Final Fantasy VII Characters

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Zack

Vital Statistics

Occupation	Ex-SOLDIER
Birthdate	Unknown
Hometown	Gongaga

Biography

Zack is a young man with long, black spiky hair. He was born in Gongaga where his parents still live, and much like Cloud, decided one day to go to Midgar to become a SOLDIER. He achieved it, and as such has the same glow to his eyes as Cloud and Sephiroth. He also carries a huge broadsword, identical to the one Cloud uses in the game. During the time he remained in Midgar, he dated Aeris for a while, but it didn't last long.

Additional Information

In fact, the real reason why Zack and Aeris didn't work out is because of the last mission he took part in as a member of SOLDIER. He was sent with Sephiroth to Nibelheim, five years prior to the beginning of the game, to investigate on the monster activity around the Mako reactor.

The real story is a little different from what Cloud remembers. In its essence, it's identical to the story he told everyone in Kalm (although it's doubtful that Zack originally went into Cloud's and Tifa's houses : the real Cloud probably entered both houses while under the Shinra uniform). Except that Zack was sent alongside Sephiroth as a member of the SOLDIER. The broadsword belongs to him in the first place, and he was the one who tried to use it against Sephiroth after he had burned down Nibelheim. Unfortunately for him, Sephiroth was far too strong and slashed Zack without ever being touched by him. You find out what really happened after the event in the Lifestream with Cloud and Tifa : Cloud entered the reactor, picked up Zack's sword and used it with great effect against Sephiroth, finally managing to cast him into the depths of the reactor. Then, he and Zack were left for dead.

But they weren't. In fact, their bodies were taken by professor Hojo, and brought into the Shinra's mansion basement. Probably mad about his son being dead, Hojo tried to clone him : he injected Jenova's cells in the two bodies, and exposed them to high amounts of Mako energy. As explained in the papers found in the basement of the Shinra's mansion, while Cloud showed a reaction to Jenova, Zack didn't. This explains why he kept his mind clear during the process, as opposed to Cloud who went almost braindead.

At some point during their captivity, Zack managed to escape from the containment he was kept in. He freed Cloud as well, and they escaped from Nibelheim together. During their escape, Zack talked to Cloud a lot, maybe hoping to bring him back to consciousness. He also gave him his clothes, which is fairly important to the cohesion of Cloud's story as told in Kalm. On the back of a truck leading to Midgar, where he hopes that Aeris will welcome him, Zack decided to become a mercenary, and that Cloud should become one as well.

Unfortunately, upon reaching Midgar, the two friends were attacked by Shinra's troops, and Zack is shot while protecting Cloud. The soldiers executed Zack, and left Cloud for dead : he slowly crept later on to Zack's body, and grabbed his sword, raising his fists towards the cursed city of Midgar.

Since this event, there has been no sign of Zack. If he had survived the brutal point-blank execution by the Shinra troops, he would surely have tried to reach Aeris or Cloud, or his parents in Gongaga. On another note, Zack can't be a Sephiroth clone, because he didn't show any reaction to Mako or Jenova's cells, as is stated in the papers in the Shinra's mansion basement. That clearly means that he is not the man in the pipe in Sector 5 (nor any of the failed clones that wanders around the world).