Weapon (Final Fantasy VII creature)

The Weapons, also known as the WEAPON, are powerful monsters in the world of Final Fantasy VII. Created to defeat Jenova, the Weapons are massive bio-mechanical engines of destruction designed to protect the Planet. Five Weapons feature in Final Fantasy VII, and two more are introduced in its extended universe. They exist as powerful bosses, and several of them as superbosses.
Each Weapon bears a unique appearance, and a few appear to have elemental attributes. The Weapons are tall and massively powerful, with HP numbering in the six and seven digits for most of them. They are reminiscent of the giant monsters that appear in Japanese Kaiju films, such as Godzilla.
==Story==
The Weapons were created 2000 years ago when Jenova fell on the Planet, each possessing a giant Materia as a core. The Planet autonomously spawned the Weapons to fight Jenova, but they ended up not being needed as the Cetra sealed her away. With the threat to the Planet contained, the Weapons crystallized in mako with most stationed at the North Crater, awaiting the day when the Planet would be endangered and they would be needed to protect it again.
In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- The Banora mining site was closed when Shinra Electric Power Company discovered the Emerald Weapon in stasis. The village was built to hide the discovery with Shinra staffing it with residents for observation.Core Complete Guide p. 42-43 In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, it is revealed that some of the Weapons have started to become active with the Shinra company commencing the Magnus Materia project to acquire the Weapons for their cores before Wutai does. 
In Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth acquires the Black Materia and uses it to summon Meteor. Sensing the impending threat, most of the weapons fully awaken and emerge from their mako cocoons. Due to the energy barrier Sephiroth erects over the North Crater, the Weapons cannot sense his presence and do not target him. Instead, the Weapons go on a rampage. and target various places like Junon and Midgar as they deem humans as equally dangerous threats to the Planet. Between the combined forces of Cloud Strife's party and Shinra, the Weapons are destroyed.
==List of Weapons==
===Sapphire Weapon===
Sapphire Weapon attacks Junon approximately one week after the Weapons awoke. Sapphire Weapon is aquatic with a long serpentine tail and a streamlined blue and purple body with fins. It has two arms, but no visible feet, indicating it cannot move on land.
Emerging from the water and charging towards Junon, it is immune to the Shinra military weaponry until it takes a point-blank blast from the mako cannon. The cannon obliterates its head, leaving Sapphire Weapon's remains to sink into the water leaving a crater on the ocean floor.
Sapphire Weapon is not named in Final Fantasy VII, but the extra fourth disc of Final Fantasy VII International addresses it by name.
===Ultimate Weapon===
Ultimate Weapon emerges from the North Crater along with the other Weapons and disappears into the sky. It attacks Mideel, and the subsequent earthquake destroys the town. Ultimate Weapon is draconic with four legs, two arms, wings, and a long tail and neck. It is black and purple.
Cid Highwind and his allies fight it when it emerges at Mideel, but it escapes. After Diamond Weapon is destroyed, Ultimate Weapon reemerges above the newly-formed crater near Junon. After defeating it here, Ultimate Weapon flies over the world, stopping at one of several predetermined locations after Cid rams it enough times with the Highwind. After being fought at various places, it is destroyed near Cosmo Canyon and leaves a crater the party can use to access the Ancient Forest.
===Diamond Weapon===
Diamond Weapon appears when Shinra moves the mako cannon from Junon to Midgar, and emerges from the waters to the north and marches against the city. Diamond Weapon is roughly humanoid in appearance, with a distinct pair of feet, hands, shoulders, and a torso and head. It has a covering over the back of its legs similar to a cloak or cape.
Cloud Strife and his allies intervene to save the city and attack the Weapon, but it is undefeated and continues on to Midgar. The cannon has been modeled into a more powerful version powered by the seven remaining mako reactors around the city. It fires at Diamond Weapon at the same time as Diamond Weapon unleashes a barrage of energy at Midgar. The Sister Ray's beam destroys Diamond Weapon and continues on to pierce Sephiroth's barrier over the North Crater. Diamond Weapon's final assault impacts the Shinra Building soon after, seemingly killing Rufus Shinra.
Diamond Weapon wasn't a fightable boss in the original Japanese game version. Yuffie's weapon, Rising Sun, which can be stolen from Diamond Weapon, existed in the game data, but could never be obtained.
The Diamond Weapon glitch can prevent the player fighting Diamond Weapon, but it ruins their save file.
