This is a piece originally published to Twitter that analyzes not only the canonical evidence supporting Cloud and Tifa’s romantic relationship and its root at the heart of the story of FFVII, but also the special nature of it.
Cloud and Tifa’s relationship in FFVII is a unique, complex, & subversive take on the childhood friends-to-lovers trope. The many layers of depth in their relationship make their romance and bond far more compelling and relatable than most fantasy romances.
Cloud & Tifa’s relationship is threaded w/ themes of distance & reunion: in childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, & adulthood. It’s the heart & soul of FF7, driving the protagonist’s arc & his motivations. The progression of their relationship also drives the plot forward.
Cloud and Tifa’s story begins when they are very young children. They live next door to each other & often spend time playing together. They were so close that they freely went in one another’s houses to play. This closeness isn’t a secret to anyone, including Tifa’s parents.
Distance first grows between Cloud & Tifa between the ages of 7-8, before the death of Tifa’s mother & before the mountain incident. This is important bc Cloud is the one who begins to pull away, & it isn’t because of her mother’s death & that incident, her initial assumption.
Cloud pulled away because he didn’t understand nor know how to handle the complex feelings he was beginning to experience for Tifa, especially as her friend group expanded.
Cloud was an isolated child. He was an introvert w/ a strong independent streak. He also had an inferiority complex that he masked w/ a desire for self-importance to hide his true desires and inner loneliness.
Tifa was the only girl her age in the village. As such, her friend group consisted of the other boys by default. They played together innocently as children. Cloud was not excluded from the group, but rather chose to isolate himself. (there is a well-known mistranslation here)
During the mountain incident, Tifa’s friends abandoned her, while Cloud, on the other hand – who had already begun to distance himself from Tifa – followed her. He wanted to protect her, but they both fell and were hurt.
Cloud took the blame for this incident and internalized this failure, especially because of the reaction of her father and the lies told by the other boys. Tifa, however, did not remember what happened and was confused by the incident and what she was told of it.
After this incident, distance grows between Cloud and Tifa. Cloud isolates himself further & his complex deepens into a desire to prove that he is not only better than the other boys but that he is deserving of Tifa’s attention and affection.
This also coincides w/ the children growing into adolescence & the expectations for the future. Nibelheim was a small, traditional village & there were expectations set for children at a young age. Boys were expected to be providers & girls were expected to take care of home.
The boys in the village seek out their prospects for future work & wives. Tifa, the only girl in the village, is the main attraction. Cloud is no different – except that the mountain incident proves that Cloud actually cared about Tifa. He didn’t see her as a prize to be won.
Tifa’s friends openly try to court her, even w/ her father’s blessing. Tifa politely finds ways to reject or skirt around their attempts – (a useful skill she’ll need later in life). She isn’t interested in anybody but Cloud. Meanwhile, Cloud continues to admire and interact w/her from afar. It isn’t until Cloud decides to join SOLDIER to impress Tifa – and to make up for his failure on the mountain – does he make his intentions known to her. At the time of this invitation, Tifa ponders the nature of her feelings for Cloud. She’s hopeful that he likes her the way the other boys do, but she’s young and thinks her feelings are shallower than they truly are – that she likes him because he’s beautiful and unreachable. She has these feelings because of how her mother once described him, but also because of how distant Cloud has kept himself from her, something that’s confused her since they “stopped being friends”.
But on the water tower, when Cloud declares his intentions to her, Tifa realizes that he isn’t unreachable but, but ordinary and real. He has the same kinds of dreams that any other boy his age might. Tifa, a 13-year-old girl, thinks that is beautiful and special and she falls in love with him. She asks him to make her a promise because she wants to see him again – she wants him to come back to her so that she can spend the rest of her life with him.
After this brief “reunion”, distance opens up between Cloud & Tifa again. Cloud leaves for Shinra & they don’t see each other for 2 (7) years. While Cloud is away, he is striving for SOLDIER because that is what he declared to Tifa. He wants to become someone special for her.
Meanwhile, Tifa goes on to learn martial arts & develop many other skills & hobbies in the village – all while not only thinking about Cloud, but admiring him for who he is to the point she even wants to be more like him. And she cherishes their few but precious memories.
