Final Fantasy 7

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kizunatsudoishi: ask-chaos-incarnate: That popular headcanon that Vincent might be Sephiroth’s dad? Literally started by FF7 itself! When you walk up to Hojo at the Sister Ray and Hojo reveils tha…

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Concerning Sephiroth’s Paternity

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe Hojo is wrong about Sephiroth's paternity, because the Jenova cells have made a paternity test impossible? Normally I'd believe Hojo, since he is a scientist and doing a paternity test is well within his capabilities, but: Jenova is an alien. Jenova cells cause mutation. It's not that difficult to imagine that Sephiroth's genes were mutated to the point where a paternity test might be prove inconclusive. Hojo assumes he is the father, does not necessarily mean it is true. Lucrecia might be lying. She might be unsure who the father is, because she slept with both. Vincent has no choice but to believe Hojo and Lucrecia about Sephiroth's paternity. I think it would make the most sense if  Sephiroth had been created through artificial insemination. How else would Hojo add the Jenova cells? This reduces the probability of Vincent being the father. Unless a) Hojo lied, or b) Lucrecia went behind Hojo's back and used Vincent's sperm for the experiment. Both is very unlikely tho. Normally, I'd say that for sure this means Hojo is the father, but Hojo is the guy who wanted Red to impregnate Aerith. There is a high probability Hojo didn't go with what made the most sense. To be fair to Hojo, lots of his experiments were successful. Plus Cetra were able to interbreed with humans, so maybe Aerith and Red could actually create a cat boy or cat girl after all. Either that or Cetra are the same as humans. Still, Hojo should have used artificial insemination with Aerith and Red, so he likely didn't use it to create Sephiroth either. In the end I believe that Jenova's cells make the question of Sephiroth's paternity immaterial. Jenova is something that infects other organisms and takes them over, making them a part of herself though reunion. In other words Jenova is 100% Sephiroth's single biological parent. Or something like that. Either way Sephiroth resembles Jenova the most and probably most of his genetic material is hers.

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If Cloud goes into the Honeybee Lounge in Sector 6, when he comes out he'll find Aerith has been flirting with all of the men gawking at her in order to sell her flowers. She clearly knows how to get attention. These rumours might have been also fueled by Final Fantasy Tactics. The Flower Girl Aerith in that game (who is not the same Aerith) is rescued by Cloud (who is the same Cloud) from someone who is evidently not a common thug, but a bona-fide criminal leader, to whom she owes money, and who suggests to her to "sell her body" instead of flowers. It's not that far-fetched. When you met her she tried to sell you flowers, then act surprised when you actually bought it. Now think about it. Her flowers are just one friggin gil a piece and she barely sell them at all, how could she make a living selling them then? The obvious answer is that the flowers are just a cover, she sells something else. With that conclusion she's either a prostitute or a drug dealer.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Headscratchers/FinalFantasyVII

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Vincent. Buddy. I know you were in love with Lucrecia, but seriously, what the hell did you ever see in her? Choosing to experiment on her own child pushed her across the Moral Event Horizon right there. But even before that, she strung you along in some sort of close relationship until you found out she knew your dad, ditched you and broke your heart, and went for the rebound with Hojo, which should count as a second Moral Event Horizon. Oh, and then when you got shot defending her, she used you to prove her thesis (and save you, but pretty much by turning you into an undead monster/Planet avatar). And when you finally saw her again decades later, she did nothing but feel sorry for herself. Seriously dude, you're being an emotionally-stunted emo goth over her? C'mon, man. That, and the entire situation was her fault. Seriously, being a bitch to Vincent when he was only concerned about her well-being? What the hell, doctor? Then, he decides to man up for her and gets killed for it. No, they definately injected cells straight into Sephiroth himself and Lucrecia. And I'm kinda dubious on how kind it is to save someone's life by turning them into a Body Horror monster that needs a chunk of materia in their chest to remain sane, but that's just me. Seconded. She only saved him because she felt bad about accidentally getting Vicent's dad killed. It also bothers me that Vincent blames himself. Dude, she chose to be an idiot, marry your archenemy, who then chose to shoot you. These are all choices others made, and Vincent was the only one trying to do the right thing. He has the moral high ground here. They would've gone ahead with or without him. Well, that's exactly why this bugs me - in the original game, I assumed the same thing; that Lucrecia was a decent person who didn't realize what a monster Hojo was and unwittingly let him manipulate her. I even wondered if she even consented to having Jenovah cells put into her unborn son. That's what made Vincent's story so tragic to me - that he was so determined to let his love be happy he didn't see that she needed to get away from Hojo until it was too late. But then we find out she consented to the experiment ahead of time, Hojo made no attempt to hide his bastardry, and Vincent got fucked over by both of them. It really ruined the tragedy of the story.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Headscratchers/FinalFantasyVII

