Personality: Barmaid by day, eco-terrorist by night, when we first meet Tifa Lockhart at the start of Final Fantasy VII, she's the very picture of youth, optimism, and badassery in the face of Don Corneo-tier odds. Tifa's introduced to the player as a passionate David to the Shin-Ra corporation's Goliath, as well as the childhood friend and girl next door to Cloud Strife. Sensitive and stoic, she's shown to always be there to boost her friends' morale, even when (or rather, especially when) the going gets tough, keeping her own emotions under check all the while. She's good at it, too. All it takes is a hand on an arm and some reassuring, sensible words from Tifa to get Barret to change his mind at the beginning of the game. It's not all soft words and touches with her, though; Tifa can just as easily be tough and quick to retort. This is visible mostly when she's under pressure and gets stern with them, but that does the work, too.
While a well-trained fighter, she's got more than just physical power to back up her resolve. There's her strength of character as well, and confidence in her own strength to boot. Even as a child, she was ready to conquer the perilous heights of Mt. Nibel in just a dress and heels, and kept on going, even when the other boys, who initially went to make sure she didn't get hurt, ran off. That's determination, ladies and gents -- it took falling off a bridge from a mountain to get her to stop, and that too because it knocked her unconscious. Determination aside, this independence is echoed later on down the years when she tells the Shin-Ra trooper keeping her from following Zack and Sephiroth into the Nibelheim reactor, "Better take real good care of me, then!" (Unbeknownst to her, she's actually telling this to Cloud, the only person she's ever wanted to be her hero. Oh, the irony.) The fact that this is accompanied by a stomp of her foot makes it clear that it's not intended to be a serious request. It's more sarcastic than anything else. After all, Gondor has no king, Gondor needs -- er, Tifa doesn't need a man to keep her safe, she can damn well do it herself.
Keep others safe, too. For all that she's got a martial artist's blood in her veins, the heart it flows through is a maternal one despite the loss of a mother in her early childhood. Or perhaps in spite of it. She cares for Marlene as though she's her own little girl, even at the young of twenty, and when Cloud brings Denzel into their family unit prior to Advent Children, Tifa's arms are wide open, as ready to welcome as they are to protect. This is, in fact, one of the traits that is most central to Tifa's personality -- she is protective down to a fault, puts everyone's needs before her own, regardless of whether it's at her expense. Time and time again, we see her worry and fret over not just the consequences of things, but who they might affect, and when it's those who are near and dear to her, well. She'll pull out all the stops until they're out of danger.
Interestingly enough, that "near and dear" status with Tifa doesn't take too long of a time to get, either. Aerith is an excellent example of this. When they first meet, Tifa's reaction is one of insecurity -- but does that stop her from falling for Aerith's kind green eyes and good-with-people-right-from-the-get-go charm? No, no, and no. She instinctively knows she can trust her, asks her to take care of Marlene in her stead, and when they see her kidnapped on the chopper before the plate drop, it's Tifa who cries out her name. Tseng strikes Aerith across the face? Tifa's distress is audible yet again. And later on, she's the one feeling guilty about Aerith's kidnapping ("It's my fault... I was the one who got Aerith involved in this.") All from knowing her for maybe an hour or two.
Of course, Aerith herself is impossible not to like and become attached to (see Cloud agreeing to be her bodyguard right after meeting her) -- but it's not just Aerith with whom Tifa forms such a close bond so quickly. The events of Final Fantasy VII take place a little over a month, from December 0007 to the end of January the next year, and yet Tifa's relationship with her teammates is one of deep camaraderie. She has their backs, knows that they have hers, and is willing to fight beside them even to the death. You don't do that with just anyone, you know. At the very least there needs to be a deep-seated affection and trust there, and in Tifa's case it's safe to say that love is there, too.
But her bond with her friends didn't start off like this right away, of course -- took time and hard work to culivate, went through a lot of changes during that month and a half. Just like Tifa herself did. So the Tifa we see at the end of the game is, while being intrinsically the same person, somehow different too. She passed through weeks of pain and trouble, tears and sweat and blood, to find out that the heart she'd locked away to make sure it wouldn't get hurt had to break first before being truly whole. And yes, that's probably the sappiest way to put it, but it's true. Tifa's heart does break during the course of Final Fantasy VII, and breaks due to her own error at that.
And what an error. If she had only told Cloud the truth, right at the beginning, so much could have been avoided. If she'd only been a little less shy, a little less unwilling, a lot more brave, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad -- and she knows that. She knows she's messed up, messed up real bad, has to bear the guilt of not only standing by and allowing her best friend to stumble step by step until it was too late to stop him, but also the guilt of all that happens as a result. And the thing is, she pushes past it. It would've been easy for her to succumb to self-blame, to pack things and say uncle. But she doesn't give in to that damaging knowledge -- she falls down and gets right back up, to try and fix her messes as best as she can no matter what it costs her.
