Does anyone else not like Tifa's character design in Advent Children?

She was pretty and all, but for some reason, it just doesn't feel like her. In fact she looks too much Riona and the movie felt like Riona was trying to treat on Squall with Cloud, lol.

She looked much older than Cloud too.

I can understand if they wanted to change her outfit or her fight scene would have way too much fanservice, but I think they should have kept her hair the same so she would have looked more like she did in the video game.

I liked Tifa's design. It's sporty but has a bit of flair to it, although I liked the sketch Nomura did where she had sleeves better than the gloves.

I don't think she looks like Rinoa aside from the hairstyle, though. I also don't think she looked older than Cloud...the only people who really looked "older" were Barret and Cid, imo.

I also don't think she looks like Rinoa, and this is coming from a massive Rinoa fan here. :lol:

However, I like what they did to her in AC. She's very pretty, I actually didn't expect her to be that pretty. Her outfit is also cool, the only gripe I have about it is that it's all leather. I also didn't like the half-skirt thing she had trailing along behind her, it was too similar to Rinoa's style and I was expecting something a bit more original. Like you, I wish they'd kept her FF7 hair - there was something about that fish-tail!! :lol:

But I do think the outfit suits her personality better than her FF7 design, IMO. ^_^

She stole my swimsuit top :cry:

I love the fact that they actually covered her this time. Her outfit just looks like something I'd wear so I approve.

Now let's hope they don't pull an FFX-2 on her. <_<

I know what you mean here. Although I don't think she looks enough like Rinoa for me to confuse the two, I do think they threw too much Rinoa into her with the hair and clothes. IMO, her trademark was her long fish-tail hair. I thought it made her more unique...but they had to go and chop it all off :sad:

I miss the dolphin tail too! :sad: I wonder if they removed it for modelling purposes--but you know, you'd think the crew who was able to handle Cloud's hair would've been able to work with Tifa's dolphin tail. :rolleyes: AC!Aerith's hair was bloody long, almost exactly the length it was in the game, so it makes you wonder why SE shortened AC!Tifa's hair (plot bunniez yay). But the more I think about it, the more I feel it was to ease producing her fight scene with Loz.

Because, you know. Fighting with long hair that is always perfect is Sephiroth's domain. xD (But just imagine if they'd kept all her hair during the church fight! :drool: )

I was also quite turned off by all the leather, but that annoyance extends to Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz too.

I agree that while AC!Tifa was pretty, she seemed very... normal. Which could be what they intended (the whole "girl next door" vibe). But she strikes me too much as many other Japanese female TV hosts, with that long straight hair and those eyes, that I wasn't blown away by her design. Her dolphin hair was her unique feature in FFVII and they removed that in AC.

And while the black clothing was probably to add to the whole depressing feel of the movie, I thought it made Tifa TOO monochrome. At least Cloud has those blue eyes and blond hair to offset his AC clothes. They didn't give anything similar to Tifa, and it makes me prefer her white-and-green colouring in FFVII. I liked that Nomura tried to make her AC outfit "logical" by making it useful when she waits tables/takes orders at her bar, though.

Besides the boob reduction and the removal of that inane miniskirt, I guess I just prefer FFVII!Tifa's design overall.

I agree with Lynn and Rinchan for the most part. I didn't hate her design in AC but I immediately thought Rinoa when I saw her and I was upset her eyes weren't red. I also like her hair longer but honestly i thought it was okay that it was shorter since she was two years older. The idea of her outfit I liked since it seemed a little more practical than her FFVII outfit however again it screamed Rinoa to me so I can only call it okay.

For me I always felt like Tifa's orignal outfit didn't fit her personality, it was too much. I guess I could go off on a tangent on the possible pyschy of Tifa(won't reveal to much of herself internally so overcompensates in the way she dresses) but it also could be she wore that to get better tips working the bar and since I am not an expert in pyschology it is nothing more than a theory.

In any case I stand by that I do think te designers of FFVII went a little overboard with her outfit in the game. However I think they could have made her outfit in AC still practical with a little more sexyness to it, which I think would have brought everything to a happy medium.