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I still don't know what the hell the Cetra actually do It was all a bit vague. Presumably they work with nature instead of against it. But "settle" the planet? What does that mean? The planet should have its own natural balance anyway - unless humans interfere. Tbh I think the Cetra are full of shit I have come to the conclusion that the point is, anybody can be a Cetra if they just put the time and effort into listening to the planet. Bugenhagen could hear the planet and he was able to let Avalanche hear its whale song cries of distress. Human beings are descended from Cetra, so they just have to put their self-centred busy-ness aside, and concentrate on listening. Aerith being the "The Last of the Cetra" is another one of those "I ignore how that kind of stuff works in real life to enjoy the game" things. Mostly because of how long ago the Cetra were supposed to be around and how they were wiped out by Jenova. And how we only have Sephiroth's word on what humanity was doing at the time (which isn't all that reliable). Most populations don't go extinct by breading down to one person, but dispersing their distinctive traits into another population. Rather then Aerith being the Last Cetra in terms of genetic lineage, she's most likely the Last Cetra in terms of cultural beliefs. It's pretty likely that the surviving Cetra intermarried with the more numerous humans and a large portion of the population at the time of FFVII have Cetra genetics back in their family trees. They just don't know what to do with it. My personal take on it is that Gast and Ilfana had more Cetra genetics then normal and Aerith is a thowback who just so happens to know what do with her stronger-then-normal Cetra traits. Well Ilfana would have been the throwback, Aerith was considered an 18% inferior specimen. I'd be interested to learn more about Aerith's actual lineage tbh. Like, who were Ifalna's parents? Why didn't they have more children? Why didn't they have siblings? When and how did they die? If Ifalna was "pure Cetra" and it's a genetic thing, how did the last two find each other? Were they brother and sister? Or maybe they were both half-cetra and Ifalna just got the lucky genes, and there are actual Aerith relatives in VII's world that just aren't genetically attuned or whatever

https://thelifestream.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19093

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For Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "SPOILERS is aerith the strongest ancient ever?" - Page 2.

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Feminism and Final Fantasy (Part Three)

It can be argued that all of the characters in Final Fantasy VII are amalgamations of popular character tropes. One of the most important and popular characters from the game, Aeris, comes dangerou…

