Zetto (born Zeke[1], also known as The End-All Be-All in the RPG adaption) is a main character in the TOME series. Introduced as an arrogant fighter solely seeking strong opponents, he antagonizes Alpha and his friends, acting cold and objectifying their struggles with the Forbidden Power for his own amusement. It's eventually revealed that he was formerly Netking Number 6, and was responsible for beta testing TOME's battle system during development. After the creation of the Forbidden Power, he and Kizuna disbanded from the Netkings and went on to form D-Buggers.org per Rubirules's suggestion. He used the hackers Kizuna hired and attacked Alpha himself in an attempt to rile up the Forbidden Power and eventually contain it.
Zetto, alongside Kizuna, was the youngest in the team of seven developers hired by publisher Plan.Net to create TOME. He was mostly a play-tester charged with helping on the game's unique battle system. It was thus his task to test the intended first boss battle of TOME, the Shadowguard Beast.
However, in creating TOME, the Netkings accidentally gave birth to a sentient virtual being known as SOFDTI who could translate emotions and thoughts, both conscious and unconscious, into data, and helped them bring the game to fruition. SOFDTI was exposed to the whole spectrum of human emotion but could not tolerate its negativity, and spawned a defect that infected the Beast, granting it the power to influence human thoughts and perception and push them to the negative. When launching himself at the beast, Zetto's arm was brutally sliced and he felt the pain of this injury.
After this, the player behind Zetto designed another avatar for himself, called Kirbopher, in order to play the game free of the stress linked to this traumatic event. However, he was soon approached by Rubirules to hunt down the virus SOFDTI has spawned, and his trauma caused him to be easily influenced into joining this quest. Although he was involved in this mission, he let Kizuna physically handle most of it throughout the beginning of the story.
Season 1[]
Zetto after defeating two random players in Mechcity with a single blast.
Zetto is first seen in Episode 5, appearing in Mechcity meeting with two Tome users. heires up a Ki-Blast and defeats them both, and takes down Demon Alpha with ease as the latter tries hard to defeat him. Acting impressed by Alpha's power, he asks for a true challenge in the Gemini Tournament, indulging in his revenge over the entity who caused him this unforgettable pain. His meetup plan still aims, however, to secure an occasion to deal with the virus inside Alpha.
He does indeed participate in the tournament alongside Kizuna - after failing to convince Alpha to partner with Kirbopher - who accepts this as a "favor", that should not take her long to complete anyway. Though he intends for it to allow him to "decompress" after the Forbidden Power's influence over Alpha has worsened and his relationships with close friends under the alias of Kirbopher have strained, his plan to contain the Power within Asterob's shield fails, and killing Neomutant and Dustbunny isn't enough for him to calm down.
During the semifinals, Zetto is disappointed in Alpha's lack of will to fight him as hard as he desires. To encourage him to brighten up, Alpha and Flamegirl decide to forfeit the match ; however, during his final battle against Nylocke and Gamecrazed, Zetto finally lashes out against the former, which elicits from him a speech much in the same spirit as Alpha's words, before he decides to forfeit that match as well. With the Gemini Tournament over and won by him, Zetto understands that his attempts to run away from his mission are fruitless, and decides to go to the point, dropping his cocky persona.
In Episode 10, Zetto messages and confronts Alpha in an attempt to extract the Forbidden Power from him and get rid of it once and for all. When Alpha meets him, he briefs him about the fact that the virus may not be erased, but merely contained ; his poor choice of words awakens Demon Alpha once more. Grabbing Alpha by the neck, he drains the Power out of him, but fails to complete the process, and his arm gets destroyed, the Power leaking into him instead, transforming him into Demon Zetto. He fights with Alpha for a period of time, and during his last few seconds of stable mind as Zetto, he says "Kill...me..." before proceeding to knock Alpha down and finish him off.
Before he can make the final blow, Flamegirl kicks him in the back of the head,triggering the purple flame response, as Nylocke pierces him with his sword with the Drain Edge attached. The Forbidden Power, weakened by the antivirus and taken aback, is drained from him, causing him to collapse. After everyone has left, the Webmaster of TOME arrives and carries Zetto's body to the Heavens of Magical Expertise, in which he states that Zetto was very badly damaged. Kinderspirit points out that Zetto's eyes are grayed out, and that he must have unhooked himself from the game without logging out first. Webmaster comments "I wonder why...?" before the camera switches to Kirbopher looking at the crater Zetto's body was in, a gloomy expression on his face
Season 2[]
Zetto's appearance in season 2.
