Enemy Skill Materia
Learning Enemy Spells and Attacks
There are a total of four Enemy Skill Materia that you can find throughout the game. More information on where to find them can be found under the Enemy Skill Materia in the Command Materia section.
Enemy Skill Materia are able to learn enemy attacks once those attacks are used on the character that has the Materia equipped. That being said, it is important to note that many enemies will not ever naturally use the attacks that you can learn during the course of battle. That’s where 
Manipulate Materia comes in to play.
Manipulate Materia can be used on an enemy and, if it connects, if will allow you to use that enemies moves and attacks. Equip one of your characters with the Manipulate Materia and also equip them with a 
HypnoCrown if you have it in your possession and have this character use the “Manip.” command on any of the enemies as mentioned in any of the sections below.
- Use in Battle:
- Can be used to inflict either the “Sleep” or “Frog” (or both) negative status effect on one enemy.
- Location:
- You can learn Frog Song by tracking down an enemy called a “Touch Me” which looks like a small frog (shown below). You can find them in the jungle areas just outside of Gongaga.
- Use in Battle:
- Using the spell on an enemy will hit them for 96.875% of the enemy’s HP and will inflict the “Mini” negative status effect however it will only hit an enemy if their level is divisible by 4 (e.g. 16, 24, 52). It does not work on bosses or high level enemies as they are immune to its effects.
- Location:
- You can learn L4 Suicide from an enemy called a Mu which looks like a little gopher coming out of a gopher hole. You can find them in the areas outside of the Chocobo Farm. It can sometimes take a while for Mu to use L4 Suicide but you do not have to do anything special in order to force it to use the move.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Magic Hammer will drain the enemy target of 100 MP. This skill has very limited applications.
- Location:
- You can learn Magic Hammer from a Razor Weed enemy. Razor Weeds can be found in the fields outside of the Wutai area. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Razor Weed because they will not use Magic Hammer normally during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using White Wind will heal all party members and can be used to remove negative status effects including “Berserk”, “Confuse”, “Darkness”, “Frog”, “Paralyze”, “Petrify”, “Poison”, “Silence”, “Sleep”, “Slow”, “Slow-numb”, “Small” and “Stop”. This is a very helpful skill to learn early on in the game as it will still work on players that have MBarrier or Reflect cast on them.
- Location:
- You can learn White Wind from an enemy called a Zemzelett which looks like a large bird holding up its wind and shown in the screenshot below. You can find Zemzeletts in the fields outside of the Junon area. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Zemzelett because they will not use White Wind on your party during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Big Guard on your party will boost them with a number of positive status effects including “Haste” which speeds up their attack speed, “Barrier” which reduces physical attacks made against the party member and “MBarrier” which reduces the amount of damage done by magic attacks. This spell can greatly improve your party’s survivability and make boss fights much easier to deal with.
- Location:
- You can learn Big Guard from a Beach Plug enemy. Beach Plugs can be found on the beaches near Costa del Sol. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Beach Plugs because they will not use Big Guard on your party (or at all) during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Angel Whisper on your party will fully refill each party member’s HP to max. It will also cure each party of any negative status effects including “Berserk”, “Confuse”, “Darkness”, “Frog”, “Paralyze”, “Petrify”, “Poison”, “Silence”, “Sleep”, “Slow”, “Slow-numb”, “Small” and “Stop”. It can also revive any party members that have been KO’d making it more powerful than White Wind.
- Location:
- You can learn Angel Whisper from a Pollensalta enemy. Pollensaltas can be found in the Northern Cave. More specifically, you can find them by traveling down to the section where the pathway splits and taking a right. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Pollensalta because they will not use Angel Whisper on your party during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Dragon Force on one of your party members will raise their Defense and Magic Defense by 150% greatly reducing the amount of damage done.
- Location:
- You can learn Dragon Force from a Dark Dragon enemy. Dark Dragons can be found in the Northern Cave. More specifically, you can find them in the first two areas of the Northern Cave. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Dark Dragon because they will not use Dragon Force on your party during the course of battle.
Note that you can also learn the Laser enemy skill from a Dark Dragon while obtaining Dragon Force.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Death Force on one of your party members will apply the “Death Force” status to them which will protect them from “instant death” attacks. There aren’t many instances in the game where having this spell will come in handy.
