Highwind (Final Fantasy VII)

The Highwind is the player's primary airship in Final Fantasy VII. It can only land on plains in the overworld and only patches that are big enough for it to land. The player can store a chocobo inside it and ride it out again. There is a man who acts as a save point who can fully heal the party for no cost. The Highwind is used to ram into Ultimate WEAPON to make it stop fleeing and fight. In some battles with the Ultimate WEAPON, the deck is used as a battleground. The airship is also used as a part of Cid Highwind's Limit Break Highwind, in which the Highwind rains 18 missiles down on random targets.

In the Hands of Shinra
The Highwind was designed and built by Cid Highwind, Shinra's chief aeronautical engineer, several years before the beginning of Final Fantasy VII. A poster of the newly constructed Highwind can be seen in the Showcase Room of Shinra Headquarters in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. The airship was confiscated from Cid after the failed rocket launch in Rocket Town and served as Shinra's main flagship from then on. The Highwind can be spotted in Junon while first passing through.

President Rufus Shinra takes command of the Highwind during the hunt for the rogue SOLDIER, Sephiroth and commandeers it to reach the Northern Crater; this is one of the few times in the game that time scales are mentioned (other than the infamous 'five years ago'); the time taken to arrange the mutiny of the Highwind crew takes roughly 7 days, it is not explained how Cid avoided capture during this time. Tifa Lockhart and Barret Wallace are both stolen away on the Highwind during the rise of WEAPONs.

The Party's Airship
The Highwind is again docked in Junon, where Rufus plans to execute both Tifa and Barret as scapegoats for the Meteor crisis. However, the other party members sneak in and rescue Barret and go off to steal the Highwind. Tifa jumps off the Sister Ray Cannon onto her waiting comrades on the Highwind. They all fly off, safely out of the clutches of Shinra. For then on, the Highwind serves as the main transporting device and headquarters for the party.

Just before the final battle the Highwind reveals two jet boosts at the back, replacing the two propellers and after defeating Sephiroth the party are stuck deep within the Planet, and the Lifestream is quickly seeping up to the surface. The Highwind dives straight into the Crater to rescue them; the cause of this nose-dive is not explained, Cid's apparent dismay (as it crashes down, he reaches up to it) implies the crew acted on their own to save the group, or that the ship, tethered near the entrance of Crater was pulled down. The ship is blasted out of the Crater by Holy, its tails fall off along with some of the shell, and reveals its final form as two long wings unfold from its sides. The final Highwind model is propelled by only one engine and appears to be an emergency measure only used when the ship takes too much damage. Highwind soars the skies as the Meteor crashes into Midgar and the Lifestream comes up to save the Planet.

It is unknown what became of Highwind after the events of Final Fantasy VII. Cid would replace the Highwind with his new airship, the Shera.

Layout
The Highwind's command deck is located forward of the airship's gondola (cabin) and can be seen from the outside through a large curved window supported by metal grid-work. The deck contains three work stations; including the pilot controls (located top right and manned by Cid Highwind), communications and radar post (located left), and a station for various other stats and controls (located bottom right). The command deck is accessible via the engine room and has arrows painted of the floor to help guide confused crew.
 * Command Deck:

The main deck provides access to the airship via a staircase into the engine room. A series of ropes and ladders can be unfurled to provide access to the ground as well as a mooring to anchor the Highwind while "landed".
 * Main Deck:

The engine room links together the command and main decks and the stables. It also has an operations room, which may be accessed to heal, save, and switch party members. If Yuffie Kisaragi is in the party, she can often be found in the engine room, suffering from motion sickness.
 * Engine Room:

The Highwind's stables provides suitable accommodation for one chocobo. Accessible via the engine room the stables contains hay, water and various chocobo feed for the avid breeder.
 * Stables:

Music Themes
The Highwind's main musical theme is track 3 on disc 4 of the Final Fantasy VII: Original Soundtrack, "Highwind Takes to the Skies." It is a stirring arrangement of the Final Fantasy VII main theme.

Poster Display
The picture seen on the right was one of the causes for the great debate of whether or not it was possible to revive Aeris in the game, as the Highwind isn't acquired until after she dies, yet she is standing there, ready to board. Alternately, it is speculated as adding to the ironic elements of Final Fantasy VII's plot, as it is on the cover of the CD sleeve and one of the most famous images released before the game. Alternatively, this could be interpreted as symbolic, considering the fact that Aeris did see the Highwind in Junon, thus her request to Cloud to let her ride on it someday.

Trivia

 * Ironically, if one were to try to confront Diamond WEAPON while riding the Highwind, Cid will scold the player, asking whether they are trying to destroy the ship. However, when confronting the Ultimate WEAPON, the player must ram into with the Highwind, and even fight it on the deck.
 * In On the Way to a Smile: Episode of Denzel, Denzel is seen throwing a toy version of the Highwind into a window.
 * In Kingdom Hearts, Riku will challenge Sora to a race; if Sora wins he can name their raft what the player wishes, however if Riku wins he says it will be named Highwind. The name of the raft is used for the name of the Gummi Ship later in the game.
 * The musical theme, "Highwind takes to the Sky", might be inspired by one of Final Fantasy V soundtrack: "Searching the Light".