Funny story: the cashier at Gamestop when I bought the game was black and he couldn't stop talking about how much he liked the character.

When we first met Sazh and his Chocobo I got an Afro Samurai vibe from him, but when somebody suggested Donkey from Shrek, that really rang true. He undoubtedly shares some traits of other characters in other media that were voiced by and/or modeled after a black guy such as the humorous resigned commentary spoken aloud to himself (or his chocobo).

He's also worldy, a caring father, and not a jacked-up violent or brutish person which bucks some of the black stereotypes used elsewhere.