The Love Triangle of FFVII – An Analysis by Squall_of_SeeD

Around the time of Advent Children Complete’s release, Kazushige Nojima — scenario writer of FFVII, AC/ACC, the On the Way to a smile stories, and numerous other FF projects — made the following comments about the Case of Tifa installment of On the Way to a Smile when asked, “How are Case of Tifa and Case of Barret? Would you say their meanings are that they’re redemption stories?”

Link to the Official site with question and answer here

(Translation by me)
“Case of Tifa … first, there’s the premise that things aren’t going well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma and Sephiroth, it would still be the same. I don’t mean to get into my views on romantic love, marriage and family. (laughs) After ACC, maybe Denzel and Marlene can get them to. Perhaps things would have gone well with Aerith, but Aerith’s responsibility is big, I think.”

Also, here’s an additional translation of Nojima’s comment by hitoshura:

“‘Episode Tifa’… first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same. I don’t really intend to go about my views on love or marriage or family (laughs). After ACC, I guess Denzel and Marlene could help them work it out. Maybe things would have gone well with Aerith, but I think there is a great burden from Aerith.”

Here, we have Nojima discussing Cloud and Tifa’s relationship, and he talks about it in the context of the two as a couple. Not a platonic couple, but a
romantic couple.

He speaks of them in the context of love, marriage and family. Love and family are certainly a big focus of Case of Tifa, particularly where the eponymous character and Cloud are concerned.

Though Tifa eventually decides during the course of the story to stop worrying about things between she and Cloud, she hardly succeeds. Also, Nojima reveals with this quote that their relationship — though dysfunctional at times, still one written in the context of love and family — was the very premise of the story.

Certainly, there’d be no reason for Nojima to mention these things — love, marriage and family — here if he wasn’t saying his views on those matters had informed his writing of their situation. Furthermore, he’s clearly not speaking of a romantic relationship between them in a hypothetical sense with his first line if there’s not already something the two needed to work through. His line about Denzel and Marlene — addressing the subject of the first line — speaks of the time following ACC, so there must be something for the kids to help them work through.

Nojima keeps coming back to this topic of love and family with Cloud and Tifa, both in the interview — again, his very next line is about how Denzel and Marlene may provide Cloud and Tifa an angle to work through their problems, while the lines after that discuss Aerith in the same context as Tifa — and in his writing of FFVII-related material in general.

Unavoidably, Nojima’s own experiences with and views of love, marriage and family influenced his writing of Case of Tifa before it was initially released — and likely did so again when he worked on the revised version. As well, the theme of family is prevalent in Advent Children/Advent Children Complete, which picks up right after Case of Tifa and resolves many of the personal crises Cloud was going through during that story.

Were Nojima thinking of Cloud and Tifa as merely platonic friends in an
arrangement of cohabitation, his comments about love and family would explain nothing of what he’d actually written. Particularly in light of the suggestion that Denzel and Marlene’s presence in the family may be able to help Cloud and Tifa “work it out” — described the way one might discuss trying to make a problematic relationship successful.

As said above, Nojima then continues the same line of thought — love,
marriage and family — a moment later when he discusses Aerith and her compatibility with Cloud. Though he posits that things may have gone better with her than with Tifa, he also suggests that even this relationship may have been troubled due to the great responsibility Aerith had as the last Cetra.

Of greater signifance, however, his choice of words here identify Aerith as a former potential romantic interest for Cloud (“Perhaps things would have gone well with Aerith…”), speaking of her in a relationship with Cloud as a hypothetical matter that did not come to pass. Tifa, however, is treated as though she is a *current* romantic interest for Cloud, speaking of her in a relationship with him as a matter that has come to pass.

While it can certainly be argued that Nojima’s comments don’t offer a promise that Cloud and Tifa will stay together, that’s really not important to the matter of the LTD. The Love Triangle Debate was never about who Cloud would be more likely to have a fairy tale romance with.

It was about establishing who Cloud had an interest in being in a romance of any kind with, even one where there is communication issues.

These comments from Nojima make it clear that Cloud has such an interest in Tifa, and has acted upon that interest. Sure, it’s not presented as uplifting or with the sweeping sense of captivation that some scenes in Final Fantasy VIII were with Squall and Rinoa, but there’s more than one angle to present a romantic relationship from, and a realistic angle where a couple is faced with problems of their own making is one of them.

