Enemy Skill Materia

There are a total of four Enemy Skill Materia that you can find throughout the game. You can find more information on where to find them on the Command Materia page.

Learning Enemy Spells and Attacks

Enemy Skill Materia can learn enemy attacks once those attacks are used on the character that has the Materia equipped. However, it is important to note that many enemies will not ever naturally use the attacks that you can learn during battle. That’s where Manipulate Materia comes into play.

Manipulate Materia can be used on an enemy, and if it connects, it will allow you to use that enemy's 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.

Frog Song

Use in Battle:: You can use this attack 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 Gongaga.

L4 Suicide

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 resembles a small gopher coming out of a gopher hole. You can find them in the areas outside the Chocobo Farm. It can sometimes take a while for Mu to use “L4 Suicide”, but you do not have to do anything special to force it to use the move.

Magic Hammer

Use in Battle:: Using “Magic Hammer” will drain the enemy target of 100 MP. This skill has very limited applications.
Location:: You can find Razor Weeds in the fields outside 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 battle.

White Wind

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 wing, as shown in the screenshot below. You can find Zemzeletts in the fields outside 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 battle.

Big Guard

Use in Battle:: Using “Big Guard” on your party will boost them with several 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 significantly 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. You can find Beach Plugs on the beaches near Costa del Sol. Note that you will have to use Manipulate Materia on Beach Plugs because they will not use “Big Guard” on your party (or at all) during battle.

Angel Whisper

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 who have been KO’d, making it more powerful than White Wind.
Location:: You can learn “Angel Whisper” from a Pollensalta enemy. You can find Pollensaltas 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 battle.

Dragon Force

Use in Battle:: Using “Dragon Force” on one of your party members will raise their Defense and Magic Defense by 150%, significantly reducing the amount of damage done.
Location:: You can learn “Dragon Force” from a Dark Dragon enemy. You can find Dark Dragons 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 battle.

Note that you can also learn the Laser enemy skill from a Dark Dragon while obtaining “Dragon Force”.

Death 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. You can find Adamantaimai 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 battle.

Flame Thrower

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 than using “Flame Thrower”.
Location:: You can learn “Flame Thrower” from Ark Dragons. You can find Ark Dragons in the Mythril Mine, and you don’t have to do anything special to gain the skill. Ark Dragons use “Flame Thrower” regularly during battle.

Laser

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 effects.
Location:: You can learn Laser from a Dark Dragon enemy, and you can find Dark Dragons 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 battle.

Note that you can also learn the “Dragon Force” enemy skill from a Dark Dragon while obtaining “Dragon Force”.

Matra Magic

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 effect at the time you receive it, “Matra Magic” can prove to be and extremely powerful an effective spell to use on groups of enemies.
Location:: You can learn “Matra Magic” from a Custom Sweeper enemy, and you can find Custom Sweepers in the area around Midgar. You do not have to do anything special. They will use “Matra Magic” regularly during battle.

Bad Breath

Use in Battle:: Using “Bad Breath” will hit all enemy opponents with lots of negative status effects, including “Confusion,” “Frog,” “Poison,” “Silence,” “Sleep,” and “Small.”
Location:: You can learn “Bad Breath” from a Malboro enemy, and you can find Malboros in Gaea’s Cliff or the Northern Cave. They will use it regularly during battle.

Beta

Use in Battle:: Using “Beta” will hit all enemies on the battlefield 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. The Midgar Zolom will only use “Beta” as a counterattack, so you’ll have to hit it enough times to get it to stretch upward first. Hitting it can be difficult to do later in the game once you’re too high level, 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.

Aqualung

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 a standard battle.

Trine

Use in Battle:: Using “Trine” will hit all enemies on the battlefield with lightning-based magic damage. It is of limited use by the time you can 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 you can find 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.

Magic Breath

Use in Battle:: Using “Magic Breath” will hit all enemies on the battlefield 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 Stilvas, which you can find on Gaea’s Cliff. Parasites will not use “Magic Breath” during battle, though, so you will have to use your Manipulate Materia on a Parasite ito 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 math means that it deals more damage to the enemy when the caster has less HP. The damage calculation also means that its use in battle is pretty limited.
Location:: You can learn “????” from an enemy called a Jersey, which you can find in theShinra Mansion. You can find the Shinra Mansion at the back of the town of Nibelheim. Jerseys 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).

Goblin Punch

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. Check out the Goblin Island Location page for more information.

Chocobuckle

Use in Battle:: Using “Chocobuckle” will deal non-elemental damage to a single target. “Chocobuckle” deals more damage depending on how many battles you have escaped from.
Location:: You can learn “Chocobuckle” from a Chocobo, but the steps that you have to follow to get it make it somewhat difficult to obtain early on in the game. You need to use “L4 Suicide” on a Chocobo, which will cause the Chocobo to use “Chocobuckle” on one of your party members. “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 two Elfadunks or two Levrikons accompany the Chocobo. 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.

L5 Death

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“ during a regular battle, so you will have to use your Manipulate Materia on a Parasite to have it use the move on your team.

Death Sentence

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, you cannot use this attack on high-level targets or bosses as they are typically immune to the status.
Location:: You can learn “Death Sentence” from a Boundfat, which you can find 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.

Roulette

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 one of your party members. The randomized aspect of this ability makes “Roulette” useless, as you’re just as likely to kill one of your team members if you use it.
Location:: You can learn “Roulette” from a Death Dealer enemy, which you can find 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 a spell on the right party member.

Shadow Flare

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 several different enemies throughout 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.

Pandora’s Box

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.

Final Fantasy VII