Aerith Gainsborough

Aerith Gainsborough, alternately known with the first name Aeris, and other times with the surname Gainborough, or Gainsbourg, is a playable character in Final Fantasy VII and a major character in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII; appearing in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- and Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. She is the last of the Cetra, an ancient race with powerful magical abilities, and so the Shinra Electric Power Company hunts her throughout her life, seeking to exploit her powers.

Name
In the original English release of Final Fantasy VII, Aerith's name was transliterated as "Aeris" by. This stems from the nature of the katakana alphabet and how it is used to represent loan words. The name in kana is エアリス, "e-a-ri-su." Because the Japanese alphabet lacks a true "th" sound, ス (su) is often used as a best-fit substitute for the sound when spelling out loan words. If a work is being translated with relatively minimal context, however, it can be difficult to spot these cases if the intended word is not immediately obvious. As the translator of Final Fantasy VII likely lacked much or all of the context discussed in the Etymology section, "Aeris" is the most logical transliteration of エアリス when the word is given with no other context, as ス is also commonly used to represent a "solo S" in addition to a "th."

Since Kingdom Hearts and in all related appearances since, the official English spelling of her name has been retconned to "Aerith".

An article in GameFan magazine (volume 4 issue 5, from May 1996) shows the characters that were known at the time. In the issue Aerith's name was written as "Aerith," as opposed to "Aeris" found in the game. The magazine also translated Barret's name as "Bullet."

Although she was never seen referred to as Aerith in-game prior to Kingdom Hearts, in the original Final Fantasy VII, before being given the opportunity to name the character she is named "Aerith" by default within the game's code. This is never seen by the player since the first time her name is seen is after the name select screen, where the name selection screen defaults to Aeris. This means that if the name selection screen could be bypassed, her name would natively display as Aerith. This also applies for Cloud, who is called Ex-SOLDIER in the game, but this is changed when the player gets to the name selection screen where the default on the name selection is "Cloud." The same also applies for Red XIII, who is called "Red" before naming him, but unlike the latter two, this is seen at the top of a dialogue box during the player's first interactions with him, and changes to "Red XIII" in the name selection screen.

The official English website for the 2012 PC re-release of Final Fantasy VII refers to her as "Aerith Gainsborough." Despite this, the translation of the game remains unchanged from the original 1998 PC release and the default name is still Aeris.

Appearance
In Final Fantasy VII, Aerith wears a shin-length pink dress that buttons up the front and a red bolero jacket. She wears brown boots and metal bracers on her wrists and around the edges of her jacket sleeves. In all her appearances Aerith's long light brown hair is plaited with a large pink ribbon; within the ribbon she keeps the White Materia orb given to her by her mother.

Segmented bangs frame her face and she has emerald green eyes. Aerith wears the same basic attire in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children with new details to her jacket, giving her two pockets on the breast and replacing the metal bands on the sleeves with leather belts. This is how Aerith appears in most of her spin-off appearances.

In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Aerith wears a blue and white dress with a red camisole underneath and white wedge sandals with pink straps. During their first date Zack Fair buys her the iconic pink hair ribbon, and later suggests Aerith continue to wear pink, likely prompting her wardrobe change to what is seen in Final Fantasy VII. In Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- Aerith wears a pink, white and red top tied around the neck with buttons up the front, and a frilly white and green skirt. In Kingdom Hearts, Aerith wears a variation of her original Final Fantasy VII attire, abandoning the jacket and bracers, instead wearing a series of metal bracelets on one arm. She also wears a thick bright blue belt. Her outfit in Kingdom Hearts II is based on her Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- outfit, but her skirt is pink.

Personality
Aerith is upbeat and joyful, and several times in Final Fantasy VII attempts to cheer up her fellow party members. As she was raised in the Midgar Slums, Aerith maintains that she can take care of herself and can fight off Shinra troops, as well as demonstrating more subtle forms of savvy. When Aerith has made up her mind about something she will not listen to anyone who tells her otherwise. Aerith and Tifa often spend time together when the party splits up and are good friends.

As a child, Aerith was reluctant to accept her Cetra heritage, and in Final Fantasy VII she admits to Cloud she considers herself lonely as she is the only remaining Cetra. She exhibits personality quirks at times, such as being afraid of the sky in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, and claiming she can "hear the wind calling her" in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-. These traits may be influenced by her Cetra heritage allowing her to communicate with the Planet.

Aerith is portrayed as an independent, outgoing, motherly, and kind young woman who displays an intuitive understanding of others and is deeply in-tune with nature.

Early life
Aerith was born to Ifalna and Professor Gast Faremis in Icicle Inn on February 7th, 1985, making her half-human and half-Cetra. When she was barely twenty days old Professor Hojo tracked Gast down, killed him, and captured Ifalna and Aerith. The two became subject to numerous experiments at the hands of Hojo and Shinra as they researched the Cetra.

