Final Fantasy VII had one of the most iconic deaths in video game history. Final Fantasy VII Remake only covers the first few hours of Final Fantasy VII's story, which means that it never reached the point where said iconic death took place, so fans went in without expecting any big shakeups.
It turns out that Final Fantasy VII Remake threw a massive wrench in the works by showing the members of Avalanche defying their fate and breaking free from the original timeline. As such, some characters who died in the original game have survived and will go on to have roles in future entries in the story.
The Playable Characters + Red XIII (SURVIVES)
Square Enix released a piece of key art from Final Fantasy VII Remake in the run up to its release that shows the members of Avalanche standing at the end of the road near Midgar, which happens near the end of the game. Some fans believed this might have been a fake-out and that maybe one of the cast members dies during the escape from the Shinra Headquarters, but that turned out to not be the case. Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Tifa Lockhart, and Red XIII all survive the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
President Shinra (DIES)
The King of the Vermin himself met his end at the hands of a Sephiroth clone in Final Fantasy VII, but the player never sees his final moments. Cloud and his friends find the President's corpse with the Masamune sticking out of its back.
President Shinra also dies in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but under slightly different circumstances. The members of Avalanche save the President from falling off the edge of the Shinra Headquarters and he argues with Barret before Sephiroth shows up and impales him with the Masamune.
Roche (SURVIVE)
Roche is one of the new characters introduced in Final Fantasy VII Remake and he has a rivalry with Cloud during the early stages of the game. Cloud and Roche have a duel in the Shinra Warehouse, which results in Roche fleeing on his motorcycle and swearing that they'll meet again. Roche isn't seen again during the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake, but he'll likely get his rematch in future games.
Biggs (SURVIVE)
The members of Avalanche manage to defy their fate, which means that the story of Final Fantasy VII Remake is no longer bound to that of the original going forward. The biggest beneficiary of the "Destroying the Timeline" program is Biggs, who is shown surviving the destruction of the Sector 7 Pillar. In Final Fantasy VII, Biggs dies when the plate falls on Sector 7.
Zack (SURVIVE... In Another Timeline)
The other huge surprise in Final Fantasy VII Remake is a scene where Zack is shown surviving his last stand in another timeline and makes his way back to Midgar with Cloud. There are some fans who believe that the scene takes place in the Remake timeline and that Zack is still alive there, but that doesn't appear to be the case. We see a Shinra food wrapper that has a picture of Stamp the dog on it, but Stamp is a different breed of dog, suggesting that the timeline where Zack survives is different from the regular one.
Jessie & Wedge (UNCERTAIN)
Jessie and Wedge both died in Final Fantasy VII when the plate fell on Sector 7, but their fates are slightly more ambiguous in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Wedge survives until the party reaches the Shinra Headquarters, but he is taken away by the Whispers and his fate is left unclear. Jessie is shown to have died on the Sector 7 Pillar, but her glove and bandana are shown with Biggs during the ending. It's likely that she has died and someone reclaimed her clothes and gave them to Biggs, but the fact that Avalanche changed her fate does leave the door open for her return, which is why we've determined her fate as uncertain.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available now for PlayStation 4.