Cloud and Aerith’s Importance to the FFVII Story: Their Fates Intertwined
So I’m seeing some people gloating about Tifa getting a lot of time in the trailers. The Tifa fans are free to feel however they want. But I wanted to give my thoughts on this since a lot of people don’t understand how this works.
We’re only seeing a lot of Tifa (and Jessie, let’s not ignore how much Jessie we’ve seen) content in the trailers because Square Enix knows that all of the Cloud and Tifa scenes are not important to the overall story. They’re not spoilers. So, of course, they’re forced to show a bunch of Jessie and Tifa content and not Aerith.
So let’s examine, shall we?
First, let’s establish that if something can be CUT from the game, then it is in fact not crucial for the story and therefore shouldn’t be considered a “spoiler” (in terms of plot).
So for a moment, pretend to be a movie editor here. Our production said we have to cut the scenes that are not necessary for the audience to understand the crucial parts of the story.
Tifa’s + Marlene scene. What does it add to the overall plot? It introduces us to Marlene/Tifa. So it’s partially important. Can’t be cut.
The hand-reach/save. You can argue that it’s development for Cloud and Tifa’s friendship, but it is not crucial to the story. It adds nothing to the lore for Sephiroth or Cloud’s dynamic. It adds nothing to the fight for the Planet. It can be cut and the story would move along normally.
“ I feel trapped “. You can argue that it’s development for Cloud and Tifa’s friendship, but it is not crucial to the story. The plot would continue as it does regardless of the audience seeing this scene. It can be cut.
Flower exchange. You can argue that it’s development for Cloud and Tifa’s friendship, but it adds nothing to the story other than being nice to Tifa. Therefore, it is not crucial to the story. It can be cut.
Apartment scene. You can argue that it’s development for Cloud and Tifa’s friendship, but it’s more of an “extra” piece of information to enrichen a friendship but it does not add anything to Cloud/Sephiroth/Planet/or Shinra plot. It can be cut.
* Childhood promise. Important, because it shows the audience why Cloud joined SOLDIER–i.e., to be a hero like Sephiroth. Sephiroth is the antagonist. Scene must stay. This scene is presented in the trailers as being all about Sephiroth, not about some oath Tifa strong-arms Cloud into.
* Cloud falling from the reactor bridge. The introduction to the (or one of the) heroine(s). From here this is what is considered the INCITING INCIDENT in writing. This is where the crucial plot elements are finally introduced (I.e., Jenova, Cetra, Shinra, etc). Scene must stay.
If you don’t know what “inciting incident” means; the inciting incident is a particular moment in a story when an event thrusts the protagonist into the MAIN action of the story.
Cloud meeting Aerith is the inciting incident because it introduces Shinra fully, it introduces the Cetra, it introduces Sephiroth fully, and it reveals TWO threats that the characters spend the rest of the game trying to solve.
So again, go over all of the Cloud/Tifa scenes that we’ve seen in trailers. What do they add to the CORE storyline?
Are all of these scenes Tifa? Do they show Cloud and Tifa? Yes and yes. Big deal for those that ship Cloud and Tifa, but for normie fans and for newcomers, when they see those scenes they’re walking away with zero knowledge about what this game is really even about, i.e., Sephiroth/the Planet’s threat/Cetra.
The only two that are necessary for the CORE plot (as in, it cannot be “cut”) is the childhood promise (it introduces Sephiroth) and Cloud falling from the bridge (inciting incident).
The Cloud and Tifa cutscenes are filler content. Square Enix literally has no choice but to show nothing but Jessie and Tifa content because they can do so freely without actually spoiling the crucial parts of the story.
Aerith’s introduction scene is also where the Watchmen of Fate first appear. These ghostly figures play a massive role in the remake. When the June trailer was revealed, literally everyone was talking about what these “dementors” were and what role they had in the story. That goes to show just how crucial Aerith’s introduction is.
Tifa’s reveal was literally her at the bar, introducing Marlene (a very minor character) and saying that she’s in a “pinch”. This reveal trailer cutscene with Tifa had zero elements from the core storyline. People could watch that moment and walk away with no clues as to what FF7R is even about. This is why we’re seeing the same few Tifa scenes stretched out over and over again. Not just because she’s a popular character, but because the developers can show her cutscenes without spoiling anything major.
You can’t do that with the Cloud and Aerith moments.
Cloud’s first encounter with Aerith introduced the heroine and introduced Watchmen of Fate. Can’t but cut.
Aerith meeting Cloud again in the church is, as I said earlier, the INCITING INCIDENT. This is where all the subplots start to come together to thrust the protagonist into the MAIN action of the story. From here, Cloud’s fight against Shinra gets personal, Sephiroth is “revealed”, the Cetra are revealed, Shinra’s purpose is revealed. Everything is propelled forward BY the church reunion between Cloud and Aerith.
Hence why their meeting is CRUCIAL to the FFVII storyline. Hence why we’re only literally seeing 2-3 seconds worth of content for Cloud and Aerith at a time (with the longest being their first encounter).
We’re not NOT seeing Cloud and Aerith cutscenes because they’re “not important“ or because they don’t exist. We’re not seeing Cloud and Aerith’s moments because every single second they spend together is going to reveal more and more of the core storyline. Sephiroth. Jenova. Cetra. The Planet’s threat. All of these elements are revealed in Cloud and Aerith scenes.
Do you really think Square Enix is going to spoil their most anticipated game of all time?
In closing, at the end of the day, the CT fandom now only has two scenes left to look forward to (not counting the optional minor (not even romantic) dialogue that happens throughout 7R).
The Clerith fandom, however, has yet to see any of our moments other than the first encounter and the red dress reveal. While CIotis are seeing stuff that was already spoiled for them months in advance, we will be freaking out about all the content for Cloud and Aerith that Square Enix strategically kept secret just to ensure the impact of Clerith is as strong as they intended it to be.
Basically, the cloti scenes will be fizzled out by the time people play 7R, and they will be left with Clerith content as the “lasting” first impression of the story.
That’s the strategy, folks.
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