Aerith Gainsborough

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Aerith Gainsborough
Aerith Gainsborough artwork by Tetsuya Nomura
Game series	Final Fantasy series and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
First game	Final Fantasy VII
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voice actor(s) (English)	Mandy Moore (Kingdom Hearts) Mena Suvari (Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children)
Voice actor(s) (Japanese)	Maaya Sakamoto
In-Universe Information
Class/Job	White Mage/Flower Girl
Weapon	Staff
Race	Cetra
Home	Icicle Lodge (also called Icicle Inn)
Age	22
Blood type	O

Aerith Gainsborough (エアリス・ゲインズブール, Earisu Geinzubūru^?), known as Aeris Gainsborough in the English version of Final Fantasy VII, is a player character in the role playing game Final Fantasy VII. She has vivid green eyes and long brown hair tied in a braid with pink ribbons. She wears a pink dress, a red mini-jacket, and brown hiking boots. Her physical attacks with her staff are relatively weak.

Her voice actors are Maaya Sakamoto in the Japanese versions of the Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children; singer Mandy Moore in the English version of Kingdom Hearts; and actress Mena Suvari in the English versions of Kingdom Hearts II and Advent Children.

[edit] Back-story

Aerith was born to the last full-blooded Cetra, Ifalna, and her researcher, Professor Gast, at Icicle Lodge in the northern continent.

After recognizing his failures with the Jenova Project and becoming weighted by guilt, Gast had resigned from his position as the head of Shinra's Science Department. He relocated to Icicle Lodge in an attempt to further his investigations into the Cetra's history. There, he met Ifalna and received her voluntary cooperation. During their interviews, they fell in love and began to live together. Within two years, Aerith was born.

When Aerith was only twenty days old, her family was attacked by Shinra soldiers under the command of Professor Hojo —— another Shinra scientist, and Gast's former assistant—killing Gast and capturing Aerith and Ifalna so as to provide further research for Hojo. Seven years later, Ifalna succeeded in escaping from the Shinra headquarters in Midgar with Aerith, fleeing as far as the train station in the Sector 7 Slums before a dying Ifalna entrusted Aerith to the care of Elmyra Gainsborough, a childless widow.

As time went on, Aerith's Cetra heritage would reveal itself in various ways, most notably the ability to hear the souls of the dead wandering the Planet. However, she was uncomfortable with these abilities and refused to acknowledge them or her ancestry.^[1] Throughout the rest of her childhood and adolescence, Aerith would be a constant target of Shinra, who were seeking to recover her.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

[edit] Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII

Aerith from Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII.

In Before Crisis, several years before the main events of Final Fantasy VII, Aerith becomes the target of AVALANCHE, who seek to prevent the Shinra from being able to make use of the last Cetra. They also intend to learn the whereabouts of the Promised Land from her for their own purposes. It is then up to a member of the Turks to protect her.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

At the age of 16, Aerith met Zack, whom she developed feelings for during his stay in Midgar.^[2] For the next five years, Aerith helped her adopted mother with their livelihood by growing and selling flowers, a job that results in her meeting Cloud in the beginning of Final Fantasy VII.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII

Aerith selling flowers on the streets of Midgar, meeting Cloud for the first time.

Aerith, now a flower girl, tries her best to lead a normal life despite numerous kidnapping attempts by the Turks. She retreats routinely to a local derelict church which serves as an ideal hideaway for her from the insanity of the outside world. According to her, it is the only place where flowers are able to grow in Midgar.^[3]

Chronologically, the story's events begin for Aerith when she bumps into Cloud, who is fleeing from the scene of AVALANCHE successfully destroying a mako reactor. The two would later be reunited in Aerith's church, this time under more tense circumstances. Faced with the possibility of being captured by Reno of the Turks, Aerith asks the mercenary to be her bodyguard for the cost of one date. She is eventually apprehended, but once again saved by Cloud and company. Aerith then joins them in the pursuit of the malevolent Sephiroth, as well as embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Although Aerith makes a point of putting on an image of innocence, she is in reality much less naive than she lets on. She takes the opportunity to showcase her coyer side around Cloud — with whom she is openly flirtatious — when possible, and generally remains optimistic throughout the journey.

Aerith's death in Final Fantasy VII.