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If Sephiroth wasn't so proud and overconfident, he could take Cloud easy. But because of that fact, Cloud wins. To be fair with the Nibelheim fight, both times Cloud beat Sephiroth, he was caught either off guard or by surprise. 1st time in the Jenova chamber, Cloud caught him by surprise and stabbed him with a sword that was almost as wide as he was. This would fatally injure someone(if not kill them outright) under normal circumstances. 2nd time as Sephirpoth was limping out of the reactor, he still managed to have the strength to stab Cloud and lift him up in the air, where he was again caught off-guard by Cloud. One on one? not a chance, realistically Sephiroth is out of his league in terms of raw power and skill. In kingdom Hearts Cloud is weak and easy to defeat. Sephiroth on the other hand is a beast. Maybe, not the entire party at once, but he could easily destroy Cloud with his telekinesis. He was holding back holy, and still able to restrain the entire party for like a minute(Red even feels like his tail is about to be ripped apart). So yeah, all of that power focused directly on Cloud would easily kill him. Sephiroth is still considered the stronger and better fighter. The creators have commented that they purposely did things in AC to make this clear, such as having Cloud beat Kadaj rather easily, but then show him struggle and have labored breathing while fighting Sephiroth, while Sephiroth is never shown to struggle or otherwise be really trying all that hard (and never even blinks). Makes it clear that in their eyes Sephiroth is stronger than Cloud. And that he only ever looses either because Cloud has his allies with him and/or because he takes Cloud too lightly and leaves an opening for Cloud to take advantage of. And since they're the ones that dictate what is and isn't canon... People still like to cop out and say that just because they made Sephiroth look more powerful doesn't mean he wasn't using a lot of power. But the creators can't make it any clear than when they say Sephiroth's advantage over Cloud was basically just as much as the advantage that Cloud had over Kadaj in their final fight. Cloud was shown to be having a good time whooping an exasperated Kadaj, so it makes sense to conclude that Sephiroth was also having a cake-walk against Cloud and wasn't just hiding behind a mask of composure (even though he does tend to do that from time to time). With so much feedback from the creators, the picture comes out to 'Sephiroth was simply not using much of his power.' And AC: Complete kind of makes Sephiroth's dominance over Cloud all the more obvious, with having completely blocked the original Omnislash hit for hit, and then catching Cloud almost effortlessly on the Masamune. Sephiroth technically should win easily. Most of the times he just takes Cloud too lightly. The only battle he doesn't is when he's summoning Meteor and holding off Holy at the same time. Remember what Meteor and Holy look like? Cloud doesn't come even close in terms of power or ability.

https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/197341-final-fantasy-vii/51985909?page=1

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Most of the Relationship Values for Tifa/Aerith date sequence in the original game makes sense. But in Crisis Core, it really bugs me that the way to increase Aerith's affection with Zack is to be a schmuck continuously. You have to believe in all the market NPCs while they help you, when they are obviously treating you like an idiot and letting the thief run away. So... what exactly does this say about Aerith — she likes her men naive to the point of being a Cloud Cuckoo Lander? I interpreted it as "points for being in-character", since Crisis Core's date points differ from FF7's in that the only possible outcome is Aeris, and, to be fair, Zack is pretty much a grade-A sucker. I mean—look at how suggestible he is when interacting with, say, the other 1st Class SOLDIERs, or with Yuffie, or even with freaking Hojo, who, if you inspect the giant sample tube while you're protecting him, manages to trap Zack inside just by telling him to look closer for what's in it (nothing, until Zack himself). I think she's just into schmucks. Corneo's mansion, anyone?

tv tropes

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Aerith's abilities always seemed a little over-hyped to me. "She can make flowers grow where nothing else grows," right? Well, so what? That's really easy when you're living in an immaculate two-story cottage next to the only source of clean water for miles, while everyone else is scraping by in shacks held together with duct tape and dick jokes. What part of her gardening is supposed to be magical again? What does any of that have to do with gardening, though? Do dead people give good gardening advice? The Planet would make more sense, except that it's not really a sentient creature and it doesn't really seem to have just one voice, so talking to it doesn't seem to have much practical use. We know she can manipulate the Lifestream, but that's only after she's dead, and the whole "can possibly discover a paradise" thing doesn't matter because she never actually does that (and how would doing that improve her gardens in Midgar anyway?). Even the garden in the church doesn't seem that weird to me, it's got sunlight somehow, even though the whole thing is under a giant plate that supposedly blocks all natural light from the slums, and we know she's not responsible for that. And since the church garden was made by somebody/something digging up the floorboards, we know the ground hasn't been touched by anything but rotting wood since the church was built. It's really not surprising that the only person in the entire city who owns clean water and a greenhouse would be awesome at gardening.

tv tropes

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How can Aerith and her mother afford such a nice house? Why is there even such a nice house next to the slums. I know this sometimes happens in real life but the president of Midgar seems like the kind of man who would want to expand the city even if it meant demolishing that place. How can they even keep it. Slums don't start out as slums. They start out as regular or even nice places to live, then fall into disrepair. Elmira and Aerith presumably just maintained the place. Yeah but I wonder how their safe given how desperate the rest of the population must be. I know their usually Apathetic Citizens but given how much they probably all want a place to stay and how Barrett had to shew out the people in Tifa's bar in Sector 7 it doesn't make sense to me how they were safe there for so long.

