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The Sector 5 Reactor is one of the eight Mako Reactors built by the Shinra Electric Power Company to power the metropolis of Midgar in Final Fantasy VII. In the original Final Fantasy VII its layout is exactly the same as the Sector 1 Reactor's.

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-

Zack Fair and his fellow SOLDIER First Class, Sephiroth, enter the reactor in search of the rogues, Genesis Rhapsodos and Dr Hollander. They fight Sahagin-like monsters, but with a strange mutation: they have the face of their missing friend, Angeal Hewley.

Further investigation discovers both Angeal and Genesis were parts of Project G, an experiment performed by Hollander to make a modern Ancient. The experiment was a failure and Genesis had begun to slowly degrade, and could make copies of himself on humans.

Hollander and Genesis arrive, and while Sephiroth deals with his old friend, Zack chases after Hollander until they reach the bottom of the plate. When Zack has Hollander cornered, Angeal arrives and shows Zack he is a monster by sprouting a white wing, then attacks. Zack refuses to fight his old friend, but the ground beneath Zack breaks from Angeal's attack, and Zack falls into the slums below.

Final Fantasy VII

Sector 5 reactor2

Sector 5 Reactor.

Following their successful attack on the Sector 1 Reactor, the members of the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE hope to repeat their victory on the No. 5 Reactor. After climbing through the city's underground subway system they break into the reactor. AVALANCHE fights its way down to the main generator and plant the explosives. On their way out, President Shinra greets the insurgents; Shinra had known of the attack beforehand, and prepared the reactor as a trap for AVALANCHE.

The robot Air Buster is sent in to defeat the terrorists, while President Shinra leaves, certain of victory. The party destroy the Air Buster and as it explodes, Cloud Strife is caught in the blast and falls into the slums below like Zack had done seven years earlier.

Although the reactor explodes, it is later seen in use powering the Sister Ray cannon, indicating Shinra repaired the damage, unlike the Sector 1 Reactor, which was utterly destroyed and never repaired. This is odd, given that Jessie said she would make her next bomb even more powerful than the one that destroyed the Sector 1 Reactor, but is supported by the visibly smaller explosion that results. Given that Shinra had enough foreknowledge to set an ambush, it's possible the explosion was mitigated by them in some way.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

In the Remake, the Sector 5 Reactor's functions are expanded upon: no longer being merely a reactor, but also doubling as Midgar's (and thus, Shinra's) largest weapons development plant. Development of the new Airbuster is underway when Avalanche infiltrates the complex on their second bombing mission. In stark contrast to the original game, Jessie spends considerable effort reworking her explosives the night before the attack to make the explosion smaller (not bigger) than the one that occurred in Reactor 1, in order to minimize damage and risk of casualties. Nevertheless, debris rain down on Sector 5 undercity, with the slums suffering as a result - something which Shinra plays to their advantage, through manipulation of the press and mass media.

Spoilers end here.

Geography

Overview

The Sector 5 Reactor has an identical layout to the Sector 1 Reactor, though it has a blue and green tint, and its entrance differs. Unlike the Sector 1 Reactor, it is reached through the Lower Sector 4 Plate at the exit room, which leads directly to a chute that can be slid down to the floor of the main staircase room. Additionally, the Sector 5 Reactor is more intact than the Sector 1 Reactor, with fewer visible rusts or damaged walls.

Main staircase

S5Reactor-ffvii-staircase

Main Staircase.

The main staircase is the first area the party visits after crawling in through the Sector 4 Lower Plate. It is an expansive room with brick walls and metallic pipes, one of which is located near the top-right of the room by a door leading in from the Lower Sector 4 Plate. This pipe can be slid down directly to the bottom floor of the room.

The room is built around a large central structure, with a staircase connecting the top of the structure. Atop the structure, a door to the elevator is located, along with a smaller round tower climbed using ladders which contains nothing noteworthy. At the room's floor, a door leads to the upper piping.

Piping

S5Reactor-ffvii-upiping
S5Reactor-ffvii-lpiping

Upper piping (top) and lower piping (bottom).

