Zavok

"Playtime is over, hedgehog."

- Zavok, Sonic Lost World

Zavok (ザボック) is one of the primary antagonists in Sonic Lost World. He is a Zeti and the leader of the Deadly Six. When Dr. Eggman came to the Lost Hex, Zavok and the other members of the Deadly Six were forced into serving the doctor due to the effects of the Cacophonic Conch. After Sonic the Hedgehog arrived and got rid of the conch, Zavok and the others rebelled against Eggman and took control of his forces. Zavok then enacted his plan to achieve world domination by using Eggman's Extractor to make himself and the other Deadly Six stronger, while destroying Earth, but was ultimately defeated by Sonic.

Appearance
Zavok is a red Zeti with a very stocky build. The majority of his upper body is pure red, as is his serpentine tail. He has five-fingered hands that end with sharp cyan-colored nails. Zavok's body from the waist down is black in coloration, ending in two-clawed feet with cyan toes. His head is relatively small compared to the rest of his body and his lower jaw sticks out, showing a row of spiked fangs. The upper half of his head is black save for red markings around his eyes, which are purple with yellow sclera. Zavok has what appears to be a relatively thick cyan-colored unibrow that forms a vaguely V-shaped crest. Sticking out from the sides of his head, Zavok has two vicious curved horns that are striped in varying shades of dark grey. Zavok appears to be bald, sans for a cyan ponytail sticking out from the back of his head. Zavok has two rows of sharp black spikes sticking out of his shoulders. His only attire seems to be a pair of black bracelets with grey spikes jutting out.

History
At some point in the past, Zavok became the student of Master Zik and was taught in various subjects. Many years prior to Sonic Lost World, Zavok was brought into the Deadly Six when Master Zik formed the group, and he became their leader.

Shortly before the events of Sonic Lost World, Zavok and the other Deadly Six met Dr. Eggman, who used a Cacophonic Conch to enslave them. Zavok then begrudgingly assisted Eggman in his latest scheme for world domination by capturing the Animals Eggman needed to build an army of Badniks.

When Eggman returned to his factory, Zavok listened uninterested as Eggman showed him and the other Deadly Six how to make Badniks, before Eggman told him that with their help, he would both conquer the world and defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. Curious about Sonic, Zavok allowed Zazz to fight him, hoping to learn more.

Later on, Zavok was with Eggman and the other Deadly Six in Windy Hill, where they were found by Sonic. When Eggman left Zazz to finish Sonic, Zavok and the remaining Deadly Six departed with Eggman. Afterwards, Zavok and his team returned to gathering more animals for Eggman, but the doctor found the animals they had brought underwhelming. This angered Zavok, but he was brought back in line when Eggman used the Cacophonic Conch. When Eggman later tested his unstable Extractor, Zavok secretly eavesdropped on the test.

Later in Desert Ruins, Zavok and the other Deadly Six were scolded by Eggman for their failures and were again subjugated to the Cacophonic Conch. However, Sonic then appeared and knocked the conch away. Now free, Zavok and the other Deadly Six took control of Eggman's Badniks and used them to attack everyone present, before Zavok ordered the others to attack as well, effectively driving Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, Sonic and Tails away.

After being by freed by Sonic, Zavok and the other Deadly Six took control of Eggman's operations on the Lost Hex, but Sonic still opposed them. When Master Zik decided to deal with Sonic, Zavok was reluctant about it as it was beneath him. At the time Master Zik returned, Zavok had devised a plan to destroy the Earth with the Extractor and use the energy it harvested to make himself and the other Deadly Six stronger, which in turn would kill Eggman as punishment for their enslavement. Revealing his plan to Master Zik and Zomom, Zavok sent the Extractor out of control as it drained the world's energy.

A while later, Zavok discovered that Zeena had not left the base to deal with Sonic, but convinced her to get going by praising her. Sometime later, Zavok contacted Sonic and his allies, where he told Sonic that his efforts were in vain and sadistically commended Eggman for the Extractor before he was cut out.

Later, Zavok was studying Sonic, having found him to be a more formidable foe than he had anticipated. When Master Zik then suggested Sonic would make a powerful slave and brought up that Eggman had taught them how to make robots, Zavok realized that they could turn Sonic into their robotic servant. Setting up a trap, Zavok and the others awaited for Sonic to be captured, but when it return, they discovered they had caught Tails instead. While annoyed by this, Zavok decided to use Tails to their advantage, before scowling at Zor who arrived to tell them that they had failed to capture Sonic.

Later, Zavok met Sonic in Sky Road where he horrified Sonic by telling him his plans to turn Tails into a robot before escaping. However, Sonic caught up to Zavok and defeated him. Some time after, Zavok found Sonic again and taunted him with how his friends seemed to die one after another after Sonic had seen Knuckles and Amy succumb to the Extractor, before escaping again. Not long after, Zavok faced Sonic again, but was defeated once more.

