Gast

From Final Fantasy - Wiki on Neoseeker

Professor Gast, whose full name is Gast Faremis, is a non-playable character in Final Fantasy VII and the biological father of Aeris Gainsborough. He was the former head of Shinra Company’s Science Research Department. Some of Gast’s past can be learned through viewing videos in his lab at Icicle Inn.

Gast was the original founder of Jenova, and incorrectly identified it as a Cetra. He created the Jenova Project, and, along with Hojo, used Lucrecia Crescent's unborn child (Sephiroth) in the experiment. Feeling guilty over his participation in the project, Gast abandoned Shinra and moved to Icicle Inn where he would continue his research on the Cetra. There, he met Ifalna and began to learn the truth of the Cetra. Through his interviews with Ifalna, he learned that Jenova was not a Cetra, but a viral-like monster that collided with the Planet nearly two-thousand years prior. Ifalna also taught him about the Promised Land, and that it isn’t necessarily a physical place.

Later, the couple fell in love and has a baby - Aeris. Shortly after her birth, Hojo arrived with the Shinra army to kidnap Ifalna and Aeris, killing Gast in the process.