"Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!"
Article by: Polo
Created by: Square
First appearance: 1997
Bio
In the slums of Midgar, we see a pink-clad brunette sell a flower to the mercenary Cloud Strife for the price of one gil. Harmless enough. After a botched bombing mission, Cloud wakes up in a crumbling church, where the same girl is tending more flowers. She soon becomes aware that the Turks, scouts of the Shinra megacorporation, are seeking her out again, and to escape their clutches she enlists Cloud as her bodyguard in exchange for a date. Thus Aeris Gainsborough joins the story of Final Fantasy VII.
Aeris is not your average flower girl. Talkative since childhood, she informs her adoptive mother when the spirits of people they love "return to the planet," as well as the planet's cries of pain. This sensitive spirituality is shown primarily through Aeris's battle defenses, which include healing, status-cleansing, and even shielding Cloud's party from onslaughts. But Aeris is pursued for another reason altogether.
As Shinra's reactors hungrily pump Mako Energy like oil, the planet weakens. Aeris's instinctive know-how and know-where of the substance may yet reveal the location of the Promised Land, where Mako Energy flows in abundance. But at what cost to Aeris, or the planet?
Selected game appearances
PlayStation
- Final Fantasy VII (1997)
- Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
PlayStation 2
- Kingdom Hearts (2002)
- Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special (2004)
- Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
PlayStation 4
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
References
- Wikipedia - "Aerith Gainsborough"
- Video Game Character Adaptations - "Aeris Gainsborough"
- Final Fantasy VII instruction manual
