Stuff like this still bothers me.
I realize it's a double-standard, since I get a good chuckle out of similar jokes made with other characters. But the difference for me is that said characters are typically far more deserving of parody. There's a world of difference in both physical design and characterization between Tifa and, say, Ivy of Soul Calibur.
But for FF fans the lines don't seem nearly as blurred. While one should take solace in the fact that she doesn't look like that
anymore, as anyone with eyes should be able to notice a more proportional design found in recent appearances, but it seems the majority of the online fanbase doesn't believe that. You still get remarks on how "they're just covered, but they're still huge and ready to burst out" or the over-excitement over the minor jiggling found in Dissidia Duodecim.
With Square's current insistence in portraying their most recent female characters in pop idol outfits (FFXIII-2) or complete character-destroying retcons (Third Birthday), I worry that they'll take the bottom of the barrel fan feedback to determine how to portray Tifa the next time she's due for an appearance (be it a remake, sequel, crossover, etc).
For instance, instead of seeing this classier image posted around...
Most sites use this image instead (which isn't even official, and is terrible in both portrayal and overall quality. Of all the porno fan-art all there, why does THIS get used the most?):
And again, even when attempts are made to create a more reasonable appearance, they fall on deaf fanboy ears. Check out some pics from Dissidia.
This is very obviously not huge, by any stretch. It's still sexy and supple, which is
perfectly fine, but not "how does she not get back pain with those?" giant. Even so, it's also completely overlooked when people are too enamored by the jiggling animations that occur within the game.
Again, ogling the character is fine; every videogame character that has possessed a vagina has been subjected to this, be it Princess Peach or Chun-Li, and that includes non-human iterations like Midna or Princess Sally. There's even an audience for canon males with girly features like Kuja, but let's not make things even more uncomfortable here.
It just feels that with Tifa, fans are echoing the latest Soul Calibur advert "Go big or go home". It's like there is an expectation that Square must achieve pornstar status with her appearance, or disappointment will reign across the internet. That is why I'm so concerned with how she'll be handled from here out, especially in light of how much care they took to characterize her originally (having a separate writer exclusively handle her dialog and relationship with the main character, for instance...they wouldn't put that effort on a character that is meant exclusively for fanservice).
Someone did bring up an interesting point to me in that "If she wasn't so popular, she wouldn't be ogled in the first place". It's an interesting point when you consider there are far more blatantly boobtastic characters (such as Lulu) who don't get even an ounce of the attention and dirty fan-art Tifa does.
But again, the line between what is "official" and what is "fan-influenced" can have an effect in the long run. A character like Chun-Li (who for all intents and purposes is one of the first large-chested videogame characters out there; her legs may get more attention than anything else, but her chest size is almost equal to Mai Shiranui's) has managed to survive this, because Capcom has remained consistent with her design, extra muscles aside (same can't be said for Cammy though, who factually is supposed to have a petite frame but still has alternating boob sizes in almost every game; check out her animated opening in Vanilla SFIV for a clear example).
Tifa needs that same level of consistency. It isn't going to stop perverts with surprisingly good artistic skills to keep pumping out fan-art, because that's the way of things, but at least it will make forum debates such as "where in Sector 7 do you think the breast surgeon lives?" ultimately moot.