I have been thinking about it. Everyone, included myself, tends to think that Aeris and Tifa are two beautiful girls, who cares a lot for Cloud, the two are alike in this sense but...but no, tifa and aeris ARE NOT ALIKE.

Aeris represents the inocence, she has a pure heart, she is always taking care of the others and cheering them up. She will always think in the others before, she can't hate anyone realy, event she cryes when she thought tseng was going to die, knowing he was the enemy. In Midgar, she is the only one who likes flowers, she is very sensitive, she loves nature...she is, in fact special. In the game we can see how she cheer up Cloud a lot of times, how she cheers up Cait Sith and even she smiled until the end...

She is not normal, i don think there is a human being like her! so pure, so beautiful person...She is NOT HUMAN. SHE IS SPECIAL, and i relly think she is PERFECT.

What about Tifa? it would be very boring if the two girls of the game were alike, so i can say she is the "opposite".Tifa is human and like a human being, she made mistakes.

That is why she is not perfect, she feels jealousy towards Aeris because she feels she interfers with her and Cloud,she lies to Cloud about the past because she is scared, she feels depresed when cloud is no longer here because she is also weak..you see?

Aeris and Tifa are two girls who are not alike.

What do you think?

Can you see examples in the game which shows tha perfection of the Cetra and the humanity of Tifa?

I will post them later.

OH yea I agree ,Aerith is nothing Like Tifa because she/Aerith is sweet loving and caring.
Tifa is not like Aerith because she has made mistakes lots in a matter of fact.
:cleris:

I never thought thay they are alike....they are so different.It's good, because every person can choose one of the girls and be her fan.
I love Aeris...but i don't like Tifa at all. She lacks something special that would make me like her.

Aerith isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. Socially she's awkward, and not quite there (example: dealing with Barret after finding out about Corel); she's the kind of girl who would say anything to anyone, and not be phased by it. You can tell that's she's not really had any friends all her life. Living ones, at least. Come on--hearing voices all your life is going to mess you up at least a little. I don't think the ideas of innocence and Aerith mesh so well, either; she is kind, mostly selfless to a fault and always has the best intentions, but her past is very, very dark (a lot can be done to a child in a lab over the space of seven years) and of course, Midgar isn't exactly the best place to be raised in.

But I agree, Aerith definitely isn't normal. She has a huge weight on her shoulders, probably needs to think of herself over others a little more, and I expect she didn't really know herself any better than Cloud knew himself, beyond indentifying herself as a Cetra. But it's important to remember that she's just as human as she is Cetra. In terms of race, I never got that impression that Cetra and the others were entirely different, anyway; moreso that the Cetra is just a bloodline that's dying out. (I also never thought that the Cetra, as a race, were particularly amazing. I figured they're as flawed and varied as humans are, probably worsening over time, with only Aerith left to listen to them.)

I think people miss a big chunk of Aerith's character, and assume that because she wears nice light, bright colours and doesn't sit around angsting that she's a perfect, happy character who's well balanced and liked by everyone. The girl has serious issues, like any well-written character, but simply deals with them in different ways than, say, Tifa or Cloud do.

(In short: I agree. Tifa and Aerith aren't similar, just because they have feelings for the same person, but it's not a case of one of them being flawed and the other being perfect.)

I thought that Tifa and Aeris were alike in some aspects, but yes, I agree. Tifa and Aeris are nothing alike, and I never considered the two anything like one another. However, that doesn't stop them from being good friends, which is what I always saw them as. Even back in the day when I didn't like Aeris, I still acknowledged the two as not rivals, but friends.

However, I must disagree with the idea that Aeris is perfect. =] In fact, the reason why I like her is because she is such a fresh and spunky character, with major ups and minor flaws. I think Aeris is really, just gorgeous.
As for normal... it's really hard to call the last surviving Cetra, normal. :lmao:
Aeris is an easy character to "fall in love" with, so to speak. She's cute, sweet, "spicy"--- someone others can really warm up to in a snap.

Tifa has a good balance of ups and downs, and it's true, that she does get jealous. Aeris has gotten jealous of Tifa on... what occasion that I remember in Maiden. :D
But anyway, I don't want to go on a "defend Tifa" rant, so I'll just say why I like her. I think she's a very caring, strong, and selfless character that always puts others before herself. I never conisidered her weak, and I like that she has some emotional problems. It makes her more human and relatable. I have no problem cheering up my friends, but I lack self-confidence most of the time... just like Tifa. And that's why she really grew on me as one of my favorite characters. Not only that, but she's beautiful, strong-willed and just so devoted to everyone. I wish I could be that selfless. x] I get jealous easily too, so I guess I can relate there as well.

I don't think Tifa is any more selfless than Aerith to be honest. Although Tifa's problem is perhaps that's she's too caring about certain things at times which might cause her to lose sight of the bigger picture. Like she lost sight of the "mission to protect the planet" because of her feelings for Cloud :P

Don't put all your eggs in one basket Tifa :no:

As for Aerith perhaps she isn't 100% perfect, flawless and innocent no - but in my opinion she's as close to it as FFVII has :giggle: As has been said "major ups and minor flaws" :)

It also seems to be what Square Enix likes to portray Aerith as - basically angelic. They mostly use media showing her praying or highlighting her goodness in some other way like her connection to flowers or the fact where there is Sephiroth there is Aerith (can be read as where there is a devil there is an angel ;)) They refer to Aerith and Zack as being an innocent virginal platonic love that leads me to believe that even when Aerith met Cloud she was still more innocent than some people think.

Edit - ... and ironically enough I just remembered Aerith's official theme song is "Pure Heart" :P

Yes, I do agree that Aeris and Tifa are two different girls. Although in some aspects (such as feelings towards Cloud), they are alike, but generally, they are not.

For one, Aeris is pure-hearted and thinks for the others than before her. She accepts Cloud for who he is, and not because he is almost like Zack. She develops feelings for Cloud that are different from her feelings from Zack, and was able to almost express herself to Cloud. She continued and exerted effort to spread the flowers in Midgar, she didn't really get angry and stuff.

Tifa, on the other hand, was not the same. She was caring, yes, but her intentions were more directed to Cloud. I agree to what many of you have said here. Tifa also wanted Cloud to be a first class SOLDIER, and was sort of put off when she discovered that Cloud wasn't first class.