Mako Reactor



The Mako Reactors, called Makoro Plants in the Demo release, are giant reactors, created by Shinra Electric Power Company in Final Fantasy VII. The reactors are large machines built to forcibly extract the Lifestream from the earth and process it into Mako energy. Because Mako energy is efficient in comparison to other fuels (implied to be coal and oil in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII) used at the time, and Mako Reactors can be built almost anywhere, Mako allows Shinra to acquire a monopoly on electricity production and almost rule the world.

The Mako Reactors were designed by Reeve Tuesti several years prior to Final Fantasy VII. It is unknown exactly when the reactors were designed, but in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, Rufus Shinra mentions Mako energy has been in production for over forty years. This coincides with Mako being used in the Jenova Project, as Jenova was discovered thirty years prior to the game's beginning.

According to the novella On the Way to a Smile: Case of Barret, it is revealed that the Lifestream's flow has changed since the coming of Meteor, and thus the Mako Reactors can no longer access it and produce Mako. As well, the reactors have been shut down since people feel indebted to the Lifestream for saving them. Still, small bits of Mako remain in the reactors, which are used by the Midgar survivors to build Edge near the city's ruins. In Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, Reeve and the World Regenesis Organization destroy the reactors to prevent Omega from drawing the Lifestream through them.

Midgar Reactors
A total of nine reactors were built in Midgar: eight surrounding the city, one for each sector, and one underground to power the Shinra Headquarters and the base of Deepground. In the opening events of Final Fantasy VII, AVALANCHE is able to blow up the Sector 1 Reactor, causing a brief power cut. AVALANCHE later bombs the Sector 5 Reactor, even though Shinra had anticipated the attack and brought reinforcements. Despite the bombings, the Sector 5 Reactor is later seen working, implying that it was repaired and rebuilt, while the Sector 1 Reactor is left destroyed.

Late in the game, the Sister Ray is moved to Midgar. Without Huge Materia from Junon to power the cannon, the Sister Ray is connected to the eight Mako Reactors surrounding the city, though the Sector 1 Reactor is still in shambles. When then cannon fires, putting Midgar into a temporary blackout, it successfully destroys Diamond Weapon and pierces the barrier Sephiroth has erected over the North Crater. At this time, Professor Hojo takes control of the cannon to overload it and fire again, giving Sephiroth more Mako. Through AVALANCHE's intervention Hojo is killed and the cannon shut down. The Mako reactors apparently continue to be used until Meteor arrives.

Fort Condor Reactor
A large condor lives on the top of this reactor. Throughout the game, the condor appears dormant, protecting its eggs, and both it and the Reactor are protected by rebels living in the fort. The bird's presence interferes with Shinra's attempts to retrieve a Huge Materia from within the reactor, and they repeatedly attempt to remove it and defeat the rebels held up in the fort. A minigame within the main storyline is to combat Shinra and save the condor mother, after which the mother dies and the egg hatches into a chick, along with the Phoenix Materia.

The Master Command Huge Materia is also found here.

Corel Reactor
The Corel reactor is a reactor located near the coal mining town of North Corel. Several years before the game's storyline begins, Shinra executives convinced the townspeople (including Barret Wallace) to sell their coal-mine to the company and allow the reactor's construction. At some point after the construction of the Mako Reactor, Shinra burned Corel down in response to an apparent terrorist attack on the reactor. The Gold Saucer theme-park is constructed above the ruins of Corel. With nowhere to go, the survivors built a small shanty town which they named North Corel. This event is critical to several sub-stories in the game.

The Master Magic Huge Materia is produced in this reactor and transported by train to North Corel.

Junon Underwater Reactor
The Junon reactor is the only reactor to reside underwater. It has its own submarine dock, and can be accessed from ground level by an elevator.

The Master Summon Huge Materia is taken from here by submarine.

Gongaga Reactor
The reactor was installed near the small town of Gongaga, but an accident caused a devastating explosion, killing many of the villagers. The Titan Summon Materia can be found in the ruins.

Mt. Nibel Reactor
The first reactor created by Shinra, the Mt. Nibel reactor holds many horrible secrets. It housed a chamber containing subjects of extensive experimentation by Shinra scientists, who tested the effects of injecting Mako directly into human beings. The entity Jenova was also kept within the reactor at one time, but was moved to Midgar after the village was razed by Sephiroth. The reactor continued to be used to power Nibelheim, however, and it is likely that the test subjects at the reactor were either destroyed or moved as well.

The Huge Materia that can be harnessed as the Bahamut ZERO Summon Materia was produced here, transported to Junon, and then shipped from there to Rocket Town by way of the Gelnika.

Modeo Reactor
A reactor was originally planned to be built in Modeoheim. The reactor construction had already begun when the project was scrapped. The few resident scientists abandoned the town and it was not visited again until the partial reactor was briefly used as a base by Genesis's forces.

Wutai Reactor
Shinra targeted Wutai to place a reactor at the Materia Cave south of the town, but the ruler of Wutai, Godo Kisaragi, refused. This led to the conflict known as the Wutai War. Although Shinra won the war, for unknown reasons, they abandoned their plans to build a reactor at Wutai.

Music
Whenever the player visits a Mako Reactor, the eponymous theme, "Mako Reactor", plays.

Development
At one point in Final Fantasy VII's development, AVALANCHE had to shut down all of the Mako Reactors in order to stand a chance at defeating Sephiroth, thus resulting in Reeve betraying Shinra to help them shut down the remaining reactors. While this plot-point was ultimately cut from the game, a similar plot-point occurs in Dirge of Cerberus, where AVALANCHE has to destroy the Mako Reactors around the Planet in an attempt to slow down Omega's resurrection.