LogFAQs > #979997096

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Main Character 6
Zack Fair

You're not allowed to take my images. How dare you make me find another image of Zack Fair that doesn't say "Me? Gongaga" at the bottom.

My relationship with Zack is complicated. I loved the twist in the original game. It really freaked my bean when I was 15. But I also didn't give a shit about him as a person. It was cool that he was Cloud's doppelganger and he died. That's it. I didn't need to know anything more about him besides what was given to us in the original.

Then came Square Enix's "Zack push," where they come out with Crisis Core, they shove him into Kingdom Hearts 2. Couldn't care less. The issue is he's too goody-goody, honestly. He's something of a typical anime protagonist (dumb as hell, perseverance trumps everything, makes friends super easily, his enemies respect him, probably eats a ton of meat).

That being said, I liked the twist at the end of Remake where Zack lives. It really opened up a ton of narrative possibility that, to be quite frank, Rebirth doesn't do enough with (but I'll save that for ending talk). Zack's status as trad-protag works in Rebirth because it's a clever juxtaposition with Cloud's attempt to "play a part." Zack - the actual "hero" - is trapped in a world that's falling apart, while Cloud - the Avatar - is going on the heroic journey. It creates a lot of real interesting tension.

Zack's escapades in the Terrier-verse aren't exactly exciting, but they serve the important role of keeping players invested in the game beyond just replaying events from the original. I think they nailed his interactions with Marlene, Elmyra and Biggs. I liked Zack more in this game than I ever did before.

I still don't love Zack/Aerith. My interpretation of the relationship from the original game was that Aerith had a crush on Zack and so he was her "first crush." This is when I assumed Zack was older (like he was in his 20's while Aerith would've been a teen). Crisis Core suggests they were the same age and actually in an almost relationship, which I think is, I dunno, kind of dumb/too convenient from a narrative perspective.

Post Temple of the Ancient Stuff: It ruled. The Cloud/Zack fight, the Zack with Aerith help fight in the Church, the synergy attacks, the limit breaks. Truly a stand up and cheer moment. They gave Zack the line "who says the worlds can't unite again" which I would wager is a needle drop for the third game's title: reunite. Pretty good for a meme guy.

Hint for NPC 13: Better in the og game in almost every way, but still pretty high up.