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 which will harm the planet itself. Much of the storyline focuses upon this powerful spell and stopping it from destroying 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 shapeshifted into his form, takes it from Cloud afterwards.

Pursuing Sephiroth and Jenova to the Northern Crater, Cloud and his allies kill Jenova and claim 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, unleashing the WEAPONs on the world, and of course, 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 some way to stop Meteor. Shinra loads four shards of Huge Materia into the abandoned rocket at Rocket Town, and launches it at Meteor. Due to the sabotage of the party, the rocket is launched empty of Huge Materia, and although the explosion fragments Meteor's surface, it is undestroyed. The party discovers that Aeris Gainsborough, whom Sephiroth had killed, had died casting Holy, which could stop Meteor, but Sephiroth was blocking it. Cloud party's goals thus turned to defeating Sephiroth and freeing Holy so it could destroy Meteor.

The Chosen Day
Cloud and his party descends into the ruins of the Northern Crater 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 is too unfocused to destroy it. The Lifestream suddenly 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 Meteor's fall. Yuffie Kisaragi is overseeing an evacuation of Midgar, along with Vincent Valentine. Vincent climbs to the controls of the Sister Ray to investigate the spirit of Professor Hojo, and is saved by Yuffie as the tower collapses. Rufus Shinra, presumed and left for dead in the ruins of the Shinra Building, 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 emergence of the Lifestream to fight Meteor, caused just as much damage to Midgar as 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 ruins of Midgar. Over time, Edge expands as more people move from Midgar to the new city, including Denzel. A monument in the center of the city 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.