Tifa Lockhart: Compassion, Integration, and Balance

Japanese role playing video games (JRPGs) mix anime tropes with combat and character interactions. The player has some agency in how parts of the story progress, but most of the writing leads to pre-determined outcomes. In Final Fantasy VII, no matter what the player does there will always be the scene near the end of Disc One that leads to a boss battle with alternative sad music. Cloud will always hand over what the bad guy needs, he will always fall, and he will always lose himself. But that also means Tifa will always be there to save him. It's basically a Dig by Incubus situation.

A week into playing Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, Tifa has been the leader of my squad. Her Lifeguard Wraps give her the ability to heal all three party members at the same cost as others. It takes the slot of other abilities, but keeping everyone alive is obviously important to progressing through the game. 

New five star gear.

I also like her expanded backstory, which explains the gap between the start of the original FF7 with that one time she was a martial artist and tour guide in her home town. The big bad evil guy, Sephiroth, burns everything down and slays her dad in front of her. Sephiroth seriously injures her before he finally gets pushed into some ooze by Cloud, her spiky-haired childhood friend. Tifa survives but has to pay off medical debt in the big city. She works at a fast food gig, meets some new friends, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. She then joins the fight for freedom and a clean planet by joining Avalanche. She stumbles upon Cloud right before the start of the game.

Reunited five years later.

Their first mission together sets the stage for lots of falling from high
down to places that push character growth.

FF7 can be a long video game during a normal playthrough. In short the Lifestream, the blood of the planet gets pumped up and used for energy in reactors by a big evil corporation. Her home town had one of those reactors, which sparked all the background events for FF7 and its spinoffs.

The Promise

She doesn't have to start off tsundere-mean. There's only one scene in the game where she's actually mad, when she gets into a slap fight with the head of the big evil corporation's head of weapons development. She understands some of the hesitancy Cloud has, but feels compelled to action. She's the only person who sees how Cloud can help. She invokes Mufasa from the Lion King with an implied "You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life." All of that packed into one line 

 "You forgot the promise, too."
-Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy VII

It literally triggers an iconic flashback and is immediately convincing. Cloud only fulfills the promise at the end of FF7, but she digs him out so many other times before then. 

FF7:EC has a lot of overlapping art styles, but the scenes have been portrayed in other FF7 media, so it's still fresh and pivotal.

Right after getting served, so he can't leave.

The call to action and adventure.

She ult'd.

Seven years ago.

I want this to work out.

Aunt Tifa

Her inital role as a pro-environment anti-fascist nudges Cloud into being a reluctant hero. Tifa works as a bartender but also a babysitter for Marlene, who is fostered by another party member, Barret. In the sequel movie, Advent Children, she also helps raise an orphan, Denzel, who starts the story with an illness called Geostigma. She lets other people process what they need to which lets them all heal in their own way. In FF7, they have both actual magic and high-technology solutions for bodily healing, but not much in the way of therapy.

Overall, Tifa is very patient and caring. Barret has a gun for an arm, but she calmly deals with bar patrons to get them to come back. She's patient with Marlene and Denzel, especially since their father figures tend to be itinerent. She also kicks butt, and her Limit Breaks in the original game combined slot reels with different combos.

When Tifa taps into the satsui no hado and does a shun goku satsu.

Victory stretches among cherry blossoms.

(I've only watched the first season of Peaky Blinders so far, but I think my perceptions of Grace were based on my associations with Tifa, but nah, they're completely different.)

Dillay Dally, Shilly Shally

"So many things to tell her, but how to make her see? The truth about my past? Impossible! She'd turn away from me." Cloud is oblivious. It's so much worse than Squall who warms up by the end of FF8. Cloud has to deal with more stuff before the start of the game and reuniting with Tifa (his home town burns down by his childhood hero, he gets stuck in a tube for a few years, his best friend literally fights off an army). His original game dialogue would probably be "...Dunno. (Sublime!)" and it takes the end of the world to figure things out, and he still messes it up until the end of Advent Children. There's a piece of music called "Cloud Smiles" and it's music that finally reflects happiness in the FF7 world.

Discussion

I thought about what makes Tifa stand out as a fictional heroine. Part of it has to be the specific genre of video game. She's characterized in a particular way over tens of hours of gameplay, even more than other Final Fantasy counterparts who follow her. Yuna from FFX gets two games, but has more of Aerith's story beats. Tifa appears in other games outside of the main series, and her portrayal remains consistent, even without having to interact with Cloud. She even has a whole sequence where she travels the world, leading the group. Her name origins come from Hebrew, like Sephiroth's etmology.

Other party members have less backstory than Tifa and Cloud. Even Aerith (I finally mentioned her) doesn't have as much of a backstory besides vague "powers and lineage." Cloud's story is more cerebral and convoluted, but Tifa is a compelling static character with humble beginnings put into extreme situations. She doesn't have to be quippy, but all of her major dialog is spoiler and context heavy. Her wins are earned. Her visual design, how she plays, her voice acting in some games, and her relationship to the overall narrative of FF7 are all uniquely Tifa Lockhart.

