Tifa Lockhart
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Tifa Lockhart (ティファ・ロックハート Tifa Rokkuhāto), or Tifa Lockheart, is a playable character from Squaresoft's blockbuster RPG, Final Fantasy VII. She is skilled in martial arts and uses gloves as her weapons. She has long, black hair and brown eyes. The game's character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, has revealed that he had difficulties deciding between giving her a mini-skirt or pants, but in the end — with input from other members of the game's development staff — decided on the mini-skirt that is now an iconic aspect of the character's design. In contrast, the design of Aerith Gainsborough bears a long skirt.<ref name="designs2">Template:Cite web</ref>
Tifa is voiced by Ayumi Ito in the Japanese versions of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts II, and by Rachael Leigh Cook in the English versions.
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Biography
Final Fantasy VII
Tifa Lockhart was born in Nibelheim, and grew up next door to Cloud Strife. Though they knew each other since childhood, circumstances prevented them from getting close, and Cloud was left to admire Tifa from afar.
When Tifa was eight, her mother passed away, and soon after, she decided to follow the path leading up the nearby Mt. Nibel, believing that her mother's spirit may have passed through the mountains.<ref name="mother">Template:Cite book</ref> Her three closest friends abandoned her one by one, afraid to follow her up the mountain. Cloud, however, who had been following them unnoticed, continued on after Tifa. When Tifa missed her footing on a rope bridge leading into the mountain, he ran to save her, but was too late, and both of them fell into the gorge below.
Cloud survived the accident while suffering no more than scraped knees, but Tifa was in a coma for a week. Tifa's father held Cloud responsible for the incident<ref name="father">Template:Cite book</ref>, and his relationship with Tifa remained distant. Cloud blamed himself for the mishap as well, feeling that weakness on his part was why he had been unable to save Tifa. His self-reproach led to anger toward himself, which then led to him getting into fights with others. Later, he would hear of Sephiroth, a legendary soldier admired by many young men, and he would conceive a plan to prove to himself and everyone else that he was strong enough to protect Tifa.
At the age of fourteen, Cloud asked Tifa to meet him at the well in the center of town one evening. Cloud then told her of his plans to leave for Midgar and join SOLDIER. It is later revealed that this decision was largely influenced by a desire to not only become strong enough to protect Tifa, but to impress her as well.<ref name="cloud">Tifa: "Now that you mention it, why did you want to join SOLDIER in the first place." ... / Cloud: "......I was devastated. ......I wanted to be noticed. I thought if I got stronger I could get someone to notice........." / Tifa: "Someone has to notice you...? ......who?" / Cloud: "Who.........? ......You know who! ......You, that's who." ... / Cloud: "Tifa missed her step. I ran to her... but didn't make it in time. Both of us fell off the cliff. Back then, I only scarred my knees, but......" ... / Cloud: ""Tifa was in a coma for seven days. We all thought she wouldn't make it. If only I could've saved her... I was so angry... Angry at myself for my weakness. Ever since then, I felt Tifa blamed me... I got out of control... I'd get into fights not even caring who it was. That was the first time I heard about Sephiroth. If I got strong like Sephiroth, then everyone might... If I could just get stronger...... Then even Tifa would have to notice me......"(Final Fantasy VII)</ref> Tifa was both surprised and disappointed at Cloud's news, and asked him to promise that if he achieved his dream and she were ever in danger, he would come to her rescue.<ref name="promise">Tifa: "Hey, why don't we make a promise? Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind..... You come save me, all right?" / Cloud: "What?" / Tifa: "Whenever I"m in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once." / Cloud: "What?" / Tifa: "Come on--! Promise me----!" / Cloud: "All right.... I promise."(Final Fantasy VII)</ref>
Springtime came and Cloud left for Midgar. Despite them never really being close, Tifa found that she was hit harder by his departure than she expected. She began to think about him a lot, wondering about his well-being and if he had achieved his dream. She began to read the newspapers, thinking there might be an article about him, but it would be years before she heard any news of him.<ref name="news">Tifa: "After you left town, I really thought about you a lot. I used to wonder how Cloud was doing. I wonder if Cloud was able to get into SOLDIER? I started reading the newspapers, thinking that there might be an article about you."(Final Fantasy VII)</ref>
When she was fifteen, Tifa acted as a Nibelheim guide for a group of SOLDIER personnel inspecting the mako reactor on Mt. Nibel. The group consisted of the 1st Class SOLDIERs Sephiroth and Zack, as well as two MPs, one of which, unbeknownst to Tifa, was Cloud. After the inspection, the group returned to town, and Sephiroth stayed in the basement of the Shinra mansion to read through the research notes left by Professors Gast and Hojo. What he discovered brought about a gruesome change in him. (For more information, see Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII).) Without warning, he set fire to Nibelheim in the night and slaughtered the townspeople.
With her hometown in ruins and most of her loved ones dead, Tifa followed Sephiroth as he returned to the reactor, only to find that Sephiroth had murdered her father as well. In blind rage she attempted to kill Sephiroth with his own sword, but he was too quick for her. Sephiroth took his sword with ease and seriously injured Tifa. As Cloud made his way into the reactor to follow Tifa, Zack, and Sephiroth, he found Zack lying against some machinery with critical injuries, as well as Tifa's severely wounded and unconscious body at the bottom of the stairs leading into Jenova's chamber. Enraged, Cloud stabbed Sephiroth through the back with Zack's sword before picking Tifa up and moving her to a more comfortable position. In the aftermath of the incident, Zangan appeared on the scene and took the grievously injured Tifa to safety.
