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Tifa is a member of AVALANCHE, and an important one at that. She doesn't seem to go on missions a lot (she wasn't in the group that blew up the No.1 Reactor, for instance), yet she's quite significant when it comes to providing a hideout (7th Heaven) and making plans: considering the impulsive nature of the other members, she can probably think more clearly than any of them. Her wise talking always prevents the others, especially Barret, from doing anything stupid out of rage, and her capability of staying calm and solving conflicts through logic is extremely important in a city like Midgar.

AVALANCHE is written in all-capital letters, though (in the game) it's never stated what they stand for, or even if they stand for anything at all; probably not. A lot of organizations and groups in FFVII have names like that; take SOLDIER for instance: yet, I don't think the letters stand for anything in this case either. The true meaning is, from my point of view, in the word itself, not the capitalization, but only Square can know.

Though not much is known about the past of AVALANCHE, it's an established fact that it was created by Barret Wallace around 1-4 years before the present time in the game. It can't have been before that, since then Barret used to live peacefully in North Corel; on the other hand, I don't think the faction can be any more recent than that.

Apparently, the whole city of Midgar is ruled by ShinRa (not the Mayor, since even he seems to be powerless when it comes to ShinRa). ShinRa used to be a weapon manufacturing company, until somebody found out about the Lifestream and the energy that could be sucked from it; either way, when the game begins, ShinRa is an electric power company. Naturally, this corporation is full of (and ruled by) corrupt, money-ridden bastards who could care less about the Planet's survival. Though Sephiroth is indeed the antagonist in the game, the ShinRa can be considered the "bad guys", for they are, contrary to all the "good people" in the game, leading the Planet to destruction.

When ShinRa had enough power to do so, eight Mako reactors were built around Midgar, each in a different city sector (Midgar is divided into eight sectors that used to have names, though, according to Jessie, "nobody remembers them anymore, so they're referred to by numbered sectors". Now, wouldn't it be annoying if everybody in New York City or Las Vegas suddenly forgot the name of their city?). Mako reactors suck energy from the Lifestream, the "blood" of the Planet (when a living being dies, it returns to the Planet, that is, to the Lifestream, as energy: so, basically, sucking energy from the Lifestream can be the same as sucking souls from it), and process it into Mako energy, which later is converted into electric energy that powers the whole city of Midgar itself.

There are many other reactors in the world, continuously sucking energy from the Lifestream, day after day, with no mercy. Obviously, if this goes on, the Planet will eventually die: which explains the high number of anti-ShinRa factions all over the world, but more significantly in Midgar. AVALANCHE's goal is to stop ShinRa from sucking energy from the Lifestream and therefore killing the Planet; however, unfortunately, Barret seems to think violence can only be fought with violence, and his action strategy for AVALANCHE is to blow up as many Mako reactors as they can, not considering all the innocent people that will inevitably die in the explosion, so that the Planet "is allowed to live at least a little longer" (in Biggs's words).

However, Barret's merciless violence towards ShinRa is quite understandable if you know the very reason why he started AVALANCHE. Four years before the game starts, Barret had a peaceful life in his hometown of North Corel, a small and humble coal mine town. One day, ShinRa came to town and asked to build a Mako reactor next to it: everybody except Dyne, Barret's best friend, was okay with it, and the project became real. Some time later, when both Barret and Dyne were out of town for a while, they saw (from a distance) North Corel being attacked by ShinRa soldiers. The whole town was burnt down, and there was nothing the two men could have done to save their family and friends' lives. Marlene, Dyne's only daughter, did survive, though, for Barret managed to save (and later adopt) her.

Barret still blames himself for not realizing ShinRa's true intentions (of eventually destroying the town so that only the reactor would remain) sooner, and when he leaves with Marlene, the only thing he knows for sure is that he wants, or even needs, to revenge the people who died, including Dyne: because he doesn't know what has happened to Dyne after the incidence in which he lost his right arm (while Dyne lost his left), when they were attacked by ShinRa soldiers on their way to North Corel the day they saw it being burnt down, and Dyne ended up falling off a cliff.

We can't know what actually happens after he leaves North Corel with Marlene; what we do know is that AVALANCHE is eventually founded by him in Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII's hometown (this is also the reason he made a promise to his guys from AVALANCHE that after saving the Planet, they would all go back to Cosmo Canyon and celebrate). The original members were Barret, Jessie, Wedge and Biggs (the last three all die when, in Disc 1, ShinRa blows up Midgar's Sector 7, where 7th Heaven is located; at the same time, they managed to destroy their hideout and blame the people from AVALANCHE itself for it). AVALANCHE is the most popular and significant anti-ShinRa faction in Midgar, and also the one who causes most trouble to the energy corporation.

It's not stated how Tifa got to join AVALANCHE, but considering her own hatred toward ShinRa for what they did in Nibelheim, I guess she probably heard about the faction, talked to Barret and agreed to become a member and provide the hideout. However, when it comes to this, we can only speculate, as nothing specific is stated in the game.

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