Meteor ( Final Fantasy VII ) Meteor is the most powerful offensive spell in the world of " Final Fantasy VII " . Referred to as " The Ultimate Destructive Magic " , this incarnation of Meteor is probably the most powerful seen in the series . While in other games the spell brings either micrometeorites to the planet , or else lifts the target into space to collide with a passing meteor storm , in " Final Fantasy VII " Meteor summons a celestial body to harm the Planet itself . It is unknown if , like Omega and Holy , Meteor has an actual purpose set by the Planet . Story . Summoning Meteor . The Cetra were given the power of Meteor in the ancient times , but because they valued life they shunned it and locked its source away in a cryptic puzzle . Sephiroth learns of Meteor while traveling the Lifestream and hopes to utilize it to injure the Planet so it would gather its Lifestream and he could absorb the Planet ' s life force and become a " god " . He uses Cloud Strife and his party to take the Black Materia out of the Temple of the Ancients , and an avatar of Sephiroth , Jenova , shape - shifts into his form and takes it from Cloud afterward . Pursuing Sephiroth and Jenova to the North Crater , Cloud and his allies kill Jenova∙DEATH and reclaim the Black Materia . Sephiroth takes control of Cloud ' s mind and forces him to deliver the Materia to him and immediately uses it , giving the Planet roughly two weeks to prepare for the impact . The Planet summons its guardians , the Weapons , and the world flies into a panic . Shinra Electric Power Company and the party both attempt to find a way to stop Meteor . Shinra loads Huge Materia into the abandoned Shinra No . 26 rocket at Rocket Town and launches it at Meteor , and although the explosion fragments Meteor ' s surface , it is not destroyed . The party discovers that Aeris Gainsborough had cast Holy , the Ultimate White Magic which could stop Meteor , but Sephiroth is blocking it . The party ' s goals thus turn to defeating Sephiroth and freeing Holy . The chosen day . Cloud and his party descend into the Northern Cave and kill Sephiroth , freeing Holy . However , it is too late , and Meteor is already impacting over Midgar . Holy fights off Meteor , but due to the gravity near it , it is too unfocused to destroy it . The Lifestream erupts from the ground , controlled by Aeris , and pushes Meteor back , allowing Holy to destroy it and save the Planet and what ' s left of Midgar . The opening of " Dirge of Cerberus " expands on the events during Meteorfall . Yuffie Kisaragi oversaw Midgar ' s evacuation along with Vincent Valentine who climbed to the Sister Ray controls to investigate Professor Hojo ' s spirit , and was saved by Yuffie as the tower collapsed . Rufus Shinra , initially presumed for dead in the ruins of the Shinra Headquarters , was also being loaded into a helicopter . In the novella " On the Way to a Smile " it is revealed that Reeve Tuesti ordered the Midgar citizens to move under the plate to avoid casualties but that the Lifestream ' s emergence to fight Meteor caused as much damage to Midgar as the Meteor itself . Rebuilding . In the aftermath of Meteor ' s destruction , the world struggles to rebuild . Mako Reactor s are shut down as people feel indebted to the Lifestream for saving them and refuse to use Mako . Fossil fuels are used , with limited success , as alternatives . The Midgar survivors move north and build a new city , Edge , on the outskirts of the Midgar ruins . Over time Edge expands as more people move from Midgar to the new city , including Denzel . A monument in the city center is donated by Rufus , depicting Meteor ' s impact over Midgar . The Lifestream that emerged to fight Meteor was partially contaminated with Sephiroth ' s influence , more specifically , Jenova ' s cells . Those who came in contact with the tainted Lifestream contracted Geostigma , an incurable and fatal disease . The epidemic culminates two years later in " " where , due in part to Geostigma , Sephiroth is revived .