Zack – A change in storyline by Square?

In FF7 we see Zack being shot by Shinra Solders in a scene that can be activated in the mansion but it was never confirmed that he actually died. This caused some players to believe that Zach was still alive in the game and continued to search for him because whether Zack was really dead or not was never shown. However, when Crisis Core, a PSP game where Zack is the main protagonist, came out, it clarified that Zack did indeed die at that moment as seen at the ending.

But just as Aeris’s resurrection was considered by the makers, I believe that Zack’s secret identity in the game was also considered. What proof do I have? If you recall in Midgar slums, when you (Cloud) first meet Aeris and become her bodyguard, you meet a very sick man living inside a tube. I believe that is Zack, or was considered to be Zack, but the makers decided to change the storyline.

Now before you jump out at me and tell me how stupid it is to think that, please read what I have to say. If you talk to the people around him in the first disc, they will tell you that he was found nearby Midgar fatally wounded. Near Midgar was where Zach was shot by the soldiers and Cloud was able to get to the Midgar train station because he was also nearby. This by itself isn’t a strong enough evidence.

However, if you talk to the sick man, Cloud will note that he has a "#2" tattoo. If you recall, Sephiroth’s clones had number tattoos. Yet how does this connect with Zach you’re wondering? Well right now I can’t provide concrete evidence that Zach had #2 tattoo because I haven’t played the game in so long, BUT I am fairly positive that in the game, they mentioned that Zach had a #2 tattoo.

One last thing, after the reunion in disc 2, if you come back to Midgar, you’ll notice that the sick man is no longer there. What a coincidence! And what’s more is that the people around will say "He suddenly took off … said something about a reunion." This confirms that he is indeed a clone. The question is whether is he is Zack or some random clone.

Now many may ask "Well how come Aeris didn’t recognize him?" or "But why is he shown as dead in Advent Children, Last Order, and Crisis Core?". I honestly don’t know. The only explanation I can think of is that Square, somewhere down the line, decided to modify the original story to make it more solid and clear up any confusion. But anyways tell me what you think. Where do you stand in all this?

Oh and if this topic has been brought up and resolved then I apologize for wasting your time (and mine :/).

Better? :p

Holy shit, worst theory ever.

This is almost as bad as "IS TEH WOLF AERITH?!"

Okay here is my theory.

Final Fantasy VII was originally supposed to be Super Mario RPG 2, but after learning that Nintendo would not be making a CD System with Sony, they decided to abandon that project. However, there were many things that remained too Mario, so they tried to cover them up. Aeris is actually Princess Peach. Cloud is Princess Daisy. That bum you say is Zack was actually supposed to be Geno, but they had to change everything in the end so it didn’t happen. What we got was a mediocre game instead of what could’ve been the best game of all time.

Holy shit, worst theory ever.

This is almost as bad as "IS TEH WOLF AERITH?!"

What is wrong with my theory? How can you tell me why my theory is the "worst theory" ever? Did you even bother to read everything? I am new to this forum. I expect a nice dicussion on this topic, I don’t want some nooblets claiming my theory is false without evidence of their own. Dumbfucks.

Never expect anything nice here, especially if you’re a vocal fan of FFVII.

And just for the record, I did not read your first post because the (lack of) formatting hurts my eyes.

I thought the clones had all been pumped full of Mako (hence why all of them make no sense and are basically vegetables) but Zack was strong enough to resist this process, hence why he was able to escape from the Shinra Mansion chambers with Cloud, who was not strong enough to resist the process. (haven’t played VII in a couple of years, so that may not be right, but I’m pretty sure it is.)

Essentially, as I understand it, Zack is just shot and dies on the spot. The Man in the Pipe is just a man in a pipe, and FFVII is once again shown to be riddled with plot holes and inconsistencies.

Holy shit, worst theory ever.

This is almost as bad as "IS TEH WOLF AERITH?!"

Excuse me, but why would someone think that Aeries turned into a wolf?

The strongest piece of evidence that would support this theory is if it is somewhere mentioned in the game that Zack also had the #2 tattoo. Someday I will replay it and find out. So right now I really don’t have strong evidence. But even so, I refuse to believe that the clone in Midgar is just some random clone because first of all, all the other clones stayed in Nebiliem and also, out of all the people in Nebiliem Hojo experimented on, Zack is the strongest obviously. Wouldn’t it be practical to experiment on the strongest guinnea pig first? The clones are numbered depending on the order they are experimented on, hence Red XIII. I believe Cloud and Zack were the first 2 since they were the only ones involved in the Sephiroth fight. But Cloud doesn’t have a tattoo for some reason :/. Anyways if someone is currently playing FF7 or remembers anything about Zack having a #2 tattoo, please respond :p. thx

The game doesn’t say anything about a tattoo (at least, FF7 doesn’t – I don’t have CC), and I believe there was another thread about this in the FF7 Compilation forum.

And btw, I don’t think the man in the pipe is Zack. He’s just a Sephiroth clone in a pipe.

Excuse me, but why would someone think that Aeries turned into a wolf?

Clearly you’ve avoided the Advent Children forum (now FF7 Compilation sub-forum)

The game doesn’t say anything about a tattoo (at least, FF7 doesn’t – I don’t have CC), and I believe there was another thread about this in the FF7 Compilation forum.

And btw, I don’t think the man in the pipe is Zack. He’s just a Sephiroth clone in a pipe.

But how come the #2 clone was in Midgar while all the other clones were in Nebeliem?

*edit*
Oh and also, if anyone is currently playing or remembers, can someone tell me if the clones #3-12 are all found in Nebeliem? It would support this theory :).