Seven years later, in 1992, Ifalna and Aerith escaped the Shinra Headquarters, but Ifalna was wounded and only made it as far as the train platform in the slums under Sector 7 before collapsing. Elmyra Gainsborough was there to wait for her husband's return from the Wutai War, and before passing, Ifalna asked her to keep Aerith safe and so Elmyra brought Aerith home with her.

For years Elmyra raised Aerith alone as her adopted daughter in the slums of Sector 5. Shinra relocated her, and Tseng of the Turks, who considered Aerith a friend, attempted to persuade her to join Shinra willingly instead of capturing her, but Aerith refused. At the time, the Wutai War ate up most of Shinra's resources postponing the Neo Midgar project—the project Shinra primarily wanted Aerith for. As Aerith grew up she continued to hear the Planet and although she was reluctant to admit it, was aware of her Cetra heritage and tried hard to hide it.

Aerith spent time in the Sector 5 Church. Due to the Mako Reactors draining the life out of Midgar and the surrounding areas, little could grow around the metropolis. Regardless, Aerith cultivated a flower patch out of the dirt under the church's floorboards.

Relationship with Zack


In 0000, a fifteen-year-old Aerith meets Zack Fair when he falls into the church from the Sector 5 Reactor. When he awakens, Zack mistakes being in heaven and Aerith as an angel, but she corrects him. Zack suggests a date, but Aerith brushes him off. She shows him around, and Zack buys Aerith her trademark pink hair ribbon. The two visit the Sector 6 park and Aerith tells Zack she fears SOLDIER members for being experiments who love to fight. Zack reveals being in SOLDIER, and she apologizes. Tseng calls Zack back to the Shinra Headquarters, but he promises to see Aerith again.

Aerith and Zack continue to speak frequently over his cellphone and see each other for the next two years. After Angeal's death, Zack visits Aerith who holds him as he cries. Angeal's will lingers in the form of a canine copy that settles at the church and defends Aerith from rogue Shinra security robots.

Zack suggests Aerith sell flowers to make money, as flowers are a luxury item in Midgar, and constructs flower carts for her. The two head out to the slums to open her business, but it does not go well. Aerith asks Zack for "a few tiny wishes," and Zack has her write them down for him. This is the last time the two would see each other, as later that day Zack is dispatched to Nibelheim with Sephiroth and never returns. In the upcoming years Aerith overcomes her fears and ventures above the plate to sell flowers, although she elects to using a basket rather than a cart.

In Episode 6 of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- Aerith sells flowers to Rude when he goes on his date with Chelsea. In Episode 11, on August 9th, 0002, the player Turk meets Aerith leaving her house, surprised by the blooming flowers. Aerith tells the Turk she wishes to leave Midgar to see the world as she can hear the wind calling to her. AVALANCHE arrives searching for her, and the player Turk helps Aerith evade them.

Shears defeats the player Turk and Aerith is taken to the church to meet the leader of AVALANCHE, Elfé. Elfé tells Aerith AVALANCHE wants to bring down Shinra and protect the Promised Land, and it would be in her best interests to ally with them. Aerith hears an "old voice" emanating from Elfé, inadvertently leading to the discovery of the Turk spying on them from the rafters. After the Turk battles Shears and Fuhito, Elfé is stricken by a sudden weakness, and AVALANCHE retreats. Tseng arrives and the Turk allows Aerith to flee while they distract him.

When Zack escapes Shinra custody years later, the final Angeal copy who was left watching over Aerith when Zack left Midgar, seeks him out but soon dies, leaving behind a letter from Aerith as it fades. As Zack reads it, he discovers Aerith has been doing well selling flowers in Midgar, and during the four years he has been gone she has written Zack eighty-nine letters, though he never receives the rest of them. Tseng has the letters and sends the Turks to locate Zack before the Shinra army so they can save him and deliver the correspondence, but the Turks ultimately fail.

Aerith tends the flowers in the church while, outside Midgar, Zack is gunned down by Shinra forces. She looks up and clasps her hands.

Meeting Cloud and AVALANCHE
On December 9, 0007, at the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, Aeris meets Cloud as he flees from the bombing of the Sector 1 Reactor. Cloud has the option to warn her to get to safety, buy a flower from her, or blow her off. Later, after a failed attack on the Sector 5 Reactor, Cloud falls into the church and awakes on the flower bed.

Reno of the Turks comes to apprehend Aeris who asks Cloud to become her bodyguard, offering him a date as payment. Cloud helps Aeris escape and takes her home, and Aeris tells Cloud of her Materia heirloom that "does nothing." Cloud sneaks out early in the morning to return to Sector 7 alone, but Aeris confronts him and Cloud agrees to bring her along. Taking a break in the Sector 6 playground, the pair spots Tifa on a chocobo cart, and assumes Don Corneo has kidnapped her.

