Fereydun Tharwal Massry

"What has taken you millennia to create, I erase in milliseconds." - Fereydun

"Ah, Fereydun...or should I call you 'The Monster of the Middle East?' The old face of Humanity's cruel history." - Azi Zahhak Fereydun Tharwal Massryفريدون ثار-وو) المصرى) is a First Generation Shinigami that, with the exception of the Spirit King, is one of the oldest Shinigami to have ever lived since the foundation of the first divisions. He is a former Zerobantai member and also a former Sotaicho, having gone AWOL from the Goteijiusentai for millenia. He has recently descended from Mount Damavand to lend his aid to the current generation of shinigami.

Appearance
Fereydun is of Arabic(or middle eastern) descent, and has an abnormally tall body build. Fereydun stands in at over eight and a half feet tall. He is fairly muscular and thin; with most of his weight being contributed to his bone mass. This is due to receiving a tumor in his brain's pituitary gland, which caused his Human Growth Hormone to reproduce at unusual levels. His most noticable feature would be his snow white hair that is at least five and a half feet in length, and his dull red eyes that seem to go on a never-ending trance of emptiness. His hair goes down to his midsection of his back, and is also seen in his eyelashes and eyebrows. he wears an Inverted haori, with no division number or division flower as an overhaul and underneath wears arabic style clothing which is comprised of silken linen pants and half-exposed topwear. He carries his Zanpakuto at his left hip where his white waistshawl meets his pants, hidden under layers of fabric.

He is covered in an assortment of tribal tattoos; one most noticably being his chest. He does have an oddity amongst him: his left arm. His left arm is completely black, and his nails are very long to almost 6 inches and three quarts. On the back of his blackened left hand, there is an almost undetectable line going horizontally all the way to both ends. In terms of physical age, he looks as if he is in his late 20's to early 30's.

Personality
Fereydun is highly intelligent and self-sufficent, indulging in knowledge and the art of manipulation. Fereydun however does have a form of Schizoid Personality Disorder, which causes him to avoid all possible means of human contact in any way he can; This is most likely due to being isolated at Mount Damavand for extended periods of time, developing a Sophist view of reality. Because of this, He talks in a detached, completely logical and painfully honest way. This "corruption" of his personality has lead to some people calling his attitude "rotten" or "treacherous". However, in reality, he actually does seem to care what he is seen as in the face of his comrades. Unfortunately, because of his social decline from being alone for so long, he tends to resolve a problem two ways: In brutal honesty, being completely realistic and aloof of another's personal feelings, causing him to hurt everyone around him, or "social suicide" effectively making himself a scapegoat and letting people pin the blame on him. In battle, he is cold, level-headed, and analytical. He is very silent(with the exception of kido and other named techniques) and will observe his opponent; he is crafty, and will often use the environment around him as a stepping stone as well as certain diversions. He can also be seen as a humanitarian, scolding religion and any theocratic belief that people blindly follow without a second thought. He has a tendency to "Go solo" or "Be a Lone Wolf" in general. Practically, he is impartial on many things and often remains unbiased unless the situation demands that of choice and decision. He absolutely detests and hates any "Godlike" beings, as they remind him of Arhiman.

In Fereydun's youth, he was a very harsh and brutal person growing up. He belonged to a very small tribe before he met Kava, his future adoptive father, and grew up as an orphan until Kava appeared as his original mother and father were banished and never heard from. At the age of ten, they raided Kava's great smithing home and attempted to scavenge for supplies. Kava however, killed all the tribal members except for Fereydun, the youngest of them all. He adopted him and began to teach him the ways of the known world.

At 16, he left Kava's home after Kava lifted the Kaviyaki banner against Azi Zahhak in order to dethrone the monarch. He quickly became known as the Leader of the Rebellion a year later.

As a general in his opposing army, Fereydun was very ruthless and unforgiving. His dictator-like mentality forced discipline and co-operation with his fellow warriors. Fereydun still retained his anger and fury at the time, even taking it out on his own men sometimes. However, one thing is certain: He was a master at instilling fear to keep his army from mutiny. For example, If one wanted to leave from the rebellion, Fereydun would allow it, but would immediately amputate part of their body from his choosing as "Compensation for their weak will". He would plan small ambushes and commit to cannibalism in front of the enemy, charging in with their fallen comrade's flesh still in his teeth. One of his most brutal methods, though would be that whenever his men would fall in battle, he would mutilate their corpses and throw their body parts at nearby foes. It was also common for Fereydun to raid one of Zahhak's cities, and kill a tenth of his own men that did poorly in capturing it. Fereydun showed no attachment or any form of human sympathy for either friend or foe. All it seemed to Fereydun was "if the enemy was dying" or not. That's all he ever cared about on the battlefield, being completely devoid to warmth or compassion. He wouldn't care that his men are demoralized or that they were running low on supplies. Nor would he even give a shred of humanity to veterans. His use of fear, intimidation, blackmail, and straight cruelty made his expectations of his men exceed, and became a very desperately determined fighting force against the Loyalists that fought for Zahhak.

