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Ziri is one of the last surviving members of the Kirin tribe of chimaera, and the last Kirin still in their natural body.
Appearance[]
Ziri is tall and straight, even before considering his antelope horns, which add several more feet and are like a pair of pikes. His legs are human tapering to antelope with cloven hooves. He has vast bat wings that give him the buoyant gait all the Kirin possess. He also walks with the typical Kirin fluidity. He has big, round, sweet, brown eyes. Ziri is known for being the last Kirin and for still being in his original body. He is handsome and graceful.
Personality[]
Ziri is a sweet young soldier who has always had a soft spot for Madrigal, now Karou. He is extremely altruistic and loyal, and willingly sacrifices himself for others. He withstood torture to keep his friends safe and even slits his own throat so that he can lead the chimaera in Thiago's body. Ziri is quiet, almost shy, in nature. Yet, he is able to impersonate Thiago incredibly well.
Background[]
Ziri was only a new kit when the seraphim attacked his home in the Kirin Caves. He was so young his eyes were still shut. He survived the slave raid because a handful of elders were able save the very smallest of the babies and hide deep in the caves. Ziri, Madrigal, and the surviving Kirin came to Loramendi. Ziri grew up in Loramendi before becoming a soldier.
Ziri used to follow Madrigal around, causing her foster sister, Chiro, to nickname Ziri Madrigal's "little Kirin shadow" and say he had a crush on her. Madrigal dismissed this, saying it was just a feeling of kinship that he felt as he was trying to reconcile with what he had lost.
Years later, at the Warlord's Ball, he saw Akiva's trick with the birds, since he had been watching Madrigal closely through the entire party. During Madrigal's execution, he made an attempt to save her, although he was quickly caught and put back in the crowd, where he witnessed the execution in complete silence, being one of the only chimaera there who didn't cheer when she was beheaded. He was twelve years old.
He gained the nickname "Lucky Ziri" from his comrades, due to the fact that in his entire life as a soldier he had not been killed once and therefore had kept his original Kirin body.
Plot[]
Days of Blood & Starlight[]
Because Ziri was in love with Madrigal when he was younger, he keeps looking at Karou and wanting to talk to her. He cannot, however, because Thiago has forbidden all the chimaeras from talking to her and has made most of them think that she will betray them at any moment because she was an "angel-lover." Ziri's opportunity comes after a torture session from Jael that leads to the former getting severely injured. Karou feels a sense of kinship with Ziri because he is the only other living Kirin, and she heals him despite never trying to heal anyone before.
After the two wake up the next day, Ziri tells Karou about Thiago's underhanded scheming to turn the chimaera against her. This causes her to realize that Thiago is planning on replacing her with Ten, which is why he has been pushing for her to take the latter on as an apprentice. After this encounter, the two are more friendly with each other, especially after the appearance of Zuzana Nováková, Mikolas Vavra, and Issa who make Karou feel happier. Knowing that Karou cares for Ziri and that the latter would do anything to protect her, Thiago send him away on a mission with Razor, a notoriously vicious killer.
Ziri returns after Karou has killed Thiago in self defense and offers up his own soul for her protection because she has to resurrect Thiago in order to protect the chimaera. To prevent her from refusing, Ziri goes as far as killing himself and Karou then puts Ziri's soul in Thiago's body. The only ones that know about this body swap are Haxaya, who now occupies Ten's body, and Issa.
Dreams of Gods & Monsters[]
Ziri, wearing Thiago's body, is pretending to be the White Wolf and guiding his "army" (the few survived chimaera warriors). He forms a pact with Akiva to fight along with his angel brothers (the Misbegotten) against the Dominion Captain, now Emperor, Jael (Akiva and Liraz's uncle), who is trying to get nuclear arms from Earthens to definitely destroy the resistence and conquer the Stelians (an angel tribe which is not part of the Empire). Since it is known that Thiago hates angels, his work becomes much more difficult, for his liutenants start to become suspicious. Nevertheless, he manages to form the alliance, but a group of chimaera disobey him (believing that the order of attacking the angels came from him) and try to kill Liraz. It is the revenge of Haxaya, in Ten's body, who was once killed by Liraz. Luckily, Ziri discovers the plot in time to rescue her, but Haxaya threatens to reveal his real identity so he kills the chimaera. He then brings Liraz's unconscious and near-dead body to the healing baths in the Kirin Caves, where the mixed army has found shelter, saving her life, and reveals to her his true identity.
