I've just finished the two Deadly Premonition ER episodes, and what neither I or the GB crew can seem to figure out is who Zack is. Now, I'm pretty sure we'll get most of our questions about the game and ALL IT MYSTERIES answered after the ER is done, but its always fun speculating meanwhile. So what do you guys think? Who is Zack? First thing I thought of was that Zack might be "you", the player...
 
Oh, and if you have finished the game on your own and know the answer to this one, then shut it! Don't want no spoiling going down here on the thread, damn it! Only speculations, ait?

Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him. 

I wouldn't try to find this answer on the internet, unless you want a big spoiler. What Marz said is enough though.

" Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him.  "

" It's ''ZACH'' yah crazy fooooool. "

" @Marz said:          

" Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him.  "

Personally I don't get that none of the GB-crew got that. It's seem painfully obvious.

I didn't get it during the VJ playthrough, but after reading that was the dealio it did seem stupidly obvious while watching the BR version. i thought he was just insane at first, or he had an invisible demon friend since i just finished watched death note haha

you are the zach

" Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him.  "

" @Marz said:          

" Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him.  "

Personally I don't get that none of the GB-crew got that. It's seem painfully obvious.  I haven't played this game, and thanks to Giant Bomb I won't ever have to. I really find no reason for me to intentionally play a "bad" game - however watching someone else play it and comment on it, I apparently have no problem with... Funny that. "

After watching the 2nd video of ryan and brad in the intro bit, i figured that one of those creepy twins might be you in the past? The other twin (your brother) dies and now you're going all crazy talking to him like an imaginary friend.
 
That first chapter where you see the two twins right way on the chairs is called 'york and zach'.

No wait.... I figured it out.  Laura Paulmer is Zach.

Dude, Zach is a guy that lives inside York. Duh. 

" Dude, Zach is a guy that lives inside York. Duh.  "

It's Zack Morris from Saved By the Bell.

i dont know what you say, Zack was a first class soldier.
that much i know about deadly premonition

Maybe "Zack" is his imaginary friend? Although he seems a little old to be having imaginary friends.

" @Marz said:          

" Yes Zach is his conscious, which is the player, which makes decisions for him.  "

Personally I don't get that none of the GB-crew got that. It's seem painfully obvious.  I haven't played this game, and thanks to Giant Bomb I won't ever have to. I really find no reason for me to intentionally play a "bad" game - however watching someone else play it and comment on it, I apparently have no problem with... Funny that. "

No, wait guys, I got it.  Zach is a little man who lives in York's finger.
Kind of like Mr. Bimbo to Squire Trelawney in Muppet Treasure Island.
It explains the "holding up finger to ear" and everything!

To me he seems pretty obviously schizophrenic.
 

It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking with significant social or occupational dysfunction.
 
 Depending on the individual, a person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (especially hearing voices), delusions (especially ones that seem "bizarre"), and disorganized thinking and speech.

" After watching the 2nd video of ryan and brad in the intro bit, i figured that one of those creepy twins might be you in the past? The other twin (your brother) dies and now you're going all crazy talking to him like an imaginary friend.  That first chapter where you see the two twins right way on the chairs is called 'york and zach'. "

Yeah I noticed that about the twins aswell as soon as I watched the second video.

Don't read the wiki entry on Zach. That's all I have to say.

Wasn't one of the kids named Zach? 

" Wasn't one of the kids named Zach?  "

Zach isn't the player. Divulging who Zach is would be spoilers. If you want a hint, Vinny guessed who he is correctly at a point in the video.

After playing up to the first save point myself, trying to keep in the same range as the ER, I think that Zack is the name given to the gun. 

Better question than Zack's presence in the game is what I saw on the options of the game...leaderboards?!?!?

Who's Zach, you ask? 
 
C'mon, it's SO obvious. Everyone knows who Zach is. It's a fact clear as a crisp spring morning.

" @Kyreo:  Its Laura Palmer. PALMER! Zachs the name of the backwards talking dancing dwarf.  or perhaps Bob changed his name...... "

" @Jazz said:

" @Kyreo:  Its Laura Palmer. PALMER! Zachs the name of the backwards talking dancing dwarf.  or perhaps Bob changed his name...... "

Are you talking about the Bob from Picket Fences?? "

" @Kyreo said:

" @Jazz said:

" @Kyreo:  Its Laura Palmer. PALMER! Zachs the name of the backwards talking dancing dwarf.  or perhaps Bob changed his name...... "

Are you talking about the Bob from Picket Fences?? "

Fire,walk with me...
 