I never found Tifa's eyes red at all in FFVII. Her eyes are brown in all of her character art so I never ever classified her eyes as red. Vincent's eyes were DEFINATELY red. Tifa's were more of a deeper shade of brown. AC just added extra proof of that for me. I hate it when people say her eyes were ZOMGRUBYREDZLOL. :whistle:

When I first saw her design, I immediately thought of Rinoa. But after watching AC, I felt she was more of a...hmm...I guess the best way to put it is a very depressed looking Rinoa after she was cheated on and left by Squall. :whistle: Her overall design wasn't mindblowing, nor is it horrible. I just don't see how so many people can go nuts saying she's "THE MOST PRETTIEST GURL EVAR". She's quite plain.

But still. Her FFVII outfit was nothing short of disgusting (yes, I think I've had my limit of panty shots) as well as horribly out of character, so I'm definately prefering her AC outfit as I said earlier. ^_^

"Practical". Yep. That's the word. :ow: Thanks, aerisbolt. XD

True, I guess at certain angles, light brown eyes like Tifa's can appear amber/reddish. But truely red eyes belong to Vincent (did DC ever say whether it's his natural colour--which I'm not likely to believe, since FFVII went with pretty natural hair/eye-colour with the exception of Sephiroth--or whether it's a result of Hojo's experiment?).

...Okay, this is gonna sound a bit mean, and I apologise if I offend any Tifa fans with this. Just my opinion, no need to take this babble to heart.

Sometimes I think perhaps a reason why Tifa is always credited with sparklingdeeprubyred eyes is to make her stand out more, especially in fanart and in comparison with Aerith. Aerith's bright green eyes get almost as much attention as Cloud's Mako blues and Sephiroth's greens--they're one of her most distinguishing features.

So I guess sometimes it just seems like people insist Tifa has red eyes to put her on par with these three as having a noticeable feature, as she is supposed to be the heroine too and should be clearly distinguised from the rest. Heck, it's why I like the idea of her eyes being reddish too, because--especially with her design in AC--nothing else stands out physically.

And then there are people who just really think she has red eyes, and maybe I need more sleep. :sweat:

I could so do a hardcore debate on Tifa's eye color. :lmao:

I think Turk!Vincent's eyes were just as red as after the experiment, honestly. *Tries to remember DoC scenes* But anyone who compares Tifa's eye color to Vincent's is HORRIBLY color blind. You're definately right about how brown eyes can have a reddish hue in certain lights, but it really isn't enough to call her eyes red. ^_^ Especially after AC when her eyes are strictly brown and Vincent's are obviously red. They stayed true to the intended eye colors, yus.

*Stops before she sparks a debate with someone* :shifty:

I think she looks very pretty and elegant. Her brown eyes stand out moreso now and she looks very cute. Especially when she smiles. I don't think she looks that much like Rinoa but the resemblances are certainly there. The cape thingamabobber... x]

Am I the only one who liked her outfit in the game though? =3

Um, I know you didn't want to debate Kaldea and I am not trying to provoke, but I went and looked at official art to make sure I wasn't crazy and her eyes defiantely look red to me. I am pretty sure I am not color blind. *goes to doctor to find out* :lol:

I kind of feel the same way. I mean, I do think Tifa's very pretty, but she doesn't really have that "stand out in the crowd" kind of pretty. Then again, that's just me...everyone has their own idea of beauty. ^_^

I liked it! I always thought her FF7 outfit was cute.

Well...I WAY prefer her AC design to her FFVII one. As was said before, her outfit in VII was WAY out of character, and did seem really over done. "Tifa will look like teh smeckz!!!" Thanks Nomura <_<
And I agree that while pretty, she's not really NOTICEABLE, she's not BEAUTIFUL, just..not terrible looking y'know?

Nope! I thought it was really cute. There could've been a little more length to that skirt though.

*is in the process of making Tifa's FFVII cosplay*

Anyways, I agree with you Sefie, I liked her AC outfit a lot better then her FFVII one. Well, I liked both, but I guess if I had to pick which one I liked out of the two, it'd be her AC outfit. That one really complimented her looks, and her figure.

But about her look, I happen to think Tifa is extremely pretty. *secretly wishes I had her looks.*She has an elegance about her, and a gentleness.

And about her eyes? For the longest time I thought they were red, but then when new scans of AC came out featuring her *oh so long ago XD* I realized that they were kind of like a chocolate color. In other words: brown. But in some fanfics I read that feature Tifa, they sometimes use "wine colored" as a description. I guess that works too.

