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Zack Fair

Zack Fair is a NPC (non-player character) from Final Fantasy VII and the protagonist of its prequel, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. In Final Fantasy VII, he only appears in flashback sequences, which portray him as almost identical to Cloud Strife, the game's main protagonist, in physical appearance except having black hair and his pauldron being on both shoulders. When strung together, the sequences explain a great deal about Cloud's past and his connection to Sephiroth, the game's arch-villain. He also wielded the Buster Sword before Cloud.

Story

Zack was born in the town of Gongaga, where he spent his early years until he joined Shin-Ra's military forces around the age of 14. There, he was placed under the tutleage of Angeal Hewley for the next four years to become a member of SOLDIER.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-

File:Crisis core FF7 Zack with buster sword.jpg

Zack as he appears in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII whilst wielding the Buster Sword.

After the Wutai War was resolved, Zack, along with Angeal and Sephiroth (who at the time was considered a hero) were sent to Wutai to learn what had become of the SOLDIERs under Genesis. They learned that he had turned his back on Shin-Ra, and had to be stopped at all costs. Trailers from the game show Zack conducting various missions given by Lazard as a member of SOLDIER, and his early relationships with many recurring characters such as Cloud, Sephiroth, Tseng and Aeris. Crisis Core should also reveal how Cloud and Zack became best friends, and how Zack met and developed a relationship with Aeris. At one point in the game, Zack learned from Lazard that Sephiroth turned down a mission because he would not want to fight his only friends, Angeal Hewley, and Genesis Rhapsodos.

After the Genesis mission, Zack inherited the Buster Sword originally belonging to Angeal, and was soon assigned to Nibelheim with Sephiroth to investigate the nearby Mako reactor. They were accompanied by two Shinra troops; one of them whom happened to be Zack's friend, Cloud Strife. Upon investigating the reactor and returning to town, Sephiroth visited the nearby Shinra Mansion and discovered documents that he misinterpreted, and led him to believe he was the son of Jenova, whom he thought was one of the Ancients. The information drove Sephiroth insane, resulting in his destroying the town of Nibelheim and nearly all of its inhabitants. Following Tifa to the Nibelheim reactor and finding her injured inside of it, Zack eventually confronts Sephiroth in a duel, but Sephiroth defeats him easily. Sephiroth then heads into the deepest part of the reactor, towards a stasis tank that contains the one he calls "Mother", Jenova. Suddenly, Cloud appears from behind Sephiroth with the Buster Sword, and stabs him. Cloud then heads back to check on Tifa, when Sephiroth emerges from the inner reactor, carrying Jenova's severed head. Cloud and Sephiroth then battle again, the end of the fight leaving Sephiroth falling to his apparent death in a pit of mako, with Cloud and Zack severely wounded.

Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-

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Zack and Cloud respectively, as they appear in Last Order: Final Fantasy VII.

Zack and Cloud are retrieved by Shin-Ra forces and kept in custody. They are subjected against their will to biological experimentation involving genetic material from Jenova, under the supervision of Professor Hojo. Approximately four years later, Zack breaks out and literally drags Cloud with him during their escape. Zack gives Cloud some of his clothes and gets them transport to Midgar. During this time, Cloud is weak, groggy and somewhat delirious, as he had reacted more strongly to the experiments than Zack did. However, Zack talks continuously to the unresponsive Cloud about his life and his plans to become a mercenary in Midgar, get rich and be with his girlfriend. When they finally arrive outside of Midgar, the Shin-Ra security force that have been searching for them finally catch up. They try to detain the escaped prisoners, but Zack fights back to defend both Cloud and himself. He succeeds in taking out the first wave of Shin-Ra forces, however this leaves him in a severely wounded and weakened state, and when a second squadron turn up, Zack is doomed. The Shin-Ra troops, armed with machine guns, attack Zack. In his final moments before death, as he tries with everything he can muster to fight, Zack sees memories of his past flash before his eyes as his DMW goes berserk and appears to malfunction as he edges closer to death. Eventually, he can no longer fight, and collapses. Mercilessly, the Shin-Ra troops do not hesitate, and continue to shoot at Zack. But then Zack is brought back briefly by the same voice which woke him earlier, the 'Hel-loooo' from Arieth. With the last ounce of strength, Zack took out the remaining Shin-Ra troops whilst sustaining even more gunshots, leading to his final collapse. Cloud is left for dead after seeing his vegetative state. However, having witnessed the whole chaos, Cloud manages to recover, and he crawls over to Zack. In his last few seconds, and as the rains start to fall from the heavens, a blood-soaked Zack entrusts the Buster Sword to Cloud, and tells him that his legacy will live on inside Cloud, before finally passing away. Cloud, deeply distressed, scrambles to his feet, Buster Sword in hand, and begins trudging off towards Midgar. His final words to Zack were, "Good-night, Zack".

