FAQs – Earth & Sky: A Cloud x Aeris Love Story

Here’s some frequently asked questions about Cloud, Aerith/Aeris, and their relationship!

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Does Final Fantasy VII’s love triangle between Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa have a “canon” route?

While there is evidence of Cloud having feelings for one or both girls, the answer to whether or not there is a “canon route” is no. The developers and lead writers have made it clear that they want fans to interpret the story for themselves. It’s up to players if Cloud loves Aeris, Tifa, both, or neither. Read more here.

It is my personal stance that there is ample evidence that Cloud and Aeris were in love. However, given that Aeris passes away in the story, the question of whether or not Cloud will enter a romantic relationship with Tifa is open to interpretation.

Is there any evidence that Cloud loves Aeris?

Yes! Take a look at this post compiling various confirmations that Cloud loves Aeris.

Did Aeris ever know the “real” Cloud?

Yes, she did. Official materials have stated that Aeris was able to discern Cloud’s true self due to her Cetra powers.

Furthermore, Aeris continues to be an entity watching over Cloud in the Lifestream even after her death, so is aware of Cloud’s self-identity and character growth.

Reads more on this interesting topic here.

Did Aeris only love Cloud because he reminded her of Zack?

No. According to official sources, Aeriss was initially curious about Cloud because he reminded her of Zack, but came to love Cloud’s “true self.”

It’s also worth being clear about the fact that Cloud never presents himself as Zack, never emulates Zack’s personality, and never acts in accordance to Zack’s memories. Cloud is always “Cloud” – but he is acting out a cooler, more accomplished and confident version of himself. Zack, who is characterizated as a friendly, extroverted, flirtatious, and heroic man is far different from Cloud even at the beginning of the game, who is self-centered, introverted, awkward around girls, and cool. Cloud’s iconic line of “Not interested” is leagues away from Zack.

Thus, when Aeris is reminded of Zack, she is perhaps referring to the Buster Sword, the fact that Cloud purports to also be a First Class SOLDIER, some mannerisms that Cloud is mimicking, and perhaps his familiar fighting style. Cloud is not LARPing Zack at any point in Final Fantasy VII except for his version of the Nibelheim incident.

Did Cloud only love Aeris because he absorbed Zack’s identity?

No. There is no evidence that Cloud has Zack’s identity, personality, or feelings.

Cloud inserts himself into Zack’s role for the events of Nibelheim, and uses Zack as a basis for his delusion that he was the one to become a First Class SOLDIER, while writing Zack entirely out of the narrative. However, Cloud’s personality and memories are always his own. He has no recognition of Aeris, or Zack’s parents when he meets them in Gongaga. No materials state that Cloud’s romantic interest in Aeris is based on any kind of supernatural absorption of Zack’s past romantic history with her.

Do Cloud and Tifa get together after Final Fantasy VII?

No. There is no canon source stating that Cloud and Tifa are officially a couple after Final Fantasy VII. In fact, devs have suggested the opposite – that Cloud and Tifa don’t work out as a pairing. Nomura has denied that they are canon, suggesting that he prefers fans to come to their own conclusions about who he loves.

While Cloud and Tifa live together in Advent Children, in fact, they canonically have separate bedrooms. Additionally, Barret lived with them, too, until he left for a temporary (albeit long) journey – and it’s suggested in Dirge of Cerberus that he has indeed returned home to live with Marlene. Additionally, another adult, Shelke, joins the family post-Dirge.

But doesn’t Tifa wear Cloud’s ring – Suggesting they are married?

NO. The “cloudy wolf” ring – a silver ring with a wolf emblem – is worn by three people: Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, and Denzel. That’s right – Cloud, Tifa, and Barret all once had the same ring of the wolf that represents regrets and a sense of sin (the opposite of romantic.) Cloud gave his ring to Denzel, the child he believes Aeris brought to him. Tifa wears hers, and so does Barret.

Did Cloud and Tifa have sex under the Highwind?

Not canonically, no! This myth comes from an interview where the creators joked about how Katou – a minor writer who was brought in late-development to write a few Tifa-related scenes, including the Highwind scene – first proposed a suggestive scene where Cloud and Tifa bashfully exit the Highwind’s chocobo stable. This scene was rejected. Ultimanias have only suggested the pair talk and sleep, regardless of affection.

Of course, fans are free to interpret anything they like between the lines. However, there is no canon evidence suggesting they had sex. Read more about this topic here.

Isn’t Aeris’s true love Zack?

No. In Nojima’s novel “On the Way to a Smile,” a chapter on Aeris in the Lifestream confirms that Cloud is the one she loves. In this novel, she doesn’t even mention Zack once, despite him ostensibly also being in the Lifestream with her. Another official novella, “Maiden Who Travels the Planet,” features Aeris rejecting Zack in the Lifestream and confirming her love for Cloud.

