OOC: Application
Out of Character Information
player name: Chauni
player livejournal: saw_a_miracle
playing here: Zack Fair
are you 16 years of age or older?:Yes
In Character Information
character name: Zack Fair
canon source and the point from which they're taken: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. On the return back to Midgar at the end of the game
character's age: 22
canon powers, skills, pets and equipment: Zack will be coming in with the overly-sized Buster Sword that he’s become rather well-known for, along with the clothes on his back, one Blizaara materia, one Wall materia), and a total of two Hi-Potions. The SOLDIER has a great deal of training in combat, mostly with swords of various shapes and sizes, along with having enhanced speed and strength due to Mako injections. He can use a sniper rifle, though it’s not his preferred weapon of choice, as he would much rather go at something head on. He also knows how to ride motorcycles proficiently.
non-canon powers: When Zack sleeps, he we will have dreams of supposed outcomes of the future. They will be vague and hard to interpret, though they will be slightly clearer during the day and utterly impossible at night.
canon history: Zack’s dreams of becoming a 1st Class SOLDIER started young, and sent him off from his small town of Gongaga at fourteen. He headed to Midgar, joining the Shinra military. When he became a 2nd Class, he became the pupil of one Angeal Hewley, a person who was not only a mentor, but a heavy influence in how Zack was shaped throughout the rest of his life.
It isn’t long before Angeal recommends Zack for 1st Class, and the young SOLDIER member is sent to Wutai to prove himself. Before he leaves, Director Lazard informs him that another 1st Class (Genesis Rhapsodos) has deserted Shinra and took a unknown number of 2nds and 3rds with him.
The mission goes mostly according to plan, until being confronted by several monsters, the attack of several soldiers, Angeal and Zack splitting up, and the battle with Ifrit. Sephiroth arrives, and together they inspect the bodies, identifying them as Genesis copies. With Angeal missing, Sephiroth claims that he must have left with his childhood friend, Genesis. Zack staunchly refutes this, however, refusing his mentor, the one that taught him about honor, would do something like desert Shinra.
It’s not soon after this that Zack is given a new assignment: accompany Tseng of the Turks to Angeal and Genesis’ home town of Banora Village. Inside, Zack comes across only one person in the entire village, Gillian Hewley, Angeal’s mother, but receives no answer as to where her son is. After coming across a factory and attempting to confront Genesis, Zack is interrupted by Angeal, who pushes him away. Tseng informs him that they are going to send a clean up crew and blow up all of Banora due to hostiles and the evidence there. Zack hurries to save Gillian, but comes across a dead Gillian and a quiet Angeal, and comes to the obvious conclusion. After another run in with Genesis (and one with Bahamut), Zack is left alone and has just enough time to get on the helicopter with Tseng before the air raid begins and Banora is obliterated.
When Lazard finally grants a pensive Zack a 1st Class title, Midgar is rocked by an attack by Genesis and his copies. Forced to fight his way through the city, it’s here that Zack meets more Turks, specifically Cissnei, Reno, and Rude. Leaving them to take care of fighting on their end, Zack bands up with Sephiroth in hopes of finding Dr. Hollander, a scientist that is assumed to be working with Genesis. Zack follows him until he runs into Angeal, who reveals that he’s a monster and shows him his angel wing. After a brief talk of honor, Angeal attacks the ground that Zack is standing on and sends him tumbling down, down, down through the roof of a church, where he meets Aerith Gainsborough and her patch of rare flowers.
Their time together is limited, though, as Zack has to race back to the Upper Plate to take on Genesis. On the way, he runs into Angeal yet again, who flies with him to the Shinra Building. In a hurry to find Hollander, Zack runs into Genesis and Angeal, who leave shortly after to battle amongst themselves, and leave Zack to defeat Bahamut Fury on his own. In the end, he has more questions than answers.
It’s not long after this that Zack is sent to Modeoheim, along with Tseng and some infantryman. One of the infrantrymen is an unknown person by the name of Cloud, who he becomes quick friends with after they both discover their own similar, humble beginnings in country towns.
