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Aerith was born to the last full-blooded Cetra, Ifalna, and her researcher, Professor Gast Faremis, 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.

Appearances
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

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.

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.

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 successfully called forth Holy before her death, in order to initiate its effect Sephiroth would have to be defeated, 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 set out to initiate a final showdown with Sephiroth, and Cloud ultimately succeeds 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.

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 their 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.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Aerith in Advent ChildrenAerith'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.

Aerith in the credits of Advent Children.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.

Kingdom Hearts

Aerith, as she appears in Kingdom Hearts
Aerith, as she appears in Kingdom Hearts IIDue 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.

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. 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 Radiant Garden, possibly waiting for Cloud to return from his battle with Sephiroth.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Aerith also makes her presence in Final Fantasy Tactics (as "Aeris" wink . 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 Aeris, who offers him a flower for one gil, similar to his first encounter with her in Final Fantasy VII. Cloud doesn't respond, but instead stares at her, taken aback by her resemblance to the Aerith he knew. Aeris 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[10], 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 (which is where all secondary characters are stored).

Itadaki Street

Aerith in Itadaki Street PortableAerith 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.

Growlanser 3
Aerith also appears in the 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.

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.

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