There’d be no reason for Nojima to mention these things — love, marriage and family — here if he wasn’t saying his views on those matters had informed his writing of their situation.

After all, he keeps coming back to them, both in the interview — his very next line is about how Denzel and Marlene may provide Cloud and Tifa an angle to work through their problems, while the lines after that discuss Aerith in the same context as Tifa — and in his writing of FFVII-related material.

Unavoidably, Nojima’s own experiences with and views of love, marriage and family influenced his writing of Case of Tifa before it was initially released — and likely did so again when he worked on the revised version. As well, the theme of family is prevalent in Advent Children/Advent Children Complete, which picks up right after Case of Tifa and resolves many of the personal crises Cloud was going through during that story.

Were Nojima thinking of Cloud and Tifa as merely platonic friends in an arrangement of cohabitation, his comments about love and family would explain nothing of what he’d actually written. Particularly in light of the suggestion that Denzel and Marlene’s presence in the family may be able to help Cloud and Tifa “work it out” — the way one might discuss trying to make a problematic relationship successful.

As said above, Nojima then continues the same line of thought — love, marriage and family — a moment later when he discusses Aerith and her compatibility with Cloud. Though he posits that things may have gone better with her than with Tifa, he also suggests that even this relationship may have been troubled due to the great responsibility Aerith had as the last Cetra.

Of greater signifance, however, his choice of words here identify Aerith as a former potential romantic interest for Cloud (“Perhaps things would have gone well with Aerith…”), speaking of her in a relationship with Cloud as a hypothetical matter that did not come to pass. Tifa, however, is treated as
though she is a current romantic interest for Cloud.

While it can certainly be argued that Nojima’s comments don’t offer a promise that Cloud and Tifa will stay together, that’s really not important. The Love Triangle Debate was never about who would Cloud be more likely to have a fairy tale romance with. It was about establishing who Cloud had an interest in being in a romance with.

For that matter, such relationships go through stages anyway. After two years, Tifa and Cloud can’t really be expected to still be in a phase where their hearts go pitter-patter.

All couples have problems. Even the ones that couldn’t imagine life without one another. That’s the unavoidable reality of sharing your life with another
person who has their own feelings, thoughts and history that influence their feelings and thoughts.

Though such a troubled and realistic relationship differs significantly from most portrayed in Final Fantasy, they’re rarely portrayed beyond the stirrings of the initial feelings. Squall and Rinoa, Tidus and Yuna, Zidane and Garnet — these couples were just getting to know one another during their adventures.

We never saw the trials and tribulations they may have gone through later. Nor did we see them in the context of ordinary life, trying to run two businesses and trying to raise two children while one of the parents worked strange hours that also kept him away from home often.

For there to be no strain on such a relationship is impossible.

I’d argue as well that a romance coming out of Final Fantasy VII couldn’t be anything but a difficult one. It fits the tone of FFVII perfectly, with its harsh and unforgiving setting, as well as its tendency to be the world in which its developers explore their thoughts on how hard real life is.

This has been the case since the original Final Fantasy VII was developed, whether it be Yoshinori Kitase’s wish for Aerith’s sudden death — with no resurrection to follow — to portray “feelings of reality and not Hollywood” (EDGE magazine issue #123, pp. 112-113), or Nomura’s own desire to say
“something realistic” with the same. As he put it, “something different” from the “perennial cliche” of dramatic death and sacrificial love that he was concerned set a bad example for people in the real world (ibid. pg. 112).

As well, FFVII was the first of many Final Fantasy titles to explore Hironobu Sakaguchi’s ideas about what comes after death — thoughts he has said were influenced by the loss of his mother (PlayStation Underground #2, 1997; The Making of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, pp.4-5).

Now, the world of FFVII has become the place where Nojima has explored his feelings about love, marriage and family — and he has done this through Cloud and Tifa.

I believe this comment from Nojima effectively resolves the matter of who Cloud is interested in pursuing a romance with. The Love Triangle Debate is now closed.

That said, the debates continue among fans even at the time of this writing — which follows the initial publication of this article, as well as its first couple of revisions. This article has not been a means of bringing an end to the LTD among fans, but, rather, has done more to spark it up further.