Zetto reappears briefly in Episode 11, conversing with Kizuna. It is unknown what happened after he was taken to HOME, but sometime before the episode he updated his character model, giving him purple clothing, a metal breastplate, and a much larger mechanical arm on his left hand, replacing the one that was destroyed during Episode 10. His personality has changed radically, as, even though he still tells Kizuna that cares just as much about playing the game as protecting the people in it, he acts noticeably less cocky and self-assured, and comes across as more secluded and focused than before.
In Episode 12, a little while after Rubirules mockingly impersonates him, in part to offend Kirbopher, in front of the party of Challenge of the Netkings fighters, Zetto's identity as a Netking and battle system tester is revealed. Knowing that he was part of the Netkings, Alpha understand that the Netkings are undoubtedly aware the Forbidden Power exists, and angrily demands them explanations, only for Kajet's awakening to interrupt their meetup. At the end of the episode and after Alpha's gang is logged out forcefully by Webmaster, Zetto appears in the Moon, informing Kizuna that the Netkings will be making their move on the Forbidden Power the next day. When he asks Kizuna what the plan is, she states that they are "officially out of time", and that she needs to make some "very important calls", which are to Rubirules, Neomutant and Oddball, to orchestrate a plan for the Dragon Bug pieces to come to the Moon for immediate construction.
In Episode 0, Zetto's past with Kajet is explored. He and Kizuna are seen playing around with each other, Zetto lacking his signature gun arm. SOFDTI mentions that they have strong feelings for each other, which causes Kizuna to have an outburst which Zetto tries to calm her down from. This is SOFDTI's first exposure to strong negative feelings. Later, he is seen fighting against Kajet, however due to the Forbidden Power, his arm gets cut off and he is prematurely logged out due to the pain.
During Episode 14, Zetto doubts the necessity of his and Kizuna's actions, while Kizuna affirms this is their only chance. When Nylocke is delivered to him, he turns him into the Dragon Bug head, saying that they just need to activate the power source. He also turns Flamegirl into the power source, before revealing himself to Alpha. He explains that their objective is to erase the Forbidden Power permanently and tells him he should have stayed out of this while he had the chance - as his coming to the moon was unnecessary, which he tried to warn him about while on Kirbopher's account - and that they can't be stopped now. However, when Flamegirl is turned into the power source, she contorts and groans, unlike Nylocke's instantaneous shift, which makes Zetto understand things are not going as planned. He tries to shut Dragon Bug down, but it fails. He shoots at it with his arm cannon, but the dragon defeats him and he is logged out on this account.
In Episode 15, after his attempt to combat Kajet with Kirbopher leaves the latter permanently damaged, he logs back into TOME using his administration privileges, coincidentally right next to where Alpha fell from the moon, reflecting on the time Rubirules recruited him. A moment later, Alpha stares at him, and realizes in a flash of lucidity who he really is. Lashing out at him, he angrily asks him why he "did it", to which Zetto tears up and tries to make Alpha understand he "just wanted to help everybody" and that "he let it get out of hand". Immediately after, the Dragon Bug and Kajet kill each other. Zetto, Kizuna and Alpha get closer to the battlefield only to see that the two are nothing but meaningless data anymore. He tries and fails to justify himself, only to see Rubirules fall from the sky and encase the Forbidden Power and Purple Flame.
As Rubirules finally lets everyone in on his actual intent - use the Power to control SOFDTI, rather than erase it - Zetto tries to stop him by saying that Flamegirl is not responding at all, and could possibly have brain damage. Rubirules, as part of Neomutant's plan, does not believe him; therefore, Zetto chooses to jump down and follow him to redeem his bad deeds, though he openly confesses to Kizuna, who follows him alongside Alpha, that he doesn't have a plan.
His words fail to convince Rubirules once more. After Kizuna is knocked out by him, he attempts to use his improved mechanical arm to absorb the Forbidden Power. Raw as it is in Rubirules's crystal, it only causes him immense pain, and he has to reluctantly agree to Alpha coming into contact with Kajet's spirit for the last time
Alpha eventually defeats Rubirules, but as SOFDTI contemplates how his love allowed for the Forbidden Power to be erased after all, KIzuna points her gun at her, angrily blaming her for everything that has happened to her and Zetto. She openly confesses her love for him as she says SOFDTI "could have taken him away" from her. Zetto, fully aware that she is wrong, decides to kick her out of the game by shooting her.