After a failed attempt to foil Sephiroth's stealing of a dangerous materia, Aerith ventures alone into the Forgotten City for an unknown purpose, incurring Sephiroth's wrath. Cloud and his companions give chase and eventually locate Aerith, praying at an altar. Sephiroth soon attempts to take possession of Cloud through his Jenova cells (as he has done before) and use him as a pawn to kill Aerith. Cloud resists the command with the help of his friends, whereupon Sephiroth reveals himself and slays Aerith with a single thrust of his sword. The materia given her by her mother, which she wore in her hair, falls from the altar into the water. Holding her body, Cloud rails against Sephiroth, who mocks him and states that he has no feelings and is merely "a puppet". Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE are not given time to grieve just yet, as Sephiroth summons a new incarnation of Jenova, Jenova-Life, which they must defeat. Cloud then carries Aerith's body out into a lake in the ancient capital city of the Cetra and releases her back to the Planet. Aerith's sacrifice becomes one of the pivotal moments of the game's plot and is one of the most well-known moments in any Final Fantasy game. As later events showed, Aerith still aided the others despite her death.

The party later learns the reason for Aerith being in the Forgotten City: through her White Materia — handed down from Ifalna — Aerith was able to summon Holy, the only force capable of repelling the ultimate destructive magic, Meteor, which Sephiroth sought to call forth.^[4][5] However, in order to learn of this spell — and, indeed, to use it — she needed to visit the City of the Ancients, to which she could feel herself being drawn.^[6] Though she had successfully called forth Holy before her death, Sephiroth would have to be defeated to initiate its effect, for his powerful will was holding the spell back at the heart of the Planet. Inspired by the hope Aerith had left to them, Cloud and the others make their way back to the bowels of the Northern Cave for a final showdown with Sephiroth, with Cloud ultimately succeeding in killing him, banishing him back to the Lifestream.^[7]

However, Holy is freed too late to function as effectively as it should, for Meteor — already summoned by Sephiroth and set on a crash-course with the Planet — has come too near the Planet's surface. While Holy clashes with Meteor, attempting to prevent its impact, the gravity of both Meteor and the Planet pulling on the spell in opposite directions weakens it, leaving it with too little room to take effect.^[8] In a climactic FMV, the Planet's Lifestream spews forth from within the planet and bands together, acting as a battering ram to push Meteor back, giving Holy enough room to properly destroy it. This showing is followed by a vision of Aerith within the Lifestream's energy, an indication of her final efforts to save the planet, as are detailed in Maiden who Travels the Planet.

[edit] Maiden who Travels the Planet

Maiden who Travels the Planet is a novelization written by Benny Matsuyama, and appears in the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω Guide. It is the story of Aerith during Final Fantasy VII once she has returned to the Lifestream after her death at the hands of Sephiroth.

The story revealed that a Cetra's strength of will and understanding of the Planet allows his or her consciousness to exist within the Lifestream without being diluted. Aerith begins a journey through the Lifestream, encountering people who have died over the course of the game, including Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie of AVALANCHE, as well as Dyne, President Shinra, Zack, and Hojo.

Her true feelings for Cloud and Zack are also revealed during the course of the story, and it is confirmed that it was she who called the Lifestream into action to aid Holy in defeating Meteor. It is further revealed that the deceased members of AVALANCHE, as well as Dyne and Zack, assisted her in this final defense of the Planet.^[9] It is important to note that this novelization was a written work of Square done by another author; however this work has been accepted thus far by the writers of Final Fantasy VII.

[edit] Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Aerith in the credits of Advent Children.

Aerith's appearances in Advent Children run few and far between, but her actions profoundly affect the outcome of events once again.

Since Sephiroth's defeat, the party has had no time to rejoice. Though the planet has been saved by Aerith and the others' actions, a fatal illness known as "Geostigma" plagues many. Cloud, now infected with the disease as well, isolates himself from his friends. Though resolute, he is maddened by his failure to prevent the deaths of Zack and Aerith, believing himself unable to help anyone. Not wishing to be a burden on the family of sorts he has made with Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel — an orphan they've taken in — he secludes himself from them in Aerith's church.

Aerith makes several appearances throughout the course of the movie as Cloud's spiritual guide, urging him to move on in life and to forgive himself for the tragedies that were beyond his control and that she never blamed him for her death. During their spiritual reunion, Aerith speaks to Cloud in an open meadow laden with flowers, cheerfully poking fun at how he needlessly burdens himself with the past, but acknowledging his suffering and offering kind words of support.

One of Aerith's greatest boons to Cloud during the film comes when each member of the original game's party lends their respective strength to Cloud's final attack against Bahamut SIN, an act symbolizing one of the film's primary themes of camaraderie — summed up by Cloud's final line in the film: "I'm not alone." Aerith makes an appearance as the last of the party members to lend a helping hand, giving him one final reassuring boost of his friends' faith in him. She also appears in the final scene of the movie, along with Zack, where she gives Cloud more words of encouragement, before she leaves with Zack.

