Relationships of the Past - Examining Crisis Core ~

by Alantie

The release of the latest game in the Compilation of FFVII, Crisis Core, has created quite a stir among fans, particularly in regards to the continuing debate about relationships involved in the Love Triangle. Some fans are of the opinion that Crisis Core actually solves the Love Triangle, proclaiming that Crisis Core confirms CloudxTifa and ZackxAerith to be official couples of the Compilation. However, what these fans have forgotten is that Crisis Core is a game that depicts events that took place in the past - before the original game, before Advent Children, and before Dirge of Cerberus. It’s completely illogical to argue that past relationships confirm what that relationship will be in the future.

CloudxTifa fans believe that Crisis Core has made Cloud and Tifa an official couple, disregarding that the game reveals nothing that was not already known. The fact that these events took place in the past means that they cannot override the events of the future.

For example, advocates of the CloudxTifa pairing claim that Cloud shows his affection for Tifa by touching her face during one scene of Crisis Core. When Cloud picks an injured Tifa up in the Nibelheim reactor, he briefly touches her face at that moment. The same gesture was also shown in the unofficial anime Last Order, which Nomura has specified is not part of the Compilation. Obviously, such scenes taken from the original game were expounded on and are now better able to be seen due to the better graphics. Yet, Cloud touching Tifa's face does not change what was already known.

In the original game after stabbing Sephiroth, Cloud returned to the room where Zack and Tifa were to check on them, and he bends over Tifa to see if she's still alive. Crisis Core is merely able to better show this scene with improved graphics. Considering that Cloud lived next door to Tifa while they were children, and that she has just been injured, it’s not surprising that he would show concern for her wellbeing. After all, Cloud isn't heartless. Whether this gesture is meant to be romantic, or whether Cloud does it simply to check and see if she’s still alive, is left up to the interpretation of the player. However, even if it's confirmed that Cloud had a crush on Tifa as a teenager, it doesn't erase the fact that Cloud’s feelings towards her could always change in the future.

A popular argument for ZackxAerith and CloudxTifa fans is that Aerith does not love Cloud and that she has and always will love Zack, who she refers to as her first love in the original game. Many have believed that Zack and Aerith shared a deep relationship and that even after Zack’s disappearance, she continued to love him. This was thought to be what Crisis Core would portray by many CloudxTifa and ZackxAerith supporters. However, what was shown was exactly what Aerith had originally told Cloud about her relationship with Zack in Final Fantasy VII:

Cloud: "You were...serious?"
Aerith: "No. But I liked him for awhile."
Cloud: "I probably knew him. What was his name?"
Aerith: "It doesn't really matter."
~Cloud and Aerith’s conversation at the playground, FFVII

Aerith: "What a shock.... I didn't know Zack was from this town."
Cloud: "You know him?"
Aerith: "Didn't I tell you? He was my first love."
Cloud: "......"
Aerith: "Zack.... SOLDIER First Class. Same as Cloud."
Cloud: "Strange, there aren't that many who make First Class, but I've never heard of him."
Aerith: "That's all right. It's all in the past now. I was just worried because I heard he's been missing."
Cloud: "Missing?"
Aerith: "I think it was 5 years ago. He went out on a job, and never came back."

"He loved women, a real lady's man. He probably found someone else."
~Cloud and Aerith conversation in Gongaga, FFVII

These statements from Aerith are fully backed up by the game Crisis Core and the events that occur. The moments between Zack and Aerith during the game are very light and playful, shared by two young teenagers experiencing romance for the first time. Even the creators and the official merchandise stress that Zack and Aerith's relationship is not serious.

Q: Some parts we didn’t imagine from Aerith’s saying of “he’s my first love” in FF7 are depicted in Crisis Core. There are many FF7 fans who’re pleased about it.

Nojima: The setting that “falling from the roof of the Church” repeats Aerith’s encounter with Cloud was decided in the beginning. Though we’re talking about love, they are still young back then and there’s no time to describe “how they become fond of each other” in the game. So I made it like “falling into a sudden crush.”
~Crisis Core Ultimania, the interview, Page 579

Zack falls to the Church of the Slum during his mission and ends up meeting the girl Aerith, who's trimming flowers. They both feel contented simply with each other's company; it's a platonic love. They think these kinds of happy days will last forever, but....
~Crisis Core Ultimania (Zack's profile)

They attract to each other by mutual feelings similar to friendship, because they're both juvenile, if you call it love...
~Crisis Core Ultimania

These quotes stress that the relationship is more a friendship than a true romance. It's nothing but juvenile, puppy love, and very similar to a crush. For something some fans have believed to be a true romance, the creators have clearly deemed it otherwise. Nojima even terms the ZackxAerith bond as a young crush that happened quite suddenly. These statements are even further backed up in the novella, Maiden of the Planet, where Aerith refers to Zack as her ‘light taste of first love,’ and someone she now sees as a very dear friend.