Through an idea of Aeris, she and a crossdressed Cloud infiltrate the Don's mansion to rescue Tifa, who reveals she did not need rescuing as she was trying to get information on Shinra from Corneo. Corneo divulges Shinra has learned the location of the base of operations of the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE Tifa and Cloud are members of, and is planning to drop the plate covering the sector to destroy the entire area. The party's attempts to stop Shinra fail, and Aeris is captured by Tseng while taking Marlene, the daughter of Barret—the leader of this incarnation of AVALANCHE—to safety.

The only surviving members of AVALANCHE, Cloud, Tifa and Barret, attempt to rescue her from the Shinra Headquarters. Aeris has been brought to Professor Hojo's lab and during an executive meeting Hojo explains to the top echelons of Shinra he plans to breed her to produce a test subject with extraordinary longevity. As Hojo places Red XIII and Aeris in the same containment tank Red XIII feigns aggression toward her. AVALANCHE storms the lab and Red XIII and Aeris are released, Red XIII joining Cloud to defeat Hojo's experimental monsters while the other members of AVALANCHE safeguard her, but the group is captured by the Turks.

Instead of returning Aeris to Hojo's lab, she is imprisoned in the cells with the others. Her heritage is made known to them, and during their captivity Sephiroth manifests through Jenova's remains that were stored in Hojo's lab to attack Shinra, and the group is freed from their cells. They discover President Shinra murdered and Aeris leads the others out while Cloud and Tifa remain behind as Cloud confronts the new president of the company, Rufus Shinra.

Pursuit of Sephiroth
They escape Midgar, and Aeris decides to accompany the others on their quest to hunt down Sephiroth as she wants to find out more about her heritage, having heard Sephiroth is seeking the Cetra's Promised Land. They keep running into the Turks, with Tseng ensuring she is alright upon their meeting in the Mythril Mine. They pass through Junon and stow away on a cargo ship. During the voyage Aeris tells Cloud she had glimpsed Shinra's Highwind back in Junon airport, and wishes she could fly on it one day.

In Costa del Sol they run into Professor Hojo who asks Aeris about her late mother. She retreats to the hotel and mulls over the possibility of being the last Cetra in the world. In Gold Saucer she attempts to cheer up the frustrated Barret by telling him they are going to play, causing him to run off alone. In Gongaga the party runs into Zack's parents who haven't heard of him for years and Aeris reveals she used to be his girlfriend. Following a visit to Cosmo Canyon and speaking with the village elders, she comes to terms with her powers and duties as the last Cetra, although the knowledge of her task makes her feel more alone. Back in Gold Saucer Aeris is a date option for Cloud, and if the two go out she talks how much Cloud resembles Zack, but also realizes he's different and expresses a desire to meet the "real him."

The party tracks Sephiroth to the Temple of the Ancients, and Aeris uses her Cetra powers to help decipher the temple's mysteries and find the inner chamber. Sephiroth reveals his plan to use the Black Materia to call Meteor, the ultimate Black Magic. The temple itself transforms into the Black Materia, but Sephiroth takes control of Cloud forcing him into relinquishing it. When Aeris attempts to stop Cloud, he attacks her and is knocked out by a party member. While he is unconscious Aeris contacts Cloud in a dream, and tells him that as the last Cetra only she can stop Sephiroth. When Cloud awakens, Tifa and Barret tell him Aeris is gone. Cloud follows the clues she had given him in the dream to the Forgotten Capital.

Return to the Lifestream
In a temple underneath the city the party finds Aeris praying on an altar. As Cloud approaches her Sephiroth attempts to take control of him to make him kill her, but Cloud resists. As Aeris finishes praying and lifts her head to see Cloud, Sephiroth—still using Jenova's body as a vessel transformed into his likeness—descends from the ceiling and impales her with the Masamune. Aeris collapses into Cloud's arms as her hair ribbon unravels, the White Materia that had been concealed in her hair bouncing off the altar into the water below.

Enraged, Cloud turns on Sephiroth, who detaches a part of Jenova's body to fight Cloud, transforming it into Jenova∙LIFE. After Jenova∙LIFE is dispatched the party pays their respects to Aeris and Cloud rests her body to the pool of water in the center of the city. Reeve, a Shinra executive sympathetic to their cause traveling with the party in the guise of Cait Sith, later brings the news of her death to Elmyra Gainsborough and consoles her.

Aeris was praying for Holy, the ultimate White Magic to defend against Meteor, called by the White Materia she had worn in her hair. The party later learns Aeris had succeeded in calling it prior to her demise, but Sephiroth is blocking its power. Cloud's party descends to the center of the Planet to defeat him, and after the battle Cloud has an out of body experience during which he faces off against Sephiroth's spirit alone. Vanquishing his nemesis, Cloud finds himself among the Lifestream with Aeris extending her hand to him. As Cloud tries to grasp it he returns to his body and saves Tifa as the cave begins to crumble. He tells her he can meet Aeris again in the Promised Land. Sephiroth's defeat releases Holy, but by this time the Meteor has fallen too close and Holy's energy is unfocused by its gravity. Within the Lifestream, Aeris's spirit commands it to emerge from the Planet and push Meteor back allowing Holy to fully focus its energy, and in January of 0008, Holy and the Lifestream destroy Meteor and save the Planet.

