Aerith and Tifa were originally supposed to be a single character in Final Fantasy VII

In a recent interview a really curious detail about Final Fantasy VII was revealed, that is, Aerith and Tifa were supposed to be a single character. Aerith was created first and had some of Tifa’s character traits. In fact, her personality was initially more similar to her friend’s, but at a certain point the development team decided to create a second character to whom certain characteristics can be attributed to avoid following too well-worn patterns. This is where Tifa was born. The idea was to create two distinct heroines with contrasting personalities.

The two heroines

Aerith’s character design is based on bringing out her clarityusing a pastel color palette and tying her hair back, contrasting her with the darker colored characters in the design, such as Cloud and Barret, who are more morally ambiguous. Having two distinct heroines allowed for different stories to be told, with the characters having unique destinies.

Of course the players appreciated it, given the success achieved by Final Fantasy VII when it was released on PlayStation and PC in the late 90sThe two characters followed the same characterization in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, despite some changes to the story introduced by the new development team.

The first is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, while the second is only available for PlayStation 5. The original Final Fantasy VII is playable on many platforms, including those already mentioned. A third chapter is already in development, which will conclude the huge remake project launched by Square Enix.