- Location:
- You can learn Death Force from an Adamantaimai enemy. Adamantaimai can be found on the beaches around Wutai. You will have to use Manipulate Materia on an Adamantaimai because they will not use Death Force on your party during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Flame Thrower will hit all enemy opponents with fire-based damage. Generally speaking, it does not do that much damage and many other magic spells will be more effective over using Flame Thrower.
- Location:
- You can learn Flame Thrower from Ark Dragons. Ark Dragons can be found in the Mythril Mine and you don’t have to do anything special to gain the skill. Ark Dragons use Flame Thrower regularly during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Laser will hit all enemy opponents with gravity-based damage. It will hit all targets for 1/2 of their total HP though many high level enemies and bosses will be immune to its affects.
- Location:
- You can learn Laser from a Dark Dragon enemy. Dark Dragons can be found in the Northern Cave. More specifically, you can find them in the first two areas of the Northern Cave. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on a Dark Dragon because they will not use Laser on your party during the course of battle.
Note that you can also learn the Dragon Force enemy skill from a Dark Dragon while obtaining Dragon Force.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Matra Magic will hit all enemy opponents with non-elemental damage. Because of its low MP cost and its high damage affect at the time you receive it, Matra Magic can prove to be and extremely powerful and effective spell to use on groups of enemies.
- Location:
- You can learn Matra Magic from a Custom Sweeper enemy. Custom Sweepers can be found in the area around Midgar. You do not have to do anything special - they will use Matra Magic regularly during the course of a battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Bad Breath will hit all enemy opponents with a number of negative status effects including “Confusion”, “Frog”, “Poison”, “Silence”, “Sleep” and “Small”.
- Location:
- You can learn Bad Breath from a Malboro enemy. Malboros can be found in Gaea’s Cliff or in the Northern Cave. They will use it regularly during the course of battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Beta will hit all enemies on the battle field with fire-based magic damage. It is more powerful than Flame Thrower and can be learned relatively early on in the game (with some strategizing).
- Location:
- You can learn Beta from the Midgar Zolom enemies that inhabit the swamps near the Chocobo Farm. Note though that the Midgar Zolom will only use Beta as a counter attack so you will have to hit it enough times to get it to stretch upward first. This can be difficult to do later in the game once you’re too high leveled but you can use Bio from your
Poison Materia to minimize damage until you obtain the enemy skill.
You can use some strategies to try and survive a battle against a Midgar Zolom early on in the game. Make sure you have a Fire Ring on hand so that you can survive Beta’s damage and consider learning Aeris’ Planet Protector Limit Break to make your characters invincible for a short duration.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Aqualung will hit all enemies for water-based damage. You can obtain this spell relatively early on in the game and it does quite a bit of damage to enemies. It is perfect for demolishing groups of enemies on the first disc.
- Location:
- You can learn Aqualung from a Harpy enemy. You can find a Harpy by jumping in the Buggy and driving around in the sandy areas around Gold Saucer. Alternatively you can pick up the spell by battling a Serpent on the Sunken Gelnika. Both Harpy and Serpents will use Aqualung during the course of a standard battle.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Trine will hit all enemies on the battle field with lightning-based magic damage. It is of limited use by the time you are able to obtain it during a standard playthrough.
- Location:
- The first time you can learn Trine is from the Materia Keeper in Mount Nibel. You can also learn it from Godo in the Wutai Pagoda and from Stilva enemies which can be found on Gaea’s Cliff. It is possible to miss this enemy skill altogether if you don’t obtain it in either of these three locations.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Magic Breath will hit all enemies on the battle field with a combination of fire, lighting and ice-based magic damage. It is a fairly powerful attack even for end-game content.
- Location:
- You can learn Magic Breath from Parasites in the Northern Cave or from Stilva’s which can be found on Gaea’s Cliff. Parasites will not use Magic Breath though during a regular battle so you will have to use your Manipulate Materia on a Parasite in order to have it use the move on your team.
- Use in Battle:
- Using “????” deals damage equal to the caster’s maximum HP minus their current HP. This means that it deals more damage to the enemy when the caster has less HP. This also means that its use in battle is fairly limited.
