Zane Jackson

Zane Jackson|Overview Zane Jackson/Biography|Biography

Zane Jackson, also known as Zane Euphoria in the magical world, is a reincarnated devil and the main protagonist of the Black Crown series. After being killed by a fallen angel, he was resurrected as a devil by a mage named Divinos, and informed that he is the most recent host of Emperor Unus, one of the seven lost-gods and the god of elements. He's currently dating Amber Lucifer, and a member of Black Crown.

Appearance
Zane is described as being fairly good-looking, and having chestnut-brown hair and sea-blue eyes. His usual attires consists of normal human clothes, however, when using his magic he's equipped with a suit of armor that changes color depending on the element he's currently using.

While usually dressing like a mortal would, Amber and his other guild-mates have pointed out that he usually prefers to wear black clothes — usually opting for an all-black attire.

Abilities

 * Transformation Magic: while usually used to transform a mage into other creatures or objects, Zane uses this magic in order to transform his elemental abilities into armor, which he uses for offensive and defensive purposes
 * Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic: inheriting the power from one of the previous hosts of Emperor Unus, Zane can utilize this magic to grant him the power of Dragonification, which gives him a unique set of armor that gives him the appearance of a dragon, and a large boost in power
 * Fire Devil-Slaying Magic: after directly inserting this magic from Summer, Zane can upgrade his normal flames into this form of Fire Magic, which is highly-effective against devils and burns a lot hotter; combing this with his armor gives him the "Shakugan No Shogun Mode," which makes his armor slightly more bulkier and offers a boost in power
 * Water God-Slaying Magic: having accidentally inherited the form of magic from an artifact, Zane can use this form of magic to harm gods and upgrade his water into a more powerful variant
 * Elemental Absorption Magic: Zane can absorb the different forms of Elemental Magic that he can use — fire, water, air, earth, poison, nature, and lightning— and thrown them back at his opponents
 * Fire Magic
 * Water Magic
 * Air Magic
 * Earth Magic
 * Poison Magic
 * Nature Magic
 * Lightning Magic

Transformations (Armor)

 * Blazing Emperor Mode: allows Zane to use Fire Magic
 * Sea-King Mode: allows Zane to use Water Magic
 * Lightning Mode: allows Zane to use Lightning Magic
 * Viper Mode: allows Zane to use Poison Magic
 * Wind Mode: allows Zane to use Wind Magic
 * Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode: grants Zane a large boost in power and gives him the ability to use Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic
 * God of Seas Mode: grants Zane a large boost in speed and gives him the ability to use Water God-Slaying Magic
 * Shakugan No Shogun Mode: grants Zane a large boost in defense and gives him the ability to use Fire Devil-Slaying Magic
 * Crimson-Gold Dragon Mode: gives Zane the appearance of his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, but turns the color of his left gauntlet to crimson-red, allowing him to use both Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic and Fire Devil-Slaying Magic at the same time.
 * Aqua-Gold Dragon Mode: gives Zane the appearance of his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, but turns the color of his left gauntlet to light-blue, allowing him to use both Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic and Water God-Slaying Magic at the same time
 * Dark-Gold Dragon Mode: gives Zane the appearance of his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, but turns the color of both of his gauntlet to black, allowing him to use Amber's Destruction Magic and his Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic at the same time
 * Steaming-Gold Dragon Mode: gives Zane the appearance of his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, but turns the color of his left gauntlet to crimson-red, and the color of his right gauntlet to light-blue, allowing him to use Gold Dragon-Slaying Magic, Water God-Slaying Magic, and Fire Devil-Slaying Magic at the same time
 * Four Paths of Destiny: combines all of his transformations into one — gives Zane the appearance of his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, but turns the color of his left gauntlet to crimson-red; the color of his left gauntlet to light-blue; and the color of his legs from the kneecaps-down to black, allowing him to use all three of his Slaying Magics and Amber's Destruction Magic at the same time.

Personality
At the beginning of the first book, God-Slayer, Zane is an adamant non-believer in religion, being the only one at his prestigious school to not believe in the Bible or God; however, after being killed by a fallen angel and resurrected by Divinos, Zane becomes more accepting of religion and beings to learn how to better understand people, including Summer.

After the war between the Underworld and the Alliance, Zane is noted by Amber as being more cold in demeanor, talking less and being a much more of a serious person, which worries all of the people around him. However, throughout the events of the second book, Dragon-King Alliance, he begins to return to his normal self as he and Amber share many moments that bring the two closer together.

During the events of the third book, Path to Tartarus, as Afeus beings to play his mind-games on Black Crown and Zane specifically, he begins to break down mentally as he's unable to escape the torture and constant reminder of his failures around him; it isn't until Amber confesses how she's felt on the entire situation that he realizes he isn't to blame.

In the fourth book, Ironworks, Zane is noted by Kristina as being much more like his original self, but also being much more aware and having mentally matured a lot. In most of his conversations with Amber, Ruben points out that something strange is happening between the two, and whatever it is, it's having a slight affect on Zane's thought process.

