Player vs. Player: Zack & Sephiroth

Thanks to Cart Boy for help with edits, and PhantomZ2 for the header. Oh, and spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

So, this isn’t the first time I’ve talked about Sephiroth in a “Player vs. Player,” nor is it the first time I’ve published something Zack-related. The reason I’m tackling such a samey topic is because “Cloud & Sephiroth” is one of my more dated articles. It’s not that I hate it, but it’s basically the closest I’ve ever gotten to posting a college essay to this site. I approached it in a way that’s nothing like my later analyses, putting too much emphasis on stuff you could read off a wiki and not enough on why I care about these characters. And since I care a lot more about Final Fantasy VII than I used to, I feel it’s only fair that I give it another shot. This ramble’s the sort of thing I’d usually put near the end, but I’m writing this piece with even less of a plan than normal, so there’s your disclaimer.

Now, although Remake and the original VII painted Zack Fair as a decently cool and likable character, it wasn’t until this year that I really started to appreciate him. The one-two punch that was Crisis Core and the phenomenal Rebirth made it clear that he’s more than just a symbol for Cloud to live up to. His prequel game’s far from perfect, but it does a great job giving us a proper look at someone the world simply doesn’t deserve. We play through most of Crisis Core with Zack on the bad guys’ side, blissfully unaware that there isn’t a worse home for aspiring heroes like him than the planet-siphoning Shinra megacorp he works for. I guess Gongaga-native country boys like him aren’t privy to the evils of capitalism? The mad scientists, shady guys in suits, and constant warfare somehow fail to tip him off, but the top three SOLDIERs end up being more than ridiculous enough to shatter the illusion.

Zack’s mentor Angeal is a lunatic who can’t decide if he wants to kill his student or give him life advice, Genesis and his hyperfixation with a cheesy stage play make for some of the funniest dialogue in the series, and Sephiroth…looks to be the most normal of the group by far. I might like Crisis Core, but it’s still an amalgam of a genuinely great FFVII prequel and the absolute gibberish that is Genesis’s arc. Despite him being Zack’s real final boss, I just couldn’t take any of his scenes seriously. In turn, it’s no wonder Rebirth took steps to reestablish Zack’s grudge against the One-Winged Angel. You see, our subjects don’t clash all that often in their latest outing, but their goals and personalities are constantly at odds within Cloud. Throughout the game, he jumps between stoic would-be hero, emotionless pawn, and friendly lover of card games and Tifa. That first persona’s his flawed attempt at copying Zack’s bravado and the second the result of Sephiroth’s puppeteering, but since he doesn’t know any of that, his mental state’s not doing so well.

But to rewind a bit, of course Cloud would be a wreck after what Sephiroth put him and Zack through in Nibelheim. Back during the trio’s Shinra days, they were sent on a mission to the blondie’s hometown, wherein Sephiroth lost his mind and burnt the whole place down. He did this upon finding out he was one of the company’s many dubious experiments, as if that makes him special. I mean, for as much grief as I gave Angeal and Genesis, they found out the same thing a lot sooner and were plenty more reasonable, so I don’t know what Sephiroth’s deal was. It probably had something to do with the influence of the nearby alien corpse, the genes of which made the One-Winged Angel strong enough to deserve his dramatic nickname, but who could say? Regardless, it only got worse for Zack and Cloud from there, as Shinra’s lovely Professor Hojo proceeded to pacify them for a few years and fill the latter with enough chemicals to leave him a vegetable. Zack had nothing to gain and everything to lose from bringing his comatose comrade along for his daring escape, leading to him being gunned down just outside Midgar, the same city he’d given so much to protect. His tearful reunion with his girlfriend Aerith was less than an hour’s jog away! On the bright side, Cloud finally awakens, takes up his hero’s Buster Sword, kicks off FFVII, and the rest is history.

Man, what did Zack do to deserve this? To quote Barret Wallace (one of the games’ best characters, by the way), “A good man who serves a great evil is not without sin. He must recognize and accept his complicity. He must open his eyes to the truth—that his corporate masters are profiting from the planet’s pain. Only then can he redeem himself.” When Zack helped Shinra invade the nation of Wutai, he might’ve been nice to a young Yuffie (another one of the best characters) and ensured her safety, but he still bought his overlords’ propaganda and joined them in oppressing a country that only wanted its independence. Couple that with him being so confident in the company as to not stop their flawless war hero from spiraling out of control, and his imprisonment starts to feel like his own damn fault for trusting them.

