Ifalna

Ifalna is a character in the Final Fantasy VII series. She appeared in flashbacks in Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy VII Remake Trace of Two Pasts. Ifalna was the last remaining pureblood of the ancient Cetra and the biological mother of Aerith Gainsborough.
==History==
Ifalna was born in 1963. Almost nothing is known about her early life, except that she inherited the White Materia at a young age and was native to the Icicle Inn area. As the last surviving pureblooded Cetra, she piqued the interest of Shinra Electric Power Company scientists, most notably Professor Hojo.
Ifalna eventually met Shinra's former head of the Research & Development division, Professor Gast Faremis, who resigned from the company to independently pursue his own research on the Cetra and Jenova. She helped him, the two fell in love, married, and gave birth to Aerith Gainsborough in 1985. While together, Gast and Ifalna filmed a series of recordings featuring interviews and their newborn daughter. The first two entries showed Gast interviewing Ifalna about the history of the Cetra and their abilities, the original discovery of Jenova, and a "Weapon" built from the planet's will that went unused, still hidden somewhere in the world. The final two recordings depicted the doting couple discussing their daughter, her name, and her future before an interrupting Hojo and his men arrived to capture Ifalna. A protective Gast tried to resist Hojo, but he ordered his men to murder him before subsequently taking Ifalna and Aerith to the Shinra Building in Midgar as research subjects.
While captive, Ifalna and Aerith were treated like guests and given their own furnished room. At some point, Ifalna passed down the White Materia to Aerith and taught her how to use it. Hojo ran painful tests on Ifalna, prompting her to beg another researcher Faz Hicks to secretly give her painkillers. He agreed and became obsessed with her, referring to her as his "dear love". After enduring seven years of experimentation, Ifalna and Aerith escaped the Shinra Building with the help of Hicks, who secured them a house in the Sector 3 slums and paid the rent. He instructed them to meet with his friend Amber in the Sector 4 slums, but they instead ran the opposite direction, eventually reaching the Sector 5 Undercity Station. However, Ifalna was weakened by the experiments and exhausted her remaining strength, collapsing and telling an agreeing woman passerby named Elmyra Gainsborough to "keep Aerith safe" before passing away. Sometime later, Hojo retrieved her corpse and used samples of her DNA to pursue his twisted research further.
Cloud and the party later watched Ifalna and Gast's recordings in "Beyond the Snow Fields" when visiting the Icicle Inn on their journey to defeat Sephiroth.
==Characteristics ==
===Appearance===
Ifalna was a woman with a slim build, fair skin, green eyes, and long brown hair with two braids on the side and loosely parted bangs. She wore a long-sleeved red dress with a burgundy wrap around her waist, and dark red flats. She wore a brown undershirt and a lavishly intricate gold necklace.
===Personality===
Ifalna was a loving and doting mother who always looked out for her daughter Aerith, doing her best to keep her safe in a world trying to exploit them both. She was an adoring wife who genuinely loved Gast. The couple lived happily together, and Gast always showed care when Ifalna was feeling unwell. As a Cetra, Ifalna was knowledgeable about her people's ancient history, showing concern for the planet, and also feeling discomfort when Jenova was mentioned.
===Abilities===
As a Cetra, Ifalna was once capable of communicating with the lifestream and the planet.
==Behind the scenes==
In Ifalna's concept artwork by Tetsuya Nomura, she is said to be 29 years old. Aerith states she could hear her mother's voice as a child and that, though she expected this to go away, it "never stopped". However, Ifalna plays no further role in Final Fantasy VII, and is one of the few deceased characters connected to Aerith who does not appear in Hoshi o Meguru Otome.
Ifalna is mentioned in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-: A scientist within the Shinra Building laments her death, and is discovered to be working against Shinra. He is arrested by Kunsel.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Ifalna appears in a flashback in a story told by Elmyra. The reminisces are in sepia tone, but in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, the scene's true colors are restored when using photo mode.
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the story being changed so that Cid Highwind had met Ifalna was inspired by Kazushige Nojima's novel, Final Fantasy VII Remake Trace of Two Pasts, which includes stories of Aerith as a child in the Shinra Building. Since Cid worked for Shinra at the time, it would not have been strange for him to have met Ifalna. It was also added as foreshadowing for Cid being involved in large Shinra events at that time.
Ifalna FFVII Concept Art.jpg|Concept art for Final Fantasy VII by Tetsuya Nomura.
Ifalna from Final Fantasy VII Remake artwork.png|Concept art for Final Fantasy VII Remake by Roberto Ferrari.
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de:Ifalna
fr:Ifalna
ru:Ифална
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake: Picturing the Past
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Remake Trace of Two Pasts
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth