Aerith Gainsborough

Articles About Aerith Gainsborough
Main Continuity	Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Alternate Continuity	Dissidia - Kingdom Hearts

“	I'm Aerith, the flower girl. Nice to meet you.	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way.	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	I’d love to go on a journey. Just float away somewhere, like a flower petal, or get carried away in the wind...	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	I have twenty-three tiny wishes, but you probably won't remember them all, so I put them all together into one: I'd like to spend more time with you.	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough to Zack Fair

“	Would you like to buy some flowers?	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	I miss it... the steel sky.	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

“	I'm trying so hard to find you.	„
	~ Aerith Gainsborough

Background

Aerith Gainsborough is a supporting protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, who serves as one of the most important characters of the series. Although seemingly a mere flower merchant, Aerith is the last of the Cetra people, which makes her the main opposing force to Sephiroth. After joining Cloud Strife's party, Aerith learned more about her heritage and what she would need to do to save the planet.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Aerith’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Aerith is a half-Cetra, who was born in secret to the last remaining Cetra, Ifalna, and former Shinra scientist, Professor Gast. Just as Aerith was a newborn, Shinra invaded her home and killed Gast, as her and Ifalna were kidnapped and taken to the Shinra Building in Midgar. Ifalna and Aerith were held there in captivity for seven long years. One day, however, Ifalna was able to escape from the Shinra Building, and tried to escape from Midgar alongside the seven year old Aerith. Unfortunately, Ifalna was gravely wounded and only made it so far as the Sector 7 train station before she passed away. Ifalna entrusted Aerith with the mysterious White Materia, and then left the young girl all on her own. Fortunately for Aerith, she was quickly found and taken in by a woman named Elmyra Gainsborough, who gave her the name Aerith Gainsborough. There, Aerith would live as Elmyra’s adoptive daughter for several, several years; as Shinra watched over her and continually asked her to come back with them. Aerith would spend the next ten years of her life visiting an old broken-down church in the Sector 5 slums, where she tended to her bed of flowers. However, one day, a young bright-eyed SOLDIER named Zack Fair came crashing through the seventeen-year old Flower Girl’s church roof. They met each other and kicked things off immediately, becoming a couple. For the next two years, Zack and Aerith would live a happy life together selling flowers, until Shinra deplored Zack out to a mission in Nibelheim. This would be a mission Zack would never return from, with Aerith sending him letters for the next four years, only to feel his death from the planet. Aerith would go on to tend to her flowers in a silent sadness, unable to get over Zack and forcing herself to believe that he was still alive, somewhere. Almost unbelievably, yet another SOLDIER crashed through her roof in the same fashion as Zack, and carrying his very same sword; Cloud Strife. Aerith, searching for the traces of Zack within Cloud, joined him on his journey to get back to his friends. From then on, Aerith had joined the AVALANCHE group, focused on preserving the planet not only from Shinra’s Mako Reactors, but also from Sephiroth and Jenova’s summoned Meteor. During this quest, Aerith recognized the importance of the Materia her mother gifted her before her passing; White Materia, which could summon a spell, Holy, that would directly oppose Meteor. Travelling alone to the Temple of the Ancients, Aerith sacrificed her life and was willingly stricken down by Sephiroth, so that she may summon Holy from within the Lifestream itself, while the rest of her body fought Sephiroth himself. Eventually, as Meteor was dangerously close to destroying the entire planet, Cloud and his team allowed for Holy to finally be able to flow through the planet freely, as Aerith recruited countless souls to fight on her side within the Lifestream. Lifestream burst from the seams of the planet and swirled around Meteor, finally stopping the threat, as Cloud and his team took out Sephiroth. Successfully having preserved the planet and its people from death, Aerith returned to the Lifestream; always watching over the planet as its protector.

