In the lower levels, life was much more of a challenge. Midgar's lower city was where razor sharp wit and brutal savagery were needed to survive. Few kind hearts were offered to strangers here, indeed, many of the gangs saw the word stranger as a euphemism for enemy. Fearful citizens cowered together, huddled in their shanty houses. Pitiful dwellings forged from road signs, rusted drain pipes and other clutter that the people found within the streets. In the movies whenever a disaster occurred, people always scuttled from the rubble to fight amongst themselves for survival... Midgar was the opposite, the people needed no disaster, they needed no excuses. With nothing else of worth left in the city, the people played for keeps.