Oh dear, looks like I'm one of those few that thinks Tifa looks absolutely ravishing too. :lol: Though her design is pretty much that of the typical Asian, girl-next-door as mentioned by Lynn, I would do a triple take if I saw a girl as pretty as her walking down the streets. :giggle:

but Aerith definitely Pwns in the beauty department! :hide:

I agree, I never found her eyes to be red, more of a vivid brown. In AC I barely noticed her eyes though.


Looks brown to me.

Oh dear, all this debacle over the eye colour of a fictional character. :lol: Suddenly I feel quite afraid for my future as a geek.

See, her eyes are brown in the art, but red in the game, so it's a toss up to me. I've always thought of them as just a reddish brown really, so it depends on the light is what I think.

I liked the white and green colour, especially compared to all that black in AC.

I could somehow convince myself of the logic of wearing that top (after several beers), but that miniskirt is an absolute no-no and totally illogical. It might've worked in a bar where you're attempting to get more tips, but not as a fighting outfit. I've seen fanfics where Tifa later changes into bicycle shorts, which makes more sense in terms of mobility (without the risk of your skirt rolling up at every high kick).

And most illogical are those who try to justify doing martial arts in a miniskirt. :rolleyes: Please, it's there for fanservice. Let's leave it at that. And in Tifa's case, her fanservice is separate from her shy character anyway.

I don't know where this came from honestly but I was reading the character bashing section on Tifa and then I thought about this thread andI have decided that as much as I like Tifa, I have never really thought too deeply about her character or her design, throwing it off to fanservice as Lynn has stated. Which leads me on a long tangent proving again that I have to much time on my hands.

I have decided I have not given enough credit to her complexity. I have to say now that I really think about it I find it kinda fascinating that her physical appearance is in my opinion almost completely opposite of her personality. But then again if I really try to analize it maybe it wasn't so weird after all. Besides they impractical nature of her outfit in FFVII and the fanservice her design provides I think that when I hinted about the need to be noticed in my earlier post that it may not be so far fetched. I think with all the rabids and the debate on who Cloud loves Tifa as a character really gets lost in it all. And you can probably say the same for Aeris as far as the way the LTD has destorted everything.

I have gone back and forth on Tifa, liking her then thinking she is a bad role model for young girls. But actually taking it all in now I think she is a beautifully complex character who has so many layers that she is always in conflict with herself, trying to find a balance and I think that reflects in her design in the different SE products.

In FFVII she is still young and searching for that hero to protect her, even though she is a skilled fighter. She wants to be noticed and loved, wears provocative clothing but internally shuts off all the time.

She could be a leader but uses Cloud as a crutch. But in the end, she shows unbelieveable strength conceeding that the man she has been loyal to loves someone else and she not only appears to accept that but wants to help him achieve his happiness at the cost of her own.

It follows on into AC if you look at her outfit it is more practical but dark. She is trying to be a mother figure to everyone but I think is still not completely sure who she is but for me her outfit shows the ways she has progressed and possibly regressed with dealing with the absence of Cloud and the Geostigma.

Ironically her design in KH2 is my favortie, there seems to be a fiestiness to her yet I hate the limitations they have given her character. Those who have not played the game or seen AC I feel get a glimpse of one her strengths and weaknesses, her loyality and in this case her loyality to Cloud. But it goes with her contrast on how she looks compared to who she is. Whether Square Enix did it on purpose or if I just think too much(likely) I think Tifa is not necessarily as great a female character as Aeris but I think she deserves a huge fanbase. If only there weren't so many rabids to take away from her as a character.

Okay that was way long and yes I know she is a pixel, I blame trying to write fanfiction :blush:

Tifa does have a rather large fanbase, doesn't she?
It's possible it may even be larger than Aerith's.

I just think she deserves a proper fanbase...not a bunch of people who just like her for being "hawt", being physically able to "kick @ss", and having boobs. I feel like she's one of those characters who are overrated, especially since the majority of her fans are giving such shallow reasonings as to why they like her.

Agreed. Many of her "fans" only look at one side of her and not the other. They look at the clothing and fawn over her hotness without realizing that she wears it, but doesn't flaunt herself. They look at Cloud and act as though she can't possibly exist without him, when her best moments are when she is on her own. They look at her physical strength but ignore (or deny) the fact that she is weaker emotionally. She's such a wonderfully complex character and I feel that many people cheapen her by just looking at what they want.

/babble

You need to go on tangents more often. :razz: I think one is in denial if they try to justify a miniskirt as being good for martial arts, but trying to make sense of it in this manner is quite intriguing.

