Zeke

Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos, also known as Ozychlyrus Brounev Tantal and often addressed as The Zekenator or Thunderbolt Zeke, is a playable character in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He approaches Rex's party multiple times, explaining that he is the most evil Driver in all of Alrest. He is Pandoria's Driver.

Appearance and personality
Zeke is a tall, muscular man with short, spiky gray hair and eyes. In his main appearance, he wears a long black hooded coat with armored shoulders that is open to reveal his chest, several belts on his midriff, black pants with armored knees, black and green boots, and black fingerless gloves with spikes. He also wears a black eyepatch with a turtle pattern over his left eye. As revealed during the events of the Spirit Crucible Elpys, Zeke bears a piece of Pandoria's Core Crystal embedded in his chest over his heart.

At first appearance, Zeke is a bombastic and overdramatic man, who refers to himself with the title of "Zeke Von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos" and has several similarly dramatic titles for his weapon and attacks. Zeke's poor luck means that he is often getting himself into situations. Despite his demeanor, however, Zeke is the Crown Prince of Tantal and known throughout Alrest as Tantal's most powerful Driver, Thunderbolt Zeke. His many years spent exiled from his kingdom, as well as his experiences working as a special envoy for Indol have made Zeke jaded and pessimistic of his impact as the heroic figure he hopes to be, until his encounters with Rex give him greater hope for the future. Zeke shows a surprising amount of maturity throughout the story, serving as a mentor figure for Rex and having a great deal of political insight.

Story arc
Just after Rex, Nia, Tora, and their s leave Garfont Village in Uraya and head for Fonsa Myma, they are approached by Zeke and Pandoria right next to a cliff. The party tries to remember if they have met them before. Nobody does, and Zeke takes it personal. He introduces himself and challenges them for a duel, but gets rejected by Rex. Zeke, surprised by his refusal, stays persistent and questions of the party can really take on the three of them. Nia, who is getting annoyed, asks what makes it three of them. Zeke tries to present their pet Turters, who has suddenly gone missing. Pyra finds him just next to her feet and picks him up. Zeke quickly rushes toward her and, instead of taking the Aegis, he grabs back his pet. Zeke responds that she'll be his soon anyway. He once again challenges the party, and this time, it is accepted. Zeke seems to lose, but still has his super-ultra-mega-move: The Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash. Nia is not impressed by its name, but Zeke shows off his art by smashing his sword, the Purple Lightning Dreamsmasher, into the ground and leaves quite an impression. However, the impact was so strong that the ground collapses and Zeke and Pandoria fall down the cliff. The party proceeds as if nothing happened.

Zeke is again encountered in Mor Ardain while the party is en route to the Old Factory, where he again challenges the party to battle. Zeke explains that the party "got lucky" last time due to the cliff they were on, and that he has the ability of the Eye of Shining Justice, which he is sworn to keep sealed for the benefit of mankind. Zeke attempts to unleash his Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash, which unlodges a large boulder from the cliff above him and Pandoria, causing them to run away.

Zeke again shows up in Ysheva Harbor, where he is recognized by Mòrag. Zeke says he has been waiting for the party for three days, and again challenges the party to a battle, which Mòrag decides to sit out of. Upon Nia taunting him by pointing out his previous misfortunes in battle, Zeke demonstrates his true strength by taking down the party in one swift slash. Mòrag then reveals him to be "Thunderbolt Zeke," Tantal's greatest driver and crown prince. After his battle, Rex holds back, declaring that Zeke isn't a bad guy, to which Zeke concedes and reveals his true intentions, having been working for Indol and declaring his battle to be a test for the Aegis. However, Zeke leans on a fence after this and goes tumbling into the Cloud Sea, as the rest board the ship without him.

Lore

 * Zeke at first seems very goofy and non-threatening, as he would repeatedly fall victim to his own comically bad luck, as well as his goofy attitude negating any attempt he makes at appearing as a threat.
 * Despite the Zekenator's outwardly silly demeanor, he is actually a fairly wise and worldly individual, having left his home country of Tantal specifically to understand Alrest better. Rex would even come to look up to the prince, despite the awkward first impression.
 * Zeke refers to his eyepatch as his "eyepatch of power" which conceals his Eye of Shining Justice, an ability available to use in New Game Plus. Pandoria, however, claims his eyepatch is due to him not being able to afford a second contact lens. This contact lens may actually be a colored contact, as Zeke has gray eyes, unlike most Tantalese, who have red eyes, and his father, Eulogimenos, who has gold eyes.
 * Zeke and Pandoria are often shown to move in sync, a feature potentially attributable to Zeke being a Blade Eater with part of her Core Crystal.
 * Going by various details provided within Future Redeemed, Zeke is almost certainly Linka's father.

Trivia

 * Zeke's character is potentially a reference to Bart Fatima from Xenogears, a fellow eyepatch-wearing exiled prince with a boisterous personality. The alternate costume "Embercake Zeke" bears Bart's colors.
 * Zeke's name is derived from "Siegfried", possibly a reference to Bart's half-brother Sigurd Harcourt.
 * According to the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 artbook, Zeke was meant to originally wield a katana.
 * Zeke's self proclaimed last name, "von Genbu", is a reference to the Titan Genbu, and also Genbu or the Black Tortoise of the Four Gods, an ancient Chinese astrology system which is also present in Japanese and Korean mysticism. Dromarch, Azurda, and Roc reference the other three gods in their Japanese names.
 * One of Zeke's battle lines is "I'm really feeling it!", a reference to Shulk's iconic battle line in Xenoblade Chronicles.
 * Zeke is indirectly mentioned in Future Redeemed by Rex while talking about the loss of his left eye from his battle with Alpha to Glimmer. He explains to her that Zeke had a similar eye thing.