The Five Materia
Unlocks offensive and defensive spells. Levels up as you use it in combat, unlocking stronger tiers: Fire becomes Fira then Firaga. Your elemental damage engine.
Must be placed in a paired slot alongside another materia. Powers up or modifies the linked materia. Your most precious and limited resource - choose pairings carefully.
Unlocks new non-magic battle actions and special abilities. These don't chain to other materia. Each unlocks a discrete skill or group of skills.
Passive stat boosters. Equip and forget - they're always working. No activation needed. Stack multiples for compounding bonuses where copies allow.
Weapon slots only — one per character. Starters (Ifrit, Shiva, Chocobo & Moogle) are story-given; the rest unlock from Summon Entity fights at Chadley terminals as you reach each region (Alexander in Corel, Kujata in Gongaga, etc.). Gilgamesh Island is a later rematch gate.