Another misconception is that Zack and Aerith spent much more time together than Cloud and Aerith ever did. This is not the case, and Crisis Core makes that very clear. Zack’s work for Shinra keeps him busy, and he doesn't have much free time to spare. His time with Aerith is often interrupted by pressing issues he has to deal with, and he spends much time away from her while traveling. Aerith also expresses the short amount of time they’ve had together when she talks about a list of wishes she has, which all boil down to her wanting to be able to spend more time with Zack.

An interesting fact about Crisis Core is that as with the original Final Fantasy VII, there is an affection system for Zack, making the affection he shows toward Aerith completely optional. As with Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core has a series of moments where the answer or actions will either raise or lower the affection rating. To learn more about this, check out the walkthrough here that details the affection point system: Crisis Core FAQ/Walkthrough by Absolute Steve at GameFAQs.

The idea of Zack and Aerith continuing their romance is further discouraged when Zack receives Aerith’s last letter to him. In that letter, she frankly states that she is moving on, and that she isn't going to wait for him any longer. While Zack is obviously distressed by this news, it defintely shows that Aerith is moving on with her life. While she may still care for him, she no longer has romantic feelings for him.

Another point of controversy with the release of Crisis Core has to do with the amount of grief that Cloud shows over the deaths of Zack and Aerith. When the two scenes were shown with similar graphic quality in the original game, there was no question that Cloud’s reaction to Aerith’s death was much stronger than his reaction to Zack's death. However, the enhanced graphics and sound quality of Crisis Core made Zack's death scene appear far more poignant in comparison to its portrayal in Final Fantasy VII. As a result, some people started claiming that Cloud actually showed more grief over Zack’s death than he did at the death of Aerith, indicating that Cloud cared more about Zack than he did Aerith.

However, Cloud shows equal if not more grief over Aerith’s loss. He runs forward to catch her as she falls, cradling her body against him. Vocally expressing his pain, describing how his eyes are burning, his fingers trembling, he shouts at Sephiroth that his stupid plan means nothing because Aerith is gone. If this scene were portrayed with the same graphics quality as Crisis Core, Cloud’s overwhelming sorrow at Aerith’s death would be even more heartbreaking than his reaction over Zack’s death. (See the essay Cloud's Grief for more discussion of Cloud's reaction to Aerith's death in Final Fantasy VII.)

Cloud’s devastation at the loss of Aerith is clearly portrayed in the official novella Maiden of the Planet. The following passage from this story describes Cloud's heart breaking, his anguish so tangible that Aerith feels it:

But a cry came through to her.

...It was the sound of Cloud's heart cracking. It was the cry of his heart that could never be healed of the grief he had towards Aerith's death, the blame towards himself and the hatred he had for Sephiroth.

She was surprised at the great sorrow he had for her. She was a little happy that he thought so much of her but she also felt the pain that was many times greater. There was nothing she could do about Cloud's suffering and the pain ached in her heart.
~Maiden Who Travels the Planet

In addition, while Cloud is shown visiting Zack’s grave with seemingly little reluctance, he shows great hesitation to go to the Forgotten City where he lost Aerith, even to track down Kadaj in Advent Children. Why would Cloud have an easier time going to the place where Zack died, if it was more painful for him? Why would it be harder for Cloud to visit the place where Aerith died, if her death was supposedly easier? Clearly, Aerith’s death still haunts Cloud, and is much more painful to him even two years afterwards.

"I think that part of the reason we decided to have Kadaj's base in the Forgotten City is because it's the one place that Cloud avoids. But at the same time, perhaps he's drawn to it. There's a sort of hidden meaning to it, with the maternal essence of Aerith that lingers there."
~Nomura; Reunion Files

While no one argues that Zack and Aerith were a canon couple at one point in time, what some overlook is the fact that their relationship is only canon in the events before the original game. Several times during the course of Final Fantasy VII, Aerith states that she had a boyfriend named Zack who was her first love. However, she makes it clear that the relationship was not serious, that she is over him, and that she has moved on. What Crisis Core shows is what happened during their past relationship. It does not proclaim that what the characters had was a true and lasting love.

In other words, the events of the past do not override the events of the future. Such a statement would be like claiming that because Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII loved Seifer in the past, it erases the current relationship and love that she now shares with Squall, or that because Laguna once had a crush on Julia it completely obliterates the future feelings he has for Raine. Or that in Final Fantasy X, Lulu’s earlier relationship with Chappu overrides the current one she has with Wakka. A statement in Aerith’s profile in the Compilation Ultimania even further reinforces this when it refers to Zack as Aerith’s first love. If he were to be her only love, wouldn’t it simply say her love? Instead, the usage of the word "first" clearly implies that there are other loves to follow.

A past relationship is not a confirmation of current feelings. The feelings that Aerith once held for Zack and the crush that Cloud once had on Tifa do not carry through the years or override the feelings that Cloud and Aerith come to have for one another. Crisis Core depicts the events of the past, events that while important, do not change the relationships that exist in the future.

More Compilation Essays

Advent Children Love Triangle FAQ