Aki Ross

Dr. Aki Ross is the main character in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, voiced by actress Ming-Na Wen. A scientific protegée, she was one of the first ever photorealistic computer-generated human characters ever to be created and used in film. She was intended to be the world’s first computer generated "virtual actress".

Character traits and Physiological Analysis
Aki grew up to be a strong, empathic, and independent woman, finding pleasure in solitude and thought. She is also a dedicated pacifist, opting to find the less violent solution in a situation although she is not above taking the violent solution if no other option is presented. Due to studying in the Houston Military Academy she is knowledgeable of military techniques and recon skills, as such she is competent with a gun, often carrying her own sidearm during expeditions across the wastelands. She is also a knowledgeable pilot, piloting the USAF-88 "Black Boa" as her vehicle of choice. As a scientist and doctor, Aki is also knowledgeable of medical practices and is an expert on the subject of Phantoms.

When not in her USMF recon jumpsuit, Aki has been seen wearing a formal grey blouse and skirt combination as well as wearing a white jumper with a chocobo print while resting. She also, due to her infection, possesses a chest plate that contains and monitors her infection. Her hair is naturally black, cut short just below the jaw line, and her eyes are brown.

Biography
Aki Ross was born in San Francisco Barrier City in 2038. She was orphaned at an early age when her parents fell victim to Phantoms and was raised by an aunt in New York Barrier City then on. Following the footsteps of her father, a highly respected scientist, Aki dedicated her life to understanding biotechnology. Often outspoken in her opinions and ideas, Aki became an expert in her field at an early age. She would travel between the barrier cities, conducting experiments and lectures with other scientists. Under the supervision of renowned scientific theorist Dr. Sid, Aki began research on the wave-theory that Sid himself had developed. Aki also trained at the Houston Military Academy (HMA), the institution responsible for all military training in the USMF and USAF. Focusing on aerospace education, Aki received environmental and wasteland reconnaissance training. It is during this period that she began a relationship with fellow military student Gray Edwards. Upon her graduation Aki returned to New York Barrier City to complete her doctorate, while Gray was subsequently assigned to the Deep Eyes military unit. Despite the distance, they continued their relationship between Gray's missions and Aki’s commuting to other barrier cities.

Aki had became a dedicated scientist and advocate to Dr. Sid's theory to try and eliminate the Phantoms without using excessive force. However, due to an accident during an experiment Aki was infected with Phantom particles. Secretly moving to the Zeus Cannon Dr. Sid managed to isolate the Phantom particles using wave-theory however it could only ever be a temporary solution. Weary of the magnitude of her condition and determined to keep it secret Aki cut off her relationship with Gray with no explanation, turning her attention to completing the wave-theory. She and Dr. Sid set out to find the eight remaining Spirits to defeat her infection and find a peaceful solution to the Phantom threat.

The following months saw Aki tracking down and retrieving each spirit; A fish, a deer found in a wildlife preserve outside Moscow, a sparrow, and the spirit of a dying girl. The experience of the last retrieval affected her deeply and brought her own terminal infection and the status of the world in general into focus. It was also during these months that she began having recurring dreams of an alien landscape. Deducing that the dreams were brought on by her Phantom infection she began recording them in hopes of finding some insight into the species.

While retrieving the sixth wave spirit; a plant in the New York wasteland, Aki was found and assisted by a Deep Eye squad of four who specialized in wasteland recon. Rescued by the squad she and her ship was brought to the New York Barrier City, during the trip she discovered that one of her rescuers was an irate Gray Edwards, now a captain and squad leader of his own unit. Agitated about going through the city’s contamination detector due to her infection she managed to bypass it by saving Gray from an infection of his own that he had sustained during his squad rescuing her, that and the timely arrival of Doctor Sid allowed her to enter the city with her affliction undetected. However later, in an attempt to prevent any drastic action by the USMF and buy time for Doctor Sid’s wave theory to be implemented she revealed the affliction to the entire council as a testament to the credibility of Sid’s claims. Her secret revealed Gray sought her out, finding her embarking on a scan of the city for the seventh spirit the two were given the chance to rekindle their relationship due to the mischievous actions of Gray’s Deep Eye squad. Their time together was helped furthermore unwittingly by a suspicious General Hein, who temporarily assigns Gray’s Deep Eye squad to accompany Aki on her remaining voyages and orders him to report any suspicious behavior immediately. To ensure Gray’s compliance he orders Major Elliot to insert some of his own men into the squad.

Despite sensing that her infection was winning Aki’s search for the seventh spirit leads her to the Tucson wasteland and the remnants of the Phantom Cleansing Mission. As ordered the Deep Eye squad accompanies her through the wasteland, deducing that the spirit was the living energy inside the OVO pack of a dead soldier. However, almost immediately after the spirit’s retrieval, Aki is overcome by the infection within her, the presence of which began drawing other Phantoms towards the party, and falls into a dream-filled coma. She awakens momentarily during the hectic escape only to be shot accidentally by one of Hein’s men and falls back into the coma.

