Zack

Check out his Wiki page [here] for additional information!

General

Zack Hakton is a main character and the primary antagonist of the novel. While appearing seemingly harmless, he is capable of defying the laws of the universe through an ability known as "Hacking", which is essentially the ability to use cheat codes in real life. This grants him invincibility, infinite lives, and various other logic-defying abilities, allowing him to create widespread chaos with minimal effort and do literally anything. Most of the novel focuses on the other characters dealing with the various problems he creates while also trying to kill him, something that always proves futile because, even if they manage to succeed, he just magically revives sometime later.

The best way to describe him is that he's a paradox; he's everywhere and nowhere, anything and everything, and is capable of doing anything in the universe, regardless of whether or not it's actually possible. At some point, he starts explaining everything he's capable of as being "because he's Zack Hakton". This led to the paradoxical phrase "I'm Zack Hakton because I'm Zack Hakton" which sums up his whole deal quite perfectly.

Personality

Zack can be a rather hard one to read because he is usually quite silent when he does his thing. While he appears cute and innocent, he is actually quite sadistic deep down. He enjoys tormenting the other characters, using his Hacking abilities to cause widespread chaos that often results in people dying comical deaths. Sometimes it's entirely unintentional, but it can be hard to say because of how much he's been known to enjoy it. He is very smug and confident because of his general invulnerability to all things except himself, but usually he simply doesn't pay attention to what's going on and lives in his own little world. In Season 1, he was originally portrayed as a typical "dumb" character being less than intelligent, but that was gradually dropped as the Season went on and he set off on his own little adventure. Once he got his Hacks in Season 2, he became more to a "silent but deadly" type of person who attacks without much warning. It can be hard to know what's going on in that head of his because he just floats around with an unblinking smile. But rest assured, if he's headed your way, your end is near.

Appearance

Zack has a pudgy build and wears a yellow t-shirt with sky blue hems, alongside blue shorts and black shoes. His hair is short and black, as are his eyes which are often referred to as being beady. He is always seen with a cat-like smile (:3) which makes him appear rather cute and innocent. At one point, it was revealed that his black hair is actually fake and simply a wig. Upon pulling it off, long, golden locks of shimmering gold spill out.

Zack is the only character to keep his original outfit and not receive any sort of redesign because the simple t-shirt and shorts combo fits him quite well.

History

Zack was originally a member of the Natha Team, Nathan's first group of evil-fighters. He debuted in my second story ever, Fighting Frights, alongside Sarah. Back then, he was just your average character without any redeeming personality traits. Eventually, the Natha Team was disbanded when he and everyone else were turned evil by the main villain at the time, Mr. Kill. It wasn't until Season 1 of The Story that he made a return, and at the very beginning no less. When everyone infiltrated Mr. Destro's lair to figure out his latest plan, they stumbled upon a person frozen inside a tube of strawberry jello. When released, this person turned out to be Zack. Something was different, though, because he spoke much more eloquently than he used to. This was because Mr. Destro found him, apparently already trapped in jello, and removed the brainwashing which had a side effect of making him more intelligent. This lasted for all of three seconds though because, upon stepping out of the tube-like chamber he was frozen in, he slipped and hit his head, returning him to his less-than-average IQ. From here, he joined the characters on their adventures up until they went off on their big road trip. They opted to leave him behind and ordered Michael to watch over both him and the house. When Michael chose to explore the house instead, Zack set off on his own quest that involved catching Little Bangs and training them for use in battle. This continued until the end of the Season, but sadly never reached a conclusion. Throughout this Season, he also harassed the other characters in episodes of Viewer Fun, doing things like tying them to trees and running them over with busses. FlamDawg and Amber were his main targets along with Michael, but, unlike the former two, he was always able to turn Zack's attack attemps around in his favor.

In Season 2, Zack started Hacking, but not until a little bit into the year. The whole "Hacking" thing started as a joke during the big bike race and involved him being taken out of the race, but then suddenly appearing in first place like nothing happened. This confused the others, but it became apparent something wasn't right when he started floating in the air and doing flips. Nathan then pointed at him and yelled, "Zack's hacking!", proving that he was, in fact, cheating during the race. Thankfully, he immediately disconnected and vanished, forfeiting the race entirely. This little reference to my days playing Mario Kart Wii spiraled way out of control and soon Zack was Hacking every day, everywhere for four whole Seasons. From here, he received his own Hacking show on The Sideshow entitled Zack's Hacks where he could Hack and torment the characters to his heart's content. He would use various Mario Kart items like Blue Shells and Bob-ombs to blow up the others while also making himself invincible. This was Hacking in its truest sense but later evolved into his own unique style. As the Season went on, his Hacking and constant tormenting became a big problem, cementing him as the primary antagonist of the novel and forcing the other characters to try and kill him. Unfortunately, most attempts ended in failure, but those that didn't simply killed him for an hour or two before he reappeared like nothing ever happened.