General Information

Key: Mortal Form | Lifestream Spirit

Name: Aerith Gainsborough

Origin: Final Fantasy VII

Sex: Female

Age: 16 - 17 years old (Crisis Core/Before Crisis), 22 years old (Final Fantasy VII)

Classification: The Flower Girl

Species: Cetra/Human Hybrid

Occupation: Flower Merchant

Status: Deceased (Aerith was killed by an illusion of Sephiroth)

Alignment: Chaotic Good (Aerith fights for good simply out of her desire to help people and protect the planet that she loves dearly. She actively opposes authority on several occasions and gets a kick out of causing mayhem for the people of Shinra. She actively sacrifices herself to save the world) | Lawful Good (Having become the will of the Lifestream, Aerith follows its desires exactly as directed. She does whatever is necessary for the preservation of the world, regardless of the sacrifices that need to be made, including her own life)

Name: Aerith Gainsborough

Origin: Final Fantasy VII Remake

Sex: Female

Age: 22 years old

Classification: The Flower Girl

Species: Cetra/Human Hybrid

Occupation: Flower Merchant

Status: Alive

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Codex Statistics

Key: Mortal Form | Lifestream Spirit

Tier: At least 9-A | Unknown, possibly High 3-A

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: At least Room level+ (Fights alongside Cloud Strife, who had Jenova rewrote his physicality into what he envisioned of a SOLDIER 1st Class, and thus is comparable to standard Summons which are fought as regular training programs in the Shinra Combat Simulator, such as Bahamut, whose Megaflare is this powerful) | Unknown, possibly Multi Supercluster level (Aerith within the Lifestream is considered the counterpart to Sephiroth, as evident by the parallel existence of Lifestream White and Black, along with Aerith claiming she could perform similar things to Sephiroth; Sephiroth can create a dimension containing starry skies and multiple galaxies, and is also consistently stated to be the strongest character in the series, placing him above Bahamut Fury, who can also create a dimension with a starry sky, and Knights of the Round, which can destroy its own dimension containing a galaxy cluster)

Durability: At least Room level+ | Unknown, possibly Multi Supercluster level

Striking Strength: At least Room Class+ | Unknown, possibly Multi Supercluster Class

Lifting Strength: Likely Average Human

Travel Speed: Athletic Human (Is comparable to Cloud Strife, who can run at similar speeds to a Chocobo; Chocobo are said in the Dissidia Final Fantasy Museum to run at 20 mph) | Extra-Temporal (As a being of the Lifestream, time is meaningless to her)

Combat Speed: At least Massively Hypersonic+ | Extra-Temporal

Reaction Speed: At least Massively Hypersonic+ (As a part of Cloud’s party, she can dodge the lasers from Shinra security system like the others) | Extra-Temporal

Stamina: Superhuman (Aerith was able to travel for several, several days on her journey with the party, taking very brief breaks in between. All the while, she was able to defeat legendary and extremely powerful monsters, such as Summons who are thousands of years old) | Limitless (The Lifestream will continue to go on forever, if left undisturbed. Aerith, now serving as a manifestation of this Lifestream, would be an extension of that)

Range: Standard Melee, Extended Melee with staves, Far Higher with Materia and within the Lifestream

Intelligence: Genius (Is shown to intellectually be on par with Zack Fair, although she is inferior to him in combative smarts. Aerith is, however, still able to keep up with thousand-year old creatures like Jenova, and some Summons) | Cosmic (Aerith within the Lifestream is beyond concepts such as time, to the point where she can comprehend it and act beyond it; she is also equipped with the knowledge of the entire Lifestream; including all of the Ancients)

Key: Pre-Destiny's Crossroads | Post-Destiny's Crossroads

Tier: At least 9-A | 2-C

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: At least Room level+ | Universe level (Could completely destroy the Whisper Harbinger, which is connected to all of time and space, and the destruction of which was seen across all of time. Was later able to contend with Sephiroth, with Sephiroth being stronger than ever before after absorbing the Whispers)

Durability: At least Room level+ | Universe level

Striking Strength: At least Room Class+ | Universal Class

Lifting Strength: Likely Average Human | Likely Average Human

Travel Speed: Athletic Human | Athletic Human

Combat Speed: At least Massively Hypersonic+ | Extra-Temporal

Reaction Speed: At least Massively Hypersonic+ (Could dodge the lasers from the Shinra security system) | Extra-Temporal (Could keep up with the Whisper Harbinger and Sephiroth after he absorbed the Whispers, who are connected to all of time and space)

