I saw my name mentioned again in some write-up and for the benefit of the doubt I will assume some Clotis are still not convinced that Cloud loves Tifa romantically. Now like I've said like a dozen times already, Cloud's love for Tifa will not reduce whataver feeling Cloud has for Aerith and vice versa. This article will present the evidences showing that Cloud and Tifa love each other romantically for many years in different shades.
Longest Cloti article that I've written.
I. Proof of love
You see I have written a dozen essays on Cloud and Tifa's relationship and I've also written a summary about them. There are things between Cloud and Tifa that cannot absolutely prove they love each other, but provides a solid ground on their relationship. These are the foundations of a romantic love- friendship, dedication, selflessness, understanding of each other.
Pixiv ID: 17976082
Artist: デラコ
Love composed of passion only is empty. It's weak, fleeting and physical. I would argue that Cloti is made by more building blocks. Now I will list some facts both the narrative and the official materials present. For the proof of these statements I will be providing links, as for the general reference it could be found
here.
- Cloud wanted to be strong because of failing to save Tifa when they were children. He wanted to join Soldier to make her notice him
- Cloud kept his promise to Tifa a couple of times, even in alternate universes
(link)
- Tifa never left Cloud's side when he was comatose in Mideel, even if her life was in danger
- Cloud formed a family with Tifa as the mother and from Tifa's perspective he's also a father (link)
- Cloud is happy with Tifa and the kids
- Cloud finds peace with Tifa and his family with her
- Tifa believes in Cloud, knows him all too well and supports him.
- Tifa is the only one Cloud has opened his heart to
- Tifa is an important woman to Cloud who helped him gain the strength to move forward (link)
- Cloud’s Promised Land is the place where Tifa, the kids and all the people he loves surround him
- Cloud said Tifa is there whenever he needs her
- Tifa is Cloud’s light in Kingdom Hearts, when Sephiroth is his darkness (link)
- Cloud and Tifa died for each other in Dissidia and Cloud turned from darkness to light because this act (link)
II. Proof of romance
Now this section will be a bit more complicated. I will arrange the arguments according to their chronology in the game.
When they were kids, Cloud liked Tifa.
This love is described as romantic but faint and in it's early stages. Because of this love, Cloud wanted to join Soldier to get her to notice him.
給水塔での約束
Pixiv ID: 195918
Artist: まこ
(SOURCE 10th AU page 12: "Before leaving the village, he boldly called to Tifa, a girl he liked romantically, and declared he would become a SOLDIER."
That is our first proof that Cloud definitely loved Tifa romantically, at least from his earliest childhood until he's 14 years old.SOURCE 10th AU page 24: "In those days, Tifa didn't take much notice to Cloud. The reason why she said to him "To be saved by a Hero" was only to satisfy her childish princess desire.
However when the promise was exchanged, at that moment, Cloud became a special existence to her, which later, he now holds a huge position (in Tifa's life)."
At the point where the promise was made Tifa was as immature as Cloud as she's 13 years old. However she took interest on him when he agreed to promise her that he would always be there to rescue her, and thought of him as her knight in shining armor.
Between Cloud and Tifa at this point, I would use the word "crush" or infatuation in describing their affections. Crushes, as many of us know about is not a deep or mature form of love. It can be strong but if it doesn't grow it won't last long. There is no single way to define crushes but you certainly think about that person very much, you have fantasies on that person and you want him/her to notice you even barely know him/her. Using that common description, Cloud and Tifa definitely had a mutual crush on each other.
Fast-forward two years later, Cloud revisits Nibelheim as a lowly Shinra grunt. Because of his shame of not being able to be Soldier, he covered his face. This time Tifa is waiting for him and excited to meet him. If Cloud has no interest on Tifa here, he wouldn't be that embarrassed.
Outside the reactor, Cloud protected Tifa from monsters but he was badly hurt and Tifa has to escort him back to town. Cloud felt down after this and mentioned that "if only he was Soldier. Zack was able to "sense some issues." Cloud really takes his promise to Tifa seriously and his desire to protect her didn't change. His profile has a small section about his promise to Tifa and it says that if he dies in
Before Crisis he will cry out how he wasn't able to keep it.
