Meteor (Final Fantasy VII)



Meteor is the most powerful offensive spell in Final Fantasy VII. Referred to as "The Ultimate Destructive Magic", this incarnation of Meteor is probably the most powerful seen in the series. While in other games the spell brings either micrometeorites to the planet, or else lifts the target into space to collide with a passing meteor storm, in Final Fantasy VII, Meteor summons something just a bit smaller than the moon to harm the Planet itself. Much of the storyline focuses upon stopping this powerful spell. It is unknown if, like Omega and Holy, Meteor has an actual purpose set by the Planet.

Summoning Meteor
The Cetra were originally given the power of Meteor, but because the Cetra valued life, they shunned it and locked its source away in a cryptic puzzle. Sephiroth learns of Meteor while traveling the Lifestream. With Meteor, Sephiroth hopes to injure the Planet so badly that all of the Lifestream will gather in one location to heal the wound. His plan was to place himself in the center of that wound and absorb the Planet's life force, subject it to his will, and become a "god". He uses Cloud Strife and his party to take the Black Materia out of the Temple of the Ancients, and an avatar of Sephiroth, Jenova, shape-shifts into his form, and takes it from Cloud afterward.

Pursuing Sephiroth and Jenova to the North Crater, Cloud and his allies kill Jenova∙DEATH and reclaim the Black Materia. However, Sephiroth takes control of Cloud's mind and forces him to deliver the Materia to him. Sephiroth promptly uses it, destroying the crater and summoning Meteor, giving the Planet roughly two weeks left to live. The world subsequently flies into a panic.

Shinra and the party both attempt to find a way to stop Meteor. Shinra loads four shards of Huge Materia into the abandoned Shinra No. 26 rocket at Rocket Town, and launches it at Meteor. Depending on the player's success at claiming the Huge Materia, the rocket can be launched empty, and although the explosion fragments Meteor's surface, it is not destroyed. Even if the player fails to salvage the Huge Materia shards, it won't affect the storyline. The party discovers that Aeris Gainsborough, whom Sephiroth had killed, had died casting Holy, which could stop Meteor, but Sephiroth is blocking it. The party's goals thus turn to defeating Sephiroth and freeing Holy so it can destroy Meteor.

The Chosen Day
Cloud and his party descend into the Northern Cave and kill Sephiroth, freeing Holy. However, it is too late, and Meteor is already impacting over Midgar. Holy fights off Meteor, but due to the gravity near it, it is too unfocused to destroy it. The Lifestream erupts from the ground, controlled by Aeris, and pushes Meteor back, allowing Holy to destroy it and narrowly save the Planet.

The opening of Dirge of Cerberus expands on the events during the Meteor's fall. Yuffie Kisaragi is overseeing the evacuation of Midgar, along with Vincent Valentine. Vincent climbs to the Sister Ray controls to investigate Professor Hojo's spirit, and is saved by Yuffie as the tower collapses. Rufus Shinra, presumed and left for dead in the ruins of the Shinra Headquarters, is also seen being loaded into a helicopter at this time.

In the novella On the Way to a Smile, it is also revealed that Reeve Tuesti ordered the Midgar citizens to move under the plate to further avoid casualties. It is also shown through the eyes of Denzel that the Lifestream's emergence to fight Meteor caused just as much damage to Midgar as the Meteor itself.

Rebuilding
In the aftermath of Meteor's destruction, the world struggles to rebuild. Mako Reactors are shut down across the Planet, as people feel indebted to the Lifestream for saving them and refuse to use Mako. Fossil fuels are used with limited success, as alternatives. For the most part, however, the world beyond Midgar remains alive and thriving.

The Midgar survivors move north and build a new city, Edge, on the outskirts of the Midgar ruins. Over time, Edge expands as more people move from Midgar to the new city, including Denzel. A monument in the city center is donated by Rufus, depicting Meteor's impact over Midgar.

However, not everything is peaceful. The Lifestream that emerged to fight Meteor was partially contaminated with Sephiroth's influence, more specifically, Jenova's cells. Those who came into contact with the tainted Lifestream contracted Geostigma, an incurable and fatal disease. This epidemic culminates two years later in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, in which, due in part to Geostigma, Sephiroth is revived.