Characters / Final Fantasy VII Remake - Rebirth Main Characters

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Cait Sith

Voiced By: Paul Tinto (English), Hideo Ishikawa (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs} Emmanuel Rausenberger (French), Daniel Käser (German)

"Be it this, be it that — go on, and ask the cat!"

A plucky, anthropomorphic, fortune-telling robotic feline controlled by a Shinra employee who meets Cloud and Barret at the Gold Saucer, joining their party when he convinces them to let him report on Avalanche's movements in return for what he knows about Sephiroth.

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• Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: As a mascot for the Gold Saucer, Cait Sith is an anthropomorphic cat robot dressed only in a crown, cape, gloves, and oversized shoes. When he is performing at an event, he switches out the cape for one that is multicolored and the crown for a jesters hat.
• Acrofatic: Cait's Moogle is a very chubby and huge animatronic creature, yet can easily do pirouettes and other athletic moves with ease.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Rebirth puts much more emphasis on Cait Sith as a Playful Hacker and Information Broker. He's by far the most tech-savvy of the party and demonstrates he can easily hack Shinra's database to get information, change the party's wanted posters, and keep them informed on what Shinra is up to. It's unclear how much of this is Reeve actually doing any hacking, or just him using his executive access privileges, but regardless, the intel Cait Sith provides the party is the primary reason he's of use to them and the foremost part of his character.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the original game, Cait Sith threatened Barret's daughter Marlene with harm if Avalanche didn't cooperate with him and did what Shinra wanted them to do. In Rebirth, he never threatens Marlene.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the original game, the party only learned about Cait Sith being controlled by a Shinra employee some time after he joined them. In Rebirth he's upfront about it soon after he joins, which means Barret and Yuffie are highly suspicious of him and want little to do with him. In turn, Cait's Adaptational Intelligence comes into play as a way to convince the party to let him come along in spite of his employer, because he shows them the value of having an ally on the inside.
• Assist Character: When he summons it during battle, Cait's Moogle will act as an AI-controlled party member whenever he's not directly riding it.
• Black Box: Like the original, the game goes out of its way to not explain how Cait Sith works. As a robotic creature controlled by Reeve, it can act while Reeve is in the same room as it. It's unclear if Reeve uses some kind of implant, magic, or technomancy to control Cait Sith or whether it is semi-autonomous or fully controlled by Reeve or whether he does it consciously or subconsciously. It's not even shown if he sees through its eyes or if he has to watch live feeds and recordings. Furthermore, both the original and remake imply that each Cait Sith is somehow unique and not wholly replaceable despite even their gear and materia being copied between different versions of Cait Sith.
• Body Backup Drive: Owing to him being a robot controlled by a human, if he's destroyed a duplicate can just be deployed to replace him. A backup Cait Sith is shown sitting on a shelf in Reeve's office, and is deployed after the original is destroyed by the Temple of the Ancients.
• Badass Adorable: Befitting his status as a theme park animatronic, he looks like a cute and fluffy cat riding an equally cute and fluffy toy moogle, but his megaphone and said moogle easily allow him to keep up with his teammates in combat.
• Becoming the Mask: Cait Sith makes no secret about being a spy sent by Shinra to monitor Avalanche's activities, blackmailing them into taking him along. Despite this, he comes to genuinely enjoy fighting alongside them and considers them to be his friends to the point where Reeve goes out of his way to sabotage Shinra's wanted poster for Avalanche, with his secretary noting he's the happiest she's seen him in a long time.
• Being Evil Sucks: Late into the game, Cait Sith double-crosses the party by stealing the key to the Temple of the Ancients and delivering it to Shinra. Although Cait notes he knew this moment was bound to happen, he laments that he came to enjoy helping Avalanche, and makes no attempt to fight back when Barret attempts to destroy him before deciding he isn't worth the bullets. He's especially devastated when even Aerith is too disgusted by his betrayal to look at him.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He's a stuffed theme park animatronic remote-controlled by an office worker that fights mainly with toys, dice and slot machines, and is every bit as deadly as the rest of the cast.
• Breath Weapon: His synergy ability with Aerith has his giant moogle eat some of Aerith's energy balls and blast a giant laser from its mouth. His synergy with Barret has them dual fire twin lasers as the moogle spins around.
• Character Tics: Has a tendency to hold raise his hands and clench his fingers in a 'kitty paw' pose, especially when he's giving a fortune reading or is trying to defuse tension in the party.
• Damage-Increasing Debuff: Cait can learn the Moogle Knuckle, a two-hit punch that increases stagger % by 40. If he does it fast enough, he can get even higher percentages than Tifa in a shorter timeframe.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Like Barret and Yuffie, he occasionally sings the victory theme when winning a battle, though he uses 'meow' rather than a generic 'da' for his notes.
• The Dog Bites Back: When getting the party a room at the Gold Saucer's hotel, he specifically chooses the one initially reserved for Palmer, Rude, and Elena. Considering his true identity as Reeve Tuesti, he's likely been looking for any reason at all to make the lives of his colleagues harder.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Even before he joins the party in Rebirth, Cait Sith is shown in Midgar in Remake, rushing to prevent the destruction of Sector 7 only to arrive too late and collapse in despair upon witnessing the devastation.
• Expressive Ears: Cait's ears are very expressive. Considering how he always closes his eyes, it becomes a good part of seeing his mood whenever something happens.
• Eyes Always Shut: Cait Sith's eyes are never open, akin to some versions of maneki-neko statues associated with fortune, good luck, and commerce. This adds to both his mascot cuteness as well as his shiftiness as an Overt Operative for Shinra.
• Fighting Clown: His combat animations are much more comical and theatrical than the rest of the party, to say nothing of his roly-poly moogle. Special mention goes to his summon animation, where he does a dramatic handstand-to-backflip while calling out the summon.
• Fortune Teller: Aside from being a mascot character for the Gold Saucer, Cait Sith entertains guests by offering readings of the future. It's clear that there isn't any actual magical prescience involved, but his "predictions" are often eerily on the mark. For instance, one of his fortunes warns Cloud to watch his belongings and that his lucky color is black. This likely references the importance of the Black Materia and how it's in danger of being stolen.
  Cait Sith: When you don't know where life's leading... [summons toy moogle] you should get yourself a reading!
• The Gambler: Owing to his fortune-telling specialty and role as a mascot for the setting's biggest casino, many of Cait Sith's abilities involve games of luck like rolling a die or pulling slots. This can cause his battle performance to fluctuate based on your luck and skill at nudging the result with timed button presses.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In Rebirth, due to the party not completely trusting him, as well as him being a mole for Shinra, he is the only party member who Cloud cannot gain any relationship points with, and his specific Gold Saucer date is completely unobtainable until New Game Plus unless you really mess up every other characters affection.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: During the brief time he's used as the party's field leader in Rebirth, he can summon and dismiss his Moogle at will. In-battle, he needs to use an ATB command to summon it. Accordingly, if he gets into a battle while riding on his Moogle, it vanishes once the fighting starts.
• Hammerspace: The Cait Sith mascots have some kind of tech built into their megaphones that allows them to manifest various props for entertaining guests. Reeve's Cait Sith model is no different, except the props are put to more violent uses.
• Head Pet: Rides his moogle like this during combat.
• Heel–Face Turn: While not much of a Heel to begin with, he's firmly on Avalanche's side by the end of Rebirth.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. As in the original Final Fantasy VII, he sacrifices himself to buy the rest of the team time to escape the collapsing Temple of the Ancients. But because Cait Sith is a robot, he has a backup body handy.
• He's Dead, Jim: After the Black Altar crushes the first Cait Sith, his moogle can be seen solemnly powering down its scanner, indicating it confirmed the bot's destruction.
• Inexplicably Awesome: As in the original game, it's a bit of a mystery how a theme park mascot can stand toe-to-toe with monsters, super soldiers, and war machines. Another Cait Sith model is seen in Reeve's office, suggesting he might customize them in some way, but that would mean he has tinkering skills that put Shinra's weapons department to shame.
• Information Broker: While he makes no secret about being a spy for Shinra, he bribes Cloud and Barret into letting him tag along by offering to give them inside intel about Sephiroth.