Stamina: Superhuman

Range: Standard Melee, Extended Melee with staves, Far Higher with Materia

Intelligence: At least Genius

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Powers and Techniques

Spirit Energy Physiology, which includes: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Blessed (Everyone born into the world is blessed with Spirit Energy), Sheer Will (Willpower alone can be enough to fight off Mako poisoning, and the will of Jenova. Those with a strong enough will can retain their sense of self after dying and returning to the Lifestream), Memory Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Rage Power, & Aura (Limit Breaks are born of memories, are comprised of Spirit Energy, and are unleashed when the user's anger is pushed to the limit. They give off an aura when used), Non-Standard Interaction (Characters can interact with the souls of the Gi Tribe), Regeneration Negation (Mid-High; Jenova can regenerate itself fully so long as its cells remain, as Cloud Strife participates in Jenova's Reunion despite only containing her cells. Despite this, pieces of Jenova defeated by the heroes were unable to enact the Reunion), Immortality Negation (Type 3; Can completely kill pieces of Jenova, preventing them from regenerating), Accelerated Development (When Sephiroth fought the party far earlier than he was supposed to, the main characters could still contend with him, even after Sephiroth absorbed the Whispers and became stronger than he had ever been)

Human Achievements (Aerith was an experienced Flower Merchant), Weapon Mastery (Aerith is proficient with her stave), Extrasensory Perception (As a Cetra, Aerith can hear the cries of the Planet and speak to it), Summoning (Aerith can summon angel-like beings), Blessed & Healing (Aerith is fully healed by praying to the planet), Light Manipulation (Aerith can summon a ray of light), Water Manipulation (Aerith can summon rain around her), Statistics Amplification (The Princess Guard multiplies her strength the more of her allies have been defeated), Telepathy (Aerith can telepathically communicate with others), Paralysis Inducement & Time Stop (Aerith can paralyze and stop enemies in time with Seal Evil), Invulnerability (Great Gospel and Planet Protector make Aerith temporarily invincible)

Spirit Energy Physiology, which grants Resistance to:

Mind Manipulation & Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation; Those with high willpower can resist succumbing to Jenova's will, which passively takes over one's mind and eats away at the soul, and can prevent their mind from shattering), Poison Manipulation (High willpower can prevent the toxicosis that comes with the exposure to Jenova Cells), Power Mimicry & Power Absorption (Limit Breaks cannot be copied by others. Only Zack Fair can copy Limit Breaks, though he is noted to be the only exception to this), Corruption (Types 1 & 2; Several main characters have been exposed to high amounts of Mako energy, and never became Makonoid monsters), Biological Deconstruction & Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation; Main characters have fallen into the Lifestream and returned unscathed, without being forcefully diffused or dissolved into it, or having their spirit be eroded and dissipated), Heat Manipulation & Radiation Manipulation (Can withstand Super Nova without any negative effects of heat or radiation), Limited Disease Manipulation (Those with a will to live are unaffected by Geostigma, which infects those with a weak will)

Metaphysics Manipulation (Soul Manipulation; Can interact with the souls of the Lifestream), Memory Manipulation (Can restore individuality to people within the Lifestream, through their memories), Empathic Manipulation (Can ease the hatred of those within the Negative Lifestream), Astral Projection (She could appear as an apparition to people in the living realm), Avatar Creation (If she wished, Aerith could create living avatars of herself similar to Sephiroth’s Remnants).
Resistance to Time Manipulation (As a being of the Lifestream, time is meaningless to her).
Resistance to Mind Manipulation and Memory Manipulation (Aerith is able to enter Lifestream from death without succumbing to its memory manipulation. She was able to retain herself after death. This is all of her choosing, as a Cetra).