Once Ivior begins taking out the members of Black Crown by himself, Zane has a sudden 180 in personality, suddenly disappearing to track down Ivior on his own. After losing badly and returning, he's humbled by Amber and the rest of his guild-mates, including Jay, about how selfish and ridiculous his actions were.

Throughout Necromance of Black, Zane begins to confront his past trauma as he's forced to fight people from his past — including Summer, Chloe, and Melanie — coming out as a much stronger character. At the end of the book, and the series, Amber points out that while Zane had his rough patches at times, she likes the way he came out and how he was able to overcome everything that Black Crown had gone through.

Background
Growing up in a town that was heavily Christian and Catholic, Zane was a sole atheist as he did not believe that a God, such as the one described in the Bible, could exist with all the faults in the world. Additionally, he grew up without parents, as his father and abandoned him and his mother had died giving birth to him — it is said that he inherited the powers of Emperor Unus from his very birth.

In the third grade, he met Summer Evans, forming a close friendship with her that would last until the events of the Book Series.

Relationships

 * Summer Dawson: being Zane's one-and-only friend up until the events of the book, the two were extremely close, having bonded over the loss of their parents, and not having any other friends to talk with. When they were just in the fifth grade, Summer proposed that they would be together forever, and that one day, they would "seal that with a ring". In Chapter Seven of Book 1, Summer asks Zane to be her Valentine's; however, the two never became an official item before Van would send the Alliance to war against the Underworld, which would result in her death.

Entrusting her magic, Fire Devil-Slaying Magic, into Zane, she tells him that they'll still be together forever, as she'll always be a part of him when he uses her magic. After the war, Amber asks Zane "you really liked her, didn't you?" despite not truly understanding the concept of love, to which Zane replies "more than anyone". While it can be assumed Zane loved Summer, reciprocating how she felt, he never outright states it.


 * Divinos: having used his Sacred Staff Magic on Zane to believe that they met in the past, Divinos disguised himself as Marc Castellan in the human world, engaging in very vague conversations that deal with the magical world. After saving Zane and preventing him from being killed once more after his fight with Jay, Divinos tells him that he's lucky to be alive, and that if it weren't for the people around him, he would have died much earlier.

During the events of the second book, Zane misspeaks and invites Divinos to become apart of Black Crown, and not to his surprise, gets shut-down on the offer easily. However, off-screen, it's noted that through a side-plot involving Kristina, Divinos changes from being less self-centered and too a much more caring person, taking Zane up on his offer and becoming a member of Black Crown, much to Amber's surprise, and telling the guild that while he can't be there all of the time, that he'll be there when they need him — this is shown when he shows up next in the third book, taking out twenty-thousand of Afeus's troops that were beginning to invade the mortal world.


 * Lance Frazer: the closest person that Zane has to being a best-friend after the loss of Summer, Lance was the person who explained most of the magical world to Zane, and is always the first person to come to his side when he needs help fighting an enemy mage.
 * Ruben Brown: it was due to Zane's growth in power that Ruben decided that he would start to learn real magic outside of his Strength Magic, and thus, the two have major respect for each other
 * Mio Tsukomi: after Shota, her bother, sacrificed himself in the battle against Dragon Claw, Mio swore that she would never use her Dragon-Slaying Magic again; however, that didn't last long as Zane was the person who restored her confidence, convincing her to join Black Crown and use her magic to help them.
 * Jay Valentine: throughout the first book, before the war, Jay is portrayed as the only person who Zane could actually consider as someone he dislikes. Having declared that he would be the one to slay Zane, Jay made it clear that one day they would fight it out, which ends up happening during the war, when Zane confronts him as being part of the reason Summer was killed. Zane, accompanied by Kristina and Melanie, fight with Jay in an intense battle, which results in their defeat and the death of Melanie, which triggers Zane enough to finish the battle.

After having calmed down, Zane stands over Jay's unmoving, but still-conscious, body, telling him not to discriminate an entire race of beings off the actions of a small amount of them. Enraged at his comment, Jay summons the last bit of his power and takes down Zane, moving into mercilessly killing him, but being stopped by Divinos, who suddenly makes his appearance on the battlefield and knocks out Jay.

During the second book, Jay is seen for the first time when he jumps in to defend Mio and Zane from a surprise attack from Dragon Claw, and successfully helping them fight them off. Afterwards, Zane questions Jay on why he helped, to which he gets the response "I felt like I owed it to you." Reminded of the war, Zane lashes out at Jay, but is stopped by Mio, who is confused at the relationship between the two.

Jay explains that after getting beaten by Zane, and made a fool of by Divinos, he went around talking to different angels and getting help on the status of his mental condition. Blinded by the past, Zane refuses to admit that Jay has become a different person, and momentarily activates his Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, nearly knocking out Jay in one attack.