- Location:
- You can learn ???? from an enemy called a Jersey which can be found in the Shinra Mansion which can be found at the back of the town of Nibelheim. Jersey’s look like floating scales and unfortunately, due to a bug, it will not use the ???? spell if you attack it at all. Stand there and wait for it to cast the spell (which can take a very long time).
- Use in Battle:
- Using Goblin Punch will hit one enemy with non-elemental damage. It deals 8 times the normal damage if your target is the same level as the character using the enemy skill.
- Location:
- You can learn Goblin Punch from the Goblins that inhabit Goblin Island. Click on the link for more information on where to find Goblin Island.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Chocobuckle will deal non-elemental damage to a single target. Chocobuckle deals more damaged depending on how many battles you have escaped from.
- Location:
- You can learn Chocobuckle from a Chocobo but the steps required make it somewhat difficult to obtain early on in the game. You need to use L4 Suicide on a Chocobo which will cause that Chocobo to use Chocobuckle on one party member. L4 Suicide will only work on a Chocobo that’s level is divisible by 4.
There are recommended places you can go to find the right level Chocobo. You can search the areas around the Chocobo Farm or the area near Mideel. The Chocobo’s level will be dependent on the enemies that join it in battle. The ones near the Chocobo Farm will be level 13 unless the Chocobo is accompanied by two Elfadunks or two Levrikons. This combination is quite rare to find.
Instead, travel to the Chocobo tracks near Mideel and wait until you encounter a Chocobo accompanied by one single Spiral enemy. Use Sense Materia to confirm the level of the Chocobo while using Greens to ensure that the Chocobo hangs around. Then use L4 Suicide on it and you will pick up the Chocobuckle skill.
- Use in Battle:
- Using the spell on an enemy will instantly kill them if their level is divisible by 5 (e.g. 10, 20, 35). It does not work on bosses or high level enemies as they are immune to its effects.
- Location:
- You can learn L5 Death from Parasites in the Northern Cave. Parasites will not use L5 Death though during a regular battle so you will have to use your Manipulate Materia on a Parasite in order to have it use the move on your team.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Death Sentence will inflict the “Death-Sentence” status effect on the target. “Death-Sentence” will instantly kill the target after 30 seconds. Unfortunately, this move cannot be used on high-level targets or bosses as they are typically immune to the status.
- Location:
- You can learn Death Sentence from a Boundfat which can be found in the Corel Valley. You can also learn it from a Gi Spector or a Sneaky Step in the Cave of the Gi but there is no way to go back there after you have left Cosmo Canyon.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Roulette in battle will randomly inflict the “Instant Death” status on one target. The target could either be an enemy or it could be one of your own party members. This makes Roulette a rather useless ability as you’re just as likely to kill one of your own team members if you use it.
- Location:
- You can learn Roulette from a Death Dealer enemy which can be found in the Northern Cave. More specifically, head down to the area where the path splits and take a right. You can use Manipulate Materia to increase the likelihood of casting the spell on the right party member.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Shadow Flare will deal a ton of non-elemental damage to one target. It is one of the strongest damage dealing spells that you can obtain with the Enemy Skill Materia.
- Location:
- You can learn Shadow Flare from a number of different enemies throughout the course of the game. Ultimate Weapon will use the attack when you defeat it. You can also learn it from Ruby Weapon as well during that battle. Lastly, you can learn it from a Dragon Zombie in the Northern Cave.
- Use in Battle:
- Using Pandora’s Box will deal a ton of non-elemental damage to all targets that will ignore any defense that the enemy has.
- Location:
- There is only one opportunity to obtain Pandora’s Box for your Enemy Skill Materia and it is easy to accidentally skip past this opportunity if you are not paying attention. Jenova·Synthesis will use Pandora’s Box but you only encounter her on your way to the end of the game.
The only enemy you can learn Pandora’s Box from is a Dragon Zombie in the Northern Cave. Dragon Zombies can be found by traveling down to the area where the path splits and taking a right. You only have one chance to obtain the spell and that time is the very first time you battle a Dragon Zombie in this area.
The first (and only the first) Dragon Zombie that you fight against will use Pandora’s Box against your team as its last attack before it dies. Unfortunately, due to a programming glitch, no other Dragon Zombies will use Pandora’s Box again for the remainder of the game making this the most difficult and temperamental enemy skill to obtain.
