The Past
Tifa Lockheart grew up in Nibelhiem, the popular daughter of the mayor and later student of Zangan, a well known martial artist. When Tifa was a young child, her mother died and she ran away into the Nibelhiem Mountains, thinking she could find her mother's spirit. Her friends went after her, only to turn back half way for fear of the legendary mountain. Only Cloud Strife, a shy and unpopular boy of the town (and also Tifa's secret admirer), followed her. However, while crossing the mountain, the bridge broke, sending both Tifa and Cloud hurtling towards the ground below. Tifa's father and a few townsfolk found the children and brought them back to Nibelhiem. Cloud was forbidden to see Tifa again, for when she fell the girl became comatose and Cloud was blamed (seemingly because he was unharmed). After she recovered Cloud managed to get Tifa to meet him at the town's well to tell her that he wanted to join ShinRa's elite military force, Soldier. Upon hearing that, Tifa made him promise that whenever she needed him, her hero would be there to save her.

A few years passed; two Soldiers, Zack and the legendary general Sephiroth, and a few ShinRa guards, made way through Nibelhiem and to the reactor in the mountains. Tifa, fifteen at the time, was chosen to lead the group. Unbeknownst to her, but Cloud was one of the guards she was escorting. Embarrassed that he couldn't make it into Soldier, Cloud kept his presence a secret from her. When at the reactor Sephiroth learned of what he was and locked himself in the basement of the abandoned ShinRa Mansion in Nibelhiem, refusing to come out until he had absorbed all of the knowledge of the old books inside. Soon after, Sephiroth lost his mind and burned down Nibelhiem. Tifa somehow survived the brutal attack and followed him back to the reactor, taking his sword and promising to make him pay for destroying her town, killing her father and her friends. Sephiroth easily overpowered the girl, regaining control of his sword and cutting her down on the way to the reactor's back door. Cloud, who had followed her there, found Tifa barely alive and quickly laid her aside, out of harm's way. Also outraged over what Sephiroth had done to his town, Cloud managed to stop the general, but not without a few fetal wounds of his own.

Zangan, who had also followed Tifa there, took her away before Hojo came to "collect" the wounded Zack and Cloud for his experiments. For whatever reason, Zangan did not stay with Tifa and instead took her to Midgar, thinking that she would be better off there. While in Midgar, Tifa stumbled upon Barret and his Avalanche, a group of rebels fighting against ShinRa to save the planet, and also started her bar, 7th Heaven.

Final Fantasy 7
When the game begins, Tifa, now twenty, meets Cloud again in her 7th Heaven, the hideout of the notorious Avalanche. Strife had been hired by Avalanche to help them destroy one of ShinRa's reactors. Tifa reminds Cloud of the promise he made to her those years before at the well and persuades him into staying with Avalanche. But their fight is no longer just with ShinRa. As they soon learn, they must also stop Sephiroth, who is determined to destroy the world with the aid of Jenova.

The original end of the game is very vague, showing Nanaki and his cubs running along in a canyon besides Midgar, 500 years later. Midgar is in ruins, covered in plant life. The only creatures around, besides Nanaki and his cubs, are birds. This gives the impression that when Meteor hit, all human life was destroyed (perhaps just in Midgar?). However, then there's Advent Children, which doesn't seem to fit in this universe of the original game...

Advent Children
Two years after the game, Tifa is now back in Midgar running a delivery service with Cloud. She's taking care of Barret's daughter Marlene, while Barret searches for a new energy source to take the place of the harmful Mako. Also in her care is a young boy, who is suffering from the Star Scar Syndrome, a virus that showed up in Midgar after Meteor hit. There's a new threat that Tifa and her friends must take on: three silver-haired men, similar to Sephiroth. More information on this can be found at adventchildren.net.

Along with Advent Children, Tifa is also in the fighting games Ehrgeiz and Itadaki Street Special, Dirge of Cerberus and shows up in the cellphone game Before Crisis.

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