Final Fantasy VII included a love triangle where the important thing was not the player's decisions, but the overcoming of the loss.
Love is one of the most powerful themes in fiction, and its magic makes its way even in the most adverse circumstances. Who else, who least lives or has lived a romance that identifies in the narrative of titles that deepen the sentimental dimension of their characters. Thus, in the murky world of The Witcher 3 we witness the dilemma of a Geralt de Rivia who, between monster and monster, is torn between resuming his old relationship with Yennefer or resuming a new path with Triss, and throughout the game we see how each of the sorceresses shapes the fate of the sorcerer. In titles such as Dragon Age or Mass Effect, our protagonist can forge an elaborate love plot with one of his companions, which allows them to experience these titles from various perspectives.
The role-playing genre is one of the most freedom allows when exploring the concerns of the heart of our characters. In one of his greatest references, Final Fantasy, we have attended very emotional love stories rooted in the same narrative of the game. Thus, love is the fundamental pillar of Final Fantasy VIII; In Final Fantasy X we attend the romance built between Yuna and Tidus, as pure as tragic. Final Fantasy VII, which revolutionized the JRPG and whose remake we expect this 2020, brought us one of the most debated love triangles among fans of the saga, and in which the player was involved to guide Cloud towards one of the most important ladies of his life: Tifa or Aeris. Today, Valentine's Day, we commemorate one of the most bittersweet and complex love stories of the video-media medium. It should be remembered that, due to the nature of this report, it contains spoilers of Final Fantasy VII.
Between the love of childhood and the new girl of the group
Hironobu Sakaguchi, scriptwriter of Final Fantasy VII, narrates in an interview for Computer And Video Games how he had sketched a very different title to the one we know: In a New York located in the near future, an ecoterrorist group sought to destroy Mako energy reactors – spiritual strength of the planet— while fleeing a detective named Joe to culminate his story with the explosion of the city. However, the death of Sakaguchi's mother completely changed the conception of the script: the criticism of environmental exploitation by large corporations would be maintained, but it would also deepen issues such as love or loss, which helped Designer to cope with mourning.
In the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania art book, it is told how Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima wrote the background of Cloud Strife, one of the first characters created for the game. His love triangle followed the stereotype of the series romances for teenagers, in which Tifa plays the role of childhood friend, while Aeris is the mysterious exchange student.
Tifa Lockhart in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Thus, Tifa Lockhart has been present in Cloud's life since they were children. TV Tropes identifies it under the stereotype of “the neighborhood”: the protagonist's companion, whose connection is based on the trust built between them over the years. Tifa also brings together other qualities attributed to this type character: she is attractive, close, sweet and warm, in addition to being a great emotional support for her friends. Before the departure of Cloud to join the SOLDIER special forces, the couple has a farewell date in which he promises that, whenever his partner is in danger, he will come to his aid. After its formation and the tragedy of Nibelheim, Cloud enlists in Avalanche, the ecoterrorist group to which Tifa belongs, and whose mission is to sabotage Shin-Ra's plans.
Later, Cloud finds Aeris Gainsborough, a beautiful and mysterious flower seller who exudes a pristine innocence that contrasts with the young man's taciturn character. The nature of this personality is not trivial: the girl is the last descendant of the Cetra, an ancient race whose solid spiritual union with the planet Earth allowed them to guide its energy and create life in it. The Shin-Ra corporation persecutes the young woman to use her in her evil plans, before which she seeks the protection of Cloud, to whom she promises to pay with an appointment. In this way, the girl finds a new place in the Cloud group, united by a common interest against the perfidious corporation. Little by little, we will discover that the girl shares a common bond with Cloud: Zack Fair, former boyfriend of the young and former partner of Cloud in Soldier, with whom he compared Jénova cells.
Aeris Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The choice of Cloud
Thus, Tifa and Aeris are presented within the game as two possible romances for Cloud, unlike other Final Fantasy in which a unique romance and canon is established. Nojima, according to Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania compiled in GlitterBerri, took advantage of this dilemma in favor of the player's freedom and his empathy with Strife: “In Dragon Quest, the protagonist does not have a defined personality, and so the player can 'become' the hero. But, in the case of Cloud, which has a defined name and background, how do we make the player empathize with him? ” This also led to the implementation of gaps in Cloud's memory – a side effect of the injection of Jénova cells in it – and thus facilitating the discovery of the game's lore: “the characters that live in the universe serve as an approach to the history, since they know their world, which is totally new for the player; but the knowledge shared by the rest is alien to him. ”
In this way, the player will build his relationship with the rest of the characters, even with those whom Cloud knows of yesteryear, like Lockhart herself. Final Fantasy VII also incorporates a "dating mechanic" in which the inclination that the young man shows towards his suitors is scored. At no time during the game is the progress of this system shown, but we will obtain the result at the Gold Saucer, where our soldier will have an appointment with whom we have shown the greatest interest. At the playable level, we will outline Cloud's preference through the dialogue options we choose, as well as in-game actions such as teammate selection, or the order in which we turn to young women. On the other hand, our appointment can be with Barrett or Yuffie if we favor these and ignore Tifa and Aeris,
Tetsuya Nomura, on the other hand, is evasive about the questions about what Cloud's true love is. In Dorimaga magazine, a fan asked how many girls Sephiroth loves, before which the designer took the opportunity to uncheck any romantic relationship within Final Fantasy VII: “The truth is that I don't care who loves who. I think you can imagine the possible situations that we never explicitly mentioned and it is a good debate to enjoy among friends. After Final Fantasy VII ended, they asked me for two years if there was any romance between Tifa and Cloud, but I have no idea. ”
A devastating loss
Cloud lets Aeris go in the Vital Stream.