• It Meant Something to Me: After he double-crosses the team to steal the key to the Temple of the Ancients, Cait admits that he truly enjoyed his time with Cloud's party and laments that the friendship he felt for them was real.
• Jack of All Stats: Surprisingly, Cait Sith is probably the most balanced character in the party. With a solid array of physical and magical attacks, even stat spreads for attack, support, magic, and tanking, there is nothing Cait cannot adequately do. The biggest problem is juggling all of his skills into a cohesive build.
• Jiggle Physics: His Moogle's large belly sways back and forth as he walks, and bounces up and down in his run animation. Even in his idle animation, the belly noticeably moves a bit more fluidly than the rest of its body.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: Remake barely goes to any effort to hide that he's a Remote Body for a Shinra employee (specifically, executive Reeve Tuesti), and Rebirth doesn't even bother hiding it at all.
• Lethal Joke Character: Has shades. His antics are by far the most comical of the cast, what with his giant Moogle spinning and rolling around the battlefield punching enemies with its oversized fists while Cait blasts out magic orbs from his trumpet and shout silly battle cries in his Scottish accent. And as the Mechanically Unusual Fighter of the group, his playstyle is quite different from the rest. But played properly, he can deal high damage, support allies with excellent buffs, and disorient enemies.
• Logical Latecomer: As the last full party member, he often questions the group on what sort of crazy idea that they are going after this time. Note that he is this despite being a robot cat mascot in his day job. Pointedly, he has this to say about something The Team Normal and all around nice girl Tifa does shortly before he properly joins.
  Cait Sith: What is wrong with you people!
• Luck Manipulation Mechanic: An unusual variant. Aside from his chance-based abilities having more favorable odds depending on his Luck, his ATB skill "Roll o' the Dice" has him roll a giant die that has an effect based on the result. The die is actually a real object with physics and can be knocked around by the characters, enemies, and the environment, and its execution will be delayed for several seconds or until it stops. This means the player can intentionally knock the die around to try to get a specific result.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Cait's moveset stands out even among the diversity of Rebirth's cast — he's a Puppet Fighter who needs to summon and join with his moogle before he can unlock his full combat potential, and most of his techniques revolve around chance and trap-laying rather than straightforward damage. He's also the only character who can incorporate a summon materia into his moveset, as Moogle Magic lets him call on a random summon spell for the materia he has equipped.
• Mediation Backfire: He attempts this several times when the party first encounters Vincent. He's the one to explain - or attempt to - why the party has a stolen identity card, then he attempts to cover for the party when they wander into a room Vincent didn't want to go in, then after the boss fight against Vincent's alternate form, Galian Beast, he tries to recruit Vincent to the party. Given he mentions having seen Vincent's file, it's likely he (or rather, Reeve) has put some of the pieces together about why Vincent is in the dark manor basement alone and empathises with him. His attempts are met with varying degrees of success - after the rest of the group trespass it's Cait Sith that Vincent picks up and physically removes from the room and then flings him back at Cloud before the boss fight. It's hard to gauge if Cait Sith's later attempts to get through to him worked, since Vincent's stated reason for accompanying the party was due to their pursuit of Sephiroth.
• The Mole: He makes no secret of the fact that he's a Remote Body sent by Shinra to spy on Avalanche, though he lies that his real self is a bored out of his mind nine-to-five middle-management businessman rather than Token Good Teammate executive Reeve Tuesti.
• Mr. Exposition: Cait Sith knows a great deal about the Gold Saucer and Corel Prison, explaining just how frosty the reception will be for the party on the elevator down to the latter.
• Musical Assassin: His primary ranged attack involves shooting bubbles filled with musical notes at his enemies via his megaphone.
• Must Make Amends: Cait Sith sacrifices himself at the Temple of the Ancients to atone for having double-crossed them. This lead even Barret to lament how they treated him... but as the team mourns his sacrifice he shows up in a replacement body and reminds them that he's a robot.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After he betrays the party and steals the key to the Temple of the Ancients, he's devastated and becomes deeply remorseful when even Aerith turns away from him in disgust and sadness. He goes on to redeem himself, but still feels horrible for his actions.
• Non-Standard Character Design: While most of the cast have realistic physical appearances and proportions, Cait and his Moogle buddy look like cartoon characters brought to life.
• Oh, Crap!: If Cloud tells Vincent that the enemy he and his allies are fighting against is Shinra, Cait Sith recoils in shock before laughing nervously and insisting that Cloud's just joking.
• Overt Operative: Invoked, as he fully admits that he's a robot being puppeted by a Punch-Clock Villain who is looking for info to give to his bosses at Shinra. Subverted, however, because it provides excellent cover that he is one of the bosses, albeit a Token Good Teammate.
• Perpetual Smiler: Cait Sith's features are shaped so it almost always looks like he's smiling, likely due to his role as a cuddly, endearing mascot for the Gold Saucer. Although this smile is meant to be disarming, this and Cait's tendency to suddenly show up whenever Cloud's party runs into an inconvenience makes Cait come across as shifty and untrustworthy.
• Regretful Traitor: Cait eventually goes through with the plan to betray Cloud's party for Shinra's benefit, but it's obvious that he's not the least bit proud of it and wants to atone.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: He's named after the Cat Sìth, a fae or transformed witch from Celtic (largely Scottish) folklore. This plays into the game's Cait Sith's whimsical nature as well as his untrustworthiness due to his allegiance with Shinra, and accounts for his accent.
• Remote Body: He's a cat-shaped robot that looks like a plushy, and is controlled by Shinra executive Reeve Tuesti for the purpose of spying on Avalanche. In Remake he's deployed to try to stop the Sector 7 plate from being dropped, but arrives too late and can only collapse in despair.
• Rhymes on a Dime: While pitching his fortune telling services, Cait Sith will often start rhyming in his dialogue in an attempt to catch his listener's attention. He offers, "A fortune or two, to steer you true." to Cloud and a reading when you don't know where life's leading.
• Robot Wizard: Cait and his big Moogle buddy are both animatronic creatures that are secretly being controlled by Reeve Tuesti. They are also capable of not just the standard materia magic, but their own unique brand of "stage magician" wizardry, ranging from conjuring weaponized gift boxes out of thin air, to summons.
• Shoulder Teammate: Usually walks by himself, though he does briefly boost up on Vincent's shoulder to help him use the terminal and at the end of the game Cid has to lift him down at the Forgotten City.
• Squashed Flat: This is what happens to the first Cait Sith, who uses his body to prop up the Black Altar before it falls into place and completes the Temple's self destruction. As his body gives out, Cait is crushed beneath the altar so much there isn't any indication that his body is between the ground and the altar.
• Stance System: His "Let’s Ride!" ability summons his Moogle doll during battle which allows changes some of his normal abilities as well as giving him new ones.
• Summon Magic: He can call upon his big Moogle doll to assist him in battles, as well as certain summons like the Fat Chocobo.
• Support Party Member: One of the many roles he can play as The Gambler. Assuming one can get good rolls on his Roll o' the Dice ability (which can be influenced some by the player nudging the dice as they fall), Cait Sith is able to throw out party-wide Fury, Regen, and Protect buffs in short order. All of these together are very effective as a strategy, as Fury increases Limit gauge gains but also damage taken, which is a downside that Regen and Protect can help to mitigate.
• Talking to Themself: In the Temple of the Ancients, Cait Sith mutters a Thank You, Cait Sith. and a You're welcome. as he holds up the Black Altar. Seeing as the party legitimately thanked him for his sacrifice, it's implied that Reeve is holding both sides of the conversation as he thanks the bot for his service.
• Token Non-Human: At least physically, he's one of the only two members of the team (the other being Red XIII) who's not even remotely a humanoid, being a small robotic feline that walks around on two feet.
• Unexplained Accent: Owing to his folkloric name sake, Cait Sith speaks with a Scottish accent, in contrast to the American accents of much of the cast in the English localization. This is also the case in Japanese, where he has a Kansai accent, which is doubly odd, because his operator doesn't talk like that.
• Uriah Gambit: A rare heroic version. Part of the reason why he betrays the party is to make sure that Shinra and the Turks are the first to face whatever dangers await within the Temple of the Ancients, letting them experience the brunt of the agonizing trek and crippling them beforehand, thus giving the party a better chance to get through the place in one piece.

