Cloud/Aerith

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Pairing
Pairing: Cloud Strife/Aerith Gainsborough
Alternative name(s): Cloud x Aerith, Clerith, Cleris, CxA
Gender category: het
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Canonical?:
Prevalence: popular
Archives:
Other:
Our Promised Land by hatakeflor
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Cloud/Aerith is a Final Fantasy VII pairing involving characters Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough.

Canon

Final Fantasy VII (1997)

Cloud meets Aerith early in the game, and after he discovers she's being pursued by Shinra forces, he agrees to be her bodyguard, accepting her offer of one date as payment. They begin to bond quickly[1], and as a result, Cloud's cold outlook starts to change.[2]

The early part of the game has some light dating sim mechanics that track player decisions expressing Cloud's affection for other characters in the party; the character Cloud has favored the most goes on a date with him at the Gold Saucer. These mechanics are weighted toward Aerith (then Tifa, Yuffie, and Barret, in that order), so that if the player makes neutral decisions, Aerith will go on the date by default.

Before the game is halfway over, Sephiroth kills Aerith before Cloud's eyes. Cloud is deeply affected by her death. Even afterward, it's implied that she continues to watch over the party and protect the planet from the afterlife.

As the story progresses, it's revealed that after a traumatic experience in his past Cloud had conflated his own memories with stories about the life of his late co-worker Zack Fair, who had dated Aerith before Cloud met her.[3] Interpretations differ as to how this influenced Cloud and Aerith's relationship; see Fandom, below, for more detail.

During the final battle with Sephiroth, Cloud sees a vision of Aerith and reaches for her hand, and resolves to see her again.

Expanded Canon

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005), set after the end of the original game, Cloud continues to struggle with guilt and self-loathing over his failures, particularly being unable to save Aerith. Aerith reaches out from the afterlife to communicate to Cloud that she never blamed him for her death, and Cloud smiles genuinely when he sees her at the end of the film.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)

Supplementary Material

Aerith is presented as Cloud's love interest in various promotional materials.[4][5][6][7]

Supplementary material released after the original game sometimes addresses Cloud and Aerith's relationship, often emphasizing their mutual attraction[8][9] and desire to protect one another[10], as well as Cloud's ongoing grief and guilt over Aerith's death[11]. Much of this material is of ambiguous canonicity, and fan interpretations often differ as to which works are taken into account.

Other Media

Alternate continuity versions of Cloud and Aerith both appear in the Kingdom Hearts series. Cloud spends the game looking for someone but never states who it is; the interpretation that he's searching for Aerith is implied but left ambiguous.[12] Cloud reunites with Aerith in the end credits of the first game. In Kingdom Hearts 2, Cloud is searching for Sephiroth, having promised to return to Aerith once he has defeated him. The credits for Kingdom Hearts 2.8 shows Cloud and Aerith alongside several canonically romantically involved Disney couples.

In World of Final Fantasy, Terra chastises Cloud for chasing Sephiroth. Cloud remarks that Sephiroth "took someone away from me forever," and Terra responds "this isn't any way to honour your love for her."[13]

In a Dissidia NT crossover event, the item 'Aerith's Ribbon' gives Cloud a limit break[14].

Fandom

Cloud/Aerith and Cloud/Tifa are two sides of a long-standing ship war in FFVII fandom commonly known as the Love Triangle Debate (LTD). Intense debates about whether one ship is more canon than the other are common.

Common fan interpretations suggest that Cloud's romantic interest in Aerith, and/or Aerith's romantic interest in Cloud, are based to some degree on Cloud's resemblance to and identification with Aerith's ex-boyfriend Zack, as for much of the game Cloud had mixed up stories of Zack's with his own memories.[3] This can be exaggerated, however: Aerith states repeatedly both in the original game and in supplementary material that her relationship with Zack was never very serious[15][16][17], and she states at one point that she was actually bothered by Cloud's resemblance to Zack early on and wants to get to know the real Cloud instead. Supplementary material also shows Cloud's personality, even before he rediscovers his true memories, to be drastically unlike Zack's.