And on that note, let’s try and make sense of said flawless hero. No matter the game he’s in, before or after his heel turn, Sephiroth is all about perfection. His design sports a black-and-white palette and no differences between his left and right sides (unlike FFVII’s other major players), both of which make him feel sterile and idyllic. While his descent into madness earns him a distracting black wing to his right, even that’s complemented by the iconic sword in his left hand. The Masamune’s comically long and impractical, but that just makes his mastery of it all the more impressive. Heck, Sephiroth’s so devoted to resembling an ideal human being that he doesn’t even borrow masculine traits exclusively. Anyone could look at him and feel envious (hence Jeff Goldblum seeing him and assuming he’s a “she”). And that’s not even mentioning the acclaimed music that accompanies him, perfectly selling his arrogance and the dread that comes with opposing him.

Of all the characters brought up in this article, Sephiroth’s the only one without a last name. Intentional or not, it helps set him apart.

Evidently, all that grandeur is just a facade to hide a cruel, petty, and all-around pathetic individual. When Sephiroth lost his Materia-sized marbles in Nibelheim and killed its villagers, he was under the assumption that Jenova—the alien corpse from before—was a member of the extinct Cetra race. Apparently, humans stole the planet from them in ancient times, and he was determined to take it back for his totally-not-dead “mother.” In the present day, it’s clear that Jenova was really an extraterrestrial and a deceiver, meaning Sephiroth isn’t a Cetra, and he did all that for nothing. In fact, their actual endling is the aforementioned Aerith Gainsborough, someone our subject relishes driving his sword through. Oh, so the Cetra’s tragedy angers him enough to send him on a killing spree when he thinks he’s one, but once he knows that he isn’t, he’s more than happy to murder a defenseless woman and purge the race for real. There’s a lot of evil swimming in the petri dish that is Sephiroth, and while plenty of it was put there without his consent, he nonetheless embraces it and adores terrorizing the world.

As a quick aside, let’s talk more about swords. The Buster Sword is one of gaming’s most well-known weapons, but it’s more associated with Cloud than Zack. It’s ironic, then, that he’s encouraged to cycle between it and a variety of other swords throughout his games. You’ve got the Negan-esque Nail Bat, edgy Umbral Blade, and Fusion Swords of Advent Children fame, just to name a few. Zack, meanwhile, goes from making do with a generic broadsword to inheriting Angeal’s Buster Sword, then never looks back. After all, the massive slab of metal fits his unfocused and emotional fighting style. Conversely, Sephiroth taking up a katana is just perfect. What better sword is there for someone whose whole deal is skill and precision? And although I don’t wanna bring up Smash Bros. too much in this Final Fantasy analysis, it’s worth mentioning how strong an identity the crossover gives each sword. The Buster Sword hits like a truck and moves shockingly fast, while the Masamune reaches absurd distances and sports brutal tippers. Overall, Xenoblade still has my all-time favorite swords, but FFVII comfortably takes second place (Devil May Cry, however, is gonna have to settle for third).

Anyway, despite Sephiroth’s atrocities and Zack’s mistakes, their connections to Cloud are what really embody them. I see Sephiroth as something of an abusive father figure to the FFVII lead. Cloud idolized him in his childhood, proceeded to hate and fear him as he got older, and now finds himself subconsciously echoing his traits and habits. In turn, Zack is like the older brother that stepped up. When Sephiroth ruined both his and Cloud’s lives, the SOLDIER risked it all to protect his friend. More than anything, this act of altruism is what redeems Zack and lets him die a hero. Although Sephiroth’s meddling and a dash of trauma prevent Cloud from remembering his brother-in-arms for a while, he spends most of his journey trying to make sure that sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Zack’s legacy might’ve started off as a burden, but it ultimately shapes Cloud into an admirable hero of his own.

You’d assume Zack’s role as the deceased mentor would mean he’s not present for the events of FFVII, but Rebirth takes some creative liberties. Every so often, the game shows us a sort of purgatory or alternate reality, wherein the SOLDIER wanders a doomed Midgar. The point of these breaks from Cloud’s story is sorta unclear, other than their relevance to Sephiroth’s unrevealed plan for world domination. Admittedly, as big a fan as I am of the antagonist, he spends most of Remake and Rebirth doing surprisingly little with his longer screen time. He’s never been one to face the camera and give us answers, but all his talk of fate, reunions, and whatever “seven seconds till the end” is supposed to mean can get exhausting when we’re already two entries through the trilogy. At the very least, his unpredictability makes him more threatening than ever (my heart jumped when he aimed that stab at Tifa, for instance), so I’ll avoid criticizing his showings in the remakes until we have the full picture.