Resistance to Corruption Resistance (Type 1 & 2; Aerith was completely resistant to Jenova’s influence within the Lifestream and could not be corrupted by her the way Cloud was)

Forcefield Creation (Creates a barrier with different effects), Damage Reduction (Barrier reduces the damage of physical attacks. MBarrier reduces the damage of magic. Wall does both at once), Attack Reflection (Reflect has magic spells be reflected back on the opponent)

Earth Manipulation & Fire Manipulation (Comet and Comet2 launch a flaming rock at the opponent)

Possible Ice Manipulation (Has a chance of attacking with ice using Freeze), possible Earth Manipulation (Has a chance of attacking with earth using Break), possible Air Manipulation (Has a chance of attacking with wind using Tornado), possible Fire Manipulation (Has a chance of attacking with fire using Flare)

Forcefield Negation (Removes Barriers and MBarriers)

Earth Manipulation (Casts Quake)

Fire Manipulation (Casts Fire)

Gravity Manipulation (Casts Demi)

Poison Negation (Poisona negates poison effects), Status Effect Negation (Esuna negates all status effects)

Ice Manipulation (Casts Ice)

Electricity Manipulation (Casts Bolt)

Status Effect Inducement (Confu has a 60% chance of confusing an enemy. Berserk has an 80% chance of inflicting berserk on an enemy)

Poison Manipulation (Casts Bio)

Healing (Restores health with Cure, Cure2, and Cure3), Regeneration (Low; Grants Regen, which slowly restores HP)

Resurrection (Life and Life2 revive an ally)

Sleep Manipulation (Sleepel puts an enemy to sleep), Magic Negation (Silence prevents an opponent from casting magic spells)

Resistance to Physical Attacks & Elemental Magic (Shield provides immunity to physical attacks and elemental magic spells)

Statistics Amplification (Casts Haste, which increases the speed of one's ATB gauge, thereby allowing for them to attack faster), Statistics Reduction (Casts Slow, which decreases the speed of a foe's ATB gauge, thereby making them attack slower), Time Stop (Stop completely freezes a target in time)

Size Manipulation & Statistics Reduction (Mini turns a target tiny in size, and reduces their damage output to 1), Transmutation (Toad transforms the opponent into a toad)

Magic & Attack Reflection Negation (Ultima is a powerful magic spell that ignores all reflection)

Berserk Mode (Paired with Mystify Materia it inflicts Berserk).

Resistance to Petrification & Time Stop (Paired with Contain Materia, grants resistance to Petrify and Stop).
Resistance to Death Manipulation (Paired with Destruct and Odin Materia, grants resistance to Instant Death).
Resistance to Magic Negation & Sleep Manipulation (Paired with Seal Materia, grants resistance to Silence and Sleep).

Resistance to Size Manipulation & Transmutation (Paired with Transform Materia, grants resistance to Small and Frog)

Enhanced Magic (All allows for magical spells to be multi-targeted to all allies or enemies)

Resistance to Elemental Manipulation (Elemental Materia grants resistance to elemental magic when paired with a Magic Materia of that element)

Healing (HP Absorb restores health when the Magic Materia it is paired with is used)

Healing (MP Absorb restores magic power when the Magic Materia it is paired with is used)

Damage Boost (MP Turbo increases the damage of the Magic Materia it is paired with)

Damage Boost (Grants access to D.Blow, which attacks with a critical hit when it lands)

Power Mimicry (Enemy Skill allows for the user to copy and use the abilities of opponents for themselves)

Body Puppetry (Manipulate takes control of an enemy and allows for the user to control their every move)

Power Mimicry (Mime has the user perfectly replicate the most recently-performed attack of either an ally or enemy)

Transmutation (Morph transforms an enemy into an item)

Information Analysis (Sense allows for the user to see the opponent's HP, MP, level, and weaknesses)

Statistics Reduction (Enemy Away reduces the chances of running into a random enemy encounter)

Statistics Amplification (Enemy Lure increases the chances of running into a random enemy encounter)

Statistics Amplification & Accelerated Development (Experience Plus increases the amount of experience gained after battle)

Statistics Amplification (Gil Plus increases the amount of Gil earned after battles)

Time Stop (Has a chance to inflict Stop)

Large Size (Type 0), Immortality (Type 1), Levitation, Ice Manipulation (Shiva is an Ice elemental and attacks with ice magic), Attack Reflection Negation (Shiva's attacks cannot be reflected).

Resistance to Ice Manipulation & Cold Manipulation

Large Size (Type 0), Immortality (Type 1), Levitation, Fire Manipulation (Ifrit is a Fire elemental and attacks with fire magic), Attack Reflection Negation (Ifrit's attacks cannot be reflected).

