Sazh Katzroy

Sazh Katzroy is a player character from Final Fantasy XIII. He is a middle-aged black man with an afro, and is described as a sympathetic and kind man who is easily moved to tears. After his wife died three years prior to the events of the game, Sazh looked after their six-year old son, Dajh, before he became a l'Cie and was taken by PSICOM. Saving Dajh is Sazh's main motivation in the game.

Appearance and Personality
Sazh is a reasonably tall black man with a distinctive afro in which he keeps a baby Chocobo. He wears a long, olive coat over khaki trousers, a white button-down and black buckled boots. He keeps his two pistols in holsters strapped to his thighs. In an interview with the Shonen Jump magazine, Yoshinori Kitase stated that Sazh was modeled after the American singer Lionel Richie. Despite being physically the eldest of the Final Fantasy XIII playable party - excluding Oerba Yun Fang and Oerba Dia Vanille, who are both over 500 years old chronologically - Sazh has a youthful, carefree and lively personality.

Sazh is basically a good-hearted man. He is silly at times, mostly when he is in near death situations, but underneath his appearance, Sazh has a strong will of justice and is always willing to help his teammates. At one time, Sazh was struggling with whether or not he should kill Vanille, due to her destiny as a l'Cie, however, after Vanille begged Sazh to shoot her, he found the courage to accept Vanille for who she was, showing that even in extreme situations, Sazh can be forgiving, even to a l'Cie.

Story
Sazh is a professional airship pilot from Cocoon, knowing Lightning from their time spent together serving PSICOM. Prior to the game, Sazh bought a newly hatched baby Chocobo for his son Dajh as a gift during a trip eleven days ago where they cross paths with Jihl. Four days later, he loses his son to Sanctum after he realized he became a l'Cie after finding him. Sazh follows Lightning to meet the Pulse fal'Cie Anima, becoming a l'Cie as a result. After Sazh and Vanille willingly depart from Lightning and Hope at the Vile Peaks, the two become close friends as they travel together.

However, during their visit to Nautilus, talking about Dajh while at the Chocobo ranch, Sazh realized Vanille is hiding something from him prior to them being ambushed by a PSICOM unit led by Jihl Nabaat. After fighting their way to escape their pursuers, Sazh is briefly reunited with his son before he is crystallized right before his eyes. By then, Jihl arrives and reveals that Dajh accidentally became a l'Cie because of Vanille and Fang. Distraught, Sazh pursues Vanille with the intention of killing her. Finding Vanille, he points his gun at her as she insists for him to just shoot her, furious that she thinks he will simply forgive her once she is dead. But after Brynhildr appears moments later, seeing Vanille willing to protect him makes Sazh save her and spurns him to gain control of his Eidolon before he attempted suicide prior to be captured by Jihl, learning from her that the crystallized Dajh is to be placed in Eden as a memorial. This infuriates him as Sazh is rendered unconscious before being taken with Vanille to the Palamecia.

In the TGS '09 trailer, he is seen flying an airship through yellow energy arcs of an unknown fal'Cie to evade PSICOM forces, and later to escape Yaag Rosch in the Proud Clad.

In the final Japanese trailer, Sazh is seen riding on Brynhildr in her Gestalt Mode, seemingly trying to save Vanille, who had been knocked off a platform by a missile while being protected by her Eidolon, Hecatoncheir. After Orphan's defeat, Sazh is reunited with his son, Dajh.

Abilities and Equipment
Being a l'Cie, Sazh's Eidolon is Brynhildr, a female Fire-elemental knight, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode. On his own, Sazh uses a pair of pistols, that can transform into an assault rifle. He can shoot with his guns from a range, but also use them in melee combat. He also has access to Fire magic. Sazh's full ATB skill, Desperado, is a series of explosive shots that damage the target.

Musical Themes
Sazh's Theme is a funky number heavily featuring piano, percussion, brass, and acoustic guitar. Both the piano and the acoustic guitar have a jazz improvisational style that is quite unusual for the music of the Final Fantasy series.

Trivia

 * His l'Cie mark on his chest.
 * Sazh's crystal is in the shape of a feather.
 * Sazh has the most lines in the game, and is supposed to be different from any other character in the series.
 * Sazh's ATB full skill, Desperado, is named after Laguna Loire's Limit Break in Final Fantasy VIII.
 * Tetsuya Nomura has stated in an interview that he would choose Sazh over Lightning to appear in a sequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy representing Final Fantasy XIII.
 * Sazh's weapons follow the tradition of star-named guns in the series.

Sazh Katzroy