Returning to the New York Barrier city Dr. Sid manages to reinforce the infection’s containment by introducing the waves from all the currently collected spirits. During this process Gray had to act as her spiritual support, entering into her dreams to make sure she wouldn’t be overtaken by the Phantoms before the containment was complete. The containment a success and her chest plate repaired Aki awoke from her coma only to be thrown into a detention cell along with Dr. Sid and the squad after General Hein found cause to suspect that she was being controlled by the Phantoms. This incarceration however was short lived as soon after, due to General Hein’s attempts to stage a Phantom invasion, the Barrier City’s power grid went off-line. Released the group escaped from the prison ward to discover the Barrier City being overridden by Phantoms. Eventually acquiring transport they made their way to the hangars where the "Black Boa" was being detained, however only three (Aki, Sid, and Gray) escaped to safety aboard the ship as the others were killed in the events surrounding its launch.

Resting in space Aki and Gray comfort each other over the death of their friends, leading to them becoming intimate in their grief. Dr Sid, meanwhile, begins the search for the 8th spirit and enlarges the search field to include the Phantom crater in the Caspian Mountains. Successful locating it as a Phantom, Aki and Dr. Sid devise a plan to obtain the eighth spirit by lowering Aki and Gray into the crater and fusing the spirit with the other seven spirits on location. When an energy beam from the Zeus Cannon hits the meteor the 8th spirit is seemingly destroyed. As the Cannon continues its attack the Phantom Gaia appears from the meteor and begins to grow, dragging down the pod Aki and Gray were in. Despite pleading for them to stop, saying that they were doing more harm than good, Aki’s cries fell on deaf ear as General Hein continued to fire the cannon despite warnings of a system overload.

The pod damaged Aki and Gray discover that they had landed right between the Earth Gaia and the emerging alien Gaia. Being this close to Gaia also incidentally meant that they were in the best possible location to find another eighth spirit and indeed after falling comatose again Aki discovers the final spirit had become the Phantom infection within her. Linking to the chest plate that contained her infection and using the OVO pack of Gray’s gun she managed to reroute power back into the pod’s shields and emit the combined wave of all eight spirits.

The combined wave was working as the Phantoms were destroyed but a final beam from the overloading Zeus Cannon penetrated and weakened Gaia, allowing the Phantom Gaia to grow and begin infecting the planet’s soul. With the pod rendered inoperable due to the blast there was no way to transmit the wave however Gray, mortally wounded, comes up with a plan; he would sacrifice himself as a way to transmit the completed wave inside Aki directly into the Phantom Gaia. The plan works, at the cost of Gray’s life and soul, and the Phantoms and their Gaia are destroyed. As Dr Sid, on board the Black Boa, winches her from the crater Aki cradles Gray’s body in her arms and watches the world’s life return.

Behind the Scenes
Square Co. Ltd., already known for its revolutionary grasp of computer 3D rendering, especially in the sphere of creating lifelike humans and environments, set about to create their most detailed and realistic human yet. Aki Ross was designed by Square Pictures for the use in their debut film The Spirits Within. However the intention was for her to go further than that, with plans to add her in future films and media as a kind of "virtual actress". Every single one of her 60,000 hairs was separately and fully animated and rendered, at a render farm consisting of 960 Pentium III-933MHz workstations that took 1.5 hours to render every frame. Her model is estimated to be made up of around 400,000 polygons, as are the other main characters of the movie. While her debut movie was largely considered a box-office flop, Aki herself has been received positively by critics. The rendering of Aki's hair alone has been praised by critics as highly realistic. Her popularity amongst the general populace has lead to Aki being qualified as an It Girl by Entertainment Weekly as well as being included in numerous magazines detailing female beauty as a real actress would.

Etymology
It is thought that Aki was named after Hironobu Sakaguchi’s mother. A further link with Hironobu's family is shown in that the day and month shown after Aki's first dream is the birthday of Sakaguchi's wife.

Appearances in Other Media
It was originally intended that Aki might reappear in many places across Square's range of merchandise, but Aki Ross has so far not reappeared in any mainstream films or computer games, although she has made a few promotional appearances on behalf of her film and Square Pictures.

Maxim Magazine
Named #87 of the Top 100 Hottest Women of 2001, Aki, posing in a purple bikini, appeared on the cover of an issue of Maxim magazine. On the Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within DVD, Aki’s bikini photo shoot is included as one of the special features.

Thriller Easter Egg
Aki makes an appearance (along with the rest of the film's virtual cast) in a hidden Easter egg parody of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video created for the DVD release of the film.

The Animatrix
Sporting a crew cut and clad in a black leather bodysuit, Aki appeared in a video that Square Pictures presented to the Wachowski Brothers before making Final Flight of the Osiris for The Animatrix. This video is available on the Animatrix DVD in the bonus data section and shows her facing and defeating a Sentinel in hand-to-hand combat.

Trivia

 * Aki was voted to be one of the sexiest women ever by FHM and its readers, becoming the first fictional woman to ever make the list.
 * Aki is a certifiable ‘’It Girl’’, a position normally only held for Hollywood starlets during the time of her receiving it.
 * In an earlier version of the script, Sid and Aki were originally grandfather and granddaughter. Aki's last name was also different: she was originally Aki Shishido. The relationship and names were changed late enough into production that many of the animators and staff did not even know of the modification of the script until the film was nearly finished.

Aki Ross