As for Rebirth, its climax culminates in Sephiroth killing Aerith yet again, the party fighting through an incredible Jenova boss, and Cloud confronting his nemesis once more. But something elevates this familiar moment to one of my favorites in the series: Zack briefly joins the fight and hits Sephiroth with all the Crisis Core fanservice I could ask for. He’s fully playable, just like the villain was during the Nibelheim flashback, and so much fun to use. Seeing Zack and Cloud battling together was something I never knew I needed, but it would’ve been even better if we didn’t have to sideline Aerith’s death to get it. Yeah, as much as I enjoyed Rebirth’s finale, the ten-phase gauntlet that overrides much of the original’s Forgotten Capital segment is a bit much. I only mildly like Aerith, but losing her deserved more weight. I know, it’s all to represent Cloud being in denial, and we’re likely to see all the missing stuff next time, but still.

Despite the Sephiroth fight undercutting FFVII’s most emotional moment, this ending still got me. After experiencing Aerith’s past firsthand, being forced to leave her alone again was painful. Of course, there is the non-zero chance that’s not even Aerith…

Complaints regarding the ending aside, Cloud being unable to accept Aerith’s passing is a very interesting addition. After all, saving her is the one thing Zack asked of him before being sent back to who knows where. I’ll bet his inability to do so, despite being sure his sword stopped Sephiroth’s from reaching its mark, is something he’d rather not think about. However, Aerith seems just fine in the last few cutscenes, simply needing to stay behind for plot reasons. Except the music’s kinda unsettling, and everyone else is grieving and acting like they can’t see her. Uh, what was that part about Jenova being a deceiver? Either Sephiroth’s psychological torture runs deeper than we thought or Cloud’s stuck perceiving the reality where he actually saved Aerith. Regardless, his incoming mental breakdown’s sure to be a rough one.

Veering back to Zack and Sephiroth, Square did such a good job making their playable appearances in Rebirth feel special. The main story only gives them one boss to fight each, but they still get gimmicks, Limit Breaks, the works. No one could’ve complained if they’d just followed Nanaki’s example from Remake and been simple assists, but what we got really sells how important they are. Moreover, they motivate fans to play through the postgame and earn the chance to use them again in extra-hard challenge fights. It makes me wish these movesets were featured in zanier combinations than just either of the two alongside Cloud, though. For instance, Tifa or Yuffie would’ve made for great Zack partners, what with them remembering him from their Crisis Core days. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and he’ll reunite with them for real in the last game of the trilogy? A man can dream.

If I wanted to, I could stretch this discussion even further. For one, Zack and Sephiroth appear in Kingdom Hearts, but talking about a series I haven’t played would feel disingenuous. There’s also FFVII: Ever Crisis, giving us more Sephiroth backstory and Rebirth context, but I’d rather wait and hope they turn the important stuff into anything but a mobile game. FFVII‘s presence in Smash speaks for itself (shoutout to the Sephiroth Challenge for being the coolest shadow drop of all time), but Zack’s tragically absent from it. Here’s hoping Sakurai remembers what a goldmine Echo Fighters are and makes him Cloud’s? Anyway, while all these crossovers and spin-offs have merit (presumably, in Ever Crisis’s case), they’re just byproducts of the names Zack and Sephiroth made for themselves on their home turf.

Besides, my goal with this whole thing was to find out how much I liked these two without their fame and marketability, and I’d say I succeeded. Zack is a character with a satisfying arc, fun personality (I didn’t even mention his goofy side), and reach that positively impacts so many of FFVII’s other faces. Sephiroth, meanwhile, is the exact opposite. He regressed from a source of inspiration for people worldwide to a bloodthirsty maniac in just seven days (don’t ask me why this universe loves that number so much), but never lets go of the aura that made him a household name. In fact, discarding his humanity only made that aura stronger. On top of their own virtues, they also flesh out Cloud by acting as the angel and devil on his shoulders, helping him champion one of gaming’s most renowned casts. And Genesis. Seriously, he’s a riot and all, but I’m gonna need the next FFVII to explain him in simpler terms.