Tifa Lockhart, one of the main female leads of Final Fantasy VII, is by far one of the most beloved female characters of her franchise.

One contributor to her popularity is her busty yet lean physique, making her the childhood crush of many, but also making her one of the most sexualized fictional women in all of media. Pornhub, a popular adult film website, released data revealing the most searched video game characters on its site in 2023. Street Fighter’s Chun-Li (though, curiously, it is specifically the Fortnite rendition of her) is at the top of the charts, with Tifa immediately following.

I told friends about this, and they were not surprised learning this information as Tifa is known for being widely sexualized on the internet. Some who dislike Tifa even shame the character for supposedly being promiscuous. To them, these statistics result from that.

It’s a shame, because Tifa is so much more likeable than just her body and sexuality.

Many love her strength and her sweet demeanor. She is an incredibly strong martial artist, yet she has a more reserved and empathetic personality than many might assume from her design. In a way, Tifa proves that it’s not necessarily masculine to be strong; a woman can be a physical powerhouse and still be feminine.

She also cares deeply for her teammates, something that is even more fleshed out in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. She also tries her best to support Cloud throughout the game. despite not always truly understanding what he’s going through. Lots of people love Tifa for these upstanding traits about her.

Her nurturing nature and politeness doesn’t appeal to me as much as it might for others, though. For me, at least, it’s because too many female characters completely revolve around those ideal traits, and this ideal personality combined with her design remind me of the traditional expectations of women in society to be emotional but reserved, and modest but still sexy. I also just believe her kindness alone is not the best part of her character, as I find the flaws she displays much more intriguing.

She is not completely selfless, she’s actually quite selfish in ways, but in an incredibly realistic way that many women like myself relate to. She seeks social validation because she is afraid of being alone; she’s afraid of others disliking her; and she is overall emotionally insecure. She has complexities that affect her relationship with Cloud, which is so interesting to watch. She still wants to be saved by Cloud, with the promise they made, despite her now being plenty strong enough to save herself and others from danger. I love these moments where Tifa proves she is not a perfect person or only a body for people to ogle, but a relatable multidimensional character. Although I will admit I do prefer other Final Fantasy VII characters over her, that does not discount that I believe she is a good character.

However, everyone has different standards for what makes a character appealing. Let us know your thoughts! What are your opinions on Tifa? Do you agree, disagree, have anything to add on to this evaluation? Share your perspective below, our Boss Rush Facebook, or join the conversation on the Boss Rush Discord!

Featured Image: Square Enix

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Image Source: Lauren Crewdson