Aerith's role in the Lifestream fending off Meteor is expanded in the novella Hoshi wo Meguru Otome, which depicts Aerith in the Lifestream immediately after her death helping to fight Sephiroth's influence over it as well as meeting other dead characters from the game including Barret's childhood friend Dyne, fallen AVALANCHE members Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, President Shinra, Hojo and Zack, whom she is surprised to learn is dead. She helps Tifa and Cloud when they fall into the Lifestream and into Cloud's Subconscious and when Holy fails to defeat Meteor, Aerith commands the Lifestream to push it back and help Holy destroy it.

Aerith is also the central character in the On the Way to a Smile novella "Case of the Lifestream - White." As Sephiroth avoids dissolution and spreads Geostigma using the Lifestream tainted with his memories, Aerith tries to help heal the spirits of the dead and contain the damage being done to the Lifestream. Despite the help of the spirits of other Cetra, those infected with Geostigma die faster than Aerith can heal their spirits, so she resolves to try and contact Cloud and stop the infection on the Planet itself. Aerith considers creating avatars similar to Sephiroth, but decides against this as she would rather meet Cloud as he remembers her.

Geostigma crisis
Aerith's appearance in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is first hinted at when Cloud and Tifa collapse wounded on the flowers of the Sector 5 Church—they later awaken healed. Aerith appears to Cloud in a vision as he rides to the Forgotten Capital to save the children of Edge from Kadaj. Standing behind him she questions his reasons for coming, and Cloud says he wants to be forgiven. When Aerith asks "by who?" Cloud turns to see her and the vision ends.

When he loses his cellphone during his fight with Kadaj and his brothers, Aerith leaves a message on it as it descends into a pool of water, assuring Cloud she never blamed him for her death. During the battle against Bahamut SIN, Cloud is consumed in its attack, and amid the fireball sees a vision of Aerith, who takes his outstretched hand and transfers enough energy to him to cut through Bahamut's attack and destroy it.

In the battle's aftermath Cloud pursues Kadaj and his brothers on motorcycle, eventually confronting Kadaj in the Sector 5 Church. Kadaj attacks Cloud with a blast of energy, destroying the flowerbed. Water full of energy from the Lifestream erupts in a geyser from the hole, healing Cloud of his Geostigma and sending Kadaj fleeing. Cloud follows him, and during their battle Kadaj absorbs Jenova's cells he had obtained from Rufus earlier to become Sephiroth. Sephiroth covers Midgar in the corrupted Lifestream and as Marlene and Denzel watch it descend over the city, she senses Aerith's presence.

When Cloud defeats Sephiroth and he is transformed back into Kadaj, Aerith calls down healing rain over the city, curing most of the inhabitants of Geostigma. Hearing Aerith's voice and mistaking her as his mother, Kadaj dissolves into the Lifestream. His brothers attack Cloud and the three are consumed in an explosion.

Floating in a void Cloud senses Aerith's presence and also mistakes her as his mother. She and Zack joke about it and Zack informs him that his place isn't with them yet. Cloud awakens in the water of the Sector 5 Church, and the Moogle Girl tells him "she" said to wait there and he would be back. Cloud uses the water to heal Denzel, a boy suffering from Geostigma he and Tifa had adopted, and the remaining children and the group celebrates. As Cloud surveys his friends he spots Aerith speaking to children near the church entrance before walking to the light-filled doorway where Zack waits. Aerith turns and smiles assuring Cloud that "everything's alright." As she and Zack walk into the light, Cloud smiles as they fade. Later, as Cloud rides his motorcycle through the countryside, Aerith stands among the fields of flowers watching him whiz by.

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, as Tifa is about to get crushed by falling foundation during the battle against Bahamut SIN, an image of Aerith about to meet her death at the hands of Sephiroth is superimposed over Tifa in Cloud's right eye. During the new ending, phones around Edge ring, and Aerith's unheard voice tells the children who answer to go to her church to be healed, confirming what was implied in the original release (that it was Aerith who directed the children there). Aerith is no longer seen on the field in the ending in Advent Children Complete when Cloud rides his motorcycle during the credits.

Battle


Aeris is lacking in physical stats, but makes up for it with her high magical stats. When Aeris first joins the party she is in the back row by default and her starting level is decided by the following formula:
 * [average party level -3]

The playable characters in Final Fantasy VII require slightly different amounts of EXP to reach level 99. Aeris requires the most EXP for level 99: 2,484,643.