Shortly after dying and being soul buried though, Fereydun began to realize that maybe he should have been less rash in his now spiritual body. He was still as belligerent and barbaric as he was in office when the first thirteen divisions were formed, but began to bond with his fellow criminals and lowlives at the time, eventually becoming softer, opening up bit by bit and growing in intelligence.

Now in the present, he is no longer the savage, barabric neanderthal he used to be in his youth, contrary to what he appears to be at first sight. He can be noted, quoting Descartes and John Locke, and many other of the world of the living's greatest free thinkers. He is a very unorthodox person by heart, and now takes interest in the more subtle arts in the known mental realms.

History
As a human, Fereydun was known as "The Hero Who Slew the Dahaka". The Dahaka is a monstrous creature who formerly was human, and went under the name of "Azi Zahhak". Zahhak was born as the son of an Arab ruler named Merdās. He was handsome and clever, but had no mental stability of character and was easily influenced by evil advisors, particularly one named Arhiman. Ahriman therefore chose him as the tool for his plans for world domination.

When Zahhak was a young man, Arhiman only appeared as his glib, flattering companion, and by degrees convinced him that he ought to kill his own father and take over his territories. He taught him to dig a deep pit covered over with leaves in a place where Merdās was accustomed to walk; Merdās fell in and was killed. Zahhāk thus became both patricide and king at the same time. Ahriman now took another guise, and presented himself to Zahhāk as a marvellous cook. After he had presented Zahhāk with many days of sumptuous feasts, Zahhāk was willing to give Ahriman whatever he wanted. Ahriman merely asked to kiss Zahhāk on his two shoulders. Zahhāk permitted this; but when Ahriman had touched his lips to Zahhāk's shoulders, he immediately vanished. At once, two black snakes grew out of Zahhāk's shoulders. They could not be surgically removed, for as soon as one snake-head had been cut off, another took its place.

Ahriman now appeared to Zahhāk in the form of a skilled physician. He counselled Zahhāk that the only remedy was to let the snakes remain on his shoulders, and sate their hunger by supplying them with human brains for food every day otherwise the snakes will feed on his own. From a psychological point of view the snakes on Zahhak's shoulders could represent his lust for killing or a form of sadism which if left unsatisfied would torment Zahhak. Also when Zahhak is defeated by Fereydun, he cannot think of a better fitting punishment than to simply bound him in cave where the snakes (not being fed) will eat Zahhak's own brain symbolizing his inner agony and unsatisfied homicidal lust.

Zahhāk is originally human, but through the magic of Ahriman he becomes a monster. Zahhāk's two snake heads still craved human brains for food, so every day Zahhāk's spies would seize two men, and execute them so their brains could feed the snakes. Two men, called Armayel and Garmayel, wanted to find a way to rescue people from being killed from the snakes. So they learned cookery and after mastering how to cook great meals, they went to Zahhāk's palace and managed to become the chefs of the palace. Every day, they saved one of the two men and put the brain of a sheep instead of his into the food, but they could not save the lives of both men. Those who were saved were told to flee to the mountains and to faraway plains. Zahhāk's tyranny over the world lasted for centuries.

But one day Zahhāk had a terrible dream – he thought that three warriors were attacking him, and that the youngest knocked him down with his mace, tied him up, and dragged him off toward an extremely tall mountain. When Zahhāk woke he was in a panic. Following the counsel of Arnavāz, he summoned wise men and dream-readers to explain his dream. They were reluctant to say anything, but one finally said that it was a vision of the end of Zahhāk's reign, that rebels would arise and dispossess Zahhāk of his throne. He even named the man who would take Zahhāk's place: Fereydun.

