Aerith Gainsborough
character in Final Fantasy VII
Aerith Gainsborough (Japanese: エアリス・ゲインズブール, Hepburn: Earisu Geinzubūru) is a character from the 1997 role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII by Square (now Square Enix). She has also appeared in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the wider Final Fantasy series, and the Kingdom Hearts series by Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. She was designed by Tetsuya Nomura with influence from Yoshinori Kitase, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Yoshitaka Amano.
Aerith is a young woman allied with the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE. During the group's pursuit of the game's antagonist Sephiroth, it is revealed that Aerith is the last surviving Cetra, or "Ancient", one of the planet's oldest races. She is ultimately murdered by Sephiroth. Aerith has been met with generally positive reception, and her unexpected death is considered to be one of the most memorable scenes in the series.
Concept and design
Aerith was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, who based her on an earlier design of Lemure from Final Fantasy V, with influence from director and scenario writer Yoshinori Kitase and Hironobu Sakaguchi, while Yoshitaka Amano created conceptual artwork for her design. She has green eyes and long light ash brown hair tied in a braid with a pink ribbon. She wears a long pink dress, a bolero jacket, and brown hiking boots. The long dress was designed to appear ladylike and contrast with the miniskirt worn by Tifa Lockhart.
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