Tifa Lockhart

Tifa Lockhart (, Tifa Lockhart) is a playable character from the video game Final Fantasy VII.

Origin
Tifa Lockhart first appears in Final Fantasy VII. A childhood friend of Cloud Strife, Tifa recruits him to aid the insurgency group AVALANCHE in their ecoterrorism campaign against the Shinra Electric Power Company. The home base for AVALANCHE is a bar named 7th Heaven, which Tifa owns and operates. After the return of Sephiroth, Cloud relates the story of the Nibelheim incident to the party. Despite believing that Cloud was not present during these events, Tifa does not contradict him, worrying about what such a revelation will do to Cloud's mind.

When Sephiroth reveals the truth—that the SOLDIER present during the incident was Zack Fair—Cloud undergoes a mental collapse. Following the events at the Northern Cave and the summoning of Meteor, Tifa and the party find Cloud comatose in the village of Mideel. Tifa stays with Cloud to care for him, and finds herself in his mind after she and Cloud are caught in the Lifestream. Tifa helps Cloud piece his memories together, resolving the contradiction of Zack's presence. Cloud had in fact been present during the Nibelheim incident, but as a Shinra infantryman, not a SOLDIER. Cloud's motivation for trying to join SOLDIER had been to impress Tifa, and having not made the cut, hid his identity out of embarrassment. When Tifa had attempted to avenge her father and been struck down by Sephiroth, Cloud rescued her and defeated Sephiroth by throwing him into the Lifestream below Nibelheim's Mako Reactor. Before the final confrontation with Sephiroth, Tifa and Cloud share a quiet moment beneath the Highwind.

After the defeat of Sephiroth, Tifa, Cloud, Barret, his daughter Marlene, and a boy Cloud met named Denzel decide to all live together in the newly built city of Edge. Tifa opens and runs a new 7th Heaven in this city. At some point between then and the events of Advent Children, Cloud contracts a terminal illness known as Geostigma, and develops a sense of secrecy and depression. Tifa discovers this while looking for a missing Cloud with Marlene and is initially shocked and angry that he told no one. Soon after this revelation, a man named Loz, one of the remnants of Sephiroth, arrived looking for the head of Jenova. Tifa fought Loz, but was defeated and he took Marlene. Cloud found Tifa unconscious in a church and tried to go after Loz, but was stopped by a Geostigma inflammation. Two turks named Reno and Rude find the two and take them back to 7th Heaven to regroup. Cloud initially refuses to go with the group to save Marlene, believing he will slow them all down. He changes his mind after Tifa lectures him about apathy and self-loathing.

The next day, Loz and another remnant of Sephiroth named Yazoo mind control several children with Geostigma to sacrifice for a Jenova revival. Denzel is one of these children, and Tifa attempts to save him, but is knocked away by Bahamut SIN. The rest of the AVALANCHE members back her and Cloud up, and Tifa specifically throws Cloud towards Bahamut SIN to deal the final blow. Tifa then joins the AVALANCHE members on the airship Shera as Cloud fights Sephiroth. After Cloud defeats Sephiroth, Tifa returns to the church with Denzel to heal his Geostigma, with Cloud and the rest of the children already there.

One year later, a private militia known as Deepground lead an assault on Midgar in the events of Dirge of Cerberus. Tifa appears leading the tank forces, then is seen cheering Vincent Valentine on during the ending. After the battle, Tifa is seen managing 7th Heaven and agreeing to let the character Shelke live there.

Tifa's role is largely the same in the remake. There are many more moments of Tifa and Cloud together, like the job of selling water filters and Tifa breaking up a confrontation between Cloud and Marco. Tifa also follows Cloud to face Sephiroth in the final boss fight.

Tifa is a skilled martial artist, using gloves as her weapons, and performing sequential martial arts strikes as her Limit Breaks.

As a Mii Costume
Tifa serves as the basis of the Tifa's Outfit DLC Mii costume for the. Tifa's Outfit uses both her design and her weapon from Final Fantasy VII, the Leather Gloves. She was revealed during the  presentation on December 17, 2020.

During the reveal trailer, the Mii Brawler representing Tifa is first seen with the representing Barret on the Spirit Train stage with the sound and red screen flash of an X Bomb, referencing the security check on the train during the mission to bomb Mako Reactor 5. Next, the Mii Brawler is seen battling on the Arena Ferox stage, referencing the Toxic Frog enemies at the Gold Saucer's Battle Square. The Mii Brawler uses attacks to reference Tifa's basic attack from her original game, as well as her Limit Breaks Somersault and Waterkick. Next, she is seen battling and  on the Paper Mario stage, referencing the stage play performed at the Gold Saucer while on a date with Cloud, where King K. Rool references the character of Valvados, and Cloud references his own role in the play as the character of Alfred. Tifa's actions reference when the play goes wrong. The ending image features the Mii Brawler standing on a platform on the Mario Galaxy stage, using the starry backdrop to represent Tifa's promotional image for Final Fantasy VII, as well as Cloud's promise at the Nibelheim well.

Tifa was released alongside the other Round 8 Mii Fighter costumes on December 22nd, 2020.

As a Spirit
Tifa also appears as an Ace-class primary spirit in the Final Fantasy DLC Spirit Board.

Tifa uses a Mii Brawler wearing black Protective Gear and is fought on the Reset Bomb Forest stage's Ω form. If the player has already purchased the Tifa DLC costume, Tifa will use a Mii Brawler puppet fighter wearing Tifa's Outfit instead. During the battle, the Mii Brawler's move speed and attack power will increase, referencing Tifa's Premium Heart Gauntlets, which increases her attack power as her Limit Break gauge fills.

Tifa's spirit battle is also notable for having the Mii Brawler resemble Tifa, as opposed to the standard Mii Fighters.