tv tropes

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If you talk to Bugenhagen at Cosmo Canyon in Disk 2 (at one point during the Huge Materia hunt) he will tell you that you shouldn't use materia, since it's part of the Planet's life force. He then says that the Planet will continue to get weaker unless people stop using materia, which is what eventually happens. If you talk to Yuffie at one point on the Highwind, she'll ponder the Fridge Logic of why materia always has to do with battles or magic. She thinks that the Ancients must have always been fighting. This raises two questions: One: Why would it be alright for the Ancients to use materia, but not humans? Would the Ancients have only harvested naturally occurring materia (like the kind at the materia fountain that Sephiroth and company encounter on Mt. Nibel), as opposed to humans directly sucking mako out of the earth and processing it into manufactured materia? Two: Who exactly would the Ancients have been fighting, besides Jenova and her offspring? Each other? Dangerous monsters? Or is Yuffie wrong in suggesting that the Cetra used materia on a regular basis? Judging from what I could glean from the game, I have the following theories: One: The Ancients probably didn't use them on a widespread basis, but in rare situations of massive danger that would have warranted them. Three people using Firaga on a monster tearing their camps apart wouldn't be so bad, but hundreds of people using Firaga all over the world every day would. Yes, they probably harvested natural materia, but didn't have the technology to make them on their own (and with as much mako as they'd be sucking up, they wouldn't mass-produce them anyway). Two: Behemoths and such were probably still around, not to mention the odd dragon (yeah, it's likely that the monsters weren't as strong as they were by the timeframe of FFVII, but even non-mako-enhanced dragons would be no picnic). Even then, it probably wasn't the lifestyle of the Cetra to load everyone up with materia. Remember, with a few exceptions, most of the materia in-game is artificially created for fighting purposes (why they're perfect spheres rather than the natural crystal shapes). This is only speculation, though, and I could be wrong.

tv tropes

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(...)Genesis orchestrated the incident to let Sephiroth help Genesis cure his body's decay. So he does this by... shattering any illusions Sephiroth has about his mother, accusing him of being an alien born monster and calling him poor little Sephiroth. You know, if you want help there are nicer ways to ask, ya know. No wonder Sephiroth told him to just go and rot.

tv tropes

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What bugs me the most is actually the fact that Lucretia actually dumped Vincent for Hojo... Well, the first time you arrive at Costa Del Sol you can find Hojo at the beach surrounded by (presumably) beautiful women. Make of that as you will... Chicks dig the labcoat, baby. It's made even worse when Hojo is, uh, less than charming about it. "So you've come to your senses and chosen me." Yeah... a real turn-on... His rendering in Crisis Core really doesn't help highlight his charm either.

tv tropes

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How come it took so long for Vincent to figure out that Hojo was Sephiroth's dad? He should know perfectly well he wasn't the father and he knew that Lucrecia was involved with Hojo. We don't know how deeply involved Vincent and Lucrecia were before she snapped and married Hojo. Or what the exact timing of her pregnancy was. For all we know Vincent may very well have assumed he was the father. For the youngsters out there, Vincent being the biological father of Sephiroth has been a mater of speculation for years until the compilation came out and discredited it. The scene where he gets all surprised after finding out that Hojo is indeed the father it's an obvious Plot Hole that nobody had bother to answer ... Oh. my. god. And all this time I wondered why Sephiroth kinda looked like Vincent.

tv tropes

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Is it ever explained how Ifalna and Aerith came to be last of the Ancients? Was there a population of them until recently or was Ifalna some kind of genetic throwback born to human parents? It's implied that the Ancient bloodline has been diluted to the extreme, thanks to mingling with humans. Ifalna might not be the last actual Ancient, but the last person to display Ancient powers. This gets passed on to her daughter. So the Ancient race might not have technically died out, just co-mingled with humanity to the point of being phased out as a distinct species.  The Ancients/Cetra were essentially humans attuned to the 'Planet'. They gradually turned their backs on nature and became regular humans. Even Cloud & co are able to hear the cries of the Planet from Cosmo Canyon, implying they still carry part of that lineage.

tv tropes

[stray-arrows-deactivated2022012]

This is a response to cryoftheplanet's 'defense' of Tifa lying to Cloud.

