Ever Crisis Beta Busts a Few Anti-Clerith Myths

Excuse the incendiary topic – most of these “myths” are so absurd, no normal fan will ever have even considered them, regardless of who they personally ship Cloud with (if anyone). Even so, some of these silly claims have circulated around the fandom as of late. Ever Crisis, which released its beta in early July, knocked these on their backs.

Myth: Cloud Never Agreed to the Date with Aerith

Aerith: Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You CAN do anything, right?
Cloud: Yeah, that’s right.
Aerith: Okay, then get me out of here. Take me home.
Cloud: Okay… But it’ll cost you.
Aerith: Okay then, let’s see… How about if I go out with you once?
Cloud: *nods* ..Sure, fine.

In the original game, the dialogue is similar, but Cloud does not give a verbal reply. Ever Crisis actually added Cloud’s verbal agreement of “Sure, fine” and choreographed him clearly nodding his head. (In the original game, Cloud does not, but then jumps back shyly and rubs his nose in embarrassment without saying anything.)

That Ever Crisis went out of its way to ensure fans understood that Cloud absolutely agrees to Aerith’s offer of a date certainly busts the Cloti head-canon that Cloud never agreed and Aerith just pushed herself on him.

Myth: When Cloud Dreamed About his Mom, Claudia Was Recommending He Date Tifa

This one is a weird one, but there’s a popular Cloti theory that, when Cloud falls asleep at Aerith and Elmyra’s house and dreams of his mother recommending him a girlfriend, the woman his mother is describing is actually Tifa – not Aerith.

In the English version of both Ever Crisis and the original game, Cloud’s mom Claudia recommends he date an “older girl.” Cloud is 21 years old, and Aeris is 22 years old – while Tifa is only 20. The phrase used by Claudia is “ちょっとお姉さん” (chotto oneesan) – that is, literally, “someone a bit older sister.” In Japanese, “older sister” is frequently used as a cute personality description – Claudia is not literally recommending he commit incest. An “older sister” type woman is typically older than you, but Cloti fans have argued the term can also refer to maturity, and thus argue that Tifa is more mature than Aeris.

That conversation aside, it’s really not a matter of debate. Claudia would never call their younger neighbor girl an お姉さん-type, and her subsequent description of Cloud’s “perfect girlfriend” is グイグイ引っ張っていく (someone who leads you around without hesitation – someone a bit pushy who will pull Cloud out of his shell.) There’s no valid debate that this refers to anyone except for Aerith – because not only is it an accurate description of Aerith’s personality, not Tifa’s, these words are even used to describe Aerith verbatim in her official profiles.

But if that’s not enough to convince you, Ever Crisis did something kind of curious: it changed Claudia’s Japanese line. Now, instead of telling Cloud he should date an お姉さん (oneesan), she tells him he should date a 年上 (toshi-ue) person – which means older.

Compare the two:

Original Game Japanese: ちょっとお姉さんであんたをグイグイ引っ張っていく:
Direct translation: “A bit of an older sister-type you leads you around without hesitation”

Ever Crisis Japanese: ちょっと年上であんたをグイグイ引っ張っていく:
Direct translation: “Someone a bit older than you who will lead you around without hesitation”

Since Tifa is absolutely younger, not older, than Cloud – and Claudia would know that – there is even less forced-ambiguity about the matter. The dream refers to Aerith, not Tifa.

Myth: Aerith’s relationship with Zack has been fully retconned to be “serious”

Ever Crisis preserves the original game dialogue where Aerith says she and Zack were not serious. The English version of Ever Crisis keeps the somewhat erroneous 1997 translation, where Aeris calls Zack her first “boyfriend” but then says they were not serious. In Japanese, Aerith actually calls Zack “the first guy I ever liked” and, when Cloud asks if they were dating, denies that they ever did.

Either way, there’s no retcon here. Like the original story, Aerith says she and Zack were not a serious couple (if they were even “officially” in a girlfriend/boyfriend relationship at all.)

Aerith’s “Canon Dress” is the Dark Pink Option, Not the Red Dress

Bear with me for this absolute goofiness! Another anti-Clerith myth claims that in Final Fantasy VII Remake, Aerith’s “true route” dress option in Wallmarket is, in fact, her second-best dress: the dark pink option. The rationale for this claim seems to be that Aerith “enjoys” wearing that dress the most. When she appears before Cloud, she implies she picked it out herself, and seems to be the most comfortable wearing it.

Of course, the real basis for this myth is the attempt to build distance away from Aerith’s red dress reveal scene, which is an extremely romantic moment where Aerith walks toward a slack-jawed Cloud amid fireworks, and Cloud stammers and catches his breath. It’s perhaps the most overtly romantic moment in the game. No wonder Cloti fans don’t like it.

But while Aerith (just like Tifa and Cloud) does have three dress options, her red dress is, without a doubt, the intended option. It’s her best dress, and her single dress in the original game is indeed the red dress.

Ever Crisis omits the multiple dress options and just portrays Aerith in her red dress, hopefully ending a silly debate.

Myth: Cloud Giving the Flower to Tifa is “Canon”

It’s true that Final Fantasy Remake eliminated all of the romance dialogue choices in the Midgar section of the original game (minus the scene where Cloud chooses which girl, Aerith or Tifa, to wake up first in the sewers.) Because Cloud’s “date” – the Chapter 14 resolution scene – no longer uses Cloud’s dialogue choices, but rather the amount of sidequests he fulfills, there’s no facade of the original choice left: Cloud will indeed give Tifa the flower, just as he will deny Tifa is anything special to him to Aerith.

But this doesn’t mean the original game was overwritten. In Ever Crisis, the original dialogue options are indeed preserved, and Cloud absolutely can give the flower to Marlene instead of Tifa.