How Popular is Aerith in Japan?

The Final Fantasy series boasts a veritable army of main characters fighting evil (or otherwise) with swords, staves, and fists. From party members to villains, memorable characters are one of the main selling points of the games, which are iconic for their intricate plots and political-magical drama. At the vanguard is Final Fantasy VII, often considered one of the best-rated and most well-known entries in the series. So how does its heroine, Aerith (“Aeris”) Gainsborough, rank in Japan’s character popularity polls?

Turns out – really, really well. Aeris is not only popular – she’s consistently polls among the top Final Fantasy characters.

Check out some polls below!

Official Final Fantasy Character Popularity Poll (October 2012)

In an official 2012 survey (results published early-2013), the most popular female FF characters were:

1. Lightning
2. Aeris
3. Yuna
4. Tifa
5. Celes
6. Terra
7. Serah
8. Garnet / Faris [Tie]
9. Garnet / Faris [tie]
10. Rinoa / Rydia [Tie]
11. Rinoa / Rydia [Tie]

Official Final Fantasy Character Popularity Poll (October 2014)

In October 2014, a second official Final Fantasy character popularity poll was conducted!

Top male characters:
1. Cloud
2. Zidiane
3. Squall
4. Tidus
5. Bartz

Top female characters:
1. Yuna
2. Aeris
3. Celes
4. Terra
5. Lightning

Famitsu Poll (2013)

Meanwhile, in 2013, Famitsu also conducted a popularity poll for the top Final Fantasy heroines!

1. Yuna
2. Terra
3. Aeris
4. Lightning
5. Rinoa

NHK Final Fantasy Character Popularity Poll (December 2019)

The biggest and most reliable survey in more recent years was conducted by Japan’s NHK. This massive survey, taken in late 2019, not only saw another win for Aeris – but she and Cloud are featured on the poll’s banner!

1. Cloud
2. Yuna
3. Aeris
4. Vivi
5. Zidane
6. Emet-SElch
7. Tidus
8. Lightning
9. Tifa
10. Zack
11. Sephiroth
12. Haurchefant
13. Noctis
14. Squall
15. Auron
16. Gilgamesh
17. Terra
18. Kaine
19. Celes
20. Crystal Exarch

Read more: https://nhk.or.jp/anime/ff/ranking/

Nico Nico (2022)

This one is even more recent, but rather less reliable – Wakka of Final Fantasy X scored second place based on joke meme votes. Yuna, who tends to just inch ahead of Aeris in popularity polls as the most popular female Final Fantasy character, mysteriously did not even score in the top ten.

But bot-voting and jokes aside, Aeris still made #6 – so we’ll take it!

1. Emet-Selch
2. Wakka
3. Cloud Strife
4. Tifa Lockhart
5. Zidane Tribal
6. Aeris Gainsborough
7. G’raha Tia
8. Vivi Ornitier
9. Tidus
10. Haurchefant

Read more: https://blog.nicovideo.jp/niconews/182888.html

Netobara Poll

Somewhat less publicized and official, perhaps, but another fun one comes from research site Netobara! They conducted a survey of over 3000 votes and this time, Aeris absolutely dominated.

1. Aeris
2. Rinoa
3. Yuna
4. Tifa
5. Celes
6. Garnet
7. Terra
8. Lenna
9. Rosa
10. Ashe

Conclusion

Aeris is not only beloved in Japan, she’s an absolute queen. Whether or not the polls are segregated by the characters’ gender, she consistently ranks among the top contenders for Most Popular Final Fantasy Character.