[cryoftheplanet]

She chooses to trust Cloud’s story and memories as having some sort of truth, and takes the time to try to understand them rather than discarding them out of hand because they don’t make any sense on their face. That is not careless or selfish or malicious behavior, and her approach is eventually vindicated when it emerges that the truth rests in both their memories - just not in the way either of them might have anticipated. 

Whether or not you think she made the right judgement call, I’m not putting up with anybody trying to knock her down for “lying.”

[cryoftheplanet]

And you know what? That’s exactly what Tifa is trying to do. We see her struggle with what she believes to be the truth the whole game, see her grappling with how she should handle the information she has. She is not choosing to lie to Cloud, she is choosing to have faith in him.

[cryoftheplanet]

And why would he? Here’s some of what he says on the subject:

“Everyone, thanks for everything. And… I’m sorry.” “I’m really sorry.” “You’ve been good to me…… I don’t know what to say…”

He’s grateful towards Tifa, for believing in him, for helping him hold things together.

[cryoftheplanet]

but he doesn’t blame Tifa for not telling him any more than Aeris blames Cloud for not being in total control of himself.

[cryoftheplanet]

He’s upset with himself, and he’s upset with Sephiroth, 

[cryoftheplanet]

There are never any outbursts of anger from Cloud in Tifa’s direction.

[cryoftheplanet]

In fact, never at any point does Cloud “confront” Tifa for lying to him about any of this!

[cryoftheplanet]

She starts musing about SOLDIER again, and thanks him for caring - which, you know, is what he’s doing, along with respecting her boundaries on the matter like the good friend he is. 

[cryoftheplanet]

He asks her about Zack and when she’s not comfortable talking about it, he drops it.

[cryoftheplanet]

[cryoftheplanet]

First of all, he isn’t confronting her about it, or about lying to him. Cloud’s following after Tifa because he’s worried about her and she’s clearly upset.

[cryoftheplanet]

Do you think Tifa is trying to prod Cloud or convince herself at this point?

[stray-arrows-deactivated2022012]

Seems like she’s continuing to lie to Cloud even when he confronts her about it.

[cryoftheplanet]

That reply was tagged anti-Tifa (and ltd), to which I have to say: Heck no, not on my watch.

[stray-arrows-deactivated2022012]

This is a response to cryoftheplanet’s ‘defense’ of Tifa lying to Cloud.

cryoftheplanet here’s my reply;

So you’re telling people they can’t dislike characters? btw are you angry or something? You asked a question to the fandom in a public tag and I thought you wanted all opinions, not just hugbox ones? Look, just because I’m 'anti-Tifa’ doesn’t mean I’m anti YOU. I have no problem with you because you have false ideas about Tifa’s character, so why does my opinion make you bitter towards me?

Thanks for your bitter attitude either way, though.

He confronts her by pointing out that her face indicates that she’s lying about something; therefore Cloud subconsciously confronted her about lying about his REAL past. 

What is this here for? Of course Cloud cares for Tifa, it’s Tifa who doesn’t care for Cloud.

I don’t know why you’re saying that. The main point is Cloud straight up called Tifa out on her 'hiding’ something (which happens to be his real past) and she continues to lie about it and gloat about him being so cool because he made in into SOLDIER. Tifa is not only perpetuating the lie herself by not telling the truth but she’s actually wetting herself with excitement that Cloud 'made it in SOLDIER’ when she knows damn well he didn’t. 

Instead of being honest and showing interest in Cloud’s REAL self all she can do is talk about how cool he is BECAUSE he 'made it through’ SOLDIER.

It’s filth and I won’t have it.

