Midgar Zolom

The Midgar Zolom is a species of giant serpents in Final Fantasy VII that dwell within the marshlands leading to the Mythril Mine. It uses and can bestow the Beta Enemy Skill.

The Midgar Zolom appears as a grey serpentine shadow gliding across the marsh. Riding a chocobo makes the party fast enough to easily outrun it. After traversing the swamp, a cutscene shows a Zolom impaled on a tree, leading the party to speculate the feat was done by Sephiroth.

Avoiding
If the party battles Midgar Zolom, they must kill it to proceed - if they flee, they are transported back to the edge of the swamp. Midgar Zolom can push someone out of battle; because that person is still alive, it is not Game Over even if the other characters die, and the current party leader will appear on the edge of the swamp. Even if killed, the Midgar Zolom quickly respawns to begin chasing the party again.

Due to the configuration of the marsh area, it is possible, though difficult, to outrun the creature by foot, starting at the point furthest out into the marsh, with the Midgar Zolom to the left and slightly behind. Conversely, because the Midgar Zolom can never be further away from the Chocobo Farm side of the marsh than a player coming from Mythril Mines, it is not possible to outrun the Midgar Zolom from this direction, using positioning alone.

If the player does not wish to buy the Chocobo Lure Materia, they may utilize the save game exploit by simply starting to cross the swamp and when the Zolom's shadow is about to attack, the player can save the game, exit and reload the game. Midgar Zolom will spawn on the other side of the swamp.

Battle Strategy
When the battle begins, Midgar Zolom attacks only by using its physical attack, Bite. The attacks are powerful and can kill or severely weaken a character. As an upside, the attack will fill a character's Limit Break meter.

Midgar Zolom has three other abilities, which it will always perform as counterattacks in response to direct attacks, all when its HP is at a certain percentage: If it takes damage when below 3/4 HP, it uncoils, rising into the air. If it takes damage when below 1/2 HP, it will use Push to remove a character from battle. If it takes damage at low HP, it will use the powerful Beta attack inflicting approximately 1,000 - 1,200 Fire-elemental damage on the entire party. Using the Sense Materia is recommended for determining Midgar Zolom's current HP if Midgar Zolom is poisoned, as the poison damage display may be offscreen during some attack animations, and Poison may hit twice per round.

If there is no direct attack at low HP, but only poison damage, the Midgar Zolom may still push, even a second time, instead of using Beta. If damaged only by poison, Midgar Zolom will not use Beta, and may not push or stand up either.

Elemental Materia connected to a Fire Materia in armor will halve Beta's damage. Fighting in the back row and using Defend each halve Bite's physical damage; both together bring it down to 80 or so. Using a Tranquilizer to put characters in Sadness reduces both physical and magic damage by 30%. The Spirit stat (and thus the Talisman) reduces the magic damage from Beta (Magic Defense was not implemented in Final Fantasy VII); armor Defense and the Vitality stat (and therefore Protect Vest) reduce physical damage. Characters' HP gain at level up is random within a given range; given his HP rises high enough each level, Barret can survive Beta at level 11, using the above tactics.

The poison damage from Bio or Deadly Waste gives the player plenty of time to time attacks; Midgar Zolom takes 125 HP of poison damage per round. A faster result can be obtained by also using Gravity damage. If Gravity or Laser is unavailable, the party can use any Graviballs they may have won from Deenglows in the Train Graveyard in Midgar to do heavy damage.

Poison damage can cause the Midgar Zolom to die immediately after using Beta if the provoking strike is carefully timed to knock it below 125 HP. Poison status, and the three attacks, at 3,000 HP, 2,000 HP and low HP, are all that is required to both kill the Midgar Zolom and make it cast Beta. This sequence is recommended for low level parties, as it can Push twice, Push then Beta, Push then Bite, not cast Beta at all, and all manner of other inconvenient combinations, if other sequences of attacks are used. Conversely, if the player wishes only to kill Midgar Zolom and prevent it from casting Beta, poisoning it only, with no further attacks, will ensure it does not cast Beta.

At higher levels, Barret can drain Midgar Zolom's MP with his Mindblow Limit Break to prevent Midgar Zolom from using Beta. Surviving Beta at the lowest possible level relies on it missing altogether. Given enough attempts, this can be achieved by giving a character a command to use a Hyper and confusing them with Loco Weed before the Hyper is used, whereupon they have a chance of using Hyper (which cannot normally be used against enemies) on the Midgar Zolom. This gives a 15.37% chance of Beta missing altogether.

Due to its respawning and automatic attack, Midgar Zolom can become a target of automated levelling for high level parties, with an autofire controller and Final Attack - Revive or - Phoenix combinations, limited only by available MP.

Characters that are pushed will have the Fury and Sadness status effect removed.

Learning Beta
If the player is trying to obtain the Beta as Enemy Skill, they must make sure the character who holds the Enemy Skill Materia both survives the attack and wins the battle. Midgar Zolom uses Beta as a counterattack, so one should be ready to crack off a heal spell on the E.Skill player after the attack goes off. There is also a chance of the character being pushed from battle, in which case Beta will not be learned. If this character does no attacks, or only the final, low HP attack (required in the case of low level characters with only two remaining in the battle, so that the prospective Beta recipient can be healed before Beta), he or she is less likely to be the target of Push.

Aeris's level 3 Limit Break, Planet Protector, makes the party invincible; using this at the right time can ensure the party survives Beta. The Fire Ring from Costa Del Sol, equipped on the character holding the Enemy Skill Materia, nullifies all damage from Beta (and potentially allows the player to counterattack with Beta).

Etymology
The name "Midgar Zolom" is a variation of "Miðgarðsormr", a serpent from Norse mythology said to swim in the ocean surrounding Midgard, preventing travelers from crossing into higher or lower realms.