Tifa Lockhart

Tifa Lockhart (Japanese: ティファ・ロックハート, Hepburn: Tifa Rokkuhāto) is a character from the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII by Square (now Square Enix). She has since appeared as a playable fighter in Ehrgeiz and the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, made cameo appearances in several other titles, such as Kingdom Hearts II and Itadaki Street, and been featured in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, including the animated film Advent Children. She was created as a foil to her teammate Aerith Gainsborough by members of the development team including director Yoshinori Kitase and writers Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura; Nomura additionally contributed to her visual design. 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. 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.