Name: Aerith/Aeris Gainsborough (Katakana:エアリス・ゲインズブール Earisu Geinzubūru)
Birthplace: Icicle Inn
Birthdate: February 7, 1985
Death: December 2007
Height: 160 cm / 5'3"
Blood Type: O

Aerith Gainsborough is a Centra, a power race innately connected to the Lifestream. She serves as one of the leading characters in Final Fantasy VII, and is possibly one of the most memorable characters in the entire series to date. Like Zack, her death comes suddenly and tragically, dying at the hands of Sephiroth. She plays a large influence on almost all of the characters she surrounds, providing moral support to her friends, even in death, through her genuinely good and caring nature.

Zack first comes across Aerith in her church in the slums when he crashes through the roof of it, and they immediately fall for each other. In Crisis Core, we see her at a much younger age, when she was innocent and afraid of something as natural as the sky. Although she never ventured far from her home, Zack encourages her to take risks, such as recommending her to sell flowers on the upper plate, or to look at the sky with a more pleasant mindset.