Zidane Tribal

Character
Name:	Zidane Tribal
Occupation:	Thief
Relationships:	Dagger (friend/love interest), Vivi (friend), Steiner (enemy turned friend), Freya (old friend), Quina (friend), Eiko (friend), Amarant (rival turned friend), Blank (friend/colleague), Marcus (friend/colleague), Cinna (friend/colleague), Benero (colleague), Zenero (colleague), Ruby (friend/colleague), Baku ('boss'), Zorn and Thorn (enemies), Beatrix (enemy turned friend), Kuja (brother/enemy), Mikoto (sister)
Fandom:	Final Fantasy
Other:
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Zidane is the protagonist in the Square Enix video game Final Fantasy IX.

Canon

Zidane's plucky, optimistic personality is considered a breath of fresh air when compared to his predecessors, Cloud and Squall. While some do find him annoying, he isn't a depressing protagonist, and that's liked by many fans.

Zidane was created as an 'Angel of Death', on the planet Terra, and sent to Gaia to execute his destiny, should older brother Kuja fail.

This destiny is forgotten however, and Zidane is adopted into the care of Baku, a man Zidane also reveres as his 'boss'. Together with friends Cinna, Blank, Marcus, Ruby and others, they formed the legendary group Tantalus from their hideout in Lindblum. Tantalus were hired by Regent Cid to break into Alexandria Castle and kidnap the princess Garnet. A well known play, 'I Want to be your Canary' was the guise to get them into the castle.

Zidane shows perhaps the greatest character growth in the game when it comes to learning of his fate. Many futile attempts to find his homeland eventually led him to uncover the secret of Terra, and its four guardians. Upon travelling to Terra, Zidane was 'reset' by his creator Garland, and reduced to a state of nihilism, wondering why he even existed. His acquired friends plead for his sanity to return, with varying levels of desperation, only for Dagger to finally get through, all the while saving him from a deadly Shell Dragon. Zidane's own teachings were forced upon him, and this gave him the strength he needed to shake off Garland's brainwashing and later defeat his creator. His personality came through in spite of himself at the end of the game where, irrespective of everything, Zidane risked life and limb to rescue Kuja, who had just tried to destroy the Crystal, a physical representation of all life as it was known.

Zidane's motto is 'You don't need a reason to help people', a motto that he never once betrayed.

Links & Resources

• Zidane Tribal tag at Archive of Our Own