Cloti

Cloti is the het ship between Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart from the Final Fantasy fandom.

Final Fantasy VII
Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart were born in the mountain village of Nibelhiem. Though they were neighbors, the two were never particularly close as children due in part to Cloud's shyness hindering his ability to successfully socialize with the other kids. He'd soon developed a superiority complex as compensation for his desire to be invited into their group, spending his time surveying Tifa with her friends and thinking they were "all childish, for laughing at every little stupid thing", and choosing to believe he was different. Following the death of Tifa's mother and latching onto a superstition regarding what unknown world lay beyond Mt. Nibel, a heartbroken desire led Tifa on an attempt to pass the mountain. While the dangerous path scared her friends off one by one, Cloud had followed closely after, but failed to reach her in time when she missed her step, causing them both to fall from the cliff. Tifa's injuries had resulted in a week-long coma, and while her father instantly assumed the worst of Cloud and blamed him for leading her there, he himself said nothing in his own defense, rather blaming himself for his weaknesses.

He'd become agitated and quick to get into fights with anyone following their accident five years ago, and though he'd assumed that Tifa must've hated him too, she accepted his invitation to meet under the stars at the water tower. There, Cloud told her of his plan: he'd leave Nibelheim in the Spring to join SOLDIER and become the best of the best, like the elite First Class Sephiroth, believing that Tifa would finally notice him if he became strong. Though a bit taken aback by the suddenness of Cloud's actions, Tifa proposed that they make a promise for Cloud to come to her aid if she ever found herself in a pinch, describing it as a hero coming to her rescue. Cloud accepts, and soon leaves for Midgar. Tifa thinks of him frequently during this time and begins checking the newspaper for any trace of his name.

In spite of his bold claims and old feelings of superiority, Cloud falls short and fails to make it into SOLDIER, instead becoming a lower leveled Shinra infantryman and eventually travelling back to Nibelheim two years later on assignment, accompanying both Sephiroth and a First Class SOLDIER called Zack. Though crestfallen that Cloud evidently wasn't among the inspecting militant as he'd hidden his face beneath his helmet out of shame and embarrassment for being forced to return home a failure, Tifa guides them to the Mako reactor and is there to witness the brunt of Sephiroth's massacre. Enraged over the murder of her father and the destruction of her home, Tifa confronts and attempts to attack Sephiroth, but is quickly cut aside. Though she was unable to recall it, Cloud had intercepted Sephiroth that night and had carried her body out of harm's way, before collapsing from his own injuries and being found by Professor Hojo's team.

Five years later, Cloud reappears in Midgar and is discovered in a confused and weakened state by Tifa. At her request in the ulterior hopes of watching over him and his well being, he joins the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE as a pay-for-hire mercenary and introduces himself as an ex-First Class SOLDIER. Upon reaching Kalm and hearing Cloud's recollection of what had happened the night of the Nibelheim Incident, Tifa becomes quiet, keeping her confusion over how he could possibly know this to herself in an effort to work things out without troubling Cloud. Her conviction over the accuracy of her own memories becomes increasingly precarious after meeting the SOLDIER Zack's parents, shaken by the confirmation of his existence while Cloud had somehow placed himself in those shoes within his own memory. Eventually unable to ignore the inconsistencies between her's and Cloud's recollections of the past, Tifa crumbles underneath the weight of her anguish when Professor Hojo deceptively claims that this Cloud is only a failed Sephiroth clone who'd molded himself from the stories Tifa had told of their childhood, and that it'd all been false. With Cloud's sense of his own identity shattered and his mind firmly under Sephiroth's influence, he apologizes to Tifa and now successfully passes over the Black Materia where he's then lost as he falls into the Lifestream.

