So often, strong characters can be typecasted as stoic or cold, adhering to the idea that being a badass means physical strength above all else. But strength is something that can take many forms, and there are few finer examples of this in gaming than howFinal Fantasy 7 RemakeandRebirthportray Tifa Lockhart. The pugilist with a heart of gold has cemented her status as a beautifully written character; wearing kindness and compassion on her sleeve, she is as capable of uppercuts and divekicks as she is at being vulnerable.Tifa shows the many ways someone can be strong, and that’s worth celebrating.
OfFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s many strengths, its graphical fidelity manages to be a blessing and a curse. Gorgeous graphics render its world beautiful, but it only adds to the harrowing nature of its traumas: those inflicted by Shinra, by Sephiroth, by the unfairness of a peaceful town caught up in smoke, fire, and rubble. Tifa’s story, like Cloud’s, is one disrupted by the death and destruction of their home, and it’s in this catalyst that she questions why her father would face someone unbeatable, knowing exactly where it would lead. It was anger; the same that led her to Avalanche. But that anger could only take her so far in the wake of violence, and as fear and doubt took its place, she had to confront what path to take.
How Final Fantasy 7’s Tifa Demonstrates Strength in its Many Forms
This confliction of character, of a person so against violence and so sick of Shinra, is part of what makes Tifa so compelling. She is someone who is unabashed in her compassion, who prefers peaceful measures to violence, but knows the necessity of taking Shinra and Sephiroth down;a false Nibelheim, built without any remembrance or consideration of those who perished there, only furthers this point. But while she is herself a powerhouse able to take down Shinra machines and soldiers alike, she isn’t portrayed as invulnerable; she both offers and leans on the help of others to get through, knowing that she isn’t the only one who has been hurt, making her all the kinder for it.
Those Who Fight Further
Rather than be unflinching,FF7 Rebirthconsiders the traumas of its partyand how they move on, not without the absence of grief, but fueled by the hope of a world where the pains that Shinra has caused can no longer be inflicted. Part of the battle itself is the ability to continue moving forward, and the fact that it isn’t easy to do so only accentuates why Tifa is strong in the first place. There are moments when she is enveloped in panic while reliving the events of Nibelheim, others where she is sad and shaken enough to tears. None of these diminish her strengths; rather, they contribute to her ability to feel and empathize, to remember those who were lost in her past and help those who she can in her present and future.
Complexity of Design
Tifa is soft-spoken and unsure of herself at times; she struggles at compliments, and certainly isn’t the most confident of the group. It’s a powerful subversion of the typical badass trope that tends to prefer a more unabashed, brazen personality. Her design obviously lends itself to her status as a brawler (a practical yet stylish one at that), which is another reason whyTifa’s characterization is so wonderful; one might not expect her to be quiet and subdued based on her fighting prowess or design, and that only serves to make her more interesting.
In moments whereTifa takes down enemies, she’s strong; in moments where she shows vulnerability, she’s strong, too. The complexity of how she thinks and feels, some of it grounded in her own traumas, only serves to reinforce her realness. That is what makes her such a beautiful character, both within theFinal Fantasyseries and in the reverberations of gaming history. On the week of her birthday, it’s worth celebrating just how important an example she’s set, showing the nuances of not just a strong female lead, but a strong person all together.