However, Cloud's sentimental dilemma will have a bitter conclusion: Sephiroth, in one of the most tragic scenes of the game, will execute Aeris to prevent her from invoking the sacred power of White Matter, with which she would counter the meteor thrown by the villain. Yoshinori Kitase, director of FFVII, told EDGE how this decision sought to create an impact on the player, while realistically exploring the issue of loss, one of the leitmotivs of the play: “In the real world the Things are very different. You just have to look around. No one wants to die like that. People die of illness or accidents. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad; We have a great emptiness, not a dramatized feeling. When you lose someone you love a lot, you feel this great emptiness and you think: ‘If I had known this was going to come, I would have done things differently’. These are the feelings that I wanted to wake up in the players with the death of Aeris at such an early moment of the game. Real feelings and not manufactured in Hollywood. ”
In Famitsu magazine, Nomura related how the premature death of one of Cloud's female partners was orchestrated and how Tifa was designed from the decision on the loss of Aeris: “At the beginning, we had only created Aeris, and then we added to Tifa. To make up for the death of Aeris, we needed a hero who stayed next to the hero until the end. In previous Final Fantasy we already had characters that lost their lives, but we wanted to bring a new perspective. By waking up in the player that sense of loss, we wanted to portray one of the main themes of FFVII: life. ”
After the loss of Aeris, which has devastated the entire group, as well as the events that happened in the game, Tifa remains next to Cloud, and becomes her caretaker when he enters the Mideel clinic.
Tifa watches over Cloud at Mideel: "I don't care about anything else, just Cloud."
Mourning and guilt
Finally, Cloud and his companions manage to save the Earth, but the trauma continues to accompany Cloud, as we see in the transmedia material that continues to explore the story of Final Fantasy VII. Nojima published the anthology of On the Way to a Smile stories, which explores the post-game events and predecessors of the Advent Children movie. In the Episode of Tifa, we see how this and Strife live together and run the bar-restaurant The Seventh Heaven, which previously belonged to Lockhart. The couple is in charge of two children: Denzel and Marlene, Barrett's daughter, but their situation is far from being a happy family. On the Square Enix website, Nojima talks about how Cloud's emotional scar has affected his relationship with Tifa, whose talent for returning joy to his friend no longer works: “There is the premise that things are not going well between Tifa and Cloud, and it wouldn't have been very different without the Geostigma or Sephiroth. Seriously, I don't try to capture my visions about love, marriage or family (laughs). After Advent Children Complete, I suppose Denzel and Marlene would help them solve their situation. Maybe things would have gone well with Aeris, but there is a great burden inherited from her. And I just remembered that I always wanted to write to Cloud as a person seen from Tifa's eyes, but he is not a very kind guy to open his feelings (laughs).
Cloud has fallen into a depression, caused by the loss of Aeris and the feeling of guilt for not being able to save her. However, the flower girl has never abandoned her friend: her spirit continues to contact him from the Vital Current, as well as Zack's. The girl receives Strife with sweetness, without resentment; When he says he wants to be forgiven, she responds with a carefree "Who?" Also, in the scene in which Cloud drops the phone in the lake, we hear words very desired by the boy, who will gradually find peace and self-confidence: “I have never thought badly of you, You came looking for me, right? That made me very happy. ”
Tifa confronts Cloud in Advent Children.
The resurgence of Cloud as a hero comes during the final battle against Bahamut, in which he receives the impulse of all his companions, including Aeris. With renewed forces, Strife once again achieves victory and salvation on the planet. In the last scenes of Advent Children, when his friends receive him full of glory, he says goodbye for the last time to Zack and Aeris. The latter promises: "Now everything will be fine", to which he replies: "I know. I'm not alone anymore. ”
Cloud's love story with Tifa and Aeris admits various readings, and it remains to be seen how the remake delves into this bittersweet love triangle. However, one conclusion is clear: both women marked the young man's life and earned a hole in his heart beyond pain. And the former Soldier, marked by loneliness, found in them different faces of love.
Aeris and Zack say goodbye to Cloud, after it has found peace.
