Zafar

**Zafar** also known as **Zafar of Numidia** one of the main characters in Cestvs: The Roman Fighter series. A slave boxer of great reputation, he retired from fighting and serves mostly as a trainer of other slaves, particularly Cestvs to whom he feels specially attached.

## Appearance

Zafar is a dark skinned adult man with a long dark hair, usually tied and a small beard. He usually dresses in simply clothing and a turban. Zafar's most notorious trait is his broken left leg from which he uses equipment tied to it and a handstick to help him walk.

## Personality

Zafar is a very serious, no nonsense, wise man with tremendous life experience both in life and as a fighter. Zafar knows very well the hardships of being a slave but also has developed the mental fortitude to stand up to fundamentally any challenge. Zafar is strict and very demanding of those under his wing, but generally he means well and never pushes anybody beyond what they can actually accomplish. No matter how absurd his requests may seem, they always have purpose. Although he is not always open with his intentions which can cause some trust issues at times, yet he still believes that his protegees will rise up to the challenge.

Zafar's actions and methods while harsh, hide a parental kindness unlike any other, one aware of the unfairness of the current Roman society and that only those truly capable of facing their demons and the unreasonable challenges ahead will be able to survive in the end.

## Plot

Zafar was taken as a slave from his homeland of Numidia and eventually became a slave boxer. He earned incredible reputation as a legendary fighter whose fame was known on Rome, with his numerous victories earning him great approval by both the normal populace and even slaves. This greatly unnerved the nobles who believed Zafar a potential threat to their power due to his fame. At some point he was acquianted with Cestvs and started looking after him for largely unknown but personal reasons.

Zafar was eventually matched against Demitorius of Attica and what ensued was an incredibly brutal fight in which the two men ended up scarred for life with Zafar ending with his left leg broken and Demitorius' right eye blinded.

When the slaves are gathered and told the final selection will start, Rocco and Cestvs are chosen for the first fight. Zafar prepares Cestvs for the fight, knowing that its his first real fight, he encourages him stating that he is prepared for it and should not be afraid. During the fight, Cestvs hits Rocco, but Zafar tells him to not hesitate and going easy on Rocco is a disrespect towards him. The fight continues, but Cestvs only avoids Rocco's attacks. Zafar then tells him that he must knock him down, or the match won't end. Cestvs then gathers courage and becomes offensive and manages to beat Rocco.

## Abilities

Formerly known as the Boxing Wolf of Numidia, Zafar was an unfathomably powerful slave boxer with a legendary reputation known all across Rome. Zafar's most impressive feat by far is being able to fight Demitorius of Attica, the Roman Empire's strongest fighter in even terms. Their fight was so brutal that both men ended up scarred for life. Zafar was in fact the first and only person to ever leave a permanent wound on Demitorius which is made all the more impressive given Demitorius' natural advantages over Zafar including his enormous size and his Pankration which is by all means a more complete fighting style which involves multiple martial arts and the use of his entire body, whereas Zafar only used his boxing.

In the present day, Zafar is mostly a boxing instructor who has not only extensive knowledge regarding boxing techniques and other kinds of martial arts, but possesses almost encyclopedic knowledge of the human body, including the way the muscles and bones work like and even normal biologic functions, which he puts to use on his training regimes to teach not only basic fundamentals about understanding one self, but also as a means to improve one's own physical condition, maximize efficiency, preserve stamina and take advantage of any possible opening, or even create them by carefully observing one's opponents and strike vulnerable points. With this battle intelligence Zafar is fundamentally prepared to fight nearly any threat, and has still proven capable of fighting difficult adversaries such as grapplers despite being crippled.

Zafar's training method is rather harsh and at times seemingly nonsensical, but behind all of his teachings lies objective science which demonstrably improves not only one's body but also their mental fortitude. Zafar's philosophy is one that emphasizes defense above all, being painfully aware of dirty fighters who will go as far as using bladed knuckles and who generally rely on life threatening tools over skill, and overall simple common sense that protecting one self and staying rational and calm is the best way to ensure victory, over useless bravado and pleasing irresponsible crowds. Yet at the same time he also encourages others to have the bravery to push forward and face the challenges, knowing that only thus who muster the sufficient willpower will emerge victorious.