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It was such a surprise to me when I saw Zidane slide down the ladder and walk down the corridor in the very first scene that we see him in. I mean, I looked at gaming magazines several months before FFIX came out and I had a good idea of what the main character will look like in my mind... Yet I somehow missed the tail up until I loaded up the game itself? Don't know how I managed that.
Anyway, it threw me a bit, but then I got used it and really grew to like it a lot. I wouldn't call it 'sexy' as I've never before fallen in love with a monkey (or a male for that matter).
As people in this thread have pointed out, Zidane's design seems to be based on the same trope of monkey-men characters that formed from the Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) in Journey to the West. Dragonball's Goku was based heavily on Wukong (not just the tail, but also his flying about on a cloud). They gradually removed these elements from Goku as they developed the character, but they were originally there.
Like others of this fictional archetype, Zidane is also quite the trickster at times, and is quite cheeky, although he is also good-hearted when it matters.
Zidane seems to draw particularly from Goku where his backstory is concerned (as has already been described earlier in this thread). Both Zidane and Goku are extraterrestrial beings who had originally been tasked with destroying / assimilating another planet, but lost all memories of their original purpose and grew up on the planets that they were intended to destroy. These character both came to love their adopted planet and became heroes, only to eventually be confronted with other members of their own species and learn of their true purpose, etc.
I wouldn't say that FFIX ripped Dragonball off though, as there was always so much more going on with the plot than Zidane and Kuja's similarities to Goku and Vegeta.
For Zidane, the tail served to mark him out as an otherworldly being. Keeping a human body and face, however, also made Zidane relatable to the player. If Zidane had a duck-bill and a large bony frill then fewer people would relate to him as a main character.
Anyway, Zidane's tail looked pretty cool, but as for being sexy? I don't monkey with monkeys!
Anyway, it threw me a bit, but then I got used it and really grew to like it a lot. I wouldn't call it 'sexy' as I've never before fallen in love with a monkey (or a male for that matter).
As people in this thread have pointed out, Zidane's design seems to be based on the same trope of monkey-men characters that formed from the Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) in Journey to the West. Dragonball's Goku was based heavily on Wukong (not just the tail, but also his flying about on a cloud). They gradually removed these elements from Goku as they developed the character, but they were originally there.
Like others of this fictional archetype, Zidane is also quite the trickster at times, and is quite cheeky, although he is also good-hearted when it matters.
Zidane seems to draw particularly from Goku where his backstory is concerned (as has already been described earlier in this thread). Both Zidane and Goku are extraterrestrial beings who had originally been tasked with destroying / assimilating another planet, but lost all memories of their original purpose and grew up on the planets that they were intended to destroy. These character both came to love their adopted planet and became heroes, only to eventually be confronted with other members of their own species and learn of their true purpose, etc.
I wouldn't say that FFIX ripped Dragonball off though, as there was always so much more going on with the plot than Zidane and Kuja's similarities to Goku and Vegeta.
For Zidane, the tail served to mark him out as an otherworldly being. Keeping a human body and face, however, also made Zidane relatable to the player. If Zidane had a duck-bill and a large bony frill then fewer people would relate to him as a main character.
Anyway, Zidane's tail looked pretty cool, but as for being sexy? I don't monkey with monkeys!