She wields various rods and staves that often have many Materia slots and boost her magic, making her most suitable for wielding Magic and Summon Materia. One of her weapons, the Fairy Tale, can be acquired in Gongaga and has seven Materia slots, the most of any weapon up to that point and for some time after. Earlier, in the Train Graveyard, one can steal the Striking Staff, which has an attack of 32, an unusually high value for that point in the game, making her a useful physical attacker for a period when placed in the front row or given the Long Range Materia. However, as Aeris cannot be used after Disc 1, her combat abilities are limited in comparison to the other party members who can acquire stronger weapons later.

Aeris is the only character in the game whose ultimate weapon, Princess Guard, has normal Materia growth, and seven Materia slots. The weapon functions like Cloud's Yoshiyuki, increasing in attack power proportional to the numbers of KO'd allies.

When Aeris leaves the party at the end of Temple of the Ancients, the player permanently loses the weapon and armor she was equipped with, but gets back her equipped accessory and Materia. It is possible to open the menu after the Demons Gate battle during the scene Cloud lunges at Aeris at the bottom of the pit that used to be the temple, and change her equipment.

Limit Breaks


As a White Mage-like character, Aeris's Limit Breaks revolve around healing and buffing the party, most of them restoring HP and curing status ailments. Aeris's ultimate Limit Break is Great Gospel, which fully heals the party and makes them temporarily invincible. For Aeris to use the technique it has to be taught to her on disc 1.

Date mechanics


The party member who takes Cloud Strife on a date during the party's second plot-related visit to Gold Saucer is decided by a hidden value in the game determined by the player's dialogue and party member choices. Depending on the player's choices, Cloud may go on a date with Aeris, Tifa, Yuffie, or even Barret.

How each character is chosen is based upon a hidden value in the game's code, which cannot be viewed without hacking. Aeris starts with the highest value, at 50, and is thus considered the default date option.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Aerith is fought as a boss in the Training Mode of Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Healing Wave is a Limit Break used by Zack when Aerith's portrait lines up in the Digital Mind Wave during a modulating phase. It acts similar to Great Gospel, healing Zack of all negative status ailments, granting him invincibility and restoring a large amount of AP, MP and HP, also increasing them beyond their max amounts if enough is healed. Zack can use Healing Wave after meeting with Aerith, since the beginning of chapter 5.

Creation and development
Aerith was designed by Tetsuya Nomura with influence from director and scenario writer Yoshinori Kitase and Hironobu Sakaguchi. Yoshitaka Amano created conceptual artwork of Aerith for Final Fantasy VII, which also influenced her design. Her long dress was designed to appear ladylike and as a contrast to Tifa Lockhart's miniskirt. Making Aerith's dress with polygons was difficult at the time, but Nomura believed that thinking about how to make it move naturally would lead to improvement of skills and rendering. Her green eyes were meant to symbolize nature and also served as another contrast to Tifa's.

Aerith was, along with Cloud and Barret, one of the first three playable characters designed for Final Fantasy VII before more were added. An early demo of Final Fantasy VII includes Aeris in the attack on the Sector 5 Reactor with Cloud and Barret, but she does not appear outside of battle and does not speak. During early plans for the game Aerith was to have the Geomancer job class. Though the final product has no job system, Aerith's Limit Breaks manifest as her drawing power from the earth, a typical trait of Geomancers.

In the original development materials it is stated the DNA of her mother Ifalna, not Jenova, would have been used to create SOLDIER members, and Aerith herself would have been cheerful but naive regarding men, having never been in a relationship. In a subplot that was cut from the final game, Aerith would tell Cloud stories about a nameless SOLDIER who used to buy flowers from her years ago whom she fell in love with, but her feelings were unrequited. Cloud would have deduced the unnamed SOLDIER was Sephiroth, and would have gone out of his way to hide evidence of Sephiroth's true character from Aerith to avoid shattering her idealized vision of him. At an earlier point in development, it was considered that Sephiroth and Aerith would be brother and sister, a connection that was intended to be hinted at through their similar hairstyles. This was changed to Sephiroth being Aerith's former love, and then dropped. Tifa would also have told Aerith the truth about Cloud and the Nibelheim Incident, including Zack's presence there when the village was destroyed.

Though he has made humorous remarks to the contrary, Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Aerith's death was always planned to be part of the plot, even when she, Cloud and Barret were the only planned characters. In an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly, Nomura stated the following:

When discussing the making of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, co-director Takeshi Nozue has said that Aerith's appearance was designed with particular detail, as it was believed fans would pay close attention to her when she appeared. Tetsuya Nomura stated they knew from the beginning they would not show her face until the final scenes, and when her face was finally revealed, he thought she looked "cuter than ever." In the final scenes where Aerith turns to face Cloud in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, her facial structure is redesigned from its previous appearance, in addition to having sharper graphics from the film's different format.

The members of AVALANCHE wearing pink ribbons in memory of her was an added detail when it was noticed no one mentioned Aerith's name in the film, and that if she was not going to be mentioned in dialogue there should be visual indication that AVALANCHE remembers her.

