TIFA LOCKHART AS A KOREAN - CODED CHARACTER; A NARRATIVE
NIBELHEIM: A MOUNTAINOUS VILLAGE, NOT APART OF MIDGAR yet still under the control of Shinra out of necessity. As Tifaās hometown, it has served as a place of nurture, though not much else. As Zach & Cloud have joked, āA Mako Reactor outside of MIDGAR usually means... nothing else out there.ā āit was a simple peace if you ignored the touches of SHINRA.
JEJU ISLAND: A KOREAN MOUNTAINOUS ISLAND, ALSO COLONIZED BY JAPAN during the annexation of 1910-1945. away from the start of industrialization of seoul (then, hanseong) the island consisted of villages and a more isolated way of lifeā till the intrusion of the Japanese Imperial Army.
HEADCANON: TIFAāS MOTHER: A COURAGEOUS DIVER, LOVING MOTHER. in a village in the mountains, the people of Nibelheim had to be creative and resourceful in their way of life. as a way of living, some women found themselves as divers and fishermen. Naturally, they made for better divers and the women-dominated profession grew into a supportive community.
HAENYEO: THE LIVELIHOOD OF JEJU ISLAND, WOMEN DIVERS WHO HOLD THEIR BREATH FOR OVER 3 MINUTES, HARVESTING UNDER THE SEA FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES. Iāve always been so interested in Haenyeo since I saw a monument made for them in Jeju and while I was thinking about how Tifa was Korean-coded, I couldnāt help myself as imagine Tifaās mother as a diver. I just imagine her as an active woman who wanted to be out and about along with being a loving mother and wife.
THE NIBELHEIM INCIDENT: A TRAGIC MASSACRE AND Ā DESOLATION OF NIBELHIEM, though out of Shinraās hands, justice calls for RESPONSIBILITY. Nibelhiem is covered up and never heard from again. Host to the JENOVA project, conducted by Hojo ā which brought forth projects of torture, experimentations, and madness set the scene for chaos in Nibelheimā a convenience for Shinra to have these research projects outside of MIDGAR in order to have complete control of any experiments gone array. That chaos would ONLY be subjected to an unsuspecting village of innocents. A scene of a peaceful cover-up.
JEJU MASSACRE: FREE OF JAPANESE OCCUPATION ON AT JAPANāS DEFEAT AT THE END OF WWII-- U.S. forces quickly split korea in two, in order to appease USSR forces, and both countries took their piece of Korea (the US taking the south in order to ensure āsecurityā of the capital). With heavy forces of freedom fighting done in North Korea against the Japanese Imperial Army, the people looked to elect the leader of the freedom fighters Kim Il Sung as their first president. The South had a rigged election and dictator put in place by the U.S. with Sygman Rhee as their first ruler. As the people of JEJU ISLAND protested for solidarity and soverignty, supporting the communist movements of land reform and education of the Northā the US backed forces massacred anyone thought to be harboring communist sentiment, resulting in the cover up of 30,000 deaths.
MT NIBEL: A PASSAGE FOR THE DEAD. At 8 years old Tifa loses her mother to a tragic diving accident. In her grief, Tifa decides to follow her soul out to Mt Nibel, as it is believed to be the only place for the dead to pass through to the living world. Falling off a bridge, Tifa remains in a coma for seven days.
HALLA SAN: THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN SOUTH KOREA, RESIDING ON JEJU ISLAND. Much of the partisan fighting that occured during the war against the US backed police force and the communist freedom fighters, happened up towards Mt Halla. Many surviving villagers at the time tell stories of warning of the mountain, that whoever goes upā never end up coming back down. With 10% of Jejuās population being massacred, sighting of ghosts were widespread through the grief of loss.
AVALANCHE: THE ECO-āTERRORISTā INSURGENT ANTI - SHINRA GROUP. labeled as an organization out to cause disorder by aligning with WUTAI, a country that opposed Shinra ( though now is under their mercy through their defeat after the wutai wars). IN REALITY:Ā AVALANCHE is an eco-revolutionary militia, set on dismantling the corrupt, fascist and capitalist monopoly: SHINRA from killing the world for their benefit.
UIBYEONG or RIGHTEOUS ARMIES: Throughout of much Korean history, cells of Righteous Armies (civilian militias) have poped up and survived throughout multiple invasions from China and Japan. Throughout the period of political turmoil of Joseon (Korea) before the Japanese Occupation, these civilian militias surged with activity in order to assert their independence.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT, YURIM? Itās important because there are many Japanese companies who like to play with the idea of a fascist / capitalist corporation/government in media but still are very messy with how they involve race in these games. FF/7 does a better job at this but COULD STILL BE BETTER. The game easily focuses on the classism divide but does nothing more than adding a few POC / POC-coded characters to cover up where its lacking. So, Iām trying to add more complexity. Also, I feel the need to justify this because there will be people whoāll believe Iām a k/oreaboo or something and only want to use a Korean fc for Tifa when writing her as a Korean-coded character⦠Instead, Iām Korean myself and strongly connect to her for a reason !