The team eventually travels to Mideel where they rediscover Cloud, now with a severe case of Mako poisoning and in a near comatose state. Disheartened and unable to break through to him, Tifa parts from the group and their cause in order to stay by Cloud's side, caring for him for some time until the town collapses under the attack of the Ultimate Weapon, and they both topple into the Lifestream in her attempt to get Cloud to safety. Awakening to find themselves fully submerged in the manifestation of Cloud's subconscious, Tifa speaks with various different Clouds and piece by piece helps him remember the truth of his past through his memories of her. Cloud recalls his feelings for Tifa, his desire to be close to her, his shame over his failure, and that he had in fact kept his promise to save her in her time of need, even though she hadn't known it at the time. With the pieces of his subconscious fully mended, the two link hands and return back to consciousness where Cloud reclaims his role as the group's leader, now fully accepting of his own true self.

Having sent the rest of the group away on the day before their final confrontation with Sephiroth with the intention of allowing their friends to rediscover what it is they're fighting for, Tifa lingers behind with Cloud, reminding him that they're the same in not having anywhere else to go. They wait out the remaining daylight underneath the Highwind where Tifa struggles to explain the way she'd felt Cloud's subconscious calling out to her, and explaining that "words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking" when Cloud in return struggles to articulate his feelings for her. She falls asleep against his shoulder where they both linger there past dawn, understanding that there might not be another day like this. Tifa notes the loneliness without the rest of their team when they've finally reentered the Highwind, though Cloud tells her not to worry and cheers her up with the declaration that he'll "make a big enough ruckus for everyone." When they find Barret, Cid, Red XIII, and Cait Sith (along with Yuffie and Vincent should players choose to include them in the party) already stationed inside, Tifa expresses a dismayed embarrassment over the prospect that they might've been watching her night with Cloud.

Children
Denzel Denzel is an orphan boy that Cloud and Tifa took in, as they felt obligation to take care of him since they felt responsible for what happened to Sector 7, where Denzel's parents were two of the many victims of it. When Cloud had found Denzel by his motorbike he felt that him finding the boy was no coincidence, and that might Aerith might had been the one to bring Denzel to his bike so he could find him. Before Cloud had found Denzel, the boy had found Cloud's phone and called its incoming call list that had gotten him in contact with Tifa, who was surprised to learn that the person calling her isn't not Cloud. Denzel enjoys hearing Cloud's stories of the places he been to on his journey and had began to view Cloud as his hero. When Cloud and Tifa learned of Denzel's Geostigma illness, Cloud felt obligation to go in search of a cure for Denzel before he dies from it, but he began to lose hope when he realized that he has it too; while Denzel's own search for a cure had gotten him in the danger kind of trouble. That both Cloud and Tifa fought to save Denzel from. In end Cloud was finally cured of his Geostigma and later used the Lifestream infused water to cure Denzel's. Before the two went to help their friend Vincent in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, they spirited both Denzel and Marlene away to safety so the Deepground wouldn't harm them. Sometime during the following year, Denzel and Cloud go to visit the outskirts of Midgar where they see yellow colored flowers growing in the place where Zack died, Denzel asks if this is someone's grave and Cloud replies that it is the spot where a hero began his journey.

Fanon
Cloud/Tifa has been extremely popular since 1997. It is a popular Final Fantasy VII ship and one of the most popular ships in the entire series. It is considered a "rival ship" to Cloud/Aerith. Both ships have had evidence and materials to support them, although the fandom ship wars are ongoing.

On AO3, the ship has over 780 fanfics.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Cloud/Tifa (FFVII) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Cloud/Tifa (KH) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Cloud/Tifa (KH) tag on FanFiction.net

DEVIANTART

TUMBLR

WIKIS

Trivia

 * A few Cloti-like moments were seen in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * Cloud and Tifa are placed on opposing sides in Dissidia 012. Despite this, Cloud fights his own teammates and confronts the God of Discord in a bid to spare her. Defeated, he begs the Goddess of Harmony to save Tifa, causing Cosmos to recognize this as his "heart's desire" and accept him on her side.
 * Cloud and Tifa are associated characters first introduced in Final Fantasy VII (1997). Over the years they've accumulated a roster of guest and cameo appearances within their own franchise and through third party titles, and continue to hold shared popularity as recognizable video game characters.

Variations

 * Clerifa refers to the ship between Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart and Aerith Gainsborough