Aeris Gainsborough (originally Aerith Gainsbourg in Tetsuya Nomura's art), is a major character from the video game Final Fantasy VII, and one of the main playable characters. A flower girl from the Midgar slums, she asks Cloud Strife to be her bodyguard after a run-in with the Turks. She fights with a metal quarterstaff; however, her physical attacks are relatively weak, and she is better utilized as a mage. Her limit breaks usually heal or protect the party.

Aeris is the last known remaining Cetra, or Ancient, after the death of her mother Ilfalna. Ilfalna was captured and experimented on by Shin-Ra forces; however, a brilliant Shin-Ra scientist named Professor Gast fell in love with her, and together they escaped. Shortly after Aeris' birth, Shin-Ra soldiers led by Hojo tracked them down in Icicle Town and killed Gast. Ilfalna managed to escape with Aeris to Midgar, but died shortly after reaching the city. Aeris was then adopted by a lonely woman named Elmyra Gainsborough.

The most infamous moment in Final Fantasy VII; the death of Aeris.

Aeris is killed by Sephiroth, who impales her while she is attempting to summon "Holy" _ a mysterious force that protects the Planet _ by using her White Materia. It is eventually revealed that she did successfully summon Holy. According to one interpretation, it is Holy that prevents the Meteor summoned by Sephiroth from destroying the Planet. However, the game's ending scene is highly ambiguous, and certain lines of dialogue can be taken to mean that Holy was actually helping Meteor to destroy humanity, as was suggested as a possibility earlier in the game. One popular interpretation holds that it was only Aeris' prayer just prior to her death that caused the Lifestream to stop Holy from completely destroying humanity. Yet another theory says that humans were, in fact, simply wiped out by Holy at the end of the game.

Aeris is one of the most beloved characters in Final Fantasy fandom. Her death was unexpected and shocking to most players when the game first came out, and unfounded rumors that she can be, or was originally supposed to be, resurrected persist. Aeris and Cloud appeared to have a growing attraction to one another, and the question of whether Aeris or Tifa Lockheart was Cloud's true love is a source of sometimes surprisingly bitter controversy among fans.

Aeris makes an appearance in both Final Fantasy Tactics and Kingdom Hearts (as Aerith). In the latter she is voiced by Mandy Moore {U.S.} & Maaya Sakamoto (Japan). She is also present in the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (also voiced by Maaya Sakamoto in the Japanese version), though she appears as Cloud's 'guardian angel' in a matter of subconscious & in flashbacks. While her name was changed in the US version of Final Fantasy VII to Aeris, her name was officially changed back to Aerith after her cameo in Kingdom Hearts.