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 Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 10:38 pm
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Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:39 am
About Zidane
Zidane began his life as an "Angel of Death" created by Garland. Long ago, the people of a planet named Terra realized that their world would soon collapse on itself and they would be destroyed. As they had done several times before, they planned to save their civilization through the assimilation of another planet, Gaia. The people of Terra left their physical bodies and locked their souls in Pandemonium to be watched over by Garland, who was given the task of removing the souls of Gaia's "cycle of souls" and replacing them with Terra's. Garland began to synthesize humanoid vessels called Genomes that would receive the souls of the Terrans once they were awakened from their slumber. To expedite the endeavor of draining Gaia of its inhabitants, Garland gave a soul to a new Genome and named him Kuja. Kuja would be Garland's "Angel of Death", sent to Gaia to cause immense unrest and death. Kuja's will, however, was too much for Garland's tastes. A limit was placed on Kuja's life, and another improved Genome was created who would eventually replace him. This Genome was Zidane. Zidane was experimental in that he would live through a full life, growing up as a child before developing into Garland's "Angel of Death". By contrast, Kuja was created in an adult form, and lacked childhood experiences and such.
Twelve years later, Tantalus arrives at Alexandria on a mission appointed by Lindblum's Regent Cid to kidnap Princess Garnet. Although the mission was a success, their airship Prima Vista suffers major damage during the escape, and eventually crashes into the Evil Forest. Baku wished for the thieves to find their way out of the forest, but Zidane insisted on finding the missing Garnet first. He beats Baku in a sparring match and sets out to rescue Garnet, bringing Vivi and Steiner along with him.
Zidane after narrowly escaping the Evil Forest.Saving the princess from Evil's Forest's unnatural vegetation, Zidane and his friends escaped the jungle with the help of a petrified Blank. The crew decides to travel through the Ice Cavern, where Black Waltz No. 1 casts a sleeping spell upon the party in the hopes of destroying them. Zidane alone resisted and defeated the Black Waltz, reviving the others. Outside of the cave, he suggests that Garnet abandon the formal speaking habits she grew up with and adopt an alias in order to shield her identity from the villagers of the nearby town of Dali. Garnet agrees, and inspecting Zidane's short knife, decided to use the name "Dagger". Upon discovering that Dali was making Black Mage soldiers and delivering them to Alexandria, the group commandeers a cargo ship and fled to Lindblum.
Arriving in Lindblum, it is revealed to Zidane and his friends that a great many concerns have been arising surrounding Alexandria and its Queen. Taking advantage of a mission completed, Zidane opts to participate in the Festival of the Hunt, reuniting with Freya while doing so. Before the Hunt began, Zidane follows a singing voice to the observatory of Lindblum Castle, finding Garnet amongst a flock of birds. Garnet reveals that she is preoccupied about her mother and her own inability to steer her country away from war. True to character, Zidane attempts to cheer her up, promising a date with her if he lands first place in the Festival of the Hunt. Confused, Garnet reluctantly agrees, and during the Hunt Zidane manages to convince Freya to let him land the killing blow on a Zaghnol in order to make good on his vow. The festivities are short lived, as a dying Burmecian soldier alerts Regent Cid to an Alexandrian military force moving against Burmecia. Zidane tries to stop Garnet from returning to Alexandria to speak with her mother, but she sprinkles sleeping weed in the group's cuisine and absconds with Steiner nevertheless.
Intent on saving Burmecia, Zidane, Freya and Vivi encounter Quina Quen while traveling through Qu's Marsh and arrive at Gizamaluke's Grotto just as it was laid under siege from the Alexandrian Black Mages, commanded by Zorn and Thorn. Fighting through the monsters, the group figure that Garnet and Steiner had gone through the South Gate to Alexandria. Arriving at Burmecia, Zidane attempted to help Freya find her king while battling Alexandria's army and evacuating the castle's citizens. They instead discover Queen Brahne, Beatrix and Kuja in the royal palace. Upon overhearing that the King had escaped to Cleyra, the four challenge Beatrix to a duel. The Alexandrian general bests them easily, and Zidane and his friends were left for dead as the villains made haste to Cleyra.
Zidane attempts to help Freya defend Cleyra, but Brahne appears, summoning the Eidolon Odin, completely decimating the settlement and everyone in it. Zidane and Co. barely escape as they follow Beatrix's army through their own teleport spells.
Reappearing aboard Brahne's ship, the Red Rose, they overhear Beatrix voicing her doubts about her queen. They also overhear Brahne's plans to execute Garnet, who lay captive in Alexandria. Using the teleportation magic again they arrived in Alexandria ahead of Brahne and, with Steiner and Marcus's help, defeated Zorn and Thorn and found Garnet's sleeping form.
Witnessing the Siege of LindblumAs Freya, Steiner, and a reformed Beatrix hold off the guards, Zidane, Garnet and Vivi escape through the underground tunnels, reappearing in Pinnacle Rocks they watched as Brahne invaded and destroyed Lindblum with the eidolon Atomos, only relenting when Lindblum surrendered. Sneaking into the city the group reunites with Cid and discuss their options. Deciding to go after Kuja, the source of the problems, they use a tunnel called Fossil Roo to cross continents from their own to the Outer Continent.
Encountering the Black Mage Village on their travels through the continent they stay for a while for Vivi, while Zidane tells Garnet about what he knows about his past and where he came from. The following day they learn of a possible place where Kuja resides, the Iifa Tree, along the way Zidane and Garnet are involved in a marriage ceremony and they meet Eiko, a girl who can summon Eidolons, and she joins the group. Eiko quickly develops a crush on Zidane, and when she realizes that he is oblivious to her attempts at romantic overtones, she begins to question him about his relationship with Garnet. Before setting off to find Kuja, Zidane and Garnet share a moment in a small boat on the shores of Madain Sari, remembering their pasts and uncertainty in which they were both brought into the world.
