• Never Forget Them: Tifa and Barret


    Welcome everyone to Never Forget Them! Do you ever get bored of hearing about Squall and Rinoa, Yuna and Tidus, or maybe even about Zell and hot dogs!? Okay, who am I kidding, no one gets tired of Zell and his hot dogs. Don't you worry, because Pumpkin is here to guide you on an exploration of the lesser known Final Fantasy relationships! Whether they be friends, rivals, love-triangle participants, or just some lost potential, we'll discuss them here and pay them the respect and attention they deserve! Join me as the series explores and celebrates the lesser shown characters and their inspiring, interesting, and impressive relationships!

    For our first edition, we'll venture into one of the more popular games, Final Fantasy VII. I'm very excited to write about this one because I think it is one of the more under-appreciated gems of the game. This relationship is between none other than Miss Tifa Lockhart and Mister Barret Wallace. From the beginning these two are shown to have a friendly connection, although sadly it isn't well explored. I would have loved to see more backstory on the two!

    Let's get started by exploring different aspects of their relationship.

    Tifa, The Mother Figure



    When we first meet Tifa at her bar, 7th Heaven, in the Sector 7 Slums, we see her with Marlene, the adopted daughter of Barret. This cute little lady is central to Barret's character. He loves Marlene more than anything and because of that, a lot of his decisions are made with her in mind. He tries hard to be a good father figure to her, even if he doesn't always succeed.

    Adopting her was the result of a traumatic experience between he and his best friend, Dyne. Their village, Coral, was destroyed at the hands of Shinra. They both lost their wives and each an arm while escaping. Thinking Dyne was dead, Barret adopted his newborn daughter, who Dyne thought died in the fire.

    I always loved seeing his scenes with Marlene because it showed a softer, gentler side to the giant cursing man with the gun for an arm. Heck, I'd be worried to ever touch her if I'd replaced a limb with a Gatling gun!

    This shows us how much he trusts Tifa, that he'd leave the person he cares most for in the entire world with her! There are times when he leaves Marlene in the care of others when he has to, but seeing the relationship between Tifa and Marlene seems to suggest that the two are close and that she is his preferred person when it comes to watching the young lady. Tifa, in turn, cares deeply for Marlene and shows concern for her numerous times. She's the one who made sure to ask Aeris/th to keep her safe. Tifa serves as a sort of mother figure to his daughter Marlene, something that automatically makes her important in Barret's life.

    Tifa
    "Sorry, Cloud. Marlene seems a little shy."
    A Common Goal



    One of the main aspects of their relationship is the eco-terrorist group, AVALANCHE. Each for their own reasons, both are in AVALANCHE to help save the planet from the evil Shinra. We see it from Barret a lot, always going on about “saving the planet” and “the planet is dying”, but we forget that Tifa is also an important member and she feels strongly about saving the planet as well, although it isn't as thoroughly explored.



    This aspect of their relationship is important towards the beginning of the game when we're first introduced to the characters. Barret has hired Cloud to help out AVALANCHE, something he is less than keen on. I wouldn't be too keen on hiring a guy with gravity defying hair either, but I digress. If you look at the other members, they're all people Barret really cares about. The group is rather small, occupied only by a select few passionate about the cause and they're all people who are important to Barret, which of course includes Tifa. AVALANCHE serves as the starting point for their relationship, showing that they at least have one goal in common and a rapport of trust between them.

    Friendship



    Now let's talk about the most important part of their relationship; their friendship. Despite the language used in the image above, it shows that they are indeed good friends, because it takes good friends to be able to playfully and bluntly insult each other in that way. We see this a lot of this friendship on disc 1, although it does sadly take a backseat to most of Cloud's relationships. However we see it surface later on in the game as well, such as when the two are put up for execution thanks to Shinra.



    What see here is a touching moment where Barret offers to have himself killed first to give Tifa a chance to escape. When Shinra ignores his plea, he works incredibly hard trying to rescue her from the gas chamber, and you can really tell how worried he is. He's in absolute panic, but the two are still able to communicate well while Barret does his best to get her out of there.

    Barret
    "I thought...... Tifa was gone for good."
    The best part about this relationship for me was their friendship. The two have different personalities, but they've been brought together by a common goal and a young girl named Marlene. Even though their relationship rarely ever takes center stage, when we do see them together, you can already feel the bond between them and you can already tell how deeply they care about each other. Theirs is a relationship I would love to see more often in gaming!

    That concludes our look at the bond between Tifa and Barret! Were you a fan of these two? What were your favourite moments? Who would you like to see in the next article? I'd love to hear your thoughts!


    This article was originally published in forum thread: Never Forget Them: Tifa and Barret started by Pumpkin View original post
    Comments 14 Comments
    1. Ayen's Avatar
      Ayen -
      When I first played this game as a little kid I thought Tifa was Barret's wife and they had Marlene together and the reason Barret didn't like Cloud was because of Cloud's past with Tifa and he felt threatened.

