Materia: power you can hold

Definition

What is Materia?

Materia are orbs of crystallized Mako, the Lifestream in processed form. Set into the slots of weapons and armor, they let a character cast magic, use new commands, call summons or gain new abilities.

Materia earns AP in battle and grows stronger as it levels up. When one reaches its highest level it is mastered, and a brand new copy of the same Materia appears at zero AP. Slots come singly or in linked pairs, and a weapon holds at most eight slots: four linked pairs.

Sources: Final Fantasy Wiki, Materia (Final Fantasy VII equipment) (opens in a new tab); Final Fantasy Wiki, Mako (opens in a new tab); Wikipedia, Final Fantasy VII (opens in a new tab)

Five colors

Every orb has a job

Green
Magic
Teaches spells such as Fire, Cure and Bolt.
Examples: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Restore, Poison, Revive, Seal
Source: Final Fantasy Wiki, Magic Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)
Yellow
Command
Adds new battle commands such as Steal and Throw.
Examples: Steal, Throw, Sense, Deathblow
Source: Final Fantasy Wiki, Command Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)
Red
Summon
Calls a summoned creature into battle.
Examples: Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, Phoenix, Bahamut
Source: Final Fantasy Wiki, Summon Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)
Purple
Independent
Raises stats or grants passive abilities such as Cover.
Examples: HP Plus, Cover, Long Range, Counter Attack
Source: Final Fantasy Wiki, Independent Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)
Blue
Support
Does nothing alone; it changes the Materia linked next to it.
Examples: All, Elemental, Added Effect, HP Absorb, MP Turbo, Quadra Magic, Counter, Steal as well, Final Attack
Source: Final Fantasy Wiki, Support Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)

Try it

The Materia Bench

Linking only matters when one orb in a pair is blue Support Materia. Pick up an orb, set it into a slot, and the bench explains what each linked pair does, or why it does nothing.

Pairings at a glance

What linking actually does

Example Materia pairings and their effects
Linked pair	Result
All + Restore	Restore can target every enemy or every ally at once, a limited number of times per battle. Higher levels of All allow more uses.
Elemental + Ice	In a weapon, attacks take on the element of Ice. In armor, damage of that element to the wearer is halved.
Added Effect + Poison	In a weapon, each hit has a chance to inflict the status effect of Poison. In armor, the wearer is protected from it.
Quadra Magic + Bahamut	Bahamut is cast four times in a row.
Counter + Deathblow	When the wearer is attacked, they may answer with Deathblow.
Final Attack + Phoenix	When the wearer is knocked out, Phoenix is summoned and can bring the whole party back.
Elemental + Bahamut	Elemental cannot boost Bahamut. Bahamut still works on its own.
Fire + Cover	Fire and Cover both work independently. Linking only matters when one of them is blue Support Materia.

Sources: Final Fantasy Wiki, Support Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab); Final Fantasy Wiki, Magic Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab); Final Fantasy Wiki, Command Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab); Final Fantasy Wiki, Summon Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab); Final Fantasy Wiki, Independent Materia (Final Fantasy VII) (opens in a new tab)