Part 135: Characters - Zangetsu

Name: Zangetsu
Job: Ninja

Description:

Zangetsu is a member of the Eblan Four, represented by the element of Thunder. He's old. He does reconnaissance for Eblan by lurking in the Dwarven Castle. Upon seeing the Tower of Babel reactivated, he returns to Eblan and joins up with Edge to save the world.

Abilities:

Ninjutsu

Human Kite - Similar to Jump, Zangetsu uses a significant amount of charge time to leap into the air with the aid of a kite. After a short amount of time, in which he is impervious to damage, he lands on the enemy, dealing large amounts of damage, moreso if he has a spear equipped.

Ninjutsu:

L09 Shock
L11 Flash
L20 Shadowbind
L42 Blitz

Equipment: Katanas, Boomerangs, Knives, Spears
Best Stats: Intellect, Strength

Tactics:

Zangetsu's a bit of an odd duck, much like the rest of the Eblan Four. His stats are somewhat balanced besides Spirit, which means he doesn't excel in any one area. He has a high Intellect, which would be great if Ninjutsu didn't suck. He can deal decent damage, but he can't really take a hit, and Human Kite's lengthy charge time can make it hard to justify using it often. While he has boomerangs, he can't duel-wield them, and they don't gain bonus damage with Human Kite, so you might as well stick with spears.

Overall, Zangetsu can't really do anything special, and is really a character that is outclassed in almost every way by a certain dragoon we'll meet later. His main advantage isn't an advantage at all, especially since he can only use one element, and there are better fighter/magic hybrid users out there.

In the end, there is no reason at all to use Zangetsu over anybody else. He's perhaps even worse than Izayoi. He's completely outclassed by several characters and really adds nothing of value to any battle. Most characters in this game are unique enough to justify their existence, even among similarly-built characters. Zangetsu's an exception, and I can't recommend anyone using him in the end game. He sucks.