Vincent Valentine

Voiced By: Matthew Mercer (English), Shougo Suzuki (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs} Raphaël Cohen (French), Nils Kreutinger (German)

"Who dares disturb my slumber?"

A mysterious and brooding gunman who Avalanche finds in the basement crypt of the mansion in Nibelheim.

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• Actually Not a Vampire: He's introduced busting out of a coffin he was sleeping in, but he's human. Sort of. It's complicated.
• Adaptation Expansion: In the original Final Fantasy VII, Vincent was an Optional Party Member with very little content save for his sidequest. Now he's no longer optional and plays a part in the main story, with his first meeting with the party being far more elaborate than it was in the original. His motivations from the original have been expanded also. In the original game, he felt guilt largely for failing to stop Lucrecia taking part in the JENOVA Project. Here, he also mentions having many opportunities to purge Sephiroth from the world but being unable to bring himself to, though it's currently unclear whether he means directly or indirectly.
• Adaptational Badass: This incarnation of Galian Beast is a towering Lightning Bruiser that can easily wipe the floor with several well-trained and powerful combatants, unlike its counterpart from the original 1997 game who was only somewhat stronger than Vincent's human form.
• Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed. He's still ultimately on the side of good like the original, but he starts things very much on the wrong foot with the party when he attempts to kill them for Cloud entering a section of the lab beneath the manor that Vincent didn't want anyone entering. And even after choosing to come with the party to stop Sephiroth, he largely refuses to directly help them, largely going his own way. Things are so tense that when Vincent does come aboard, Cloud explicitly tells him that if he tries anything, they will kill him.
• Alliterative Name: Vincent Valentine.
• The Aloner: He's found slumbering in a coffin, and is none too pleased about getting woken up by the group.
• Aloof Ally: Even after deciding to follow Cloud's party, Vincent remains mostly cold and distant towards them. Throughout Rebirth, he refuses to directly help out in battles, only lending assistance at certain crucial moments. Barret lampshades the aloofness by snarking that the team now has two brooding loners, and Cloud ironically concurs before indignantly realizing that Barret was also talking about him.
• The Atoner: Hearing about what Sephiroth is up to prompts him to say that he has another sin to atone for, though he doesn't divulge any details save for a vague acknowledgment that he had many opportunities to stop Sephiroth in the past but chose not to do anything.
• Badass Arm-Fold: Has a tendency to stand this way.
• Badass Cape: He wears a red mantle over his shoulders, which helps to make him look more menacing and imposing.
• Bad Bedroom, Bad Life: While it's relatively tidy compared to some examples of this trope, Vincent is effectively living in the basement room of the Shinra Manor with a coffin to sleep in, only candles for lighting and nothing but books for company.
• The Berserker: His transformation into the Galian Beast turns him into a near instinctual monster that only attacks savagely and without mercy. The Rebirth Ultimania confirms that Vincent's rational mind is less in control during his transformations.
• Big Damn Heroes: Fittingly as a former Turk, he's an expert in stealth and subterfuge, using his knowledge to secure an escape route for the rest of the party in the Temple of the Ancients. Despite no longer having any loyalty to them or Shinra, it's implied that he also extended that rescue to the Turks. He also does this during the ending of the Queen's Blood sidequest, when he comes to assist Cloud.
• Chekhov's Skill: Being a former Turk enables him to help the party listen in on the current Turk's communications, as he knows which frequencies they tend to use.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Though Vincent doesn't give details, he reveals to Cloud that he had many opportunities to purge Sephiroth from the world, but he unfortunately couldn't pull the trigger and because of that he blames himself in part for the atrocities the villain committed.
• Creepy Good: He's a dark and very menacing looking man with the terrifying power to shapeshift into a Humanoid Abomination, but he chooses to join the heroes' side and stand firmly against Shinra and Sephiroth.
• Cutscene Power to the Max: As in the original, he pulls off impressive acrobatics when he backflips his way out of his coffin.
• The Cynic: He tends towards the glass half empty, and comments "expectations lead to disappointment" as one of his flavor texts.
• Dark and Troubled Past: While Rebirth doesn't dabble in it, it makes it clear he has a dark and tragic backstory that is deeply connected to Sephiroth and Hojo.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He's wreathed in black and red, but is a good man underneath the brooding.
• Deadpan Snarker: Very occasionally. He calls dibs on sleeping in the coffin at the horror hotel in the Gold Saucer.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: He has pale white skin and silky black hair, which gives him an unsettling and eerie vibe.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Possibly also a Duality Motif, but one of Vincent's irises is brighter than the other, having a gold ring around the pupil and a black sclera that may hint at his demonic nature, or his Chaos possession specifically. It's usually kept hidden under his hair, but is clearly visible when he first backflips out of his coffin.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: His left arm is a gold gauntlet or prosthetic, and he has armor plates only on his left hip with a gun holster on his right hip.
• Foil: Finishing off the characters who act as foils to Cloud, Vincent represents Cloud if his obsession with Sephiroth corrupted him into a fully anti-social recluse who only stewed on his failings. Both are dealing with loss and grief involving women who are important to them but were taken away from them in some form or another. It's implied that Vincent has lost all contact with his and believes she's already gone, just as Cloud is repeatedly shown visions of Aerith's destined fate and may (or may not) have lost her forever at the end of Rebirth. However, Tifa survived and is still around to help Cloud with his problems and Cloud has the rest of the group as his support system, whereas Vincent appears to be completely alone before joining up with the party, and keeps his distance even then. Both trade barbs in having a pretty shit day and both are called loners by Barret, but only Cloud hears and realizes this whereas Vincent shuts down Cait's attempts to reach out to him. In the last chapter of Rebirth, Vincent tells Cloud to save Aerith with the air of someone who knows what it is like to not act and see someone leave them, but doesn't engage afterwards, much like Cloud isn't open about himself or what he sees.
• Gangsta Style: Doesn't do this often, but the ending of the Queen's Blood sidequest has him holding his gun sideways for no real stated^{gunplay note}He might have been using a muzzle climb technique to use the recoil from each shot to align the next shot for each card in a row. reason.