===Ruby Weapon===
Ruby Weapon can be seen in the FMV sequence emerging from the North Crater, but otherwise plays no role in the story. Ruby Weapon is, like Diamond Weapon, vaguely humanoid with arms, legs, a torso and head, but its limbs are elongated and misshapen beyond human proportions.
Ruby Weapon appears in the desert around the Gold Saucer Area after Ultimate Weapon is defeated. It appears at first as an indistinguishable red fin moving under the sand, but once approached it erupts and attacks. Fighting it is optional.
Ruby Weapon, as well as Emerald Weapon, did not exist in the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII, being added to the North American and subsequent releases, and thus the FMV showing the Weapons emerging from the crater was slightly altered to include the two.
===Emerald Weapon===
Emerald Weapon can be seen in the FMV sequence where it emerges from the North Crater, but otherwise plays no role in the story. It has a visible head and two shoulder-like appendages, as well as what could be seen as a mouth. Otherwise, its body has two large leg-like extensions but without feet, and two large fins extending from its back.
Emerald Weapon appears in the Bottom of the Sea between Costa del Sol and Junon, and can be found as soon as the player acquires the submarine. It moves slowly and the player can outrun it easily, but approaching it initiates a battle. Fighting it is optional.
===Jade Weapon===
In Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, the Jade Weapon is insectoid in appearance, with a green/blue/purple pair of wings with multiple short legs and a pair of antennae. Awakened by the Turks' destruction of Zirconiade, Jade Weapon begins to hunt down the Turks involved in Zirconiade's destruction. As Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- was a mobile phone game, Jade Weapon would appear depending on where the player was in the real world. It could appear over Midgar, Cosmo Canyon, Icicle Inn, Junon, Costa del Sol, or Wutai.
===Omega===
In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, the seventh and final Weapon, Omega, appears. Unlike the other Weapons built for protecting Gaia against Jenova, Omega is meant to be its last resort; it appears when the Planet is in dire danger of being destroyed to collect its lifestream and leave into space, transplanting the lifestream to a new planet and leaving the old one a dying husk.
Omega is forced to appear by Deepground and Weiss, under the control of Professor Hojo. Deepground rounds up and kills many people, tricking Omega into thinking the Planet is in danger. Using the Protomateria, Weiss taps into Omega's powers, but Vincent Valentine summons the power of Omega's messenger, Chaos, and defeats Weiss. Hojo's influence over Weiss is broken when his brother Nero merges with him. Omega has still been called, and Vincent must destroy it to save the Planet.
====Chaos====
In Final Fantasy VII Chaos appears as Vincent's fourth, and most powerful, Limit Break. In Dirge of Cerberus, it is revealed Chaos is a semi-Weapon that serves as Omega's messenger.
===Mako reactor Weapons===
Two unnamed Weapons appear in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, spawned from the Magnus Materia inside the mako reactors at Corel and Gongaga. They both appear as huge, whale-like creatures with large fins and their respective materia embedded in their chest, acting as their core.
These Weapons were created as a response to Sephiroth attempting to defy fate, and act in tandem with a group of white Whispers to contrast those that fell under Sephiroth's control. When Tifa falls into the lifestream following Cloud's attempt to kill her under Sephiroth's influence, the Weapon in the Gongaga reactor saves her and takes her on a trip through the lifestream, where she regains her suppressed memories and witnesses a fight between the Weapons and Sephiroth.
==Musical themes==
"Attack of the WEAPON" is the theme composed by Nobuo Uematsu that plays during the Raid on Junon and the Raid on Midgar. It is track 2 of disc 4 on the Final Fantasy VII: Original Soundtrack.
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, "Weapon's Cry" is an arrangement by Yoshitaka Suzuki that plays when heading for the Gongaga Reactor. It is track 24 of disc 4 on the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Original Soundtrack.
==Other appearances==
===Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-===
A Weapon strongly ressembling Emerald Weapon appears as a Hidden Easter egg, buried in Banora Underground. In the northern sections of the first area, "Depths of Judgment", the Weapon's shoulders emerge from a large formation of crystal; the ridges and slots on the shoulders give it the appearance of Emerald Weapon, but the player is unable to move Zack or the camera in such a way as to see past the crystal, and the Weapon was confirmed to be a different Weapon never seen before. In lore, the discovery of the Weapon in statis underground caused the Shinra Electric Power Company to close the Banora mining site, and the village was built to hide its discovery, with Shinra staffing it with residents.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
The Ultima Weapon appears as an ancient Allagan warmachina, unearthed by the Garlean Empire who in turn turn it on Eorzea in an attempt to subjugate the realm, serving as the final boss of A Realm Reborn. The Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond Weapons appear in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, having been reverse-engineered from the Ultima Weapon by the Garleans.
===Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV===
A Diamond Weapon fashioned after its counterpart in Final Fantasy VII attacks the city of Insomnia. Though not named in the movie, it is called Diamond Weapon in Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto. Its appearance in Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future- indicates it was the planned final boss for the cancelled Episode Aranea. Another weapon, called Sapphire Weapon, appears as the "final boss" in Lunafreya's chapter, which details the cancelled Episode Lunafreya. In the Final Fantasy XV Universe, the Weapons are magitek weapons built by Verstael Besithia of Niflheim.
===Theatrhythm Final Fantasy===
Ultimate Weapon appears as a superboss under the name "Ultima Weapon".
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
Diamond Weapon appears in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Ultimate Weapon, Ruby Weapon, Sapphire Weapon, Emerald Weapon, and Diamond Weapon appear as bosses.
FFRK Diamond Weapon FFVII.png|Diamond Weapon.
FFRK Ultimate Weapon FFVII Enemy.png|Ultimate Weapon.
File:RubyWeaponFFRK.png|Ruby Weapon.
File:SapphireWeaponFFRK.png|Sapphire Weapon.
File:EmeraldWeaponFFRK.png|Emerald Weapon.
===Mobius Final Fantasy===
MFF Diamond Weapon FFVII.jpg|Diamond Weapon.
MFF Emerald Weapon FFVII.jpg|Emerald Weapon.
MFF Omega Weapon FFVII.jpg|Omega Weapon.
MFF Ruby Weapon.jpg|Ruby Weapon.
MFF Sapphire Weapon.jpg|Sapphire Weapon.
MFF Ultimate Weapon.jpg|Ultimate Weapon.
MFF Jade Weapon FFVII.jpg|Jade Weapon.
==Merchandise==
Ultimate, Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire Weapons appear as figurines in the Final Fantasy Creatures series. Ultima Weapon is part of Vol 1 released in 2001, Diamond Weapon is part of the vol 3 that came out in 2003 and Ruby and Sapphire are part of the Vol 4 released in 2004. The Final Fantasy Creatures collection figurines require minimal assembly and there are three types of every character: full-color, crystal, and chrome. In North America, Final Fantasy Creatures were packaged in clear packaging with multiple creatures per pack, and did not require assembling.
Ultimate-Weapon-Final-Fantasy-Creatures.png|Ultimate Weapon figurines.
Diamond-Weapon-Final-Fantasy-Creatures.jpg|Diamond Weapon figurine.
Ruby-Weapon-Final-Fantasy-Creatures.png|Ruby Weapon figurine.
Sappire-Weapon-Final-Fantasy-Creatures.png|Sapphire Weapon figurine.
==Behind the scenes==
In the original English translations of Final Fantasy VII, "Weapon" is treated as an invariant noun, similar to "SOLDIER".
According to the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, during early development of Final Fantasy VII, the Weapons were not created by the Planet, but were monsters created by Sephiroth himself.
Despite the Crisis Core Complete Guide stating Shinra had discovered Emerald Weapon in Banora and subsequently sealed the cavern, in Final Fantasy VII Professor Hojo believes the Weapons are but legend until arriving at the Northern Crater stating: "Weapon... Then it really does exist... I didn't believe in it."
In Final Fantasy VII Remake, the divergences from the timeline of the original game cause the Arbiters of Fate, to manifest in an attempt to preserve the original timeline. The Arbiters merge into a Weapon-like creature called the Whisper Harbinger. In Chapter 14, "In Search of Hope", the player can also get three tiaras from the "Corneo's Secret Stash" sidequest. The tiaras allude to the three Weapons from the original Final Fantasy VII.
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, there are a pair of tourism posters in Tifa's room in Nibelheim which read "Deep dive into the emerald sea" and "Marvel at the ruby red sunset", with stylized landscape features shaped to resemble the silhouettes of the Emerald and Ruby Weapons, respectively.
==Citations==
ru:Оружие (Final Fantasy VII)
Category:Creatures
Category:Final Fantasy VII