To reiterate: Aeris is only canonically confirmed to be in love with Cloud in the present-day. Zack is referred to as her “first love” – a term that implicitly suggests a second love.

Doesn’t Advent Children show Aeris and Zack together as a couple in the Lifestream?

No. Advent Children shows Aeris and Zack standing together in the same shot, both benevolent spirits trying to ease Cloud’s guilt. At no point are they portrayed as a couple, in fact, there’s only one brief conversation at the end that seems to suggest they acknowledge one another (the scene where Aeris send Cloud’s soul back to the land of the living.)

Not to mention, Final Fantasy VII doesn’t have an afterlife, per se – it has spirits that decompose into the Lifestream. Aeris and Zack cannot “get together” in some kind of “heaven” because heaven does not exist in the series. Being mutually dead is not a basis for a relationship.

And finally, we know they aren’t together because in Nojima’s Advent Children novel, Aeris confirms her love for Cloud – and doesn’t mention Zack once.

Do you consider “Maiden Who Travels the Planet” and “Dismantled” Canon?

These works have been controversial within the Final Fantasy VII fandom – most likely for one sole reason: they depict Aeris as undeniably in love with Cloud, spell out that she loves Cloud more than Zack, and suggest Cloud shares her feelings.

What are they? For one, Dismantled is just an official guidebook like the Ultimania series. In fact, they are both written by Studio Benstuff – a third party organization that specifically writes game guides. Dismantled was the first “Ultimania” – before they were called Ultimanias. “Maiden Who Travels the Planet” is included in the Ultimania Omega.

Maiden Who Travels the Planet (星を巡る乙女) is a short story penned by Benny Matsuyama, a Studio Bentstuff writer. Benny also wrote the “diary entries” in the Story section of Dismantled. The reason they are considered contentious, therefore, is that they are creative works not written by FF7’s own development team.

But ultimately, they were approved and greenlit for publishing by Square – and I don’t believe Square would want to put their name on any work, creative or otherwise, that grossly betrayed their own vision of the game and characters. It’s also worth noting that Benny’s creative works aren’t the only Studio Bentstuff writing in the guidebooks – they are filled with interpretations and prose that their staff, not Square Enix staff, wrote.

So either we accept the guidebooks as “canon” or don’t, but picking and choosing is rather insincere.

For me, personally, I think we need to take “canon” with a grain of salt – Square Enix doesn’t care about canon the way Western fandom expects that they should. Their works contradict, retcon, un-retcon, and overwrite one another all the time. We should approach with the mindset of what’s official, not one linear canon. Dismantled and Maiden are official, like them or not.

Why do you call her “Aeris”? Isn’t her name Aerith?

The character’s name is now officially Aerith. Her name directly comes from the word “earth” – which is obvious symbolism. In Japanese, her name is spelled エアリス – “E-a-ri-su” – with the “su” substituting for the “th” sound, which Japanese lacks. However, in 1997, Square had not settled on how “Earisu” ought to be transliterated into English. This was a period when all the character names were facing various possible transliterations in Japanese materials. Barret’s name was “Bullet” or “Ballet”, Cloud battled with the possibility of “Claud,” and our flowergirl saw variations such as “Ealis” in some mid-90’s publications.

Though initially, the team translating Final Fantasy VII transliterated エアリス as “Aerith” – a name still present in the game’s source code – the English translation team made the choice to romanize her name as “Aeris,” patching over “Aerith” in the game’s naming screen. (If you skip Aeris’s naming screen, her name will still default to Aerith.) They may have made this intentional choice for several reasons. One, perhaps they interpreted the name “Aeris” as having a more appropriate meaning. Alternatively, they could have just thought it sounded better. In Final Fantasy VI, the green-haired protagonist’s name in Japanese is “Tina,” but translators renamed her “Terra” to give a more exotic, interesting vibe to Western audiences.

Thus, in Final Fantasy VII, her name is officially Aeris. This is true in all English and European editions of the game. To be clear, in no version of the game is her name “Aerith.” Correct or not, this is simply what her name is in the game. In every re-release of Final Fantasy VII, be it for Switch, Steam, or Playstation 4, her name continues to be Aeris.

Her name stayed Aeris for the first release of Final Fantasy Tactics. By Kingdom Hearts, in the early 2000s, the Square team took the first stab at rebranding her as “Aerith” – but this was so uncertain that the English dubbing team did not record any lines referring to the character by name, as they were uncertain which variation of her name they would end up using. After Kingdom Hearts, her name has remained “Aerith” – except in Final Fantasy VII itself.

My usage of “Aeris” isn’t meant to be a political statement. Final Fantasy VII is simply my favorite game, one which I’ve replayed almost yearly for twenty-plus years. The character’s name being Aeris is engraved in my head as a result. It’s not just a matter of preference. To me, I see her as Aeris so often that thinking of her as “Aerith” is a task!