In original concepts for Aerith's appearance to Cloud in a vision at the Forgotten Capital, the plan was for Aerith to appear on the back of Cloud's motorcycle and ride with him as they spoke. Motion capture for the sequence was done, but the scene was discarded when the development staff felt it would look too much like a ghost looming over Cloud's shoulder.

Voice
Aerith was first voiced in Kingdom Hearts, and has had a number of different voice actresses in English. In Kingdom Hearts she was voiced by ; later she was voiced by for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and ; and she was voiced by Andrea Bowen for Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.

Aerith shares her Japanese voice actress, Maaya Sakamoto, with Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII and Diva from Final Fantasy Type-0.

Aerith's voice actress, Maaya Sakamoto, is married to Zack's voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura.

Musical themes
Aerith's musical theme is called "Aerith's Theme." Two other pieces focusing on Aerith, "Flowers Blooming in the Church" and "Water," are derived from this central piece. In addition, the background theme of the final dungeon, "The Great Northern Cave," contains a motif from her theme.

A cover of "Aerith's Theme" with lyrics and the alternate title, "Pure Heart," was sung by Ritsuko Nakano (AKA Rikki) the singer of the vocal theme of Final Fantasy X, "Suteki da ne," as an additional song on the theme's album. Later versions, including versions with lyrics and orchestrated by Nobuo Uematsu, use the original title.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Although not appearing in the game, Aerith's character profile is listed in the game manual.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII


Lightning can wear Aerith's Final Fantasy VII outfit in-game, wielding her Guard Stick as weapon and wearing a flower basket on her wrist as a shield. While in this garb, Lightning mimics Aerith's victory pose and the Final Fantasy VII victory theme plays at the end of battle. The outfit could be acquired by purchasing the V-Jump strategy guide for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. In the United States, the code for the costume came with the Collector's Edition.

Between December 17 and 20, 2013, Midgar's Flower Girl was available as a downloadable content, but has since been removed as it was meant to be a costume available through purchase of additional materials or non-standard editions of the game.

The garb's locked ability is a mastered Mediguard. It gives Maximum ATB: +30 and has Default ATB: 50%.

Final Fantasy Tactics


An Aerith native to Ivalice makes a cameo appearance, where she is initially referred to as a "Flower Peddler" (or "Aeris" and "Flower Girl" respectively in the PlayStation version). Final Fantasy Tactics assumes that every character has a job, and even some plot characters who never participate in battle have a job assigned to them by the game's engine. Aerith is listed as having the Chemist job, despite not being a playable character. She even wears a similar headdress of the female Chemist.

Aerith and her mother live in Trade City of Sal Ghidos, and owe a 30,000 gil debt with a band of ruffians. The criminals go so far as suggesting Aerith make the money by selling her body—but at this point Cloud Strife intervenes. After the fight, she asks if Cloud wants to buy a flower for 1 gil. When Cloud remains silent Aerith asks if something is wrong and if she reminds him of someone, to which Cloud responds "No... It's nothing" and leaves.

During the battle at Ziekden Fortress, Argath says "Had they been mongering flowers on some street corner, she would yet live", foreshadowing Aerith the Flower Peddler.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy


Aerith appears as a bonus character, fighting as an assist-only character and a tutor for those who purchase Dissidia Duodecim Prologus Final Fantasy and transfer the data to the game. She has two alternate outfits, her Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- outfit and an outfit based on concept art by Yoshitaka Amano.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy


Aerith is unlocked by collecting Red Shards. She is a Support and Defense oriented character.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Aerith returns as an unlockable character, and is now unlocked by collecting Peach Crystal Shards.

She is a Defense oriented character. Aerith gains her signature Limit Break, Great Gospel, which restores 90% HP when a boss appears.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Aerith is an ally and a summonable Legend. She is depicted in her Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts outfits, a school outfit, an event-related shrine maiden outfit and a swimsuit. Her abilities are Freeze, Comet, Comet 2, Fury Brand, Thundaga, Break and Holy. Her EX abilities are Bolt3, Fury Brand, Fat Chocobo, Holy [DFF], Graviga and Seal Evil.

She was first introduced in the event, Final Fantasy VII - Calamity from the Skies, in which her abilities and weapons were made usable to combat Jenova∙LIFE and Jenova∙DEATH.

Portraits=


 * -|Ability Cards=


 * -|Legend Cards=

Final Fantasy All the Bravest


Aerith can be purchased for $0.99 like all other premium characters. She is unique in a way that she can heal units: Aerith uses Healing Wind to instantly revive a player's character. It does not cause the enemy to attack, so one can quickly bring back every character with her.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


Aerith appears as a playable character. She could initially be recruited to the party by exchanging 3,000 Magicite Shards during the event Countdown to Destruction. Alternatively, she could be recruited via Footsteps of the Cetra and Aspiring Hero. She was further recruitable upon accepting and completing the Bonus Quest, "Complete Temple of the Ancients Classic (VII)".