• Hand Cannon: In the original, Vincent's default Quicksilver weapon was merely an ordinary handgun. Here, it's notably much bigger than a regular pistol and possesses some fancier modifications.
• The Hermit: One flavor text has him comment that he finds being outdoors quite exhausting.
• Hero of Another Story: Near the end of the Queen's Blood sidequest, it is revealed that Vincent is a skilled player called "the monster of chaos", as well as that he is aware of the game's curse and that the Emerald Witch's card is guarded by him. But this raises some questions. Was Vincent an avid Queen's Blood player in the past like Cloud is in Rebirth? How did he find out about the Shadowblood Queen's curse and why does he have the Emerald Witch card? These details imply that in the past Vincent went on a similar journey as Cloud, defeating Queen's Blood players around the world, to the point that Lidrehl Balmon, the game's inventor, entrusted the Emerald Witch's card for him to keep it safe, becoming the MacGuffin Guardian until Cloud challenged him to to put an end to the curse.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Vincent's bangs hide his more monstrous left eye. Symbolically, the trope both represents the many dark secrets Vincent is concealing as well as his introverted nature and his isolation from the world around him.
• Hulking Out: Whenever he transforms into the Galian Beast, Vincent's size and muscle mass are multiplied to gigantic proportions. While his transformation is immediately preceded by his frustration with the group trespassing, it's unclear if consciously he called on his Galian Beast form or if it happened involuntarily.
• Humanoid Abomination: His Galian Beast form is a hulking bipedal monstrosity that somewhat resembles a werewolf with horns.
• Kill the Lights: His transformation into the Galian Beast is preceded by the lights flickering and Vincent's silhouette being replaced by the beast's between flickers.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Vincent confronts Avalanche when they intrude upon his slumber, but backs down when they give him a Shinra ID card. When he catches Cait Sith snooping around where he shouldn't, he turns hostile and even transforms into his Galian Beast form to kill them. After being defeated, he begrudgingly joins the party if told that they have a common enemy in Sephiroth.
• Lightning Bruiser: His Galian Beast transformation turns him into one. Despite its immense size, Vincent in this form is also among the fastest bosses in the game, even out-speeding Roche, and is able to make powerful combos, magical attacks and other area-of-effect attacks that will kill the entire party in seconds if the player is not careful. It's this to such a degree that the game goes out of its way to pause and warn the player that a vicious battle lies ahead.
• Loners Are Freaks: His antisocial tendencies only further highlight his creepiness, to the point that even Cloud thinks he's too much of a weirdo loner.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Unkemptness aside, he's a handsome man with silky black hair that reaches his back.
• Mad Eye: One of his eyes is an unnatural shade of amber, symbolizing his inner monster forms.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Downplayed, but he does compliment the decor in the horror themed hotel at the Gold Saucer.
• Not So Above It All: Not even the aloof Vincent Valentine is completely immune to acting like a Chuunibyou when playing Queen's Blood. Somewhat justified by the fact he is aware of the dangerous curse that has been placed on the card game.
• Older Than They Look: His age isn't explicitly stated, but he looks to be in his mid-twenties despite being chronologically much older than that. His lack of aging is currently The Unreveal, but he mentions 'having been around awhile'.
• One-Winged Angel: He transforms into his monstrous Galian Beast form when his base form proves to be not enough to deal with the intruders in Shinra Manor.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Vincent has eerie red irises that are a clue that he isn't fully human anymore.
• Required Party Member: Unlike the original game, you can’t avoid recruiting him this time around, though he's not actually playable throughout Rebirth.
• Room Full of Crazy: Not his own "room" in the basement, but the big open space next to it has walls covered with grafitti (implied in the Ultimania to have been written by Vincent), from drawings of Lucrecia, Hojo and numerous random phrases which paint a picture of someone who has lost all hope.
• The Quiet One: He's notably even less of a talker than Cloud was at the start of Remake.
• Sent Into Hiding: Found in a coffin in Shinra Manor, with Cait Sith commenting that he found his files and knows the reason Vincent is locked away in the dark has to do with Sephiroth. Zig-zagged as it seems like he could leave at any time.
• Sleepyhead: Dozes off on the Gondola ride if the player gets the date with Cid, Vincent and Cait Sith, and will comment he's 'just resting his eyes' while waiting for the party to complete a combat simulator on a sidequest. He also returns to sleeping after the party leaves the Shinra manor and was sleeping when the party found him. The Rebirth Ultimania clarifies that his transformations take a large strain on him and bed rest allows him to regain and retain his strength when he needs it.
• The Stoic: He's initially cold and unemotional towards the party, and even after joining tends not to emote much.
• Sympathy for the Devil: A quest where he takes the lead involves tracking down a 'ghost' in Shinra manor that sounds like a wailing woman. The party eventually discover the noise came from a fiend who was yet another one of Hojo's experiments and when they question why the fiend was singing, Vincent suggests that some fiends can experience emotion and complex thought, implying empathy with them. He also extends sympathy to Regina at the ending of the Queen's Blood card game sidequest.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Downplayed. In his introduction, Vincent is not even able to turn on his device so that Cloud can use his keycard, needing Cait Sith's help to do so. When the party needs his knowledge as a former Turk to find the Temple of Ancients, he operates Tiny Bronco's radio just fine, and when Cid warns him that it's an antique, he acknowledges that he prefers that it's old, implying the radio is more from the era of tech he's used to.
• Tranquil Fury: Expresses his anger without losing his cold detachment. On a later sidequest, he mentions a female staffer who also worked with Hojo (likely Lucrecia), but when Barret suggests she was as bad as him, he gets indignant and frosty when insisting it's not true. Shortly after the party runs into another hologram of Hojo and Vincent coolly shuts him down mid-sentence. A more subtle moment is when he catches Cloud and the gang going into a room he didn't say they could go in. If you pay attention, you can see his gun slightly shaking in barely surpressed anger. Considering this was just before he transforms, his attempt to drag Cait away might have been to lead the party outside before his rage completely boiled over in the Galian Beast.
• When He Smiles: While not made obvious due to his collar covering it up, Vincent's face slightly lights up after hearing the entirety of Aerith's singing at the Gold Saucer.

