No, Cloud and Aerith Don’t Have a Brother-Sister Relationship

It’s a tale as old as love triangles in pop culture media: one side’s superfans will try anything to try to disprove and invalidate the other. Fandom veterans might’ve heard this one before: the ship you like is actually sibling-coded and therefore wrong.

Accusations from Cloud/Tifa fans that Cloud and Aerith “are like brother and sister” aren’t anything new. Let alone that Aeris is a date option and said to be a perfectly compatible marriage candidate to Cloud in the original game. Let alone that Aerith and Cloud go on multiple dates throughout Remake and Rebirth, or that Cloud gawks at her when she walks toward him in a red dress. Let alone that they hold hands, or embrace, or that Aerith pensively asks him not to fall in love with her (and Cloud objects.) Let alone that Cloud can try to book a love hotel for some alone-time with her.

Normal sibling stuff, right?

But if Rebirth‘s Clerith-heavy finale quelled some of the half-hearted dismissals of their romantic dynamic, this past month saw a resurgence of “sibling-coded” claims. On December 18, 2024, Inverse.com published an interview with FF7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi and OG director/Re-trilogy producer Yoshinori Kitase, which explored some of the game’s most emotional (and Aerith-centric) moments. From the Loveless performance to the dream-date in Chapter 14, the interviewer led the game devs through reflections on Rebirth’s more poignant storytelling. But this is where the kerfuffle began.

There are connotations about the multiverse and different timelines, but at its core, the extra scenes are about giving Cloud and Aerith the space to say goodbye to each other, to appreciate the beautiful relationship that has been built between them, and perhaps even ease the guilt Cloud will inevitably feel. In particular, there’s a sequence where Cloud goes on a date with Aerith in an alternate timeline – a sequence that brings a quiet break in between some of the most raucous events of the game.

“There can be many different interpretations of what this scene truly means for each player. But Aerith has always been this sort of sisterly character pulling Cloud along and encouraging him,” Hamaguchi says, “She is feeling what is to come, and understanding her fate. She’s still pushing Cloud along and leading him in this way, and it shows her pure heartedness and inner strength.”

(I feel it deserves to be noted that directly after that answer, Kitase followed up with a simple “Cloud’s thought of deeply by two different women. What a lucky guy.” Hamaguchi and Kitase have as good of a dynamic as anyone you’d find in the game itself.)

~Inverse.com, “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Director Weighs in on Cloud’s Love Triangle” (12/18/2024)

The article itself is a fantastic read, but unfortunately, the headline is horribly misleading. In this interview, at no point did Hamaguchi really weigh in on the love triangle – but this title seems to imply that Hamaguchi heavily rerouted Final Fantasy VII’s love triangle debate by referring to Aerith as ‘sisterly’. The clickbait tactic worked: the piece spread across the internet, spawning a number of spin-off articles on various gaming news websites that the love triangle was over, and that Cloud and Aerith officially had a sibling-type – not a romantic – dynamic.

Clerith fans were delighted with Hamaguchi’s description of Aerith as a “sisterly character pulling Cloud along.” After all, he is directly pulling from a description that Claudia, Cloud’s mom, offers of what she envisions his perfect girlfriend might be like.

Original Japanese	English localization	Literal translation
「あんたにはねぇ……」	“You should have…”	For you…
「ちょっとお姉さんで	“an older girlfriend, one that’ll	A sorta older-sister type
あんたをグイグイ引っ張っていく」	take care of you.”	who will lead you around without hesitation.
「そんな女の子が	“I think that would be the perfect type for you.”	A girl like that would be a perfect match, I think.
ピッタリだと思うんだけどね」

While staying at Aerith’s house in Sector 5, Cloud has a dream of his mother. In this memory, she recommends that he date a ちょっとお姉さんであんたをグイグイ引っ張っていく-type girl. Literally, this means an “older-sister type who will lead you around without hesitation.” This should bring to mind Aerith not only because Cloud is literally sleeping in her house after spending the day hanging out with her, but because she is older than Cloud, and “sister who leads you around” is a perfect match for Aerith’s personality. No, this isn’t my opinion – this exact phrase has been used to describe Aerith a number of times before in official materials.

Thus, Hamaguchi referring to Aerith as a sisterly character who leads Cloud around is par for course, and a nice nod for Clerith fans to a touching scene between mother and son. Read more about Aerith’s connection to Claudia’s description here.

Unfortunately, the Asian nuance of describing a woman as “sisterly” toward a man seems to have been lost in translation: by merit of calling her sisterly, some claimed that Hamaguchi was confirming Aerith’s relationship with Cloud was platonic.

However, Hamaguchi has officially weighed in. Verdict? Surprise, surprise – those who claimed he said Cloud and Aerith were “sibling-coded” completely misinterpreted his words.

On January 23, 2024, Automaton posted an article 『ファイナルファンタジーVII リバース』コミュニティで広まった「クラウドとエアリス間に恋愛関係ありえない」報道について、浜口Dが否定。あくまで関係性はコンテンツで伝える , and an English version titled “Cloud and Aerith are not like brother and sister, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s director speaks out about misinterpretation of his statement”. In an interview, Hamaguchi said the “sibling angle” was a misunderstanding of his words.

[…] In the recent interview with AUTOMATON, Hamaguchi commented that these articles were based on a misunderstanding, stating that “As creators, we don’t talk about characters’ romantic relationships unless it’s through the content.” In other words, everything you need to know about the characters’ interpersonal relationships is told in the games and other official works in the franchise.