  “Words aren’t the only thing that tell people what you’re thinking."
-Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy VII

 

More on FF7

Here are some more posts I've written about Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

• Sephiroth with Shorter Hair 
• FF7:EC Mobile Game Treadmill Design

FF7:EC Mobile Game Treadmill Design

I've been playing Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis on my iPad for about a week. It has some compelling elements, it's low intensity, and can be played on grad school autopilot while also making some progress. However, there are are some game mechanics and designs that promote replayability, for better or worse. Here, I'll go over the design of Criterion Dungeons, the current "Beach Festival Fun!" Event, and drawing from banners.  

Where are the Criterion Dungeon Cactaurs?

Some of the missions are hidden on the first playthrough of the Criterion Dungeons in FF7:EC. Although it promotes replayability, it can be annoying to the player when it's a low level "seek and destroy" mission just to gank a Cactaur. You can finish the quest even when it's hidden, so there's no reason to not do it on the first round.

I never wanted to look up whether the hidden mission was just "finish this level as quickly as possible" or if there was a hidden enemy, so I wanted to take out some of the guesswork. Since each Criterion Dungeon (Make Reactor, Fort Tamblin, La'paina, and Padapili) has two areas, and every dead end or pixel sensitive encounter could be a candidate, I wanted to share where to go on the first playthrough.

Mako Reactor 1 Area 1 Cactaur

In Mako Reactor 1, continue on the second screen past the fork.

This is skippable, since this is the first Criterion Dungeon, when the player has no clue that it's a possibility, and there's no visual breadcrumb or treasure to explore down the entire bridge.

Fort Tamblin Area 2 Cactaur

In Fort Tamblin, skip the urge to fight the boss in the courtyard.

This one distracts you with the shiny boss area and invisible wall dead ends just prior.

La'paina Coast Area 2 Cactaur

At La'paina Coast, continue to the top left corner of the map.

By now, the player expects it, so just keep going up to clear out the ??? mission.

Padapili Sea Cave Area 1 Cactaur

At Padapili, this one is also past a boss, but not quite at a dead end.
You'll have to do a quick sweep.

This last one was when I decided that this feature was more annoying than fun, so I wrote this post for posterity and to think about whether I like part of the game.

Beach Festival Fun! Event

This was a fun event with a time-traveling misunderstood, green Tonberry, a classic monster type in the Final Fantasy games. He just wants to pinata a bunch of watermelons. This could be subtle world building though, since the Tonberry fights against Zack in the past and then Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. They're even able to give messages to each other, so the theorycrafting nerd in me puts this as semi-canon.

Solo missions for watermelons and life preservers.

Yes, my ingame name is Kiritokun. I'm an overlevelled carry ace.

The mix of solo and co-op missions lead to good rewards, making this essential content for the player to get through. I don't think it's possible to get by on the main story content without this event, so I imagine future events will be similarly structured to help new players.

Draw Banners and Stamp Cards

I already have the Lifeguard Wraps for Tifa, but I stopped drawing for Red XIII's gear. I like the character, but I like having Tifa and Barret in the party more. I skipped out on Murasame Cloud, but Maritime Cloud is a more realistic take on an outfit like Sora's from Kingdom Hearts. These kind of small decisions on what to buy will keep me a free-to-play player, so I'll most likely prioritize seasonal banners. I don't want to wait another year for it to come around, and most of the gear will be outclassed by whatever is new. 

With nine characters, and fates uncertain, I think it's prudent to stockpile currency crystals when needed. The randomess of how many stamps you get on the Chocobo stamp card can be infuriating RNG since you have to spend in increments of 3000. It's basically a loyalty card program, but you never know if you'll get just one stamp, or more. Character skins aren't a priority for me unless they're a slamdunk in design.

An elemental anchor sword with the Seasplitter skill.

 

Lucky draw, but I'll probably only use Aerith in story battles.

Discussion

I remember my brother "training" against Cactrots and Pugs, the translations between Cactaur and Tonberry in the SNES Final Fantasy III/VI. Ted Woolsey, the translator for the FF3/6 was a University of Washington grad student in Japanese literature before going to Square in Redmond. The nostalgia really clicks with my current role as President of the grad students at UW, so I'm personally invested in this game.

Ever Crisis is compelling enough for the full download and planned calendar of events. Still, I'll keep free-to-play based on how Square Enix has treated its other mobile games. It will be a while until this one shuts down as long as the main games make money. The Remake came out at the onset of the pandemic, so it has an audience that grew up with it since 1997.

