Just how much did Zero remember by the end of Zero 4?

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Offline Flame

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on: January 01, 2013, 11:00:02 PM
Like the title says.

As soon as he got the Saber in Zero 1, his memory started coming back to him little by little, and by the end of Z1, although he couldnt remember it exactly, he was still able to tell from their fight that Copy X was far weaker than X was. (physically AND mentally)

In Z2, Phoenix Magnion uses that attack where he summons from Zero's past Colonel, Bit, Agile, and Vile. I mean, I get that there's a difference between what he REMEMBERS, and what is in his brain but locked away in his subconscious, but, did he actually remember them? or was Phoenix merely drawing from Zero's brain data, which regardless of what he remembers, no doubt has data related to them?

By Zero 4, when Ciel mentions Area Zero, he mentions it's a "painful reminder of a war long past", which, always seemed to me like he was implying he remembered the Colony Drop. And of course, his [tornado fang] you Weil speech, where he says he never called himself a hero, etc etc.

So, just HOW much of his memory had Zero regained by the end of Z4? I don't think he ever regained it fully, but surely he got some of it back.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Zan

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Reply #1 on: January 02, 2013, 02:45:52 AM
This is a really tough question. But my initial thought is: 'not a lot'.

The beginning to ZERO3 had a strong vibe of 'remembering' Omega by some sort of deja-vu sensation, or gut feeling. And throughout all sorts of revelations thrown at him from various characters, I feel this is what all his newly awakened recollections ultimately amount to. They are but emotional and martial reflexes in response to stimuli from his lost past, not full-blown memories.

I say this mostly because at the climax of the series, he still knew so little as to be caught off guard by his being in a copy body before discarding the notion as irrelevant.



Offline Joseph Collins

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Reply #2 on: January 02, 2013, 05:53:08 AM
I really don't think Zero cared to remember, honestly.  In the Zero series, he was more focused on the "this is who I am now" than "this is who I was".  At least, that's how I saw it.



Offline Saber

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Reply #3 on: January 02, 2013, 05:14:00 PM
I really don't think Zero cared to remember, honestly.

Pretty much this. All Zero really required was the barest of information in order to function as a Hunter and a warrior. Not to mention that Zero wasn't exactly proactively looking to uncover his past of his own, it was all just based on his gut feeling, including his interactions with Original-X. The way he behaves throughout the series, he seems pretty ok with not knowing much as long as he knows who he can trust and who he has to fight. It underscores the notion that Zero at this point has more or less seized being an individual and has become a weapon of conviction that lends its strength to those considered worthy (Ciel).





Offline Mirby

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Reply #4 on: January 02, 2013, 11:24:23 PM
It underscores the notion that Zero at this point has more or less seized being an individual and has become a weapon of conviction that lends its strength to those considered worthy (Ciel).
i guess dying several times would do this

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Offline Saber

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Reply #5 on: January 02, 2013, 11:42:42 PM
i guess dying several times would do this

If he even remembers that, which I heavily doubt. Ciel knows more about Zero's past than he does, and she certainly didn't imply to know more than that he fought alongside X in the previous war and was an even match for him. That's the reason why she set out to find him. Other than that, Zero's got nothing but gut feelings that connect him to what he used to be, and X certainly doesn't try to help him regain what he lost.

That's also pretty much the reason why Zero, as a protagonist, kind of sucks in the Zero series. He has no character, no sense of humor like he used to have in the beginning of the X series and all that. Alouette even calls him an outright jerk in that one drama track because he just doesn't get what she wants from him and that doesn't even seem to bother him. Zero series Zero is consistently on task. X series Zero had also characteristics like that, but there were other parts to him than just being the straight man to X whenever he was down. But in his incarnation, he's almost void. He is a badass who's totally convinced that sticking to Ciel and the Resistance is the right thing to do, but other than that, there's not much to him honestly. That's at least my reason for me being more interested in the Guardians than the actual protagonist of the damn games. That's certainly the reason why they killed Zero off again at the end of his own series. There's simply nothing for him to do once the war is over. He's a warrior, and warriors simply have no place in peacetimes.





Offline Amatiramisu

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Reply #6 on: January 23, 2013, 01:01:32 AM

That's also pretty much the reason why Zero, as a protagonist, kind of sucks in the Zero series. He has no character, no sense of humor like he used to have in the beginning of the X series and all that.

Sorry to sort of necropost (Okay 20 days but that still puts me on edge) but I do feel like Zero did get back a little personality by Z4 at least. The most obvious being his sarcastic behavior concerning Cocapetri.
But I can agree that he did lack a lot of personality during the Zero series. MMKB does a pretty decent job of explaining why.

Quote
During the Zero series however his personality remains mostly the same although with some changes, given that he's been in stasis he is ignorant of some matters and confused about others, sometimes to the point he starts doubting or believe he can't win. This is seen a couple of times, first when Ciel was kidnapped by a Golem and he was battling him with his Buster which was not doing too much damage, was slowly starting to lose hope until X gave him his Z-Saber back or when Dr. Weil told him he was a copy, which made him believe he was not Zero, until X claimed he was indeed Zero, thus somewhat swapping roles with X in where X is the one that encourages him to fight instead of the other way around as it used to be during the X series.

I do have to agree emerging from stasis after a hundred or so odd years would kind of disorient me and somewhat cut me off from other people. Still, Zero is meant to be a tragic hero, so I think his emotionless attitude suited the darker theme of the series.

On topic though, I can't really go up against Zan or Saber's word but I always felt like by Z4 he remembered at least all the impotant aspects of his past, but never really brought them up just because, well,

I really don't think Zero cared

But I'm going off on a bit of a confused tirade here. That's just my two cents.