Zeke von Genbu

"Thunderbolt Zeke. Tantal's most powerful Driver ...and its Crown Prince."

- Mòrag

Zeke von Genbu is one of the characters of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. He is a Driver and is accompanied by his Blade, Pandoria. He is tall, has dark grey hair and green eyes, and wears an eyepatch over his left eye.

Personality
Zeke is prone to flamboyant speech and mannerisms, styling himself "Zeke von Genbu, Bringer of Chaos" and "The Zekenator", and uses similarly grandiose names for his sword and arts. Mòrag introduces him as "Thunderbolt Zeke", the Crown Prince and most powerful Driver of the Kingdom of Tantal. Since his disownment from the Tantalese throne by his father, Zeke has apparently developed a deep resentment of him, being fully willing to openly backtalk his father, and views his hometown as backwards and ignorant to the rest of the world.

Zeke, however, still cares for the lives of innocents, as he was disgusted by the Empire of Mor Ardain's work on the Judicium excavation and later on immediately began organizing an evacuation of Tantal when the Titan Genbu went out of control, knowing he may need to sacrifice his life in doing so. Despite his goofy behavior, Zeke is able to act more serious and mature when the situation demands it. He volunteered to work as a special envoy for the Indoline Praetorium, to test the Driver of the Aegis in combat. Pandoria says he "has the most awful luck" and is afraid of heights. Zeke and Pandoria have a pet turtle and mascot named Turters.

Story
Some time before the events of the game, Zeke and his Blade Pandoria are banished from his home country of Tantal. Later, he ends up severely wounded after a battle in a forest. Pandoria tries to carry Zeke, on the brink of death, to safety, but collapses. Praetor Amalthus arrives on the scene and takes the two back to Indol. He then takes a portion of Pandoria's Core Crystal and implants it into Zeke's heart to save him, effectively making him a Blade Eater. In return, Zeke became a special envoy for Indol to find and test the new Driver of the Aegis.

Zeke first meets Rex and the others nearby Cobalt Cliffs in Uraya. He challenges them to a battle, but a cliff that he was standing on collapses, and he falls and disappears. He reappears once more before the party can reach the Old Factory and challenges them again. This time, a large boulder sends Zeke and Pandoria flying off into the distance. He later shows up in Ysheva Harbor to challenge them to another battle. Though the party remains skeptical, as all other times have resulted in his defeat, he performs Sonic Thunderslash and knocks down the party, much to their surprise. Mòrag then reveals that he is the crown prince of Tantal. After battling the Aegis, he takes the party to Indol.

Zeke later represents his home country of Tantal at the Ruler's Congress. Acting as an eyewitness alongside Mòrag and Mythra, he convinces Queen Raqura that the Titan Weapon attack was the work of Torna and Malos.

He then guides the party to Theosoir, the capital of Tantal. He reveals the poor state of the Tantalese people, showing a dislike for his father's rule. After Pyra is captured, Zeke rescues the party and helps divert the Ether Accelerator's aim. This, however, causes Genbu to quickly dive beneath the Cloud Sea, threatening all life inside it. To save Genbu, he joins the party to get to Genbu Crown and fix the Omega Fetter. When the party defeats Mikhail, Patroka, and Akhos, Zeke intends to imprison them before Jin turns the tide. After the Aegis is taken by Torna, King Eulogimenos tells Zeke to travel with Rex and protect him.

As Zeke and the others climb the World Tree, he recalls a conversation he had with Amalthus. In this conversation, Amalthus asks if Zeke has ever taken a life. Zeke says he hasn't and that killing someone is a sign of weakness. As Amalthus is being killed by Jin, another conversation between Zeke and Amalthus is shown. Amalthus states that if people are denied something, they will try and forcibly take it, though Zeke assures him that not everyone is like that. Zeke then asks why he even bothers protecting the refugees in Indol, to which Amalthus replies he must never forget the true nature of humans, drawing a comparison from Pandoria trying to save Zeke to his own mother. Zeke then wonders how Amalthus could be filled with so much hatred, yet he seemed so sad in that one moment.