Zahhāk now became obsessed with finding this "Fereydun" and destroying him, though he did not know where he lived or who his family was. His spies went everywhere looking for Fereydun, and finally heard that he was but a young adolescent; A pariah. Zahhāk now tried to consolidate his rule by coercing an assembly of the leading men of the kingdom into signing a document testifying to Zahhāk's righteousness, so that no one could have any excuse for rebellion. One man spoke out against this charade, a blacksmith named Kāva, whom was also secretly Fereydun's adoptive father. Against the whole assembly, Kāva told how Zahhāk's minions had murdered six of his seven sons so that Zahhāk might feed his snakes' lust for human brains – the last son had been imprisoned, but still lived. In front of the assembly Zahhāk had to pretend to be merciful, and so released Kāva's son. But when he tried to get Kāva to sign the document attesting to Zahhāk's justice, Kāva tore up the document, left the court, and raised his blacksmith's apron as a standard of rebellion – the Kāviyāni Banner, Soon many people followed Kāva to the Alborz mountains, where Fereydun was now living which would later mark a significant rebellious army against Zahhak.

He was now a young man and agreed to lead the people against Zahhāk. He had a mace made for him with a head like that of an ox, and with his brothers-in-arms and followers, went forth to fight against Zahhāk. Zahhāk had already left his capital, and it fell to Fereydun with small resistance. Fereydun freed all of Zahhāk's prisoners, including Arnavāz and Shahrnavāz. Kondrow, Zahhāk's treasurer, pretended to submit to Fereydun, but when he had a chance he escaped to Zahhāk and told him what had happened. Zahhāk at first dismissed the matter, but when he heard that Fereydun had seated himself as the Ruler of the Middle East, he was incensed and immediately hastened back to his city to attack Fereydun. When he got there, Zahhāk found his capital held strongly against him, and his army was in peril from the defense of the city. Seeing that he could not reduce the city, he sneaked into his own palace as a spy, and attempted to assassinate Fereydun.

Fereydun struck Zahhāk down with his ox-headed mace, but did not kill him; on the advice of a shinigami. He bound Zahhāk and imprisoned him in a cave underneath Mount Damāvand, binding him with a lion's pelt tied to great nails fixed into the walls of the cavern, where he will remain until the end of the world. Thus, after a thousand years' tyranny, ended the reign of Zahhāk. After about 13 years, Fereydun fell upon an illness, receiving a tumor in his brain. It paralyzed him, and eventually caused him to die, medicine being but a foreign concept in his homeland. Fereydun died at the age of 28, near a riverbed which served as cemetery for zahhak's sacrifices. He was buried near Mount Damavand, at the summit. He wandered the land, lost as a spirit. He was later soul buried by an unidentified member of the soon-to-be first division in the gotei 13, and wandered. He quickly rose through the ranks and became the Spirit King's direct right hand; Or the captain of the Zero division. After a long, yet unknown amount of time Fereydun suddenly vanishes completely from soul society, leaving only a cryptic poem behind. To this day, Fereydun in soul society is considered a folklore.



Equipment
Ancient weapons : Fereydun possess a wide variety of old middle eastern and japanese weapons such as scmitars and out of service katanas. He also possesses an even bigger amount of trinkets like banners and scepters from when monarchs still ruled in europe and asia, along with other small nations and countries from ancient times.

Horseman Weapons(Scythe): As the horseman of Death, Fereydun carries a scythe that can be split into two and used as sickles. In the sickle state, they always come back to him and he can rejoin them to make the original. The scythe itself seems very "modernized" and militaristic, with an odd feel to it. It has electronics and certain attachments to it that cannot be quite identified.

Limiters: Fereydun has a multitude of limiters in order to keep his seemingly endless flow of reiryoku under control. His main limiter is a large, metallically ornate and sturdy gauntlet he wears on his blackened left hand. It constricts and suppresses at least 88% of his reiatsu at a basic level. The gauntlet itself is adorned with various metals that bond with each other to the microscopic scale, which allows for alloys that are durable and dependable, along with a ceremonial appearance. The other limiters are a medium length anklets he wears on the edges of his feet, and an old, discolored iron ring that is clearly seen its share of fighting on his right ring finger.

Powers & Abilities
Vast Spiritual Power: Fereydun possesses a monsterous, almost ridiculously insane amount of spiritual power. Almost to the point if he were to obtain any more, his skin would begin to break apart and become irritated without proper limiters in just less than a few minutes. His reiatsu is, at bare minimum, Captain-commander class when severely limited and beyond scalable Reiryoku sensing when in Shikai or Bankai. Fereydun's reiatsu is said to be very terrifying, even amongst the most battle-hardened of all warriors. it is described as either pure fear to some, or a billion tons of pure stone to others. Without restraint, Fereydun's reiatsu automatically turns most objects brittle like sand or gravel, making it ultimately easier for him to completely destroy an opponent or their environment.

Enhanced Reiatsu Sensing: Fereydun, like most advanced, captain-class shinigami can sense other's reiatsu at a highly enchanced state. Unlike most who tend to hide their reiatsu when entering combat, he has the particular habit of letting his own reiatsu flow upon the field, drowning anyone caught in it and making it even easier to identify while raining down destruction and ruin upon a vast area.