In the aftermath of Rubirules' defeat, Zetto adresses Webmaster for a wish he and his friends had for winning the Challenge of the Netkings. After burying Kirbopher in the forest of ;Lavendera, Zetto's player meets up with Alpha's, Nylocke's, and Flamegirl's, in Burbank, California, the latter's hometown.
Personality[]
Because of his involvement in the game's development as the combat tester, Zetto takes the fighting aspect of TOME very seriously, challenging practically every player he meets to a battle. His character was made with the inner workings of the battle system in mind, and utilizes his powers to a greater extent than most other players. He is, understandably, very confident in his combat capabilities because of this, and defeats nearly all of his opponents with ease. His obsession with battle can become one of the more negative aspects of his personality, though, and he can struggle to find any enjoyment in the game unless he is winning or his competition is serious. In Episode 12, Nylocke realizes that Zetto's outburst at the Gemini Tournament in Episode 9 was probably caused by Nylocke's light-hearted attitude towards a world that Zetto spent months creating.
In Season 2, his personality is noticeably different, with his cool, confident facade seemingly slipping following the events of Episode 10. He is even more determined than before. However, his fragility is greater. With the crisis ramping up in intensity, he grows more and more aware of the possibility of failure, and feels very powerless in the face of danger. He seems to be on his way to resolve his trauma with the defeat of Kajet.
Zetto is shown to have good intentions overall; from the start, he regrets hiring Rockoon and Doubling after they destroy ;Lavendera, and unlike Rubirules, he has no wish to utilize the Forbidden Power for anything, simply wanting to destroy it. These good intentions are hard to piece together, though, because Zetto's player takes a theatrical liking to his power and happily plays the part of a fearsome anti-hero for our protagonists. While focused on his mission, he takes every opportunity to enjoy himself in ways that, at best, leave him angry and unsatisfied, and at worst, slow down his progress. Furthermore, his trauma regarding the Forbidden Power seems to get in the way of his judgement; while he wants to prevent anyone else from being hurt by the virus, he himself puts his friends in harm's way in order to destroy it. When Alpha questions why he did so in Episode 15, he can't really give a satisfactory answer, stating that he "just wanted to help everyone" and repeatedly apologizing. It's clear that he cares deeply for other people, but his emotions get the best of him. They are deeply conflicted, and as Plan Z reveals, he feels guilty and cowardly for not revealing his identity to his friends, but he still decides to keep his personas separate anyways, likely because he believes it will aid his mission in the end.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
Kirbopher: It was first revealed in Episode 10 that Kirbopher was an alternate account of Zetto, designed first and foremost to distance himself from the horror of the Forbidden Power. As things turned out, however, Kirbopher ended up meeting Alpha, whose body became the host of the virus, and so it was through this account that Zetto had to watch its evolution unfold, slowly destroying any opportunity he had to enjoy the game for what it was. There are several occasions where Zetto logs in both as Kirbopher and himself; in Episode 8, he purposedly let Kirbopher takes his Breaker Beam in order to continue through the gemini tournament; in Episode 10, he is shown to unhook himself from Kirbopher and eventually logs himself as Zetto to confront Alpha and his Forbidden Power, after a fierce battle, Zetto once again unhooks himself and regains Kirbopher's control. Zetto continues to use Kirbopher afterwards until he attempts to take down Kajet with him in Episode 14, which results in irreversible corruption of the model.
Kizuna: Zetto and Kizuna are long-time acquaintances and reluctant lovers. Their relationship has been described by Niosi as "all kinds of messed up", as the two of them are people who deal with their feelings very poorly. They are the driving force of D-Buggers.org and carry out the construction of the Dragon Bug, scheduling Hacker missions to further it. At the end of the first season, they battle alongside each other in the Gemini Tournament, defeating all of their competitors with little difficulty while acting rather sarcastically towards each other, eventually reaching the finals, where they face off against Nylocke and Gamecrazed. They are victorious in this battle, only because Nylocke forfeits. It is strongly hinted at in Episode 0 that Zetto did, or still does, have feelings for her. However, when Kizuna breaks down in front of SOFDTI in Episode 15 and attempts to destroy her out or sheer rage for the tragedies they have experienced, Zetto silently shoots her to force her out of the game, to which she tears up, having finally expressed open love for him to the AI. Kizuna does not appear in the real-life meetup of Zetto and his friends, and the future of their bond is unknown.
Enemies[]
Alpha vs Demon Zetto.
