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First off, I am not going to give you any crap about me being from square anything else concerning Aeris or her resurrection. I believe she is dead, though the sheer possibility makes it interesting doesn't it? What I am going to mention is an idea. The idea is that of a secret character. One that might make sense. One in my opinion that does make sense. Remember back when Cloud was having the flashback that involved going through your memories and where Tifa helped him find out his "real self"? Remember who you ended up being instead of who you thought you were. Zack. The person cloud thought he was. Sure you might say Sephiroth killed him but did he really? Last thing he said was something along the lines of go kill Sephiroth. It is very possible that he could of lived and went off somewhere. Evidence that supports this is as follows:

1.)Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth were all injected with Jenova cells. You have to kill Jenova 3 times, you have to kill Sephiroth 3 times, when Sephiroth stabbed Cloud at the reactor, he didn't die.....starting to catch on yet!?

2.)You my or may not have seen the cut scene from the Nibelheim basement, because it was only on disk 3 and there was no need to go back to Nibelheim on disk 3. It was a scene where cloud and Zack were riding in a truck and were ambushed by Shinra soldiers, Zack was shot but was he killed? if you read the section above the answer is probably no. But what was the point in this cut scene? You didn't learn anything, so why!?.

3.)Who the hell is that sick guy in the near Aeris's house!!!??? It must be Zack! Aeris asks you to make him better, if you can cure him maybe he will turn back to normal and will thank you so much that he will want to join your team. Makes sense doesn't it? Click here to learn more about the guy in the pipe/zack

4.)Either Aeris or Tifa one said at one point said that you might be able to meet Zack when cloud got everything straightened out inside his head.

5.)On a personal note his parents asked if you had seen him. This leads me to believe that he is alive because if he was dead and being a member of a big organization his parents would have been notified of his death. That's the way Democracy works.

6.)About Cloud. He knows just a little to much about this guy. Sure their memories were merged or whatever it was that happened but could it be that Cloud knows so much about him because they still share that link given to him by Sephiroth?

7.)Maybe I'm just confused but try this: Why did Cloud believe that his home town was burnt down when he knew that it wasn't? Why would Tifa say this? When was Sephiroth cloned? How did Cloud know what was in container in the reactor? (you know that monster that fell out) Why would Cloud say that Sephiroth was in his library when he killed him? Possibly for a cover up but then again I might just be confused if I am sorry about that.

8.)To me it just seems like that Zack plays to intricate a part in the plot of the game to just be left hanging there like nothing ever happened. Maybe he's not playable but I believe that he is there one way or another if not just to talk to.

9.)When Cloud was in the Lifestream there were various figures of him like Young Cloud and Cloud as we now know him and when he met Tifa. But next to The Cloud we now know was a never explained "Dark Cloud". Cloud and Zack share more than a memory bond. They look VERY similar. It could be possible that the silhouette is Zack and if it is why would it be there?

10.)Well, there is an empty place on the PHS and on the ledges at the end of the game.

11.)On the 2nd disc when you first go to Mideal there is a pathway that goes into the forest by the doctors office. I myself went right in the office and hadn't saved so I couldn't go through the forest once I went inside due to weapon and the town blowing up. That path is only accessible at that very moment and never again. FALSE! it has been tried, and it leads back out to the world map!...oh well

12.)In the first disc we find the mystery town. What the?!?!?!? Let me explain when it is just Cloud in the party and and you're leaving after blowing up the second reactor you go through a town where soldiers attack you. You cannot get back to this town. Or maybe you can but I don't Think I could. What's in this town. Zack maybe? Maybe not. Who knows. I sure don't.

13.)The Picture. The one that Was taken back when Tifa and Sephiroth and Zack were going through the reactor. The one Cloud thought he was in. Again maybe it's just me but if Tifa was in that picture wouldn't She had mentioned something of the sort. I might have missed it but did Tifa ever really notice or say anything to the fact that her mind had been manipulated. It's obvious it had been. She would know something. She has to. She was there with Zack the whole time.

14.)Tifa thought that Cloud was Zack at one point. She said "Zack you've been away a long time" when they were at the train station. Hmmmm......this kinda indicates that he is alive. This again supports my theory that he is alive and that Tifa knows something. She knew Zack personally. It's obvious through that statement.

