Every show, regardless of genre, follows one of the basic formulas of entertainment. It must have a hero and an antagonist to harass the hell out of the hero, thus creating conflict. Of course, in the end, the hero usually defeats his rival because; well…he’s the hero. It’s a basic story format, done over and over again. I mean, it wouldn’t look cool if the main character of the show loses to the other guy at the end of the series. It would be laughable to see the show’s main character get his arse kicked in the last episode. That would be a damn disgrace to the story line. In the case of Zoids/Zero, the show’s main protagonist happens to be Bit Cloud and the person who challenged him the most is Jack Sisco. Bit did face other characters on the battlefield like Leon Toros and even Harry Champ but his face off with the young mercenary tends to stand out in the minds of most fans like me.
In episode five, when Jack and Harry team up, they face off with the Blitz Team. They had completely different goals in mind, Harry wanted to impress Leena while Jack wanted to impress, well…no body. All he really cared about was winning, and keeping his share of the prize money. To a certain extent, there was a bit of a rivalry between Jack and Harry. Too bad it didn't last very long. When Jack and Bit finally did face off, Jack mistakenly assumed the Liger Zero (Which had transformed into the Liger Zero Jager) was no match for his Lightning Saix. It quickly became a speed match as the two zoids tried to outrace each other, giving Jack a rare andreline rush. In the end, when Jack lost to Bit, there appeared to be no hard feelings between the two of them. Yeah, right…
That friendly “What’s your name, warrior?” feeling quickly changed into “Gonna get some payback!” hostility in episode eleven, when Jack became a member of the Lightning Team. This is where things went into overdrive and the rivalry really kicked into high gear. O’ Jackie boy wanted revenge against Bit for defeating him, thus, taking away his title of 'The man who never loses.' I guess any person would be a little ticked off about that. Throughout most of the episode, Jack taunted Bit constantly, calling him an amateur and in battle, Jack complimented on the Liger Zero but not its pilot. He knew that the Liger was a great zoid but Bit wasn’t taking the zoid battles seriously. If that wasn’t an insult to Bit’s ego and plus, Leon rubbed salt in the wound several episodes later with a similar comment. In the end, Jack got his revenge; the Blitz Team got a serious beat down by the Lightning Team. But something good did come out of it; Bit took Jack’s advice to take the zoid battles more seriously, not feeling bad about his defeat. But Bit Cloud couldn’t resist one last taunt towards Jack Sisco, warning him about another rematch. Oh well, moving on to episode twenty-three…
Not only did Bit and Jack face each other in this episode, but also they face off with another zoid warrior. This is where Vega Obscura defeated these guys in a video game battle. Being defeated by a little kid whom they underestimated was funny to the viewer but shamefully bad for Bit and Jack, being the zoid warriors that they both are. But Vega was not an ordinary kid; he was a great and skillful warrior as well, and the pilot of the Berserk Fury, a powerful zoid capable of mass destruction. When the battle between the Blitz Team and the Lightning Team was interrupted by the intrusion of Vega, Jack was not too pleased about that. Meaning, in other words, he wasn’t going to get paid and you know how Jack is. Jack tried to over take Vega, only to be defeated, along with the rest of his teammates. Once the Vega menace was temporally side tracked, it was business as usual between Bit and Jack as they rematch (yet, again) in episode twenty-four but this time, following the basic storyline all shows must follow, the hero and his team wins at the end. Jack, being the pro that is he, took his defeat very well, vanishing off the series for good. Who knows, if they had continued beyond episode twenty-six, Jack Sisco may have returned to kick some more arse and face off with Bit Cloud again, which would’ve been cool.
For Bit Cloud to face off with a guy in just four episodes and for their conflict to make such a big impression with the fans shows how much of a bad ass Jack Sisco is. With Bit being the show’s main character and hero, there’s bound to be someone who going to stand up and say “I’m better than you!” But hey, that’s how Jack is, he loves to prove himself to be the best and he knows it. After all, Zoids is a show about people beating the crap out of each other, so competition would be a natural occurancy. It makes for an interesting plot and character interaction for most viewers. The hero may win in the end but the anti-hero is always the more interesting one when it comes to looks and personality. In other words, Bit is cool but Jack is the coolest, as always.