Alpha: Zetto first battles Alpha in Episode 5, when the latter is terrorizing Mechcity under the influence of the Forbidden Power. Despite defeating Alpha, Zetto acts impressed by his abilities in combat, challenging him to fight in the Gemini Tournament, despite knowing full well his power is a threat to eliminate. When they finally face each other in the tournament, Zetto and Kizuna win the battle by default when Alpha and Flamegirl forfeit, simply in light of how little fun Zetto has. In The Warring Demons, Zetto confronts Alpha about the Forbidden Power and when Alpha is possessed by it once again, Zetto vows to get rid of it once and for all. He continues to hide his identity to Alpha until he realizes it himself in Episode 15. Due to the urgency of the situation, Zetto chooses to redeem himself by teaming up with Alpha and Kizuna to take down Rubirules.
Abilities[]
Ki Generator: Infinite spirit energy that the player can charge and release in explosive bursts.
Ki Blade: A blade made of energy that can morph and extend to different shapes by the user's will.
Shiftarm: A transforming arm that can shift between a cannon, a chain-link and a machine gun.
The Anti-Virus Prototype: The earlier version of Flamegirl's Anti-Virus installed in Zetto's Shiftarm, which also acts as a counter-measure against the Forbidden Power. Alhough it cannot defeat the virus, it can protect Zetto from its attacks.
Breaker Beam: A powerful attack that must be charged for a great amount of time, but releases a beam that covers the entire length of the battlefield. He can unleash an intentionally overcharged beam, but it will short-circuit his mechanical arm for a period of time.
RPG Adaption[]
"A beta-tester for the game, who goes by the "End-All Be-All". Regarded as the greatest player in all of TOME. His signature "Breaker Beam" spells doom for any opponent."
Zetto's inclusion in the RPG adaption was open to question since the campaign's launch date, to the point where his whereabouts became a "FAQ" in the Kickstarter, in which the reply "DATA NOT FOUND" was placed. Speculations of him being excluded were also taken into consideration due to the Kirbopher character receiving attributes that were similar to Zetto's appearance and abilities. The character, alongside Tigerlily, were officially announced to be part of the RPG on December 28, 2019, in which they were revealed to be "Solo Entrants" of the Campaign of Champions with no relation to a particular guild or team and are one of the most difficult opponents that the players must face. Zetto's Cybernetic features such as his robotic arm and some minor attributes of his wardrobe remain intact, albeit with a slight different palette and his right eye became a Scouter-like robotic eye instead. This iteration of Zetto is a separate entity of the RPG Kirbopher iteration, as evidenced by their age gap between their close acquaintances with Zetto's companion, Tigerlily, being in her 30's and Kirbopher's companion, Alpha, whom recently moved for college.
In the RPG adaption, unlike the original series, Zetto is more openly brash, cocky, and competitive, looking down upon all players weaker than him. Similarly to the 2011 web series, Zetto (alongside Tigerlily) was a beta-tester for the game before it's launch, and he has a lot of experience with the game's conbat. Zetto was able to master a tricky maneuver known as the Breaker Beam, an ability that can decimate the life points of his opponents; however, the ability is reliant on precise timing, and can massively backfire on the user if performed incorrectly. Following his mastery of the ability, Zetto strives to be the one and only victor of TOME. Throughout the game, his primary goal is to win the Campaign of Champions, and as such, he frequents the underground forum site D-Buggers.org, posting job listings for potential Black-hat hackers to rig the campaign and ensure his victory. He frequently targets the Dandy Alliance, perceiving them as an obstacle on his goal, and his aggression only grows when he notices Tigerlily assisting them. As a result, he hires frequent guild hackers such as The New Victors to stop them at all costs. After the main party defeat the Victors and make it to the Conclave of Courage, they find that Zetto's already eliminated The Trouble-Makers and the Cast O'Dreams, meaning that Zetto is their final opponent. The Dandy Alliance realize that the key to Zetto's downfall is his arrogance and cockiness, and in a last ditch effort, they decide to battle in silence so that Zetto would eventually focus more on trying to get a reaction out of them, rather than his Breaker Beam technique.
