Clerith

Clerith is the het ship between Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough from the Final Fantasy fandom.

Canon
Both Cloud and Aerith are two of the main characters in the Final Fantasy VII trilogy, along with both of them having their own kind of links to Shinra and Zack Fair. Even after her death Aerith still has a huge impact and role in the game through Cloud, as she helps him and the others within the Lifestream, where she watches over him from.

Final Fantasy VII
Cloud first met Aerith shortly after he arrives in Shinra, where he had bout some flowers from her. Their paths later crossed with each other again when Cloud falls into the Sector 5 Church and wakes up to find Aerith standing over him, after she wakes him up. After they both told each other's names Aerith asks Cloud to be Her Bodyguard, Cloud agrees for a date as a reward, to which both agree to, as they have it at the Golden saucer (one of the options in the game). Aerith opens up to Cloud a lot before she asks him if he enjoys her company and says that she hopes that they can do it again. Cloud also has a dream of his Mother, where she tells Cloud to find a older woman that would take care of him (referring to Aerith as she is one year older than him), Cloud says he’s not interested in a relationship at the moment and the dream ends.

When Cloud and his party finally found Aerith prying to obtain Holy for them in Forgotten City, something inside Cloud forces him to nearly attack Aerith if it wasn't for their friends snapping him out of it. Shortly after Aerith looks up at Cloud, Sephiroth kills her before Cloud could do anything to save her. Cloud holds Aerith in his arms as he demands Sephiroth to tell him why he killed her, only to have Sephiroth brush Cloud's outrage off before he has Jenova∙LIFE attack them. After Cloud and his attending party members defeated that part of Jenova, Cloud watches his friends morn Aerith's death before he picks up her body and lays her to rest in a near by pool of water.

Even though Cloud is deeply saddened by the lose of Aerith, he continues his journey to find her killer. On the way he stumbles across the place that was once home to Aerith's parents before she and her mother were captured by Hojo, after he killed her father. Through the recording Aerith's parents had made, Cloud gets a better understanding of what Metro is and why Sephiroth wants to summon it.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Years later, Aerith's death still haunts Cloud as he feels guilty for not doing anything to prevent her death from happening as she was killed in front of him. He drifts away from his friends and instead chooses to live in Aerith's church, right beside her flower bed.

When Cloud had found the orphan boy Denzel by his motorbike, Fenrir, he felt that Aerith was the one who had led Denzel to it so he'll be able to help the boy; by taking him in instead of leaving Denzel at a hospital. Along with searching for a cure for Denzel's and possibly his own Geostigma illness. As a spiritual avatar of the Lifestream, Aerith's possible presence in the Sector 5 Church could have been what healed both Cloud and Tifa as they lay in its flowers. Aerith later visits Cloud in a vision as he rides to the Forgotten City to rescue Denzel and the rest of the children. He tells her of his refusal to move on from her death along with his failed attempt to cure Denzel, as well as how he felt about failing to save her life when he tells Aerith that he wants to be forgiven, to which had gotten Aerith to ask him, "By who?", but when Cloud turns to see her, the vision ends.

Aerith did, however, leave a reassuring message to him on his phone that says that she never blamed him for her death, as the phone shank into a pool of water. During the battle against Bahamut SIN, Cloud is consumed in its attack, and amid the fireball where he has another vision of Aerith, who takes his outstretched hand and transfers enough energy to him to cut through Bahamut's attack and destroy it. While Aerith's spiritual connection within the Lifestream itself has her using her Limit Break ability, Great Gospel, to infuse parts of the Lifestream with water so she could cure Cloud's Geostigma illness, along with the other victims of it.

After Cloud defeated Kadaj and had ended up in a white void where he hears a woman's voice. Cloud mistook it as his mother's voice, to which she and Zack joke about it before sending Cloud's spirit back to the living world, since it wasn't his time to die yet. As Cloud uses the church's floated water that was left by the rain that Aerith created from within the Lifestream, it cures Denzel and the rest of the reused children of the Geostigma, along with the other victims that weren't present at the short healing drizzle.