Along with the fact that many supplementary materials set in the FFVII universe are of unclear canonicity, another factor complicating fan interpretations of the Cloud/Aerith relationship and LTD is differing translations, which sometimes have significantly different implications regarding the relationship. The original Japanese version of the novella On the Way to a Smile, for example, has Aerith think of Cloud as her 恋人, "lover" or "boyfriend," which was interpreted by some Japanese fans as confirming the two were canonically in an established romantic relationship. European languages tended to use softer translations, and English went with the much more ambiguous "she had loved him."[18]

Example Fanworks


Fan Fiction

Fan Art

Doujinshi

Gallery

  • Cloud x Aerith by AerinoMinami

  • Cloud and Aerith by CeryliaRectris

  • Cloud and Aerith by hatakeflor

  • Flowers for you by hatakeflor – Aerith placing a flower crown on a sleeping Cloud.

  • Happily Married by hatakeflor – Aerith and Cloud getting married.

  • Surprise Kiss by hatakeflor

  • Underwater Kiss by hatakeflor

  • Cloud and Aeris by kilenator

  • Cherish by Pan-kuzu

  • Wow... your eyes' by Pan-kuzu

Sites & Communities

Other Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ Link to an Ultimania quote: https://twitter.com/cloudxaerith/status/1007285305580380160
  2. ^ An anniversary museum contains the quote 'It is the heroine, Aerith, that melts Cloud's icy heart'
  3. ^ a b I was so ashamed of being so weak; then I heard this story from my friend Zack...And I created an illusion of myself made up of what I had seen in my life... -FF7 script
  4. ^ A French trailer calls Aerith and Cloud 'an impossible love story' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdTKgJSoclE&feature=youtu.be
  5. ^ A European commerical describing Aerith and Cloud against the word 'love': http://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/post/115197999110/official-european-commercial-for-final-fantasy
  6. ^ A Japanese wedding ritual featuring Cloud and Aerith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zibQyzQoQlw
  7. ^ Further times Aerith and Cloud have been shown as a married couple: http://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/weddingcomestrue
  8. ^ Refers to Aerith's smile if you buy a flower as a 'good purchase'
  9. ^ 'She's a girl with impressive eyes' - Dismantled
  10. ^ That was where Aerith hesitated. Will she let all humans die or was she going to avoid such a disaster in exchange for her life... But she never did think about it and was already prepared. When she did hesitate about leaving Cloud in sorrow, she would think about how it wouldn't save her companions or the people of the world. She had already made up her mind. There was no other choice. It was all for Cloud too - Maiden of the Plane
  11. ^ But a cry came through to her. It wasn't the sound of her cry. If it was then she would have felt the blood gushing up through her throat and the fury that forced its way out from the depths of her soul-- It was the sound of Cloud's heart cracking. It was the cry of his heart that could never be healed of the grief he had towards Aerith's death, the blame towards himself and the hatred he had for Sephiroth. She was surprised at the great sorrow he had for her. She was a little happy that he thought so much of her but she also felt the pain that was many times greater. There was nothing she could do about Cloud's suffering and the pain ached in her heart. The pain continued even though she was in the Lifestream - Maiden of the Planet
  12. ^ Question: Okay then, so the person who Cloud is searching for is Aeris, right? Nomura: Well, what do you think? If indeed it was Aeris, then the bit in the ending was the answer. You might say it was made so that you can take it that way. Cloud is a popular character, and I don’t really want to decide myself, yes he is like this. Because players make strong conclusions by themselves, I want to leave room for everyone’s line of thought. - Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Guide Translations
  13. ^ http://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/woff
  14. ^ http://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/post/180144954470/this-is-a-collab-event-between-dissidia-nt-and
  15. ^ Cloud: "You were...serious?" Aerith: "No. But I liked him for awhile. "Cloud: "I probably knew him. What was his name?" Aerith: "It doesn't really matter." -FF7 Script, Cloud and Aerith's date in the park
  16. ^ A video series examining the original translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCS7HQOs1mU
  17. ^ Nojima: The setting that “falling from the roof of the Church” repeats Aerith’s encounter with Cloud was decided in the beginning. Though we’re talking about love, they are still young back then and there’s no time to describe “how they become fond of each other” in the game. So I made it like “falling into a sudden crush.” -Crisis Core Ultimania, the interview, Page 579
  18. ^ http://astoryofalove.tumblr.com/post/116006557130/ff7%E3%81%AE%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%AD%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF%E8%A1%A8%E7%8F%BE%E3%81%95%E3%82%8C%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%AA%E3%81%8B%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F2%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%AE%E9%96%A2%E4%BF%82%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%8C%E5%BE%8C%E3%81%AB
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