Corel Prison Corel Prison is an unrevisitable location in " Final Fantasy VII " . Previously the town of Corel , destroyed by Shinra Electric Power Company , it has become a prison in Gold Saucer ' s shadow . The surviving townsfolk have since relocated to North Corel . The prison is loosely guarded ; the harsh desert surrounding it makes escape by land impossible . Corel Prison is largely self - run by Mr . Coates and a mysterious leader . Despite being largely in ruins , the faint outline of a town can still be seen . Convicts in the Corel Prison are used in the chocobo races . Story . Old Corel . Several years before the start of " Final Fantasy VII " , the prison was a peaceful coal mining town . Corel is the hometown of Barret Wallace and his best friend , Dyne , who both worked in the coal mines to the north . Dyne raised his daughter Marlene there with his wife , Eleanor , and Barret lived with his wife , Myrna . The Shinra Executive Scarlet came to Corel to propose the building of a Mako Reactor to supply the town ' s electric needs , as the use of coal as an energy source had been replaced by Mako energy . Dyne opposed the plan , but Barret supported it along with most of the townspeople . The reactor ' s construction went forward despite Dyne ' s objections . The town seemed to be moving towards greater prosperity , until one day disaster struck . " Final Fantasy VII " states the reactor exploded , but Episode 16 of " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " revises the history : AVALANCHE , an eco - terrorist organization occupied the incomplete reactor to fight Shinra . Rufus Shinra , the company ' s vice president and AVALANCHE ' s secret financier , is captured in the fighting and the reactor is destroyed . According to the " Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega " , Corel was the location where Shinra originally discovered Mako energy . The townspeople were hired to build a reactor , but after Shinra discovered the Mako energy ' s infinite potential , they decided to destroy the town so the top secret information on Mako Reactors ' structure would not be leaked to rival companies . In " Final Fantasy VII " , Barret and Dyne go to the site to observe the events , but can do nothing to stop the reactor ' s destruction . On the way back to Corel , they realize , to their horror , that the town is on fire ; following the attack on the reactor , Shinra blamed the town of Corel for the reactor ' s loss , sending the Shinra army to burn the town to the ground . Dyne and Barret are spotted by Shinra troops under Scarlet ' s command on the outskirts of town . Scarlet appropriates one of the soldiers ' guns , and joins them in shooting . Dyne is only saved from falling when Barret grabs his arm . While Barret holds Dyne precariously above the abyss , the soldiers ' fire makes chips of stone explode off the cliff face , getting nearer and nearer to their linked arms . Barret loses his right forearm , and without a grip to hold him up , Dyne falls into the abyss below , seemingly to his death . The survivors relocate to the mountains to the north , starting the tent city of North Corel . Barret is blamed for the disaster . His wife is dead . Dyne ' s wife is dead , and Barret believes Dyne to be dead , as well . Barret adopts Marlene as his own daughter and vows to dedicate his life to destroying Shinra . With nothing left for him , Barret decides to take Marlene and head to Midgar , where he creates his own chapter of AVALANCHE . Corel Prison . What remained of the town of Corel was converted into the Corel Prison . Dyne , who happened to survive the fall , took control of it . Between his fall and the events of " Final Fantasy VII " , Dyne got the same operation as Barret and his left arm is replaced with a gun - arm . However , the loss of his family and life drives Dyne insane . In Episode 21 of " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " , AVALANCHE attacks the former area of Corel , this time to find the Zirconiade Materia . The player Turk fights them along with an AVALANCHE defector named Shalua Rui . Though the player finds the Materia , the Turks ' leader Veld is captured by Shinra , whom the Turks have split from . The player barely survives the Shinra attack . During " Final Fantasy VII " , when Cloud Strife and his party , which includes Barret , pass through Gold Saucer , Dyne goes on a killing spree . Since the people were killed by a man with a gun - arm , Barret is thought to be the killer and Cloud and his team are dropped down into the prison . The party tries to escape the prison by speaking with Mr . Coates , but he can do nothing , being only second - in - command to Dyne . Barret tells the others the tale of what happened in the town of Corel and decides to go speak to Dyne alone . Barret confronts Dyne , and tries to reason with him , but Dyne is too deranged to listen to reason , and even plots to kill his daughter so she