Nosferatu Zodd

A legendary swordsman, Zodd is one of the Apostles, a race of powerful warrior demons, and a powerful warrior and swordsman, known for killing thousands. He is the right-hand man of Griffith, as well as the rival of Guts.

Nosferatu Zodd is a nightmarish foe on the battlefield. With his life purely dedicated to battle, he seeks powerful foes and adores fighting, leaving most who fight him dead. Even when his foes were outmatched by him, he continues a deadly assault. His main goal is to find a worthy rival, or as he calls them, the "ultimate strong one". Unlike his fellow apostles, Zodd doesn't eat human flesh or is overly sadistic. He also finds no enjoyment or pleasure in killing weak foes, and kills swiftly instead of letting his opponents suffer. In fact, Zodd sometimes laments his own incredible strength, as it has necessitated his endless search for powerful rivals to fight. Zodd holds a great deal of respect towards those strong enough to put up a fight against him.

Zodd also appears to detest the brutal ways of the other Apostles, demonstrated when he killed Wyald for attempting to kill Griffith to obtain his Behelit, and when he chose to stay outside the boundaries of the Eclipse to fight his rival the Skull Knight, showing no interest in the ongoing sacrifice within. For those who survive their encounters with him, and thus prove themselves worthy opponents, Zodd has nothing but respect. He holds anyone who can harm or even defend themselves against him in great esteem, such as Guts and the Skull Knight.

Zodd is often seen keeping to himself and observing his surroundings, preferring to act independently rather than rely on others. He is also highly skilled in combat, using his physical abilities and strategic thinking to overcome opponents. His reserved nature and focus on practicality can sometimes come off as cold or detached, but ultimately stem from his desire to achieve his goals efficiently and effectively. Zodd exhibits a strong sense of independence, assertiveness, and aggressiveness. Zodd's shadow side, however, can be seen in his tendency towards aggression and violence, which he uses to assert his dominance and establish his authority. He struggles with vulnerability and may find it challenging to show his softer, more vulnerable side to others.

Apostle Physiology: After becoming an Apostle, Zodd's physicality was increased to inhuman levels of strength, endurance, speed, agility, reflexes, and healing. He can also change between a humanoid form and his true form at will. Supernatural Strength: Zodd possesses incredible strength. In his base form he can lift multiple armored soldiers own his sword with ease, slice through stone pillars, throw at sword over an entire battlefield, and cut through several armored soldiers with one sword swing. In his Apostle form, Zodd can break through castle walls and roofs, lift then tear Wyald in half, collapse a mine with rushing charge, rip apart Ganiska's offshoots, and decapitate a Hydra twice with one swipe. Supernatural Durability: Zodd is a very resilient opponent. He is able to endure sword wounds, arrows, and multiple lightning strikes from Ganishka. His horns are very durable, able to block a cut from Guts sword, though he lost one horn after Griffith astrally wounded him in his own dream. Supernatural Speed: Zodd is deceptively fast. He was able to intercept Guts before his sword hit Griffith despite seeming to not be in the present area. He fought Guts at speeds so fast that Rickert couldn't tell what was going on. Supernatural Agility: Zodd his a surprisingly agile fighter, able to pull off a jumping backflip to avoid an attack from Guts. Supernatural Reflexes: Zodd's reflexes are noted to be inhuman as he was easily able to dodge attacks even millimeters from his eye, block a sword strike with his arms after his weapon was broken. Supernatural Healing: Zodd can healing from previous wounds faster than any human. He can recovers from swords wounds, shake off multiple arrows, and reattach his own served arm. Agelessness: As an Apostle, Zodd never ages or suffers from an effects from it. He has lived for over 300 years, to the extent where he is thought to be an immortal war god. Transformation: Zodd can turn onto his turn apostle form at will, which is a large brown feline with clawed hands, two large horns , hooves feet, and a long slender tail. Flight: In his apostle form, Zodd can sprout two large brown bat-like wings from his back which he can use to fly at great speeds with.

