Causes Fire damage to any single opponent.
Description
Flame Thrower is an attack spell in Final Fantasy VII. It is an enemy skill used by Ark Dragon and Dragon, which can be learned on the Enemy Skill Materia for the player to use. It is one of the earliest E.Skills the player can get.
Obtained[]

If obtaining all enemy skills the earliest they are available, Flame Thrower is the fifth spell learned on the Materia. It is learned from Ark Dragon on the Mythril Mine, first accessible during "Going After Sephiroth" once the player crosses the marshes. Ark Dragon will use Flame Thrower on the party member with the current highest HP.
Flame Thrower is also used by the Dragons in Mt. Nibel reactor areas.
Stats[]
| Command Materia | Enemy Skill Materia |
|---|---|
| Effect | Minor to moderate Fire-elemental damage to one target |
| MP cost | 10 |
| Reflect | Yes |
Flame Thrower deals damage in the following formula:
where "Level" is the caster's current level and "Magical Attack" is their Magic atk stat.
Use[]
Flame Thrower deals moderate Fire damage to one target. As it is more powerful than tier 1 spells, it is likely the player's most powerful offensive spell if obtained at first instance (unless they already got Beta, which is a much more difficult feat), though Matra Magic remains superior against groups. Flame Thrower is only slightly more powerful than the regular Fire spell and is the weakest offensive enemy skill. Its spell power being equal to 0.875x the base magic damage, but can only hit a single target and costs 10 MP, while the normal Fire spell costs 4 MP for 0.5x base magic damage and can be linked with Support Materia. Once the player learns Fire2 on the Fire Materia, it will deal superior damage to the Flame Thrower though for greater MP cost.
However, the big benefit with Enemy Skill Materia is that one Materia can hold variety of spells, and thus if the player finds themselves in a need for a fire spell and they have the E.Skill already equipped, Flame Thrower will suffice.
Etymology[]
A flamethrower is a mechanical incendiary device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.