Aerith was shy, polite, warm hearted, young, beautiful, and had a mysterious background. She was a sweet, pretty woman who had an optimistic attitude towards everything. She is the adopted daughter of Elmyra Gainsborough. It could also be known that she had a liking for Cloud, who first met her in her church, the only place in Midgar where flowers bloom, which she uses to make money as a flowergirl. She was a bit flirty with him at times. She was physically weak, but she has unusual abilities to heal people. She is the daughter of Professor Gast Faremis and the Cetra Ifalna, thus she herself is the last survivor of the anicent Cetra race and was hunted by the ShinRa Electric Company as a result.

The Cetra have the power to "talk" to the planet and sense bad things. As Aerith learned after her death by Sephiroth, she can easily move about the Lifestream with being diffused into it. It was Aerith, with aid from Zack and the AVALANCHE members who died, who managed to use the Lifestream to stop Meteor. Aerith continued to help in not only his fight against the Remnants of Sephiroth, but his own inner demons as well.