Magic Materia
A complete list of all the Magic Materia found within Final Fantasy VII. Equipping Magic Materia gives you access to spells within battle (and sometimes outside battle, such as Restore Materia).
Some Magic Materia needs to be leveled with a certain amount of AP before you gain access to any spells (including Ultima Materia and Shield Materia). Magic Materia can be paired with Support Materia to have it affect multiple targets or allies.
Barrier
- Description:
-
Barrier - Casts a shield in front of a character that causes physical attacks to do less damage.
MBarrier - Casts a shield in front of a character that causes spells to do less damage.
Reflect - Casts a shield in front of a character that causes spells to reflect towards the enemy. A quick warning, though: this also casts beneficial magic (Cure, Heal, etc) to be reflected at the enemy as well.
Wall - Effects of Barrier and MBarrier in a single spell.
This Materia is extremely useful if you encounter a boss that is doing a large amount of damage to your party. For standard fights, however, the stats you lose by equipping extra Magic Materia make it costly to keep equipped constantly. - Location:
- You can purchase Barrier Materia in Rocket Town.
Comet
- Description:
- The first spell you have access to is Comet. It does damage to a single opponent. The second spell is called Comet2, which does damage to multiple opponents for a fairly significant amount of damage.
- Location:
- You can pick up this Materia in the building behind the lake in the Forgotten City (of the Forgotten Capital). Your first opportunity to obtain it is on Disc 1, though you can return to pick it up at any time if you’ve missed it.
Contain
- Description:
- A very powerful magic Materia that contains several high-powered spells, including Freeze, Break, Tornado, and Flare. Long-time fans of the Final Fantasy series will recognize most of these spells from previous games. These spells are comparable with other high-powered spells, including Ultima and Comet.
- Location:
- You can pick up a Contain Materia from a small Chocobo in Mideel. The Chocobo’s handler will say that it likes “Samolen Greens,” which don’t exist within the game (likely a typo or a Green that was removed). You need to buy
Mimett Greens and then choose to “Tickle behind his ears,” and the Chocobo will reward you with a Contain Materia.
Destruct
- Description:
- This Materia is useful for removing Barriers and MBarriers put up by bosses and more difficult enemies (including Gorkii in the Wutai Pagoda). It does have limited applications, though, so it is not recommended that you keep it equipped during regular battles.
- Location:
- This Materia is thrown at Cloud when Sephiroth flees from the basement of the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim.
Earth
- Description:
- Allows a character to use the Quake spell, which is similar to other magic spells, such as Bolt, Ice, and Fire. You cannot use this spell to hit flying or airborne enemies.
- Location:
- You can purchase one in Kalm as soon as you leave Midgar, Costa del Sol, and Junon.
Exit
- Description:
- It’s one of the more useless spells in the game. Escape allows you to run away from the battle. You can use the
and 
buttons to retreat from battle, although this should be done sparingly. You need the experience points. Therefore, don’t waste Materia space on an Exit Materia. - Location:
- You can purchase an Exit Materia in Rocket Town.
Fire
- Description:
- Standard magic Materia that you start the game with. This Materia can be very useful early on but loses some of its value as you progress through the game. More powerful spells that you receive later on (such as Ultima, Comet, and Contain) will replace these spells even if you level them up. Use the elemental effects to your advantage where you can.
- Location:
- Found in almost all stores.
Full Cure
- Description:
- The Full Cure Materia does not come with any usable spell when you first receive it. You have to level it up to level 2 to gain access to the Full Cure spell, which heals a party member to full HP. It tends to complement Restore Materia, but there is no benefit to equipping both. The MP cost is relatively high.
- Location:
- You can revisit Cosmo Canyon after the first visit to enter the back of the item store to find a Full Cure Materia.
Gravity
- Description:
- Demi-magic, similar to other demi-type spells in the Final Fantasy series, hit for a percentage of an enemy’s HP. Many of the bosses in the game are immune to demi-magic, but there are a few battles where these spells can come in handy.
- Location:
- You can purchase Gravity Materia in Costa del Sol and Mideel. You will also receive one while passing through the Cave of the Gi in Cosmo Canyon after defeating Gi Nattak.
Heal
- Description:
- Heal Materia has three different spells as you level it up with AP. They are:
- Poisona - Removes poison (Bio) effects
- Esuna - Removes all status effects
- Resist - Improves a character’s resistance to status effects
- Location:
- You can purchase this Materia in Kalm, Junon, Costa del Sol, and Gongaga.