Amber and the rest of Black Crown attempt to persuade Zane into admitting that Jay has changed, but it isn't until the third book and the mental battle with Afeus that he begins to realize that he person he once considered a mortal enemy truly has become a different person. In a confrontation with Afeus Clover, Zane and Jay preform Fusion through Merge Magic, which combines the two into one entity that makes quick work of the God-Slayer, but not being able to finish him before the link between holding the fusion breaks — Zane was doubting the fusion too much.

At the end of The Path to Tartarus, Zane finally tells Amber that he wouldn't mind Jay becoming apart of Black Crown, which is the very moment that Jay is inaugurated as a member. From that point on, while Zane never truly accepts Jay as a friend, he learns to live with him around and work with him as members of the same guild.


 * Amber Lucifer: being the leader of Black Crown, and also technically the first devil that he meets, Amber is seen by Zane as his concept of power — or in other words, how powerful he wants to become as a mage. During the first book, the two are only ever seen talking if Zane needs something explained in the magical world, or if he's in need of a little confidence booster; before splitting up in the war, however, Amber tells Zane that if he dies, she'll be the one personally torturing him in Hell.

During the Dragon-King Alliance, Amber begins to realize, with the help of Kristina, that she's begun to develop romantic feelings for Zane, after the two begin to go on many quests and missions as a duo. Though she finds it hard to understand the concept of love and what she's feeling at all, Amber attempts to conceal how she feels towards Zane when in his presence, and in her spare time, researches on the topic of romance.

Due to her inability to understand love, Amber is also ironically oblivious — as noted by Lance — that Zane has begun to see her romantically as well, which leads to a numerous amounts of awkward moments between the two.

At the end of the second book, in the final few chapters, Amber asks Zane for a large favor: enter the upcoming tournament in the Underworld, which would decide who the Princess of the Underworld would marry. While declining at first due to realizing her has feelings for her and the awkwardness that marriage at that stage would bring, Zane eventually accepts the offer as he realizes that it isn't just about him, and that Amber shouldn't be forced to marry anyone if she didn't want to.

In the final round, Felix easily defeats Zane, but it's due to the cockiness of the former that triggers Zane into activating his Crimson-Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, which is when Amber discovers than Zane is able to use Fire Devil-Slaying Magic. Using the short burst of power to take in the win, Zane is crowned the champion; however, in the final scene of the second book, Zane is seen asking Lucifer for a favor — allowing him to marry her traditionally and fairly through Amber's consent.

During the third book, The Path to Tartarus, Amber accompanies Zane on his quest to confront Afeus, and it's only thanks to her that Zane is able to overcome the mental games and trauma that Afeus plays on him; throughout the book the two share moments, but don't progress too much until the end.

At the end of the third book, after Zane defeats Afeus using his Steaming-Gold Dragon-Slayer Mode, Amber leans up and kisses him on the cheek, thanking him for playing the role of hero again.

In Black Crown & The Ironworks of Conquest, the fourth book, the opening scene displays the two attempting to "hang-out" like normal mortals would, but their day is interrupted when Reaper Kurosami appears before them, warning them of an impending danger — Ivior Gurren, the Iron God-Slayer and the fourth survivor of Project G-S.

Later in the book, when they're preparing to invade the Underworld and take it back from Hylax, Amber confesses her feelings to Zane and tells him that she doesn't expect an answer yet. After the battle, Zane also confesses his feelings, and the two end up sharing a kiss.

Throughout Book 5, Black Crown & The Necromance of Black, the tension between the two is noted by Lance as being awkward, with the two already having confessed and kissed, but not yet dating or in a romantic relationship. In the events of the book, Zane's mental health begins to decline as he faces the Shinriyoku, with Amber at the end being the one who helps him recover.

In Book 6, Black Crown & The Phantom Shield, it is stated that two are officially dating.


 * Emperor Unus: being the god inside of Zane, Unus makes an effort to talk to Zane from time-to-time, but not frequently as it expends his magical power for Unus to be able to talk — despite that, however, the two have great respect for one-another, and Unus outright states to Zane at the end of the series that he was glad to have found his way to him, claiming that he's the greatest host he ever had.
 * Hailey Luna: After saving her from starvation and homelessness, Zane took on the responsibility of taking care of Hailey, who becomes very protective of him. As noted by Amber, who was initially jealous of their relationship, the two are similar to siblings.


 * Izumi Brewer / Mystogan: Zane makes a cameo appearance in Tsundoku No Spirit, which is a book that takes place in the same universe, opting to assist Izumi and May, the two main characters, in a small mission against Silver Soul, a secret guild of mages rooted within their school. While the two disliked each other at first, mostly due to their egos, they ended up finding mutual respect for each other, and agreed they would settle their debate on who the greater hero was another time.

Trivia

 * Zane's "Shakugan No Shogun Mode" is named after the creative franchise Shakugan No Shana; additional, the protagonist of the series uses a katana, which is the Weapon Summon of Fire Devil-Slaying Magic
 * At max speed, Zane was stated by Divinos to be able to travel up to five-hundred times the speed of light in the air.
 * With his Zodiac Breaker, Zane is capable of destroying an entire solar system