The “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” character who appeared on the cover of Maxim magazine was Aki Ross. She is the film’s central protagonist, a scientist and medical officer portrayed through computer-generated imagery and voiced by Ming-Na Wen.
Released in 2001, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was Square’s first feature-length attempt at a photorealistic computer-animated film. Aki was designed as a realistic digital human rather than a conventional cartoon character. Her Maxim appearance became a widely discussed publicity moment because the magazine was presenting a fictional CGI woman alongside real models and celebrities.
Aki Ross is not a character from one of the numbered Final Fantasy role-playing games. She was created specifically for the film, which tells a science-fiction story about Earth’s struggle against alien life forms known as Phantoms. The movie’s ambitious visuals were influential, although its expensive production and disappointing box-office performance contributed to the closure of Square Pictures.