Tifa's definitely interest at him at this point. Here are some text message Tifa gave to Zack in CC:
From: Tifa
Contents:
Sephiroth—I don't get him at all. Is everyone in SOLDIER like him? Oh, and are there any blond guys in SOLDIER? Well, it's just a dream... Any girl would love to have a blond SOLDIER guy protect her when she's in a pinch. Well, it's no good just waiting for my blond knight in shining armor to show up, so I've started learning how to fight, myself. My teacher tells me I've got a knack for it.
(next message)I almost forgot. Please don't tell anyone in SOLDIER that I asked about the blond guy. Okay?
When Sephiroth went mad and slaughtered people, Cloud followed him to the reactor. Cloud saw Tifa hurt on the ground, caressed her face and carried her to a safer spot. He then charged at Sephiroth angrily.
Cloud" "Mom... Tifa... my town... give it back..."
source deleted
Cloud finds his true strength and defeats Sephiroth. Notice how Tifa is mentioned along with his mom, and it's fair to say a tragedy doesn't make him "unlove" Tifa.
So bottomline, Cloud and Tifa still has romantic feelings for each other when they were 16 and 15 respectively. It may still be not mature, but note that this almost the same as Zidane/Garnet's and Squall/Rinoa's and Tidus/Yuna's and Zack/Aerith's ages. The tragedy affected both of them in many ways, Cloud gets messed up pretty badly and Tifa ceased being the dreamy damsel.
Then Cloud was comatose for five years and fast forward to Midgar when they meet again. Cloud has a different personality. Tifa has changed as well, she doesn't see Cloud as her ideal knight in shining armor, but now someone who can help Avalanche and someone she should observe because of his bizarre behavior. The reason why Tifa wanted Cloud to stay in Avalanche is for his own well-being, she knows there's something wrong.
Now five years is long for Tifa and things might have changed for Cloud too (even when he was asleep.) It's given that Tifa romantically likes Cloud at this point.
Note that 好意 "koui" is a euphemism for love and this was used between Cecil/Rosa, Celes/Locke and Squall/Rinoa. My Japanese friend translate it before as “fancied.”
Despite his cold behavior in several scenes, Cloud is essentially popular with members of the opposite sex. In addition to FFVII’s heroines Tifa and Aerith both having feelings for him.
FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Cloud Strife Profile p36-41
FFVII] Both Aerith, who is forthright, and Tifa, who is demure, have feelings for Cloud but he is none the wiser to them. (screencap of Tifa date)
FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Cloud Strife Profile p36-41
So at this point Tifa's love for Cloud is definitely romantic. Note that it's implied that the neighborhood around the bar gossips about Cloud and Tifa. And Johnny, a guy who was crushing on Tifa gave up because of Cloud's presence. How about Cloud's feelings then?
Kitase: When I first read Nojima’s scenario, I felt strongly that his image of a heroine was fresh. The hero didn’t have a typical personality, single-minded or righteous, and Aerith lived in the slums. Those things were really fresh. And having 2 heroines, Aerith and Tifa, and having the hero waver between them, at the time that was something new. FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania page 8-13 Interview
So at 21 years old, Cloud is at least still interested at Tifa but he was oblivious of her feelings for him. Note that I listed earlier that when he fell down from the plate into Aerith's church, Tifa is the one he wants to return to, not really Avalanche. He wavered between Aerith and Tifa, there was competition between them but he's interested in both so he "wavered."
But then Aerith died. I will not say her death will end whatever romantic feelings Cloud possibly held for her but after her death Cloud's illusion begins to shatter. He had a mental breakdown realizing he's not the "real Cloud" and fell into the Lifestream.
早く元気になってね
Pixiv ID: 4925812
Artist: isaki
Tifa found him washed ashore to Mideel, unresponsive, and nursed him. I can say Tifa's devotion to him despite him being mentally incapable of given any response and her willingness to stay with him even in danger shows her love has grown from crush to
love. Then they fell back to the Lifestream where several things unfolded:
- Tifa learned that Cloud wanted to join Soldier so she would notice him, and because he felt powerless to save her when she fell from the cliff
- Cloud and Tifa learned Cloud was in Nibelheim 5 years prior and he defeated Sephiroth and kept his promise to her
- Tifa then tells Young Cloud within Cloud this:
Tifa : "After you left town, I really thought about you a lot. I used to wonder how Cloud was doing. I wonder if Cloud was able to get into SOLDIER? I started reading the newspapers, thinking that there might be an article about you."
Young Cloud: "Thanks, Tifa. Tell him what you told me, later. He'll probably be so happy."