Cid Highwind

Voiced By: J. Michael Tatum (English), Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs} Bruno Ouzeau (French), Stephane Bittoun (German)

"Shinra don't own the skies! Shitheads couldn't stop me even if they tried.

A pilot who has a bone to pick with Shinra. Avalanche hires his services for traveling around the world.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: He is shown to look less gaunt and closer to his actual age in comparison to his original counterpart.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: In this continuity, Cid was acquainted with Ifalna, Aerith's mother, in the past.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: He shows up much earlier than in the original continuity, serving as the pilot that transports Avalanche from Gongaga to Cosmo Canyon and then from there to Nibel. After that, he signs on full-time.
• Adaptational Job Change: In the original, Cid was retired due to sacrificing his dreams of going to space in order to save Shera's life. Here, he's still operating as a pilot.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Though still a gruff Sir Swears-a-Lot, this version of Cid is much nicer and even treats Aerith with exceptional kindness due to being acquainted with her mother in the past. It is worth keeping in mind that in this game, (outside of talking about Ifalna with Aerith) he is only interacting with the party on a professional level offering his services as a transport pilot. His personal life (and tense relationship with his future wife) where his most unpleasant traits are on full display, have not been introduced yet, presumably saved for the final game.
• Demoted to Extra: He is not properly recruited to the party at the point in the story he normally would have been in Rebirth. He largely just serves as the party's way of getting around in the final quarter of the game.
• Feet-First Introduction: He's first introduced with a shot of his booted feet and he steps down from his aircraft, with the camera panning up when he reaches the floor.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Just like Vincent, and Red XIII before, Cid acts an "Accompanying Character" for Rebirth, serving as their transport guy between continents upon acquiring his airship services, but not directly traveling with them.
• Innocently Insensitive: If Cloud goes on a date with Cait Sith, Vincent, and Cid, Cid responds to the Goddess pre-show by saying the main actress is going places. Unknown to him, the actress was Jessie and the last time Cloud saw her she was dying in Sector 7 before the plate fell.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Thanks to not formally joining the party as of Rebirth and merely escorting them between adventures, Cid often finds himself asking questions as to what just happened every time he meets up with the others after an eventful quest.
• Mr Fix It: He manages to convert the Tiny Bronco into a makeshift boat after it crash lands in the water.
• Sleepyhead: Cid has a random tendency to doze off whenever idle or bored. He notably does this during the LOVELESS play, which is a Mythology Gag to the original where he mentioned having only woken up in time to catch the end when he quotes it to Cloud.
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: Despite not actively working for Shinra anymore, Cid still wears a badge with a HW insignia, implied to be from his days piloting the Highwind.
• Support Party Member: Cid only plays the role of escort throughout Rebirth, not because he lacks fighting capabilities of his own, but because he believes that he'll be of better use staying put and being readily available whenever the party needs an emergency escape vehicle from their latest forays into danger zones.

