Weapon:- BUSTER SWORD; The Buster Sword isn’t your typical “everyday-type” sword. It’s an enormous broadsword that boasts great length and insane weight. This massive weapon sports an enormous black steel blade that has many engraved markings tapering out from the blunt-side of the weapon. The measurements of this weapon include an approximately one foot wide blade and a total length of around six feet, making this sword much bigger than the average person. Finally, at the end of the weapon it has a gold-tinted steel base with a winged motif engraved into it, a foot long red handle, and a gold circular pommel.
Abilities: - Super-Human Traits; As a SOLDIER, Zack has undergone biological experiments to augment his human qualities. The results of these experiments have given him the ability to perform superhuman feats of strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, dexterity, and overall heightened senses.These augmentations are seen quite clearly in his Swordsmanship and Hand-To-Hand Combat, seeing how he is able to wield the mighty Buster Sword effortlessly and pulverize or cut through solid metal with ease. The most notable effect of these experimentation is the SOLDIER trademark, “Mako Eyes”, which is the sky-colored glow in his eyes due to being infused with Mako Energy.
- Master Swordsman; As a former 1st Class SOLDIER; trained by both Sephiroth & Angeal, Zack is a prominent Master when it comes to wielding a blade. Even though he prefers fighting with a mighty broadsword, Zack is capable of wielding smaller weapons with relative ease. The man’s skill allows him to dispatch multitudes of enemies within a short period of time, or make rather accurate assumptions about another person's skill-level just by clashing with them. If he ever finds himself in a situation where a sword is not a viable weapon, Zack has little to fear as he is also a highly-capable Hand-To-Hand fighter & skilled Sharpshooter.
- Digital Mind Wave{DMW}; A rather unique ability that is assumed to have stemmed from Zack’s friendliness towards others, his Mako-Induced Enhancements, and Jenova-Cell injections. He is capable of copying and adapting the special techniques or “Limit Breaks” of others upon meeting them, and then is able perform them in either a modified fashion or identical to those that he copied. Zack himself is unconscious of this ability himself, so it’s true origins are unknown, but it is seemingly affected by his emotional and mental state and has the power to increase his physical performance.
Personality: Zack is extremely easygoing and carefree, quite literally laughing in the face of any danger. He's courageous, outgoing, and an overall great guy to be around. Zack would gladly give his life for his comrades and friends without a second thought or hesitation, and is the prime example of what a true hero should be. He doesn't let depression get him down for long, nor does his expect anyone to feel bad for him. When someone else is down, Zack does what he can to lift their spirits, and if not that, offer support in any other way he can. He's rarely ever seen without a smile.
When it comes to girls, however, Zack is anything but shy. It wouldn't take him long to instantly flirt with one, given they were the proper age to, of course. Because of this, he can sometimes come off as a bit cocky, though it's never intended to be in a negative light. He’s an extremist when it comes to working hard and being determined. Once he has set a goal for himself he will never stop pursuing it and would never let anything come in-between him and accomplishing that goal.
Zack is the type of person that keeps his ideals and dreams close to his heart and wouldn’t tolerate for his honor to be stomped on nor for his freedom to be taken away by any means. The man is extremely steadfast when he has set his mind on a particular view, and it would take alot to make him waver and even more to actually change his mind on a topic.
Angeal's death was a painful and even harsh lesson for him; nothing in this life comes easy. Death is something to move past, and keep in the past.
Zack is nicknamed 'the puppy', and for good reason. Even idle, he can never quite seem to sit still. If there's nothing around to do, Zack will find something, as simple as it may be, always feeding the need to be constantly stimulated. It can come down to anything; squats, finding people to prod, or even creating his own games. If left alone, he will bore very easily, but one wonders if the man ever does actually sleep. The older Zack becomes, the younger he is at heart.
Like any other of the former members of ShinRa’s 1st SOLDIERs, Zack has a dark past. He has seen and done many terrible things, which include, but not limited to, killing his beloved mentor Angeal and witnessing the destruction of an entire village as “collateral damage” simply because an enemy of ShinRa had a production facility within the area. When the time calls for it, Zack can be quite serious and because of this he is able to show the world just what it means to be a SOLDIER 1st Class.
History:Zack, assumed to have been born in the town of Gongaga, had childhood dreams of joining SOLDIER to become a 1st Class like the legendary Sephiroth. At the age of thirteen Zack left Gongaga without telling his parents, and joined the Shinra's military forces.