15.)But then again Aeris did as well. Remember when they were at his parents house and she said "I think I used to go out with someone from Soldier named Zack." She might know something and if she does I'd say that you have to get him on the first disc possibly. Maybe she meets him and he joins. Hey maybe he drowned and you can resurrect them both. This is one of the reason he makes me believe he's in Midgar somewhere because she lived there and she went out with him so he was there as well.

16.)Zack could of jumped off the cliff at the reunion like the other Sephiroth clones, and you have to go back and you end up at the bottom of the cliff where you find Zack alive???

Here is an E-mail that someone wrote me about Zack. He pretty much sums it up here... Its a lot to read but its worth it.


Here's the plot, as far as Zack and cloud go.  I'd appreciate if you took the
time to read it, because although it's long, it will clear up a lot of the plot:
Cloud joined soldier at a young age.  He never quite made it to the level of a
real soldier like Zack, he was just one of the normal Shinra guards that you
meet in the Shinra buildings/the reactors.  Anyway, Zack and Sephiroth were on a
bunch of missions together and became kind of war buddies.  Cloud would go on
missions with Zack also.  Zack had dated Aeris for a while while he was in
Midgar.  Now, a while after cloud had joined Shinra, he was sent on a mission
with 2 other Shinra guards, Zack and Sephiroth (Zack and Sephiroth were the only
2 Soldiers on the mission) to Nibelheim to check out the reactor since it was
malfunctioning.  They go on the mission, and Cloud is the guard that stays
outside with Tifa at the reactor.  When Zack and Sephiroth go in, they find that
in the pods there are Shinra people being dosed with Mako energy to boost their
power, and being turned into monsters when it malfunctioned.  One of the
monsters frees itself while they're there.  Sephiroth also notices a sign on the
door in the back saying "JENOVA" which is his mothers name as far as he knows
(later on, we learn that Lucrecia is his mother, and Hojo injected him with
JENOVA cells).  Anyway, Sephiroth then goes back to the Shinra mansion, and
studies the research in the basement.  What he reads leads him to the false
conclusion that JENOVA is his mother, and that JENOVA is an ancient who had been
found by Hojo & Gast.  Then he goes insane, saying he's going to take back the
planet for the ancients, and sets the town on fire.  Zack heads down after him
to the reactor, while Cloud and Tifa stay at the town at first, trying to save
people (by the way, Cloud had his uniform on the whole time, so tifa didn't see
him.  He was embarrassed to take it off because he didn't want her to know he
wasn't a first class soldier).  Then they both head off to the reactor.  Zack
and Tifa both confront Sephiroth in the reactor, only to be wounded badly and
thrown aside.  Tifa would have died there if it weren't for her old martial arts
teacher Zargon (i think that's his name, not sure) who found her there and saved
her.  Anyway, Zack tells cloud to go and kill Sephiroth, and he confronts
Sephiroth in Jenova's chamber, where Sephiroth ripped off Jenova's head. 
Sephiroth thinks he took care of cloud in the chamber, and begins to walk out,
but cloud confronts him on the catwalk.  Then Sephiroth stabs cloud, but cloud
pulls the sword out, lifts Sephiroth up by it, and throws him into the
lifestream (mako) below. (While Sephiroth was in the lifestream, he learns the
truth about him, about Jenova, etc.  this real Sephiroth is the one that's found
encased in the mako crystal in the crater).  Then cloud attempts to bring him
and Zack to safety, but they're capture by Shinra and are brought to Hojo's
basement, where he experiments on them for years (this is how cloud's memory
got so fucked up, how him and Zack got the Jenova cells, the mako doeses, the
crossed memories, etc.)  They eventually escape, and zack takes them both in
the car in the cut scene you
saw in the shinra basement.  During this cut scene, Zack is shot and killed by
shinra mercenaries and Cloud, due to his poor condition from the mako doses he
was given by Hojo, is left for dead.  Cloud then goes to midgar, where he joins
avalanche and the game begins.  His memory is really fucked up until he falls
into the mako again and tifa helps him put the right pieces of his memory back
together.  Also, the reason why tifa didn't say anything to cloud during the
flash back while they were in Kalm town was because she thought that if she told
him the truth, he might go insane.  The man in the pipe is just another failed
attempt at a sephiroth clone by Hojo.  Cloud doesn't have a # because he was a
failed clone.  I think you can figure out the rest for yourself.  Anyway, I hope
you took the time to read this, because I think it explains a lot.

