Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi recently discussed how Zack Fair will have a larger role following his altered fate in the first game. The second installment in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is now only a month away, and past trailers have given fans a look at the many classic characters who will be returning. Among these familiar faces are original Final Fantasy 7 party members Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, and Cait Sith - the latter of which will have an improved set of battle mechanics that no longer depend heavily on the player’s luck.

This article will contain SPOILERS for Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7

Of course, no discussion about popular Final Fantasy 7 characters would be complete without Zack Fair, Cloud’s best friend and mentor who also starred in the spin-off game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7. In both his flashback appearances in the original FF7 and the end of Crisis Core, Zack is tragically killed by Shinra troops following the Nibelheim Incident, with his death fueling Cloud’s transition from a shy Shinra grunt to a hero in his own right. However, following the timeline-altering events of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Zack is shown to have survived his final stand, causing fans to speculate heavily on the implications of his inevitable return in Rebirth.

A close up of Sephiroth bathed in purple light in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s developers have hinted that Zack will have an expanded role in the past, and now director Naoki Hamaguchi has opened up about the future of the Buster Sword-wielding hero. In a recent interview with Game Informer, Hamaguchi said that Zack is “immensely important” to the world of Final Fantasy 7, and that Rebirth players will gain a deepened understanding of said world, its rules and policies, and how it came to be through him. He even went as far as to compare Zack to the Whispers, the spectral beings that worked to ensure the original FF7 timeline remained intact during Remake.

A screenshot of Zack Fair talking to a little girl while Cloud Strife sits in the background in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

This timeline would be changed drastically when the Whispers were defeated by Cloud and his allies at the end of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, resulting in Zack’s survival among other deviations from the original FF7 storyline. Sure enough, recent trailers have sprinkled in scenes of Zack following his near-death experience at the hands of Shinra, and developers at Square Enix have even hinted that he might be playable in some capacity. Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase also revealed that there will be an entire additional episode centered around Zack - though he naturally remained quiet on the exact details.

Likewise, Naoki Hamaguchi was tight-lipped while discussing Zack’s expanded role in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, leaving many questions surrounding his place in the new timeline unanswered for the time being. Given how Zack’s death was a pivotal moment in the original Final Fantasy 7’s backstory, one can only imagine how his survival will impact the events of Rebirth and beyond. Judging from Hamaguchi’s latest interview, Zack Fair could have a bigger role in the FF7 universe than initially thought, though fans will have to wait until February 29 to see this for themselves.