It’s in a Mako Excavation Facility that Zack faces a Hollander (who runs away) and a degrading Genesis (who he battles and defeats). He chases after Hollander until he runs into Angeal and Hollander, only to discover the truth about Angeal, Gillian, and what Project G is. Angry over being called a “perfect soldier”, and referring to himself as a “perfect monster”, Angeal fuses with several nearby monsters and forces Zack to fight him. Reluctant, crushed, Zack fights and defeats his mentor. It’s during this fight that Zack earns two things: his scar and the Buster sword.
Zack dives into work, and tries to put the broken pieces back together.
It’s some time later when Zack is vacationing at Costa del Sol, all the while being monitored by the Turks, specifically Cissnei, due to his involvement with the last Ancient, Aerith. They talk of Lazard’s disappearance, with some nasty rumors about his funding Hollander’s research with Shinra company dollars. It’s at this point that Genesis copies attack the beach, and Junon, freeing Hollander from his imprisonment. Zack goes back to Midgar in search of Aerith, and finds an Angeal Copy in her church, watching over her.
A mission comes down: go to Nibelheim (Cloud’s childhood home) and fix an issue in the Reactor. Zack, Sephiorth, Cloud, and a couple other infantrymen are dispatched to address the issue. Inside, they find Jenova, and after a brief interaction with Genesis, Sephiroth locks himself in the basement of Shinra Mansion, tolling over texts and files, anything he can find regarding the Jenova Project. When he finally emerges from the Mansion, he has lost his sanity, and torches the city to the ground, killing almost everyone. Along with Tifa (Cloud’s childhood friend), Zack seeks out Sephiroth to defeat him and stop this insanity.
Upon entering the reactor, Tifa is injured, leaving Zack to chase after Sephiroth. They engage in battle, and though Zack manages to hold his own for awhile until he is ultimately defeated. It takes an infuriated Cloud to end that battle, sending Sephiroth into the Lifesream, though he himself is gravely injured. Unconscious, both Zack and Cloud are taken into Professor Hojo’s custody, destined to become experimented on.
After four long years of being Hojo’s lab rat, Zack has a dream/hallucination of Angeal coming to him. Imbued with newfound strength and will, he breaks free of the tube encasing him, and rescues Cloud who is encased in a separate tube beside him. Cloud, completely incapacitated due to Mako Poisoning, is carried out of Nibelheim by Zack, who fights his way past the military stationed there. It is Zack’s previous Mako treatments in SOLDIER that saves him from being in Cloud’s similar state and allow him to get them both free and to a shaky safety. Cissnei is ordered to take the two fugitives in, but after realizing that it’s Zack, lets them go.
While Zack is trying to keep away from Shinra and their military, he runs into several Genesis copies, one of which eats a piece of Zack’s hair and transforms into a monster because of the Jenova Cells that Zack has been contaminated with. After destroying the creature, he makes his way home to Gongaga only to find a degrading Hollander and Genesis, both of who want Cloud because he has pure Sephiroth Cells. Zack kills Hollander, and with the help of Lazard (who has become a degrading Angeal copy) keep Cloud from being taken.
Thanks to some clues, Zack heads off to Banora and confronts Genesis there alone. Defeating, but not killing him, Zack carries him off to a safe place where the comatose Cloud, Lazard, and the Angeal Copy that was watching over Aerith are waiting. Both Lazard and the copy die before Zack’s eyes, leaving him crushed over losing his mentor a second time, and feeling as though he lost again. As their bodies fade into the Lifestream, Zack finds the eighty-ninth (and final) letter that Aerith wrote him (Tseng having the other eighty-eight), and it finally strikes him that it wasn’t just a few weeks he lost, but four long years that Hojo stole from him. Scared that Aerith is going to move on and leave him behind, he makes the choice to go to Midgar with the unconscious Cloud. He catches a ride in a yellow pickup truck, and together, they race towards the city.
personality: Zack is a driven young man sporting big dreams, big hopes, and big wishes. Determined, passionate, nothing will deter him from his ultimate and heartfelt path: to become a hero.
