I think the worst part is, she doesn't even get any last words or prominent scene before this. she just...dies. Gone before Cloud even caught her. A character's death usually has some sort of goodbye to it, but this was just quick an sudden. no one expected this in the least.

many of you younger guys probably never knew why, but the director's mother passed away while making this game. he decided to show the sudden and sadness that death brings!

I was 9/10 when I played in 97/98 and cried so hard at this scene and even now at 33 the music still gets me teared up

The stab that not only stabbed Aeris, but the player.

Yeah killing her was pretty cold. He only did it because he wanted to destroy Cloud's reality of thinking he was an actual person. Thats icy

Quite possibly the most shocking and saddest scenes in video game history.

This is gonna be a lot worse when the game is remade. The first time was like a paper cut. The remade version will pour salt on the wound.

The way Aerith has been bastardized in our collective memories is a shame. Aerith wasn’t some pure waif. She liked teasing cute boys, roasting people. She was feisty, flirty, witty, even petty at times. She was independent. She was smart enough to realize Cloud wasn’t who he was acting like he was, even if she didn’t know herself. She was her own person. In many ways, she was a very ordinary woman in her 20’s with very ordinary interests. She didn’t really fight well or anything. But she was good. Not Virgin Mary good. Then her death wouldn’t resonate. She had flaws. But she was the type of good that was intuitive towards other people. Was willing to do the right thing. Aerith’s death is significant because she was a fully realized character that was in most regards ordinary but in the most important ways extraordinary. And in many ways, it’s ordinary people with incredible kindness and bravery that manage to ultimately make the difference. Did Aerith want to die? Of course not. She had boys to hit on and hijinks to take part in and girly cocktails to drink! But she knew that she might have to die because she knew that she was the only one who could save the world. Cloud is a great main character. But the hero is Aerith and I think that’s one of the most essential themes. That Cloud’s idea of masculine stoicism and martial prowess can make a difference, but it’s giving a shit that really matters. And Aerith? Aerith gave a shit. That’s a strong female character. Not physically strong, but dynamic. A good but realistic role model. In a modern online discourse where people think being a sort of an ambivalent smug show-off is something that’s cool, in the end it comes down to giving a shit. About ideas, other people, the whole fucking Planet, that ultimately wins out. That’s why Aerith’s death fucks with me man. It’s a life of a cool, realistic person interrupted. It seemed so senseless and cruel when little me first witnessed it. But knowing what ultimately happened, and it was the nice, funny, flower girl that seemed so incredibly ordinary that ultimately turned the tide? Fucks with me. “I’ll be going now. I’ll be back when it’s all over.” :’)

This tragic scene has become so iconic that you'll always know it's coming, but you're still in denial after all these years... and I can't wait to witness it and cry during the HD remake.

That's why, in Kingdom Hearts, I dedicated defeating Sephiroth to Aerith.

I get why they did it differently in Rebirth but god this version hurts so much. Clouds speech breaks me. It’s a shame we didn’t get that in Rebirth

Rebirth fumbled this with the boss rush at the end having the multi verse was bad enough, but then having a sephiroth fight with aerith and cloud wasn’t needed not was safer sephiroth this early.

I have a friend who is playing this for the first time. He knows nothing about the game and always has Aeris in his main party. He has invested alot of time into levelling up her character. I for one can not wait till he gets to this point.

The most iconic death in video game history.

Man rebirth did not do this part justice at all

When I first saw this, I started to cry from "Aeris (or Aerith) will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry......or get angry......." that really did it for me

Aerith: The sky scares me. Zack: Why? Nothing's going to fall from the sky... *years later* *Cloud falls from sky* Cloud: Let's go on an adventure! :D Aerith: ...Okay? *Finds out a giant meteor is falling from the sky* Cloud: Let's go on an adventure... To stop the meteor! :D Aerith: ...Okay? *Sephiroth falls from sky and stabs Aerith* Aerith: I f*cking hate the sky. -.- *dies* Aerith in a nutshell.

The sad thing is that this was one of the first clips of FF7 I saw before even playing the game.

