text: Nadia Oxford from USGamer commented that she had mixed feelings about how Zidane's character is developed, in particular the Genomes and Terra reveal towards the end of the game, which she believes overlaps with Vivi's character arc. Oxford believed that there could have been an interesting contrast between Zidane and Vivi if the entire sequence was handled with a better focus; Oxford compared him to other Final Fantasy protagonists such as Terra Branford and Cloud, noting that it was typical of JRPG's from the 1990s where many characters would suffer an existential crisis upon realizing that they are not who they actually think they are. Nevertheless, Oxford is satisfied by his overall character arc, noting that the surprise reveal of Zidane's true nature does tie into the game's narrative theme. Oxford concluded that Zidane is likeable and well-developed as a character, as he eventually accepts that he is not the sum of his parts and he could find his own purpose. GameCritics editor Erin Bell called Zidane the "strangest looking Final Fantasy hero to date", citing his "nondescript features and monkey tail". However, she did describe him as a hero that is easy for one to understand and sympathize with.
  Zidane also received a less positive response from some reviewers. Beaulieu described Zidane and his altruistic motto of "you don't need a reason to help people" as a "hopeless case" when judged against the Hobbesian model of moral philosophy. Chris Carter of Destructoid was of the view that Zidane as the protagonist of Final Fantasy IX is not being discussed as much as his peers from other Final Fantasy games, and expressed a personal preference for Vivi. Houston Press expressed disappointment with the story of Final Fantasy IX as he felt Garnet was more interesting as a main character than Zidane, criticizing how besides having some unlikable traits, in the ending the character tries to save the main antagonist, Kuja. Scott Baird from Screen Rant echoed Oxford's view that Zidane's character arc overlaps with Vivi's, commenting that the plot twist "might not have been so bad if it wasn't also being done in a far superior manner with Vivi", and criticized the developers' decision to add "unnecessary layers of grimness" to Zidane's backstory which came out of nowhere and "doesn't really add anything to the story".