Zafira
Zafira in ViVid
Character profile
Other names	Shielding Guardian Beast Blue Wolf
Age	uncertain, at least several centuries
Gender	Male
Species	Guardian Beast (Wolf) / Wolkenritter
Homeworld	Ancient Belka (?)
Date of birth	Ancient Belka Era
Family	Yagami family
Work
Affiliations	TSAB, Riot Force 6
Occupation	Familiar
Magic
System	Ancient Belka
Color	Indigo white
Rank	AA (estimated)[1]
Production
Japanese name	ザフィーラ (Zafīra)
First app.	A's manga (prologue)
Voiced by	Kazuya Ichijou (Japanese) Jonathan Meza (English)

Zafira (ザフィーラ Zafīra) is one of the Wolkenritter; a large blue wolf whom can shapeshift into a muscular, dark-skinned man with wolf ears and a tail.

While he seems similar to the familiars created by Midchildan mages, Zafira insists that he is a "Guardian Beast". Whether that is a semantic difference (similar to the practice of calling Belkan mages, "Knights") or a more fundamental difference is unknown. It is possible that as a servant of the Book of Darkness, Zafira is unique as the only Guardian Beast.

It is clear that Zafira does not have a familiar's contract with any of the other Wolkenritter, and is no more or less dependent on the Book of Darkness (or later: their Master, Hayate Yagami) for his continued existence than they are.

In addition to that (or perhaps because of it), he is treated as an equal by the other Wolkenritter despite being the only one who is not a Knight, and like them he responds to Hayate alone as his mistress.

Contents 1 Names 2 Personality 3 In A's 4 In StrikerS 5 In ViVid 6 In Force 7 Alternate continuities 7.1 Movie 7.2 Portable 7.3 INNOCENT 8 Powers 8.1 Spells 8.2 In the games 9 Gallery 10 References

NamesEdit

Zafira, as shown in the opening of The Battle of Aces, is named after Opel Zafira. It is however mistransliterated as "Zafila" in certain media, e.g. StrikerS official character page and DVD ID Card, The MOVIE 2nd A's official character page etc.

He is also known as the "Shielding Guardian Beast" (盾の守護獣 Tate no Shugojū) and "Blue Wolf" (蒼き狼 Aoki Ōkami).

Personality Edit

Zafira is typically calm, serious and taciturn, rarely speaking unless he has something important to say. He is loyal to Hayate regardless of whether he is doing is right or wrong. Zafira gets along well with children, although he is initially uncomfortable at the attention people give him when he transforms into a puppy.

In A'sEdit

In A's, Zafira intervenes in the battle to fight against Arf. He retreats after Nanoha Takamachi destroys the Wolkenritters' barrier and Shamal steals Nanoha's Linker Core. He fights Arf two more times, once being interrupted by Shamal using the Book of Darkness to break the TSAB's barrier and allow the Wolkenritter to retreat, and once by unknown circumstances, possibly related to one of the masked men stealing Fate's Linker Core.

On Christmas Eve, he is separated from the other Wolkenritter while they visit Hayate in the hospital, and, unable to contact them, hurries to the hospital. He arrives after the Liese Twins have absorbed Signum and Shamal's Cores, and while he attacks them, he is defeated and has his own Core absorbed, killing him. He is brought back to life by Hayate, and helps destroy the corrupted defense program by severing its tentacles immobilizing it. Reinforce separates him and the other Wolkenritter from the Book of Darkness, and sacrifices herself to prevent herself from being corrupted again.

Arf teaches him how to assume a puppy form in order to reduce his use of mana, and to seem more natural on Earth. This results in him receiving considerable attention from children, but he ends up using the form on a regular basis by the time of the epilogue six years later.

Between A's and StrikerS, Zafira gives Hayate rides while she is practicing to walk as part of her rehabilitation, and does the same for Nanoha when she is recovering from being injured.

In StrikerSEdit

Zafira moves to Mid-Childa along with Hayate and joins her Riot Force 6 in StrikerS and StrikerS manga, and often helps out on missions. When the Forwards find Vivio, Zafira commonly watches over her.

Zafira and Shamal are attacked by Otto in the invasion of Long Arch. Zafira leaps at Otto, but Deed manages to surprise him, injuring him, and the two are soon defeated. Zafira is severely wounded while protecting Shamal, and is unconscious for several days. He is left in charge of watching over Vice Granscenic, and when Vice gets up and tells him his story, he decides to join the battle despite his injuries, prompting Vice to follow suit. Zafira, with Shamal's help, locates and captures Otto. In StrikerS, Zafira is never shown in his human form.

After the series, Zafira assists Ginga Nakajima on investigations. In his spare time on days off, he teaches local children martial arts.

In ViVidEdit

In ViVid, Zafira runs the "Yagami Dojo" near the Yagami's house in southern Mid-Childa (opened during post-StrikerS), to teach the neighborhood children the "Yagami-style" Strike Arts. A few of his apprentices are going to participate in the 0079 DSAA Inter-Middle, including Miura Rinaldi, who is also the strongest one and likely the closest one to the Yagamis.

In ForceEdit

Zafira appears very briefly in Force (ch.4) along Shamal.

Alternate continuitiesEdit

MovieEdit

Zafira first appears in The MOVIE 2nd A's.

PortableEdit

Zafira appears in both Battle of Aces and Gears of Destiny.

INNOCENTEdit

Zafira (in the puppy form of the primary continuity) is a pet dog of Yagamido.

PowersEdit

In his human form, Zafira uses Knight Clothing as defense, like the other Wolkenritter members do, and fights with great cross-range skills (as a Striker Artist after StrikerS). Of course, he is also dangerous with the fangs and claws of his wolf form.

His Knight Clothing includes heavy metal gauntlets and boots, to add weight to his blows and aid with safely parrying attacks. These are the only parts of his Knight Clothing worn in his wolf form. Whether or not they are enough to provide his wolf form the same protection that his full attire affords his human form is unknown.

SpellsEdit

Spell	System	Category	Type	Rank
Dimensional Transfer	Mid-Childa Ancient Belka	Support	Transport
Steel Yoke	Ancient Belka	Capture	Cage	AA

In A's (ep.4), he also uses an unnamed barrier spell, which is visually and perhaps functionally similar to Wheel Protection.

In the gamesEdit

Spells in The Battle of Aces
		Cross Range	Long Range	Long Range (Charged)
▢	Attack/Basic	[unnamed]	Guard Fist[2]
△	Block/Counter	Fang-Wolf Kick	Raging Steel Fang[3] ↑ Stance of Iron Wall[4] ↓ (JIT:) Raging Steel Assault Fang[5]	---
◯	Catch/Attack	Round Hard Fang	Running Fang-Beast[6]
L	FDB	Steel Yoke	---
R	Guard	Panzerschild		---

Spells in The Gears of Destiny
		Cross Range	Long Range	Long Range (Charged)
▢	Attack/Basic	[unnamed]	Guard Fist[2]
△	Block/Counter	Fang-Wolf Kick	Raging Steel Fang[3] ↑ Stance of Iron Wall[4] ↓ (JIT:) Raging Steel Assault Fang[5]	---
◯	Catch/Attack	Round Hard Fang	Running Fang-Beast[6]
△△	EX Attack	[unnamed]	---
L	FDB	Steel Yoke	---
R	Guard	Panzerschild		---

GalleryEdit

ReferencesEdit