Titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII later expanded upon her character, such as in Advent Children, where she attempts to convince Cloud to let go of his self-imposed guilt and move on with his life after Sephiroth's defeat.

Tifa has been named the pin-up girl of the "cyber generation" by The New York Times, and has been compared to Lara Croft as an example of a strong, independent, and attractive female character.

Tifa was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, and was not present in early versions of Final Fantasy VII as, initially, the game was to have only three playable characters: the protagonist Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, and Barret Wallace.

[16] In an interview with Japanese magazine Jugemu, they discussed her character design, with composer Nobuo Uematsu commenting that her breasts were "a bit...overly ample."

[19] When producing Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, co-director Takeshi Nozue had difficulty developing a visual framework for Tifa that was "balanced, yet showed off her feminine qualities".

[20] Nomura describes her character in Advent Children as having several dimensions, calling her "like a mother, a sweetheart and a close ally in battle" and "remarkably strong, not only emotionally, but physically as well".

[26] Square Enix's ethics department requested changes to her clothing, giving her black undergarments and a form-fitting tank top to "constrict" her chest so it would not "come off as unnatural during heavy action sequences".

Various ideas were considered during development, including a maid costume and a bikini modelled after a chocobo, one of the Final Fantasy series' mascots.

[32] Although Tifa's updated design had already been finalized, Ito's casting motivated them to blend many traits from the voice actress into the character's appearance.

[40] Tifa is introduced in Final Fantasy VII as the childhood friend of Cloud Strife and owner of the 7th Heaven bar in the slums of Midgar, a technologically advanced metropolis owned by the Shinra Electric Power Company.

Tifa was taken to safety by her martial arts instructor and eventually arrived in Midgar, meeting AVALANCHE's leader, Barret Wallace.

Shortly before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, she encountered an incoherent Cloud at the city's train station and convinced him to work for Barret, to keep him close and watch over him.

[44] In preliminary drafts of Final Fantasy VII, Tifa was a background character with a particular fondness for Cloud whose role in AVALANCHE was to provide support behind the scenes and to cheer everyone up after missions.

[9] Masato Kato, one of the event planners, proposed a scene in which she and Cloud had sex but it was replaced with a toned-down version by Kitase wherein a suggestive line is followed by a fade to black.

[8] When developing the international edition of Final Fantasy VII, an additional cutscene was added to showcase an enemy in the game, Ultima Weapon, and featured Tifa in it due to how popular her character had become.

[18] The novella "Case of Tifa", written as part of the On the Way to a Smile series, is a story set between the original game and Advent Children that is told from her point of view.

The story details how she creates a new 7th Heaven bar in the city of Edge and attempts to hold onto the concept of a normal family with herself and Cloud, despite him beginning to isolate himself from others.

[64] The New York Times named her as the pin-up girl of the "cyber generation",[65] while The Beaumont Enterprise cited Tifa as an example of a strong female character in video games in the mold of Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series.

[66] Holly Boson of Polygon described Tifa as defined by her "brittle confidence and supportiveness", further stating her belief that in the context of Final Fantasy VII, she represents forcefulness and sexuality.

[67] Den of Geek's Matthew Byrd attributed her popularity to her warmth, strength, and the ability to act both supportive and as a leader depending on the situation, but also noted her vulnerability and how it made her a well-rounded character "who is more than worthy of her fan-favorite status".

[71] Fans of the series have heavily debated which character was a better match for Cloud since the initial game's release, comparing the pros and cons of each.

Tifa was portrayed as someone who was "insecure, lonely, and hides her true emotions", which may have led to her being received negatively, but in Freed's eyes made her the more human of the pair.

[73] On the other hand, Patrick Holleman in his book Reverse Design: Final Fantasy VII described Tifa as having "the most typical story of a near-death experience and the loss of a world she belonged to" of the game's cast, despite how atypical Cloud was by comparison.

Cloud represented her only living connection to her past and, to this end, Holleman believed she ignored the discrepancies in how he remembered events bordering on psychosis not as a matter of romance but as a means to hold onto what she lost.

The scene initially appears to lead into a boss battle against Scarlet, but Tifa instead engages in a slap fight with her, something he felt subverted the player's expectations well.

[77] UGO.com shared similar sentiments, complimenting her outfit and describing her as a "bona-fide sex symbol", highlighting that she was a rarity among female characters in video games at the time.

[78] IGN's Phil Pirrello attributed a large part of her popularity to her chest size, noting that she was an example of how the series tried to add real sex appeal with Final Fantasy VII.

[79] Fellow contributor Dave Smith suggested similar, stating it was hard to sing her praises "without sounding just a little teeny-weeny bit sexist", but added that she helped define "tough, independent" role-playing game heroines that came after her.

[83] In January 2022, a Zoom video conference meeting in the Italian Senate was interrupted by a user displaying 3D-rendered pornography featuring Tifa engaging in sexual intercourse.

In another article for IGN, the staff acknowledged that while her design was meant to emphasize physical beauty, her "awe-inspiring strength, complex background, strong will and her attachment to Cloud" defined her as more than "just an eye-catching woman", naming her a legendary heroine in the series.