Here, young Cloud tells Tifa that the older Cloud will be happy if he hears that Tifa finally took notice of him. Young Cloud merges will all the "Clouds" and he regains his true self.
She ventured into Lifestream together with Cloud. Amidst the course of him trying to ascertain his memories, they became aware of the thoughts/feelings which each other was holding. FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania Tifa Lockhart Character Profile p 42-47
SOURCE UO Page 27: Deep inside Cloud’s heart, feelings were hidden that no one knew about. Even though there were important memories to himself, many of them were forgotten. In the process of looking for the real Cloud, Tifa learns a lesson about the complexity of the human heart, and the feelings are earnestly transmitted.
Tifa learns that Cloud fancied him when they were young and Cloud learns that Tifa becomes interested at him.
Just as Cloud is oblivious to Tifa's feelings, Tifa learns that she was oblivious of Cloud's feelings too.
(unknown artist, deleted site)
The two "meet again" but Cloud now is his real self. If you think about it, Cloud was asleep for five years and so when he find his real self we can say this is pretty much the 16 year old Cloud that is in love with Tifa, freed from his Zack!Cloud illusion, now intersecting with the 21 year old Cloud who had endured weeks of challenges and grief. It is argued that in the lifestream they learned their past feelings and
feelings on their past feelings, but the next step of their romance tells us more.
Before the final battle Cloud tells his party to go to their loved ones and find their reason to fight. Cloud and Tifa, having nowhere to go, spend the night together and we get a affectionate dialogue in the High Affection scene. They talk how they heard one another calling in the Lifestream and believing in themselves then:
Cloud: "Hey, Tifa...... I...... There are a lot of things I wanted to talk to you about. But now that we're together like this, I don't know what I really wanted to say... I guess nothing's changed at all... Kind of makes you want to laugh...
Tifa: Cloud... Words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking..."
(at dawn)
Tifa: Give me a little longer... Just a little bit longer... This day will never come again... So let me have this moment...
Cloud: Yeah... okay. This is probably the last time we'll have together......"
(from
http://haruno0yuki.web.fc2.com/vivi/index.html)
Now a short discussion on this part, there arguments saying that because this scene has two versions the romance isn't definite but evidences prove that the explicitly romantic version,
the High Affection version, is canon.
In FF7, Tifa is the only one who knows Cloud’s childhood, and furthermore, she holds the key to people involved in the story of Nibelheim’s burning down, which is also depicted in CC. She and Cloud came to realize their feelings for each other in the end of the story, and live together in AC and DC. Crisis Core Ultimania Tifa Lockhart Profile
(FFVII Ultimania Omega, pg. 15; Cloud’s profile)
“Declares that the team should dissolve in the final hours before the final battle, and communicated his feelings together with Tifa, who remains behind at the airship with him.”
(FFVII Ultimania Omega, pg. 27; Tifa's Profile)
“When Cloud proposes that the group separates temporarily, she remains behind at the airship and communicates her feelings together with Cloud. “
(FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, pg. 118; pg. 120 in the Revised Edition; story summary)
“Cloud and Tifa, who remain, reveal their feelings for each other together.”
(FFVII Ultimania Omega, pg. 198; story summary)
“When their companions disperse to the places where people important to them await, Cloud and Tifa are the only two to remain behind. They reveal their mutual feelings in their final hours, and…….”
(FF 25 Memorial Ultimania. Tifa's Memorial Scenes)
The Fateful Night the Two Share
An event near the time of the final battle with Sephiroth, where Cloud and Tifa stay at the airship Highwind together. With this possibly being the end — an evening overcome with a flood of feelings becomes something special.
Moreover, the Japanese text itself is romantic. The phrase "communicated feelings"
in Cloud and Tifa's 10th AU profiles と想いを通わせる is romantic with sexual implications as it denotes feelings conveyed without the use of words, which refers to Tifa's line "Words aren't the only way..." Also, the the variations of the phrase used in describing the HW scene objectively disregarding versions are
precisely the same words used to describe the romantic moments between Locke/Celes, Tidus/Yuna, Steiner/Beatrix and Squall/Rinoa.
Maybe one of the biggest nail in the issue is the fact that Cloud and Tifa's moment under the Highwind is featured in the the FF 20th AU "
For The One I Love" page (above) listing displays of romantic affection present in canon couples I just listed above. Even if the HW scene is a variable scene with two versions, the page never mentioned the deviation while the Gold Saucer date didn't specify a date and mentioned that the result depends on the player, unlike the explicit favor to the the HAHW scene.
