Aerith Gainsborough

Role Mid to Long-Range, Caster, Support
Weapons Staves

Aerith Gainsborough is a playable character in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Aerith wields a staff and primarily plays as a support in the team, she is capable of conjuring magical spells, long-range attacks, and has limit breaks that are entirely defensive, either providing restorative abilities, healing other party members, or granting them positive status enhancements. In the remake, players can now switch to different characters depending on the battle situation. Players can also stick with the same character and issue orders to party allies.


Corneo's got... certain tastes.


Aerith Gainsborough Information

Aerith is a flower seller who lives in the Sector 5 slums, who first meets Cloud on the streets of Midgar after the bombing of Mako Reactor 1. Shinra has kept a close eye on her ever since she was a child, as she has the ability to hear the voice of the planet. She is often found tending a modest bed of flowers at an old church in Sector 5.

Early Life

Aerith Gainsborough was born at an Icicle Inn located in the town of the Snow Fields and is the offspring of Ifalna, a pure Cetra and Gast Faremis who is a human biologist, making Aerith half-human, half-Cetra. A Cetra is known to be an ancient race who looks similar to humans but has magical abilities and a deep spiritual connection towards nature. When Aerith was just 28 days old, Professor Hojo who is the head of the Science Research Division of Shinra Electronic Power Company and the mastermind of SOLDIER and Project Jenova, tracked down Gast Faremis, killed him, and captured the mother and newly born Aerith, the two then became subjects to countless experiments as they researched and tried to harness the power of a Cetra.

After seven years, the mother and daughter managed to escape Shinra HQ, however, Ifalna was badly wounded and couldn't make it further. The two were only able to make it to the train station of Sector 7 where they found a woman named Elmyra Gainsborough who was waiting for her husband's return from the Wutai War, during Ifalna's last moment, she asked Elmyra to take Aerith and to keep her safe, Elmyra promised Ifalna, took Aerith home with her and decided to stand as the adoptive mother of Aerith.

Aerith grew up alongside Elmyra in the slums of Sector 5, where eventually she was located by Shinra and by Tseng, the leader of Turks. Tseng has known her since she was a child and considers Aerith more than just a friend, instead of capturing her, he tried to persuade her into joining Shinra willingly, but Aerith refused. Luckily, Shinra's resources were depleted at the time during the Wutai War which resulted in postponing the Neo Midgar project where Aerith was primarily needed for. As time passed, her powers grew stronger, she learned more about her heritage, and tried to hide it from the people around her.


Aerith Gainsborough Strengths

Aerith possesses both powerful offensive and support abilities and is effective in both roles due to her high magic stat and weapons. All her weapon abilities add a lot of flexibility for her kit: she can drain MP (a necessity for a magic-user), can conjure a magic shield for protection, and can even summon familiars. By holding down the ps-square-button-final-fantasy-7-remake-wiki-guide button, Aerith delivers a continuous stream of magical attacks. These combo attacks can target multiple enemies over a wide area. As Aerith, you can hold down the ps-triangle-button-final-fantasy-7-remake-wiki-guide button to focus your magical energies and release it to unleash Tempest, a powerful magical attack. The potency of Tempest depends on how much magical energy Aerith has stored up. Depending on the situation, you may want to store small amounts of energy and release spells in low-powered bursts, or bide your time and unleash a particularly devastating blast of magic.

Unique Skill: Tempest

  • Aerith's unique ability Tempest can be charged up to increase damage. Aerith fires out a crystal projectile that stays in place where it lands and explodes, it causes damage to all enemies caught within the blast radius

Aerith's aforementioned high magic stat (the highest in the game) gives her a powerful bulk in spell casting, especially when using the more powerful "-ga" spells, making her unmatched at exploiting elemental weaknesses.

Aerith's flaws lie in her poor strength and vitality attributes (the lowest in the game) and limited mobility, which can cause her to be overpowered by enemies ganking on her. Because of this, she is very dependent on the other characters to protect her. 


Aerith Gainsborough Weapons

Staves are two-handed weapons that are capable of storing magical properties to inflict long-ranged attacks. This weapon is exclusive and can only be used by Aerith Gainsborough. Check our Weapons page for a full list of all the weapons in Final Fantasy VII Remake.


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Aerith Gainsborough Abilities

  • Soul Drain: Unleash an attack that absorbs MP. Absorbs additional MP from staggered enemies.
  • Arcane Ward: Conjure a ward. Attack spells cast within the ward will automatically be cast twice.
  • Sorcerous Storm: Deal magic damage to nearby enemies.
  • Fleeting Familiar: Summon a fairy that attacks your enemies periodically as well as after you use abilities and spells.
  • Ray of Judgement: Fires energy burst that hits multiple times. Raises Stagger bonus.
  • Lustrous Shield: Conjure a magical shield that keeps enemies at bay and stops projectiles.
  • ATB Ward: Summons small area, replenishes some ATB for allies stood inside.


Aerith Gainsborough Limit Breaks


Aerith Gainsborough Notes & Tips

  • Care should be taken when controlling Aerith. Since the game's aggro system favors the controlled character, poor positioning can make Aerith vulnerable to retaliation, as enemies will focus her.
  • Make sure to use Soul Drain often to keep Aerith's mana consistent, especially when enemies are staggered, as it has stronger effects when doing so.
  • Arcane Ward provides Aerith with insane damage/healing potential, as it allows her to cast the same spell twice without consuming extra MP. This is very powerful when exploiting enemies' elemental weaknesses, especially after obtaining the "-ga" spells (Thundaga, Firaga, etc.)
  • You can track how powerful Tempest will be while holding ps-triangle-button-final-fantasy-7-remake-wiki-guide and pay attention to the white outline that will form around the icon. When it makes a full cycle, it means that Tempest is at its highest charge.



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