The girl blooming like a flower in Zack’s heart
Profile
Age: 16 years old (1st appearance) ~ 22 years old (story end)
Height: 163cm (at age 22)
Birth Date: [μ]-εγλ 1985/2/7
Blood Type: Type O
Birthplace: Icicle Inn
Voice Actor (JP): Maaya Sakamoto
Voice Actor (ENG): Andrea Bowen
A pretty girl living with her adoptive mother in the Sector 5 Slums. She is pure and innocent, but also mysterious, as if she can see through everything. Because she is descended from the Ancients, she has led a troubled life: her father was killed when she was twenty days old, she was confined to the Shinra Building, she lost her mother when she was seven years old and she is still being pursued by Shinra. In spite of this, her cheerful and positive attitude do not reveal the tragedy of her situation. She and Zack have a fateful encounter and become irreplaceable to each other.
Her First Love
One day, Zack suddenly fell into a church in the slums. His cheerful and dependable personality immediately captivates Aerith’s heart, and the two fall in love. Because she does not have a cell phone, she cannot email Zack.
→ Zack is also thrilled by Aerith’s earnest affection for him!
The World’s Only Ancient
Although Jenova was thought to be an Ancient when it was first discovered, it is really an alien life form from outer space, and the only existing Ancient is Aerith. Furthermore, she is only half Ancient, as her father is Dr. Gast, a regular human. Aerith’s abilities are inferior to those of a pure [blooded] Ancient, but she has inherited mysterious talents such as “hearing the cries of the Planet” and “reading the truth hidden deep within people”. Because of this, she is constantly pursued by Shinra, who is seeking the Promised Land.
↑ For Aerith, an Ancient, Shinra is the one who took her parents and has constrained her, but she doesn’t tell this to Zack.
Flower Selling to Enrich the Wallet and the Sector?
Aerith’s hobby is tending to her flowers, but they rarely bloom in the slums where the sky is blocked by the Plate. She dreams of filling the Slum with flowers, and Zack suggests she sell the flowers she grows to fill not only the Slum, but the whole of Midgar with flowers. This plan, titled “Flower Selling to Enrich the Wallet and the Sector” opens the door to a new world for Aerith.
← Two people selling flowers in the Slums. They talk about going onto the Plate eventually, but…
“You fell down [here]. Surprised me.”
——The Church in the Slums: To Zack, who had woken up
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
——The Church in the Slums: Imitating Zack’s response
“The best happiness is [being] ordinary. That’s what I think.”
——Green Park: Musings to reflect on
“When you return from your next job, we can sell flowers under the blue sky together! I’m not afraid of the sky when I’m with Zack.”
——Sector 1 Slums: What she tells Zack after she finishes selling flowers.
TL Note: This quote is not in the finished game script!
“I want to be together with you more [often].”
——A tiny wish to tell Zack
→ The more she gets to know him, the more she is attracted to Zack. The way she imitates Zack is also cute.
↑→ For the “unordinary” Aerith, spending time with Zack is an irreplaceable source of happiness. But the time they can be together is short…
Link to the FFVII Series
Putting Zack’s Face Onto Cloud
Aerith in FFVII gives a strong impression as a tragic heroine——she does her best as an Ancient to save the Planet, but loses her own life. However, the link to CC that should be paid attention to is her story as it relates to Cloud. Why she was selling flowers when she met Cloud, how she started her romance with Zack, her first love she told Cloud about, and why she saw Zack in Cloud——these things that weren’t known in FFVII are revealed in CC.
← Aerith asks Cloud to guard her. Maybe the “one date” reward was an imitation of something Zack had said to her in the past?