In this section, I'll toss around some of the "Science" of FF7 as well as throw a few theories around as to how a few things work.

Extra Elements

Planet Life

Mako Reactors

Jenova Thesis

 

ELEMENTS

In the world of FF7, there are extra elements, as well as familiar elements with different properties.  I'll try and make sense of it all here...

ELEMENTDESCRIPTION

BRONZE

The weakest of basic metals, bronze is also the cheapest to manufacture into armor. However, due to its weakness, it is not used for making weapons

MYTHRIL

Mythril is a Magical metal that occurs in nature, and is considered an element. However, due to its magical properties, it cannot be molded unless mixed with other metals (see Iron). This makes the Mythril weaker, as a matter of fact. However, due to its abundance on the eastern continent, it is easy to extract and cheap to manufacture.

IRON

The next worse metal. It is in fact, very strong, but it is difficult to manufacture. Also, when made into weapons and armor, it losses its natural strength. Iron is most often used in mixing magical metals to make them more durable.

PLATINUM

Platinum is a rare metal that is used more often with jewelry than armor. Nonetheless, it has the ability -when worn as armor- to double the growth of materia put into it. It makes decent armor, as well.

SILVER

Silver is a strong, valuable metal used in making both weapons and armor.

GOLD

Though Gold is technically a softer metal than most, somehow it makes better armor. However, it's high conductivity allows Materia to be used with it much easier, and this may help explain how it makes better armor.

ADAMANT

Adamant is the strongest metal on the planet. However, this strength makes adamant extremely difficult to manufacture, so armor using it tends to have very few materia slots built in. It also yields no magical defense whatsoever when used this way.

MATERIA

Materia occurs in nature, and while it is impossible to turn into weapons or armor, it can be placed into either, allowing the user to call upon the knowledge of the ancients. Materia is actually condensed Lifestream (Mako) energy, and can usually be found wherever Mako is extracted or flows out freely.

PLANET LIFE:

As anyone who's been to Cosmo Canyon knows, the study of "Planet Life" is something to be taken very seriously. The Shinra Electric Company ignorantly extracts Mako Energy and converts it into electricity. What they do not realize is that the very energy they suck up reduces the planet's ability to create new life.

You see, when something dies, it's physical mass and it's Spirit energy return to the planet. The Spirit energy, which everything is endowed with upon it's creation, goes back into the planet. More specifically, it returns to a greenish swell called "The Lifestream" which lies in varying places between a few meters to several miles beneath the planet's crust.

The Spirit energy roams the planet, imparting bits of itself unto newly-born organisms. The spirit energy is returned then the organism dies. This recyclitive process is interrupted by the Mako reactors. As even Spirit energy cannot be created, and is only finite, it would only be a matter of time before the Mako reactors make it impossible for new life to exist. This would eventually lead to the death of the planet. Not only as a barren state, but if anything happened to the planet, it would not have the energy to heal the wound.

That is another part of the study of Planet Life. The Lifestream also ahs the ability to heal planetary wounds. The main example of this is the Northern crater. However, we can surmise that this process is painfully slow: The "Terror from the skies" which was created by the organism named Jenova occurred over 2000 years ago: and yet the energy continues to gather and heal the wound.

It can be assumed that the Lifestream acts to physically close the wound, starting from the outside, in. We can assume this because the northern crater widens as it goes down, and also the opening still exists, and looks as though it's in the process of closing.

Or maybe the "healing" is on a different level. Perhaps the crater would remain, but the gap in the Lifestream that would exist gets healed...

MAKO REACTORS

NOTE!: This whole section is CONJUNCTURE.  However, I've logically eliminated several other alternatives in the process.

Okay, we KNOW that SOMEHOW, the reactors take the Mako, convert it into electricity, and of course, excrete waste.  However, we must delve deeper.

I believe that the Mako, which resides in the ground, is brought up into the reactor via a series of pumps.  The Mako is sucked up into the reactor core, where the "real fun" begins.  Now, here's where assumption comes into play.  We know it's a liquid, and that it is composed almost entirely of energy.  Also, people seem to be able to live while inside of it, even for long periods, adding to it's mystical nature.  If this is true, then either Mako: suspends the physical functions of the body while supplying it with enough nutrients to survive, or it contains ample amounts of oxygen and nutrients that people are able to breath in without suffocating or having to excrete waste.  In any scenario, we can assume that Mako contains more than just energy.

It's this energy which is converted into electricity.  The rest is heated and turned into gas.  HOW this is accomplished is tricky.  Perhaps when Mako reaches a certain temperature, it breaks down at the molecular level, becoming pure energy and whatever else is left.  OR maybe there are certain chemicals which break down Mako into electricity and whatever other components are left.  However, there is obviously a LOT of machinery... perhaps Mako is PHYSICALLY broken.  This can be done by swirling the Mako around, which would separate the heavier components from the less-dense.  Perhaps a combination of these processes is used.