One of the main reasons the Tifa fans whom I'm friends with like her is because of this struggle you've written about. It strikes at the uncertainty within everyone about who they really are and who they should be. Tifa was suddenly thrust from her little Nibelheim bubble into the open world, and even years later was still struggling to find who she really was. Where did she fit in the original AVALANCHE, for example? Jessie was the tech expert, Barret was the leader, Biggs seemed the co-leader, Wedge provided warm camaraderie and affection etc. Who was she supposed to be? Perhaps she's found the answer by AC.

The discrepency between her clothing and her personality is something that happens in real life as well. There are people who dress provocatively to cover their insecurities. Compare it to Aerith, whose clothing comprises a long dress, a jeans jacket and what looks like freaking combat boots. They show her femininity, her street smartness and her ability to survive--and they don't seem at odds with her personality at all. She's comfortable in them. Whereas Tifa's personality conflicts with her clothing, just as she is in conflict within herself.

You could say that while Aerith's is the type of personality one strives to emulate (self-confidence is one of her best traits), Tifa's is the one we most often have.

I liked Tifa's AC design mostly because it actually looks reasonable to fight it. :lol:

YES

That was my main beef with her outfit in FFVII. How the HECK was she supposed to do those high kicks in a leather MINI SKIRT? That thing'd be up around her waist just from WALKING :blink:
That and, how can she do all that physical stuff without a bra? *Shudders at the thought*

I honestly don't like ANYONE's character design in Advent Children. But specifically Tifa's was a bit weird.. it didn't seem to fit her at all..

It didn't look like something that a 22 year old woman would wear in my opinion and it looked kinda bulky. Honestly, I wasn't too crazy about it. I bet it was supposed to be CG leather but it looked like plastic which was kinda funky too. Plus the duster-esque thing was kinda pointless. (Although Cloud's design was convaluted too. What's with the half skirt!?)

I believe those are supposed to be aprons that both Tifa and Cloud are wearing since they work and help out around in a bar. I forgot if that was confirmed for Tifa, but I'm pretty sure Reunion Files confirmed that for Cloud. Without the apron, I assume Tifa's outifit is a simple black top and a pair of shorts.

I thought her outfit was okay. I just didn't like that the style was practically ripped off from Rinoa. Zero creativity in my book. With the whole ripped-off-from-Rinoa hair and outfit, I feel like they've taken so much away from the Tifa I've always known. They should have, at least, kept the dolphin-tail hair. *weeps*

*Points to the costume designs in FFX-2* I think Nomura was just going through a weird period.
Still makes better sense than her FFVII costume though ^_^

I don't think the "half apron" thing on Cloud was supposed to be taken as an actual apron. They just call it that for lack of better words. ^_^ It's very different from what Tifa wears. And somehow I feel that it's part of her usual wear because she still uses a towel to clean her hands. :lol:

Really? O.O
I always thought it was an actual apron. That was the silly idea I got after what I read from Reunion Files. Now I'm back to being completely clueless as to why Cloud is wearing an "apron".

Hrmms...that's very possible too.
I just automatically assumed their aprons were due to the nature of their work... :P

You know, I'm so definitely going to wear my apron at work like Cloud's half skirt. :lol:

I believe Tifa's apron design was confirmed in Reunion Files, but I don't recall reading anything about Cloud's design being an apron. :unsure: *goes to check*

Nope, only mentions Tifa's apron.

Still, it's a cool idea but I agree with HD, it's such a blatant rip-off from Rinoa. It's almost as if Tifa played FF8 and decided to have her version of Rinoa's outfit cosplay. :D

:lmao:

I think her outfit in FF7 was purely for fanservice purposes, there sure weren't any pockets anywhere even though she was running Seventh Heaven as well back then! Poor Tifa.

I think they call his an apron in his design section. But I think they do simply because "cape" isn't the right word and "half skirt" is a little too feminine. :whistle:

And Yuna's half skirt confuses me too. :lol:

To be fair, this is Final Fantasy. People summon meteors and there's a giant freaky monster that landed on the planet from outer space and killed a race of people that talked to planets. Tifa walking around in an impossibly short skirt doesn't seem too odd. XD; Plus, look at Rikku (X2) and Ashe. How they manage to do ANYTHING in those outfits is beyond me.