Hakuda Master: Fereydun is shown to be very efficient and overly brutal in his use of hand to hand combat. As he wields his sword in only one hand, it is fairly easy for Fereydun to mix in hakuda with his own Zanjutsu; developing a deadly array of unpredictable attacks. He is an absolute master at contortion, and can bend his body to abnormal angles using reiatsu. This, combined with his mammoth-like strength from his giant body, is a one way ticket to suicide to any unprepared warriors that engage him in direct melee combat.
 * Ikkotsu(一骨, Single Bone) A single, powerful blow to the abdomen that can crush an opponent through multiple buildings.
 * Sokotsu( 双骨, Double Bone) A powerful, two fisted punch that can completely decimate a target at close range.
 * Tessho: Kou Hira Dageki (溝平打撃, Hundred Nonillion Palm Strike) A highly advanced Hakuda technique that utilizes the original Tessho, but multiplied by 10^32 times in a flurry of palm strikes under at least 19 seconds. The only condition it has, is that two consecutive Tessho strikes must connect successful direct hits on a solid surface. The speed of this particular Hakuda technique is partially dependent on how much reiatsu is poured into each palm, and the proximity of the target. This move is ended with a single, full Tessho in one arm that deals the killing blow at a vital organ, which is usually the brain or the heart.

Hoho Master: Fereydun is seen as almost blindingly fast, to a blur's peak. He is a master of Shunpo and its variations, and can do continuous steps in Shunpo at long distances. He can silence his shunpo with very little amount of reiatsu and take huge steps while airwalking.

Master Swordsman(Unique): Fereydun is, if not one of the most advanced swordsmen in the entire balance. His ability to not only mix contortion with his zanpakuto, but to also infuse the small bones in his hands and feet are remarkable. It is where he shines brightest. Fereydun is so advanced, it has been recorded that he can probably take on the entire royal guard without using shikai or bankai. Fereydun also shows a masterful habit of disarming his opponents by unorthodox means using even further contortion. He can, theoretically surpass even the Captain-commanders with utmost efficiency.
 * Nigemizu Kiritateru (逃げ水切り立てる, Mirage Slash) A wide, horizontal or diagonal swipe that leaves an afterimage of both the user and the attack itself. This is often used with high variations of shunpo or sonido as a type of diversion attack to lure unseasoned fighters closer to one's personal proximity. With sufficient Hoho training, this can become a very lethal move even if it isn't purposely a distraction, and can wind up cutting strong metals with just air friction being torn asunder.

Hyper-intelligence: Fereydun shows very overly-developed signs of intellectual thought, and critical thinking skills given his spent eternity with books and combat with the travelers who attempt to scale Mount Damavand. After his initial exile from the Seireitei, he took it to himself to learn how to write. After thousands of years of doing so, Fereydun was able to break away from his savage instincts and develop both a higher state of awareness, and a better scope of perceiving a given object. In combat, this is very useful as he manipulates the ordained environment around him as he launches objects and creates sub-diversions around his field in order to throw off his opponents in a way he can nudge to his favor and gain an upper hand with the easiest completions.

Enhanced Durability: Like with his unusual strength, his gigantic body frame allows him to take a lot of harsh abuse from his opponents. Each of his major limbs allow for a very dense weight to be occupied, letting him absorb the impact of most slices, joint shocks, and explosions at minimum damage. This, combined with his reiatsu, makes for a practically nigh-impervious tank. However, this huge mitigation of damage comes at the price of him having a slow start-up in battles. In his tenure at the Seireitei, He had many nicknames regarding his bodily constitution which were sometimes more true than others.

Zanpakuto
Mephala: Fereydun's zanpakuto takes the form of a completely black nodaichi roughly about five and a half feet in length; with a golden teardrop shaped hilt and a red furl at the end. It is unlike most zanpakuto in several ways. For one, it does not break under heavy situations, even if Fereydun were to die it would remain unbroken. Also, it seems to whisper into the consciousness of the wielder constantly. It cannot be strengthened by normal Jinzen. it must "Taste the blood of the decievers" to support its strength. Shikai's special ability: Mephala has the power to make an opponent's worst nightmares, doubts, suspicions, and insecurities come to life and resurface into the material world. It often takes a humanoid materialization and causes extreme delusions and a distorted perspective of reality. This is not to be confused with hypnosis, as this brings out Unconscious motives, and will fight or manipulate the opponent in Fereydun's place as he goes up to the opponent while they are distracted.
 * Shikai: Its release command is "Infect!"( 感染します Kansen Shimasu). In its Shikai state, it changes color in both blade and hilt into a silvery color, like Mercury and becomes a Daisho shortsword.

