Tifa Lockhart

Lore & Background

Tifa is the childhood friend of Cloud Strife, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. She is the owner of the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Midgar and a member of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE. She convinces Cloud to join the group to keep him close and safe, and later assists in saving the Planet from the game's villain, Sephiroth. Titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII later expanded upon her character, such as in Advent Children, where she attempts to convince Cloud to let go of his self-imposed guilt and move on with his life after Sephiroth's defeat.

In Their Own Story

Tifa was not present in early versions of Final Fantasy VII, as the game was to have only three playable characters: the protagonist Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Barret Wallace. However, it was suggested during a phone call to project director Yoshinori Kitase that one of the main characters should die at some point in the game. After much discussion as to whether it should be Barret or Aerith, the producers chose Aerith. Nomura later joked that this was his idea, so as to enable him to introduce Tifa into the game. The notion of having two concurrent heroines and having the hero waver between them was something Kitase liked, describing it as something new in the Final Fantasy series. She was designed to use the "monk" character class that appeared in previous games in the series, and many aspects of her personality were taken from Aerith's initial design.

Reader's Guide

Tifa stands 167 centimetres (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) tall. Her outfit consists of a white crop top and a black miniskirt held up by a pair of narrow black suspenders. She wears red boots and gloves, with black sleeves extending from wrist to elbow; a metal guard covers her left elbow. The attire was described as giving her freedom of movement, due to her hand-to-hand combat specialty. Her hair is long and dark brown in a style that resembles a dolphin's tail. This longer fixed hairstyle helped to differentiate her visually from Aerith and was also easier to animate. Nomura wrote down her bust/waist/hip measurements in his concept art for her, defined as 92-60-88 cm (36-24-35 in). Nomura wanted each character to have one striking feature, in Tifa's case her large breasts. During development, the team jokingly referred to her as "Boing-chan", an allusion to her bust. Her miniskirt serves as a contrast to Aerith, whose trademark was her "long skirt", and it was kept in her alternate costumes. The development team later clarified that the miniskirt was more akin to a skort instead of bare underwear, to keep her from being exposed during combat.

Did You Know?

• Tifa was not present in early versions of Final Fantasy VII, as the game was to have only three playable characters: Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Barret Wallace.
• During development, the team jokingly referred to Tifa as "Boing-chan", an allusion to her bust.
• Nomura had difficulty deciding whether Tifa should wear a miniskirt or long pants; the majority of the staff members favored the miniskirt design.
• For the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, roughly twenty hair colors were considered for Tifa before settling on ashen brown.
• Square Enix's ethics department requested changes to her clothing for Remake, giving her black undergarments and a form-fitting tank top to "constrict" her chest so it would not "come off as unnatural during heavy action sequences".

Origins and Developmental Context

Tifa was designed by Tetsuya Nomura. She was not present in early versions of Final Fantasy VII, as the game was to have only three playable characters: the protagonist Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Barret Wallace. However, it was suggested during a phone call to project director Yoshinori Kitase that one of the main characters should die at some point in the game. After much discussion as to whether it should be Barret or Aerith, the producers chose Aerith. Nomura later joked that this was his idea, so as to enable him to introduce Tifa into the game. The notion of having two concurrent heroines and having the hero waver between them was something Kitase liked, describing it as something new in the Final Fantasy series. She was designed to use the "monk" character class that appeared in previous games in the series, and many aspects of her personality were taken from Aerith's initial design.

Visual Design and Character Aesthetics

In a change from previous entries in the Final Fantasy series, the development team worked from Nomura's character designs; longtime series artist Yoshitaka Amano created his own versions as background, wanting to depict the characters in futuristic clothing. Tifa's outfit consists of a white crop top and a black miniskirt held up by a pair of narrow black suspenders. She wears red boots and gloves, with black sleeves extending from wrist to elbow; a metal guard covers her left elbow. The attire was described as giving her freedom of movement, due to her hand-to-hand combat specialty. She stands 167 centimetres (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) tall. Her hair is long and dark brown in a style that resembles a dolphin's tail. This longer fixed hairstyle helped to differentiate her visually from Aerith and was also easier to animate. Unlike most other characters for Final Fantasy VII, Nomura wrote down her bust/waist/hip measurements in his concept art for her, defined as 92-60-88 cm (36-24-35 in). Nomura wanted each character to have one striking feature, in Tifa's case her large breasts. During development, the team jokingly referred to her as "Boing-chan", an allusion to her bust. Composer Nobuo Uematsu commented that her breasts were "a bit...overly ample," and cutscene director Motonari Sakakibara rebutted that the rest of the team insisted against reducing their size. Nomura added "at the end of the day we all like them. [...] If I made them smaller, everyone would get angry at me." Nomura had difficulty deciding whether Tifa should wear a miniskirt or long pants. During development, he passed his sketches around Square's offices to seek input, with the majority of the staff members favoring the miniskirt design. Her miniskirt serves as a contrast to Aerith, whose trademark was her "long skirt", and it was kept in her alternate costumes. The developers noted that due to her figure, her otherwise plain garments took on a pleasant appearance. The development team later clarified that the miniskirt was more akin to a skort instead of bare underwear, to keep her from being exposed during combat.

Narrative Role and Character Arc

Tifa is introduced in Final Fantasy VII as the childhood friend of Cloud Strife and owner of the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Midgar, a technologically advanced metropolis owned by the Shinra Electric Power Company. She is also a member of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE. She convinces Cloud to join the group to keep him close and safe, and later assists in saving the Planet from the game's villain, Sephiroth. Titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII later expanded upon her character, such as in Advent Children, where she attempts to convince Cloud to let go of his self-imposed guilt and move on with his life after Sephiroth's defeat.

Cultural Impact and Critical Reception

Tifa has been named the pin-up girl of the "cyber generation" by The New York Times, and has been compared to Lara Croft as an example of a strong, independent, and attractive female character. Critics have repeatedly praised her strength and appearance and described her as one of the best female characters in video games. Her design's sex appeal has received some criticism for overshadowing other aspects of her character.