I never thought Zack lived. I mean… even in VII the poor guy was shot 30/40 times in the face. I didn’t think that even he could’ve lived through that. I doubt Zack or Aerith was ever meant to survive VII.

The strongest piece of evidence that would support this theory is if it is somewhere mentioned in the game that Zack also had the #2 tattoo. Someday I will replay it and find out. So right now I really don’t have strong evidence. But even so, I refuse to believe that the clone in Midgar is just some random clone because first of all, all the other clones stayed in Nebiliem and also, out of all the people in Nebiliem Hojo experimented on, Zack is the strongest obviously. Wouldn’t it be practical to experiment on the strongest guinnea pig first? The clones are numbered depending on the order they are experimented on, hence Red XIII. I believe Cloud and Zack were the first 2 since they were the only ones involved in the Sephiroth fight. But Cloud doesn’t have a tattoo for some reason :/. Anyways if someone is currently playing FF7 or remembers anything about Zack having a #2 tattoo, please respond :p. thx

VII actually mentions that Zack has no tattoo whatsoever as he was considered a "failure" like Cloud. That is the same reason Cloud has no tattoo, because Hojo considered him a "failed clone".

Also, not all the clones were in Nibelheim. There is/was a clone in Junon.

In FF7 we see Zack being shot by Shinra Solders in a scene that can be activated in the mansion but it was never confirmed that he actually died.

well, when a normal human gets riddled by numerous soldiers all with automatic weapons i think its kind of obvious he’s dead….

But he was in SOLDIER First Class :O. Therefore, his vitality must be uber ;).

Sorry, but I don’t buy it. The scene in Final Fantasy VII was pretty clear. Zack was gun down with bullets. Emo Cloud is looking over his body and screams to the heavens. That pretty much tells me he died.

Hit him with a phoenix down, he’ll get better. Do the same thing with Aeris. It works, why would I lie about something like this to a fanboy in the Final Fantasy VII forum?

Hmmm I actually cant remember that scene with Zack…

It was a hidden scene, found if you returned to the Shinra Manor basement in Disc 3. You might have been able to find in Disc 2, but I’ve never tried it.

Ah right, I cant see why I would want to go back there so thats probably why I didnt see it.

You know, it’s funny how that "this guy are sick" person in the pipe guy keeps coming up in these resurrection things. He was a key element of the most infamous Aeris/th-resurrection theory of all time — the "Ben Lansing" theory — supposedly he was a friend of "THE GENERAL"–

"Also ,with the sick man. There is no medicine, but you could have Aeris tend to him and make him feel better by learning about her heritage and returning to Midgar on the first CD. By doing this, the "GENERAL" as people call him, would trust you, and request you go buy his dying friend something from the store. A simple quest. After doing so, the GENERAL would tell you thanks, and that if there was anything else you need ever, to ask him for help. You then see a scene with his friend dying. A sad scene. 🙁

Lansing comment –
There’s a problem here… you don’t find out about Aeris’s heritage till Disc 2. Another dead giveaway that this was a hoax had people been listening carefully … Couple with the fact that there IS no Midgar Key in disc 1 … geez … Oh yeah … why did you guys call him the GENERAL? I never figured that out … but I just took the name and ran with it … hell, it worked, didn’t it? :)"

Seems the ‘Aeris isn’t really dead’ theories have been replaced by ‘Zack isn’t really dead’ theories.

If anyone has doubts of whether Zack’s death was confirmed or not better check this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfI8BufsRME&feature=related). It seems pretty CONFIRMED to me. Sorry dude but your theory was doomed from the very start.

Hit him with a phoenix down, he’ll get better. Do the same thing with Aeris. It works, why would I lie about something like this to a fanboy in the Final Fantasy VII forum?

Phoenix downs works on people that are knocked out, not people that are dead.

No, come on, it works! Hawkeye said it does and he would never lie to FFVII fanboys!

OK, so everything we got to do is find Aeris’ and Zack’s bodies then. LOL

Anyone got a "theory" on where they might be?

OK, so everything we got to do is find Aeris’ and Zack’s bodies then. LOL

Anyone got a "theory" on where they might be?
"After doing this, return to the GENERAL, who would provide you with a Yellow materia that allowed the group to travel through water. With this, you could return to the floating palace, go up to Mr. Fish, and once you touched him, you would be transported under water, to a cavern, where, at the end, lay Aeris’ orb/life essence. With this orb, Bugen Hagen could complete the ress process, and you could move on to a happier life with a neater ending."

No leads yet on where to find Zack…

No leads yet on where to find Zack…

I think the last time I saw him alive he was on Crisis Core. 🙂

He only exists inside clouds head, like most of FF7.

I like that theory. FF7 is just a giant acid trip for Cloud.

Zack dies, shown to us when Cloud trips on lifestream mako, or at least the comedown… Cloud wakes up and tells the story. The wolf thing I don’t know… I think it is the spirit form of Angeal, pushing Cloud since Zack is dead and pushing a dead guy to save the world would yeild nothing

I could just about credit this, if the idea was changed really really early in production. But this would be before Aerith’s backstory had her dating Zack. Or maybe they put it in just to spawn stupid unsupportable theories? Either way as the game stands it’s completely impossible and a load of utter rubbish.

UnlimitedBladeWorks – No…just, …no.

Even if he had a #2 tattoo, which I am pretty damn sure he doesn’t, wouldn’t Cloud, one of his better friends or maybe his (ex/old)girlfriend recognize him? Far fetched at best.

Jesus, can this thread die already?

Jesus, can this thread die already?

Doesn’t really help by posting in itO:]

Sorry that was code for, "Please close this."

Yeah, all right, I’ll give it the death it deserves…