Lightning materia is a
Magic Materia in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that provides the user 
Lightning-elemental spells. Lightning spells cause a bolt of lightning to hit an enemy from above. The materia is imbued with the element, and thus can be linked with the 
Elemental Materia to add lightning damage to attacks or resist against lightning. It can be paired with Synergy Materia or Auto-Cast Materia to cast lightning spells automatically.
In addition to lightning materia, the Lightning and Wind Materia contains the properties of both lightning and Wind Materia, although it is rarer and levels up slower than the lightning materia does.
The lightning materia in Rebirth is identical to the materia in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Obtained[]
The player already has a lightning materia since the start of the game. It is also sold in all shops that sell materia for 500 gil apiece. It is also a reward in Chadley's combat simulator for completing "Combat Training: Barret", and a level 2 version is awarded for completing "Junon Region Intel: Level 1" starting in chapter 4, "Dawn of a New Era".
Stats[]
Growth[]
| Level | AP required | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Thunder |
| 2 | 300 | Thundara |
| 3 | 900 | Thundaga |
Abilities[]
| Magic | MP | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Thunder | 4 | Deal a small amount of Lightning damage.
|
| Thundara | 10 | Deal a moderate amount of lightning damage. |
| Thundaga | 21 | Deal a large amount of ice damage. |
Use[]
The lightning materia grants three tiers of lightning-elemental spells. The basic Thunder spell is unlocked from the start, and leveling the materia with AP unlocks the mid-tier Thundara spell, then fully leveling unlocks Thundaga. Higher-tier spells cost more MP and take much longer to cast, and Thundaga requires two ATB charges instead of one. The lightning materia's spells are comparable in damage to the wind materia, as well as the Fire Materia and Ice Materia. Although it levels up slower, the lightning and wind materia contains the same spells as the lightning materia.
Lightning-elemental damage is most effective against mechanical enemies, and some biological enemies.
Lightning materia has several useful Support Materia pairings. For spellcasting, auto-cast and synergy materia allow Thunder to be cast often; because Thunder's projectiles hits enemies near-instantaneously, this pairing is very effective for party members with high 
Magic attributes (Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, or Cait Sith). Magnify Materia similarly can be very effective with lightning against groups of enemies, particularly those vulnerable to the element. Early on, Level Boost Materia can grant access to higher-tier lightning spells if they are needed before the materia is fully leveled. Magic Focus Materia can increase the strength of lightning spells against certain opponents, while Magic Efficiency Materia can reduce its spells' MP cost. Swiftcast Materia can speed the cast time, but is generally better saved for other materia pairings unless relying heavily on casting Thundaga.
The lightning materia's role can fundamentally be changed by pairing it with elemental materia. Pairing lightning materia with elemental materia on a weapon imbues all attacks with lightning damage, allowing non-spellcasters to take advantage of an enemy's vulnerability to lightning. This pairing can be particularly useful on those with high 
Strength attributes, namely Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith. Pairing it with lightning on an armor will instead resist (or at full level, absorb) lightning damage, making it an excellent pairing on party members who prefer to tank damage such as Cloud, Barret, or Red XIII. Doing so in combination with 
Provoke Materia can be effective to protect other party members.
If the party member casting a spell from their lightning materia has unlocked their lightning-elemental weapon ability (e.g. Static Shock for Red XIII), Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga becomes Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga α, which will bestow a lightning-elemental sphere to the spellcaster for the rest of the battle (unless the player changes the element with Fire α etc.) that will supplement small magical lightning-elemental damage when defending against certain enemy attacks (perfect-blocking not needed) and when using ATB abilities. The attacks from the "lightning sphere" do build stagger and can be critical hits.
The lightning materia is outclassed by the lightning and wind materia, which is more slot-efficient due to having more spells, and a greater pairing with elemental materia due to providing the ability to imbue attacks with or resist two elements rather than one. However, only one lightning and wind materia can be obtained, meaning lightning materia still has uses. Pairing lightning and wind with elemental materia can thus provide more effective resistance or physical attack, while lightning and wind materia can be more slot efficient for some spellcasters and potentially grant support materia pairing to two types of elemental spells. Either way, the rarity of lightning and wind materia means lightning materia maintains use.