The history of gaming is rich and diverse in many ways, and it goes without saying that some events have become a mainstay of this culture due to the sheer impact they had on gamers as a whole. One particular scene in a legendary game that has easily become perhaps the most well-known spoiler in gaming history has to be Aerith’s death — an event so groundbreaking and cataclysmic that everything from urban legends to full-on mods were concocted in order to prevent this event from ever happening.
It’s a testament to the brilliance of Final Fantasy VII and the strong writing of Aerith’s character that this scene ended up shocking players due to its sheer boldness, not even allowing gamers to say so much as a goodbye before one of the sweetest characters in JRPG history ended up leaving the party for good.
Such is the allure and detail surrounding Aerith’s characters that even the most devout fans would have no idea about the following ten things pertaining to her character.
10 She Was The Second Character To Be Designed After Cloud Himself
There’s no denying the fact that Aerith was meant to be one of the most important characters in the game — one need only look at the fact that she was the second main character to be designed for the game, right after the protagonist himself.
Fun fact — the third person to be designed after her and Cloud… was Barret.
9 Her Long Dress Was Supposed Be A Contrast To Tifa’s Outfit
With the romantic triangle that Squaresoft was trying to push in Final Fantasy VII, it was only a given that Tifa and Aerith would be designed completely differently in order to be as different from each other as possible.
One need only look at Aerith’s long dress, which serves as a stark contrast to Tifa’s tank top and miniskirt combo.
8 Nomura Was Very Particular About Aerith’s Jacket Being Designed Like A Biker In The Remake
Aerith’s jacket is an iconic part of her character, and Nomura decided to westernize her look somewhat by making her jacket all the more rugged in the Remake.
He managed to do so by telling the modelers to make Aerith’s attire look more like a biker jacket — something he was so particular about that the designers came up to him over and over again in order to ensure that they were going in the right direction.
7 Sephiroth Could’ve Been Either Her Brother… Or Her Lover As Well
While Sephiroth and Aerith aren’t really all that connected in the final game, there were ideas that were thrown around that would’ve definitely made this dynamic way more personal.
Initial drafts saw Sephiroth as Aerith’s brother… before this was scrapped in favor of the antagonist being Aerith’s lover instead! However, with the inclusion of Zack’s character, this angle was dropped as well.
6 Barret Could’ve Taken Aerith’s Place As The Character Who Died Permanently
One fun fact that most people might not know about Final Fantasy VII is that Aerith wasn’t the only party member who was considered to meet an early demise in the middle of the title.
Barret was another character who was proposed as the person who would die at the hands of Sephiroth… but this was changed since the developers believe that Aerith’s death would’ve carried way more of an impact.
5 Her Name Was Purposely Designed To Sound Similar To “Earth”
Given the fact that Aerith shares a deep connection with the Planet itself, it only makes sense that her name would be a subtle way to highlight his connection.
This isn’t all that surprising given the pattern that earlier Final Fantasy games had of having the names of the main characters hold some deeper meaning.
4 Aerith’s Connection With Air Serves As A Stark Contrast To Sephiroth’s Connection With Water
The allegories in Final Fantasy VII don’t end with just names — given the fact that both Aerith and Sephiroth play a huge role to decide the fate of the world, it’s only a given that the elements they’re attached to would also convey the same.
Given her ultimate limit break Great Gospel — which brings forth healing rain to replenish the party’s reserves — and the connection to the Lifestream, it can be said that Aerith’s dominant element in water. This is very much the opposite of Sephiroth, who’s associations with Supernova and the Nibelhein Incident easily make him a character who’s attracted to fire instead.
3 She Has The Highest Magic Stat In The Game
Something that might not surprise most people who’ve played Final Fantasy VII is the fact that Aerith has the best magic stat out of all the other party members — something that makes up for her otherwise fragile nature.
Funnily enough, the person who comes in second place is a rather unlikely candidate — Vincent Valentine!
2 The Striking Staff Can Turn Her Into The Best Fighter In The Early Goings Of Final Fantasy VII
For people who aren’t really all that fond of wasting MP on normal enemies yet still want Aerith to pull her own weight physically in battle, there’s an easy fix that can come up just when the party reaches the Train Graveyard.
There’s an enemy by the name of Eligor that can be fought in the Train Graveyard. It’s a rather rare encounter, so players who do get this opportunity shouldn’t let it pass — by using the Steal command, the party can get the Striking Staff, a weapon that will easily trump any other staff that can be obtained for Aerith all the way till Junon, which is quite a bit further into the game from that point.
1 She Has Dialogue For Certain Scenes Even After Her Demise
There are many people who still believe that Aerith was either never meant to die in the first place or can be brought back through a method that hasn’t been discovered yet. The evidence fuelling both these views is the fact that Aerith still has dialogue for dungeons that appear after her demise.
However, the real reason as to why these dialogues exist is due to the fact that the order in which these dungeons would be completed wasn’t really finalized until later on in the title, which is why the developers ended up adding dialogue for Aerith just to be on the safe side.
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