Before I continue on, let’s revisit the scene, shall we;

Tifa Zack……

Cloud Do you know him?

Tifa N, no, I don’t know him!

Cloud Your face tells me differently.

Tifa I told you, I don’t!

Cloud A, all right.

Tifa ………… That sounds just like you, leaving town, and saying 'I’m joining SOLDIER!’.

Cloud There were a lot of guys like that back then.

Tifa You must really be something making it in SOLDIER out of a group like that. I really respect you…

Cloud - I just got lucky - I worked hard for it

I just got lucky

Tifa Don’t be so humble!

I worked hard for it

Tifa Hard work pays off, huh.

Tifa Cloud, thanks for caring.

Do you see that? Tifa is contemplating the truth about Cloud’s past and Cloud detects that she’s lying about knowing Zack, when pressed by Cloud, Tifa snaps and continues to lie to Cloud. And to make her agenda more obvious, she immediately starts BOASTING about the lie she’s perpetuating of Cloud being a 'SOLDIER’. 

And for that matter, where in that scene is Cloud showing concern for Tifa? He asks her if she knew Zack, he doesn’t even start the conversation with Tifa. He walks up to her and she says “Zack….”, but no where in that scene does Cloud show any concern for Tifa. Tifa says 'thanks for caring’, but can you tell me where in their conversation Cloud showed any concern for her? He called her out on her lying but that’s it.

Now look at Cloud & Aerith’s scene;

Cloud Aeris…

Aeris What a shock… I didn’t know Zack was from this town.

Cloud You know him?

Aeris Didn’t I tell you? He was my first love.

Cloud …………

Aeris Zack… SOLDIER First Class. Same as Cloud.

Cloud Strange, there aren’t that many who make First Class, but I’ve never heard of him.

Aeris That’s all right. It’s all in the past now. I was just worried because I heard he’s been missing.

Cloud Missing?

Aeris I think it was 5 years ago. He went out on a job, and never came back.He loved women, a real lady’s man. He probably found someone else… Hey? What’s wrong?

Cloud - Poor guy - (…jealous… envious…)

“Poor guy”

Aeris I don’t really mind that I haven’t heard from him. But I feel for his parents.

(…jealous… envious…)

Aeris Are you… jealous? Hmm? Hmmm? Are you, Cloud?

He turns away.

Aeris I’m kidding. I’m sorry.

Aeris Let’s go, Cloud.

Cloud starts the conversation with Aerith, he walks up to her and says “Aerith…” and then Cloud shows some kind of physical signs of a emotional reaction when hearing Aerith was involved with Zack. The player has two options to choose from, but either way Cloud shows instant concern for Aerith just by initiating the conversation with Aerith by saying her name as apposed to Tifa initiating the conversation by saying 'Zack…’

Look at the scene again;

Cloud Your face tells me differently.

Tifa I told you, I don’t!

Cloud A, all right.

When Cloud points out she’s lying she snaps and says 'I told you, I don’t!’ and Cloud stutters 'a-alright’. You realize those 'boundaries’ Tifa has are actually a fence imprisoning Cloud in a false reality, right?? Her boundaries are about HER not wanting to tell the truth about Cloud’s past. How is that alright?

So technically she has no right to have boundaries about an issue in which she is lying to the person asking questions. 

How absurd, Tifa just assumes she has the right to even have boundaries to the man she’s helping Jenova manipulate. 

Can you tell me what this is then;

Cloud Do you know him?

Tifa N, no, I don’t know him!

Cloud Your face tells me differently.

THAT is Cloud literally confronting her about lying. It’s right there in your screencaps, man.

Who said Cloud showed anger, man? But now that you mention it, Tifa DOES get angry, though. She snaps at him when Cloud presses her about the truth. Tifa actually gets ANGRY when Cloud asks for the truth, about his own past, no less… Even if Cloud is unaware that this lie happens to be related to his real past, he still asks for the truth and Tifa gets angry when she knows damn well it’s Cloud’s business.

It’s horrible of Tifa.

