about tifa

Age in FFVII	20
Height	167 cm (about 5'4")
Birthdate	May 3
Blood type	B
Hair color	dark brown in most films/games; black-brown in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus
Eye color	light brown in Nomura's FFVII sketches; reddish brown in FFVII; brown in all other films/games
Hometown	Nibelheim
Occupation	bartender/AVALANCHE member (FFVII); part of Strife Delivery Service (Advent Children)
Weapon	gloves
Other appearances	Tifa appears in the Square Enix fighting game Ehrgeiz, along with Cloud, Vincent, Sephiroth, Yuffie, and Zack, and in Itadaki Street along with Cloud, Aeris, Sephiroth, and Yuffie.

Despite the similarity between Tifa's name and Tifereth, the sixth Sefira on the Tree of Life (a Kabbalistic belief from which Sephiroth gets his name), Tifa's first name has no real meaning behind it. Her last name, however, is very symbolic: Lockhart, a woman who keeps all her memories and feelings inside herself. Only in times of distress and dire need are those things unlocked.

On the subject of design: Tetsuya Nomura, character designer for FFVII, viewed Aeris as the "long skirt" character, while Tifa was given the short skirt in contrast. The story goes that Nomura drew two illustrations of Tifa initially, one with shorts and one with the skirt. After passing it around his office, the consensus was that the skirt was better.

Along with the highly despicable and completely untrue view of Tifa as a "slut," there are also some FFVII fans who see her as a shallow, one-dimensional side character, which is hardly the case. Both Aeris and Tifa share main heroineship in FFVII, and as a character Tifa is important due to her knowledge of Cloud's past.

Although shy and quiet in many respects, Tifa can seem like anything but when desperate times arise. Having tended bar at Seventh Heaven for many years, she is experienced in managing crises. Though this would seem like no spectacular ability on the surface, in times of trouble this steadiness is essential. When she and Cloud fall into the Lifestream in disc two, it's Tifa's determination and level head that see the two of them through their predicament. Also, thanks to her, Cloud is finally able to piece together his past.

During disc one, Tifa takes a backseat to the more romantically aggressive Aeris, as the two of them try to gain Cloud's affections. Many people, upon finding themselves in this kind of situation, would spare no act of kindness towards their competitor (or would at least find it terribly difficult to do so). Yet Tifa befriends Aeris the moment she meets her in Don Corneo's mansion, even if it's made transparently clear that Aeris is going to be her rival in the future. She is wise enough to make friendship with Aeris her first priority, rather than simply viewing her as "the other woman."

Tifa is devoted to AVALANCHE's cause to save the Planet as well as to her friends, and her martial arts skills are a very valuable asset to the party. I believe that she's the most "human" character in FFVII, the easiest one to identify with. Tifa is an ordinary woman thrown into extraordinary situations; it's in those situations that all her good points come to the fore.

Design info courtesy of Tetsuya Nomura's 20s. Some images from Gloriosa.

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