Fans of the original Final Fantasy 7 get to see beautiful re-renderings of their favorite characters in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, including the game's leading lady, Aeris. Or, is it Aerith? The spelling of this red-clad flower seller's name differs in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but many fans are likely unfamiliar with which is her "true" name - and why it was changed.
Square Enix has made several big changes to Final Fantasy 7 for the remake. The most immediately noticeable is the completely redone graphics, which make the original's look even more outdated than they did already. But there have been more significant changes behind the scenes. Some of the biggest changes come in the form of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's combat differences, including the new ways summons and items work, as well as an action-focused battle system adapted from Final Fantasy 15's. Certain story sequences are being changed, too, including the controversial Final Fantasy 7 cross-dressing and Honey Bee Inn scenes, which appear to have removed the homophobic and transphobic elements in the remake.
The name change for Final Fantasy 7's "flower girl" isn't new for the remake, however. Despite being called Aeris in original North American Final Fantasy 7 releases, her name is officially Aerith, and it's been that way for many years. In her English-language appearances since since Final Fantasy Tactics (which released only shortly after the original Final Fantasy 7), her name has been spelled "Aerith." The "Aeris" spelling has remained in certain re-releases of the original, though, like Final Fantasy 7's Switch port, further adding to the confusion. But Remake is going with the official, "th" spelling.
Arguably, her name has always been Aerith, and its spelling in the original release was a kind of mistake. The difference comes from two interpretations of the English spelling of her Japanese name, pronounced "Earisu." The original Final Fantasy 7 localization team transliterated this to Aeris, but that spelling missed the fact that her name is meant to be a near-anagram of the word "earth." Aerith has a strong connection with Final Fantasy 7's world, after all, so the "th" spelling is more fitting to the creators' original vision of associating her with the planet.
Because the first "episode" of the Final Fantasy 7 remake takes place exclusively in Midgar, Square Enix is adding new Final Fantasy 7 Remake characters and scenes to the game's story. This will apparently help flesh-out the Midgar section of the original to the point where it's the length of an entire RPG of its own. Perhaps that means [spoilers ahead] new Aerith scenes to add even more context to her character's story before she becomes the unfortunate victim of one of gaming's most infamous plot twists [end of spoilers].
Final Fantasy 7 Remake releases for PlayStation 4 on April 10, 2020.