Tifa Lockhart

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Character
Name: Tifa Lockhart (Japanese: ティファ・ロックハート, Hepburn: Tifa Rokkuhāto)
Occupation: Bar hostess, AVALANCHE member
Relationships: Cloud Strife (friend/love interest), Barret Wallace (friend), Aerith Gainsborough (friend), Red XIII (friend), Cait Sith aka Reeve (friend), Kisaragi Yuffie (friend), Cid Highwind (friend), Vincent Valentine (friend), Mayor Lockhart (father), Sephiroth (enemy), Zangan (mentor), Zack Fair (acquaintance)
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts II
Other:
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Tifa Lockhart (Japanese: ティファ・ロックハート, Hepburn: Tifa Rokkuhāto) sometimes transliterated as Tifa Lockheart in earlier materials, is a main character in the 1997 Square video game Final Fantasy VII and its related media, and a minor character in the Disney/Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts II.

Canon

Final Fantasy VII (1997)

With a strong will and an even stronger punch, Tifa is one of the most popular characters from Final Fantasy VII.

She was childhood friends with Cloud Strife in the town of Nibelheim, and one of few who knew of the true events that transpired there. Having lost her father to Sephiroth, and almost her life, Tifa developed a strong hatred for Shinra, SOLDIER, and their disregard for human life, having seen its impact first hand.

Tifa joined AVALANCHE, an ecoterrorist group lead by Barret Wallace, in order to fight Shinra, which she held responsible for the razing of her hometown. By coincidence, she met up with Cloud once again, who was working as a mercenary.

Fandom

Reception and Popularity

Tifa is one of the most popular characters in the entire Final Fantasy franchise, and perhaps one of the most iconic female characters in all of gaming.

In a 2010 Famitsu poll, fans voted Tifa as the 19th best-liked video game character of all time.[1] In a 2013 Square Enix poll, Tifa was voted fans' fourth favorite heroine in the Final Fantasy franchise.[2][3] In a 2020 NHK poll, Tifa was voted the ninth most popular character in the entire Final Fantasy franchise, out of 200 major and minor characters.[4][5] In a July 2020 Famitsu poll, Tifa was voted the second most popular character in the first installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, with 1548 votes.[6][7][8]

Tifa fan art is very popular, commonly posted and re-posted in various online communities, including r/FinalFantasy.[9] Her simple but iconic design makes her a popular subject for cosplay.

Tifa is depicted with relatively large breasts in the original game, although there is variation between her field model, her combat model, her FMV sequence model, and her concept art.[10] This led to controversy when her Remake incarnation was unveiled in a 2019 trailer, showing that the proportions of her bust had been reduced relative to some of these appearances. Some criticized the change as unfaithful to the original design, or viewed it as puritanical censorship, but others countered that the change was an improvement upon her original design, which they viewed as overly sexualized. A third position was that the change was simply the result of stylization differences, and neither design erased the other. The controversy was ultimately relatively brief, although its size and intensity were exaggerated in popular coverage[11]

Fanon and Tropes

Tifa's aggressive role in battle and revealing, tomboyish outfit lead to her often being portrayed in fanon as having the confident, bold attitude commonly associated with the "brawler" archetype in RPGs and other media. However, her canon personality is overall gentle and reserved outside of combat situations, and she tends to downplay her own feelings to avoid inconveniencing others. (This contrasts her with Aerith, the game's other primary female love interest, who has a feminine aesthetic and healing powers, but is far more assertive and open in personality.)

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that, whenever someone looks back to FF VII, they'll always describe Aerith as the demure, gentle girl and Tifa as the savage, wild tomboy? Whenever I see this I can't help but wonder whether anyone actually ever had these 2 in their party or if they even played the game at all...[12]

never played FF7.

Based on their character design and clothing style, I imagined Tifa to be the bold, independent and mischievous type. And I imagined Aerith to be a gentle, quiet and elegant girl.

Well coloured me surprised when they are totally the opposite style! Aerith is playful and mischievous, and is an absolute savant in teasing Cloud. While Tifa has a troubled and tender heart, even though she looks really tough on the exterior. She is also as not aggressive as her fighting style suggested.[13]

Tifa as a character is definitely more than Beauty Boobs and Brawn. I hope all of those who love her for the right reason and not just her ability to fight.

Strength is more than the ability to cause damage.[14]

While known for having a relatively large bust in canon, it is often further exaggerated in fan art and cosplay. She is also commonly depicted with exposed cleavage, despite the fact that her cleavage has been fully covered in the vast majority of her canon appearances.