Master Combatant: Zodd is a highly formidable fighter versed in armed and unarmed techniques. He is able to defeat as many as 300 to 1,000 with relative ease. He has fought Guts on three different occasions, nearly killing him the first time, overpower him second time, and match him the third. He has also fought the Skull Knight on many occasions, with their fights seeming to end in a draw of some kind. He has also defeated the human Griffith working alongside Guts. Master Swordsman: Zodd is a highly skilled swordsman able to take on and defeat many soldiers with just his blade alone. He is able to duel Guts on two occasions, holding the upper hand in the first confrontation, and in the second fight stood on near equal footing with the Black Swordsman. he was also skilled at dual wielding swords in combat such as using his own sword alongside a blade taken from the Hill of Swords. Master Axesman: Zodd is highly skilled at using an axe in combat, often using it in conjunction with his sword to cut down multiple armored soldiers with ease. Master Tactician: Zodd is an intelligent and perceptive warrior. He was able to deduce Gut's strategy of ending the fight in one stroke just by looking at his fighting stance. He is capable of improvising in a fight such as throwing soldiers impaled on his sword to cover his attack, picking up a sword graver marker to overwhelm Guts, using his own served arm as a weapon. He can even use his true Apostle body as a weapon with his teeth, claws, horns and tail being used in a fight. He is also very competent in leading Griffith''s apostle forces on missions, with even Grumbled taking orders from him. He could also identify Ganishka's weak point and work together with Guts to bring him down. Leadership: Despite his loner personality, Zodd is a capable military leader as Griffith's second in command. Equestrianism Skills: Zodd sometimes rides a large, dark horse when traveling and can even fight multiple enemies while on horse back. High Pain Tolerance: Zodd possesses a high tolerance for pain, able to continue fighting after multiple sword and arrow wounds. Even having his arm severed or getting struck by multiple supernatural lighting strikes barley slows him down.

Swords: Zodd has used various large swords throughout the years. His first one appears to be a large bill hook style sword which he used during his first fight with Guts though it was broken by the latter. He later threw an aruval sword towards Guts for him to use during the Battle of Doldery. During his second fight with Guts, he used a ram dao identified as a "Kushan horse slaying sword" which he briefly used in connection with a long sword taken from the Hill of Swords grave marker, though it was damaged by Guts and broken in half by Zodd himself. During his service with Griffith he uses an unidentified cleaver type sword. Battle Axe: After swearing loyalty to Griffith and his second fight with Guts, Zodd began to use a single headed battle axe in conjunction with his sword. Armor: While Griffith service, Zodd wears some armor plates on his midsection bound by leathers straps and a pauldron on his left shoulder that resembles a demon.

Human: Zodd initially appears as a large man with dark hair and many scars. Bestial: Zodd has fangs, red eyes, and a snout-like face.

Apostle form: When transformed, Zodd is a tall, muscular humanoid beast with the following features: Skin and fur: Leathery black skin and fur Arms: Large claws on the ends of his fingers, with opposable thumbs Legs: Large hooves like a goat Tail: A long tail with lion-like fur Head: A large head similar to a lion, with a thick upward-curving horn Wings: Bat-like wings that can lift him into the air

Color: Zodd's fur is black, contrasting with his blood red eyes Horns: Zodd has two horns that remind us of a Minotaur Body: Zodd's body and arms resemble those of a murder gorilla

Zodd lives for battle. Strength of body and mind are both paramount to him, and he wishes for nothing more than to make himself stronger to become the ultimate warrior. Whoever he meets, he wishes for a duel, and becomes gravely disappointed when his opponent proves to not be worthy of his skills.

When he meets any opponent who is worthy of his power, his demeanor becomes much lighter and more jovial. But that makes him no less menacing. He only begins to fight harder as his opponents prove themselves in combat. Despite all of that, he often feels unfulfilled when fighting, as he rarely ever meets a worthy opponent. That all changes when he becomes a member of the New Band of the Hawk, and he finds a new purpose in his life.

No matter how you look at him, Zodd is a monster. He towers over regular people with his hugely muscular frame like they were insects. And even without transforming, his face looks more like some wild beast than a human’s with his broad nose, glaring eyes and visible fangs. However beastly he looks, it’s nothing compared to his released form.

When Zodd unleashes his true form as an apostle, he grows to twice his normal height, and gains even more muscle. His face becomes that of a lion’s, and gigantic horns protrude from his head. His feet turn to gigantic bull’s hooves, his claws grow even longer, and his body becomes covered in deep red fur. Completing his demonic appearance is a long, bulky tail and a pair of bat wings.