This page is, according to the mission statement that once appeared in the main page, "interesting and unusual details, either present in the game as such or discovered by other means". It should be noted that this makes it very much a spoiler zone.
What should go here: Interesting details from the game, big or small, obvious or not. Very persistent rumors. What shouldn't go here: Completely and utterly unsubstatiated rumors believed by nobody. Declaration of details that make you go "duh" when you read them. And, also, glitches and errors for which there is (or should be) a separate page.
World's Most Notorious Video Game Rumor: Aerith's Resurrection
Here we go again - what follows is a discussion of one of the most well-known plot twists in history of video games. Few subjects on our field seem to have generated more words.
A really bland, cold fact: During this game, Aerith dies. Understandably, this was a really big shock to some players, and they refused to believe such things would happen.
Even blander and colder fact: Apart of cheating, there's absolutely no way to resurrect Aerith. Not in the Japanese version, not in the US/Euro PS version, not in the Japanese new version, not in the fixed PC version. In short, in none of the versions. This was the intention of the designers - Aerith dies and stays that way until the end. Hironobu Sakaguchi's mother died and he wanted to put something sad in FF7, specifically as a counterpoint to all of the heroic, necessary sacrifices.
There has been tons and tons and tons of rumors to those effect. There have been countless fake theories on exactly how she could be brought back. The most famous one of these was Ben Lansing's theory (or should we say "troll") which he unsuccessfully tried to shoot down when it became a far too popular a rumor.
There are various reasons why it can easily be confirmed that Aerith indeed cannot be resurrected:
- The designers really wanted this to happen the way it happens in the game. The actual idea was to include a completely unnecessary and non-dramatic death of a major, sympathetic character.
- There's nothing about ways to resurrect Aerith in the game script - you know, the solid, physical file on those game CD-ROMs. The script format (at least for PC version) has been deciphered to the point that dialogue can be extracted. Go check it yourself, with, say, Ficedula's Cosmo.
- There are no further FMVs that point to Aerith or any other alternate ending.
- Everything related to Aerith happens on the first CD and there's no new junk for her in CD2 or CD3. You can get all of her weapons, the ultimate weapon, and the Level 4 limit break manual on the first CD.
In short, over the years, the game has been pulled apart so many times and nobody has found a trace of Aerith on the latter CDs.
Well, actually, there is something on the CDs: There's a few places where Aerith actually appears onscreen, like any other party character at the time, and says something if you put her back to the party by using a cheat progran. Mostly these lines are nothing earth-shattering and could have been as easily dedicated to any of the characters. [1] [2]
Did you notice?
- In Shinra building library, Urban development library has two books titled "Midgar city map", for sectors "0-4" and "5-8". Generally Midgar is described as having eight sectors, but this would indicate there are actually nine sectors. This is either a simple flaw, or it could be easily explained that the "rich" part of the city, over the plate, is the "Sector 0".
- When entering Aerith's church in Midgar in CD2 or later, one can spot Aerith's "ghost". (This is discussed in more detail in the glitch section.)
Culture references
- A poster in Midgar can be seen in the opening movie and some other places. It says "Loveless - My Bloody Valentine". This is a reference to an actual band called My Bloody Valentine and an actual music album Loveless.
Name meanings
(Should list some of the references here; No need to put every character ever here, but major ones might be a good idea. And no kilometric explanations, please.)
- Sephiroth: In Kabbalah, the ten attributes of God through which he projects himself to mortals. for more, see w:Sephiroth (Kabbala)
- Vincent Valentine: Vincent Price, a horror movie actor, and St. Valentine, who died for love.