 

  "

Zack is a pretty brilliant gameplay contrivance.  Just like Bioshock's big reveal, it makes you reconsider your relationship as a player and as the main character.  By being schizophrenic or whatever, York is actually the sanest person in the game because on some level he is aware of the player and surrenders himself to their control.
It also resolves the control / canned response duality in games.  I don't know what York, as York, is going to say in cutscenes, but as Zach controlling York, I sure as hell know what he's going to do in combat.  This also allows us a limited omniscient perspective, whereby talking to Zach, we understand York's more private thoughts.   These elements combined allow us to form a connection to York.
 
A lot of people seem to think that Zach is just some kind of split personality.  I'm guessing that's what we're meant to think and that there's more to him and his relationship with York.  Maybe he's based on a real person that York once knew?

  @YellowKing said:

" Zack is a pretty brilliant gameplay contrivance.  Just like Bioshock's big reveal, it makes you reconsider your relationship as a player and as the main character.  By being schizophrenic or whatever, York is actually the sanest person in the game because on some level he is aware of the player and surrenders himself to their control.It also resolves the control / canned response duality in games.  I don't know what York, as York, is going to say in cutscenes, but as Zach controlling York, I sure as hell know what he's going to do in combat.  This also allows us a limited omniscient perspective, whereby talking to Zach, we understand York's more private thoughts.   These elements combined allow us to form a connection to York. A lot of people seem to think that Zach is just some kind of split personality.  I'm guessing that's what we're meant to think and that there's more to him and his relationship with York.  Maybe he's based on a real person that York once knew? "

"   @YellowKing said:

" Zack is a pretty brilliant gameplay contrivance.  Just like Bioshock's big reveal, it makes you reconsider your relationship as a player and as the main character.  By being schizophrenic or whatever, York is actually the sanest person in the game because on some level he is aware of the player and surrenders himself to their control.It also resolves the control / canned response duality in games.  I don't know what York, as York, is going to say in cutscenes, but as Zach controlling York, I sure as hell know what he's going to do in combat.  This also allows us a limited omniscient perspective, whereby talking to Zach, we understand York's more private thoughts.   These elements combined allow us to form a connection to York. A lot of people seem to think that Zach is just some kind of split personality.  I'm guessing that's what we're meant to think and that there's more to him and his relationship with York.  Maybe he's based on a real person that York once knew? "

How can you talk about this game so seriously? I'd expect somethin like that in Bioshock or Half Life or Metal Gear or something, and maybe I'd find it a bit clever,  but look at this game. You press A to shoot, and one o the first things you do is run down an empty road for 2 minutes. I agree it'd be a good twist, but I don't think the people who made this game know enough about game design to make you think about your role as a player in relation to the main guy. I think they're just makin a cheap Silent Hill knock-off. "

"I think they're just makin a cheap Silent Hill knock-off. "

It seems pretty obvious that Zack is the player, since whenever York asks Zack to do something, you're given a prompt. But who YOU are remains to be answered... or not...

I dunno, I've never played Silent Hill. I just mean it's a spooky town game with mysterious zombies or whatever.
I'll continue to think this is just a weird bad game til proven otherwise though.
ALTHOUGH; the whole scene where he first saw F K in his coffee and did a Garry's Mod smile made me think this was some kind of Airplane/Anchorman game where it's allways being stupid for the hell of it.

@Sleepy_Insomniac

"You're right. For example, what if, in another game, you use the left mouse button to shoot and one of the first things you do is sit in a completely uninteractive transport device for 2+ minutes while the opening credits or intro sequence rolls by. Surely, there are no examples of this. "

" @I_smell:  Ummm... it IS an open-world game.  See how little you know about it? "

His nickname sums him up pretty well. Leave him alone, man.

Or not.

@I_smell: First, you use Silent Hill as an example of a "spooky town zombie game", although you never played it and you know shit about it. Then, you're talking about Deadly Premonition pretending to be an open-world game in a sequence of running down a road. Despite the fact that it IS an open-world one.

Also, if you want to destroy Deadly Premonition's plot on the basis of weird controls and a quirky character whose actions don't make any sense at the beginning, then Twin Peaks is a Saturday Morning Cartoon with no depth.

You don't know ANYTHING about the subject in matter, yet you're posting about it. Marvelous.

Zach is the Origami Killer.

Zack is the little kid.

i thought zach was anya from Gears of War

dly Premonition using A to shoot when there's a TRIGGER right there on the controller is just crazy. And the whole intro sequence to Half Life was like brand new at the time; shooters had never really even cared about setting or role-playing before then. It shows you around Black Mesa foreshadowing all kinds o suspiciously dangerous stuff like huge security doors and military helicopters n shit, takes you deep deep deep underground, there's a voice-over telling you all about the company n the facility, and all sorts o stuff to build your impression of where you are n what you're doing. Deadly Premonition makes you run down a fucking massive EMPTY ROAD for no reason, except maybe to make you think it's an open world game.