In the middle of everyone celebrating, Cloud's eyes sweep over the happy moments around him, before abruptly stops when he sees Aerith's spirit as she spoke with one of the children next to the entrance. Time slows down, and with a stunned expression (eyes get larger, jaw slightly drops), Cloud sees her getting up on her feet before walking to the light-filled doorway where Zack waits, but not before she turns to give Cloud a warm smile and tells him that everything is alright, which brought Cloud peace. Cloud's last line is "I know. I'm no longer alone." with a full and genuine smile at last.

Aerith's spirit continues to watch over Cloud, as she stands in among the fields of flowers while he got on his motorcycle as he rides through the countryside.

Final Fantasy VII Remake
While there are a few differences between the original and remake of Final Fantasy VII, the bond Cloud forms with Aerith remains the same.

Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy VII: Remake ''Note : if the player interacts with the flower in the bar, Cloud's mind goes back to his and Aerith's meeting, and to Aerith herself (most likely referring to her quirk). Though he only knows her as "that girl".'' ''Note : the title of Chapter 8 itself is "Reunion Flower" in Japanese, French, and Italian languages. Meanwhile, in English, the title of chapter 8 is "Budding Bodyguard". Most likely a play on the phrase "budding romance".''
 * Cloud and Aerith meet in the familiar Loveless Street. Note that shortly before they meet, the song "Promised Land" from Advent Children plays.
 * Cloud is (perhaps) the only one who gets visions of Aerith's death. Visions of the future occur throughout; Cloud's most recurring are of Aerith's death and his reaction is consistently focused on.
 * Cloud mysteriously lies to Aerith, when she asks to whom he gave the flower that she gave to him, answering that he doesn't remember.
 * Elmyra, Aerith's mother, is most likely the only stranger he's polite with (he bows to the old woman).
 * Cloud insists that he's an EX-Soldier when Elmyra (Aerith's mother) outwardly says she disapproves of Cloud due to his occupation (SOLDIER). He then bits his lip from continuing the argument when he sees Aerith coming down from the 2nd floor.
 * During the night in Aerith's house, Cloud has a dream of his mother, where she tells him the perfect type of girl that she thinks is perfect for him : "An older, more mature girl that could keep you on the straight and narrow. And tell you when you're being a silly goose." Aerith is 1 year older than him.
 * Moreover, Claudia has a fairly assertive woman in mind. One who will challenge many of Cloud's tendencies and habits; rather than only follow his lead. Aerith fits these criteria very well. As she ignores Cloud's posturing's and pushes him to do the right thing frequently. And, owing to her foreknowledge, takes advising him and his "journey" seriously.
 * Cloud and Aerith both show a sad, bittersweet expression when they have to separate in Midori park. Cloud asks her whether she's okay to go home, to which Aerith teasingly replies "What if I'm not?", so he then says he will escort her back; immediately making a move to go back from where they came.
 * A trophy titled "Reunion" is acquired when a player completes Chapter 8. A reference to her giving a flower symbolizing reunion (of lovers) in their first meeting. Cloud and Aerith's iconic second meeting in her church happens in Chapter 8 for context.
 * Cloud and Aerith win the Corneo Colosseum, together, with the audience cheering for them. Scotch and Kotch verbally hype the pair with at least 16 different couple nicknames.
 * Aerith's Wall Market dresses all include a cutscene where Cloud reacts to them, even appreciatively. From the "best" original timeline red dress that shows him openly gawking at her, to the "worst" dress (for which Aerith has more complaints than he does).
 * In the "worst scene" Cloud (really, the player) is quizzed if they really did their best by Aerith. Before the "best" dress reveal, a character named Madame M congratulates Cloud (and the player) for helping the people of Sector 5. This framing of the original timeline dress as a reward suggests it's the preferred or superior outcome.
 * Cloud is the first, and initially only, one to insist on rescuing Aerith in Shinra HQ and he dreams of Aerith at the same night. He asks her whether she's okay, and when she starts fumbling and showing distressed expression, he assures her that they should embrace the moment.
 * Cloud looks upset when Aerith says he shouldn't fall in love with her. When Aerith is in the middle of removing her hand from his face, Cloud quickly tries to grab it to no avail. He grumbles and clenches his fist in annoyance when he finds that his hand can't physically touch her.
 * He then voices his disagreement regarding her statement, asking whether he has a say in that decision. She smiles sadly, before saying she is grateful to have met him and that she cherishes every moment they spent together. Cloud then declares that he is coming for her (in Japanese, he said "mukae ni iku")
 * As relevant trivia, Cloud speaks 11 lines in Ch. 14 scene with Aerith. That's almost 3x more than the number of lines he speaks in other scenes (Barret's and Tifa's).
 * The dream with Aerith is the only Chapter 14 resolution scene that appears in the Credits montage.
 * Besides the credits, the song "Hollow" only plays in Sector 5 (Aerith's home sector). Hollow's lyrics, while perhaps not the sole breadth of the song's meaning, are seen to embody Aerith most of all.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
 * Cloud leaves the team and chooses to live in Aerith's church alone, with a poor makeshift bed and a lantern as the only source of light, right beside Aerith's flower bed.
 * Cloud knew that the Geostigma cure was from Aerith.
 * An iconic scene where the two of them stand back to back in a vision. In Advent Children Complete Cloud is given a similar scene with Zack. However with Aerith he has a furtive and vulnerable mood, particularly as Aerith gingerly feels his side, while with Zack he has more confidence and appears resolute with no further contact between them.
 * When Sephiroth asks Cloud what he cherishes the most so that he can have the pleasure of taking it away, Aerith appears first and more often than other characters.
 * Aerith's spirit touches Cloud's forehead in the white void.
 * At the end of Advent Children, Cloud says that he no longer feels alone. That implies that the whole time prior to this, he does feel alone.