Zack Fair (Unmarked Spoilers)

Voiced By: Caleb Pierce (English), Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese)^{Foreign VAs} Fabrice Josso (French), Patrick Keller (German)

"And whatever happens... protect your honor as SOLDIER."

A SOLDIER First Class who was Aerith's first love interest and has an mysterious connection to Cloud and Sephiroth.

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• The Ace: In comparison to Cloud being a Broken Ace, Zack is the Ace played straight. He's not just a highly skilled and strong SOLDIER 1st Class who earned that rank despite not being the Jenova Project's three main subjects and defeated the Project G 1st Class SOLDIER, but he's also charismatic, driven, and able to inspire others without covering up his own feelings. While understandably sore about being a Cosmic Plaything, Zack perseveres to create his own future despite all that he has been through and what gets in his way. Due to all this, he appears to be one out of a hundred people who is immune to Sephiroth's control despite having been exposed to his cells, enough to pose a formidable challenge to Sephiroth in direct combat.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original, Zack only really appeared during Cloud's Angst Coma after the game's midway point. Here, he appears a quarter of the way through. ^note He technically was in Cloud's flashback told in Kalm, which happens a bit after the point where Remake ends, but in this flashback, Cloud still thinks he and Zack are the same person.
• All There in the Script: He is never actually named in spoken dialogue in Remake. His first name can be seen if you turn on subtitles, and his full name is given in the credits. This gets averted in Rebirth when his whereabouts become a source of concern for Aerith and later Cloud.
• Alternate Self: At the end of Remake, Avalanche's defiance of fate creates a new timeline where Zack survives the Shinra execution squad. In Rebirth, a couple of Zacks are seen, each connected to a different outcome of his decision in the final chapter: help Biggs, help Aerith and Cloud, or indecision. The latter version is the one who ultimately ends up involved in the final battle.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • What exactly happens to the other Zacks seen in the timelines he chose to help Biggs, or Cloud and Aerith? They are last seen enveloped by white light the same way the Zack who participates in the final battle is. Whether they've been "integrated" into the other Zack or are still living in their own worlds still is left unanswered.
  • Where he exactly is at the end of Rebirth is left unclear. While he was saved from certain death in one world at the hands of Sephiroth, it's unclear which world he now ended up in.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: Rebirth gives him several small bits of gameplay that are completely separate from what Cloud's party is doing.
• Ascended Extra: While his role in the original game was major, his actual screen time was pretty minimal. In the Remake trilogy, on the other hand, he becomes one of its main protagonists come Rebirth.
• BFS: He preceded Cloud as the wielder of the Buster Sword, and is the one whose memories and dreams its description says Cloud inherited.
• Charged Attack: His unique mechanic is that he can enhance the power of his Chain Slash and Meteor Shots abilities rather than Cloud's Stance System.
• Character Tics: When contemplating something important, Zack always brings up his sword and places his forehead to its blade.
• Chick Magnet: Much like Cloud, Zack has his fair share of girls who are interested in him. He was Aerith's boyfriend, it is strongly implied that his friend Cissnei has feelings for him, and Yuffie reveals that she developed a lingering Precocious Crush after meeting him in Wutai when she was a child. Aerith even comments that she wouldn't be surprised that a charming guy like Zack would have a lot of women in his life.
• Combat Medic: Zack has a healing materia linked to a magnify materia to keep up healing. This can be quite beneficial during the Hard boss fights and Combat Simulator involving him as he can use magic without MP if the Combination Attack with Cloud is done.
• Cosmic Plaything: Something that Zack notes with bitterness is that he always seems to be fate's punching bag which isn't inaccurate considering that in two of the timelines seen, Zack is forced to recreate the same Bolivian Army Ending that killed him in the original timeline. That said, Zack is too much of a stubborn guy to let that stop him and at the end of Rebirth realizes that there might be a way to reunite with Cloud and Aerith again, showing that he's far from giving up.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: A big part of his character arc in Rebirth is him at a loss of what exactly his purpose is now as a result of his miraculous survival.
• Determinator: His defining character trait, Zack will never give up no matter the odds. This guy faced down an entire army and won; then, injured and exhausted, he dragged himself and an unconscious Cloud the last dozen-or-so miles to Midgar, then fought even more soldiers to try and save Aerith. Come the final battle in Rebirth, he gets transported to a doomed version of the Planet that is seconds away from being wiped out by Meteor. Instead of falling to despair, Zack bravely struggles to his last breath, dies, and then awakens in another Alternate Timeline with his memories intact, where he then makes a firm vow to keep the good fight going against Sephiroth.
• Difficult, but Awesome: His Charge mechanic is quite difficult to properly pull off. Using standard Charge takes some time and leaves him completely vulnerable, and the moment he stops charging the gauge begins to deplete very quickly. Likewise, his Quick Charge has arguably the most finicky timing of any action in the game and can be quite difficult to execute with everything else you need to keep an eye on. But on the upside, his Abilities are among the most powerful with raw damage at Charge Lv. 3, rivaled only by Aerith's Ward buffs. This trope is pushed to the extreme with his Chadley Combat Simulator challenge, where you absolutely have to get a feel for his Charge mechanic if you want to even stand a chance. Doubling down with this, his High Braver move requires a full Lv. 3 Charge and precision button presses at the right time to pull off correctly, but do it right and he does damage comparable to a limit break.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner:
  • In a direct Mythology Gag to Crisis Core, he once again utters a cocky one-liner before facing down an army of Shinra grunts at the end of Remake. The same one-liner he said in Crisis Core just before starting this fight, as it turns out.
    Zack: We drag our asses all this way...and this is the welcome we get. Boy, oh boy... The price of freedom is steep. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens... Protect your honor...as a SOLDIER! Come and get it!
  • If Zack chooses to try to rescue Biggs or Cloud in towards the end of Rebirth, he winds up once again facing a small army of Shinra troopers aiming to gun him down, irritably grumping that fate has a sick sense of humor before charging into battle against them.
• First Love: He was in a relationship with Aerith prior to Remake. Aerith even says word for word that Zack was the first love of her life and it's clear that she still misses him.
