Aerith’s Theme
by Nobuo Uematsu

The “Aerith Gainsborough“(Japanese: エアリス・ゲインズブール Hepburn: Earisu Geinzubūru), transliterated as Aeris Gainsborough in the English releases of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics—is a player character in Square’s (now Square Enix) role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. She was designed by Tetsuya Nomura with influence from Yoshinori Kitase, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Yoshitaka Amano.
In Final Fantasy VII, she is a young woman who joins the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE. As the story progresses, AVALANCHE begin to pursue the game’s antagonist Sephiroth, and the player learns that she is the last surviving Cetra, or “Ancient”, one of the planet’s oldest races. She has also appeared in the later-released Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts series.
Her voice actor is Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese. In English releases, her voice actors are singer and actress Mandy Moore in Kingdom Hearts, actress Mena Suvari in Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, and actress Andrea Bowen in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The character and the events surrounding her death in Final Fantasy VII have met with an overall positive reception from critics and fans.

Aeris’ Theme (Final Fantasy VII) – Conducted by Taizou Takemoto, Tokyo