Zack is a displayed canvas for his emotions; he rarely holds back, rarely hides how he feels unless he feels that it might hurt or worry someone else. His happiness is infectious, his smiles wide, his bright blue eyes honest, but if you want to see him in his darker moments (depression, for example), you’ll have to build the bridge of friendship and trust; those he likes to keep to himself.
And in the rare times when anger grips him, it’s as obvious as his happiness. He doesn’t hold back, and he will let you know what he thinks, even in how you’re wrong.
For all of Zack’s bad jokes, slightly awkward pick up lines, and bright smiles, there’s a serious side to him, too. He holds his honor close to his heart, and his dreams are as much of a weight as an aspiration. He is proud of himself, and even beyond that, he wants those close to him be proud of him as well. It does battle with his impulsive behavior, and sometimes, he can be caught acting before he thinks.
Zack enjoys physical activities, and has more energy than he knows what to do with most of the time. He likes squats, running, training, anything that gets him active and keeps him moving and in prime SOLDIER condition. He’d rather go do a hundred push ups rather than sit inside and watch television, for example.
Due to his time with Hojo and his involvement with Hollander, Zack has a resentment against scientists and doctors. He doesn’t like needles of any kind, and that white coat sends his hackles up, even if he tries not to show it.
Ultimately, Zack enjoys life and wants to savor it. He’s willing to take silly bets (you don’t want to know what Kunsel has dared him to eat), loves to laugh, and wants to smile as much as anyone. Fiercely loyal, he will stick up for anyone and everyone, helping in whatever way he can. It’s all part of being a hero, after all.
if your character is 13 years of age or younger, please post requested information here: NA
notes: Anything else you'd like us to know about your character as presented in canon?
Writing Samples
First Person Sample: [The communicator clicks on, and welcome a close-up view of one bright blue eye that widens in a bit of surprise. The image pulls back, and you get to see a curious, yet handsome, face and long, spiked hair.]
Huh. I think it’s working now. I hope.
Hey, Cloud? If you can hear this, find a way to get a message back to me. I don’t know if this is secure or not, or where we are. Or if you’re even here, too.
Does this place have a name? Or can anyone tell me what in Ifrit’s name is going on? I guess you can say, I’m kinda lost.
[There’s a flash of the sword as he hefts it up and across his shoulders with one hand, while an innocent blink of his eyes flicker in the screen. The weapon’s a warning as much as it is an “accident” at being shown.]
Now’s not really a good time for a vacation, you know? I’m kinda busy. I’ve got somewhere I’ve gotta be.
Third Person Sample: The last things he heard were the tires running over dry dust and rocks, the rumble of the muffler back behind them, and the wind roaring like animals past his ears. The truck he was riding in hit a bump and he winced, tasting blood as he accidentally bit the inside of his cheek. To the side of him, Cloud leaned limply against the metal sides of the vehicle’s bed, and he reached out, settling his gloved fingers in blonde spikes, and-
It all slipped away, like so much dust through his loose grip.
When Zack awoke, he was under a ceiling he didn’t know, laying on a bed he didn’t recognize. He half-heard someone talking to him about the communication device, but he was already standing up, making sure his clothes were still on, grabbing his sword from where it was propped up against a nearby wall. Blue eyes scaled everywhere for Cloud; he had been in the truck with him, and in his drugged out Mako state, he couldn’t have gotten far.
Things started to settle in, possibilities he didn’t want to even think of, making his heart hammer in his chest. If Shinra had gotten their hands on them, it would be back to the tubes. Or worse, if there was such a thing.
Most of his worries were questioned, though, when he looked outside his door. No SOLDIER guards. No locked rooms. No cells, for that matter. No one trying to shoot him, and no one trying to keep him detained.
“What in…”
He muttered the rest, trailing off, looking outside. He had been all throughout Midgar, and none of it looked like this. Hell, this place didn’t look like anywhere he had been in on Gaia. His steps were careful, a little shuffling in surprise, and the sword was ever-ready in his hand. It was only when he walked by the archway that he remembered he had that communication device - Forge - and tried to turn it on.
“Spike? Aerith? Cissnei? Tseng? Reno? Anyone there?”
And while he still hadn’t written off the fact that this wasn’t some sort of Shinra base, he was willing to take whatever help he could get.