By October of 0000, Zack had reached SOLDIER 2nd Class under the tutelage of SOLDIER 1st Class Angeal Hewley. Angeal's words of wisdom and strong sense of honor had a profound effect on Zack, who wanted to be just like his mentor. During his time in SOLDIER, Zack befriended 2nd Class SOLDIER Kunsel, who guided him in the ways of Shinra. Zack worked under Director Lazard Deusericus in the 49th Floor of Shinra Headquarters, along with many other SOLDIER members.
Zack undergoes a digital training session in the Virtual Reality System with his mentor Angeal Hewley. Zack successfully completes the mission, but while he is caught off-guard by the victory, he is attacked by a virtual form of Sephiroth. Sephiroth overpowers Zack, but Angeal saves him and ends the training.
Despite the debacle Angeal requests to Director Lazard for Zack be promoted to 1st Class. Zack is soon sent on a mission to Wutai so as to prove his abilities. Though Zack becomes ecstatic over Angeal's suggestion, he receives some interesting news during the briefing: 1st Class SOLDIER Genesis Rhapsodos has deserted Shinra, taking an untold number of 2nd and 3rd Class soldiers with him.
Angeal and Zack arrive in Wutai and journey to Fort Tamblin. On the way, Angeal asks Zack if he knows what "dumbapples" are and Zack learns the origin of the Banora White apples and that Angeal was poor growing up. When a bomb goes off Zack jumps down and takes out the forces single-handedly. After an encounter with a nine-year-old Yuffie Kisaragi, Zack enters a room and is attacked by two anti-SOLDIER monsters. Angeal arrives, just in time, to help him defeat them.
While heading back to meet with Lazard, several soldiers attack the two. Angeal stays behind to deal with them while Zack gets Lazard to safety and heads back to discover Angeal missing. Ifrit appears and battles Zack, but Sephiroth arrives and defeats Ifrit in one blow. The bodies of the soldiers who attacked them are copies of Genesis, the missing SOLDIER. Sephiroth concludes Angeal has abandoned them and left with his long-time friend, Genesis, but Zack refuses to believe his mentor would ever desert Shinra.
Zack is given a new mission to look for Genesis where he is joined by Tseng of the Turks. In Angeal and Genesis's hometown, Banora Village, Zack and Tseng find a grave, which turns out to be that of Genesis's parents. Zack heads into the village and finds only one person, Angeal's mother, Gillian Hewley. She asks him where Angeal is, but Zack doesn't know. Zack heads outside and finds an alternate path that leads to a factory where Genesis appears and taunts Zack and injures Tseng. Angeal arrives and defends Zack, but soon pushes him away. Tseng reveals several planes are going to bomb Banora to the ground to cover up the incidents and Zack races to save Gillian, but finds her dead on the floor, Angeal standing above her. Thinking Angeal has killed her, Zack punches him and questions his honor. Genesis arrives and trips Zack, letting Angeal go. Genesis summons Bahamut, which Zack defeats. Sprouting a black wing, Genesis flies off and as Zack heads towards a Shinra Helicon, he watches the bombing of Banora.
In April 0001, Zack is at the Shinra Headquarters when Lazard awards him the title of SOLDIER 1st Class, but Zack is not as happy as he thought he would be attaining his dream. Genesis's army attacks Midgar, and Zack fights them throughout the city. Along the way he saves Cissnei, a member of the Turks. Sephiroth and Zack head to the Sector 5 Reactor to find the rogue Dr. Hollander, who is suspected of working with Genesis. Zack chases Hollander through the reactor until he runs into Angeal, who says his goals are world domination and revenge. Sprouting wings, Angeal says he is a monster and attacks Zack and knocks him back, but Zack refuses to fight his old friend and mentor. Angeal uses magic to knock the platform beneath Zack away sending him falling down into the slums below.
Zack drops through the roof of the Sector 5 Church where he meets Aerith Gainsborough, whom he offers to pay back her help with a date. Zack is impressed with the flowers that grow in the church as flowers are rarely seen in Midgar and suggests Aerith sell the flowers. Zack gets his wallet stolen by a child, and discovers the child's own wallet was eaten by a monster, which Zack proceeds to recover. Zack buys Aerith a pink ribbon she will always wear from then on.
Their date is cut short when Zack has to return to the Midgar Plate to defeat Genesis. While on route, Angeal lands and explains he and Zack must work together. Zack agrees and Angeal flies him off to the Shinra Building. Sephiroth explains Hollander is most likely after Professor Hojo due to Hojo taking over his job. Zack, Genesis and Angeal arrive and when Genesis flies out Angeal grabs Zack and flies him to face Bahamut Fury while Angeal deals with Genesis. After the battle Angeal and Genesis are gone.