I didn't really like the black. I love gothic, but it makes Tifa seem so gloom and doom. :dunno:

Bah! Bah I say! *Loves Ashe's outfit* :lmao: Anyways, you do make a good point, Tifa's outfit isn't as ridiculous as the stuff in FFX-2. But I do hate hearing Tifa fans trying to rationalize her outfit, saying stuff like "It's to keep her kewl!" Yeah, I'm sure she'd rather be alive and armored than cool

I believe they said it was because they had great difficulty animating not only her hair length, but also the color. It was very hard for them to get the right lighting considering her very dark hair color. Also, Aeris had a lot less screentime, so it would not have been as hard to animate. For instance, Aeris doesn't get thrown across the church.

I am a bit biased, though, when I say that I found Aeris to be much more striking and special (for lack of a better word) looking than Tifa. Tifa is pretty, but in the sense that all girls in FFVII must be pretty. Aeris, I believe, was meant to stand out. She wears pink among all the dark that dominates the designs. That is why Aeris may stand out more so than Tifa does.

Am I veering off topic? Oh dear.

To answer the original question -- yes. I do like her design. It is definitely different and I don't think it looks like Rinoa's at all. Rinoa's bangs and hair is quite different, actually. Also, Tifa's hair remains faithful to her character design in FFVII. I think the confusion arises from her apron. Though one has to wonder why one would wear a leather apron. Wouldn't they just spend more money sicne it would get worn out? :lol:

I guess Tifa gets enough tips from her guests to buy new ones.

I've wondered about the colors of her clothing as well. While pink happens to be a very soft, innocent, and feminine color and suites that side of her very much, I also think it was meant to make her stand out in a very symbolical way. As you've said, she and Cloud are the very essence of FFVII.

Aerith definitely contrasts against everything else in her surrounding, both physically and emotionally. To me it almost seems like it has something to do with the whole idea of a gentle, but tough flower being able to bloom in the slums. Just think about how contrasting a flower can look in such a bleak place like that. Also, the idea is that they aren't supposed to be able to grow there...and Aerith (with the type of personality that she has) seems to be a parallel to that. Despite the dark and bleak world she lives in and the huge responsibility she burdens as the last Cetra, she was still able to grow up into someone who's always cheerful and looking forward to life. In a world such as that, I think her coloring definitely marks her as someone special and not just another person you would casually pass by out in the streets.

I think she has this angelic beauty that radiates from her to everything else in her surrounding, and even just her presence alone gives off that sort of beauty. Tifa just doesn't have that kind of effect. I agree with you then that she's pretty but in the way that any other pretty girl would be. There's really nothing that makes her stand out (other than her chest size, maybe :P ).

*has just noticed how so off topic she is* >_<

Just curious...but in what way?

I definitely agree. I think you summed up everything I wanted to say.

Which is exactly why I believe she, along with Cloud, was the very essence of FFVII. Aeris was never defeated by the corruption around her. I think that ties in perfectly with Rufus's line about the people of Planet (Earth?) doing "as life dictates".

Well, if you take away length, her hair remains pretty much the same in both color and the way it frames Tifa's face. I think an AC picture and the picture that was posted earlier look pretty much the same. Also, Tifa's hair was pretty plain. Long ponydolphintail and a bit layered at the frong.

Ah, okay.
To me, her long dolphin tail-like hair just makes it really easy to point her out as 'Tifa'. Nomura seems to favor Rinoa's design quite a bit though, so after losing that long hair, I think she lost the hair that really made her unique. By all means, I don't think she looks exactly like Rinoa nor could I ever confuse the two, but I do think there are resemblances in the style of clothing and hair all the way down to the whole idea of the ribbon on the arm.

Truthfully, I'm rather conflicted about Tifa's design. It is pretty, and looks very cool whenever she walks or fights - like in the first ten minutes or so in the movie, when she goes up the stairs. :P Although it does look like a dark leather rip-off from Rinoa. They could've at least made it more creative, y'know? Look how Nomura totally changed Yuna's look (not saying it's good though).

The colors are so bland though, stuck between a firm black and white. No variation, other than a pink ribbon on her arm - and that's for Aerith, not because it's in her fashion sense. And because everyone's doing it.

Having her dress in black and white really makes her uh, blend in the background. When someone else brighter and more vibrant comes in, your attention strays, and Tifa just sort of fades away. I barely noticed Tifa in the church-pool near the end.

I think it reinforces her shy personality, and I like it. Her FF7 thing screamed too much pixelly fanservice. >_<

::will go continue the discussion more deeply when she's not as tired::