• Foil: Zack embodies everything Cloud isn't, and a lot of what he wants to be. Zack has confidence and charm that makes everyone find him friendly and approachable, while Cloud has issues that often express themselves in ways that get him lonelier at the end. Notably, it doesn't take long for Biggs to consider him a friend while Cloud had issues to iron out after the Reactor 1 bombing. Zack isn't afraid to voice his thoughts but always able to take one for his loved ones, while Cloud often covers up his thoughts, especially if it would hurt them. This difference in approach is best shown when Marlene says Aerith has feelings for Cloud, which hurts Zack but he accepts it and tries to get them together. Meanwhile, Aerith barely has to peak Cloud's jealousy at the Gold Saucer and he becomes a stammering mess who has to change the subject to Shinra spies to avoid letting his jealousy show.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Cloud doesn't seem to remember Zack, or at least, if Cloud's migraines that occur when he is reminded of Zack are any indication, he is an incredibly suppressed memory as a result of trauma relating to Zack's death back in the past. As detailed below, the ending of part 1 messes with the "fallen" part. Then in Rebirth this is defied. Without the Whispers' interference, Cloud regains part of his memories, enough to recall that Zack existed, though he assumes that he and Zack were both members of SOLDIER and that Zack perished being swept downstream.
• Guest-Star Party Member: In the final boss of Rebirth, he shows up temporarily to aid Cloud in a battle with Sephiroth, and takes him on again solo halfway through the fight. He is playable for one of Chadley's simulator challenges as well.
• Hero of Another Story: Zack had his own series of adventures prior to the events of Remake, as detailed in Crisis Core. However, this becomes more literal after events in Remake create an alternate timeline. Over the course of Rebirth, this new timeline occasionally "bumps" (for lack of a better term) into the current one, giving Cloud and the audience a glimpse into what Zack's been up to, and what might have been.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Rebirth, upon learning from Marlene that Aerith likes Cloud, Zack looks visibly heartbroken at first as he assumes that Marlene meant "like" in the romantic sense, but quickly bounces back and vows to do everything in his power to help Aerith and Cloud, regardless of what the nature of their relationship may be.
• I Will Find You: In Intergrade's new extended ending after presumably recovering from his wounds fighting an entire Shinra army, he goes to look for Aerith at the Sector 5 slums' church, only to find she's already gone and the refugees from Sector 7 are using it as a shelter. The beginning tutorial of Rebirth is Zack, after dropping the comatose Cloud off with Kyrie, rushing off to fight through a smaller force of elite Shinras after watching a glimpse of Aerith being loaded into a transport chopper, tearing through them all with ease to finally retrieve her, even if she's presently comatose. At the end of the game, after being transported to another alternate timeline, Zack muses that if worlds meet and then part then there's nothing stopping them from meeting again, showing that even being stuck in another dimension isn't enough to stop Zack from reuniting with Aerith and Cloud.
• The Immune: Despite being exposed to Sephiroth's cells like Cloud, Zack seems to be completely immune to Sephiroth's influence. This is nothing to scoff at considering there seem to be about a hundred Sephiroth Clones in this version of the story who succumbed to Sephiroth's control.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The most notable thing about Zack is that Sephiroth's corrupting powers have absolutely no effect on him. While he has gone through his share of pain and trouble, he refuses to let it change him and makes it his mission to set things right.
• Innocently Insensitive: When Cloud remembers Zack, he recalls being needled with all sorts of questions on their way to Nibelheim, like if he had a girlfriend back home, and Zack talking up his girlfriend back in Midgar, Aerith. Cloud's discomfort is noticeable throughout the conversation, as he has a hard time looking Zack in the face and responding when Zack first talks to him, which is indicative of him trying to avoid any topic about his hometown and the cold treatment he expects to receive there if they ever found out he didn't make it into SOLDIER.
• Keet: While somewhat more subdued than in Crisis Core, Zack is still an energetic and upbeat guy no matter the circumstances.
• "Just Frame" Bonus: After landing an attack or Weapon Ability, his unique "Charge" ability will very briefly change to "Quick Charge", while the player only has a split second to activate it, doing so will give a huge boost to his charge meter.
• Leitmotif: The Price of Freedom, which originally played during his Bolivian Army Ending at the end of Crisis Core, where he died in the original timeline.
• The Lost Lenore: He was Aerith's first boyfriend and she still misses him. She asks Cloud if they'd known each other, and briefly reminisces about him while chatting with Cloud in the Sector 6 playground before saying it's time to look to the future instead of the past.
• Magic Knight: More emphasized than any other character is that he is both a great swordsman and a superb mage. His excellent selection of materia allows him to fulfill any role needed in a fight outside of debuffing. His Synergy with Cloud even allows him to use magic without MP so he can spam magic without worrying about running out.
• Master Swordsman: Despite it's sheer mass and weight, he's able to wield the Buster Sword with shocking grace and finesse, swinging it around like a dance; he's arguably an even better swordsman than Cloud.
• Meaningful Name: His last name "Fair" is meant to invoke the imagery of "fair weather", contrasting Cloud's name "Strife", illustrating that Zack is much more mentally stable compared to Cloud.
• Nice Guy: A brave, selfless and determined young man who is always there to lend a hand and protect the people he cares about.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Zack managing to defeat an army of Shinra soldiers by himself and live. We don't see how the battle unfolds but the aftermath sees Zack banged up yet still standing. He then proceeds to carry the unconscious Cloud with him to the rest of the way to Midgar at the start of Rebirth, then fight a few more Shinra troops moments later to try and save Aerith.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • While more subdued than most examples, he does react this way upon learning the identity of the man destined to kill Aerith. From that point on, he becomes more protective of her and even urges Elmyra not to let Aerith out of her sight.
  • He has another subdued one upon seeing Sephiroth Reborn attacking him in a world that is about to be destroyed. After taking a second and focusing on his creed, Zack gets back into form and fights him until his Reborn form dissipates.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: How Zack can wield the Buster Sword, being the second owner of it before Cloud, and does so with incredible ease, mixing in with his left-hand doing punches, and performing his/Cloud's Victory Pose by casually twirling it one-handed. He does use the Buster Sword with two hands for some of his more powerful attacks.
