An entire generation of gamers is still traumatized by the events of Final Fantasy VII. You were encouraged to befriend and possibly even fall in love with a flower girl from Midgar, only to have her taken away from you in a seemingly random moment of violence.
The ing of Aerith Gainsborough was intended to be a surprising twist for people who played Final Fantasy VII for the first time, but it has since become one of the most well-known plot twists in video game history, meaning that anyone going into Final Fantasy VII will likely be aware of what happens to Aerith at the end of disc one.
There are those who find it hard to appreciate Final Fantasy VII due to how dated its graphics are and how some of its subject matter is questionable when viewed from a modern perspective. Those gamers will be given their own chance to experience the pain of Aerith's loss whenever the Final Fantasy VII Remake is released. The whole point of Final Fantasy VII was that people never truly leave us as long as they remain in our memories. The fact that the loss of Aerith is still felt by many gamers is a testament to the fact that the developers succeeded in making us care about her and feel sad when she is taken away.
We are here today to learn the secrets of the last surviving member of the Cetra - from the truth behind her lineage to the theory that she always knew what awaited her in the Forgotten Capital. Here are the 20 Strange Details About Aerith’s Anatomy!
She Had The Power To Send People From Limbo To The Afterlife
Bugenhagen explains to the party that all souls on the planet are meant to return to the Lifestream, which will lead to them being reincarnated into a new form in the future. The events of the novel called The Girl Who Travels the Planet raise questions about the nature of the Lifestream, as Aerith encounters the lost souls of those she had encountered in her life.
Aerith discovered that some people were trapped in Limbo due to the guilt they carried from their life, such as the of AVALANCHE who regretted the lives that were lost during their missions. It was also possible for Aerith to help lost souls on and become one with the Lifestream, which she was able to do with Dyne, who was able to let go of his anger and be reunited with his wife, before dissolving into nothingness.
She Could Communicate With The Planet Through The Wind
Aerith demonstrated supernatural abilities from a young age, as she knew that Elmyra's husband had ed away during the Wutai War before word about his demise had reached Midgar.
There was a Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy VII spin-off that was released exclusively on mobile phones, called Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, where you play as a group of Turks who do missions for the Shinra Corporation. The Turks encounter a young Aerith during the events of Before Crisis, where she claims that she can hear the voice of the wind trying to communicate with her. It's possible that the pollution of Midgar prevented Aerith from being able to properly communicate with the planet until after she left the city.
She Is Descended From Black Mages
The world of Final Fantasy VII was once populated by a magical race known as the Cetra, who shared a connection with the planet and could communicate with nature. The Cetra were almost totally wiped out by Jenova, forcing the remainder of the species to procreate with humans to allow their race to survive. We are only given a brief glimpse at what the original Cetra looked like, but their appearance was the same as the black mages from the older Final Fantasy titles.
A lot of gamers who played Final Fantasy VII when it was first released may not be aware that the Cetra were black mages, as it was difficult to tell what they looked like on a pre-HD television set, as you were only given a few glimpses of them in the Temple of the Ancients.
She Could Summon Angels (In A World Without A Heaven)
The ultimate Limit Break of each party member in Final Fantasy VII was incredibly powerful and took a long time to unlock. There is a question over whether the appearance of the Limit Breaks should be taken literally, as Cid is able to command the Highwind to fire missiles at the enemy, even if you are indoors.
Aerith's ultimate Limit Break is the Great Gospel, which summons three faceless angels to bless the party, resulting in all HP and MP being restored and the party becoming temporarily invincible. The weirdest aspect of Aerith's ability to summon angels is that Final Fantasy VII is a story about reincarnation, with the afterlife not existing outside of returning to the planet and being reborn in a new form.
She Could Maintain Her Original Form In The Lifestream Due To Her Cetra Blood
The fact that Sephiroth was implanted with Jenova cells when he was still an embryo caused him to become unnaturally strong and allowed him to maintain his original form in the Lifestream, from which he was able to manifest in the world of the living through the remnants of Jenova's body.
The On the Way to a Smile novel confirmed that Aerith was able to maintain her original consciousness while within the Lifestream. Aerith remains conscious within the Lifestream as a means of trying to keep Sephiroth in check, though this ultimately fails during the events of Advent Children, as Sephiroth finds a way to return to the world of the living.
It Takes Her The Longest To Reach Level 99
You only have access to Aerith throughout the first disc of Final Fantasy VII, as she meets her fate at the hands of Sephiroth in the Forgotten Capital and the of AVALANCHE have to continue on without her. It's still possible for dedicated players to bring Aerith up to level 99 and teach her all of her Limit Breaks, but this is a lot harder than it looks, and that's not just because of the paltry amount of experience points on offer from the monsters on disc one.
It takes Aerith the longest to reach level 99 (save for Young Cloud, who has to be hacked into your party), as she requires 2,484,643 experience points to level up, while the rest of the party need to acquire either 2,452,783 or 2,420,933 experience points, depending on the character.
She Has The Potential To Be The Strongest Fighter In Midgar
Aerith's stats are based around magic, which means that she won't last long in melee combat. It's best to keep Aerith in the back-row and have her use spells to buff the party or destroy the enemy. It's possible to turn Aerith into a physical powerhouse for a brief period of time in Midgar, as you can steal a powerful weapon from a rare enemy in the Train Graveyard.
There is an enemy in the Train Graveyard called Eligor, who carries the Striking Staff weapon. You have to use the Steal command on Eligor in order to acquire the Striking Staff. The Striking Staff is a powerful physical weapon for Aerith that outstrips anything else your party can have at that point in the game, making her one of your best warriors until you reach the city of Junon.
She Could Sense Summoned Monsters
The version of AVALANCHE that is led by Barret at the start of Final Fantasy VII is actually the second incarnation of the group. The first incarnation of AVALANCHE was far more aggressive, which prompted the Shinra Corporation to dispatch the Turks to deal with them. This conflict was part of the story seen in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-.
The original leader of AVALANCHE was a woman named Elfe, who wanted Aerith on her side, as she believed that Aerith could lead them to the Promised Land. Their meeting was interrupted by the Turks, but Aerith was able to determine that Elfe was actually the container for Zirconiade. Zirconiade was an incredibly powerful summon monster whose materia had been grafted onto Elfe's flesh. Aerith was able to sense Zirconiade's presence within Elfe, due to its strength.
She Can Solo Ruby Weapon
You can't use Aerith against Emerald Weapon or Ruby Weapon, as she perishes long before they arrive on the world map. Players have been able to hack Aerith back into the game using cheating devices and have used her to defeat Ruby Weapon on her own. Aerith's Great Gospel Limit Break would have been incredibly useful against Ruby Weapon, due to how it grants temporary invincibility, but players have been able to win the battle using Aerith on her own.
Ruby Weapon might be one of the hardest bosses in the game, but players have worked out various strategies to defeat it, such as using items like Dazers (combined with the W-Item materia) to stun it. The existence of Hero Drinks also allows Aerith to tank hits from Ruby Weapon's attacks, allowing her to survive its onslaught.
SHe Once Had A Limit Break Based On Tantalizing Secrets
Aerith's Limit Breaks are all based around magic, which means that they mostly rely on effects that either buff or heal the party. When Final Fantasy VII was in development, the Limit Breaks were still being designed and storyboarded for use in the game. There is concept art for an unused Limit Break that shows Aerith powering up Cloud by whispering something to him.
It's possible that this Limit Break came from the time in development when there were only three characters (Aerith, Barret, and Cloud), as it's unclear how this Limit Break would work with every character, which may have been why it was cut.
