Aerith Gainsborough

Lore & Background

Aerith is a young woman allied with the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE. During their pursuit of Sephiroth, it is revealed she is the last surviving Cetra, one of the planet's oldest races. Originally intended to be Sephiroth's sister during development due to similar designs, they were reworked as former lovers before her first love was changed to Zack Fair late in production. She was meant to be one of only three protagonists alongside Cloud and Barret Wallace until a discussion with director Yoshinori Kitase led producers to choose Aerith for death to create a sense of reality rather than dramatic Hollywood sacrifice. Nomura stated that death should be sudden and unexpected, noting that the fans' offense at her passing proved the character was effective. Rumors of her resurrection were categorically dismissed by Nomura as never being part of the plan.

In Their Own Story

Aerith first appears as a florist conversing with Cloud Strife as he flees an AVALANCHE bombing, later meeting him in her church in the Sector 5 slums where she asks him to be her bodyguard for a date. After being apprehended and rescued, she joins the group to pursue Sephiroth while seeking self-discovery. Following a failed attempt to stop Sephiroth from stealing the Black Materia, she ventures alone into the Forgotten City. There, as she looks up to smile at Cloud after praying at an altar, Sephiroth appears and kills her by impaling her through the torso. Before her death, she successfully casts Holy using her White Materia to repel Meteor, though the spell is held back by Sephiroth's will until his defeat. The Planet's Lifestream then intervenes between Holy and Meteor, aided by Aerith praying from beyond the grave.

Reader's Guide

In combat, Aerith functions as a white mage, utilizing magic spells to heal allies. Her design evolved across titles: in Kingdom Hearts, her bolero jacket was removed to resemble Yoshitaka Amano's original artwork, with added bracelets and a belt; in Before Crisis, her dress was modified with white and green colors. Voice actress Briana White studied Maaya Sakamoto's performance for the English role in Final Fantasy VII Remake, while Mena Suvari voiced her in Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. In Advent Children, she appears as a hallucination to Cloud, urging him to move on with a motherly feel and ephemeral presence, notably appearing in an open meadow laden with flowers during his introspection against Bahamut SIN.

Did You Know?

• Developers stated that 'Aerith' is a near-anagram of 'Earth'.
• During development, Aerith was originally supposed to be Sephiroth's sister before they were changed to former lovers.
• Her death was chosen over Barret's because producers felt killing Barret would have been 'too obvious'.
• Nomura explicitly stated that rumors of her being resurrected or the original plan including her return were never true.
• In 2013, 'Aerith's Theme' was voted third place in the Classic FM Hall of Fame poll for classical music.