Kingdom Hearts (series)
Kingdom Hearts
 * Aerith greets Cloud, when he joins her and the others in Hollow Bastion's library.

Kingdom Hearts II
 * When Cloud is about to leave, he tells Aerith that he doesn't want her involved. Aerith understands. Then he promises her that no matter how far he goes, he'll always be back. Aerith is the only one to whom Cloud makes such a promise to in the KH series.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
 * In the credits roll, Cloud and Aerith is the only pairing shown in romantic montage. They're also the only representation from Final Fantasy series.

Fanon
Cloud/Aerith has been extremely popular since 1997. It is a popular Final Fantasy VII ship and one of the most popular ships in the entire series. It is considered a "rival ship" to Cloud/Tifa. Both ships have had evidence and materials to support them, although the fandom ship wars are ongoing.

Since some brief Clerith moments were seen in the Kingdom Hearts series, a small group of fans base their fanwork on their KH counterparts. Due to the color of Aerith's brown hair and Cloud's blue eye, as well as the spiky style of his hair, it inspired a few KH Clerith fans to feature them as Sora's parents, for fun.

On AO3, the ship has over 252 fanfics.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Cloud/Aerith (FFVII) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Cloud/Aerith (KH) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Cloud/Aerith (Dissidia) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Cloud/Aerith (Dissidia) tag on FanFiction.net

DEVIANTART

TUMBLR

WIKIS

Trivia

 * A few Clerith-like moments were seen in the Kingdom Hearts series.
 * Aerith's death, including Cloud holding Aerith in his arms before he lays her to rest in the water, is considered to be one of the most memorable moments in Final Fantasy history.
 * Cloud's crystal in the Dissidia Final Fantasy series takes the form of the Light/Holy Materia that Aerith created to help Cloud and their friends in their task, before her death causes it to fall into the water.
 * Many of Yoshitaka Amano's sketches for Final Fantasy VII are of Cloud and Aerith together.

Gallery

 * Clerith/Gallery

Variations

 * Clerifa refers to the ship between Tifa Lockhart, Cloud and Aerith