VII – Secret date
At the Gold Saucer, Cloud receives an invitation from one of his companions.
Who comes around with the invitation is dependent on Cloud’s behavior.
VII – The night before the final battle
Thanks to Tifa, Cloud regains himself, and before the final battle with Sephiroth, without using words,
he confirms with her that their feelings match.
Another compelling evidence is the FF25th Memorial lines.
“Words aren’t the only thing that tell people what you’re thinking…”
Prairie: The last night before the final battle, to Cloud when he finds himself at a loss for words
For many years, Cloud and Tifa have been holding favor for one another. At last facing the impending final battle with Sephiroth, they confirm together their feelings of desire towards one another
FF 25th AU Tifa's Memorial Lines
There are arguments that this page does not canonize the HAHW scene because the page only features memorable lines. It doesn't need to because the evidence for the HAHW scene is adequate.
What's striking to this quote that it confirms that Cloud and Tifa had held "koui" or "favor" for one another for many years, and this affirms all the romantic subtext between them.
At what is described as a fateful, special night a flood of feelings were conveyed between them. These feelings are mutual and for each other, and was brought by the favor they had for many years.
Cloud and Tifa's affection for each other endured the years and becomes passionate at the night before the final battle.
Now we go to the events after the game.
Case of Tifa is a short story detailing Cloud and Tifa's relationship between the end of FFVII and Advent Children. At the early portion of the story, there is this conversation.
夕暮れ
Pixiv ID: 21486895
Member: 悠 (Duneart)
As Tifa looked away from the sky towards the ground, she was fearful of the future. However, Cloud beside her chose to smile gently. It was a smile that she hadn’t seen before during their journey. Cloud noticed her gaze and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Cloud, you’re smiling.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“It all starts now. A new…”
Cloud looked for the right words.
“A new life.”
“I’m going to live. I think that’s the only way I can be forgiven. All sorts of things… happened.”
“That’s right…”
“But when I think about how many times I’ve thought about how I was going to start a new life, it’s funny.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve always failed everything.”
“That’s not funny.”
“After this … I think I’ll be okay.”
Cloud was silent for a long time before he spoke again.
“Because I have you this time.”
“You’ve always had me.”
“What I mean is kind of different,” Cloud answered with another smile.
-Case of Tifa
Cloud says "I have you," then Tifa goes to tell him she's always there for him. Cloud then says it's
different. The two of them has always been friends, then this dialogue does indicate a change in their relationship. Moreover, the two of them are entrusted to take care of Marlene, then later Denzel.
Cloud and Tifa formed their own family.
Nojima talked about their relationship in the context of love, marriage and family.
おはよ
Pixiv ID: 7099709
Artist: たーな
The following dialogue I will post even
implies that Cloud and Tifa are sleeping together. Tifa was close enough to Cloud to wait for him to sleep and wait until morning, or unless she goes into his room ala Paranormal style. I will not consider this a solid proof of sleeping together, but I believe so that this is the case.
After making certain that Cloud was asleep, she spoke to him. “We’ll be all right, won’t we?”
Of course, there was no answer. I only heard the sound of him sleeping. I wondered if the fact that he was sleeping here meant that he was part of the family.
“Do you love me?”
Cloud woke up, a perplexed look on his face.
“Hey, Cloud. Do you love Marlene?”
“Yeah. But sometimes I don’t know how to approach her.”
“Even though we’ve been together for some time?”
“Maybe that just isn’t enough.”
“Even we aren’t enough for you?”
Cloud didn’t answer.
“Sorry for asking some strange things.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s my problem.”
Cloud closed his eyes.
“Let’s work hard together.”
Tifa waited for his answer, though she couldn’t hear it even if she waited until the morning.
However,
Case of Tifa was written using the premise that at first, things won't go well between Cloud and Tifa. Cloud left because of issues which he eventually resolved in Advent Children. Problems arose between them because of their own personal demons.
Now there are arguments saying that at
Case of Tifa they don't seem like romantic pair because they weren't communicating their feelings properly, and that because Tifa has insecurities. However some people I've talked to who are engaged in long term relationships that include cohabitation tells that
Case of Tifa shows the realism between couples living together. So in this case it's fair to say that only
subjectively Cloud and Tifa are not a couple at this point and most arguments against their relationship are opinions at most. There are even arguments saying Tifa asking Cloud if he loves her proves she doesn't know his feelings, but this kind of reasoning invalidates real life relationships and is contradicted by the quote saying
Tifa knows Cloud all too well.