      I kind of wish that have been the case, but oh well.
    1. Psychotic's Avatar
      Psychotic -
      Yeah, I always thought they were married too!
    1. Carl the Llama's Avatar
      Carl the Llama -
      Quote Originally Posted by ToriJ View Post
      When I first played this game as a little kid I thought Tifa was Barret's wife and they had Marlene together and the reason Barret didn't like Cloud was because of Cloud's past with Tifa and he felt threatened.

      I kind of wish that have been the case, but oh well.
      You thought Barret (who would have been 30) had a baby with Tifa (who would have been 15)? xD

      I never thought they were married because I read the manual and saw the age difference, but then I didn't play the game till I was about 18 (2001).
    1. Shauna's Avatar
      Shauna -
      Yeah, I thought they were married because who actually pays attention to ages in the manual.
    1. Ayen's Avatar
      Ayen -
      Quote Originally Posted by Carl the Llama View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by ToriJ View Post
      When I first played this game as a little kid I thought Tifa was Barret's wife and they had Marlene together and the reason Barret didn't like Cloud was because of Cloud's past with Tifa and he felt threatened.

      I kind of wish that have been the case, but oh well.
      You thought Barret (who would have been 30) had a baby with Tifa (who would have been 15)? xD

      I never thought they were married because I read the manual and saw the age difference, but then I didn't play the game till I was about 18 (2001).
      Real men don't read instructions. We just throw all the pieces on the floor and rub stuff together until something sticks.
    1. Carl the Llama's Avatar
      Carl the Llama -
      Quote Originally Posted by Shauna View Post
      Yeah, I thought they were married because who actually pays attention to ages in the manual.
      Their Bio and their backstory were interesting enough for me to read, I used to do it with all the RPG's I bought.

      Quote Originally Posted by ToriJ View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by Carl the Llama View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by ToriJ View Post
      When I first played this game as a little kid I thought Tifa was Barret's wife and they had Marlene together and the reason Barret didn't like Cloud was because of Cloud's past with Tifa and he felt threatened.

      I kind of wish that have been the case, but oh well.
      You thought Barret (who would have been 30) had a baby with Tifa (who would have been 15)? xD

      I never thought they were married because I read the manual and saw the age difference, but then I didn't play the game till I was about 18 (2001).
      Real men read the instructions.
      I fixed this for you, besides, I bought the game in Woking then traveled on the bus home, given the choice would you:

      A). Read the booklet getting thoroughly interested in the game that people have been raving about for the last 4 years (as I bought it in 2001) thinking about how awesome the adventure will be.

      -or-

      B). Sit on the bus with loud kids and be bored for the next 25ish minutes while the bus takes you home?
    1. Ayen's Avatar
      Ayen -
      You're not fun anymore, Carl. Go stay with the others. I got walkers to kill.
    1. maybee's Avatar
      maybee -
      Quote Originally Posted by Carl the Llama View Post

      I never thought they were married because I read the manual and saw the age difference
      This ^

      Is it wrong that I never saw them or viewed them as friends ? I always saw them as work partners, just like how you're friendly to that guy at work, but you're not really friends ? I guess like Reno and Rude.
    1. Carl the Llama's Avatar
      Carl the Llama -
      Quote Originally Posted by ToriJ View Post
      You're not fun anymore, Carl. Go stay with the others. I got walkers to kill.
      I've never been fun, I tell it straight, for truth, justice and the am*cough* I mean... I like crumpets and biscuits, with strong tea! >.>

      Rally ho!
    1. Laddy's Avatar
      Laddy -
      I've always thought of Tifa/Barret being a better couple than Cloud/Tifa. I just like their chemistry more and stuff. Plus I totally though Tifa and Barret were married because of their relationship.

      Other relationships I love:

      Gau/Cyan
      Steiner/Vivi
      Garnet/Eiko
      Tidus/Rikku
      Vaan/Balthier
      Lightning/Sazh
    1. maybee's Avatar
      maybee -
      Quote Originally Posted by Laddy View Post
      Gau/Cyan
      I've always headcanoned that after the main events of the game that Cyan later adopts Gau as his own son, and Cyan and him live happily somewhere near the fallen ruins of Doma.
    1. Lazerface's Avatar
      Lazerface -
      I wonder how Barret writes if he has a gun on his right hand. Yeah I kinda thought Tifa and Barret were a thing at first.
    1. Carl the Llama's Avatar
      Carl the Llama -
      Quote Originally Posted by Lazerface View Post
      I wonder how Barret writes if he has a gun on his right hand. Yeah I kinda thought Tifa and Barret were a thing at first.
      If a man with a gun arm asks you to write something, would YOU say no?
    1. Shiny's Avatar
      Shiny -
      Barret x Tifa 4 eva

      For real though. Cloud has Mukki.
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