Near the end of the film, it is discovered that water mixed with the Lifestream flows beneath the flowerbed in Aerith's church — thus explaining how flowers were able to bloom in a place as desolate as Midgar — this revelation coming after an explosion caused by Kadaj leaves a large hole in the soil. It is here that a cure for Geostigma is discovered: the very water that had been beneath the church. The film's developers also acknowledge that the water is a symbolic representation of Great Gospel, Aerith's final Limit Break from the original game. [1]

Aerith makes a brief appearance in the film's ending credits with the song "Calling", in which she is standing in a field of flowers.

[edit] Kingdom Hearts

Aerith, as she appears in Kingdom Hearts.

Due to the allowances provided by Kingdom Hearts being an alternate universe independent of the continuity of both Final Fantasy and Disney, Aerith also makes a notable appearance in this series. She is member of a group — which includes Cid Highwind and Yuffie Kisaragi, also of Final Fantasy VII, as well as Squall Leonhart/Leon of Final Fantasy VIII — dedicated to defeating the Heartless. Her attire is mostly unchanged from its Final Fantasy VII design, the only changes being the absence of her red jacket, the ribbon in her hair being red as opposed to pink, her gold bangles being replaced with silver bracelets on her left wrist, and the presence of a purple belt.

Early in Kingdom Hearts, Aerith makes her first appearance while encountering Donald Duck and Goofy in an allyway of Traverse Town, and afterwards escorts them to the Traverse Town hotel. It is there that she suggests recovering the scattered pages of Ansem's Report in order to find a way to destroy the Heartless. During the course of the game Leon, Yuffie, Cid, and herself often give advice to the band of heroes, and she later presents them with the remaining missing pages of Ansem's report. After Sora locks the keyhole of Hollow Bastion, Aerith returns along with her comrades to her home. She is shown in the credits reuniting with Cloud.

In the Kingdom Hearts manga, she first appears to Sora, Donald, and Goofy when the trio search for Leon. Aerith is seen serving sweet beverages, drinks that Leon dislikes due to their sweet flavors.

After making a brief appearance in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a perceptive figment of Sora's memories, she is only one of two people in that game who realizes that they are not what they seem to be, the other being the Maleficent Riku encounters.

Aerith returns in Kingdom Hearts II, wearing a modified version of the dress she donned in Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII. She now wears a pink skirt instead of the green from Before Crisis, one which has more white frills. Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie are now responsible for restoring the town of Hollow Bastion to its former splendor, and it is from Aerith that Sora learns the true name of Hollow Bastion: the Radiant Garden. Despite her delicate appearance, she is quick to let others know that she is capable of defending herself. ^[10] Aerith helps in the fight against the Heartless by healing others. On one visit, she tells Cloud she has faith in him and will wait, because his light will guide him back to her. In the end, Aerith was last to be shown in the credits, looking over the Radiant Garden.

[edit] Final Fantasy Tactics

Aerith also makes her presence in Final Fantasy Tactics (as "Aeris"). During the course of the game, Aeris shows up offering to sell the characters a flower for one gil.

Later, after Cloud Strife is pulled through time and wanders around the streets of Zarghidas, he encounters a flower merchant, who offers him a flower for one gil, similar to his first encounter with Aerith in Final Fantasy VII. Cloud doesn't respond, but instead stares at her, taken aback by her resemblance to Aerith. She then asks Cloud if she reminds him of someone, but he denies this and walks away.

Cloud and Aeris in Final Fantasy Tactics.

A moment later, a group of criminals appear from the shadows and begin harassing Aeris for the 30,000 gil that she and her mother owes them. After pleading with them to give her a week to come up with the money, the criminals examine her and suggest that she sell her body instead of flowers.

Cloud, angered by what's taking place, tells the men to leave her alone and instructs Aeris to run away. Aeris does as she's told, leaving Cloud to fight off the group with assistance from the player's party. The flower girl is identified as being Aeris^[11], through both name, occupation, basic personality, and appearance, yet she's out of place for the Aerith of Final Fantasy VII and displays no recognition of Cloud.

Although there were several rumours of Aerith being a playable character in the game, it has been proved that she has no battle sprites and her character data is in the PEOPLE folder (where all secondary characters are stored).

