And here are more translations from the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, this time on the plot and FFVII world concepts. Enjoy!

AVALANCHE

「 FFVII – BC – CC 」

An organization formed by scholars of planetary life in Cosmo Canyon, who opposed ShinRa’s mako usage. They were headquartered in Wutai. At one time they were a massive organization who posed a threat to ShinRa, but internal rifts and the assassination of the leader lead them, for all practical purposes, destoryed. Impressed by AVALANCHE’s ideas and actions, Barret took the name of ‘AVALANCHE’ and formed a new anti-ShinRa organization.

Weapon

「 FFVII – BC 」

For the sake of planetary self defense, “Things The Planet Deems Evil” are removed from existence. After Jenova, the “Calamity from the Sky” was successfully sealed, they slept stretched along the Northern Crater. However, when Sephiroth summoned Meteor, the crisis awakened the planet’s judgment of danger. Humans were “Deemed Evil by the Planet”, and various places were attacked.

· Sapphire Weapon:
Swimming in the sea, the Weapon in lapis lazul. Once it has found its mark it opens its mouth, it releases a concentrated beam of radiation.

· Diamond
Weapon:
Slowly advancing over the ground, the shimmering silver Weapon. From its shoulders it can free an infinite number of flares.

· Ultima Weapon:
Wandering the heavens at amazing speeds, the jet black Weapon. When it departs, it fills the air with high-density energy.

-=Supplemental Info on Ultima Weapon from p. 386 of the FFVII UO=-

Where is the Ultima Weapon?!
After the Crater’s barrier disappeared, Ultima Weapon, which was previously fought in Mideel, materializes on the World Map and continues to be engaged in further combat from here. However, apart from the final battle stage being set in the Cosmo area, it cannot be defeated and will fly away and escape halfway through each fight. After being hit many times, it is necessary for Ultima Weapon, which has been flying in the sky, to stay still in a location it decides on. Hence, if you’re asking what can be done if the main/important opponent cannot be found, the only option is to wander the World randomly searching for it.

· Ruby Weapon:
The Ruby-colored Weapon lives in the desert area. It lies in wait, and attacks with its extremely hard shell and its two huge, body-length tentacle hands.

·Emerald Weapon:
With the appearance of a suit of armor, the blue-green Weapon moves unseen through the deep sea. [In the Battle] It shoots beams from the eyes on both of its shoulders.
-=Supplemental Info on Emerald Weapon from p.385 of the FFVII UO=-

Pay Special Attention to the Green Body
In the International version, stalking the seas is an enormous green object. They approach thinking that it is ShinRa’s submarine . . . . . and suddenly you’re thrown into battle, and realize that its true form is actually Emerald Weapon. Thankfully, escape is possible. However, for this moment/situation, wanting to explore this situation and selecting to battle it is just the true nature of the situation.

Making a sound like ‘puchi’ [while attacking in battle], the image of Cloud and his party being heavily smashed comes to mind.

· Jade Weapon:
A Weapon that looks like a fighter plane. It flies throughout the world, calling upon its Clusters to bomb its targets.

-=Supplemental Information on the Weapon Mode=-

Weapon Mode officially takes place between the two months between the release of Zirconaide and the start of FFVII (0007/10/05 – 0007/12/09). The playable Turk is informed by Verdot that the Jade Weapon is attacking members of the renegade Turks. Because the organization eliminated Zirconiade and thus upset part of the Planet’s ecology, Jade seeks them out since it considers them “bad for the planet.” In this way, the playable Turks are essentially fighting for their lives against the Weapon.

The location of the fight with Jade Weapon is determined by the player’s location in Japan:

Midgar – Tokyo
Junon – Kanto area, other than Tokyo
Costa del Sol – Southern Honshu, Shikoku island, Kyushu island.
Cosmo Canyon – Central Honshu
Wutai – Kinki Area (Osaka and Kyoto area)
Icicle Lodge – Northern Honshu and Hokkaido

Omega

「 DC 」

Born from the Lifestream when the planet is on the brink of death, it takes all the life Chaos has gathered to the next planet. Originally meant to preserve the cycle of life in the universe, but when forcefully created, it is a dangerous being that takes all life on the planet and flies off into space.

Deep Ground SOLDIERs

「 DC 」

The members belonging to DG are special SOLDIERs which have undergone rigorous experiments. They are only commanded to get stronger and everyday they stand side-by-side with death. Because of the experiments, they must depend upon mako baths or they cannot preserve their bodies, and they need it so much that a weak stream of mako flows through their suits. Before Weiss reigned, those who were inducted into DG had a chip implanted in their brain stem, as a measure taken by the unit of Restrictors to keep them from opposing them. As Weiss was at the center of the successful rebellion, all of the DG SOLIDERs swore their loyatly to him and work for him now.