In the good ending, the plan succeeds and the Breaker Beam technique backfires on Zetto, causing him to scream in agony and beg for mercy upon defeat. In the bad ending, Zetto successfully defeats the Alliance, and the White Hat Hacker threatens to extort Zetto's hacking tendencies in exchange for a one-on-one solo battle with the prize being a cut of his prize money. Zetto reluctantly agrees, questioning if Tigerlily brought them up to it. If Zetto is defeated, Zetto angrily threatens the White Hat, and then agrees to private message them details on transferring the cut. He demands that they never speak to him again and to never tell anyone about his defeat. If the White Hat flees before Zetto unleashes his Breaker Beam, Zetto will laugh and poke fun at the White Hat's expense, but still relinquish his cut of the prize money. He also questions what the White Hat really wants from facing him. Both endings will have the White Hat use the cut to donate to the Dandy Alliance's fundraiser for Lady Dandelion's medical costs. If Zetto defeats the White Hat again, he leaves off-screen with a victory, ending the game on an unfinished note.
Zetto is featured on the cover of the Smooth Jazz version of "Battle On!", which Kirbopher's voice actor sings, possibly an allusion to their sharing identities.
Before the reveal in Episode 0 about Zetto's history with the Forbidden Power, there were various clues left throughout the TOME series.
Before Alpha transforms in Episode 10, Zetto says, "It's taken longer than I wanted...but I finally have the means to extract it...and contain it. This time...for good!" implying that he's tried to contain it before and failed.
He also says, "Do you hear me in there, you monster?! I haven't forgotten... and I'll make sure you never hurt ANYONE ELSE!" implying the Forbidden Power did something to him in the past.
The flashback image of Zetto during The Warring Demons.
Moments before Zetto attempts to extract the Forbidden Power from Alpha, Zetto is seen from Alpha's point of view. The screen rapidly flickers between the current Zetto and his character model from before Kajet cut off his arm.
The Forbidden Power says through Alpha's head, "I want him to suffer all over again".
Episode 12 strongly hints that Zetto had a large role in developing or testing the Forbidden Power before it was hidden away.
Before Zetto's reveal as Kirbopher in Episode 10 and Plan Z, clues were dropped throughout the Gemini Tournament arc and the beginning of the episode that indicate Zetto and Kirbopher are the same person. Reasons include:
Both being interested almost solely in the fighting part of the game.
Kirbopher standing immobile when battling Zetto; this is likely because the player could not play as both Kirbopher and Zetto.
With the exception of the Gemini Tournament, Zetto never appeared at the same time as Kirbopher.
Both Kirbopher and Zetto have had similar dialogue. When first introduced in the show, their first lines were both "Well, it's about time." During Kirbopher's fight with Demon Alpha and Zetto's tournament fight with Alpha, both characters say "Quit screwing around and show me the real deal!". This line is the one that allows Alpha to piece his identity together
As the Webmaster stated at the end of Episode 10, players who leave the game without logging off remain in the game, with their character model's eyes turning grey. When Kirbopher's eyes turned grey, Zetto immediately logged into the game. Conversely, when Zetto's eyes turned grey after being stabbed by Nylocke, Kirbopher was moving around normally in the game.
Both are voiced by the same voice actor; this was hidden to the public by a pseudonym until Episode 10.
In Episode 1, during the "Continue?" end scene, Kirbopher is identified with the color blue and Alpha with the color red. When Zetto is introduced, his color is also blue, to Alpha's red.
Zetto's old character design is similar to Kirbopher's 3rd character design. The version of Kirbopher that appears in TOME is the 4th character design.
Zetto is the Japanese name for the letter Z, the last letter of the Latin alphabet. This contrasts with Alpha, whose name is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, as the two characters are portrayed as relative opposites.
Zetto's Breaker Beam attack is derived from Super Mario RPG, which heavingly influenced the RPG adaption of the series.
The character Lord Zett, from Chris Niosi's original series Super Freakin' Parody Rangers, is based off of the design for Zetto from the TOME precursor series, TV TOME Adventures. He is also voiced by Niosi.
Zetto's design for Episode 0 is most likely a callback to his design in TV TOME Adventures.
The font that Zetto uses through the series is called "Kinglify".[3]
Zetto, alongside Kizuna, are playable characters in the Nintendo Switch game Combat Core, making them the only two Terrain of Magical Expertise characters to appear in a non-TOME based video game project. Niosi reprised his role from the original series.
According to Chris Niosi, Vegeta from the Dragon Ball franchise was a large influence on Zetto's character design and personality, to the point where the character was very derivative of him in the original TV Tome Adventures incarnation. Coincidentally, Eric Vale (whom voiced Zetto in the RPG) frequently voices Vegeta's son, Trunks, throughout the English version of the franchise.