Ziri gets killed in the battle against the Dominion forces, but his soul is rescued by Liraz, who sings to it to guide it into her water bottle. He is then resurrected by Karou after the war ends. Karou uses the top of one of Ziri's horns, which he had lost when he was still in his original body, to create a Kirin body that looks exactly like the "original" Ziri.
Relationships[]
Karou[]
It is hinted that Ziri had a crush on Karou, like he did with Madrigal, since Karou and Madrigal are technically one and the same. Ziri is very loyal to Karou, and they consider one another to be good friends. After Thiago's attempted rape, Ziri finds a shaking Karou along with the souless husk of Thiago. To prevent Karou from reliving the experience again, Ziri forms a pact with her. The pact is his soul is to be put into Thiago's body and he will act the role to keep the real Thiago from ever returning. Karou feels indebted to him and develops a strong sense of affection towards Ziri as a friend for saving her from resurrecting Thiago. Ziri has loved Karou since she was Madrigal but realizes almost immediately that he has no chance with her since she's already in love with Akiva.
Liraz[]
In Dreams of Gods & Monsters, the basis of a romantic relationship between Liraz and Ziri forms. Liraz's hatred towards Chimaera, due to age-old prejudice, causes their initial meetings to have a definite air of hostility, mostly one-sided from Liraz. Both creatures are shown to feel lonely among their peers and it is this loneliness that draws the two together. Liraz is recovering from the loss of her brother, Hazael, while Ziri is trying to cope with being trapped into the role of Thiago, after Karou kills the true host, when they begin to truly interact with one another. (Their meetings beforehand are brief encounters from afar). Both of them are downtrodden as they realize their respective counterparts, Akiva and Karou, are drawing away from them as time goes on increasing their despair since neither are capable of showing their true emotions. (Liraz only knows war and bloodshed, while Ziri is imitating the White Wolf). The basis of a romance is developed when Ziri, in Thiago's guise, saves Liraz from rebel chimera who seek revenge on the angel for slaughtering their kind in the past. Liraz has finally snapped and all those years of penting up her emotions are released into hysterical laughter which Ziri recognizes in his current status. Ziri, who dislikes needless bloodshed, has his first intentional kill as the White Wolf to save Liraz from receiving the final blow from the hamsas. Realizing that her life is slowly fading away he sneaks her over to healing pools and brings her back to life. Ziri repeats the sentence that is used throughout the third book in their interactions, "We haven't been introduced-" where he reveals his true identity to her. This marks the change in their behaviors towards one another and Liraz begins to feel romantic implications towards Ziri. This sentence and parts of Liraz's response back of 'You know who I am, and I know who you are, and that will serve' are repeated several times, also. It's heavily implied that Ziri and Liraz become a couple in the end.
Memorable Quotes[]
Days of Blood & Starlight[]
Jael: "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you."
Ziri: "No. I'm going to kill you." - Chapter 43, pg. 216
Jael: "Who is it?"
Ziri: "Come closer. I'll whisper it in your ear." - Chapter 43, pg. 218
"Wait until my friends hear I killed the Captain of the Dominion. They won't believe it." - Chapter 43, pg. 214
"I don't know why, Karou, but I think the angel saved my life." - Chapter 52, pg. 283
Dreams of Gods & Monsters[]
Liraz: "You know who I am, and I know who you are, and-" Ziri: "-that won't serve."-Ch. 78, pg. 536
Trivia[]
- Ziri means "moonlight" in the Amazigh language. Laini Taylor had considered using the name for a character during the early stages of writing Daughter of Smoke & Bone.[1]
- Ziri is the second chimera, following Madrigal/Karou, to fall in love with an angel.
Gallery[]