Tsviets

「 DC 」

The title used to denote the highest class of DG SOLDIER. Not every Tsviet is given the title of a color; only those with extra special abilities are. As the few examples of the success of special experiments, they are endowed with abilities beyond those of normal human beings. “Weiss the Immaculate”, “Nero the Sable”, and “Rosso the Crimson,” are feared as the most dangerous members of DG. And then there is “Shelke the Transparent” who excels at gathering information, proving that a person who has talents beyond fighting can also become a Tsviet.

SOLDIER

「 FFVII – BC – CC – LO 」

Those who are injected with Jenova cells, and are exposed to high concentrations of mako to be made into the ShinRa Company’s enhanced soldiers. They are armed with superhuman strength and endurance, and although they possess amazing reflexes, it is rare to find people with the strength to handle the operation needed for the adaption, and occasionally those subjects who fail during the research stage fall victim to reckless human experiments. SOLDIERs are ranked from 1st, to 2nd, to 3rd according to combat efficiency, and included within 1st is Sephiroth, the figure ranked highest of all.

Jenova

「 FFVII – AC – CC – DC – LO 」

A life form from another planet, which arrived on the planet on a meteorite approx. 2000 years ago. While it is not yet completely clear what it truly is, it is extremely intelligent and has the ability to mimic any other living being. It has an instinctive drive to destroy planets, and is a highly dangerous entity, so as the ‘Calamity from the Sky’ it was sealed by the Ancients. It was excavated by the ShinRa Company and used as a valuable basis of living body experiments, but together with Sephiroth who was created by those experiments it once again came back into action to destroy the planet. Even though most of its physical body was lost during the Jenova War its malevolent will remains, lurking in the Lifestream.

Jenova Project

「 FFVII – CC 」

Jenova was a specimen that was mistaken for an Ancient. Based on these early mistaken perceptions, the Head of the Shin-Ra Science Department, Dr. Gast, began conducting experiments to resurrect an Ancient. The main goal of this experiment was to create an Ancient who could inherit the powers of the planet and lead them to riches but the experiment ended up resulting in the revival of the great Calamity.

Jenova War

「 FFVII – DC 」

In 「FFVII」, the purpose of the fighting was to stop Meteor from destroying the planet. Word spread of Cloud’s group protecting the planet against Sephiroth and his Jenova-kind. After Sephiroth’s defeat they became known as the 「Heroes of the Jenova War」.

Geostigma

「 AC 」

A mysterious illness which spread following the Meteor Crisis. It causes black spots to appear on the skin of the sufferers. There is no cure, and sufferers are gradually weakened by random attacks of pain, eventually proving fatal. This is a condition brought on by the overworking of the body’s immune system, trying to purge Jenova’s cells that have entered the body. And even more terrifyingly, the spiritual energy of the dead afflicted with Geostigma will separate from the normal cycle of life and join the Negative Lifestream — Jenova’s mimetic legacy lurking in the Lifestream — and contribute to its power to corrode away the planet.

Synaptic Net Dive (SND)

「 DC 」

The act of projecting one’s self into the sea of information (Network). The special ability of “Shelke the Transparent”, a member of the Tsviets. It allows for interaction with an artificial environment while keeping one’s senses, and is primarily used to gather information from the network connecting computers. Using this ability it is possible to enter others psyche and senses, and peer directly into the other person’s memories, and share information you hold with them. However, it puts a great burden on the user.

Deepground (DG)

「 DC 」

A top secret ShinRa experimental test facility built deep under Midgar. Only very few members of ShinRa know of its existence. Originally a SOLDIER medical facility, as time passed it was transformed into an extralegal research organization which, disregarding all logic, strove to determine how strong a person could become. Once a unit called the Restrictors kept DG under rigid control, but the DG SOLDIERs orchestrated a rebellion, with the strongest Tsviet Weiss at the heart of it. They eliminated the Restrictors, and were freed from their control.

Meteor Crisis

「 FFVII – AC – DC 」

Meteor, summoned by Sephiroth, had the ability to destroy the planet. During the short delay toward impact, Holy was summoned. In order to protect the planet, the whole Meteor was destroyed thanks to the gathered lifestream. The landing site of Meteor, Midgar, was nearly destroyed due Meteor & Holy’s conflict. After the crisis, Midgar couldn’t be used as a place to live, so people moved to the suburb Kalm and the newly constructed city Edge.

Zirconiade

「 BC 」

The summon monster of legend, called the World-Burner. Inside the summoning materia, there is a symbol of a pyramid-shaped crystal. If the four support materia are not assembled, the summon cannot be successful, and the body will be damaged. By using the support materia during the imperfect summon, Zirconaide can be summoned, however, if it’s done this way, Zirconiade’s True Divine Power cannot be utilized.

Reunion

「 FFVII – AC 」

One of the properties Jenova possesses is that separated pieces of flesh, called cells, will regenerate back to their original form – working toward the phenomenon of reunification. This is shown by instance(s) when both Jenova, who is practically close to immortal, and the son whom should be called Sephiroth, are resurrected sooner or later even after being destroyed.