Zack's Fall

Zack after being left for dead by the ShinRa Troopers.

The combined weight of all this trauma finally makes him snap, and, aided by the Jenova cells he now has in his body, he adopts Zack's persona, combining it with his own. He truly believes that he was successful in joining SOLDIER, and that he fulfilled Zack's role in the fateful mission to Nibelheim 5 years before. Upon his arrival in Midgar, Cloud seeks work as a mercenary, just as Zack said he intended to do. When Tifa finds Cloud at the Sector 7 Station, she convinces him to join her and Barret with AVALANCHE. This is where Final Fantasy VII begins.


Final Fantasy VII

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Zack and Cloud during a flashback sequence.

Much of Final Fantasy VII's story revolves around Cloud's battle to reclaim his memory, to accept his true identity rather than relying on his constructed "Zack" personality, and to validate himself in a world that has rejected him. When the party visit the depressed town of Gongaga Village they learn that it was Zack's hometown. Aeris also reveals at one point that Zack was her first boyfriend, and that Cloud resembles him.

In Maiden who Travels the Planet, Aeris encountered Zack after her death at the hands of Sephiroth, and he was among those who aided her in the destruction of Meteor.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Although Zack has been long dead by the time of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, he shows up several times. Flashbacks show scenes of his and Cloud's friendship when Cloud visits the Buster Sword memorial outside Midgar, and is briefly shown when Cloud thinks of what he cherishes most during his battle with Sephiroth. After Cloud gets caught in Loz and Yazoo's kamikaze attack, he hears Zack and Aerith's voices before being sent back to Midgar, and sees him with Aerith in the church in the slums, returning to the Lifestream, letting Cloud know that they are alright together, and don't need him to worry.

Throughout the movie, a large grey wolf appears in many of the same places as Cloud does, but at different times, only meeting him once at the end. It is speculated by many that this is a representation of Zack's spirit, following Cloud. He appears next to the Buster Sword memorial in the wasteland, sleeping in the church when Cloud falls unconscious due to Geostigma symptoms, next to the lake in the Forgotten City after Aerith left a message on Cloud's phone, and next to Cloud before he awakens in Aerith's church.

Other Appearances

Ehrgeiz

Ehrgeiz-Zack

Zack is a secret character in the game Ehrgeiz: God Bless The Ring, functioning more or less as a head swap of Cloud, in the arcade, versus, and minigame events.

Trivia

  • Zack's full name was first revealed in Crisis Core to be Zack Fair. According to Nomura, it is derived from "fair weather", and is intended to contrast with Cloud Strife.
  • Zack shares both English and Japanese voice actors with Gippal of Final Fantasy X-2: Rick Gomez and Kenichi Suzumura, respectively.
  • His hairstyle seems to be different during his time as Angeal's protege than after, notably having shorter hair and bangs. Later, it changes to his trademark style of long, spiky black hair running down from his back without bangs, save for a small one in front of his forehead.

Gallery

External Link

Zack Fair in Wikipedia

Template:FFVII

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