Final Fantasy is one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. Up there with the likes of giants such as Super Mario Bros, Dragon Quest and the Legend Of Zelda, these games are utterly legendary for their absolutely compelling stories. These stories often come with characters that are deeply remembered with one notable exception being Tifa Lockhart.
Not only is she drop-dead gorgeous, but she is caring to her friends. It also helps that she is a powerful fighter in her own right. Although some things about her (and everyone else, by extension) remained the same in the remake, there are some differences that are hard to ignore. As such, here are five ways Tifa Lockhart is still the same character in the latest Final Fantasy remake and five notable differences.
10 DIFFERENT: Her Character Design
Tifa Lockhart's character design has been slightly changed since her original appearance. Although the changes themselves weren't very drastic, it was enough that the older fans took a lot of notice on it. For one, some new additions to her outfit include a sports bra and leggings.
This is in comparison to her original design, which is far more barebones and revealing, to say the least. What's more, the character additions they added to the remake was initially criticized quite heavily. Thankfully, these issues have since been mitigated.
9 SAME: She's Still A Fighter
Tifa Lockhart's main gameplay style is similar to a monk class in previous Final Fantasy games or class in Dungeons & Dragons. Unlike characters like Cloud Strife or Barret, what makes her special is that she is capable of doing so much more damage than everyone else.
This is partly because Tifa Lockhart is a combo character that is capable of doing a lot more damage with her sheer fists per hit rather than using a sword. The remake was able to expand this even further as a result.
8 DIFFERENT: Her Connection With Sector 7
This is something that's been added further with the remake, is that Sector 7 as a whole has been incredibly fleshed out. As Midgar was only a few hours in the original, it is only fair that Sector 7 had way more depth as a result of the remake being entirely in Midgar.
What's more, at the beginning of the game, Cloud and Tifa go all over Sector 7. This was a good opportunity that shows how popular Tifa Lockhart is as a character, for better or for worse. Plus it helps that she is quite liked with Avalanche.
7 SAME: Her Love For Cloud
This is the easiest thing that has remained the same. The sexual tension between Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart is so high it could easily be cut through with a butter knife. Although the characters themselves have only interacted a certain amount of time, it is extremely clear that her interest in Cloud is very high.
What's more, the remake pushes this even further by showing a variety of scenes that show how interested she is to Cloud Strife as a character and even shows jealousy whenever Aerith is around in certain occasions.
6 DIFFERENT: Her Bond with Avalanche
Touched upon earlier on the list, Tifa Lockhart has a deeper connection with Sector 7 and by extension, this means her connection with Avalanche has been further expanded compared to before.
Although viewers got to see the characters of Avalanche like Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, it was really the remake that deeply expanded on their relationship with Tifa. On top of that, viewers get to see more of the close bond she has with Barret and his daughter Marlene.
5 SAME: Her Bonds With Barret & Marlene
As mentioned before, Tifa is a very close friend to Barret and his daughter Marlene. Acting as a surrogate guardian whenever Avalanche is too busy blowing up Mako reactors, she obviously shares a deep bond with Marlene.
On top of that, her bond with Barret is incredibly close, with the remake expanding on this further by the fact that they comforted each other when they lost their home from Sector 7. If anything the remake really adds to this bond.
4 DIFFERENT: She's Afraid Of Ghosts
Interestingly enough, Tifa Lockhart in the remake is afraid of ghosts. Although this wasn't really shown in the original so it seems like this is something that was only really apparent in the remake version of Final Fantasy 7.
That being said, it was really cute seeing this, as it adds more layers to Tifa as a character. Despite being an incredible fighter that has fought virtually anything, she is capable of being vulnerable in something like a ghost.
3 SAME: Her Personal Connection To Sephiroth
This is something that was touched upon in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but later gets expanded in the original, but Tifa actually has a connection with Sephiroth.
However, it isn't as close as Cloud Strife in terms of how much of a parallel he is to the main character. Rather, their connection stems from the fact that she was there during the Nibelheim incident, where she lost her home because of Sephiroth's insanity.
2 DIFFERENT: Her Increased Bond With Aerith
Although Aerith had a profound impact on everyone in the original game, it only got even more amplified with the remake. As the relationship between Tifa and Aerith really does seem like something that is akin to sisters.
Even though Tifa did experience some jealousy with Aerith during the remake and especially a bit in the original, Tifa and Aerith's relationship is incredibly close and seem to be very friendly in nature. Becoming one of the best bonding moments that gamers got to see in the entire game.
1 SAME: She's Hiding What She Knows
This is one of the biggest flaws in Tifa Lockhart as a character and judging by the remake, this seems to be well intact for the future sequels. As she was there during the Nibelheim incident she knows things that the other characters don't know and shares it similarly to Cloud Strife. However, unlike Cloud, her interpretation of the events was vastly different as shown in the original.
What's more, Cloud Strife states that the last time he's seen her was five years ago, though this is not how she remembers it. The remake tries to further illustrate this by having her ask him about what exactly he was doing back then during the Sector 7 tour in the remake. Nonetheless, the possibility of her keeping a lot of secrets from everyone is very much still intact.