For me, this whole scene is one of the saddest momments in videogame history. - Aerith was a good person, she never harm anyone and even living a hard life, she still remains with a good heart. - When she leaves Cloud to summon the Meteor, she knew she was going to die, she knew that was her last momment with Cloud, at least in the material world. - And even knowing about that, she sacrifices herself to save the world. - Even in her last momments she looks at Cloud and smiles, because even if she knew what is going to happen, Cloud was still there for her. - And then... Sephiroth killed her with a cold heart and still smiles to see Aerith dying. - That was so cruel and evil, it was one of the momments that I knew that Sephiroth needs to be stopped. And after seeing Aerith death, we still have to fight with a boss with her theme in the background. - It was one of the saddest fight bosses that I've ever seen. - But the good thing in all of this is that Aerith is powerful even after her death, and she is always watching over her friends. #FinalFantasy7

In all my years of playing final fantasy....I never knew to appreciate just how beautifully concise this scene is. I've never once since the games conception walked away from this scene wondering if Aerith was dead or not.

I LOVE how Sephiroth holds up his arms at 1:56 like a fucking wrestler. RKO OUTTA NOWHERE

PHOENIX DOWN GODDAMN IT!!!

2:26 my reaction after seeing the trainwreck that was FFVII Rebirths ending 😵‍💫.

I remember when I was 10 in 97' and watched my brother play the game the whole way. when I watched this seen I was sick to my stomach and couldn't sleep that night. amazing what the director of this game accomplished with the soundtrack and story giving you such a emotional experience

This scene is going to be remade...which means... *SPOILER ALERT!*

They really took a heartbroken moment that also happens to be the most iconic twist in the history of gaming from one of the most iconic games of all time and made it into a Marvel spectacle wirh Multiverse plot and Kingdom Hearts contrived presentation. Well, at least, the classic will be forever remembered.

it's 2016... and this still makes me cry....

I was five years old when this happened and I can honestly say I’m not over it.

Gotta love what Cid yells at Cloud: "Dumb "#¤%5& !" lol

So......... who's here after seeing rebirth's ending?

I was 11 when I was playing FF7 for the first time. I got really too emotionally attached to the game but more'so towards Aeris. Needless to say when she dies and that song started playing, I lost my shit. This terrible dread feeling enveloped me, I was depressed for at least a few weeks. It's funny thinking about how attached I was to a damn video game character. Pretty embarrassing, but true. Kudos to Square for the engrossing storyline that can make kids or even grown ass adults bawl like a baby.

Ugh, idk, there's just something about how this played out back in 1997 that just couldnt be captured today like in Rebirth. I understand they tried to fool us, but the stillness when Sephiroth stabs her, the slow moving White Materia to the water, the powerful music playing, Cloud's speech... i cant watch this without crying my eyes out. I was sad in Rebirth, but it definitely didnt even hit a 10th as hard as it did here.

i will remember this scene for the rest of my life its the first time real sadness struck me in a game i remeber i put my controler down and thought this isnt hapening a truly touching scene that is burned in my mind for eternity

He can kill random flowergirls and put on gloves at the same time.

I remember watching my brother play this game when I was little and I cried so hard because I LOVED Aeris. I can NEVER watch this without getting choked up.

My heart still sank after seeing this again 20+ years later

show of hands, how many of you men cried when the sword went through? i was deathly sick playing this, so that's my excuse. weakened manly system

Never do you get such an epic mixture of raw emotions from any other game.

Gotta love how Vincent walks on top of Aeris's dead body, looks at Cloud, then walks away.

Will this scene have blood in the remake? We shall see.

Is it normal to feel thst this scene is way more sad than the rebirth? In the rebirth... I can't feel Cloud's sadness, then we see Aerith both alive and dead. Like how am I suppose to feel the pain knowing somewhere else Aerith lives?

The most memorable scene I ever watched

i like how they continued to play the theme through the battle. Very impactful.