W-what…where did you get that from? Where does Cloud show he’s 'upset with himself’ in this scene? 

Are you talking about when Cloud hits Aerith against his will (in due part thanks to Tifa)?

Ok, you realize that scene is when Cloud is having a MENTAL BREAK DOWN, right? You understand that Cloud is 'thanking Tifa’ when he is still unaware of the truth about his past, right?

Cloud is unaware at THIS point that Tifa has been lying to him and technically helping Jenova/Sephiroth manipulate him.

The whole point of this scene is to hammer home how AWFUL Tifa had been to Cloud. HENCE why Tifa reacts by dropping to the floor cradling her head. Tifa knows she deserves NONE of Cloud’s gratitude because she has WILLINGLY been lying to him from the get-go, eventually causing all of this.

That is actually the sole scene that can count as some form of redemption for Tifa’s character, because at least she’s realizing how much of a piece of shit she had been to Cloud–too bad all that is erased by Tifa leaving Cloud behind to drown in Mako and Tifa’s actions during the lifestream scene, though.

So you thinking that scene is touchy-feely is actually a sign you missed the whole point of the game. That is the ONE and ONLY scene in which Tifa shows ANY hesitance over lying to Cloud and all you get out of it is Cloud saying thanks to Tifa.

Once more, that scene exists to show YOU that Tifa had been lying to Cloud and doesn’t deserve his gratitude, let alone friendship.

Tifa doesn’t really seem like she’s struggling;

Tifa “You know, Cloud, Aerith is gone."  Barret "Everyone’s out looking for Aerith."  (Cloud sits up in bed and shakes his head.)  Cloud ”……City of the Ancients. Aerith is headed there.“  Barret "By herself!? Why did she go by herself!? Hey, we’re goin’ too."  Cloud "Only the Ancients, only Aerith can save us from Meteor…"  Tifa "Then we must go. What’ll we do if something happens to Aerith? If Sephiroth finds her, she’s in trouble."  Cloud "Sephiroth… already knows."  Barret "Hey! Why are you still sittin’ around?"  Tifa "Let’s go, Cloud."  (Cloud shakes his head.)  Cloud "No."  (He holds his head)  Cloud ”I might lose it again.“  "If Sephiroth comes near me  I might…"  Barret "Yeah, godammit! It’s 'cuz of you that Sephiroth got the Black Materia in the first place. It’s your damn fault!"  (Cloud lets go of his head)  Cloud "My fault?"  Barret "I know you got problems… hell, we all do. But, you don’t even understand yourself."  "But you gotta understand that there ain’t no gettin’ offa this train we’re on, till get to the end of the line."  Tifa "Cloud, we came this far… Aren’t you even going to settle up with Sephiroth?"  (Cloud clutches his head)  Cloud "No…"  (He shakes his head)  Cloud "I’m afraid."  "If this keeps up, I may go crazy! I’m afraid…"  Barret "Just a damn jackass, that’s what you are…"  "Yo, jes’ think about it… How many people in this world do ya think really understand themselves?"  "People get depressed in life because they don’t know what’s up." "But, they go on living. They don’t run away… isn’t that how it is?"  (Barret leaves.)  Tifa "Cloud… you’ll come with us, right? I believe in you."  (Tifa leaves. Cloud holds his head)  Cloud "What… am I supposed to do?"  "Pull out of here?"  "Pull out? …To where?"  (The camera pans down. Tifa and Barret are standing by the door to the inn.  Tifa faces Cloud’s room.)  Tifa "Cloud…"  Barret "Wait a minute, Tifa. Give him a little time."  "He has to decide this on his own.”

Not only is Barret BLAMING Cloud, but Tifa isn’t even trying to defend Cloud when Barret is blaming him for something that she KNOWS Cloud has NO control over. In this scene you see Cloud admitting that he is NOT fit to go onward, Cloud KNOWS this at this very moment. Beating Aerith and handing over the black materia proved to Cloud that he was not right in the head and he knew he couldn’t carry on or else everything would get worse. But what does Tifa do, she sits back and watches as Barret blames Cloud for mistakes he has NO control over and then SHE urges him to continue on their journey, despite Tifa knowing full well that something IS wrong with Cloud. 

