Equius Zahhak

Equius Zahhak and Homestuck are the Property of Andrew Hussie, all rights of the author reserved.

First introduced in Vriska Serket's comatose flashbacks to her life on Alternia in the far past, Equius Zahhak was her neighbour and apparent friend. He was the one to fashion her mechanical arm after an unknown incident destroyed that and her left eye. Though largely quiet and reserved, he's also shown an uncontrollable rage when his short temper gets the better of him regarding anything that displeases him.

Like all members of his race shown thus far, Equius has a number of quirks with how his text is presented when speaking or typing. Thus far, when speaking, his text is colored dark blue and bold. He has impeccable grammar, though replaces "x"s and similar-sounding letter combinations with "%"s; Any occurrence of the letters/sounds "loo" and "ool" in any words are replaced with "100" and "001," respectively; his dialogue is typed with the word STRONG in all caps wherever it's said; and when flustered, he tends to make horse puns.

Appearance
Much like Vriska Serket and Sollux Captor, Equius has pale gray skin and messy black hair, his shoulder length and mostly straight. Like how the others of his race have unique horns, Equius's slightly curve upward; one is ended by an arrowhead-shaped tip, while the other's end is broken off. Even with his utterly cracked, rectangular-framed sunglasses on, it is plain to see that serious bags rest under his eyes. As well, several of Equius's teeth were missing at the time of his introduction. He wears a tight black muscleshirt with the sign for Sagittarius in dark blue on the chest, gray jeans shorts, black thigh-highs, and matching shoes and fingerless gloves.

Personality
The same as in Vriska's flashbacks, Equius is very calm and composed, and tries to remain evenly tempered when speaking to others. Avoiding direct conflict (at least with others of his own race), Equius is very proper and thoughtful despite his frightful appearance. Nonetheless, when his anger is provoked - Something that happens often and easily, it would seem - Equius's fury is channeled without pause through violence.

As well, he seems to strictly adhere to the obliquely-described caste system of his race, which seems to place himself and Vriska Serket near the top and individuals like one Tavros towards the bottom. This is seen with his use of terms like "highb100d" for himself and Vriska, and "lowb100d" towards Tavros. He's also used what can only be a very derogatory term to describe lower classes: "gutterb100d."

Nonetheless, all of his negative qualities doesn't stop Equius from finding a close friend in Nepeta Leijon. Even when she gave him a mighty pouncegreeting and tackled him to the floor, Equius never got mad at her in even the slightest degree. This interaction with her also showed that he makes a variety of horse puns when flustered by such circumstances as Nepeta's "horsing around."

On a side note, it has been mentioned in passing that Equius has a keen interest in archery; the prospect of finding a bow suited to him was more than enough to convince him to explore the Land of Maps and Treasure with Vriska Serket. A great deal of determination arose at the thought that he could finally become an archer like he'd dreamed of. The thing that kept him from it before, and may keep him from becoming an archer even today, is simple in its cruel irony.

Equius is so outrageously STRONG that any regular bow he's ever attempted to wield for use in archery has just snapped in half on drawing an arrow.

History
Initially introduced as Vriska Serket's neighbour on Alternia, Equius was the one to tend her injuries and fashion a prosthetic left arm following the unknown event which lost her said limb and her left eye. Years later, but not many, as Alternia was struck by calamity, Equius could do nothing as one of the falling meteors tore open his hive and caused Aurthour, his lusus, to fall to his death. Following this, Equius's hive, the upper half of his mesa, and Aurthour's body disappeared because of an unknown force.

Much later, Equius was re-introduced in his lab doing a maintenance check on the mechanical legs of a young member of his race called Tavros. Later, after trying to pick up a glass of milk and shattering it all over himself due to his ridiculous strength, he demolished a couple of robots in a rage.

Noting that an excitedly whispering individual had been scared into silence by this violent outburst, Equius referred to them in familiar and made an attempt to reassure them that he was "okay" as he cleaned the milk and glass shards off of himself with a towel.

When Nepeta Leijon revealed herself by pouncing on Equius for a hug, in a surprising outcome, he didn't get the slightest bit angry at her for this. Even when Nepeta glomped him after he told her to stop her "horsing around," he didn't show a hint of even the very slightest annoyance with her. The two proceeded to have a regular ol' hugfest; with Equius holding back so as to not hurt Nepeta with how STRONG he is.

Vriska Serket would enter the workshop to get an inspection on her mechanical arm; though interrupted by Equius remembering a machine he had to check on in the next room and the STRONG LEAVE through the wall to do so, the checkup went over smoothly. That is, until Vriska received a message from a powerful telepath calling herself "Sledge Mama", in which it was agreed that Vriska would help free her from the supposed tomb beyond time and space.

Equius briefly explained the powers of Vriska's Fluorite Octet to Nepeta, but still seems to not be playing a major role in central events.

Relationships
Aurthour: At the time of Vriska Serket's flashbacks, Equius was in position as the part-caretaker, part-ward of his lusus, Aurthour. A solid white centaur, bald-headed, with a prominent nose and mustache, Aurthour also possessed an udder at mid-abdomen. Considering that he was continually bringing Equius milk to drink while tending Vriska's injuries, it's likely that Aurthour himself was the source.

Notably, the two seemed to have a much more peaceful relationship than Vriska and her monstrous lusus. While Aurthour was called by Equius a very strong, reliable guardian, he nonetheless seemed to be easily hurt by Equius from just being patted on the head; even when the former was holding back. This is more likely than not because Equius is freakishly strong.

During the event that seemingly caused Alternia's end of days and what is confirmed to have led to the death of Vriska Serket's lusus, an asteroid tore right through Equius's house and caused Aurthour to fall to his demise. His body disappeared along with Equius's hive and part of the mesa it rested upon. Needless to say, Equius was emotionally destroyed by this, and it is unknown how well or even if he managed to recover.

Nepeta: Equius's good friend, close to him as a sibling and with the sentiment reciprocated fully, Nepeta Leijon shares a unique bond with him in that she has an incredibly calming effect on Equius's great rage, and Equius looks after her closely to make sure that she doesn't get into trouble. The nature of their bond is very akin to how Zev Raregroove and Prudence Franklin were initially presented.

Vriska: Neighbours on Alternia prior to its destruction, Equius and Vriska Serket were and still are friends to a certain degree. It is unknown how close they are, but Equius did all he could to reassure Vriska during her grievous wounding and carefully fashioned a mechanical arm for her without payment of any kind. He also seems to try and convince Vriska to remain true to her status as a "b100 b100d"; in his mind, for her own good.

Abilities/Skills
As seen where he was the first that Vriska Serket opted for to take care of her injuries while on Alternia, Equius most likely has or had enough skill with medical techniques to earn high esteem for it. He also has great abilities in the construction of machines, as he personally build Vriska's mechanical arm and most likely built the robot which he soon smashed for a mistake. On that note, Equius's sheer brute strength is incredible. There is no denying that Equius is so strong as to be a veritable freak of nature. His power is so great that, even with great care, he slightly bent an adamantium scalpel while working with it.

Quotes
- An exchange on the Land of Maps and Treasure
 * "...Seriously, the 8roken halves of a 8ow, 1/2 8ow? Do you just 8eat the everloving shit out of the monsters on your planet with them and crap?" - Vriska
 * "Sometimes." - Equius

Trivia

 * Fitting with his Sagittarius theme, Equius's given name is based on the Latin word for horse. As well, his last name is based on Zahhak, a villain in Iranian folklore, who has an older name that approximately translates into English as "he who has 1,000 horses." This is also referenced by his lusus: a centaur of a very strange kind.