"What about MY pain? My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry, my eyes are BURNING!!!" 😭 😭 😭

The remake team really looked at this absolutely tragic and concise death scene and thought ''you know what this needs? horrible ADHD camera direction, rick and morty universe trolling, Marvel quips, AU fanfiction, Kingdom hearts boss fight gauntlet, characters not reacting like actual humans to move the plot and Hollywood corny scenes''.

just imagine the voice acting and cloud being shown shedding tears in the remake

Ya it’s definitely ruined in rebirth they moved on with in minutes did not cry was confused why this didn’t hit me at all.

Thumbs up if you cried everytime watching this...

So, looks like this game will be remade, especially this scene....Oh dear god. Men, bring the buckets to our soldiers, for we are expecting a flood

1:32 This sound. This sound kills me. I will never forget this moment for as long as I live

I have been searching ever since this game for something that even came close to this level of sadness and emotion in anything, be it movies, books, series, anything at all. I have found nothing that can begin to compare, and I am starting to think I never will, this is simply one of the ultimate emotional moments of cultural history, damn you ff7 for being as close to perfection as rpg's will ever get (in everything but graphics)

The fact that you gotta fight JENOVA with the fucking music playing, too.. jesus christ, this was too much for me in 1997 at, like 8 years old...

Back when saving the girl was a common thing in games, this shocked the masses.

The original is way better than the remake version

Sephiroth's smirk after killing Aerith has to be the most badass moment in gaming.

I just came here after seeing the Rebirth ending.

Cloud catches Aerith as she falls, and cradles her broken body to him, murmuring to himself that this can't be real. Sephiroth, ignorant to the depth of Cloud's pain, tells him that Aerith will soon be part of the Lifestream before going on about his own plans for the future. Still grieving, Cloud cuts his speech off and tells him to "shut up", and that the cycle of nature and Sephiroth's stupid plan don't mean a damn thing because Aerith is gone. The way his shoulders move and his speech on how his eyes are burning heavily imply that he's crying. Even more heart wrenching is when he says "What about my pain?", because it makes it clear that at that point, Cloud cannot focus on anything - not the impending doom of the planet, not even the fact that his archenemy is standing right there - but his grief over Aeris/Aerith's death.

Cried as a kid and still cry now as a grown ass man, for me this game iwill always be unsurpassable.

THE FEELS LIVE ON FOREVER!

*This was the first major death of my childhood* 😞 I watched my brother play thru this game when I was 7 (in year 2000) And how great was the soundtrack? This whole game is a masterpiece.

The Lannisters send their regards.

You guys didn't cry because she got stabbed it's the music that hits you.

Even knowing this, she's always in my party! Easily my favorite character in the game.

whos' here after seeing the scene ruined in rebirth?

Play Rebirth up to Chapter 13 and then switch to OG. Now that's a perfect remake :)

After so many times I have seen this scene... The music setting in at 1:33 gives me goosebumps and tears to my eyes every single time

It's incredible how much I can relate to Cloud Strife even though it's a fictitious character. Hollywood, please play this game.

After 14 years it still never gets any easier!

I remember when I played this for the first time. About 10 years ago and this moment was so shocking that I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe it.

for me it hurt more after the day before her death, she confesed like she want to be more than friends, that she wanted to meet Cloud more, like she was in love of Cloud but she will never be with Cloud...so sad

I’m not prepared to see this in the remake! That jewel hitting with the music gets me every time.

Well - this is more emotional still after decades of time than that pile of steaming content FFVII Rebirth called an ending. Thank you for leaving this up - what a poignant moment in video game history. They had a chance to top it and they failed miserably with this new convoluted story through Remake and Rebirth.

