Lifestream for a final battle with Sephiroth, and is caught by him as he returns to his own body, and the two stay near each other throughout the remainder of the ending.
Novellas
Tifa in the On the Way to a Smile OVA.
Tifa is the focus of Case of Tifa in On the Way to a Smile, examining her life and relationship with Cloud after the game events. Tifa, Cloud and Marlene become a family in the newly built city of Edge, and Tifa runs a bar while Cloud runs a delivery service. Her life with Cloud is initially happy, but Tifa becomes increasingly concerned with Cloud’s secrecy and growing depression, which begins to strain the family’s unity. Cloud later brings Denzel to the bar and he joins the family, but Cloud continues to grow distant from her as time goes on. As the novella ends, Cloud has left 7th Heaven with no explanation, despite briefly showing signs of happiness again. Tifa calls his cellphone several times but eventually the answering service takes over. Shortly thereafter, the events of Advent Children begin.
Tifa also has a brief mention in Hoshi wo Meguru Otome. After learning from Zack that Cloud truly is not himself, Aeris protects Tifa’s mind from the Mako poisoning while she is in Cloud’s subconscious, believing she can restore Cloud’s true persona.
Advent Children / Advent Children Complete
- “Which is it, a memory or us?“
- —Tifa to Cloud
Tifa in battle against Loz, as seen in an ad campaign for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
Tifa plays a large role in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, taking place two years after Final Fantasy VII in 0008. In it, she serves as Cloud’s emotional support. She runs a bar called 7th Heaven, rebuilt in Edge, and cares for Marlene and Denzel alone; apparently, she also handles the business side of Cloud’s delivery service.
While taking Marlene to Aerith’s church to find Cloud, she discovers Cloud has Geostigma. Loz shows up, hoping to find Jenova’s head under Cloud’s care. Instead, he finds Tifa, whom he begins to duel. Though she puts up a good fight, Tifa is eventually defeated after Loz begins to use his superhuman speed and pile bunker, Dual Hound. Cloud finds her unconscious in the church and prepares to hunt down Marlene, but a bout of pain from his Geostigma stops him. Cloud first turns down Tifa’s request to go to the Forgotten Capital to get Marlene and Denzel, fearing he will be unable to help them, but Tifa gives him a speech about his apathy and self-loathing, talking him into going.
The next day, when Loz and Yazoo have mind-controlled the children with Geostigma into going to the memorial in the center of Edge, Tifa attempts to save Denzel from them. Bahamut SIN knocks her out while she is protecting Denzel. Quickly waking up, she joins the battle with the remaining AVALANCHE members against Bahamut SIN, and is the last person to physically help Cloud — with Aeris providing support from the Lifestream — into the air to deliver the final blow to the dragon.
Tifa appears on the Shera with the AVALANCHE members while Cloud fights Kadaj and Sephiroth, and arrives in the church with Denzel to heal his Geostigma, and share a shy smile with Cloud as he relaxes with the children in the pool of Lifestream purified water.
Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Tifa only appears briefly during the game, which takes place one year later in 0009. The first is during the ground assault on Midgar, leading the tanks with Barret and Cloud. The second is when the gang is cheering on Vincent towards the end when he is “saving the world,” and the third is at the end, when Yuffie enters 7th Heaven to inquire about Vincent. She is still running the bar, and lets Shelke live with them. Tifa can also be heard during a phone call to Vincent during his descent into Midgar’s underground, but in audio only.
²º¹¹ Final Fantasy Legend's ²º¹¹ 