Materia ( Final Fantasy VII ) Materia are items in the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " that allow a character to cast spells , summon , and use new command abilities , boost stats and give support abilities . Materia form the basis of the skill and ability system for " Final Fantasy VII " , and play a prominent role in character skills in other games . Profile . Lore . Materia is crystallized Mako . Metaphysically , Materia calls upon the wisdom of the Lifestream to manipulate nature manifesting as the phenomenon of magic for most Materia , although other Materia enhance the user ' s abilities . Unless one is descended from the Cetra , Materia is the only way humans can use magic . When explaining how Materia is created to Zack and Tifa on Mt . Nibel , Sephiroth mentions that he and Professor Hojo debated the nature of Materia . Hojo objected to the term " magic " being applied to powers from Materia , but could offer no better explanation . In " Case of Yuffie " of " On the Way to a Smile " it is explained that to use a Materia ' s power , a shock triggered by the user ' s mind waves is required . As a result the user ' s mind is weakened and frequent use of Materia without rest taxes their stamina . Materia occurs naturally at " Mako Springs " , places where the Lifestream leaks to the surface of Gaia and condenses , such as on Mt . Nibel . This is a rare occurrence , taking centuries for the Mako to crystallize into Materia , and in " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " Shinra scientists mention that most Materia in use is artificially produced . It is never stated if natural Materia has any appreciable difference in usage and power from artificial Materia , but the White Materia , Black Materia , and the four Materia pieces found in the Materia Cave s are much stronger than other Materia pieces . Function . Though the process varies from game to game , Materia can level up , increasing its powers further . In " Final Fantasy VII " Materia learns new abilities as it levels up and when mastered spawns a copy . In all other games in the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " , Materia pieces are linked to a single ability that becomes more potent as the Materia gains power : in " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " Materia gives higher stat boosts as it levels up , while in " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " Materia has a higher chance of affecting the user ' s weapon and / or armor as it increases in level . Exclusive to " Crisis Core " , different Materia shards can be combined via Materia Fusion , resulting in a stronger Materia often manifesting as a literal combination of the two individual Materia , such as Fire and Power Attack fusing to create Fire Blade . Size . The size of Materia is ambiguous throughout the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . In the original " Final Fantasy VII " and in " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " , most Materia , excluding the White , Black , and Huge Materia , are about the size of a marble . In " " and " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " Materia appear to be slightly smaller than a tennis ball , about the size of the White Materia in " Final Fantasy VII " . As Materia is referred to in " Final Fantasy VII " as " growth " when leveling up , Materia may increase in size to denote its level of power , explaining the ambiguities . Types . Materia in the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " typically come in different types , indicated by their color and function , which can be divided up even further in some games . These types are as follows . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " expands on the colors of the original " Final Fantasy VII " , adding different shades of each color to further classify Materia types . For example , a lighter shade of green is used for curative Materia . Only Summon Materia have a single color and type and remain solely red . Other entries in the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " use separate classifications as described above , and in them color has little to do with a Materia ' s abilities . Kadaj uses a blue Materia in " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " to use Enemy Skills and summon Bahamut SIN . Vincent ' s select Materia in " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " , being Fire , Blizzard , and Thunder , are respectively , red , blue , and yellow , and Shelke has an orange Materia which she claims is a Shield Materia . While these Materia would be hued accordingly to their corresponding color , it is likely that the color system is more for gameplay and classification than it is for actual world canon . In addition to the above types , there are several unique types of Materia with unique colors that do not fit into one of the above categories . These types normally have a very different role , and are used solely in lore and story events , and cannot be equipped . Appearances . " Final Fantasy VII " . Materia can be used when slotted into a weapon or a piece of armor . Once slotted into an equipment piece the wearer can call upon the Materia ' s powers . Using Materia has both pros and cons . Depending on the type and strength of the Materia equipped , some stats may be lowered or enhanced . As an example , the Restore Materia picked up in Sector 1 Reactor at the beginning of the game reduces maximum HP by two percent and Strength by one , but raises maximum MP by two percent and Magic by one . Winning battles earns Ability Points that is distributed to Materia currently equipped to a party member in an armor or weapon that has AP growth and Materia levels up when it gains enough AP . Some equipment affects Materia growth through AP ; some have Materia slots but the Materia linked to gains no AP , while others double or triple the amount of AP . Other weapons and equipment have no Materia slots at all . Some Materia allow access to new commands when leveled up , others allow the user to use the granted command more times , others give a bigger stat bonus . When Materia reached its highest level it is " mastered " and a second Materia with the same powers is born . Thus , with patience and enough leveling up , even one - of - a - kind Materia could be reproduced infinitely . Materia can be slotted into a single slot or a connected equipment slot . When slotted into a connected slot , the Materia can be joined with a Support Materia to varying effects , including adding elemental properties to the slotted equipment or allowing the linked Materia to target multiple targets . For example , linking Added Effect to a Materia that contains a status effect to a character ' s weapon , makes the weapon gain the properties of the status and randomly inflict the status on targets with the Attack command . Linking Added Effect with a status Materia to a character ' s armor , however , makes the party member immune to said status . If the player ' s Materia inventory is full when trying to pick up a Materia piece the game will notify the player and ask them to remove Materia first . The Kujata Materia is an exception , and will be lost forever if the player picks it up with full inventory . Leveling up a Materia to its maximum level , and leveling up all Materia to their final levels , gain the player the Master Materia and Materia Overload achievements respectively , in the PC version re - release version of " Final Fantasy VII " . In the PlayStation 4 version mastering a Materia earns Materia Mastermind trophy . In addition to the above , there is the unique Command Materia , the Enemy Skill Materia , which teaches Enemy Skills to the player . This variation of Materia appears in " Super Smash Bros for Wii U / 3DS " in the Midgar stage , along with Cloud . Its use , however , is for summoning stage hazards . Materia is used by Kadaj and his brothers to attack Cloud after stealing a case of Materia from him . Rather than equipping Materia to equipment slots Materia is inserted directly into the remnants ' arms . In the " Reunion Files " it is mentioned that , as Materia is a by - product of Mako and Mako is no longer used , Materia has begun to fall out of use . " Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII - " . Vincent Valentine can equip Fire , Blizzard , or Thunder Materia to his weapon to enhance his attacks via a small Materia slot attached to his gun by a chain . Fire - elemental bullets create a wave of fire when they hit their target , hitting multiple enemies . Ice - elemental bullets home in on a target . Lightning - elemental bullets can hit multiple enemies with a " chain lightning " type effect but is only short range . Unlike Materia in most other games , these Materia do not follow the canon green color scheme of Magic Materia : Fire is red , Blizzard is blue , and Thunder is yellow . While Materia is seen in use , Cloud states that magic usage is best left sparingly as the Planet is still healing from events prior , and requires " all the strength it can get . " " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " . Materia is produced in a unique fashion . Once they select the option to create Materia , the player takes a picture with their cellphone , and based on the predominant color in the picture , the game creates a Materia piece — a red picture would produce Fire Materia , for example . The player can only equip three Materia at a time — two in their armor , one in their weapon . Materia levels up as it is used , to a maximum of Level 9 , but higher levels do not award stronger spells — Fire and Fira , for example , are different Materia and Fire will not become Fira as it levels up . The Materia ' s level affects the chance of the equipment piece taking on the Materia ' s elemental attributes . For example , when Fire Materia is slotted into the weapon , there is a chance that the player ' s attack will be Fire - elemental , the higher level the Fire Materia , the more likely it is the attack will be elemental . