Zafina (ザフィーナ Zafīna) is a playable character in the Tekken series. She was introduced in Tekken 6 and has returned for all subsequent titles.
Biography
Personality
Zafina is very clever as evidenced by her knowledge of Azazel. She is also a determined woman as she strives for success to avoid chaos. Despite this, she is quite calm and focused; not letting her emotions get the best of her while on a mission.
Story
Early life
Zafina was born somewhere in the Middle East to a group of spiritual warriors with an ancient past and as such, she possesses great spiritual abilities of her own.
Since childhood, Zafina was raised to be a protector of an imperial tomb. Several years ago, a foreign army attacked the imperial tomb she and her group were protecting and Zafina single handedly wiped every single one of them out. Since then, the group’s guru appointed her to be its sole protector.
In her public life, she uses her spiritual powers as an astrologist but recently she can only see evil omens, and her premonitions grow more and more intense day by day. Seeking to understand the meaning behind all of this, Zafina sought the advice of her guru, and he began to tell her an ancient prophecy passed down from generation to generation only to a select few. According to the prophecy, when two evil stars come into contact, the seal of the tomb will be broken. The one captive will come out and the world will inevitably reach its end. Zafina considered both the meaning behind the guru’s tale and her own dire premonitions.
Tekken 6
Zafina heard of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, and she also heard that Kazuya and Jin were meant to participate in the tournament. Zafina set out to join the tournament, with the intention of destroying the two evil stars.
Ending Description: Zafina, after defeating Azazel, goes out. Her guru gives her the permission to go inside and stop the devil. Soon enough, the temple crumbles away, with Zafina, presumably inside.
Scenario Campaign Mode
Zafina has a minor role in this mode. She follows Lars all throughout the mode, just like Raven. She does however appear in some scenes - she talks to Wang about putting faith in Lars regarding his ability to stop the war, watching Lars' vehicle leave the container terminal, and confronting Jin as she tells him her premonitions and warns him about his warring as well (however, she was unaware of Jin's knowledge about Azazel). She even helps Lars and Raven defeat hordes of Tekken Force soldiers on one stage and provided vital information.
Other appearances
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Zafina's Arcade Ending
Zafina appeared in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as a playable character.
Ending Description: In this ending, Zafina also acts as the narrator. The threat of the "two stars that would shake the world" is now over. Zafina was watching a full moon in the sky before touching an ancient wall, remarking that "a new star may already be rising somewhere in this world". Not long after, black hidden soldiers suddenly appear. She defeats all the soldiers and leaves the area, very certain that she will protect the land from whatever the threat that brings destruction to the world.
Gameplay
Second only to Lei in total number of stances and transitions to stances from attacks, Zafina is a genuinely tricky and unpredictable character, whose strength lies not so much in her sheer power but in her less tangible elements. While mostly unsafe and easily punishable, her moves are so unorthodox that most opponent can't react properly. Her range is also one of her greatest weapons, and she can punish opponent from what are usually safe ranges.
Zafina crawling away after a victory
Fighting style
Zafina's fighting style, only referred to as "Ancient Assassination Arts", has creepy fighting stances and flexible moves that director Katsuhiro Harada likened to that of a "spider". Her Scrarecrow stance is similar to a common Indian dance pose which has lead some fans to erroneously believe that her style is based on Indian Kalaripayat, but the moves depicted in the game actually bear no resemblance to any existing martial art.
Character Relationships
- Jin Kazama - She is trying to stop him and Kazuya from colliding, as it would eventually lead to the end of the world. However, she didn't know of Jin's true intentions regarding Azazel.
- Kazuya Mishima - She is trying to stop him and Jin from colliding. She sees Kazuya more of a threat than Jin, despising the former's true motives.
- Azazel - Her enemy. Her society has been guarding Azazel's seals for many generations.
- Wang Jinrei - Her ally, she also assured him that Lars will save the world (a prediction that only became half true).
- Lars Alexandersson - She is certain that he will save the world (a prediction that only became half true).
Quotes
Trivia
General:
- The European Tekken 6 website mistakenly refers to Zafina's nationality as Indian. However, her original Japanese bio, as well as her North American bio and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 bio, state it as being simply unknown.
- Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada has also confirmed Zafina being of Middle Eastern origin citing her as "a female character from the Middle East who uses ancient assassination arts". Some time after this, he stated that she was of Arabic origin on Twitter [2] and later he stated she is "probably from Egypt".[3]
- Based on feedback from fans, Harada and his development team made Zafina specifically to address the need for a smooth-hitting, prey-stalking female in the series.
- The naming themes for her moves are wildly different between the Japanese and English versions. The Japanese version uses a wide variety of mythical creatures and weapons from many cultures' mythologies, including several demons described in the Lesser Key of Solomon. The English version, meanwhile, refers almost entirely to Mesopotamian lore.
- Her facial build and make-up makes her strongly resemble Thailand's leading main actress, Malalene (during the 1970's).
- Soul Calibur character Viola's moveset resembles Zafina's as they share many of the same kicks. Additionally, they both have psychic powers.
- Zafina also has a slight resemblance to Mileena (from Midway's Mortal Kombat series) based on her physique and fighting style.
- In Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, she is voiced by Lisle Wilkerson, who previously voiced Nina Williams and Christie Monteiro.
- In the "Power is Everything" trailer for Bloodline Rebellion, Zafina is shown wielding two daggers (at 0:42 - 0:44). [4]
- Along with fighting in the trailer, Zafina also opened two doors and was shocked at what she saw. What she saw is unknown, but speculation suggests that it may have been Azazel.
- Zafina can be customized to resemble Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin.
- Zafina and Julia Chang shared the same goal (to stop Jin and Kazuya from colliding).
- Zafina's Stage 1 and Stage 2 opponents in Scenario Campaign's "Arena" mode are Raven and Kazuya Mishima.
- Her ending is connected to Devil Jin's ending where she was seen taking Azazel's orb.
- Her Player 1 outfit has been modified, with the addition of white capris known as 'salwar' under her red skirt, black shoes replacing her gold sandals, a few minor alterations to her top in terms of design and color scheme including the addition of some decorative bangles (the reasons for these sudden changes have yet to be specified).
- She has a special tag throw with True Ogre where she will perform Diabolos while True Ogre will ram the stunned opponent with his horns.
- Her item move is a mask that allows her to summon a demon spirit to accompany the battle. However, it is just a ghoulish-looking floating head that flies around, therefore it can not contribute in the actual fight.
- She has a special continue screen with Hwoarang where he will start moving forward in his "Left Flamingo" stance while Zafina follows him on her "Scarecrow" stance.
Other:
- In Street Fighter X Tekken, Juri's Swap Costume is Zafina's Tekken 6 outfit.
- In Tekken: Blood Vengeance, Zafina's dossier is briefly seen when Anna Williams opens a file containing dossiers of various persons of interest.