Tired of his defeats, Zavok began the process of turning Tails into a robot to enact his revenge before leaving the machines to fulfill the process. Later on, Zavok confronted Sonic with Zor and Zeena when Sonic was moving through Lava Mountain, where Zavok told Sonic to join Tails as he revealed a seemingly Tails-turned-robot. When Sonic refused, Zavok ordered Tails to kill Sonic, but was surprised and forced to retreat when Tails attacked him, having only pretended to be their robotic slave. Not long after, Zavok was confronted by Sonic and fought the hedgehog again, but was defeated for good. What happened to Zavok afterwards is unclear.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Zavok makes a cameo appearance as a part of the "Deadly Six" trophy which can be collected in the game.

Personality
Zavok is a merciless and cruel being. He is very serious, ferocious and dark, often deploying graphical threats of death and destruction, and he has little tolerance for failure, though he mostly keeps his cool. Ever focused on achieving his goals, Zavok will not let anything stand in his way.

Zavok is a quite cunning and intelligent individual. Always observant, he studies his opponents in advance and knows how to use a situation to his advantage, knowing he would learn about Sonic when Zazz fought him regardless of the outcome and planning to turn Tails into a weapon against Sonic when they accidentally caught him. He is also rather manipulative, tricking Zeena into fighting Sonic by praising her and sending Sonic into disarray with psychologically taunts.

Zavok comes off as very prideful. He considers serving as the servant to Eggman and capturing animals as beneath him and it can aggravate him to the point where he will speak up despite the danger present to him. Zavok's pride transcends into arrogance or at least a disrespect for others, which is shown when he called Eggman a "fool" for enslaving them, when he told Sonic that his fight against them was futile and fated to fail and he called himself "the one Zeti" Sonic could not defeat even after losing to him beforehand.

Zavok is shown to be sarcastic with a dry sense of humor. When Eggman boasted about his Badnik army, Zavok looked away and told Eggman indifferently that he was "quite the mighty conqueror". He later responded in a similar way to Zeena.

Like the other Deadly Six, Zavok is inherently malicious and violent. He finds joy in inflicting pain, torturing and killing others, telling Sonic that he would savor his screams and feast upon his fear. He also enjoys tormenting others psychologically, laughing at how he taunted Sonic with his plans to turn Tails into a robot and the apparent death of his friends. He also has no qualms about causing global genocide and destruction for his own gain or personal reasons, as he was perfectly content with destroying the Earth and everyone on it to get their energies for himself and the others. Likewise, Zavok is very vengeful and will seize any opportunity for retribution; he instantly attacked Eggman when had no means of controlling with every intent of making him play for his abuse and plotted to turn Tails into a weapon against Sonic after being defeated by him.

Powers and abilities
As arguably the strongest fighter amongst the Deadly Six, Zavok possesses great fighting skills which might stem from his tutelage under Master Zik. He especially excels in close combat, using combos of punches where he can surround his fists with red energy for more powerful strikes and using guards to protect himself. As another testament to his strength, Zavok has never needed to use his full power before his final battle with Sonic.

Zavok possesses a high degree of superhuman strength, enough to let him punch over a meter thick robot parts clean off their joints with a single strike. He also has incredible jumping skill, allowing him to leap high into the air and across very large distances in an instant. To match his strength, Zavok has a large amount of endurance and durability, enough to let him withstand Sonic's regular Homing Attack and to continue fighting indefinitely without tiring out. He is also able to move at speeds matching Sonic's as small dashes.

Besides physical skills, Zavok is capable of flight. He also possesses a degree of pyrokinetic abilities as he is able to fire large fireballs from the palm of his hands. In the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World, Zavok also demonstrated the ability to increase his own size immensely. While in this state, Zavok's physical traits, such as his strength, mass, and durability, are increased to the point where he can effortlessly barge through anything in his way and withstand several explosions before going down, and he can shoot either an intense laser or immense fireballs from his mouth. Zavok refers to this state as his "full strength".

As a Zeti, Zavok possesses the innate ability to manipulate magnetic fields, which enables him to control electronics. This allows Zavok to take control of robots and remotely pilot mechs without using physical control interfaces.

Deadly Six
As the leader of the Deadly Six, Zavok seemingly holds most of his fellow Zeti in high esteem, referring to them as "brothers". He also shows little selfishness when comes to them, like when he had every intention of sharing the energy the Extractor harvested. Amongst the Deadly Six, Zavok has taken a liking to Zazz due to his readiness to begin a fight with anything. He also holds a great amount of respect for his teacher Master Zik. When Master Zik wanted to take care of Sonic, Zavok did not want him to bother himself with it as it was beneath him, and when he gave him the idea of turning Sonic into a robot, Zavok respectfully thanked him for the plan. However, he cares little for Zeena's arrogance, and uses flattery to trick her into going after Sonic.

Regardless of his respect for his team members (except for Master Zik), Zavok will turn his anger towards them when they fail to carry out his orders, such as when they failed to capture Sonic, and when Zeena's had not left for her assignment. Also, as implied by Zazz, Zavok will physically punish the other members of the Deadly Six for their failures.