Ice
- Description:
- Standard magic Materia that you start the game with. This Materia can be very useful early on but loses some of its value as you progress through the game. More powerful spells that you receive later on (such as Ultima, Comet, and Contain) will replace these spells even if you level them up. Use the elemental effects to your advantage where you can.
- Location:
- Found in almost all stores.
Lightning
- Description:
- Standard magic Materia that you start the game with. This Materia can be very useful early on but loses some of its value as you progress through the game. More powerful spells that you receive later on (such as Ultima, Comet, and Contain) will replace these spells even if you level them up. Use the elemental effects to your advantage where you can.
- Location:
- Found in almost all stores.
Master Magic
- Description:
- This Materia gives you access to all the spells in the game from all the magic Materia listed on this page and all the levels available (e.g., Bolt, Bolt2, and Bolt3). Unlike most magic Materia, it does not affect the stats of a character when you equip it.
- Location:
- The Master Magic Materia is given to you by the Kalm Traveler as part of a side quest after defeating Emerald Weapon. You can also obtain one by mastering each of the Magic Materia listed on this page (excluding Master Magic Materia) and then speaking to Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon.
Mystify
- Description:
- This Materia can be used to cast status effects on enemies including, Confuse or Berserk, but has limited applications during regular gameplay.
- Location:
- You can purchase it in Gongaga, Rocket Town, or Cosmo Canyon.
Poison
- Description:
- Gives access to the spell “Bio” which causes a poison effect on enemies. This is a very useful spell as the amount damage done by the spell is based on the amount of HP that the enemy has. As a result, it can have a significant impact on boss battles where the bosses have high health points.
You can pair Poison Materia with an
Added Effect Materia to have some attacks automatically add the status during regular attacks. - Location:
- You can purchase this Materia in Kalm, Costa del Sol, and Junon, and you can also find a Poison Materia on the 67th floor of the Shinra Building.
Restore
- Description:
- This Materia is one of the most important Materia in the game and a staple that you can lean on heavily during any playthrough. Equip it in a paired slot with an All Materia. The Cure spells will replace Potions and Hi-Potions, and Regen becomes an incredibly powerful spell later on in the game.
- Location:
- You can purchase Restore Materia in Midgar, Fort Condor, Costa del Sol, and Junon. You will also receive one as your first Materia in the No. 1 Reactor in Midgar.
Revive
- Description:
- This Materia replaces the use of Phoenix Downs to revive KO’d characters during battle. The second level of this spell revives characters with full HP.
- Location:
- You can purchase this Materia in Junon and Costa del Sol.
Seal
- Description:
- This Materia allows you to cast Sleepel (Sleep status effect) and Silence. The Sleep status effect is removed as soon as you attack the enemy, and both the Sleep and Silence status effects will rarely work on bosses. This Materia has very few uses in the game and is not worth equipping.
- Location:
- You can purchase this Materia in Junon and Costa del Sol.
Shield
- Description:
- You will not be able to use Shield Materia when you first receive it. Instead, you must level it up to at least level 2 before you get access to the “Shield” spell. The Shield spell and Shield status make a character immune to most (but not all) attacks and cost 180 MP to cast. This spell can be incredibly useful in certain situations but the investment (both in terms of AP and MP) is heavy.
- Location:
- You can find it on one of the split paths in the Northern Cave.
Time
- Description:
- Time Materia allows you to cast several spells, including Haste (which increases a character’s speed), Slow (which reduces an enemy’s speed), and Stop (which can prevent an enemy from attacking). Time Materia pairs well with some Support Materia.
- Location:
- You can purchase it in Gongaga and Rocket Town.
Transform
- Description:
- Transform Materia allows a character to cast Mini (which causes the “Small” status effect) and Toad (which causes the “Frog” status effect). These two status effects rarely take effect during boss battles, so Transform Materia has limited applications.
- Location:
- Cait Sith comes equipped with one, and you can purchase them in North Corel, Cosmo Canyon, Gongaga, and Mideel.
Ultima
- Description:
- Ultima is the most powerful spell in the game (listed as an “Extreme Magic Attack” in the game). An Ultima Materia needs to be leveled up with at least 5,000 AP before you can use the Ultima Spell.
- Location:
- You receive the Ultima Materia in North Corel/Mount Corel after you stop the train on Disc 2. You receive it for free if you stop the train. You can buy it for 50,000 Gil if the train crashes, and you won’t get it at all if you don’t catch the train when controlling Cid.