Due to the severity of her injuries, Zangan carried Tifa to Midgar for medical attention, where he left her in the care of a doctor before returning to his travels. When Tifa recovered, she set up a bar called "7th Heaven" in Midgar's Sector 7. There she met Barret Wallace, the leader of the Shin-Ra resistance group AVALANCHE. Tifa joined his resistance faction, as she wanted revenge on Shin-Ra for the events that had occurred in Nibelheim.
One day, Tifa found Cloud, barely coherent sitting at the Sector 7 train station, and then took him back to AVALANCHE's base to recover. It was the first time she had seen him in seven years, though he would later say—much to her confusion—that it had only been five. Wanting him to stay, Tifa persuaded Cloud to join AVALANCHE, and she would soon realize that Cloud knew many things he shouldn't have known while apparently unaware of other things that he should have known. This led her to feel great concern for his mental welfare, and in time, she would fall in love with Cloud, though her shy nature would leave her unable to easily express this to him.
On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa
A story from Tifa's point of view, set after Sephiroth was defeated, and before the events of Advent Children. Tifa, Cloud and Barret move to Edge, a new town being constructed just outside of Midgar, and set up a new 7th Heaven as they attempt to build a family life for themselves. After Barret leaves to settle his past, Cloud and Tifa tend to the orphan Denzel and Barret's adopted daughter, Marlene.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Tifa, along with Cloud, is one of the main characters of the film. Her role in the film sequel is mainly that of emotional support for Cloud, urging him to come to terms with the unwarranted guilt he places on himself. She also displays a great deal of concern for the children in their care, particularly Marlene and Denzel. Tifa takes part in a one-on-one battle with the new villain, Loz, and later joins in the fight against Bahamut SIN.
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Tifa has a small role in Dirge of Cerberus, appearing most notably during the World Restoration Organization's full scale conflict with the Deep Ground organization.
Other appearances
Kingdom Hearts II
Tifa makes her first cameo appearance in the Kingdom Hearts series with her role in Kingdom Hearts II, voiced in the Japanese version by Ayumi Ito (her Japanese voice actress for Advent Children), and by American actress Rachael Leigh Cook in the English version of the game (as well as in the English version of Advent Children). [1], wearing the same outfit as in Advent Children. In Kingdom Hearts II, she is a resident of Radiant Garden, but when Sora and his friends meet her, they learn that she is searching for someone. This person is later revealed to be Cloud, who himself is searching for Sephiroth.
Much to the surprise of Sora and his companions, while Tifa may appear to be an ordinary young woman, she has superhuman strength. During the game, Sora fights alongside her in Radiant Garden, as well as against her in the Olympus Coliseum.
Ehrgeiz
Tifa appears as a playable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz and the electronic board game Itadaki Street Special, and also appears in the OVA Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. Last Order retells the events of Nibelheim's destruction based on flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII.
Xenogears
A poster depicting Tifa appears in a room in the PlayStation RPG Xenogears.
Love
In Final Fantasy VII, both Tifa and Aerith are possible love interests of Cloud. The issue of who Cloud actually loves, however, has been hotly debated amongst fans for years. Square-Enix has been deliberately vague over the matter, and perhaps wisely so, as an official statement to either effect may alienate some among Final Fantasy VII's fanbase.
In On the Way to a Smile: Case of Tifa — written by Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children scenario writer, Kazushige Nojima — Tifa asks Cloud if he loves her, but quickly changes the question<ref name="otwtas">Template:Cite book</ref>:
"Do you love me, Cloud?"
Cloud woke up, a dubious look on his face.
"Hey, Cloud. Do you love Marlene?"
The nature of an answer to Tifa's original question is left unexplored, and while it is apparent that Tifa and Cloud share a relationship that transcends basic friendship, the question of just how deep that relationship goes remains unanswered.
Trivia
- Tifa was not originally present in the early drafts of Final Fantasy VII's story.<ref name="EGM">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Tifa was originally illustrated in red clothing, which was later used as her alternate outfit in Ehrgeiz.
- Tifa's last name is "Lockhart" in Squaresoft's official Japanese materials<ref name="lockhart">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="lockhart2">Template:Cite book</ref>, but appears as "Lockheart" (with an additional "e") in the English version of Final Fantasy VII's instruction booklet, as translated by Sony Computer Entertainment. This inaccurate version also appears in a number of other second-party materials.
- Some fans believe that Tifa's name is derived from Tiphereth, one of the Sephirah of the Kabbalah.<ref name="squallofseed">Template:Cite web</ref>
- She is often considered a sex symbol.
References
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External links
{{FFVII character external links | name = Tifa Lockhart | ffwiki = Tifa Lockhart | secharpage = tifa | fanlisting = Final Heaven | fanlisting_link = http://www.celes-chere.net/tifa/ }}
- Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega Translations FAQ - Translations from the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega
- On the Way to a Smile - Translation of On the Way to a Smile