Then we go to the final stage, Advent Children. The movie is not romantic and the relationship between Cloud and Tifa is not the focus of the story.There are cute moments now and then but ultimately this is Cloud forgiving himself and finding his Promised Land. And Cloud's happiness is wonderfully described here:
(SOURCE: 10th AU, ACC Playback:
The place where he awakens—-
That is Cloud’s Promised Land
As he sleeps, Cloud hears two voices. The voices of two people very dear to him, who are no longer with him. Playfully and kindly, they give him a message: he doesn’t belong here yet.
When he awakes, there was his friends. There were the children, freed from their fatal illness. Tifa and Marlene, and Denzel asking for Cloud to heal his Geostigma— his family were waiting. Engulfed in celebration, he realizes where he is meant to live. He realizes that he was able to forgive himself.
And when he turns around—- “she” is starting to leave. Together with the friend who had given Cloud his life. Cloud no longer has to suffer in loneliness… And so they too go back to where they belong.
Nojima supports this by saying just as Zack and Aerith belong to the lifestream,
Cloud and Tifa belong together.
Inside, I felt one thing was for sure: Cloud and Tifa would be together. Everybody would be back home where they belonged. - Two years is too short to forget the past completely, but it’s still a pretty long time… And two years older was a good age for Marlene to start talking a little.” -Nojima
Some argues that passion faded between Cloud and Tifa in this time period, but I can somehow agree. I think all the traumas and everything that has happened choked out the possibility of a honeymoon period. But nonetheless their love is strong and I think it shows in the form of their commitment in taking care of their adopted children. Many married couples have a relationship like this.
Because of Cloud and Tifa's lack of supposedly "obvious" signs of romance, some people interpret Tifa as a good friend to Cloud that is now family but not a lover. However, Reunion Files describes Tifa's character.
artist: sumi*zumi
“There are many dimensions to Tifa’s character. She’s like a mother, a sweetheart [koibito], and a close ally in battle“:
Advent Children Reunion Files book (pg. 19)~ Nomura
If the Japanese text is to be examined, Tifa here is like a mother, but sweetheart and ally in battle are not referred as "like." Tifa is objectively a close ally in battle, and Tifa here is being describe as a sweetheart.
The word used koibito (恋人
is defined by dictionaries as “girlfriend/lover/sweeheart.” But koibito is more complicated than that. Koibito can be subjective, and in certain contexts means “person you love/beloved.” Cloud is described as Aerith’s koibito in the lifestream and there is debate if this means “boyfriend” or “beloved.” One thing fact is that koibito is not a person who loves without being loved back but it can be a person who is loved but does not love back.
This means, Tifa, described as a koibito objectively in a guidebook means that she’s the beloved and using a certain standard, someone’s girlfriend.
There are those who argue that Tifa is simply koibito to Johnny and Rude, two men who have a crush on her, but this cannot be proven for several reasons. First is that the Reunion Files quote refers to Advent Children, and Johnny didn’t even appear or gets mentioned in the movie. Rude interacted with Tifa at least, but never in the movie nor in the games had the two speak to each other. Also, the two men’s feelings are merely crush and koibito is not the appropriate word for what they feel about Tifa.
Koibito in its most formal and
objective sense denotes a deep, mutual love that lasts a lifetime. Sure the person who considers Tifa his koibito is not explicitly mentioned here, but who had loved Tifa since childhood? Who did Tifa share memories and feelings in the Lifestream? Who did Tifa spend the night with in the Highwind where they realized mutual romantic feelings for each other? Who is the one who said they now different from the way they are before?
おはよ。
Pixiv ID: 20425275
Member: co-ro
Adding all the evidences together reasonably, logically and
definitely the man who loves Tifa Lockhart is none other than Cloud Strife.They loved each other for years and it has endured the destruction of their hometown, memory loss and bizarre identity crisis, a love triangle, the loss of Aerith, mind screw, depression, guilt, insecurities, domestic problems, personal insecurities, parenting and a terminal disease. They have gone through the worst and what can possibly make things any worse for Cloud and Tifa? Despite all this from a childhood crush the love becomes of devotion, turned to passion, and grew into commitment. I'm quite sure things can only go better between them.
but its nice to see that he dearly wants them to hook up and thinks its rather sad they "didnt". at least he can see the connections for them to be together.