Hamaguchi adds that “As creators, we will continue to convey (the relationships between our characters etc.) through our content. For example, no-one will make any official statements about who Cloud likes, who Aerith likes, and so on.”

Hamaguchi also pointed out that these misunderstandings could have resulted from subtle language differences. In the Japanese version, the aforementioned line from Claudia contains the nuance that “For Cloud, an older sister-type wife would be perfect,” but in the English-language version, this line is expressed differently (as quoted above). This might be because the figurative concept of a “wife who is like an older sister” is not so commonplace in North America as it is in Japan. If the concept of “sisterly love” is interpreted literally, it is understandable that Cloud and Aerith’s relationship would get misinterpreted as familial.

However, with Claudia’s idea that an “older sister-like wife would suit Cloud,” she is thinking of the type of girlfriend whom she can entrust with providing reassurance to Cloud. It does not refer to actual brother-sister love. This is ultimately Claudia’s ideal, and does not seem to be a deciding factor in Cloud and Aerith’s relationship.

Basically, the misconception that “Cloud and Aerith’s love is familial, not romantic” seems to have been spread through a combination of language differences and quotes losing context as they got requoted.

Hamaguchi concluded this topic by saying “Again, I would like to convey to the fans that the characters’ relationships are portrayed through content.” The relationships between all characters in the Final Fantasy VII universe, such as Cloud and Aerith’s relationship, are conveyed through content, which includes the games. When considering the relationships between your favorite FF characters, it seems it would be best to enjoy delving into the interpretations given in the games, rather than seeking explicit clarification from the creators.

In order to ensure that the message is heard, Hamaguchi reposted both the Japanese version and the English version of the Automaton article on his Twitter.

In another recent interview with 4Gamer, ［インタビュー］PC版「FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH」がついに配信開始。北瀬Pと浜口Dが語る，リメイク第2弾の魅力とPC版ならではの特徴, Hamaguchi and Kitase discussed the global reach of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and how translation technology enables fans around the world to read and share what they say. However, they note, translation isn’t always perfect.

(Original interview text)
4Gamer：「そんなつもりで言ったんじゃないのに」みたいなこともありませんか？

浜口氏：　いやぁ……。それはあります。とくに翻訳が入ることによって，ニュアンスが変わったりしますからね。　例えばクラウドの母親のセリフで，「あんたにはねぇ……ちょっとお姉さんで あんたをグイグイ引っ張っていく そんな女の子が ぴったりだと思うんだけどね」というものがあります。日本語で要約すると，「クラウドは，積極的なガールフレンドのほうが相性がいいと思う」みたいなニュアンスなんですよね。　ただ，海外版ではそこまで詳しく翻訳されていなかったので，このセリフについて海外のメディアから質問を受けたんです。そのときの私の回答が翻訳されてニュアンスが変わってしまった結果，「クラウドとエアリスの間にあるのは，恋愛感情ではなく姉弟愛である」と解釈する海外のファンがいたんです。

4Gamer：　ああ，そこは日本のゲームやアニメ，各種フィクションの文脈をおさえていないと，なかなか難しそうです。

浜口氏：さらに，この発言について海外のファンの方から，「どういうことなのか，考えを聞かせてください」みたいに，SNSでダイレクトメッセージが送られてきたりして（笑）。

4Gamer：　そこは個人として回答しようがないですよね（笑）。

浜口氏：　はい……。　あらためてお伝えしておきたいのですが，我々クリエイターがゲームの外側で「クラウドはティファが好き」「いや，エアリスが好き」みたいなことを公表することはありません。ゲームの中で表現していることがすべてですから，質問されても回答はできません。ご了承ください。

(Unofficial translation)
4Gamer: Do you ever think, “I didn’t mean it that way”?

Hamaguchi: Well… it does happen. Depending on the translation added, the nuance changes. For example, there is a line from Cloud’s mother where she says, “For you… I think you’d be best suited to a girl who’s a bit of an older sister and who can really lead you forward.” To summarize it in Japanese, the nuance is like, “I think Cloud would be better suited to a proactive girlfriend.” However, the overseas version didn’t translate in detail to that extent, so I was asked about this line by overseas media. My answer at that time was translated and the nuance changed, and as a result, some overseas fans interpreted it as “Cloud and Aerith have a brother-sister sort of love, not a romantic relationship.”

4Gamer: Ah, that seems quite difficult unless you understand the context of Japanese games, anime, and various fiction.

Hamaguchi: Furthermore, I received direct messages on SNS from overseas fans about this statement, saying things like, “What do you mean? Please tell me your thoughts.” (laughs).

4Gamer: There’s no way to answer that as an individual (laughs).

Hamaguchi: Right… I would like to make it clear once again that we creators will never publicly announce things like “Cloud likes Tifa” or “No, he likes Aerith” outside of the game. Since everything is expressed in the game, we cannot answer any questions. Please understand.

There we have it. Hamaguchi’s intention when referring to Aerith as “sisterly” was just to denote an assertive, proactive-type woman – just as Cloud’s mother described in his dream. When reading translations, please always be aware of cultural differences and linguistic limitations that can alter the nuance of the original meaning.

In conclusion, no, Cloud and Aerith do not has a sibling-coded relationship – and hopefully now we can let this ridiculous topic rest.