-Andy

2.)Niblehiem = This might be his home town. No one knew Cloud when he was there and Cloud thought he was Zack who in his mind lived in Nibelheim.

4.)The Ancient City (vague) = Maybe he really loved Aeris and found out she was dead and wanted to say goodbye.

5.)Mideal = The pathway by the doctors office before the town blew up. No reason really other than you can never get back in after that.

8.)The Northern Crater = Maybe he's at the very end of the game hunting down Sephiroth whom he hates so much because he tried to kill him and Sephiroth killed his ex girlfriend. This could be cool because he might be SUPER powerful. That's always good.

I might just be dead wrong but in my opinion Zack seems to be the most possible and overlooked secret character. I would believe that he's in the game over some Bakussa guy or Young Cloud. Wouldn't he just be you now? Yay! Two clouds. But then again Zack is pretty much Cloud. Either way I believe that he was definitely in the game at one point or another. Possibly he had been planned but was dropped due to time. But maybe not. Not even Game Sharks can unlock Everything. I didn't see Knights of the Round or some of those other Materia on the list of game Shark codes. Please give this some thought and maybe pass it around to some other people you know. I can't find him and really just started looking. Maybe with the help of several other people we could find this elusive character or discover what happened. Remember Final Fantasy 3's character Gogo. That was a secret character. Someone that wasn't in the book and was never explained. Not Vincent. Secret means you don't know he exists. He's in the book and so is Yuffie. You even fight Yuffie for God's sake! They are what I call Semi-secret characters. In true square tradition there is a secret somewhere in the game so obscure that people just cannot find it. Think Gogo. How many people stumbled on to him do you think?

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE e-mail me if you know anything that i haven't mentioned or even if you just want to comment about this page because i WILL put it on the page no matter how vague.

Please E-mail me if you have tried any of my theories and they do/don't work. I'd like to thank a few people to pointing out to me that idea 11 (Mideal pathway) is not a secret path that leads to Zack or anything, it just takes you back to the world map. But why is it there only once anyway!?

Hey Jazzman i had an idea you know your looking for Zack well when your in the pipe with Aeris she asks you if you could heal him. Well in wall market you have the option of getting three medical items, instead of going to the guy in the toilet why not go all way through the slums to (Zack) and see what happens,

Nice idea Matt but I've already tried it and it didn't work :( he just said "Ohhhhhhhh Arrrrrrrrrr" oh well......

I've got news for you if you go to Midgar on Disc 3 and talk to the guy outside the pipe he says the man in the pipe got up and went off saying "reunion" so it has to be Zack! or another clone I don't know but based on the fact he has Zack's hair I think it was Zack. On another note on Disc 2 in the Whirlwind Maze Sephiroth destroys all of the clones. -Alex Hey Alex you've got a good point there, if the guy in the pipe is Zack then i suppose he dies at the reunion.... or does he!? This makes me believe that you have to get Zack before the reunion, or somehow stop him from going to it.

Hey Jazzman I have another thought maybe Zack tried to get to the reunion but
couldn't he may be somewhere in between Midgar and the Whirlwind Maze, you
never know, ya know the old man who takes care of you when you fall
unconscious at the Whirlwind Maze maybe Zack is in another room I don't know
because I can't be bothered to go back and check.
Or maybe Zack is hidden in a secret passage in the Northern Crater.
But like you said earlier aren't Jenova Clones hard to kill so maybe he
doesn't die at the Northern Crater that leads me to my theory Zack could be
at the Northern Crater.
I'm gonna replay the game and try to find out more about the guy in the pipe
which we are certain is Zack.
One more thing why is the Buster Sword not available to sell what is the
mystery of the Buster Sword, Zack's Buster Sword. Later
-Alex

Hey Alex you've got another good idea there. The guy in the pipe was in a really bad state and it would of been really hard to travel all the way from Midgar to the whirlwind maze. It was also a great idea about that guy in the house by the mountain, Zack was probably too ill to climb the mountain and the old man might of helped him, like he did with Cloud. It all sounds good, but unfortunately its still just a rumor. The reason that you can't sell the buster sword (or Barret's first weapon) is i think because cloud and Barret both carry these weapons on the main field screen.

