Originally Posted by
Laddy
Aerith.
Aerith was always the "ill-fated nice girl who dies" character to me. She was a damsel-in-distress who looked pretty and then died because Cloud needed a reason to angst.
It wasn't until my last few playthroughs did I realize how fun she is. She can be flirty. She can be sarcastic. She can be goofy. Hell, she even jokes about how Cloud is her "knight" because she's aware of how unassuming and, dare I say, normal she is. She's not a Virgin Mary stand-in who sacrifices herself to save the world because maternal symbolism. She's a feisty, outgoing, spunky, sometimes boy-crazy and sometimes mischievous young woman who likes to have fun. Her death is tragic not just because she was some nice girl who Cloud liked, but because she was a funny, lively, and courageous chick who just happened to be blessed/cursed with a special destiny and she chose to follow it despite the dangers, not regardless of them. Aerith loved life and living, but she was prepared to die because it was the right thing to do, not because she felt she was supposed to.
Aerith threatened to rip off Don Corneo's balls. She dragged Cloud into dressing like a girl partly because she thought it would be fun. She knew Cloud was not who he said he was. She was ahead of the game when he tried to sneak out. Aerith is a badass and it's saddened to see she has been reduced to the cliché "Broken Bird" trope that robs her of her individuality and personhood.
BTW: Emma Stone would be my pick to play Aerith in a live-action FFVII adaptation, btw. Her looks and attitude are perfect.