After the Midgar attack, Zack is sent to the mountain town of Modeoheim with Tseng and several Shinra infantrymen, one of whom is Cloud Strife. Their helicopter is shot down by Genesis's troops on the way there, and the team must hike their way across the snow. Zack and Cloud make headway and when Zack comments that his companion can at least keep up after seeing how far behind Tseng and the other troops are, they learn they are both "country boys" and become immediate friends. From this point on Cloud accompanies Zack on many missions and looks up to him as a hero and role model, not unlike Zack looking up to Angeal.
They come up on a Mako Excavation Facility that Zack infiltrates while Tseng and the troops continue on to Modeoheim. Zack finds Genesis and Dr. Hollander arguing and confronts Genesis while Hollander squirms away. Defeating the degrading Genesis, Zack watches while the former SOLDIER lets himself fall into the depths of the Mako Reactor. Assuming him dead, Zack hurries after Hollander.
Within a ruined bath house Zack finds Hollander and Angeal. He learns Hollander is Angeal's father, who used the late Gillian Hewley as a test subject for Project G. It is revealed Angeal did not kill his mother, but she killed herself. Although Hollander refers to him as the perfect soldier, Angeal refuses this title and, accepting the monstrosities of Project G, renames himself as the "perfect monster". He fuses with several Angeal Copy monsters and becomes Angeal Penance.
Zack fights Angeal Penance, obtaining the scar on his left cheek. Angeal is left barely alive, and degrading from his wounds. Using his last strength, he hands the Buster Sword to Zack, telling him to remember his dreams and honor to be a true member of SOLDIER. Distraught over the death of his mentor and friend, Zack finds comfort in the arms of Aerith, strengthening their relationship. As one of the last 1st Class SOLDIERs, and with the war with Genesis considered over, Zack takes over Angeal's job as the emotional heart of the organization. He meets another SOLDIER member named Luxiere, who looks up to him as a role model, and constantly sends Zack mail, as he is inspired by Zack's speech to the Shinra troops he commands.
On January 16, 0002, Zack Fair is sent to deal with the insurgency known as AVALANCHE. He is sent to Icicle Inn to destroy an AVALANCHE base along with a player Turk and his SOLDIER friends, Essai and Sebastian. If the Turk player is female, Zack will hit on her. Along the way, Essai and Sebastian are kidnapped by AVALANCHE and turned into Ravens, monstrous genetically enhanced humans created by Fuhito to be his personal guard. Zack fights and kills a Raven named Kyneugh, and tries to save the SOLDIER members, but when he arrives they have been transformed and must be defeated. After their deaths, Zack makes a grave for them with each of their swords crossing.
By early summer, Zack is sent to Costa del Sol to rest with Cissnei watching him. His rest is interrupted by an attack by Genesis copies, which is just the first salvo of a new round of conflict. With the help of the secret traitor within SOLDIER, Director Lazard himself, they break Dr. Hollander out of imprisonment in Junon. Zack is sent there, with a good number of Turks and Shinra Troops to quell the threat of Genesis's copies and the stolen machines of the Shinra company. Hollander escapes with the help of the Genesis copies, but Sephiroth, who appeared late on the scene, forgives him, and gives Zack permission to return Midgar and see Aerith.
Midgar had also been in danger as hordes of monsters had appeared, escaped (or perhaps set free, according to Kunsel) from Hojo's lab. One monster in particular had gone to Aerith's church: a single Angeal copy that was protecting Aerith from the monsters and Shinra's confused machines until Zack's arrival. Although never fully stated, it is believed this single copy is all that is left of Angeal's will on the Planet, and is perhaps being controlled by Angeal from the Lifestream.
Before Zack leaves on his next mission, he and Aerith build a wagon so she can sell flowers throughout Midgar. Zack has to stop selling early as he is called away for another mission. Trusting Tseng to look after Aerith, Zack, Sephiroth, Cloud, and two other Shinra troops head to Nibelheim, Cloud's hometown, to inspect the emergence of monsters in the area and a perhaps malfunctioning Mako Reactor.
Zack, Sephiroth, and Cloud enter Nibelheim on September 22nd, but Cloud hides his face out of fear of being spotted by his childhood friend, Tifa. Just before the group heads up Mt. Nibel to reach the reactor, a villager snaps a picture of Sephiroth, Tifa, and Zack together.
The problem of the malfunctioning reactor is easily fixed, but within the reactor Zack and Sephiroth find pods filled with Makonoids, monsters that used to be humans infused with massive amounts of Mako. They find a creature named Jenova, who Sephiroth was told was his mother. This, along with words from Genesis who reveals to Sephiroth his past as part of Jenova Project, sends Sephiroth over the edge. He hides in the basement of the Shinra Manor reading files upon files of the project for seven days. When Zack tries to talk to him Sephiroth wants to be left alone. On October 1st, Sephiroth comes out of the mansion. Now insane, Sephiroth burns the village to the ground, slaughtering most of the townsfolk.