More on FF7

Here are some more posts I've written about Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

• Sephiroth with Shorter Hair
• Tifa Lockhart: Compassion, Integration, and Balance

Sephiroth with Shorter Hair

I've been busy right as the UW starts the Fall Quarter, but I've been playing Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis on my iPad with Ahsoka playing on my laptop. Ever Crisis recaps parts of FF7 and Crisis Core while mixing in some new origin and side stories in the greater FF7 universe. The "incremental gacha" style of the RPG makes it so I don't have to press as many buttons; the characters do their thing, and I'm resigned to play it in the background for the next year. And for cutscenes below, I enjoy it enough to login once a day. Until FF7: Rebirth releases in February, more downloadable content will be drip fed, which means more backstory.

A hero appears to save your surrounded party.

Combo.

 

One Winged Sith Lord

Sephiroth's final boss music, One Winged Angel, has a full choir and orchestra. Whenever he's on screen or implied in the story or background, different sections play in a lower key. The music makes him so menacing, just as the Imperial March can signify Vader or Vader-adjacent machinations. Nostalgic callbacks play throughout his Ever Crisis reveal.

Similarities between Sephiroth and Darth Vader:

• Obsessed with their mothers.
• Culling of non-combatant populations.
• Hallway scenes.
• Wears black.
• Cool boss music.
  
• Hero in the war that took place before the original series.
• Transformed into something more than human after a major defeat.
• Slay their own boss: Shinra and Sheev.
• Cool weapon coupled with weird magic powers.
• Some of their sidequests require obtaining crystals: materia or kyber.
  
• Fights a protagonist in a weird world between worlds.
• Variants in other media are not as evil.
  
• Competes with the protagonists as the most recognizable character of the franchise.
• Non-English name origin, Hebrew and German, respectively.

Unlike Vader, Sephiroth is not redeemable. He torches your village, turns the protagonists into orphans, and then literally trolls you by causing headaches. He also permanently deletes a playable character. There aren't any favorable opportunities to tag team against a common enemy, unless the Remake "maintain the canon" ghosts become more active, and even then, preserving the canon might be the "bad ending." He's also not environmentally friendly. Beyond burning, he summons a lot of calamities to Gaia.

He's like Voldemort, showing visions and whispering discouragement all game. He also shares a quality with Tom Riddle because his parents never loved him,. Which is why he always gets defeated by the animoo trope: "The Power of Friendship."

When your sword arm gets tired.

Enemies remaining: 0.0.

 

Descend Heartless Angel

The scene switches over to stylized in-game graphics. Glenn, Matt, and Lucia are resentful about how overpowered Sephiroth appears, without having gone through the same training. The scene establishes the power difference between you, the looming threat Sephiroth represents. He burns a nostalgic memory into your brain, the iconic turn around in the flames.

It's not quite clear what Sephiroth has already done at this point in time, but right now, he's generically destructive. His shorter hair might be a function on his SOLDIER salary, since canonically, Sephiroth uses a special shampoo and conditioner every day for full animoo powers.

Your team instantly hates Sephiroth for being too cool.

Ah, he's looking over here.

Another wave of enemies that clearly didn't see or infer
what just happened to their comrades.

Discussion

"Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away."
- Sephiroth, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Sephiroth is a different kind of villain since he's mainly from a video game, meaning the player's relationship to the character is more transactional than other genres. Early in the original game, he helps you escape while leaving his sword as a present, in the back of Mr. Corporate Greed. It plays out differently in the Remake, suggesting other things might play out differently in the next installment. Some of the player's choices and interactions can affect how much backstory gets revealed, such as who Sephiroth's parents are, the atrocities Sephiroth commits, and how he was originally defeated.

More than Vader or Voldemort, Sephiroth hurts the player by reducing the playable cast by one in an unstoppable cutscene with sad music. In the sequel movie, the party all wear red armbands in their final fight. It hits different than making Obi-Wan become a Force Ghost or Avada Kedavra'ing Cedric Diggory. Sephiroth takes away hours of playtime and investment, as well as a beloved character.

On the original Playstation game, he was voiceless, but for some reason, my brother associated him with a "Hweh" exclamation. Lance Bass from NSync voices Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts. George Newbern played him in Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Tyler Hoechlin plays him in Remake and Rebirth. To me, Newbern's voice is what I imagine, since "I will never be a memory" is more quotable than "Seven seconds til the end."

A younger Sephiroth isn't as unhinged, but still possesses a lot of power against weaker enemies. You kinda wonder where the P0 Class of SOLDIER went before the start of FF7. An unmistakable visual design, characterization of being on the brink of a breaking point, and musical motifs all point to a popular video game villain becoming a bit more nuanced.

Some flavor text on the splash screen with
new art of Young Sephiroth.

A cool way to start the game before getting Metroid-vania'd.

 

More on FF7

Here are some more posts I've written about Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

• FF7:EC Mobile Game Design Treadmill
• Tifa Lockhart: Compassion, Integration, and Balance