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " . Materia works similarly to the way it is used in " Final Fantasy VII " , but with adjustments to be accommodated into " Crisis Core ' s " battle system . As weapon and armor cannot be adjusted in " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " , the number of Materia slots depend on Zack ' s SOLDIER rank . Zack begins the game with four Materia slots as a Second Class , then during the game is promoted to First Class and gains the ability to equip six Materia . Stats boosts are regulated to a single kind assigned to its specific Materia , but can be further boosted to a maximum of + 99 for raw stats or + 999 % for Point based stats ; in addition , a new system feature called Materia Fusion allows for two Materia and ( with the right requirements ) items as stat components to be mixed and fused to the player ' s intentions . Unlike " Final Fantasy VII " , Materia levels up on the Digital Mind Wave rather than requiring AP . When the player gets two or three matching numbers between one and six during a Modulating Phase , the Materia in the corresponding slot levels up : if the player gets two matching numbers , the Materia grows one level , and if all three numbers match the Materia grows two levels . The Moogle summon will level up all Materia at once . The maximum level for a Materia is five . Additionally , the differing levels of the same spells are no longer contained within the same Materia ( e . g . Fire and Fira are located on two separate Materia ) . The player ' s inventory can hold 256 Materia at once , and if the number exceeds that limit , all future Materia are discarded . In this case , surplus and excess materia can be converted into Soldier Points , essentially deconstructed back into Mako energy . The battle system of " Final Fantasy VII " was used as the basis for the one in " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " with action elements added to it ; the Materia system was designed so that players could choose between " RPG - oriented enhancements " and " action - oriented enhancements , " as well as to give the game balance . Development . The Materia system was decided upon , where any weapon and armor can be equipped with any Materia . It was decided the battles wouldn ' t be about characters with individual , innate skills , but that combat would change depending on the way Materia was used . There are several unused Materia dummied out the original Japanese release of " Final Fantasy VII " . They are the MBarrier , Reflect , and Refurbish Magic Materia , the Law , the Booster Support Materia , and the Underwater Independent Materia . The dummied Magic Materia and Command Materia offer no commands that are not available off other Materia in the game , and the Support Materia has no effect on paired Materia . The Underwater Materia became available in later releases , serving the function during the battle with Emerald Weapon , however its name given in the Japanese " International " release was changed from to . All of these Materia appear in later revisions in all later releases in a capacity , though their names were not translated and various values were removed making them less functional . Allusions . In " Final Fantasy Tactics " , White Materia , Black Materia , Blue Materia , and Red Materia are Artefacts that can be collected . They are described with the following text : In " Dissidia " and " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " , one of Sephiroth ' s HP attacks is named " Black Materia , " which calls forth a meteor to strike his opponent . This alludes to the Black Materia in " Final Fantasy VII " which is ultimately used to summon Meteor to destroy the world . As well , Cloud ' s crystal is a Materia piece , and resembles Aerith ' s White Materia . Furthermore , Materia is an item available through battlegen that is created by destroying stage elements in the Planet ' s Core . In " Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade " , the Black Materia , Red Materia , Blue Materia , and Yellow Materia all appear as items . Square Enix ' s cafe Artnia serves cocktails with a Materia theme . The cocktail contains gin and lime juice , and a frozen Materia orb : the blue one of blue curacao , and the red one of creme de cassis . For the 2014 Valentine ' s Day Square Enix introduced a set with five pieces of chocolate made to look like Materia orbs from " Final Fantasy VII " ; one for each type of Materia . In " " , the great sword Ehrgeiz has a materia which radiates with an eerie glow . Its eternal power in the winner ' s hands can make the winner into anything , even a god . In Monty Oum ' s fan - made series " Dead Fantasy " , Tifa uses Materia magic in combat . Such spells used so far include Fire , Ice , Lightning , Time , Gravity , Ultima , Barrier , Poison , All , and Blind . As of the fifth episode , Tifa has lost most , if not all , of her Materia to Hitomi . The Materia Crafting System in " Final Fantasy XIV " , was inspired by ( and named after ) " Final Fantasy VII " Materia . In " " , Zack Fair ' s D - Link ability icons are materia . In RWBY Monty Oum has stated in discussion that Dust is his idea of what would happen if you were to ground Materia into a powder . Etymology . Fitting as Materia hosts various kinds that have different effects . Hironobu Sakaguchi suggested the Materia system , originally known as " spheres " , a name Tetsuya Nomura proposed . Sakaguchi thought the name should be something to resonate easily even with elementary school kids , so the term Materia was chosen .