The upper piping, entered through a door at the bottom of the main staircase room, is characterized by metallic steam pipes and steel beams. The door from the main staircase leads directly to a set of steps and a gap across to a horizontal pipe (in contrast to the damaged stone wall seen in the upper piping of Sector 1 Reactor). At the end of this, a ladder across the pipe leads down to a set of beams and above the core room, which lead to the lower piping.

The lower piping is directly above the walkway leading into the core, and is reached through a ladder from the upper piping.

Core

S5Reactor-ffvii-core

Core.

The core is a large, piped, electrical machine with a valve at the bottom. It is reached through a single walkway, on which a save point, a ladder up to the lower piping, and an inaccessible door are located. On the core, "1997" is written at the top.

Entrance

The entrance is reached through a small elevator, located atop the central structure of the main staircase room. The entrance room has a light-brownish tint, in contrast to the rest of the reactor, and comprises a set of rooms surrounded by machinery. The gate to leave is controlled by a terminal, and a door unlock minigame is required to open it. Past this gate is a set of steps that eventually lead the walkway outside the reactor.

Gameplay

Encounters

Battlebg-ffvii-reactor5-main
Battlebg-ffvii-reactor5-entrance

Battle backgrounds for main reactor areas (top), and the entance (bottom).

Encounters Areas
Main staircase, upper piping
Lower piping, core
Entrance

The most commonly fought enemies in the first areas are the Smogger, Special Combatant, and Proto Machineguns. Smoggers have fairly high HP and take a couple hits to defeat, but otherwise deal little damage. Special Combatants are more deadly, but have less HP, and can be prioritized first. Proto Machineguns are slow, but have high HP, and take priority over Smoggers. In the later areas of the reactor, Blood Tastes can also be fought, which deal fair damage, but can be defeated in one or two physical hits.

If the player obtained the All Materia from the Beginner's Hall in Sector 7, it can be paired with the Lightning Materia to use Bolt to hit all enemies. This can clear out waves of most enemies in a single move, though doing so relies on MP.

Items

Items Areas
Entrance

An Ether can be found in a treasure chest in the entrance.

Quests

All quests in the reactor occur in "To the No. 5 Reactor", in which the player controls Cloud, Barret, and Tifa with the goal of destroying the reactor. In the reactor, the player must head to the core to plant the bomb, and leave, this time without a timer. Air Buster is fought at the end.

Date mechanics

The game has a hidden affection value that determines whom Cloud will go on a date with in Gold Saucer later. The value is determined by the dialogue and party member choices made prior to the date.

Cloud is barely hanging on after the explosion:

  • "(Be strong)" (+2 Barret)
  • "(I don't know if I can hold on)" (-3 Barret, +1 Tifa)

Musical themes

Throughout the reactor, the background music is "Mako Reactor" (魔晄炉, Makō Ro?). In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- "The Skyscraper of Iron and Steel" plays, and later "Combat" when chasing Hollander.

Other appearances

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

Midgar (Final Fantasy VII) dissidia arcade 2

Sector 5 in Dissidia NT

The Midgar arena takes place outside Sector 5.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Cloud collects his reward at AVALANCHE headquarters and turns to leave, but his childhood friend Tifa convinces him to join their raid on Mako Reactor No. 5.

Description

Mako Reactor No. 5 is unlocked by completing Mako Reactor No. 1 in the Final Fantasy VII realm. Completion of this dungeon unlocks Mist Cave in the Final Fantasy IV realm, Zanarkand in the Final Fantasy X realm, and Sastasha Seagrot in the Final Fantasy XIV realm.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

FFBE Sector 5 Reactor

Sector 5 Reactor appeared during the exploration event "Destroy the Reactor", which featured two versions. The Easy version featured the Guard Scorpion as the final boss, while the Hard version featured the Air Buster as the boss.

Castle Cornelia PSThis section about a location in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.


Behind the scenes

At the core of the reactor where the bomb is planted, the structure reads "1997", the release date of Final Fantasy VII, and the Greek, "σμκινσ", which roughly translates to "smkin", the name given to the rooms of the Sector 5 Reactor in the data. Interestingly, the Sector 1 Reactor reads "1998", and while there is text next to it it is indecipherable.

Gallery

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