When Cloud returns to Nibelheim at age 16 as part of the survey team to inspect the reactor, he hides himself from Tifa due to his shame at not getting into SOLDIER. While he is there, he is not only pining for her, but also striving to protect her. Tifa, meanwhile, doesn’t know that Cloud is there. She hopes that he’ll come – but not because she wants a SOLDIER. She wants to see Cloud, the boy she always wanted to be closer to, the boy she fell in love with, again. She’s disappointed when he doesn’t come.
Tifa doesn’t know it, but she is actually reunited with Cloud during this incident, & he keeps his promise to her, protecting her the way that he always wanted to. And Cloud doesn’t know it, but Tifa survives her injuries that day. Tifa is taken away by Zangan, ending up in Midgar. But she never forgets Cloud & still has him buried in her heart despite the challenges & traumas she faces over the next 5 years. Cloud is trapped by Hojo’s experimentation & transported to Midgar by Zack over this period.
This distance is closed when Cloud & Tifa reunite as young adults at the S7 train station. Cloud is incapacitated by mako & infected by Jenova cells, but seeing Tifa he awakens. However, his true identity is broken by the experimentation AND his inability to accept himself.
He creates, as a coping mechanism, a false persona – the “Ex-SOLDIER 1st Class” person – that is based on his ideal self – someone cool, tough, and strong – someone who made it into SOLDIER, possessing the characteristics of a man who can keep that promise to Tifa.
Even though Cloud & Tifa are ‘reunited’, Tifa knows that something is wrong – and it’s not only their mismatched memories or his mako-colored eyes. Tifa knows the real Cloud & this false persona raises her red flags, even though his true self emerges briefly with her. Throughout the game, this distance grows and closes and then grows again between Cloud & Tifa because of the false persona, mismatched memories, & Jenova’s interference, all of which Sephiroth – the villain – is exploiting. The ReTrilogy greatly expands on this, but the point stands – Tifa is doing everything she can to care for Cloud’s fragile state while trying to navigate the discrepancies in their memories.
At the Northern Crater, Sephiroth severs the bond between Cloud & Tifa by gaslighting them over these mismatched memories. When Tifa’s belief in Cloud wavers, his psyche completely breaks – the false persona is no longer enough to hold him together.
Tifa’s true, unconditional love for Cloud is revealed when she finds him in Mideel. When the world is falling apart, she chooses to stay by his side & care for him, not knowing whether he will ever wake up again. She does this because she loves & cares about the real Cloud.
It isn’t until Cloud & Tifa fall into the Lifestream that they have their true reunion. Tifa not only learns the truth about their memories, but the truth about Cloud’s feelings for her & why he did the things he did – including isolating himself when they were children.
The reconciliation and understanding they reach in the Lifestream allows Cloud to reclaim his memories and the truth and accept his true identity – flaws and all – through Tifa’s acceptance, love, and support.
After this, Cloud and Tifa confirm their feelings, closing the final distance between them under the Highwind. Once again, they subvert the common fantasy couple’s trope of bold declarative statements, confirming their feelings with actions rather than words.
Even so – they do confirm their feelings with words eventually – and then go on to build a home, businesses, and a family together, being by each other’s side for the rest of their days.
In adulthood, ACC introduces a conflict that creates a new distance between Cloud & Tifa. This conflict is predicated on Cloud falling ill to Geostigma and entering a depression due to his survivor’s guilt over the deaths of his precious friends.
Cloud distances himself because he doesn’t want to let down Tifa and his family and once again believes he is not worthy of them because of his past and his illness. He is already in a weak place because of his past traumas & worries about losing his newfound happiness.
Cloud works through his guilt with support from Tifa and is able to confront his past & forgive himself. With this behind him, Cloud returns to his family where he belongs. Cloud and Tifa are once again reunited and continue to live together as a family.
Final note- Cloud & Tifa’s promise is made under Tanabata stars. There’s clear symbolism. The Tanabata tale is about 2 lovers eternally separated & reunited. For Cloud & Tifa, this distance & reunion happens throughout their story – physically, emotionally, & metaphorically.
This isn’t your typical meet-cute and let’s go on an adventure together romance. This is a well-developed & nurtured relationship that has a long history and battle scars that many relationships couldn’t survive.
It’s a relationship meant to show the challenges, barriers, and misunderstandings that true love is capable of enduring realistically, one that is relatable to people living in the real world and not in fantasy lands with magic and fae.
It’s a relationship written with a lot of love and thought & was woven intrinsically into the plot of FFVII. Because the truth is – without Cloud & Tifa & without their love & bond, many of the events of FFVII will not happen.
Thanks for reading!