It is a common fan idea for Tifa to have a scar across her torso from the Nibelheim Incident. [15][16][17][18] She is occasionally depicted so in fan works, such as Monty Oum's Dead Fantasy.[14]

Tifa is depicted in canon as quite slender despite her status as an elite martial artist capable of superhuman feats of strength. Art that depicts her as more muscular, often with a body type inspired by real-world MMA fighters, is common.

Shipping

Tifa is frequently featured in both het and femslash works. According to FanFiction.Net and Archive of Our Own as of December 2020, Tifa is most commonly paired with Cloud.

Tifa's role in FFVII fandom cannot be separated from the infamous Love Triangle Debate. Both Tifa and Aerith Gainsborough are presented in canon as possible love interests for Cloud. The resulting ship war was intense and spanned decades. Character bashing fic where Tifa is portrayed as an antagonist in Clerith fic, or Aerith as an antagonist in CloTi fic, were common. In recent years, the LTD has been increasingly regarded in fandom as a source of pointless wank; as a reaction against it, Aerith/Tifa has become considerably more popular in recent years, and even other fic is more likely to emphasize their canonical friendship.

In a sample of 423 FFVII stories published or updated on FanFiction.Net between 13 October 2013 and 23 July 2019, Tifa was most often listed in the pairing filter with Cloud (60%), followed by Aerith Gainsborough (13%), Vincent Valentine (8%), Reno (4%), Sephiroth (3%), Zack Fair (3%), Rufus Shinra (3%), Rude (2%), Barret Wallace (1%), Genesis Rhapsodos (1%), and Yuffie Kisaragi (1%).[19]

Notable Ships

Example Fan Works

Fan Fiction

Fan Art

Cosplay

Animation

Meta

External Links

Fan Archives and Communities

Tribute Sites

Hate Sites

Resources

References

  1. ^ Gifford, Kevin. Snake Beats Mario, Is Coolest Video Game Character Ever published to 1UP on 10 February 2010. (Archived 11 August 2014).
  2. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn. Square Enix Poll: Favorite Female Final Fantasy Character posted to Anime News Network on 17 January 2013. (Accessed September 2020.)
  3. ^ みなさん、こんにちは！ posted to Facebook on 16 January 2013. (Accessed September 2020.)
  4. ^ FF Ranking, Archived version, NHK, Q1 2020. (Accessed September 2020.)
  5. ^ TheMomAbides. I translated the NHK Final Fantasy poll character rankings., posted to r/FinalFantasy in Q1 2020. (Accessed September 2020.)
  6. ^ リメイク』アンケート結果発表や開発スタッフインタビューなど、プレイ後に語りたい聞きたい大特集！ published in Famitsu in July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)
  7. ^ MKillerby. Character popularity ranking from Japanese fan poll in new issue of Famitsu, posted to r/FinalFantasy in July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)
  8. ^ GameFAQs. Official Famitsu character poll is out, Cloud and Tifa is tied for #1, posted to GameFAQs in July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)
  9. ^ lpeccap. Could we limit Tifa posts to "tifa tuesdays" or something? posted to r/FinalFantasy in 2019. (Accessed September 2020.)
  10. ^ Know Your Meme. Tifa's Breast Size Change posted circa June 2019. (Accessed September 2020.)
  11. ^ So we're people really upset over Tifas boobs or posted to GameFAQs in 2019. (Accessed September 2020.)
  12. ^ TastyRancidLemons. The Great Aerith-Tifa misconception... posted to Reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy on 29 Jan 2016.
  13. ^ windwalker13. I am really surprised by Tifa's and Aerith's personalities, which contradict their character design posted to Reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake on 1 May 2020.
  14. ^ a b montyoum. "This Image" posted to DeviantArt on 21 Jan 2011.
  15. ^ EV3RNITE89. Does Tifa have a scar ???? posted to Neoseeker on 2 October 2011. (Accessed September 2020.)
  16. ^ KarateJons. Although we'll never get to see it, Tifa probably has a massive scar on her chest posted to r/FinalFantasy circa 2015. (Accessed September 2020.)
  17. ^ PixelKnight84. How I'd like Tifa to look, including Sephiroth scar posted to r/FFVIIRemake circa 2019. (Accessed September 2020.)
  18. ^ gisellasaurus. Was Tifa supposed to get a very noticeable scar on her body? posted to r/FinalFantasy circa Q1 2020. (Accessed September 2020.)
  19. ^ phantomstatistician. Tifa's FanFiction Shipping Chart 2013-Present, posted to Tumblr on 23 July 2019. (Accessed September 2020.)
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