[edit] Itadaki Street

Aerith in Itadaki Street Portable

Aerith also appears as a playable character in Itadaki Street Special and the upcoming Itadaki Street Portable, along with several other characters from Final Fantasy VII, including Tifa, Cloud, and Sephiroth.

[edit] Growlanser 3

Aerith also appears in this game as the "flower girl" looking for a blond guy with spiky hair carrying a huge sword. It was confirmed by the creators of the game that it was meant as an additional fun event for experienced RPG players.

[edit] Characteristics

Aerith is a friendly, upbeat, and cheerful young woman, and often seems a rather simplistic character. Throughout the game, however, she reveals the deeper aspects of her personality (and its temperament), displaying her complexities. She is constantly mindful of the fate of the Planet, and concerns herself with issues dealing with her heritage as the sole survivor of the Cetra.

Despite her feelings of loneliness as the last of her race, Aerith puts on a positive and optimistic front. Though she is physically weak, she displays emotional strength, especially in carrying the responsibility of saving the Planet. Despite the dangers she has faced her whole life not only as an object of Shinra's greed, but also from the dangers of growing up in the slums, she gives hope, support, and encouragement to her friends. She also shows her bravery and strength when she decides to handle Sephiroth on her own.

Elmyra tells Cloud of Aerith’s stubborn determination and habit of stating what’s on her mind, and, indeed, once her mind is made up, it is hard to change it. She also tends to be a bit frank, but always tries to add joy to life and displays a stark understanding of others. This was exemplified in Advent Children, when she told Cloud that he should seek forgiveness from himself instead of her.

Aerith often puts on a naïve persona, but, in reality, is a wise and understanding person who knows what’s going on with the Planet and its people — healing people and giving them encouragement and hope even after her death.

[edit] Concept and creation

[edit] Name

Aerith is often referred to as "Aeris", due to translation issues. The multiple pronunciations may have originated due to the fact that the English sounds /s/ and /θ/ (the unvoiced "th" sound) are both transcribed to Japanese as "su" (ス), or it may have been a deliberate aesthetic change on Sony's part. However, as of the English translation of Kingdom Hearts, the spelling "Aeris" has only been used in the English-language releases of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics.

"Aerith" — and, consequently, "Aeris" — is a non-standard Japanese transliteration of the English word "Earth" (confirmed by the Final Fantasy VII: Kaitai Shinsho guide^[12]), the standard transliteration being "āsu". In katakana (the Japanese syllabary used for words that are not of Japanese origin), the name is written as エアリス (Earisu). Morae in the Japanese language are normally open, that is, they normally end in a vowel ("n" being the only consonant allowed in syllable codas; thus, the "i" after "r") and the "th" became "su". It became "Aeris" as a result of re-romanization representing how it sounds when spoken in Japanese [eaɺ̠is(ɯ)] listen (help·info).

[edit] Resurrection?

A persistent rumor maintains that Aerith either could be resurrected in some versions of the game or that she was meant to be resurrected but the feature either could not be implemented or was dropped at a relatively late stage of development. The production staff, however, have stated that this is not the case. By their admission, Aerith's death was always intended to be a permanent and tragic event, a response to the dramatic clichés of heroic sacrifice and resurrection.^[13]

Even after years of extensive research, no in-game method of resurrecting Aerith has been discovered. Nor is there an alternate version of the ending, which would be required in the event of Aerith returning to life. Various cheat programs can put Aerith back into the party, but there are very few specific lines or weapons for her afterwards, and this may cause the game to freeze at various points. Such programs, however, can be used also to do impossible things, such as the addition of Seifer and Edea to one's party in Final Fantasy VIII. Nevertheless, rumors of Aerith's resurrection are among the more widely known rumors in the history of video games. One of the earliest and most notorious of these rumors was produced by Ben Lansing [2], who unsuccessfully tried to retract it later [3] after his "authoritative" article had snowballed into a large debate.

Another source of debate is the "spirit" of Aerith. If the player backtracks to the church in the Midgar slums, a "spirit" of Aerith can be seen in the church tending to the flowers or standing in the aisle, and will vanish if approached. This can be seen any time from the addition of Aerith to the party onwards, including immediately after she and Cloud escape from Reno and after her capture by the Turks. Whether this is an easter egg created by the developers or a glitch in the game remains subject of much debate. However, it would seem that it is an easter egg by the developers, as an actual glitch in that part of the game will allow the player to run up to Aerith, and if one talks to the children there, they will say something completely different from when Aerith's "spirit" is gone. Interestingly, a similar scene appears at the end of Advent Children.