My take on the scene starting at 3:28: The way that the camera angle is set up implies that you, as the viewer, are some kind of omnipresent force watching the events unfold. You, like the characters, are basically helpless and can only watch. Even though you can see all the reactions from all the characters, there's no dialogue (not just voices, text) to be seen/heard. This shows the emotional disconnect (and sort of irony) between the characters and the player; you can see everything happening and how all the characters react (and you are the ones that control them), but you cant perfectly see their emotions. Rather, you can only see how they choose to express how they feel about Aeris. Tifa and Yuffie are incredibly distraught, looking for comfort in Cloud/running away; Barret and Cid, the more "tough" characters, act less emotional, but still show it; Cid is distraught and leaves (he's already been destroyed by his dream of going into space being shut down, so he doesn't have much emotion left), and Barret braces Cloud, as if he's saying that he knows the struggle he's going through (as he's been there before too). At first glance Vincent seems like he doesn't care, but he does something important; he looks at Aeris, then looks at Cloud, as if he is trying to show that even though he looks cold, he's been in the same position before. The music is the icing on the cake; as the only form of sound in the whole scene, it does a job of reminding you how important Aeris is/was to them and fills in the 'gap' that words could not fill. It's a really beautiful scene, and if there's ONE scene I want to be remade exactly shot-for-shot, it's this one. Also love how the guy was playing on an old CRT tv; gives it that "old antique" feel that couldn't be replicated with the Steam version or something.

The fucking music man. I can’t stop crying

At least she's with Zack now...

3:02 wow that escalated quickly

Nomura screwed this moment in Rebirth. This one just works for me.

This moment destroyed me as a child.

This death hit harder in my most recent playthrough. Recently my friend passed away and we only went on one date before she died the next day. So going on that date with Aerith then watching her die 2 hours later just hit close to home

I'm here after Rebirth, why didn't they just stick to the way it was done before? They removed all the dialogue and Cloud doesn't even seem sad, why

Shut Up Kylo Ren.... The dark side of the force and your stupid plan don't mean a thing! Han Solo is gone. Han will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry.................. or get angry! What about us?! What are WE supposed to do?! What about my pain?! My fingers are tingling... my mouth is dry..... my eyes are burning!!!!!!!!

I just know I’m going to cry so much more in the remake this one just tore my heart apart 😭

I still remember where I was and what I was doing when Aeris died. I was in front of the TV playing my PSone.

I remember playing this on a friend's PSX, and when I got to this part he walked out of the room.

Thank You, Gaming in the Clinton Years, for spoiling this scene for me 14 years ago.

7 seconds from the moment we see Sephiroth to the moment Aerith gets impaled....

Who else gets the chills when the holy materia bounces and you know the saddest song in gaming history is about to begin, all the emotions and nostalgia hit home all of a sudden, like you've been missing something for years.

I was 13. It wasn't my game, but my brother's. I loved watching him play it. I remember I wasn't so much sad as I was... in awe. I was in awe that video games had come to the point where they could convey beauty and emotion.

One of the most iconic moments in gaming history ruined.... Thanks Tetsuya Nomuron, Thanks square Enix.... I fucking hate it

Came here to say the ending in rebirth was not as impactfull as this was, but it was equally good because we see it happen in clouds pov. We are as confused as him and expefiencing his cope through the pain. only reason I like og more is cause it impacted my childhood.

I like this video because the music ties in better when the battle occurs, when the screen goes blurry the music is just in the right place.

1:09 Always gives me chills. The way she initially feels weakened by a sudden force only to widen her eyes and notice a massive sword impaling her is such a scary attention to detail

Sephiroth down air

This is the most emotional death scene ever in a video game.

I don't know how I always end up back at this video. Ever since I found out about youtube in 07-08ish this damn video has been the same one that any search goes too lol.

Im going to burst into tears when this is remade..... this scene already made me cry, its going to make me cry even more

I love how there is no battle theme. Just the sad Aerith theme. Nobuo Uematsu said in an interview that he wanted to resonate what the player should be feeling in every area. Here there is no action theme for the battle, no creepy or scary theme for Jenova. Just sadness for Aerith...

I've never played a final fantasy game in my life and never understood what the hype was about. Yet in less than 6 minutes i was crying. An 18 year old man reduced to tears over a group of characters i don't even know. Damn it, i will have to do so much to feel manly again.

I'm really addicted to your intro for some reason XD

When her theme hit.. damn. It felt like it pierced your heart.