Hidden (Final Fantasy VII)

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The following article is based on a subject that has not been officially named in any official Square Enix material; the current title is merely a placeholder.

Hidden is a secret element that is given to several attacks in Final Fantasy VII. There is no definite way to see this element except by the use of equipping an Elemental Materia with a non-elemental Materia in a character's armor. The only attack that deals damage from this attribute (and thus is the only attack that can be absorbed) is Ultimate Weapon's Ultima Beam. All of Aeris's Limit Breaks have this attribute as well.

In the International version of Final Fantasy VII, the Hidden element was removed from all attacks, and can no longer be taken advantage of with the Elemental Materia.

While the element is not named in any version of the game, it has been referred to as １０番目の属性 (Jūbanme no Zokusei?, lit. 10th Element) in official media.^[1]

Existence

The Hidden Element is attached to otherwise considered non-elemental Materia as the game has fifteen elements: ten main elements that are normally used in the game (and attached to Materia), Restorative used for the healing mechanics, and five other elements that are associated with physical attacks.

A Materia can only be of one element, and one byte of data (0 through F) controls this. The absence of an element would be "F", which the Materia with Hidden use. In a similar way, all enemy abilities have to use an element, and since some do not they end up using the hidden element, however only one of these inflicts damage upon a target. It is unknown whether this was done this way as an easter egg since it technically existed as an element, or whether it was accidental. In the original Japanese release of the game, there were many more damage-inflicting attacks with the hidden element, although only Ultima Beam retains the element in the English releases of the game.

Enemy abilities

Game Element	Type	Enemy Used By	Effect
Curses	Enemy Debuff	Dorky Face	Inflicts Silence.
Electromag	Enemy Debuff	Hell Rider VR2	Switches the party's row.
Funny Breath	Enemy Debuff	Dorky Face	Inflicts Confuse on the party.
Smoke Bullet	Enemy Debuff	Marine, Attack Squad, Submarine Crew	Inflicts Blind and Sleep.
Petrif-Eye	Enemy Debuff	Demons Gate	Inflict Gradual Petrify.
Petrify Smog		Cokatolis
Stone Stare		Gagighandi
Stone Strike	Enemy Debuff	Bagrisk	Inflicts Petrify.
Ultima Beam	Enemy Attack	Ultimate Weapon	Inflicts major non-elemental damage to the party. Can be absorbed via Elemental linked to a hidden-elemental materia in a character's armor slot.
Poison Breath	Enemy Attack	Bagnadrana	Inflicts Poison-elemental damage and Poison status to the party. Is hidden-elemental in original Japanese release, and Poison-elemental in all subsequent releases.
Bomb Blast	Enemy Attack	Bomb	Sacrifices self to inflict major non-elemental damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Diamond	Enemy Attack	Joker	Inflicts non-elemental magic damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Spade	Enemy Attack	Joker	Inflicts non-elemental physical damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Joker	Enemy Debuff	Joker	Inflicts instant death on a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Peacock	Enemy Attack	Griffin	Inflicts MP damage to the party. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Suicide Yang	Enemy Attack	Yang	Sacrifices self to inflict major non-elemental damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Lay Flat	Enemy Attack	Kyuvilduns	Inflicts non-elemental physical damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Dance	Enemy Attack	Garuda	Absorbs MP from target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Beast Sword	Enemy Attack	Godo	Inflicts non-elemental physical damage to target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Eyesight	Enemy Attack	8 eye	Absorbs HP from target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Blaster	Enemy Attack	Cuahl	Inflicts non-elemental magic damage to a single target. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.
Sandstorm	Enemy Attack	Sea Worm	Inflicts physical damage to the party and may cause Darkness. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release, and Earth-elemental in all subsequent releases.
Lapis Laser	Enemy Attack	Carry Armor	Inflicts non-elemental magic damage to the party. Is hidden-elemental only in original Japanese release.

Materia

The following materia are also classified as having the "Hidden" element, and can be combined with the Elemental materia in a character's slot to reduce damage, or in the case of Ultimate Weapon's Ultima Beam, absorb it:

References

↑ Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, p.472

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[viiuo-p472-1] Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, p.472

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