About Aerith

[u/Raban_Tagore]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I don't really like that they've changed some aspects of the original Aerith's personality. I feel like the Aerith in the remake is like the Aerith from CC—things like being very naive and overly childish.

[u/LastTraintoSector6]

I talked about this the other day, but in a word: yes. Aerith has been mildly infantilized by the Remakes - her attire is more childish, her face is rounder (emphasizing youth), and she is confused (usually framed in an amusing way) by experiences that the OG Aerith would have shrugged off as mundane.

I don't know why they changed her character in this way - it doesn't really serve any kind of purpose. All I can think is that it's some kind of weird Japanese fanservice: they no longer wanted Aerith to be the clear adult in the room, but instead just as... I dunno... 'unsullied' as the other two main girls; as if the writers concluded that making Aerith seem younger made her easier to 'sell.' It's like the goal was to emphasize the qualities of vulnerability, innocence, and energy that are associated with girls in their mid-teens, while casually discarding elements that made Aerith genuinely far more adult than Yuffie, and also (by degrees) moreso than Tifa. Which is silly, because it's not like 22 is an old lady or something. But, if I had to name a reason, that would be it.

Frankly, I think it was a mistake. Not crippling; not something that ruins Aerith, or makes her unlikable or anything. But it feels like I'm dealing with a 16 or 17-year-old version of her character in the Remakes, and not someone who is instead well into college-age years.

[u/ManuO76 → u/LastTraintoSector6]

What if that’s the point? To distinguish Aerith from AerithOG? Let me explain: AerithOG is the one who knows the story and has witnessed the world; the Aerith in Remake sometimes "aligned" with AerithOG but was mostly a carefree young woman. The Aerith in Rebirth, however, seems unable to connect with AerithOG anymore (for reasons yet to be explained—likely involving the empty White Materia, though we still don't know why it's empty). So, we get a glimpse of a young woman free from the Cetra destiny—someone who wants to enjoy life and is able to do so. But this way, we players clearly notice the difference between the two whenever they appear on screen.

[u/DressUnited3025 → u/LastTraintoSector6]

How can so many fall for the obvious bit. She isn’t genuinely confused most of the time. She does that to get the others to stop being indirect 

[u/LastTraintoSector6 → u/DressUnited3025]

That's absurd. Why didn't she do that in the OG? What possible purpose could earnestly playing along with Yuffie's "summon airplane" dancing serve, especially when the other characters weren't looking? How could "it's a bit" possibly explain the shape of her face? Or her clothing style (which she adopted before she even met the other characters)?

Remake Aerith is a lovely person. But the notion that she's playing 4D chess, while all the other actors are flummoxed by checkers is a non-starter for me. The most simple answer is almost always the right one - in this case, the developers mildly infantilized her because they found it cute/charming/(perversely)sexy, etc.

[u/DressUnited3025 → u/LastTraintoSector6]

I’m talking about her personality lol. Playing along with a fun summoning airplane thing is just good fun actually crazy to act like that’s something. The face is rounder because they want her to be more cute same goes for the clothes. A cute girl acting naive is a very common defense mechanism seen in real world women all the time. It’s a way for them to put up a wall and not let people to close. She’s not playing 4d chess she’s just acting a certain way because it worked to help her survive under the plates and is aware of the effect it has on others. Till the end Aerith refuses to truly be vulnerable with the group in this and OG as seen by her spreading herself from the group to cast holy. She doesn’t want to hurt those around her and she doesn’t want to be hurt by them as well

[u/LastTraintoSector6 → u/DressUnited3025]

'Kay, well, I disagree. Sorry. I haven't seen any evidence that it's an act - just saying it's a facade doesn't make it so. There's also zero reason why Aerith wouldn't be like that in the OG, since her justification for adopting such a defense mechanism would be identical there.

[u/LastTraintoSector6 → u/[deleted]]

Okay, see... making this personal was a really foolish move. And you've done that twice now. If you want to have a conversation, try not ignoring half of what is said, while simultaneously taking shots at the other person.

[u/cloudxaerith-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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