Thus, because she's made so many mistakes of her own, she's forgiving too, willing to let bygones be bygones if the someone is sincere in apology. Because she's known so much pain due to those mistakes, she doesn't judge others and takes the time to understand them before forming opinions. And because ultimately, despite those mistakes, she was given another chance at happiness, Tifa's the last personto deny someone theirs. From a little girl who was too convinced of her own shortcomings to do the right thing, she becomes an adult ready to shoulder the weight of her failings with a straight back, even if it breaks underneath. In every sense of the phrase, she grows up. And as Barret says to her in Mideel -- at the turning point for her character in the game, really --
tifa lockhart | final fantasy vii | two
Barmaid by day, eco-terrorist by night, when we first meet Tifa Lockhart at the start of Final Fantasy VII, she's the very picture of youth, optimism, and badassery in the face of Don Corneo-tier odds. Tifa's introduced to the player as a passionate David to the Shin-Ra corporation's Goliath, as well as the childhood friend and girl next door to Cloud Strife. Sensitive and stoic, she's shown to always be there to boost her friends' morale, even when (or rather, especially when) the going gets tough, keeping her own emotions under check all the while. She's good at it, too. All it takes is a hand on an arm and some reassuring, sensible words from Tifa to get Barret to change his mind at the beginning of the game. It's not all soft words and touches with her, though; Tifa can just as easily be tough and quick to retort. This is visible mostly when she's under pressure and gets stern with them, but that does the work, too.
While a well-trained fighter, she's got more than just physical power to back up her resolve. There's her strength of character as well, and confidence in her own strength to boot. Even as a child, she was ready to conquer the perilous heights of Mt. Nibel in just a dress and heels, and kept on going, even when the other boys, who initially went to make sure she didn't get hurt, ran off. That's determination, ladies and gents -- it took falling off a bridge from a mountain to get her to stop, and that too because it knocked her unconscious. Determination aside, this independence is echoed later on down the years when she tells the Shin-Ra trooper keeping her from following Zack and Sephiroth into the Nibelheim reactor, "Better take real good care of me, then!" (Unbeknownst to her, she's actually telling this to Cloud, the only person she's ever wanted to be her hero. Oh, the irony.) The fact that this is accompanied by a stomp of her foot makes it clear that it's not intended to be a serious request. It's more sarcastic than anything else. After all, Gondor has no king, Gondor needs -- er, Tifa doesn't need a man to keep her safe, she can damn well do it herself.
Keep others safe, too. For all that she's got a martial artist's blood in her veins, the heart it flows through is a maternal one despite the loss of a mother in her early childhood. Or perhaps in spite of it. She cares for Marlene as though she's her own little girl, even at the young of twenty, and when Cloud brings Denzel into their family unit prior to Advent Children, Tifa's arms are wide open, as ready to welcome as they are to protect. This is, in fact, one of the traits that is most central to Tifa's personality -- she is protective down to a fault, puts everyone's needs before her own, regardless of whether it's at her expense. Time and time again, we see her worry and fret over not just the consequences of things, but who they might affect, and when it's those who are near and dear to her, well. She'll pull out all the stops until they're out of danger.
Interestingly enough, that "near and dear" status with Tifa doesn't take too long of a time to get, either. Aerith is an excellent example of this. When they first meet, Tifa's reaction is one of insecurity -- but does that stop her from falling for Aerith's kind green eyes and good-with-people-right-from-the-get-go charm? No, no, and no. She instinctively knows she can trust her, asks her to take care of Marlene in her stead, and when they see her kidnapped on the chopper before the plate drop, it's Tifa who cries out her name. Tseng strikes Aerith across the face? Tifa's distress is audible yet again. And later on, she's the one feeling guilty about Aerith's kidnapping ("It's my fault... I was the one who got Aerith involved in this.") All from knowing her for maybe an hour or two.
Of course, Aerith herself is impossible not to like and become attached to (see Cloud agreeing to be her bodyguard right after meeting her) -- but it's not just Aerith with whom Tifa forms such a close bond so quickly. The events of Final Fantasy VII take place a little over a month, from December 0007 to the end of January the next year, and yet Tifa's relationship with her teammates is one of deep camaraderie. She has their backs, knows that they have hers, and is willing to fight beside them even to the death. You don't do that with just anyone, you know. At the very least there needs to be a deep-seated affection and trust there, and in Tifa's case it's safe to say that love is there, too.
But her bond with her friends didn't start off like this right away, of course -- took time and hard work to culivate, went through a lot of changes during that month and a half. Just like Tifa herself did. So the Tifa we see at the end of the game is, while being intrinsically the same person, somehow different too. She passed through weeks of pain and trouble, tears and sweat and blood, to find out that the heart she'd locked away to make sure it wouldn't get hurt had to break first before being truly whole. And yes, that's probably the sappiest way to put it, but it's true. Tifa's heart does break during the course of Final Fantasy VII, and breaks due to her own error at that.
And what an error. If she had only told Cloud the truth, right at the beginning, so much could have been avoided. If she'd only been a little less shy, a little less unwilling, a lot more brave, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad -- and she knows that. She knows she's messed up, messed up real bad, has to bear the guilt of not only standing by and allowing her best friend to stumble step by step until it was too late to stop him, but also the guilt of all that happens as a result. And the thing is, she pushes past it. It would've been easy for her to succumb to self-blame, to pack things and say uncle. But she doesn't give in to that damaging knowledge -- she falls down and gets right back up, to try and fix her messes as best as she can no matter what it costs her.
Thus, because she's made so many mistakes of her own, she's forgiving too, willing to let bygones be bygones if the someone is sincere in apology. Because she's known so much pain due to those mistakes, she doesn't judge others and takes the time to understand them before forming opinions. And because ultimately, despite those mistakes, she was given another chance at happiness, Tifa's the last personto deny someone theirs. From a little girl who was too convinced of her own shortcomings to do the right thing, she becomes an adult ready to shoulder the weight of her failings with a straight back, even if it breaks underneath. In every sense of the phrase, she grows up. And as Barret says to her in Mideel -- at the turning point for her character in the game, really --
"You're some kinda lady."