• One-Man Army: Zack was a genuine SOLDIER First Class, and in the new timeline (Stamp the terrier) supposedly created at the end of the game manages to wipe out the entire army of grunts Shinra sent to kill him and Cloud. He then goes on to do the same thing again after a brief period of rest and dragging Cloud non-stop all the way to Midgar, tearing through a smaller force of Shinra grunts trying to retrieve Aerith so efficiently he doesn't even have health to lose.
• Precursor Heroes: Before the Remake trilogy, Zack had faced down and defeated Genesis Rhapsodos in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion.
• Promoted to Playable: After only appearing in cutscenes in Remake, he gets his own playable story sections in Rebirth and even has his own unique moveset distinct from Cloud's. That said, it’s only during the final Boss Rush and certain post-game Combat Challenges where the player gains full access to his combat abilities and Limit Break.
• Purposefully Overpowered: You're forced to use him twice in the Final Boss gauntlet of Rebirth, first with Cloud and then by himself. To make sure Zack isn't The Load, he's a Master of All: he has high HP and MP each on-par with the party's best, his ATB commands deal high damage, he has a powerful synergy command with Cloud ^*"SOLDER's Honor" when fighting together with Cloud, "Together as One" when soloing against Sephiroth Reborn by summoning a Lifestream-version of Cloud, and he has an excellent Materia load-out with maxed-out Fire, Blizzard, Aero, Cure (linked to a Magnify Materia), Revival, Time, Barrier, Fortification, and Empowerment Materia.
• Seen It All: Having been through his share of weirdness already from his time in SOLDIER, Zack doesn't miss a beat when he comes face-to-face with Cloud and Sephiroth during the final battle when the timelines and realities begin to overlap. He's incredibly proud to see Cloud has taken up his mantle, and has a whole lot of pent up righteous fury for Sephiroth that's been waiting five years to find release, and release it he does with gusto.
• Shared Signature Move: He has his own variant of Cloud's Braver called the High Braver that he can use at Charge level 3. Downplayed in that his variant is very different, looking like a combination of Cloud's Aerial Onslaught and Braver while needing precise button presses to use properly.
• Skill Gate Characters: Playing effectively as Zack requires mastering a unique timing mechanic unlike any other character's, which the player is given very little time to learn before being thrust into the game's most difficult challenges. However, a player who can build and maintain a full Charge level is rewarded with attacks that deal damage comparable to Limit Breaks. To compensate for the difficulty of learning how to use him in such a short time, he's also given a Materia loadout that makes him an excellent support character for players who would rather focus on the much more mechanically familiar Cloud.
• So Proud of You: His reaction when he sees Cloud in the timestream preparing to fight Sephiroth is being impressed with how far Cloud's made it. When the two join forces, he's positively thrilled at seeing Cloud take the lead in their battle.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Played With. He originally died in the lead-up to the original FFVII's story, but the heroes defeating the Arbiters of Fate in Remake's finale alters history and creates a new timeline where Zack survives his Bolivian Army Ending battle against Shinra's army, and completes his journey to Midgar alongside the mako-poisoned Cloud. Rebirth suggests that he's an alternate dimensional timeline to the current one the game takes place in, as his appearance begins with Tifa and Barret apparently dead, Red XIII sacrificing himself to crash the Shinra helicopter carrying himself and Aerith, and Aerith being left in a coma.
• Spiky Hair: Zack has a lock of sharply spiked black hair.
• Super-Soldier: He was a member of SOLDIER's First Class rank, marking him as being a cut above lesser SOLDIERs like Roche.
• Super-Strength: Actually shows it off in the opening scene of Rebirth by grabbing a rebar that's still embedded in a large chunk of concrete and throwing it at an attacking Shinra helicopter once he's gotten enough momentum.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He seems to be one for Cloud, just based on appearance and abilities, but the truth is another matter entirely.
• Sword and Fist: Despite wielding the same weapon as Cloud, he differentiates himself from him by using hand to hand combat alongside his sword for his combos. His limit break, Rush Assault, sees him sheath the sword altogether in favor of punishing his foes with a flurry of fists and kicks. This seems to be a Continuity Nod to Crisis Core; where his beloved mentor Angeal fought in the same way to avoid wearing out the Buster Sword.
• Sword Plant: He uses his sword as a makeshift crutch after wiping out the army of Shinra goons sent to kill him and Cloud.
• A Taste of Power: You play as Zack during the opening scene of Rebirth. Not only does Zack wipe the floor with all the opponents he comes across, but he doesn't have a health bar, so you can get used to the combat controls without needing to worry about losing.
• Tempting Fate: Cloud's memories of the Nibelheim incident has him saying that mako will never run out, with Cloud standing in for Zack. He later finds himself in a world that has run out of mako.
• Unknown Rival: When Zack encounters Sephiroth in the timeline where he can't decide who to help, he naturally draws his Buster Sword and asks if Sephiroth wants to go. Sephiroth doesn't even glance Zack's way as he is focused on killing that timeline's Aerith and dismisses Zack by sending him to the Void Between the Worlds. Later on, when Zack is transported to the Edge of Creation to stand together with Cloud, Sephiroth seems mainly annoyed that Zack is butting into their fight and after he is beaten in the fight's first phase, Sephiroth uses the Black Whispers to drag Zack to a world destined to die so he can continue fighting Cloud by himself. However, this might actually be a Pragmatic Villainy instead: Since Hojo makes it clear Sephiroth saw Zack as a Worthy Opponent back on Nibelheim, and his main focus was killing Aerith, considering Cloud and Aerith working together with the White Whispers were able to make Sephiroth retreat, even actually making him bend down on one knee, one can only imagine what would have happened if Zack had stuck by their side. Not only that, Sephiroth even goes as far as to project his Sephiroth Reborn form at Zack rather than just leaving him to die in that world, which implies that, while he doesn't see Zack as a rival the same way he sees Cloud, he does acknowledge Zack as a threat and would prefer to get rid of him if he could.
• Walking Spoiler: The fact Zack is referenced isn't a surprise, even if his name comes up much earlier than in the original's story. What is surprising is that he ends up Spared by the Adaptation, thanks to the Cosmic Retcon caused in the finale and alternate timelines in play. It's hard to talk about Zack's appearance in the remake trilogy without mentioning that. Rebirth makes his involvement far more blatant by putting in right on the game's cover.