Francisco Vesalius

## Dr. Francisco Cordovan Zuñiga Vesalius MD, FKAIM

Head of the Kánitorian Ministry of Medicine

Sergio "El Jefe" Estrada (Uncle)

Colette Vesalius (Wife)

Felicity Vesalius (Daughter)

Battle Theme (Challenge)

Battle Theme (Ordo Mixta Semifinals)

> *"When a mentor in a craft upsets you enough to make you lose interest in the field, maybe you don't enjoy it as much as you think you do. You know what they say, only immense pressure makes coals into diamonds."*
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> - Francisco's quote when investigating him
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**Dr. Francisco Vesalius**, also known as **Dr. Francisco Zuñiga Vesalius**, or simply **Fran**, is a middle-aged stoutland that heads Kánitore's **Ministry of Health and Medicine** while also working as an Internal Medicine Physician, with experience in hospice care as well as Oncology. He heads the Kánitorian skill school of medicine and does often teach medical students in his spare time, where he has a reputation of being one of the toughest attending physicians in the country.

Additionally, he works as a Beta under Alpha Wilhelmina König, the head of Kánitore's Kriegshunde Court. He has experience as a traveling doctor under the Kánitorian-founded International Medical Society, Medici Errantia, where he spent time dealing with infectious disease epidemics all across Tameu and Kittlescor. He highly skilled in the craft of medicine and is world-renowned for his prowess in the field, sometimes being able to make diagnoses with a simple sniff.

Despite being a medical prodigy, however, his personality is rough and oftentimes described as harshly critical. Despite his terrible bedside manners, however, his unmatched skill in medicine is what helps keep his patient base not only consistent - but also growing. However, the reasons for his sarcastic sense of humor and tendency to verbally tear those around him down is mostly unknown - though he is very well known for keeping his backstory under wraps with the exception of a few close friends.

## Early Life

Originally meant to be the next head of the Kánitorian mafia, the Vesalius Crime Family, Francisco's father Salvatore had plans to raise him to be an heir to his throne in the underground world of Kánitorian crime syndicates. He had other children with many prominent women in gangs all throughout the Empire, with Francisco's mother Paloma being one of the enforcers for a nearby gang called the Valenciaga Cartel. Despite his predetermined destiny dictated by his father and originally his mother, however, Paloma soon objected to this idea upon seeing the child for her herself. She had seen that her child had potential to be "something great" and felt that the life planned out for him would not be healthy for his growth. This essentially led to Paloma fleeing from Francisco's father, Salvatore and raising him as a single mother in the slums of Valenciaga, Eldorado.

His mother had tried her best to raise him without a father while also fleeing from the clutches of the angered Vesalius Crime Family, who was now hunting her down due to her breaking the promise of raising the child to be the next head of the mafia. Because of this, Francisco, along with his mother (and his deceased uncle, José, who reincarnated as an Aegislash) spent most of their lives moving in and out of various cities and towns in the Kánitorian Prefecture of Eldorado with no real place to call home. While his mother actively made attempts to distance both her and Francisco away from his father's relatives, she still maintained contact with relatives on her side of the family. This lead to Francisco only building strong relationships with people on his mother's side rather than those on his father's side of the family. At the same time, he had a large group of friends in every city he and his mother moved to and overall, adapted to constantly having to move in and move out of cheap apartment after cheap apartment throughout his childhood.

## Medical Career

At the age of 18, Francisco worked enough odd jobs and received enough aid from the government to begin pursuing higher education, starting with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology (BS Biology) for his premed at San Grio College in the coastal town of San Grio, Eldorado. It was during this time that, while visiting his mother that was currently residing in the town of Monza, Eldorado - his estranged mafia boss father Salvatore had finally located his mother after decades of sending lackeys to find her. What followed was a violent altercation between the two that he witnessed while in hiding, unsure of what to do about the situation as it suddenly unfolded before him. It wasn't long before his father had brutally stabbed his mother to death, and quickly set his sights on murdering Francisco next. The two had fought tooth and nail for survival, with Francisco winning out in the end in the brutal altercation that followed the death of his mother. After weakening him with techniques and theory he was taught during his time in premed, he had reportedly stabbed his father Salvatore through the abdomen, ending his life before fleeing the scene. After this, he had lived with his friend for the time being, with authorities at the time that investigated the crime scene believing that the death of his father was due to the struggle between him and his victim, Francisco's mother Paloma.

Despite all of this, Francisco still managed to graduate in honors at the age of 22, then went on to obtain his Doctorate in Medicine (MD) at Elsevier College of Medicine in Brugada, Eldorado, where he graduated at the top of his class. Being a Valedictorian, he was given many opportunities to obtain his residency in various specialties - initially taking an opportunity to take up a surgery residency first, before deciding it was not to his liking, and ultimately deciding on Oncology with some training in hospice care.

It was during his residency that he met his soon-to-be wife, Colette Dentremont, a psychotherapist that primarily worked with patients on the Oncology floor he often made rounds in while doing his residency. Some time during his residency in Oncology, he was shown to be deeply disturbed by the constant amounts of death he was surrounded by since he was regularly exposed to terminally ill cancer patients. Due to this, his coworkers and friends had soon recommended that he visit Colette to help him cope through his period of time in Oncology. It was here that he and Colette began to confide in one another, slowly going down the path of falling in love after a few years of getting to know each other from sessions they had. During this time, she had encouraged Francisco to use his talents in a different type of residency, urging him to try Internal Medicine or Family Practice so that he could limit his exposure to patients at the verge of death for the sake of his mental health. Despite Francisco's objections, Colette had firmly believed that this route would overall be healthier for Francisco, and after some convincing - he had agreed to switch his specialty from Oncology to Internal Medicine.

From here, he completed this residency with flying colors and his mental health had begun to improve thanks to Colette's suggestion. Shortly after obtaining clearance to perform in this specialty, the pair had ultimately decided to marry before he went on to complete a Fellowship in Internal Medicine under the Kánitorian Academy of Internal Medicine. From here, he rose among the ranks of other physicians working first in outpatient clinics across the Empire before becoming a hospitalist, where his true skill and prowess showed. After starting a family, he would soon find himself employed at Ritz General Hospital - where after treating Alpha Claudius, word of his skill in medicine had spread all across the Senate as well as the Empire. It wasn't long before he found himself treating Betas, Alphas and after years of his reputation spreading amongst the Senate, even the Emperor. From here, his career skyrocketed - even spreading internationally as prominent figureheads from countries like Rickland, Kaulseg and Deloria caught wind of his skill in the art of medicine. However, everything had begun to all come crashing down once his wife had become terminally ill and eventually passed away.

## Political Career

Following the death of his wife and winning a court case against the doctor that was in charge of treating her, patients of his began to notice changes in his behavior as well as his bedside manners. Noticing that his personal life was beginning to leak into his professional life, Francisco had soon ultimately decided to remedy this by applying for Betaship under Alpha Wilhelmina - who had recently fired an Arcanine named Amicus from the position due to neglecting his duties. He was interviewed and was chosen to undergo the process of completing his Beta trials - which involved becoming a member of the Kánitorian-founded International Medical Organization, Medici Errantia and aiding in treating patients that were the victims of various epidemics throughout Tameu and Kittlescor.

Francisco with his complete family - his wife, Colette, in his arms; his deceased uncle behind him and his daughter, a young Felicity, atop his head.