You know the feeling. You’re staring at Emerald Weapon, that giant green underwater nightmare, and your physical attacks are doing basically nothing. You need the big guns. In the world of the original 1997 PlayStation classic, the "big guns" has a specific name: Final Fantasy VII Knights of the Round. It is the ultimate summon Materia, a legendary piece of software history that takes about a minute and a half just to play its animation once. It's ridiculous. It's overpowered. Honestly, it's kind of a chore to get if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
Most people remember the knights as the thing that breaks the game. They aren't wrong. When you call upon these thirteen medieval warriors, they slash, pierce, and magical-blast everything on screen for massive damage that ignores magic defense. If you link it with "W-Summon," you can go make a sandwich while the animation plays out twice. But the journey to that hidden island in the corner of the map is where the real game begins.
The Chocobo Breeding Rabbit Hole
You can't just fly the Highwind to the Round Island. It’s unmapped. It’s surrounded by deep water and high mountains. To get there, you need a Gold Chocobo.
Breeding a Gold Chocobo is the real "final boss" for a lot of players. It starts with catching Great and Wonderful Chocobos near Mideel or the Icicle Inn. Then you need Carob Nuts from those red dinosaur-looking things (Vlakados) near Bone Village. You spend hours racing at the Gold Saucer just to move up the ranks because, let's face it, Joe and his Chocobo "Teioh" are cheating. Teioh's stats are always slightly better than yours no matter what you do. It’s frustrating.
You need a Blue one to cross rivers. You need a Green one to climb mountains. Then you mash them together to get a Black one. Finally, you take that Black Chocobo, breed it with a Wonderful Chocobo using a Zeio Nut—which you have to steal from Goblins on a tiny island—and pray to the RNG gods for that gold coat. When it finally hatches, the world opens up. You can literally run across the ocean.
Finding the Unmarked Island
The Materia itself is tucked away in the Northeast corner of the world map. It’s a tiny patch of land called Round Island. If you look at your in-game mini-map, there’s nothing there. It’s just blue.
Once you land your Gold Chocobo and walk into the cave, there it is. A red orb sitting in the center of a stone room. No boss fight. No puzzles. The "puzzle" was the ten hours you spent feeding greens to digital birds. Picking up Final Fantasy VII Knights of the Round feels like a silent victory. It’s the reward for the most tedious side quest in JRPG history.
Why the Animation is Infamous
Let’s talk about the 80-second elephant in the room. Each of the thirteen knights has a unique design and a unique weapon. You have the lead knight with the cape, the guys with the hammers, the ones with the spears. It was a technical marvel for the PS1. Square was showing off.
But if you’re using "Mime" to repeat the summon, you’re looking at several minutes of unskippable cutscenes. Back in the late 90s, this was the height of "cool." Today, it’s a meme. Yet, there’s a weight to it. Each hit feels earned. When the final King Arthur figure brings down that massive sword and the screen shatters like glass, the 129,987 potential damage (if you’re maxed out) makes the wait worth it.
The Strategy: Beyond Just Pressing "Summon"
Using the knights isn't just about raw power; it's about MP management. This thing costs 250 MP. Without "MP Turbo" or "MP Absorb," you’re going to run dry fast.
Smart players link it with "HP Absorb." Since the knights do so much damage, one cast will instantly refill Cloud's health to 9,999. It’s the ultimate safety net. However, there’s a catch. Some bosses, like Ruby Weapon, will counter-attack with some nasty stuff if you lead with a summon. You can't just mindlessly spam it unless you’ve got "Final Attack" linked to "Phoenix" as a backup.
- The Mime Trick: Have one character cast the summon, then have the next character use the Mime Materia. It costs 0 MP to Mime. This is how you win the game without trying.
- The W-Summon Combo: This allows you to cast it twice in one turn. Combined with Mime, your party becomes an assembly line of legendary warriors.
The Legend and the Legacy
There’s a lot of debate about where these knights come from in the lore. Unlike Ifrit or Shiva, they don't have a clear "home" in Gaia. They feel like echoes of a different era. Some fans think they represent the ancient Cetra warriors, while others just see them as a cool reference to Arthurian legend. Square didn't give much context, and honestly, they didn't need to. The mystery makes them cooler.
In the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth projects, the developers have handled summons differently. They are now tactical partners that fight alongside you. But the original Final Fantasy VII Knights of the Round remains the benchmark for "over-the-top." It represented a shift in gaming where cinematic flair became just as important as the mechanics.
How to Optimize Your Run
If you are going for the knights right now, don't waste time guessing the breeding combinations. Go to the Chocobo Sage’s house first. He’s in the far north, living in a hollowed-out tree. He forgets things every few seconds, but he sells the high-end greens you need to boost your Chocobo's stamina and speed.
- Capture two 'Great' Chocobos near Mideel.
- Race them to S-Class at the Gold Saucer. This is non-negotiable. If they aren't S-Class, your chances of getting the right color offspring drop significantly.
- Use a Carob Nut to get a Blue and a Green (opposite genders).
- Breed the Blue and Green for a Black Chocobo.
- Capture a 'Wonderful' Chocobo from the tracks near the Icicle Inn (it’ll be the one running with the rabbits).
- Final Step: Use a Zeio Nut on the Black and the Wonderful.
Once you have that Gold Chocobo, fly or run to the coordinates on the far Northeast of the map. Equip the Materia, pair it with "MP Turbo," and go show Sephiroth why he should have stayed in the Lifestream. You’ve put in the work; now enjoy the 80-second show.