Character from Final Fantasy VII by Square Enix
A cheerful, heroic SOLDIER First Class whose friendship with Cloud and love for Aerith defined their lives, and whose death on the cliffs outside Midgar passed his legacy to an unconscious survivor.
Zack Fair is the hero Cloud Strife thinks he remembers being. A country boy from Gongaga who made it into SOLDIER through sheer talent and irrepressible determination, Zack rose to First Class under the mentorship of Angeal Hewley and became one of Shinra's most celebrated operatives. He was everything the recruitment posters promised — brave, skilled, and genuinely good-hearted. He dated Aerith, building the flower wagon for her church garden and promising to come back. He befriended Cloud, an insecure infantryman who admired SOLDIER from the outside. When Sephiroth went mad at Nibelheim, Zack fought him and lost. Hojo captured both Zack and the wounded Cloud, subjecting them to four years of Mako immersion and Jenova cell experiments in the Shinra Manor basement. Zack eventually broke free, carrying the comatose Cloud on his back across the continent toward Midgar. On the cliffs overlooking the city, Shinra's army caught them. Zack fought an entire battalion alone to protect his friend and was gunned down in the rain. With his final breaths, he handed Cloud the Buster Sword and told him to be his living legacy. Cloud, his mind shattered by trauma and Jenova cells, absorbed Zack's memories as his own — becoming the false SOLDIER that players meet at the game's opening. Zack's death is the invisible foundation beneath the entire story.
Athletic young man with spiky black hair, bright blue Mako-infused eyes, and an open, friendly face that breaks easily into a grin. Wears the standard SOLDIER First Class uniform — a sleeveless black turtleneck with crossed suspenders and baggy combat pants. Carries the Buster Sword — the enormous blade that would later define Cloud's silhouette. A small X-shaped scar marks his chin. He radiates warmth and energy, filling every room he enters with infectious optimism.
Also known as: Zack, Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class, The Puppy