Why he's important

I like to claim that Zack is one of the most important characters in Final Fantasy 7. I personally believe that the game would have been drastically altered if Zack had not existed. Jenova might have won the planet, and destroyed the human race with Meteor.

Such noble aspirations for a dead man, eh? Let’s put it this way. If Sephiroth had not died in Nibelheim, everything that happened in the game would have had a good chance of happening five years earlier, save the clones. (Who needs clones when you have the real thing?) This was before AVALANCHE was even the barest idea in Barret’s mind, as the fire in North Corel hadn’t even happened yet. Maybe Aeris would have felt the call of the Cetra or whatever, but even if she did summon Holy, who’d be there to free it?

Now, I know Zack didn’t kill Sephiroth, Cloud did. But, seriously? I don’t think Cloud would have even been there if it wasn’t for Zack. I don’t think Cloud would have had the strength to kill Sephiroth even if he was there. As I’ve said before, Cloud was not much more than a frightened little boy at this point. It was Zack’s encouragement that made him able to face Sephiroth again, I think. Think about it. To Cloud, Zack is perfection. Zack is everything that Cloud wishes he was. If someone like that believed in you, it might be enough to push you to do something you otherwise could not do.

Let’s just say, for sake of argument, that Cloud did kill Sephiroth in Nibelheim, without Zack’s help. After five years of experimentation, Cloud couldn’t walk on his own, much less escape. As a failed experiment, he likely would have been quietly disposed of and that would be all. But, okay. He escapes and makes it to Midgar on his own.

First off, even if he was all sane and fully conscious and stuff, I don’t think he had the strength of character to survive that. He’s lost everything. His home. His family. His job. The man he respected. Everything he had was just gone now. What’s the point of going anywhere?

Second, why Midgar? If he were going to start over quietly, somewhere where Shinra wouldn’t look for him or something, there were much easier places to go than Midgar. Cosmo Canyon would have been almost ideal. Or Wutai, the denizens of which probably still considered an enemy of the Shinra as a friend of theirs. Their defeat did occur in the not so distant past, after all. I believe that the only reason Zack went to Midgar at all was because Aeris was there and she may have been able to help Cloud’s declining health.

Thirdly, even if he got to Midgar and joined AVALANCHE at Tifa’s request and all that jazz, he’s still just Cloud. Shinra Regular, nothing special. He doesn’t have anyone to draw strength from. He’s still ashamed of who he is. I mean, he was so ashamed, he hid his identity from everyone but his own mother in Nibelheim. What makes you think he’d actually accept any help or anything from Tifa? He’d likely start running the other direction if he saw her.

I’m willing to admit if everything had gone exactly perfectly, the world might have been saved without Zack. I’m also willing to admit that if things had gone a little different gamewise, the world still might not have been saved. What if Zack had lived? What if it had been Cloud who died? The possibilities are endless.

It just so happens, though, that because Zack did what he did, Cloud was able to do what needed to be done and save the world.

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