Resistance to Fire Manipulation & Heat Manipulation

Large Size (Type 0), Immortality (Type 1), Electricity Manipulation (Ramuh is a Lightning elemental and attacks with lightning magic), Attack Reflection Negation (Ramuh's attacks cannot be reflected)

Large Size (Type 0), Immortality (Type 1), Earth Manipulation (Titan is an Earth elemental and attacks with earth magic), Attack Reflection Negation (Titan's attacks cannot be reflected)

Large Size (Type 0), Immortality (Type 1), Vehicular Mastery (Rides atop a horse), Weapon Usage (wields a lance and a sword), Teleportation (Can appear from nowhere out of a cloud of black smoke), Death Manipulation (Odin inflicts Instant Death)

Large Size (Type 1), Immortality (Type 1), Aquatic Breathing, Flight, Water Manipulation (Leviathan is a Water elemental and attacks with water magic), Attack Reflection Negation (Leviathan's attacks cannot be reflected)

Healing (Potions, Hi-Potions, and X-Potions all restore Aerith’s health. Ethers and Turbo Ethers restore magic power), Resurrection (Phoenix Down fully restores Aerith when she is defeated).

Resistance to Status Effect Inducement (Remedy, Elixir, and Megalixir prevents negative status effects)

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Equipment

Weapons

• Guard Stick: A metal staff that Aerith wields to whack enemies with, and which she also uses to channel her innate magical abilities through. Thus, it can also be used as a sort of ranged weapon.
• Mythril Rod: A more potent version of the Guard Stick, which contains more slot storage for Materia.
• Princess Guard: Aerith’s most powerful staff, which she acquired within the Temple of the Ancients. This staff will multiply Aerith’s power, the more of her allies who are knocked out.

Items

• Potion: Restores some of Aerith's health.
• Hi-Potion: Restores a little of Aerith's health.
• X-Potion: Restores a lot of Aerith's health.
• Ether: Restores some of Aerith's magic power.
• Turbo Ether: Restores a lot of Aerith's magic power.
• Elixir: Restores Aerith’s health, magic power, and cures her of status ailments.
• Megalixir: Restores Aerith’s health, magic power, and cures her of all status ailments.
• Phoenix Down: Fully resurrects Aerith when she is defeated.

Summon Materia: Small red orbs of crystalized Mako energy that Aerith can use to call upon legendary, gargantuan beasts from the distant past, to fight alongside him. This includes giant flaming behemoths like Ifrit, to huge dragons like Bahamut.

Magic Materia: Small green orbs of crystalized Mako energy that Aerith can use to enable the use of magic spells, oftentimes being elemental in nature, such as Fire/Fira/Firaga which attacks with flames.

Command Materia: Small yellow orbs of crystalized Mako energy that Aerith can use to empower herself with techniques he couldn’t previously use; including ones that can inflict status effects, like poison and paralysis.

Support Materia: Small blue orbs of crystalized Mako energy that have the primary purpose of being linked to other Materia, in order to enhance their effects.

Independent Materia: Small purple orbs of crystalized Mako energy that increases the stats of the users.

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Notable Techniques

• Healing Wind: Aerith summons a wind that blows through her allies, which greatly heals them.
• Seal Evil: Aerith summons a darkened vortex that will either paralyze enemies, or briefly stop them in time.
• Breath of the Earth: Aerith surrounds her allies with blue light, which completely restores them from negative status effects.
• Fury Brand: This Limit Break has Aerith completely fill the Limit Break meter of her allies.
• Planet Protector: Aerith surrounds herself and her allies with stars, which make them all temporarily invincible.
• Pulse of Life: Aerith kneels down and prays to the planet, which fully heals herself and her party members of all health and magic, and removes all negative status ailments.
• Great Gospel: Angels descend from the sky after Aerith summons them through a cloud of rain. This not only heals her entire party’s health and magic, but also makes them temporarily invincible.

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Other

Weaknesses: Aerith is extremely headstrong and rushes into things without second thought, which gets her into trouble. She is also very insistent on dealing with problems herself and going out on her own.

Battle Records

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