Why did Zack Fair die in Final Fantasy VII?

Answer 1

When Zack escaped with Cloud from ShinRa lab/mansion, ShinRa military police and the Turks were sent to retrieve them. The difference between these two groups' assignments were that the ShinRa MP were ordered to kill Zack and Cloud on sight, while the Turks were ordered to capture them alive. There seems to be some sort of internal struggle within ShinRa between the two forces, as they do not try and cooperate with one another to secure the runaways.

In the one episode anime, Last Order : Final Fantasy VII, Zack was shot (presumably in the head) attempting to shield Cloud from SOLDIER sniper fire while they were both traveling in the back of a truck. Had the ShinRa MPs waited for the Turks to arrive on the scene, Zack may have been taken alive. This doesn't explain why Cloud was not captured or shot at afterwards.

In both games, Final Fantasy VII and FF7: Crisis Core, Zack died after being repeatedly shot by the ShinRa Military Police. In both cases he could have been spared by the choice made by the Turks' leader, Tseng, but the MPs reached them first.

So in short, Zack died because the ShinRa Military Police wanted him dead. Tseng wanted him alive, but the MPs got to him and Cloud first.

This is my version: Do you know that scene in ff7 Advent Children where Cloud stands next to that sword on top of a cliff? That's where Zack dies. What was said up above is pretty much what happened except crisis core is not really the whole truth, the people who made the game made up some parts so that it would make the game more interesting but the ending is pretty much what happened in crisis core Zack was shot protecting Cloud. He was shot by TWO members of soldier not 50 as the game says.

My take on all of this: In the three different versions of Zack's death presented to the player he is killed by the ShinRa Military police. Both Last Order and CC imply that Tseng wishes to reach Zack before the Military Police to spare him from death. More specifically, to deliver Aerith's letters to him. As to the number of police that killed Zack, FF7 and Crisis Core are pretty much the same on that. After Zack defeats the ARMY of Military Police he's facing the three surviving MPs gun him down. The FF7 version where Zack is killed, more than likely, only depicts Zack's last moments, whereas CC focuses on the entire battle.

Edit: Exactly^. If you play through Crisis Core you'd know that there's absolutely no way Zack could be defeated by three mere MPs. And to answer the question about why Cloud survived, in FF7 Cloud was was shown sprawled out on the cliff a little ways away from Zack, and the troops had decided to let Cloud die on his own, thinking he wouldn't survive in his condition, but in Crisis Core Zack had propped him against a rock out of sight, it was never proved that the troops even acknowledged him there.