The hero of the story, Cloud Strife, has become infected by it.

Cloud Strife (available at start in PlayStation version)

The Turks are sent to protect Rayleigh, accompanied by several Shinra guards, including Cloud Strife.

When designing Cloud Strife, Nomura gave him distinctly spiky, bright blonde hair to emphasize his role as that game's protagonist.

Nomura agreed to direct the project, largely in part because of his attachment to the character of Cloud Strife.

He eventually joins Ramza as a full party member, and is involved in the series of optional events necessary to recruit Construct 8 and Cloud Strife.

His clothing is almost an exact duplicate to the Final Fantasy VII character, Cloud Strife.

It also stated the similarity between Lan Ling Wang and Cloud Strife was purely coincidental.

He was designed by Tetsuya Nomura, and his name derived from "fair weather," to contrast with Cloud Strife's name.

Nomura stated that Zack's name was derived from 'fair weather' and specifically chosen because it contrasted with Cloud Strife's name.