the church vs. the bar. What image they wanted you to have of the two girls

[darkchrono]

The difference between Tifa and Aeris can be almost directly related to where you first meet them at. Where they either work at or where they spend alot of their time at.


I think the image that alot of people have of Tifa that she was a slut and things can be based off of where you first meet her at. The Seventh Heaven Bar. You can say it relates to how she dresses. But I think it is based more along the lines of where they had you see her first at.

And along the same lines for Aeris. The image that people have of her can be directly related to where you first meet her at. At a church.

People generally give the symbolism of Aeris that she is not necessarily one who puts out. But that she is one who kind of plays games. Hence which is kind of a symbolism somewhat of a church girl.

I think the game makers had you meet the two girls in the locations which you did for very specific reasons.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Well, it was set up like that for all the characters, really, except for Red XIII and Yuffie.

[Big D]

Interesting...
That kind of thinking really can be applied to everyone.

Cait Sith - met in the Gold Saucer, a Shinra-owned place of gambling and artificiality - a reference to Cait Sith's fortune-telling 'skill' and his synthetic nature, perhaps, not to mention his (SPOILER)affiliation with Shinra.

Cid's in his rocket, 'nuff said.

Vincent's dwelling in that coffin.

Red XIII is found in Hojo's lab. He's out of his element, alone in a 'world' completely unlike his own. It's almost a description of his entire existence.

Yuffie appears at random, in the untamed wilderness, wherever she pleases to show up. Sounds like her...

I know I've skipped a few characters, but the 'stories' told by their starting-points aren't really too remarkable, in my opinion.

I don't think we're meant to read too much into it, though - with Tifa and Aeris especially. The semiotics associated with the Church and bar are supposed to say a little about the characters - Tifa's self-sufficient, independent style or Aeris' contemplative and slightly lonely persuasion - but it'd be unfair to construct a complete picture of someone based entirely on one aspect of their involvement in the story.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Dio owns the Gold Saucer, not Shin-Ra.

[Big D]

Dio's the manager but if you look at the large map on the main floor - the place by the station, with the holes leading to the various squares - the last message on that map says

Make your dreams... today
-Shinra

or something along those lines. It's clearly a ShinRa-owned facility, just like nearly everything else on the Planet that's either a) monolithic or b) capable of earning money.

[TheAbominatrix]

Originally posted by Big D
Make your dreams... today
-Shinra

Maybe it's a recruitment poster? I dunno. Don't know which one of you is right, but that thought just popped into my head.

[Big D]

But it's at the end of a description of the Gold Saucer's features and attractions... rather than suggesting that readers join ShinRa, it's imploring them to enjoy the Gold Saucer. Hmm.

[Yuffie is a B****]

Big D has an intresting point. Even if shinra don't own the Golden saucer, I beleive, like very other place in the dam world, Shinra have some control

[crono_logical]

Don't you meet Aeris as the flower girl, before you get to the church scene though?

[Yuffie is a B****]

True, but I don't really count it. You don't get any isnight into Aries peronality until you meet her the second time

[darkchrono]

yep, you don't find out who Aeris really is until you meet her in the church. Before that she just seems like another random character that they put in to liven up the background.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Aeris on the streets is like Cait Sith in the Honey Bee Inn. And Dio has to own the Gold Saucer, because he's the one who has a giant golden statue of himself at the very top of it. With angel wings.

[Yuffie is a B****]

Oh i'm quite sure He owns the golden saucer. But shinra have the fingers in many pies. They have the world in their hands. Whos to say Dio isn't Shinra's b****?
There is a lot of small finncy detail in this game, and all of it seems to hint at something. Don't you think that poster was to?
Maybe i'm wrong but who knows?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The point is that Dio is simply too awesome to be a Shin-Ra lapdog. No one with a weak will would have the gall to walk around his place of business wearing nothing but speedos.

[Flying Mullet]

Originally posted by Kawaii Ryûkishi
The point is that Dio is simply too awesome to be a Shin-Ra lapdog. No one with a weak will would have the gall to walk around his place of business wearing nothing but speedos.

That's true. Look at Kuja in FFIX. He's a bad-ass in his underwear.

But back on the topic, it all seems "common sense" to me that you meet them in a place that fits their personality. It wouldn't make sense to meet Aeris knocking the stuffing out of guys at the beginning of the game, just like it wouldn't make sense for Tifa to be tending to the flower garden. It shows that Square put some thought into the characters to make sure that they are true to their personalities, which is a flaw that a lot of games tend to make these days, where the characters' personalities are sacrificed and twisted just to make the story make sense(which it still doesn't a lot of the time).