Dr. Eggman
Due to him enslaving and humiliating him, Zavok holds nothing but spite for Dr. Eggman. Even while under the threat of being exposed to the Cacophonic Conch, Zavok spoke up against Eggman and expressed him contempt at him when the doctor criticized them. He also does not think highly of the doctor and considers him a fool. Regardless, he did commend Eggman for his Extractor.

Once Sonic accidentally freed Zavok from Eggman's control, Zavok quickly seized the opportunity to take revenge on Eggman by attack him with everything at his disposal and had every intention of making Eggman suffer and eventually claiming his life. Also, when Zavok set the Extractor to destroy the earth, one of his reasons for doing this was to kill Eggman as revenge.

Sonic the Hedgehog
When Zavok first heard of Sonic the Hedgehog from Eggman, he was intrigued by the blue hedgehog and desired to learn more. When Sonic set out to stop them once they broke free, Zavok thought of him as no more than a nuisance destined to fail. As Sonic continuously defeated the Deadly Six, however, Zavok began to see Sonic more like a legitimate threat and acknowledged his strength. When Master Zik later brought it up, Zavok gained an interest in making Sonic the Deadly Six's robotic slave.

After the other Deadly Six had been defeated, Zavok decided to take care of Sonic personally, but was too dealt humiliating defeats. Infuriated by Sonic, Zavok decided to take revenge on him by turning his best friend into an robotic instrument to use against him.

Battle
Zavok is encountered at Sky Road in the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World. He rides and controls a giant, robotic serpent-like dragon with the same color scheme as Zavok. There is an encounter against Zavok, as well, as Zavok (without the robot dragon) punches and stomps on Sonic at Zone Four of Sky Road. In Zone Two, Zavok rides the dragon, as the robot dragon shoots fireballs at Sonic, but the weak point is shown as the tail. This battle takes place in a planetoid-sphere arena which eventually turns into a 2.5D arena in Zone Two.

Archie Comics
Zavok appears in Sonic Halloween Comic Fest 2013 and Sonic Super Special Magazine #9 published by Archie Comics, which are both comic book prequels to Sonic Lost World. The stories featured in these issues weren't canon to the main continuity of the book, which later saw Zavok and the other Deadly Six members appearing in the Worlds Unite crossover.

In the comics, Zavok encountered Dr. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot when they first arrived on the Lost Hex, and did not take kindly to their arrival. After hearing from Eggman that he had come looking for him and the Zeti, Zavok mockingly wondered if Eggman was either brave or foolish. Eggman then proclaimed himself Zavok's new master, but Zavok found it laughable, and asked how he planned to control him. In response, Eggman ordered his Buzz Bombers to attack Zavok, but Zavok easily dodged their blasts and took control of the Buzz Bombers. No sooner though, Zavok was brought into submission when Eggman used the Cacophonic Conch, which made him relent and reluctantly agree to serve Eggman.

After being forced to serve Eggman, Zavok rounded up the other Deadly Six and went down to Earth to capture Animals upon orders from Eggman. After filling a capsule with animals that Eggman took with him in his Egg Mobile, Zavok remarked that such work was beneath the Deadly Six.

Trivia

 * Zavok's name may be based on the word "havoc", fitting his role as a world-destroying villain.
 * Zavok's name may also be a reference to the game engine "Havok", which is used to program many of the physics of certain modern Sonic games including Sonic Lost World.
 * The robot dragon that Zavok will use for his boss fight bears a great resemblance to the Egg Viper and the unused Sky Chase Dragon from Sonic Adventure. It also bears some resemblence to the Egg Wyvern and Egg Dragoon.
 * Zavok plays a similar role to Antasma from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team; Both are the main villain of their respective game, temporarily work with the series antagonist (Eggman and Bowser), and are both the second to last boss while being overshadowed by Eggman and Bowser. The difference is, Bowser and Antasma work together for the majority of the game and Bowser betrays Antasma and leaves him to be killed by the Mario Bros., as opposed to Zavok overshadowing Eggman earlier into the game and Eggman reassuming his antagonistic position only after Zavok's final defeat.
 * Zavok's final battle is similar to the fight with Bowser in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2. In addition, the way he is defeated is done in a similar way to Bowser's battles in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Also, both Zavok and Bowser shoot fireballs and both fall into the lava when defeated.
 * Zavok and Bowser's physical appearances are also similar too, as they both have spiked wrist bands and hair tufts hanging backwards from their heads, and feet with claws.
 * Zavok is the only member of the Deadly Six (and the only boss other than Eggman) to have his own theme for boss fights.
 * Initially, Zavok was given the subtitle "Master of Chaos", but it was later changed to "King of Chaos."
 * Out of all the Zetis, Zavok has the longest and thickest tail.
 * Zavok is the only Zeti who can whitstand Sonic's Focused Homing Attack.