In any event, we are left with pure electricity, and waste.  The waste floats out either through an escape-route-pipe (Like in Nibelhiem), or is ejected out the top of the reactor (like the reactors in Midgar).  Although it's interesting that in the case of Midgar, it looks as though pure Mako is being ejected out the top.  Perhaps too much Mako is extracted from the reactors... (They ARE over 60 meters in height.... they probably posses very powerful pumps, and there IS eight of them powering the city... its logical to assume supply may outweigh demand.).

JENOVA THESIS: One of the more confusing aspects of FF7 is the whole relation between Sephiroth, Lucrecia, SOLDIERS, Jenova, Vincent, RED XIII, and Cloud.  Using information JUST FROM THE GAME, one can make their own interpretations....

Gast, for whatever bizarre reason, thought that a) Jenova was an ancient and b) Animating her cells and injecting them into people would be a good idea (To give them the power of the ancients).  SOLDIERS are injected with Jenova cells, and given Mako treatment.  This enhances their abilities, so there is some merit to Gast's theories.  To create a full "ancient", Gast asks his assistants, Lucrecia and Hojo, if he can inject cells into their unborn love-child.  They agree.  The result -Sephiroth- is obviously very strong, and always has been ("Ever since I was small, I felt as though I were different, special in some way").  There is a justified theory as to the mental connection between Sephiroth and Jenova (He first starts going "insane" when he comes to the Jenova chamber in Nibelhiem).  Whether Jenova was controlling Sephiroth, or if he was acting of his own accord in some way (even insanity) is PURE SPECULATION!  We are never TOLD DIRECTLY (IE we can only ASSUME) the controller/controllee relationship.

"JENOVA REUNION": Jenova, or her cells rather, seem to have the tendency to do 3 things: Allow that person to change shape (but not at will); Allow Sephiroth/Jenova to influence an injectee's mind; and to force that person to don a black robe and follow Sephiroth or Jenova around.  There are holes in this, of course, as we find a few robed people who maintain their position throughout the game (most notably the ex-SOLDIER who runs an accessory store in Junon), and also there are some SOLDIERS who are not affected at all.  Also, there's the Cloud part of the equation: Sephiroth's control of him is limited, and Cloud never wears a black robe and starts chanting.  As well, Cloud leads himself to believe he was pursuing Sephiroth, not being summoned.   Perhaps this is why Hojo considered him a "Failure" as a SEPHIROTH CLONE.  Also, a self-admitted hole in Hojo's "Jenova reunion" theory is that he believed the clones would flock to Midgar where Jenova was stored, but instead they flocked straight to Sephiroth's location (mind you, at least one of them was lugging what was left of Jenova around, so the clones would follow that clone if they wanted to follow Jenova around).

SEPHIROTH CLONE: There are many interpretations of this.  All we know is that Hojo wanted to re-create Sephiroth, in ability if not in image.  "Cloud" was supposedly built from scratch, but didn't mimic Sephiroth's appearance or abilities.  However, Cloud turns out to be an actual person with scrambled memories.  Whether Hojo was lying or mistaken is unknown.

OTHER INJECTEES/EXPERIMENTS: Besides Cloud, Hojo had several other people to experiment on/Give J-cells to: Nanaki, Vincent, Lucrecia, members of SOLDIER, and more.  Nanaki and Vincent were experimented on by Hojo, but neither of them share the above characteristics.  Vincent, however, can change shape into a monster at will (or rather, at will when angry).  Perhaps Jenova cells, when used on whatever Nanaki is and dead people have different results than on living normal humans.  Lucrecia has Jenova cells, but whether she donned a black robe and became another mindless clone or died or what remains unclear.  She admits to dreaming about Sephiroth (make your own conclusion).  The "SOLDIER" link is given credit by the old man who runs the accessory store in Junon who dons a black robe later in the game, and that Cloud admits "The process for making SOLDIERS and Sephiroth-Cloned is the same".  Also, (and I thought of this as I typed this) Hojo had the opportunity to test Jenova-cell injection on two ancients: Ifalna and Aeris.  Whether he did or not is a mystery (Aeris showed no signs of manipulation).  The results may have been interesting... Also, based on notes we find in The Shinra mansion basement, we may beable to assume that J-Cells have a 50% failure rate (The J-Cells worked on Zack, but not Cloud.  If this is typical, then only 1/2 of all injectees would show symptoms or have lesser effects).

 

FF7-UNIVERSE.com