Zachary Ward (The Story)

Zachary David Ward (Born Zachary David Gargano) is one of the four main protagonists of The Story AU. Zach is outgoing and often impulsive but well-meaning and devoted to his friends.

Personality
Zach is shown to be very outgoing, always making an attempt to get along with people. He sometimes comes off as overbearing and tends to share too much information about himself with new people. He tends to not think plans through too well and often acts without considering the consequences. Despite his flaws, he remains devoted to his close friends, often defending them even when it seems he can't win. He's quite trusting of his friends, sometimes to his own detriment. He's fun-loving and always looking for new adventures to go on.

Like all Zachs he is autistic and often has trouble communicating with other people, but tries his best.

Background
Zach was born on August 30, 2002 in the Kingdom of Sajinima. His parents were divorced when he was quite young and lived most of his life with his mother and stepfather. As he grew up, he learned to appreciate his stepfather and eventually changed his last name to Ward to coincide with his new family. Once he was 18, his mother passed down her family's sword to him as a sign of his adulthood. Zach began practicing with it constantly to hopefully become a member of the royal guard to avoid going to college.

Abilities
Zach has a variety of magical weapons and tools bought from Kyle Baxter which he uses to fight, including:

On top of those is a sack of fairy dust, which powers the magic items allowing them to be used properly.
 * Golden Gauntlet: A large left-handed gauntlet made out of a golden metal with the ability to provide the user with super strength which gains more power based on the users concentration.
 * Armor Jewel: A small pink crystal which can create a spherical shield around the user which gets harder the more magic is directed into it.
 * Boots of Aeolus: A pair of brown boots which allow the user to jump in mid-air.
 * Rope Slime: A glob of purple slime which can stick to objects, allowing the user to pull items closer or swing like a rope.

Patrick Walmsley
Patrick is Zach's closest friend and the two are typically seen working together. Patrick is a naturally quiet person, causing Zach to typically be the leader of the two. Following Shawn Hughes' first defeat, the two share an apartment together and during the epilogue, Patrick is shown working for Zach at his museum as the security guard.

Sebastian Stadler
Despite having completely opposite personalities, Sebastian is one of Zach's best friends. He's typically the straight man to Zach's antics and stops him from going too off the rails and wild. On the flip side, Zach typically helps Sebastian with new experiences and getting to know people.

Liam Griffin
Zach and Liam start the series as enemies, with Liam's main goal being to turn Zach in to the king and claim the bounty on his head. However, after Liam is defeated the two quickly learn of Shawn's master plan and agree to a truce for the greater good. As the series continues, the two start to become friends. Liam's quick wit contrasts Zach's impulsiveness, causing light bickering but nothing more.

Braidlyn Tackett
Although Zach and Braidlyn start off as enemies, it's clear Zach holds little to no ill will towards her, even with her constant insults. From Braidlyn's first appearance Zach has always referred to her as simply "Lyn". Once they face off again post time-skip, it's a conversation with Zach that causes Braidlyn to turn on her teammates and allow the Core Four to get away. Zach offers Braidlyn a job at the museum to help her get back on her feet which she accepts and she's seen working there during the epilogue.

Trivia

 * Zach loves Nintendo games and references them often.