Aerith is a Flower Girl whose combat role is Healing Magic.
 * Assessment

Aerith's stat balance is consistent with that of a White Mage, and one need only to look at her Soul Break abilities as further proof of such. She has a high Mind stat, which aids healing spells considerably and increases the duration of some buff spells. The player should make available as much restorative/support magic as is needed to put these attributes to use.


 * Stats

Aerith can use Black Magic abilities up to rarity rank 3, White Magic abilities up to rarity rank 5, Summoning abilities up to rarity rank 5, and Support abilities up to rarity rank 2.
 * Abilities

Her default Soul Break is Seal Evil, which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment has a chance to cast Stop and Silence on all targets. The rod Guard Stick (VII) can grant Aerith access to Healing Wind, which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment restores some HP to the party. With the Keepsake Ribbon (VII) hat, she gains access to Planet Protector, which for one Soul Gauge segment raises the Attack of all allies. The rod Aurora Rod (VII) grants access to Dragon Force, which for one Soul Gauge segment places all allies in Image status, allowing each party member to completely evade one physical attack.

After Aerith's level cap is increased she automatically gains the Record Materia, Cetra's Prayer, which when equipped allows the user to slightly increase Holy damage. Aerith's Record Materia currently remains unreleased.

Aerith can equip the following weapon types: daggers, rods, and staffs. The rod Guard Stick (VII) allows Aerith to use Healing Wind.
 * Equipment

She can equip the following armor types: hats, robes, and bracers.

She can equip accessories.

Final Fantasy Explorers
Aerith is set to appear. Players can transform into her via the Trance system.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Aerith has multiple cards in the Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy trading card game published by Square Enix. One such card, depicting Aerith's promotional CG render, has the Planet Protector ability. Aerith's cards are wind-elemental.

Triple Triad
Aerith appears on Triple Triad cards in the version available via Final Fantasy Portal App.

Final Fantasy VII technical demo
Aerith, along with Cloud, appears in the technical demo for PlayStation 3, which recreates the opening sequence of Final Fantasy VII. Her face is never fully shown and when her profile is shown early in the video, her hair blocks the viewer from seeing her clearly. Like in the original opening, Aerith inspects a broken Mako valve on a side street in Sector 8, then stands up and walks into the crowd with the camera panning out to show a view of Midgar.

Kingdom Hearts


Aerith appears in the  series with Squall Leonhart, now referring to himself as "Leon", Yuffie, and Cid. The four form a resistance group against the Heartless, and in Kingdom Hearts II form the core of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee dedicated to restoring the ruined world to its former glory as the Radiant Garden. Together with Cloud, the five lived in Hollow Bastion nine years before the start of the game, but were forced to flee to Traverse Town when the Heartless invaded.

Aerith appears to be second-in-command to Leon, and is frequently seen by his side. She knows of Cloud's feud with Sephiroth; telling Sora that Cloud was seeking Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and encouraging Cloud to settle the feud, certain he can find the light to combat the darkness Sephiroth represents. The ending shows Cloud reuniting with Aerith and the rest of the party at the library in Hallow Bastion. In the first Kingdom Hearts, she grants Sora an upgrade to his Cure magic. A special gummi ship blueprint called Aerith can be obtained by defeating 3000 Heartless and talking to Geppetto.

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Aerith senses something amiss in the reconstruction of Traverse Town Sora visits, and is aware upon meeting him that she should know who he is, something other characters, including Leon and Yuffie, do not realize at first. She later concludes the three of them are recreations based on Sora's memories and do not actually exist, and warns Sora his memories will attempt to deceive him as he continues on.

Aerith returns in Kingdom Hearts II as a member of the Restoration Committee assisting Cid and Leon with city planning. During the great battle in Hollow Bastion, she heals her comrades, alluding to her primary role as a White Mage in Final Fantasy VII. Her design is based on her Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- attire.

Aerith makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] as one of the obtainable character assist cards.

Itadaki Street
Aerith appears in the opening walking beside Cloud Strife. She, along with other Squaresoft characters from the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series are playable characters in Itadaki Street Special, a game that resembles monopoly. It has only been released in Japan.

Aerith reappears in this mobile-phone edition of Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable. While initially not part of the player roster, she was later added on July 1, 2010, following the game's release.

Games
An NPC in the Miner quests in 1.0 version of Final Fantasy XIV mistakenly called players by the wrong name. He would call a Midlander Hyur "Cloud", and a Miqo'te "Aerith". Aerith Gainsborough is also among the names used in example sentences for the chat log filtering configuration.

When the Mysterious Old Man in Final Fantasy Dimensions tries to introduce himself as "Clou-", Alba replies by saying her name might as be "Aeri-".

In Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, there is an NPC flower vendor in the city of Dalaran is named Aerith Primrose, wearing clothing nearly identical to Aerith's Final Fantasy VII design.

Aerith's costume appears as downloadable content for , along with Cloud, Sephiroth, Vincent, and Tifa.

