Zoe

Zoe, also known as Grim Vulture, is a commission-exclusive NPC. She is the main antagonist of Trigger's Agent Story Out of Sight.

Profile

Zoe was a sniper for the Eridu Defense Force Obsidian Division - Nemesis Squad and one of the few survivors of Hollow Zero. Racked with PTSD over her squad's death, she began murdering members of the defense force in order to avenge them and also destroy the 'new order' of New Eridu.^[2]

History

Codenamed Grim Vulture, Zoe was an orphan who was once a member of Nemesis Squad, being their sniper. After killing an elite Ethereal, Zoe gained a reputation of being an ace sniper, and had rookies coming to her captain with hopes of being trained by her. Having trained all her life to become a sniper with the resolve to take another's life, and believing that the rookies underestimated what it meant to be a sniper, she was going to turn down the captain's proposal, but was soon persuaded by fellow squadmate/boyfriend, Peregrine to accept it as it would give her a chance to socialize.

Zoe's training method consisted of live-fire combat within a Hollow, much to the dismay of her captain who called it off, just when Zoe was starting to enjoy teaching. Peregrine would comfort her by telling her she would have a chance to take on students again one day. She planned to improve her training method, having her students try and survive her sniper fire in a Hollow, and watch them use their environment and psychological warfare to defeat her.

After a mission, Zoe returned to her dorm to be surprised by her squad with a birthday party for her. Her captain also apologized for the training incident. Whilst enjoying the party, Peregrine suddenly proposed to her; though overjoyed by this, Zoe could only answer with "let me think about it...", although she planned to say yes and wear the outfit her captain gifted her after their next mission.

Zoe and Nemesis Squad were part of the doomed frontline force sent by HQ to suppress Hollow Zero's sudden expansion, where soldiers were slaughtered by an onslaught of Ethereals, which included all of Nemesis Squad. With all her squadmates dead and the promised backup having retreated, Zoe's only option was to retreat as well. Along the way, she came into contact with the heavily corrupted and wounded, but still fighting, Lyre Squad who were protecting Trigger, their own sniper who had been blinded by an etheric shot to the eyes. Beyond saving, Lyre Squad told the fleeing sniper to take Trigger with her, which she did as she couldn't turn down the last request of a group of heroic soldiers.

Afterwards, Zoe left the Defense Force and developed severe PTSD that made it impossible to hold normal conversations or sleep without seeing the images of her squad's death. One night, having vomited and cried whilst trying to sleep, she finally realized why they were appearing to her: they wanted her to avenge their deaths against those who abandoned them and to destroy the new order of New Eridu. Thus, she began a string of serial murders of Defense Force members via her training method: watching her victims become corrupted and die in despair. After going down a long list of targets she soon reached her next victim: Nathan. She was about to kill him, but upon seeing him beg for his life and playing a tape he got from his brother Lethe of Lyre Squad celebrating Trigger's 1000th day, she spared him and instead focused her sights on the other sniper she had saved all those years ago.

Taking Charon's harmonica, the sheet music for "Homecoming" and a photo of Trigger, she tasked Shepherd with finding a proxy to find her. The proxy who took on her commission was then rookie Phaethon who managed to find Trigger at Port Elpis. Zoe, who was also at Port Elpis, saw the three and also disposed of a diary she kept during her solider days in a nearby trashcan. Zoe then went on to kidnap several Defense Force veterans, including Jesse and Erin, and killed a majority of them. She then disguised herself as a victim, claiming to be part of Impera Squad, in order to get closer to Trigger, who was going under the codename of Charon.

Zoe created another commission, guiding Trigger and Phaethon to another hollow. Using a communicator, she disguised her voice and went by Grim Vulture once more. She mentally tortured Trigger by leaving bloodied replicas of Lyre Squad's attire for her to find, then left falsifying info of their deaths to try and send her into despair, but it failed to affect her as much as she wanted, with Trigger believing her squad was still alive. Trigger and Phaethon then escaped Grim Vulture's trap via a fissure.

At Scott Outpost, Zoe delivered a speech for Remembrance Day. Once she finished her speech, Zoe went on a rant about how those who fought weren't remembered and instead the survivors were, with New Eridu being built by weaklings. Trigger soon came up and spoke against her and was finally able to realize her true identity. After leaving the outpost, Zoe sent Shepherd a photo of several hostages (which included Jesse and Erin once more) and a location, the Port Elpis Hollow. Trigger and Phaethon ventured into the Hollow in order to save the hostages and put an end to Grim Vulture's killing spree.

Having left another communicator for them to find, Trigger revealed Grim Vulture to be Zoe and proclaimed that she had failed in her duty as a sniper to preserve the will and hope left by her comrades. After slaying countless Ethereals, including a Thracian revealed to be a high-ranking officer Zoe let get corrupted, Trigger soon entered a gunfight with Zoe, which she won by using her surroundings and change of the wind to get a clear shot while being able to survive a bullet fired at her thanks to Charon's harmonica blocking it. Whilst Phaethon went to rescue the hostages, Trigger went to Zoe, who was bleeding out. There Zoe revealed how she was the one who rescued her during the Fall of the Old Capital and how Nathan's actions made Trigger her next victim. Trigger stayed with Zoe and played "Homecoming" for her on the same harmonica she had shot as Zoe soon succumbed to her wound and died before her.^[2]

Commission and Event Appearances

Agent Story Episodes

• Out of Sight
  • Episode 1: Out of Sight

Story Commissions

• Out of Sight
  • Blind Pursuit
  • Invitation to Kill
  • Piercing Rain

Trivia

• During the final part of Out of Sight (Episode) The player can find the shredded remains of her diary in the trashcan where she had been at the start of the commission. Putting the scraps back together allows them to read three entries of her diary. These reveal her modus operandi as a serial killer is reminiscent of her training method and her relationship with fellow squad member, Peregrine.

HoYoverse Shared VA

• Zoe shares the same English voice actor, Monica Rial, with Seed.

Gallery

Cutscene Stills

Cutscenes

Cutscene - "The Calm After the Storm" - Zenless Zone Zero

Cutscene - "The Calm After the Storm" | Zenless Zone Zero
Official YouTube Video

Other Languages

Change History

References