Is Zack Really Alive In FF7 Rebirth?

screenrant.com:

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the endings of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Crisis Core.]

Zack's fate is left somewhat ambiguous in . A SOLDIER from the remote town of Gongaga, Zack Fair has a long history with the compilation. He fought alongside Sephiroth, befriended a young Cloud, and even went on a few dates with Aerith. It could be argued that Zack is one of the most central characters in lore. He touches almost every aspect of the franchise in one way or another, and he plays a much larger role in — even becoming a playable character — than in the original game.

Zack stars in his very own spinoff, the PSP original, which was remade into in 2022. At the end of , Zack sacrifices his own life in order to save Cloud's. However, the ending of makes this pointless by hinting that Zack might still be alive. Further information revealed in offers additional insight into Zack's ultimate fate, and hints at his role in the wider remake trilogy.

The ending of suggests that Zack is still alive — however, he's stuck in a separate universe from the rest of the team. At the end of the game, Cloud confronts Sephiroth at the Forgotten Capital. As the two former SOLDIERs fight in a one-on-one duel, Zack emerges from a misty void. Cloud sees him and interacts with him — they quip at each other, and players can offer commands or even directly control Zack during this fight. However, their time together is limited. Once the two back Sephiroth into a corner, he splits their worlds again.

Zack then appears in a version of the Midgar church where he first met Aerith, only this time, the roof is missing and a mutated Sephiroth is rampaging. Zack and Cloud engage in parallel battles against Sephiroth Reborn, while the rest of Cloud's party does the same. So it would appear that, while Zack may have died in Cloud's canon timeline, he survived in another. It's implied that they can interact across worlds, as they help each other in the same battle.

So Zack clearly found a way