She could have told him the truth RIGHT THEN AND THERE, but she didn’t. Why? Cloud was admitting that something was wrong, so he wouldn’t call her a liar for telling him the truth or something (out of denial), so why didn’t Tifa tell Cloud the truth after he already snapped? What was keeping her back? Cloud was already accepting something was wrong, he was already looking to find out the truth… and yet, Tifa does nothing. Shit, Barret is more compassionate in regards to Cloud not being himself than Tifa is, I mean, Tifa is acting as if NOTHING even happened. Tifa is hearing Cloud say “I’m afraid” to go on and she tells him to continue even though she knows Cloud’s fears are JUSTIFIED.

Once again, it’s horrible of her. Next is this scene;

Tifa “Cloud… It’s just an illusion."  "Don’t worry about it…"  (The screen goes white. we hear the sound of rushing wind.)  Cloud  "What’s.. next?"  Tifa  "Stop it already!!"  Cid  "This is terrible…"  (The white fades to reveal that we are still in Nibelheim. Every building  in the town is aflame.)  Cloud  ”…This is what actually happened five years ago.“  "But…"  "It’s probably not me that’s going to come out of the Shinra  mansion."  "He’s going to try and show us another stupid illusion."  (We see the black-haired young man from before rush out of the Shinra  mansion.)  Cloud  "See… didn’t I tell you?"  (He slowly walks into the town, his sword drawn. Zangan is outside the  inn, while a couple people lie on the ground.)  Zangan  "Hey! It’s you! You’re still sane, right?"  (He nods.)  Zangan  "Then come over here and help me!"  (He rushes over to Zangan.)  Tifa  ”I don’t want to… watch this. Cloud… don’t watch.“  (The young man turns in place slowly, staring at the burning houses. He  shakes his head sadly.)  Zangan  "I’ll check this house. You check that one over there."  (Zangan rushes into the inn.) 

In the above example, you can see she’s lying to Cloud, allowing Sephiroth to humiliate Cloud just so HER feelings are spared

And this scene;

Cloud "Five years."  Tifa ”…………“  Cloud "What is it?"  Tifa ”…It’s really been a long time.“  (The screen darkens, but does not disappear.)  Tifa  "Actually, it’s been seven years."  "You got your wish and joined SOLDIER, quit after the Sephiroth  incident, and now you’re a mercenary…"  "You told me a lot about what happened after you left  Nibelheim…"  "But…"  ”…Something’s wrong. I felt there was something strange about the things you talked about.“  "All the things you didn’t know that you should. And other things you shouldn’t know that you did…"  "I wanted to make sure…" 

Tifa: “But then I heard… you were going far away… And I didn’t want that……I didn’t know what to do. So, I thought I needed more time.”

(in Junon after Cloud gives the black materia to Sephiroth)

See the bolded sentences? She admits to knowing something was wrong with Cloud but she kept it to herself because SHE didn’t want him to leave and because SHE needed more time to enjoy his 'first class soldier’ alter ego, the part of Cloud she prefers.

So, no—she doesn’t ACTUALLY believe it’s the truth. She only held off from telling Cloud the truth because SHE didn’t want him to leave.

Tifa waited to tell the truth because SHE just didn’t want this fake reality to end. She enjoyed the fantasy of being Cloud’s childhood friend, where he’s this ex 1st class SOLDIER, because that’s someone she could be proud of, hence why it’s what she’s ALWAYS going on about.

She didn’t want Cloud for his real self, she wanted this fantasy version. The fact that she STILL didn’t tell Cloud the truth even after Cloud was confessing that something was wrong with him proves that. And she didn’t tell him the truth because she had more concern for HERSELF than for Cloud or Aerith’s well-being.

So don’t give me this 'she had faith in him’ narrative. Because IF she had faith in him she would have told him the truth. She IS choosing to lie to Cloud and either you weren’t aware of the above scenes or you’re blind to Tifa’s faults.

Replay the game.