Aerith's outfit appears as a costume for Lyudmila N Ignatova in the third-person shooter arcade game Gunslinger Stratos 2. Announced during a Tokyo Game Show, the costume was released as part of a Final Fantasy-themed collaboration event for the game in November, 2014.

A costume themed around Aerith's outfit is available as the 3P costume for Mirage Koas in the game .

Yoshitaka Amano's "Tranquility" artwork of Cloud and Aerith is shown on a wall in a scene in . The picture was created by Amano to be used as a cover for the original Final Fantasy VII soundtrack.

In , there is a laboratory where Aya Brea tries to use a computer infected with a virus called "Fatekeeper". The anti-virus, "Cloud", is found inside the September issue of a magazine called "Aeris".

Film
In Disney's movie , there is a message written in graffiti outside of Game Central Station that reads "Aerith Lives".

Merchandise
Aerith has appeared in numerous merchandise.

Etymology and symbolism
Aerith's name is meant to sound similar to "earth" due to her connection to the Planet. In the September 1997 issue of the Famitsu magazine, it is said "Aeris" is the transliteration of the word into katakana: "earth" turned into "earisu," Aerith's Japanese name.

Additionally, the Hebrew word עירית, ʻīrīṯ (the ṯ was pronounced th), refers to the flower. It is also a modern Hebrew girls' name, Irit. This might have been appropriate, considering Aerith's association with flowers. Because of the inexact way Hebrew treats vowels in writing, an alternate reading ʻērīṯ is also conceivable from an intuitive reading of the letters.

Her name could also be representative of Tiferet, also pronounced Tifereth, representative of the sixth Sefira in the Tree of Life symbolizing love, beauty and self-sacrifice. This would tie up with the larger theme Final Fantasy VII has with Jewish mysticism. Given how Tifa's concept was developed after the decision to have Aerith die and certain characteristic originally attributed to Aerith in earlier story-boards were transferred to Tifa's storyline, it would make sense their names would be derived from a split of "Tifereth."

Many European surnames derive from locations.

Final Fantasy VII derives symbolism from Jewish mysticism, and Aeris's character may have been influenced by it as well.  are the ten attributes through which God appears, and Aeris may be tied to one such attribute, chesed, meaning kindness or love. It is a virtue which contributes to a concept translated as the healing of the world and the concept suggests man's responsibility to repair and transform the world. The Talmud says "the Torah begins with chesed and ends with chesed," and Aeris is the first and last character seen in the main events of Final Fantasy VII (excepting the epilogue). Those who embody chesed go "above and beyond that which is normally required," and chesed is the first of the sephirot of the attribute of action; in other words the initiation of action. This is similar to how Aeris ventures off alone to summon Holy. The gematria (a numerological system for assigning numbers to words) of chesed is 72; Aeris's birthday is the 7th of February.

Trivia

 * Aerith's Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- render appears within of the code for Dissidia Final Fantasy. This is believed to be because Dissidia Final Fantasy shares the same game engine as Crisis Core, so it is probably left over data. The image of a Crisis Core Tonberry also appears. Through hacking, this version of Aerith can be controlled. She cannot attack, only run around due to her lack of animations.
 * When returning to the Sector 5 Church, two different images of Aeris may be seen. One appears for a split second in the center of screen before disappearing, while in the other Aeris is seen tending the flowers before Cloud moves closer. It has been speculated this is meant to be her "ghost". For more information see Aeris's ghost.
 * A Final Fantasy VII promotional poster of Aeris shows her standing before the Highwind, but she dies before the player obtains the Highwind as the party's airship. The poster refers to Aeris's desire to have a ride on the Highwind after seeing it in Junon.
 * Additionally, before the party's second visit to the Forgotten Capital, if the player talks to Cid while inside the Highwind, he will mention wanting to give her a ride in the airship.
 * Aeris seemed to have a good relationship with Red XIII, often patting him on the nose; something he says he used to hate, feeling being treated like a child, however he also liked the attention. This is revealed if the player talks to Red XIII before the second visit to the Forgotten Capital.
 * Aerith was #1 on Gametrailers' Top Ten Babes Who Are Out of Your League.
 * The strawberry parfait sold in Square Enix's Artnia cafe comes with a pink ribbon reminiscent of Aerith.
 * Aerith is one of the few Final Fantasy characters who are not fully human, along with Cecil Harvey, Golbez, Yuna, Terra Branford and Seymour Guado.
 * Aerith resembles the enemy Lemure from Final Fantasy V, both being flower girls with similar clothes and hairstyles. It also holds the Ribbon item, a signature part of Aerith's outfit.
 * Aerith was voted #2 as Japan's favorite Final Fantasy female character.
 * Her birthday of February 7th, how her birth year correlates with the Chinese Zodiac of the Ox, and how she was born in the northernmost town of Icicle Inn, is in reference to the belief that those born under Ox signs in winter are destined for a life with little labor and much ease.