Zack runs up the mountain behind an enraged Tifa, both out to defeat Sephiroth. Within the reactor Tifa is easily cut down by Sephiroth. Zack approaches her but she is frightened of him. Zack finds Sephiroth standing outside of Jenova's containment tube and the two battle, and Zack holds his own against Sephiroth for a time before being defeated. Cloud, furious over the death of his mother and seeing Tifa gravely wounded, takes up Zack's Buster Sword and defeats Sephiroth who falls into the Lifestream. Tifa is saved by Zangan, and Cloud and Zack are taken by Shinra forces to be used in Professor Hojo's newest experiment: the Jenova Reunion theory. Hojo predicted that Jenova's parts, even on a cellular level, will strive to gather and become whole again and to test this theory, Hojo exposes the survivors of the Nibelheim incident, including Cloud and Zack, to Mako and injects them with Jenova cells.
Zack and Cloud are held captive in the Shinra Mansion and being experimented on for four years. Hojo labels the two as failures, puts them in a cryogenic sleeping state and leaves them in their pods. On December 19th, 0006, Zack has a hallucination of Angeal appearing before him in Shinra Mansion's basement. As he flies off, Zack's will to be free allows him to break the tube enabling him and Cloud to escape.
Because of Hojo's experiments, both have become Sephiroth Clones, but Zack is unaffected by the experiment due to having been in SOLDIER. Cloud's Mako poisoning puts him in an unresponsive, vegetative state, but Zack can still fight. He cuts their way out of Nibelheim, which had been rebuilt by Shinra to hide the incident that occurred four years earlier. Cissnei in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, or whoever the player's Turk is in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, is ordered to take Zack in, but betrays orders and allows him to pass.
Zack and Cloud hide out from Shinra forces while trying to reach Midgar until early autumn 0007. One of Genesis's copies eats a part of Zack's hair in an attempt to cure its degradation due to Zack's body possessing S Cells, being a Sephiroth Clone. It turns the copy into a horrible monster, due to the S cells having already mutated and adapted by Zack's body. Zack defeats the creature, and heads home to Gongaga where he runs into Genesis, now with a degrading Genesis copy who was once Hollander. Hollander and Genesis try to take Cloud for his pure Sephiroth Cells, because Zack is worthless thanks to being a former member of SOLDIER. Lazard - in the form of a degrading Angeal - and Zack fight the two and Zack kills Hollander once and for all.
Zack realizes Genesis has been working from Banora the whole time, the Banora "dumbapples" Genesis always carries being the clue. Zack travels there, and leaves Cloud under Lazard's protection. Zack travels down into Banora Underground and comes upon Genesis who wields the power of the Lifestream, but is still defeated. Zack takes his old enemy up to the surface.
Together with a catatonic Cloud, a beaten Genesis, a dead Lazard and the final surviving Angeal copy that had lived in Aerith's church, Zack eats a dumbapple. As the final Angeal copy dies from degradation, Zack finds the 89th and final letter from Aerith it had been carrying, and realizes he had been contained in the Shinra Mansion for four years. Desperate to return to Aerith, Zack leaves a now pacified Genesis behind while he and Cloud go off to Midgar.
At the end of September 0007, while Zack and Cloud head toward Midgar, an army of Shinra Troops awaits them. Despite Cissnei and Tseng's attempts to locate Zack first and save him, the Shinra army attacks. In the short animation Last Order, a Shinra sniper attempts to assassinate Cloud, but Zack notices this and tells Cloud to get away, causing the sniper to miss his mark, starting the battle.
Zack notices the ambush, and hides Cloud behind the rocks, then goes to face his fate. As the battle wages on, the memories Zack had with everyone flash before his eyes and he finally collapses as the remaining soldiers barrage him with bullets.
Riddled with bullets, and his Digital Mind Wave destroyed, Zack is barely alive when Cloud awakens and comes to him. Zack hands the Buster Sword to him, like Angeal handed the Buster Sword to Zack years earlier, and tells Cloud to carry on his dreams, and be his "living legacy."
As Cloud wanders off towards Midgar, Zack looks at the sky as the sun emerges from behind the clouds, remembering how scared Aerith was of such a beautiful thing. He sees Angeal descending from the sky, and takes Angeal's outstretched hand, entering the Lifestream. As Cloud continues on his journey, Zack's voice is heard telling him to say hi to Aerith for him, and then asking,
"Hey, would you say I became a hero?" ---credit to finalfantasywiki---
