At the age of sixteen, he became involved in a scheme to kidnap Princess Garnet XVII of Alexandria, organized by Regent Cid in order to distance the princess from her increasingly war-like adoptive mother, Queen Brahne. Zidane first encounters Garnet when she tries to sneak out of the palace, and, at her request, promises to do his best to kidnap her. He takes an instant liking to the princess and does not hesitate to flirt with her throughout the game. Zidane naturally adopts his role as party leader, and his personality draws many characters in the game. Near the end of the game, the player learns that Zidane is a Genome, created by Garland on the planet Terra to replace Kuja as a more powerful "Angel of Death." Jealous of his successor, Kuja cast Zidane down to Gaia, where he is found and adopted by Baku and his group of thieves, Tantalus. At the end of the game, after the party is rescued from the Iifa Tree by Kuja, Zidane chooses to go back inside the frenzied tree to save his archrival, and is pursued by its tendrils. For nearly a year it is believed that he did not survive; however, he makes a dramatic reappearance on stage in Alexandria in the epilogue.