Oh well. This article wasn’t written to change the minds of those who believe in Clerith as canon anyway. It was written to complete this FAQ. Whatever comes of that is just a bonus to me.

That said, when I initially wrote this article, I felt that the Compilation of FFVII materials and various comments by its creators had made the matter fairly cut and dry, even without the Nojima Statement discussed above.

Thanks to the folks at the Cloud x Aerith forums — Anastar and FF Goddess, in particular — I see now that I was mistaken in that. I had not given the Clerith perspective a fair shake in previous versions of this article.

Certainly, there’s sufficient data to support a Clerith conclusion if one
looks for this information. I firmly believe now that the room to find it was left there within the works themselves.

That said, I feel it requires looking at most of the pro-Cloti elements in
isolation, along with an isolated assessment of many of the comments from key Compilation of FFVII developers. It then takes a comprehensive view of a number of pro-Clerith and anti-Cloti elements.

My present assessment of the possibility of Clerith as canon echoes my past assessments of a certain FFVIII debate involving Rinoa (look it up on Google; I don’t need the potential spoilers here): Possible, not plausible.

Clerith is there to be found, but my honest opinion is that it requires
ignoring too much. Often the shortest distance between two points doesn’t bely a hidden meaning — it’s the most simple connection to be made because it’s the right one.

On the whole, I still feel that the pre-Nojima Statement data leans more toward a Cloti conclusion. It requires the most simple of connections, with the most common understandings of various social situations and turns of phrase, both Japanese and English.

I’m going to explain why I think this throughout the rest of this article. As well, I’ll be offering the Clerith point of view on each element of the LTD up for discussion.

Since this discussion is about canon, I’ve made use of the full range of
official materials available, despite the rest of this document largely
ignoring the works that have continuity issues with the original game.

I’ll be utilizing the developers’ comments as both foundation and framework, analyzing the various materials through that lens and in light of one another. If an answer is to be found, it’s safe to say that it will be found through all elements informing one another.

Despite Nojima finally offering an answer to this 12-year-old question, like so many others — both Cleriths and other Clotis — I believe sufficient evidence had been provided to resolve this debate prior to Nojima’s interview. And, as you may have guessed, I believe this evidence to be in favor of Cloud pursuing a romantic relationship with Tifa.

I’m going to explain why I think this — and since this discussion is about canon, I’ll use the full range of official materials available to do so, utilizing the developers’ comments as both foundation and framework, analyzing the various materials through that lens and in light of one another. If an answer is to be found, it’s safe to say that it will be found through all elements informing one another.

Before we begin, however, let’s be clear from the outset: None of this is going to be about debating Aerith’s feelings. So, you aren’t going to see me arguing that she loved Zack more than Cloud, or that she only loved Cloud based on the similarities he had to Zack. That’s neither here nor there.

We all know she had a romantic interest in Cloud. Same with Tifa. We don’t have to — and we won’t — debate this. It’s obvious to anyone who played the original game.

This will be solely about examining and debating Cloud’s feelings. More to the point, there won’t be any analysis of feelings of desire he may have had in childhood. It’s irrelevant to the present matter.

I think most people agree that Cloud had an interest in Tifa as a teenager, but that doesn’t have to remain the case in the game’s present day simply because it was the case when he was 16. What Cloud does during and post-FFVII are what’s important in this discussion.

Additionally, the argument that Aerith is dead and Tifa wins by default will not be made here. Obviously, were Cloud in love with Aerith, he would have the option of pining for her until doomsday. He wouldn’t have to move on with another woman, and if he did, it wouldn’t have to be Tifa.

There will also be no analysis of the lyrics to “Calling” or “Safe & Sound” — the theme songs to Advent Children and Advent Children Complete respectively — as they were written by their performers, not the creators of the film. For that matter, “Calling” was written in 1989, 16 years before the release of Advent Children.

In any case, the lyrics are pretty much open to a wide array of interpretations and I see no place for them here. They could be taken in any direction one wanted to. I, personally, get nothing Cloti or Clerith from either song.

I say all this in my opening statement because those issues are so often brought into the LTD arguments I’ve witnessed over the years. They’re completely ancillary, but I’ve seen forum threads run dozens of pages splitting hairs over just those matters. We won’t be doing that here.

We’ll get straight to the meat of the matter. Starting now.