Yo Jazzman I have another theory about the Buster Sword why don't you try
giving it to the guy in the pipe (Zack) and see what happens.
(this has to be my dumpest Zack theory!)
-Alex

Yeah your right there Alex...........this has to be the dumbest Zack theory ever! You were on a roll with your last 2, but you've just lost it now!

Hiya Jazzman I have another idea about Zack
I would have thought that you could only get Zack after you were in the
Lifestream if they met earlier than Disc 2 it would mess up the game's entire
plot plus Cloud and Zack would probably both be going into those massive fits
(y'know the ones Cloud has) because of the truth would suddenly dawn on them
and then if you get Zack at Midgar when you get to Kalm it would be Zack
telling the whole flashback then there would be know need to go into the
Lifestream with Tifa.
-Alex
P.S Actually the dumbest Zack theory is when Cloud gets to level 99 he'll
morph into Zack

I have been told if you master restore materia and go to the pipe with the buster sword you can heal Zack. It is possible you will play as he.

hmmmmmmmmmm.......it sound suspiciously like one of those annoying untrue rumors......but I'll try it anyway.

this is just a random idea, but, u know the lifestream? well, when people die, they return to the lifestream, but don't they eventually reincarnate into another person? im sure Bugenhagen mentioned something like this the first time your in his conservatory. i think that, if Zack did die, and his spirit returned to the lifestream, then his spirit would eventually inhabit another body, and become another person. so he may be someone else entirely in the game. and u know in real life people remember their past lives? well, when u eventually find the new Zack, you may have 2 jog his memory a little... another less likely theory is that Vincent maybe Zack reincarnated, but then, i think Vincent's probably too old to be the reincarnated Zack. just another random thought. ^_^

Yeah i suppose that's another way of looking at it....... i think Bugenhagen did mention something like that, you return to the planet...blar blar blar. Im not sure about the whole Vincent/Zack thing, but you never know!

Hey Jazzman I've got a theory about Zack. We all remember that on disk 2 Cloud was really messed up right? Well, if you remember when he was found at Mideel, he was in a similar sate as that guy in the pipes (Zack). And we know that the way Cloud was cured was when he "found himself". Tifa was there, so maybe when you encounter Zack, you have to have a certain character. But at that time, Aeris is the only available character. So I think this means that Zack must be somewhere else in the world of FFVII than only just in the pipe in the slums. I'm gonna keep looking for him. Oh, by the way, I agree that there has to be something that we all overlooked in FFVII. And I agree that the empty slot in the PHS menu must be used for something.

Yeah thenks John thats a good idea, we have to help him "find himself" hmmmmmmmm.....but i dunno how we're gonna do that. I'm playing FFVII again and i will hopefully find him....or at least some more clues!

First of all when you visit Cloud's home town in disk 1 if you go to Tifa's room and search the desk you'll find a letter written by Hojo about what happened during the events five years ago. Sephiroth did burn down Nibelheim but Hojo had it reconstructed and placed Shinra staff to act as the original towns people. Everyone but Cloud, Tifa, and Zack died in the fire so no one would know what really happened. Second of all when you go to Mideel I think the second path just takes you outside (I'm not completely sure though). And Finally Tifa didn't tell Cloud what really happened at first because she knew something wasn't right and if she tried to set things straight something horrible would happen to Cloud so she kept her mouth shut. I hope this helps as feed back for your page, later!

Hey thanks for clearing those things up for me. But i thought Zack supposedly got killed by Sephiroth at the reactor? I think that the path in Mideel lead back to the forest, but its a bit weird if you can only use it once. thanks again.....

OK that one response about how the guy in the pipe got up and left saying
"reunion" and how it had to be Zack or some other clone...well I heard
somewhere that if you go back to him in a specific part of the game, he'll
ask you for 3 items...after you give him the items he concocts a remedy for
himself and once he is healed, he explains everything about himself...he
claims he is a Sephiroth clone, and after you tell him your story, he wants
to learn more about himself so he joins your party...supposedly his name is
"Deek" and he looks just like Sephiroth...just a rumor, but judging from most
of this, it could possibly be true

I can't say I've heard that rumor before but it does sound good, but i really don't think its true, just another made up one...there are sooooooo many!