Some players argue that if Aerith is returned to the party using cheats, she will have unique lines. While this is true, there are a few points within the game where it will freeze if Aeris is present in the party after her death on disc one. She also has greatly spurred stat gaining when leveled (i.e 6 magic points every level she goes up when brought back). There are, as of yet, no cutscenes or dialogue found to support her resurrection.

[edit] Romantic issues

The subject of Aerith's love life is of great debate among those who play Final Fantasy VII.

Prior to the events at Nibelheim, Aerith was apparently romantically involved with Zack, although she claims it wasn't serious, and comments that he probably just found somebody else. At this point, it has been at least five years since she heard from him. Zack, for his part, only mentions Aerith in passing, never actually saying her name; he merely comments that he has "a place" he can go in Midgar.^[14]

During the course of the game, it is mentioned that one of the Turks, Tseng, was interested in Aerith. When the playable party enters Gongaga for the first time, Reno and Rude are seen talking about who they like. While Rude admits that he likes Tifa, Reno mentions that Tseng likes "that Ancient", meaning Aerith.

After Aerith and Cloud meet during the game, she appears to be very flirtatious with him. Among the fandom, it is said that she was only attracted to Cloud because of Zack, as she directly mentions that it bothered her how much they were alike and that she thought she was seeing Zack's personality in Cloud.^[15] However, the comment was followed by Aerith acknowledging that Cloud and Zack were two different individuals.^[16]

In Benny Matsuyama's novel Maiden who Travels The Planet, it has been revealed that while Cloud and Zack shared similarities, she preferred Cloud.^[17]:

"At first, she thought he somehow had some similarities to her first love. Even so, his looks, voice and personality weren't similar, and he also made her think of him as a mysterious person... But it soon didn't matter. She loved him much more than her first love."

Later in the work, it is revealed that some of what she saw in Cloud had actually been emulated from Zack.^[18]:

"But she couldn't figure out the truth. Her thoughts just went in circles. Aerith delved into her memories again. Memories that showed Cloud's individuality. The way he walked. She remembered all his actions one by one...

Most of those thoughts merged into the Sea of Mako and awakened a character. The character recognized the image she recalled and "he" woke up."

After Tifa helps Cloud reconstruct his memories, Aerith sees Cloud for who he truly is.

Due to extremities within the fanbase, there is no official confirmation on either romantic relationship with either Aerith or Tifa, Square Enix has been deliberately vague over the matter, and perhaps wisely so, as an official statement to either effect may alienate some among Final Fantasy VII's fanbase.

[edit] "Aerith's Theme"

A musical theme, or leitmotif, associated with Aerith is played several times throughout the game. It is first heard during the flashback scenes with Aerith's mother at her house, and is repeated as she is struck down by Sephiroth. The piece Flowers Blooming in the Church is based on this theme. This piece is extremely popular among Final Fantasy fans, and has inspired an orchestral version, a piano version, and a vocal version performed by the artist RIKKI, who also performed Suteki Da Ne for Final Fantasy X, in the form of 'Pure Heart'. It is composed by famed Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu.

A piano arrangement of the theme appears twice in Advent Children, and the track Water also echoes shades of the theme (as well as Tifa's, if one pays attention to the fast-paced "bells" in the song). The opening phrase of Aerith's theme appears just prior to the climax of the track Divinity II, which shortly after — arguably in reference to her — includes as its final line the Latin phrase "Sola Dea fatum novit," or "Only the goddess knows fate." Aerith's Theme is also featured during the end credits of the movie.

Interestingly enough, Aerith's theme contains a similar leitmotif to Final Fantasy VI's (formerly III in North America) theme for Celes Chere, another heroine whose love story is central to the game's plot. They are hardly similar in terms of their playability, where Aerith's primary role is that of a White Mage archetype and Celes plays similarly to a Mystic Knight. However different these characters are from one another, their character themes are some of the most often used in their respective games. The opening bars to Aerith's theme also closely match the opening to another track from Final Fantasy VI, "Aria De Mezzo Carattere", an opera song sung by Celes. The first three bars of both "Aerith's Theme" and "Aria De Mezzo Carattere" are almost identical. Aerith's theme is also similar to "Timber Owls", a Final Fantasy VIII track, only set to a much faster pace.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Aerith Gainsborough on Final Fantasy Wiki at Wikicities
• Aerith Gainsborough character profile at the official Square Enix Final Fantasy VII site

• Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω Translations FAQ - Translations from the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω
• Maiden who Travels the Planet - Translation of Maiden who Travels the Planet