In Season 3, a new reoccurring thing started where he would strike various poses that were deemed exceptionally sexy. These were simply dubbed "SEXY poses", and were capable of causing the characters to either faint, die, or explode depending on how potent a particular pose was. Most of these poses were never shown, but there are some drawings that show what they looked like. Over time, other characters started copying this and striking poses of their own which upset him because it was supposed to be his signature thing.

In Season 4, Zack started stealing the pants of other people. This was foreshadowed a few times in Season 3, but became a huge thing later on. It got even worse in Season 5 and he would often pop up, steal everyone's pants, and float away in an instant. The characters began to fear for the wellbeing of their lower halves and tried to stop him many times to no avail. He soon acquired quite the collection and stashed them away in a secret vault within his room. While at first this just seemed to be some weird, comical thing he did, there turned out to be a reason for it. In Hot Pants Frenzy, he gave all of the stolen pants sentience and ordered them to destroy the world. It was clear he wasn't in his right mind at the time because he kept spouting nonsense about a great "pants reckoning" that would change the world. In the end, he was ultimately defeated by his own hand when Sarah used mind tricks to make him steal his pants, thereby creating a paradox that destroyed him and ended the day of reckoning. All of the stolen pants were returned to their rightful owners and everything had a happy ending. From then on, Zack's pants stealing became far less frequent, almost as if he had been possessed to do so all along.

If that wasn't bad enough, Season 5 also had Zack become obsessed with wrecking balls. After watching Miley Cyrus' music video, he Hacks up his own wrecking ball and starts using it to terrorize the other characters. Like most other things he's done, it quickly became a huge problem because everyone was getting injured and everything was getting destroyed left and right. Sometimes the wrecking ball was even made out of pants, combining both the pants stealing and the wrecking ball obsession into one deadly combo. Finally, Nathan got Alex to stand up to him in Wrecking Werewolf, putting an end to the wrecking ball shenanigans for good.

Eventually, the characters grew used to Zack's antics and started simply rolling with the punches. They would occasionally fall victim to a stray Zinvention, but the majority of the chaos was simply caused by Zack existing in the immediate area. Things would violently explode and break just from him floating by, almost as if he were some black cat or other bad omen. Every so often, Sarah or another character would step up to deal with him, but as usual things would never go as planned. At the end of the day, the best way to deal with Zack is to let him accidentally kill himself somehow.

Abilities

Being a Hacker, Zack has access to all sorts of cheats and abilities that he uses from Season 2 onwards.

• Floating: Once he acquires his Hacks, Zack starts floating all the time. He never walks or uses his legs, which are later said to be shriveled and underused. When sitting on something like a chair, he does not touch it but rather floats above it, which is referred to as "double-floating". Double-floating apparently ruins whatever he floats upon, be it a chair or some object he happens to hover over. He's capable of flying high into the air, but usually only floats a few feet off the ground to be eye-level with the other characters. It's been mentioned several times that he floats very slowly and is unable to make himself go any faster.
• Invincibility: Generally speaking, he is immune to almost anything. This can be wildly inconsistent as something might affect him one time but not the next, but the main idea is nothing can really damage him. Sure, he can explode, but he won't be harmed by it. This doesn't cover his own attacks though, so he can hurt himself if things go wrong.
• Resurrection: If killed by any means, he automatically revives after a period of time. This can range from three seconds to three days, but he will always come back. This ability is slightly different from the normal way the characters come back to life after dying.
• Wall Hacks: He is able to phase through walls like some sort of ghost. He often uses this ability to escape, floating off through the ceiling to avoid danger or a boring conversation, or startle the other characters by floating up through the floor or a wall without warning.
• Triggering Explosions: He can make people explode simply by waving his hand at them.
• Teleportation: Can warp anywhere at any time, usually by a "Poof" which consists of a cloud of pink smoke, though not always. He can also switch places with other characters to where one might see him, turn around, then see someone else in his place.
• Mimicry: Can spin around really fast to instantly become someone else physically, mimicking their appearance.
• Laser Eyes: In Season 4, he gains the ability to shoot lasers out of his eyes which he often uses to burn the entire house down.
• Zinvention Touch: In most cases, anything he touches with his grubby hands is transformed into a Zinvention. This is seen most notably in Nightmare on Grove Street in Season 4 when he causes chaos in the neighborhood by ringing the doorbell which then became a Zoorbell. Additionally, if a Zinvention touches something that is not a Zinvention, that too becomes a Zinvention. So by simply touching the Zoorbell he ruined an entire house in seconds.

Zinventions

At some point in Season 2, Zack started creating various items that he would later dub "Zinventions". Zinventions are simply everyday items that have been Hacked, turning them into ticking timebombs of destruction. Most simply explode while others are poisonous if consumed. Zinventions are quite easy to figure out because they start with the letter Z, such as a Zotato (potato), Zlamp (lamp), or Zomputer (computer). A reoccurring theme in the novel is that anything and everything is likely a Zinvention, so you'd best watch your step and be careful what you interact with. This is a trend that continued until the very end of the novel.

Click [here] for a full list of Zack's Zinventions!