| “ | My honor... My dreams... They're yours now. You'll be... My living legacy. | „ |
| ~ Zack to Cloud, during his last moments. |
Summary
Zack Fair is a non-playable character in Final Fantasy VII and the main protagonist of its prequel, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-. The second wielder of the Buster Sword before Cloud Strife, Zack received the Buster Sword from his mentor Angeal Hewley. Zack is a 1st Class SOLDIER and is Cloud's best friend during their time working for the Shinra Electric Power Company.
In Final Fantasy VII, Zack only appears in flashback sequences which portray him as almost identical to Cloud Strife, the game's main protagonist. These sequences elaborate on Cloud's past and his connection to Sephiroth, the game's villain. In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, Zack's history and influence upon the Final Fantasy VII world are brought into focus. He also appears in Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-, and briefly in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete.
Zack, assumed to have been born in the town of Gongaga, had childhood dreams of joining SOLDIER to become a 1st Class. 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 emulate his mentor. During his time in SOLDIER, Zack befriended 2nd Class SOLDIER Kunsel, who guided him in the ways of Shinra. Zack works under Director Lazard Deusericus in the 49th Floor of Shinra Headquarters, along with many other SOLDIER members.
Powers and Stats
Tier: At least High 5-A, likely higher
Name: Zack Fair
Origin: Final Fantasy VII
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Classification: Human, Ex-SOLDIER 1st Class
Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Magic, Summoning, Master Swordsmanship, Expert in Hand to Hand Combat, With the DMW can copy and adapt the Limit Breaks of other characters upon meeting them and is thereafter able to perform those Limit Breaks as his own (Chain Slash, Octaslash, Rush Assault, Air Strike, Lucky Stars, Healing Wave, Meteor Shots and Apocalypse), Potentially possesses the likes of Elemental Manipulation (Of the fire, lightning, ice, wind, and earth variety), Healing and Regeneration (Mid-Low), Poison Manipulation, Petrification, Barrier Creation, Time Manipulation, Soul Manipulation (With Death Materia), Energy Blasts (In the form of Ultima and Flare), Gravity Manipulation, Durability Negation, Death Manipulation (Can instantly kill his foes with the Death spell), Resistance to Sleep Inducement, Paralysis, Silence, Confusion, Transmutation, Size Manipulation, Petrification, Mind Manipulation, BFR, Death Manipulation, Poison Manipulation, Time Manipulation, and Time Stop (By equipping one of the Ribbons made by Aerith or by slotting materia into his armor, Zack gains a variety of resistances to the status effects inflicted by various magical spells present in the series)
Attack Potency: At least Dwarf Star level+, likely higher (Defeated Bahamut Fury, a character stronger than Typhoon, shortly after becoming a 1st Class SOLDIER and later went on to defeat the Genesis Avatar)
Speed: FTL+ (Capable of keeping pace with Bahamut Fury and dodge parts of his body fired at him)
Lifting Strength: At least Superhuman+
Striking Strength: At least Dwarf Star Class+, likely higher (Able to trade blows with Genesis)
Durability: At least Dwarf Star level+, likely higher (Comparable to the likes of the Genesis Avatar by the end of Crisis Core)
Stamina: Extremely high, Zack is very energetic, he can fight for a long time without being exhausted, Zack was taken down by a massive army sent by Shinra (he was heavily wounded and he was still fighting, but after a while he was defeated and lost his life as well)
Range: Extended melee range, much higher with magic and summons
Standard Equipment: Buster Sword
Intelligence: A master swordsman who clashed with all three Legendary SOLDIERs and successfully defeated Angeal and Genesis. A 1st Class SOLDIER, Zack has access to a wide variety of skills and magic through his mastery of Materia. He also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, defeating Shinra's battalions of foot soldiers with nothing but his hands due to leaving the Buster Sword with Cloud as a shield against bullets.
Weaknesses: None notable
Notable Attacks/Techniques:
- Costly Punch: Zack is able to spend a portion of his own health to deal a powerful punch that ignores conventional defenses such as armor.
- Death Jump: Leaps into the air before coming down on his opponent with the Buster Sword, inflicting Instant Death if the opponent has not demonstrated immunity to it.
- Digital Mind Wave: Zack's Limit Break, allowing him to unleash a variety of attacks inspired by his close associates depending on his mental state. In addition, his attack power is proportional to his emotional state, ranging from low (depressed and tired), to normal (basic, calm mental state), to Heavenly (charged, extremely emotionally invested).
- Chain Slash: A physical hit against one enemy.
- Octaslash: Zack's drive to match Sephiroth allows him to use the latter's signature attack, unleashing eight physical hits against one enemy.
- Rush Assault: Angeal's advice urge Zack to unleash a combo of 15 physical hits total on one enemy or seven hits, seven hits, and one hit on up to three enemies. The final hit inflicts Stun (a form of paralysis). He pulls off a series of punches, finishing by speeding by the target.
- Air Strike: Zack calls Tseng to send in an air strike from one of Shinra's attack helicopters, bombarding the opponent with missiles and heavy machine gun fire.
- Meteor Shots: Zack's friendship with Clouds has him jump into the air and swing his blade multiple times, sending explosive blasts at his targets, dealing physical damage. An analog to Cloud's Meteorain Limit Break.
- Healing Wave: Aerith's prayers completely restores HP, MP, and AP, with a chance of doubling the limits of his vitality temporarily, and clears status effects. He also gains complete invincibility to conventional attacks for a limited duration of time.
- Lucky Stars: Encouragement from Cissnei causes all of his attacks are critical hits for limited duration.
- Apocalypse: He is able to cast a spell that damages all enemies through the use of a pentagram-like symbol.
Summoning:
Ifrit
- Hellfire: A magical attack on all enemies. Zack summons Ifrit who sends waves of flames at his targets.
Bahamut
- Mega Flare: A magical attack on all enemies. Zack summons Bahamut who flies into the atmosphere and charges a large energy ball of destructive power. It then fires the ball at the ground below.
Bahamut Fury
- Exa Flare: A magical attack on all enemies. Zack summons Bahamut Fury who in outside space, uses the moon as a conductor to fire a large focused destructive beam at his targets.
Odin
- Zantetsuken: A summon that slashes Zack's target with an incredibly sharp sword, inflicting Instant Death to those who aren't immune to it.
Phoenix
- Rebirth Flame: A magical attack on all enemies. It casts Raise on Zack. Raise means that if he is KOed, he'll be resuscitated automatically and fully healed.
Others
Notable Victories:
Notable Loses:
Inconclusive Matches: