Thread by @SStapczynski

I have become OBSESSED with how energy is distributed in the world of Final Fantasy 7

They say everything runs on "mako," the planet's lifestream. But the infrastructure throughout Midgar paint a more nuanced picture

This thread will attempt to break it down

1/

First off, let's take a look at who is powering the city: Shinra Electric Power Corp

While most people would draw a comparison to a Japanese utility (like Tokyo Electric), I think a more apt comparison would be a Zaibatsu, or a pre-WWII conglomerate

Let me explain

2/

Shinra not only produces and distributes the city's electricity, it also broadcasts the news, provides construction services, manages a military, runs a system of trains, etc. The city is essentially an extension of Shinra

3/

But without a doubt, Shinra's main business is operating Midgar's nine mako "reactors"

I use quotation marks because (as far as I can tell from the inside) these machines are very differently than a nuclear reactor. In fact, I would say a mako reactor is closer to an oil rig

4/

Based on the infrastructure in FF7R, the mako is extracted from the lifestream, then refined and stored in various different forms

The tanks, vehicles and pipes you see throughout the game give you hints of mako's various forms

5/

First off, electricity appears to be generated primarily as solidified mako (or materia, as they call it in the world). They're essentially batteries

You can see these glowing batteries throughout the game, and they appear to be powering the electrical grid

And, to an extent, the mako reactor is also distributing power to the grid. There were power outages after the mako reactor blew up at the start of the game

But I suspect that is more connected with the flow of mako-refined fuels

7/

I concluded that Shinra processes the mako into both a liquid and a gas

The liquid is likely very similar to gasoline, and it powers the cars and robots. The evidence is there: lots of gasoline-looking storage tanks/barrels, cars appear to require some sort of liquid fuel

/8

The gas infrastructure is also there!

> Gas stoves in Tifa's bar
> Gas storage tanks

/9

But the biggest giveaway was this compressed natural gas-powered forklift

Those are clearly CNG tanks on the back!!

/10

In conclusion, we need to give credit to the designers and artists who clearly did their research when remaking FF7

I wouldn't be able to do this silly analysis if the world wasn't so detailed. They figured out how mako could power everything. And that is cool

/end