Ok. I've got another theory. Maybe in order to get Zack, you have to do something in Cloud's flashbacks. Like choosing a certain action or doing something during the flashbacks to change the outcome of when Zack got killed by Sephiroth. So that when you see Zack in the pipes, he could be healthy instead of sick or something like that. So basically maybe you have to do something in the flashbacks to change the outcome of Zacks death. This is probably unlikely, but it's worth a try. -John

That is a very good idea in theory John, even though it is unlikely because you don't control Clouds flash backs much. It could still be possible though....thanx again....

If you don't go to the man in to the pipe before you meet the doctor on Mideel Island and then go back on disc 3 and maybe just maybe he is there and when someone else than Aeris, of course ask if you can heal him then Cloud says "I'm not a doctor" maybe he thinks of the doctor on Mideel Island. hmmmm maybe a stupid idea but I thought at least I should add something to your Zack site.

Yeah this is a wicked idea. but yet again... who knows!? It is a good idea but i unfortunately don't think it will work. but you never know!

code Zack might appear. If he doesn't there is no way to get him and you can put this all to rest but if he does. Then you may be able to get him without cheating. Thank you for trying to piece together my ramblings.

-Kathi

Thanx Kathi, as far as i know there isn't any code for Zack, but there still might be one out there. Squaresoft don't make the gameshark so there might not be a code for him and he could still be in the game.

-Jazzman

hey, i heard this from a person who says he works for squaresoft about zack
(probably another fake) he said you have to say right things throughout the game
(ex; tifas bar and clouds past). then he will join you in life stream. sounds
like another hoax, but there is not much left to try.
-zack hunter

That does sound like a possible reason, but it also sounds like a ANOTHER hoax :-( considering he was so vague, he didn't even say what to say! but like i always say: "u never know!"

Recently, I emailed square about Zack and Aeires and some other stuff. And so I found out that none of the rumors are true, there are NO secret character, FF7 is complete, and there is NO way to revive Aeires. These are the emails (the first one is at the bottom): Dear Xelex:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. There are no secrets attached to that guy as far as I know.

Thank you so much for answering my questions! But how do you help the guy in the pipe near Aeire's house? Aeires DOES tell you to help him. And he seems to have mako poisoning and is acting like Cloud did later in the game. Anyway thanks again for your help. XeleX

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. FFVII has no secret >characters that people don't know about. You cannot revive Aeris. The >game is complete. Please don't listen to all the wild rumors out there. We hope this information has been of some assistance. >Caroline Customer Support Rep

First of all, FF7 is the greatest game of all time. But is it complete? Are any of those rumors on the net true (that one that was supposedley sent by a employee telling how to revive Aeireswas terrible)? What about Zack? Is that really him in the pipe near Aeires' house? What's with the short glimpse of Aeires' ghost in the church when you go back to Midgar? And what about the 1/35 soldier? And the tissues? These are all my questions about the greatest game ever made and I hope that you will answer them. If you do not want to reveal any secrets to me, that's fine, but PLEASE tell me if there is a secret character that was not in the strategy guide!

PLEASE keep on sending the e-mails and suggestions about Zack and any thing else u want. After all this could be fake! Wot the hell would a customer support rep know anyway!? they didn't make it! maybe it was kept such a secret that some of the Square staff didn't know!

i heard somewhere that you CAN get zack. i haven't done it my self but so far most of it is true. OK here goes, it starts of in kalm (sorry about the spelling) the one by Midgar. after you go through clouds story Tifa will say i saw a man half dead (this happened to me once but i wasn't able to beat it that time). i think she will say that if you only talk to her or give her the flower when you buy one from ares and say you dont like aeris when barrets little girl ask you (i think). OK then in disk 2 use the murasame blade and the super sweeper at the gold saucer. you can only use this if Tifa saids the thing in disk 1. then when you go to the creator in disk3 he will be there. thats what i heard i thought it might me useful to you.

Just another faulse rumor i expect but i do have the feeling that its something to do with what you say to people in the game. how knows!?