1st stage: 'Sanran ('散乱, Dispersal) The Parasite is spread airborne across the battlefield, affecting that which it comes into contact with. Billions upon billions of parasites attempt to infect whatever biomass they can physically find in a swarm of unrelenting force. Minor coughs and headaches occur once the parasites spread out in a complete and successful infection.
 * Bankai: In its bankai, His bankai becomes Zetsubou no Mugen no Jixyuuryou(絶望の無限の重量, The Infinite Weight of Despair) which release phase is " Go, and tamper with pure immunity in the thoughtless curs. Quarentine all that is alive and damn them to nothing but dust and bones !" In its bankai state, The appearance changes yet again, this time into a black Kyo-gunto with a white furl at the end and a red D-guard supporting the golden hilt.
 * kiseichuu kansen shou (寄生虫感染症, Parasite Infection) 'It is able to create a virus that affects the opponent and gets progressively worse, to the point where it infects others and causes loss of motor control, and basic instincts such as breathing. There are 4 stages to this attack:

2nd stage: Odaku '('汚濁, Contamination) The parasite infects faster, and begins to develop and evolve more lethally, festering and replicating itself in the opponent. It quickly infests in the entire host body and begins to neutralize any white blood cells that remain. Severe coughs and slowed reactions are seen, followed with slight stiffness of joints.

3rd stage: Shinkakusaibou Henko (真核細胞 変更, Eukaryotic modification) The Parasite enters the neurons of the opponent, scrambling axions and disrupting signals for the brain to read and changing them in order to better suit the parasite, causing more symptoms and even mutations to occur in the host, followed by loss of thought process.

4th stage: Zenshinfuzui/Mudanisuru(全身不随 / 無駄にする,Total Paralysis/Utter Futility)   T he     Parasite fully develops, and completely takes over the host brain's major lobes paralyzing the opponent,   ' and deactivating'' the most basic instincts such as breathing and movement. The Opponent is literally weighed down by their own bones and left to die. The corpse later, is used as a major breeding ground to infect even more hosts as the last state of necrosis.

Trivia

 * Dahaka in arabic means "To Laugh" and "To Smile".
 * Fereydun in arabic means "The Son of the Water" or "The Child of the Oceans". It can also mean "Third Immortal" in some rural areas of the language.
 * Mephala's personality is akin to a mythical japanese monster named Jorōgumo(literally meaning "Binding bride" or "Prostitute spider").
 * When Fereydun says that in order for his zanpakuto to get stronger "it must taste the blood of the deserving", it is a reference to The Spider queen, Arachne for punishing the greek goddess Athena, by killing all her Spartan men using venemous spiders in the form of seductive women.
 * "Fereydun" Is also the name of an Asura which means "One who erases" Referring to the mid-Iranian/hindu mythos for a Daeva.
 * Fereydun's odd body build is a reference to Robert Pershing Wadlow,the Tallest human being in recorded history. Fereydun stands at 8"9, while Wadlow stands at 8"11, being only a few inches away from the record-holder.
 * As mentioned, Fereydun has a personality disorder called Schizoid disorder which is a psychological term.
 * Many of Fereydun's monologues and wordplay have to do with Psychology.
 * The Dahaka has severe Schizophrenia, and a moderate-to-severe Multiple Personality Disorder.

Quotes
(General) "Were it so easy..."

(To Kava) "What do you consider is right, your heart or your mind?"

(To Self) "I truly am, All alone..."

(To Kava) "War does not justify who is right, only who is left in the broken bones and blackened blood of our sons."

(General) "Only a beast raises his sword in hatred. A man of law simply carries it out because it is the right thing to do."

(To Dahaka) "You used to be good. You used to be the shining hope for what was our Damnation. And now, look at yourself; A personification of all the things you came to hate. I only offer you sadness. I will not hold back."

(General) "Good and Evil are just society's labels, just like Poor and Rich. the only thing that matters is if you let it bother you."

(To Self) "Give them a chance....to be happy?"

(General) "God? God. Is. Dead."

(General) "You appear to have the 'death before dishonour' thing wrong. it is better to live on your feet, than to die on your knees instead."

(To Self) "Adapt. Evolve. Develop. Win"

(To Aurora) "Had he not passed on, the world for him would have become an eternal hell with nothing but a grey sky. I am no exception myself. When you are that old, and that tired, Everything fades to grey. Just like me."

(General) "History Circles Back Upon Us...."