A Smile Like the Shining Sun

Zack is a member of SOLDIER, Shinra's elite army; he ranks as a SOLDIER First Class which puts him among the best of the best. There are very few members of First Class and they all seem to go insane, die, or otherwise ruin their own lives (with help from your friendly Shinra science department). SOLDIERS by principle are all supposed to be like Zack, powerful forces charged with preserving the safety of the people living under the rule of Shinra Company. As seen throughout the game, they really aren't at all like Zack, which makes him stand out.

Zack is friends with almost all of the characters he comes in contact with during his short life. Whether they are TURKS, SOLDIERS, Wutainese Princesses, or even down on their luck girls from the slums. To Zack, it makes no difference where his friends come from or how they feel about Shinra, as long as they aren't trying to kill him, he's fine with it. He's a star in the dark world of Final Fantasy VII and his bright and cheery personality can only be matched by his kind and understanding nature.

Zack is really one of the redeeming factors of Shinra, however his role in making the company "good" stemmed from the fans' hopes that Shinra was anti-heroic company rather than a completely antagonistic force. In the game they were cruel and merciless; however Zack's role only in the game is to show why Cloud, a "former SOLDIER" is different from them. Later, however Shinra became the "good guys" in Advent Children, Crisis Core, and Before Crisis which in turn changed Zack's role to make it seem as if he was just one of the many things that could be good about Shinra. Let's face it though; Shinra had Reno drop one of the plates, killing thousands of people, that's more than simple corporate espionage.