we barely get anything about zack’s parents, in the games. no names, no real appearance points. i have my fingers crossed that in the remake, we’ll at least be able to see them a lot better than in the og.
since they have no names given in the og, i felt the need to headcanon some, and named them warren and clarisa. warren means ‘ loyal protector ’, and clarisa means ‘ gentle ’.
two or three years ago, i answered some upbringing-based questions, like ‘ what type of discipline was your character subjected to at home? strict? lenient? ’, ‘ were they overprotected as a child? sheltered? ’, and ‘ did they feel rejection or affection as a child? ’. i’ll go into them a little bit again now!
so my idea of this parental / family relationship is very much linked to the idea of gongaga as a backwater village. it’s rural, next to a mountain, with lots of trees and a river; it’s not a prosperous place by any means, but with a quieter/simpler lifestyle the raising of children will be dealt with differently than say, in the main parts of cities, or in the slums. growing up they’d have spent a lot of time out in nature, being active, and with very little actual risk ( apart from the reactor, which they’d be told not to go near ). there’s a lot of opportunity for extra independence and responsibility during childhood.
that said, in areas such as this ( i’m thinking in the real world ) there is often a strong sense of family, and village loyalty. so i think just because zack was probably not as restrained as children from other areas may have been, doesn’t mean he was more distant from his family; perhaps he was even closer to them because of it. a mutual trust thing, if you will!
multiple points in the games suggest a closeness between zack and his parents, and his connection to his home. he’s a ‘ country-boy ’, a ‘ backwater expert ’, and playfully defends gongaga when cloud laughs at the name. he’s well aware of what his village’s situation is, yet he’s proud of it all the same; life there must have been okay. he’s also ecstatic to find himself back there after escaping the mansion, excited for cloud to see it… despite the fact that his parents claim, in ffvii, that he didn’t want to live in the country.
to explain that decision? zack was 13 years old when he joined shinra. if there’s one thing i know about 13-year-olds, it’s that they often think they know everything. he wanted to be out in the big wide world, he wanted to explore, live in the big city, achieve his potential and realise his dreams.
back to his parents, anyway. they also mention that zack wrote to them about a ‘ girlfriend ’ i’m sure they kept in touch, even though zack is a busy guy. the idea that he wrote to them even though he had a phone is strange, so either they wrote letters back and forth because it was easier that way ( with his busy schedule ), or maybe they don’t even have a phone. who knows. i still have no doubt he wrote to them fairly regularly.
that said, his parents also say ( yes, after saying they got a letter from him 6 or 7 years ago ) that he hasn’t ‘contacted’ them in 10 years. i mean… what? but you just said… what??
i checked the japanese script, wondering if there was a translation error ( maybe they meant visited, rather than contacted? ) but no, the verb used is 連絡する, so to communicate or contact. i did read a thing someone wrote that said ‘ the compilation has more holes in it than zack fair ’ so I guess that’s kinda true? i’m gonna headcanon that he hasn’t visited them for 10 years, but he writes them letters now and then. y’know… while he’s alive. and not trapped in a mako tank in a basement.
as for how they felt about him joining soldier / shinra, I’m sure they were apprehensive, as any parents would be. their 13 year old son, running off alone to the city, to join an elite fighting group? must’ve been awful for them. but, it was his decision, so although i don’t doubt they’d have advised him against it, ultimately they’d have supported him ( whether they wanted to or not ). he was going and that was that, but they clearly don’t hold too much ill-will against him. i feel that perhaps there may have been some idea that the city may have been a place to achieve goals, and break out of the mundane backwater lifestyle… so it’s very likely that this would’ve helped their decision, if it’s true.
just take a minute to imagine zack’s disappointment when he doesn’t get to visit his parents before his death, though. the turks are swarming, and he’s been a fugitive a while, now… so close, right outside his own home, and yet he can’t go inside. ouch. VIDEO HERE, if you like pain. even if you don’t, you have to endure:
❝ how’s my mother doing? ❞
❝ she’s worried about you. now that you’ve gotten yourself into such a mess
she’s worried you won’t find a wife. ❞
( see those rural values coming back into play? i feel his mother is
still thinking of family while he is still in the realm of ‘ career ’ ).
❝ that’s so ridiculous. ❞
❝ nice parents, huh? they’re doing quite well. ❞
❝ if they’re well, that’s good. ❞
you can see he cares; this wasn’t running away from home, or a cutting-ties thing. they’re his parents, this is his home, and he cares deeply for both – and his parents care about him, in return. he just wanted to pursue a dream in the city, that’s all – and it’s what he went to do.
somebody needs to go and tell his poor folks the truth, tbh.
2087
titsay
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
stormborns
yousharknotpass
janainaart