Arriving at the Iifa Tree they witness Kuja and Brahne fighting each other, and, while Brahne summons him, Kuja uses Bahamut to destroy Brahne's own fleet and kills her. Zidane and the rest return to Alexandria where Garnet is to become the new queen.
Zidane, however, begins to miss her, though he is unable to express his newfound feelings in front of Garnet. Frustrated and unwilling to accept that Garnet must remain isolated as Alexandria's monarch from then on, Zidane is consoled by Vivi, and the party members head to Treno to participate in a card tournament. Eventually, Castle Alexandria comes under attack from Kuja but is warded off when Garnet and Eiko summon Alexander. Kuja attempts to take Alexander but is prevented from doing so when Garland interferes. Flying in on the Hilda Garde II, Zidane leads the group up onto the apex of the castle. He feels that he needs to rescue the two summoners by himself, and as the others prepare the Hilda Garde for departure, Zidane saves Garnet and Eiko as Garland destroys both Alexander and Alexandria. Zidane wakes up later in Lindblum where repairs are still being done, and, as the party discusses their next strategy, they learn that Garnet has lost her voice in response to the tragic events that have happened. Angered about the effect of Kuja's schemes on Garnet's health, Zidane decides to bring the party in pursuit of him.
Artwork by Yoshitaka AmanoWhen they arrive at the Desert Palace, the group is captured and imprisoned, and Zidane is momentarily blackmailed into helping Kuja retrieve the Gulug Stone from the ancient ruins of Oeilvert on the Forgotten Continent. While there, Zidane and three of his friends are astonished to find Oeilvert is a haven of lost technological works from a long-gone civilization. Though Zidane does not know it, the artifacts were left by the people of his homeland, the Terrans. Zidane is the only party member that can decipher the various writings on the Terran holograms, though he is unable to conclude what the dire predictions of Terran downfall truly mean. The party retrieves the Gulug Stone and return to Kuja, who flees to the Lost Continent. After retrieving Queen Hilda from Mount Gulug, Zidane learns of Kuja's link to Terra and go to Ipsen's Castle to unlock the portal to the second world. Zidane finally manages to earn Amarant's respect when he uses teamwork to retrieve the four elemental mirrors from the castle, saving Amarant from his own arrogant attempt at the spoils.
With the mirrors collected and the Elemental Shrines cleared of guardians, Zidane directs their airship Hilda Garde III make it to Terra, where Zidane is led to the village of Bran Bal by a girl who eerily resembles him. He is further shocked to find that the town is inhabited solely by humanoids with dirty blond hair and tails just like his; these being the other Genomes created by Garland. A perplexed Zidane is given the basic details of his young years in Terra by the girl, who is named Mikoto. With this information, Zidane resolves to meet Garland, his creator, and determine the truth to his life. Within the spires and mazes of Pandemonium, the resting place of Terra's true people, Zidane confronts Garland, who proceeds to explain the full extent of his plans for Terra's revival.
Drained by this new revelation, Zidane attempts to fight Garland, only to have his Terran soul removed and his body chained in Pandemonium's depths. With anguish, he fell into the belief that everything he knew was a lie and his true purpose in life was to aid in Gaia's destruction. When his friends came to his aid, Zidane shuns them, not wanting to draw their lives into Garland's genocidal plot. Remembering all the times that Zidane had helped her to reach within herself and find a reason to live and the strength to carry on, Garnet pleads with Zidane to let his friends believe in him as he believed in them. It was from that point that Zidane realized he did have a true purpose in life: protecting everyone he cares for.
While facing Garland one last time, however, Kuja reappears and uses the souls within the airship Invincible to ascend to Trance. He kills Garland but, after learning that he will indeed die soon, moves to destroy Terra along with everything in it. Zidane and company commandeer the Invincible just in time to evacuate Terra of the Genomes and reappear in Gaia. Summarizing that Kuja would soon destroy Gaia, Zidane resolved to pursue him into the mist of Memoria and stop his brother's desperate endeavor for destruction.
Zidane stays behind to save KujaMemoria's fathomless reaches contains memories from every age of Gaia, as well as memories from the people who dwell on it. Zidane and his friends battle through the Chaos Guardians summoned in opposition to the root of all life, the Crystal, and enter the Crystal World where they face Trance Kuja. Upon his defeat, Kuja defeats the party with a powerful Ultima, and they are transported to the Hill of Despair, where the omniscient harbinger of death, Necron, sought to prove that all humanity existed merely to die and become consumed by a "zero world". Zidane expresses a hope for the future and a trust in his friends, and together, they defeat Necron. As the true Angel of Death crumbled away to nothingness, a dying Kuja teleported Zidane and his party out of the Hill of Despair. As his friends said their goodbyes and departed on the Hilda Garde III, Zidane stays behind to try to save Kuja from dying. Evading Iifa's crazed roots, driven mad by Necron's defeat, Zidane makes it to the core of the tree, where he finds Kuja near death, and the tree consumed them both.
With the young hero thought dead time went by until, during another performance of "I Want to be Your Canary" by Tantalus in a rebuilt Alexandria, the character Marcus threw away his cloak to reveal himself as Zidane. Queen Garnet raced to his arms, and the couple lives together, until the end of their days.
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Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:40 am
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Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:44 am
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