can reunite with her mother . Barret has to fight his old friend one - on - one , and wins . Barret pleads with Dyne to come with them , but Dyne insists Marlene might no longer recognize him , and besides , he says , " These hands are a little too stained to carry Marlene anymore " . He entrusts Barret with a pendant that had belonged to Eleanor , willing it be given to Marlene , and lets himself fall off the cliff behind the grave markers . The pendant serves Barret as a badge of authority ; he prevails upon Mr . Coates to allow Cloud to win their freedom the only way possible : to win a Chocobo race up in Gold Saucer . He ascends with the race manager , Ester , to the room where the jockeys wait for their respective races ; Ester gives Cloud training and access to successively better Chocobos to ensure his eventual victory . Dio sends a letter of congratulation to Cloud , which directs the party towards Gongaga , and as an apology of having sent them to the prison , bestows on them a buggy . Locations . The player will face random encounters anywhere in the town whenever not within a building . The enemies here can steal items from the player ' s inventory , and thus need to be defeated quickly . South . There is a man who follows the player around , running and walking as they do , laughing if spoken to , but there is no special significance to him . Coates is found in the trailer south of town and will let the player leave on the elevator after all the storyline has been completed . Pub . The Prison Pub . The pub has an item shop . Mayor ' s Old House . The house where Barret tells his version of the town ' s history is actually the same house that is seen in his flashback . Basement . There is a well that can be entered in Corel Prison . The room entitled " Basement " has many interesting qualities , even if it only has an empty treasure chest in most game versions . The player can discover a skeleton resembling a Guard Hound part of the background . In the game ' s original Japanese version four Test 0 enemies could be fought here . These are believed to be test enemies left in the game , since the battle takes place in a jungle background , the enemies do not attack , and yield an extremely high HP count , but also EXP , gil , and AP . The Test 0 enemies were removed from any subsequent releases . The well ' s pre - rendered background has a hidden layer containing a little man in the corner that is not present in the playable version of the location . The little man is referred to as " doll " and is there is no in - game script to turn the layer on . Corner . After talking to Coates the player can leave the old town via the north gate , but unless they head north along the fence and through the fence gate east to find Dyne , they will enter an infinite desert where the same screen will repeat again and again . Corel Desert . In the endless desert , the player can encounter , at a 7 / 8 chance , the Land Worm , and at a 1 / 8 chance , the Cactuar , which drops 10 , 000 gil when defeated . On the tenth screen the player comes to , a carriage ( of the same design as the one that carried Tifa to Don Corneo ' s mansion ) will approach , and offer to give the player a ride . During the prison event , this returns the player to the Corel Prison . The endless desert can be accessed after the party obtains the buggy , by driving it into the small buildings at the base of the Gold Saucer model on the world map in the middle of the Gold Saucer Area desert . As before , the party can fight Cactuars and Land Worms , and will be offered a ride after nine screen changes , but the prison carriage will take the party back to the world map . There is no way to access the main prison area and Junkyard after obtaining the buggy , and after gaining the " Highwind " and losing the buggy , the area becomes completely inaccessible , except by gold chocobo . The Laser and Matra Magic enemy skills can be obtained elsewhere , though the former not until the game ' s final dungeon , Northern Cave , in the final Part . Junkyard . East of the prison fence , Bullmotor s may attack the party with the Matra Magic enemy skill , and Death Claws with the enemy skill Laser . They may also be encountered in the junkyard , with an assortment of vehicles piled high on either side of the path to Dyne ' s Hideout . Dyne ' s Hideout . Dyne is fought here . Quests . Date mechanics . " Final Fantasy VII " has a hidden affection value that determines whom Cloud will go on a date with in Gold Saucer later . The value is determined by the dialogue and party member choices made prior to the date . The character chosen to accompany Cloud and Barret to fight Dyne gets a boost : Aeris gets a + 10 , Tifa gets a + 3 , and Yuffie gets a + 2 . Picking Red XIII or Cait Sith does nothing . Enemies . Corel Desert . Only available before Meteorfall on Disc 2 . Musical themes . " Desert Wasteland " plays as the background theme in Corel Prison .