Cosplay Girl Wearing Tifa Lockheart Costume

A member of the terrorist group AVALANCHE and owner of the 7th Heaven bar, Tifa is the childhood friend of Cloud Strife, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII. Convincing him to join the group to keep him close and safe, she later assists him in saving the planet from the game's villain, Sephiroth. Elements of The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII later touched upon her character further, such as the film Advent Children in which she attempts to convince Cloud to let go of his self-imposed guilt and move on with his life after Sephiroth's defeat.
Named the pinup girl of the "cyber generation" by the New York Times, Tifa has been compared to Lara Croft as an example of a strong, independent and attractive female character in video games. Sources such as IGN and UGO.com have both repeatedly praised both the character's appearance and strength as well as one of the best female characters in gaming, while Play named her the "most adored" of the Final Fantasy series' female characters. In 2007, Dengeki PlayStation named her the eighth best fictional character all time to appear in games for the Sony PlayStation.