Giza

	"Mom, stop it! It's inc-, unc-, onc-... it's not done yet!"
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Giza
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General information
Name meaning	Named after the plateau of the same name. Also, Swahili for "Darkness"
Alias	"Little Giza" (by Nadira)
Species	African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus), melanistic variant
Gender	Female
Age	Twelve years (as of page 17), Fourteen years (as of page 33)
Birthplace	Unknown
Current residence	Lerai Forest (formerly), roamer in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Fate	Dead
Peculiar traits	Large scar on forehead
First appearance	Page 3
Affiliations
Allies
Rivals	Africa, Nadira
Enemies
Relatives	Sahara (mother), Hasira (father) Unnamed siblings Two unnamed mates, Tumaini (mate), Botswana, Kalahari, Kenya (brood, first litter) Namibia, Okavango (brood, second litter) Africa (daughter, third litter, with Tumaini) Mosi, Binti (grandchildren)
Other
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Giza is a lithe, skinny, depleted-looking female melanistic African leopard, a former resident of Lerai Forest in Ngorongoro Crater, Ngorongoro Conservation Area. She is Africa's mother.

Physical appearance

Giza appears as a thin female leopard, with very tapering, pointed shapes, and bones showing through her skin. Especially visible are her ribs, cheekbones and hips. She has pointed ears, cheeks, chin, paws and tailtip, and her eyes are also very angular in shape, and yellow in colour. Her fur is entirely black except for the inside of her ears, from which four tufts of fur come out, her  ocelli markings on the back of her ears, as well as a spot near the tip of her tail, all of which are white. As an elderly leopard, her muzzle starts to grey out, especially in the area around her mouth, and she acquires a large scar just above her left eye.

Personality

Stern and authoritarian, Giza immediately demonstrates to be strong-willed and determined starting from her first appearance. Bigot and reactionary, Giza strives not only to survive, but also to follow the strict rules imposed by the tradition of her family, which taught her that nothing has to change. Due to multiple sad moments in her life, she developed incredible willpower which determined her survival despite her strong disadvantages. Beneath her solid outer shell, however, Giza is a mother mourning for her deceased cubs, weak and vulnerable, left alone with her worst fears to face. When Africa turns against her, she has a moment of hesitation in front of the prospect that she might kill her only surviving daughter. Angry with herself for her mistake, she lets her heart harden even more as she heads away, embracing a lonely life.

History

Before the events of the comic

Giza was born with a coat different from her mother's resulting in finding it harder to hunt as her black pelt stood out in the yellow grass. Positive that Giza could survive, Sahara trained her harder than her siblings in order to ensure she could make it to adulthood.

Things didn't improve as she began life on her own. She had to endure fasting, fighting, disappointment and defeat as she was thinner and weaker than most leopards.

Before the birth of Africa, she had several litters however the cubs always died as she wasn't fit enough to fend for them. She met Nadira shortly after losing her first cub. According to Giza, the gazelle told her good things come to those who wait.

Only one of Giza's cubs survived and as she was getting old, seeing her chance to have descendants was fading, she swore that Africa would reach adulthood, no matter the cost.

Philosophy

"The mountains never move from where they seat. The stars never switch places across the sky. The moon never shows its other face."

—Giza

According to Giza, nothing has to change. The philosophy in itself is not a statement of fact, rather, a commitment of the follower to stick to this rule. In fact, Giza never says that nothing changes, but that nothing has to change. She accepts the fact that changes do happen, although some might be so slow that they seem negligible. Her aim, however, is to shun these changes and ignore their existence as much as possible, so as to live a life without worrying about the dangers they might bring. Changes can be positive, but negative too, and, because leopards only have one life, they cannot risk it on the prospect that the lifestyle they chose could turn against them. Rather, they let their parents instruct them on the best way to thrive, that is, to avoid change completely, because only this choice, and no other, can ensure their survival. The tradition, as Giza calls is, has been passed down from a generation of leopards to the next, and its signature is the habit of naming cubs after places of Africa.

Quotes

"I had to endure fasting and fighting, and disappointment and defeat."

—Giza

Trivia

• Giza is the first character to appear in the comic, even before the protagonist.
• Giza initially had to be called Duma. Coincidentally, at the time, Duma was the name of another character, who later got a different role in the story, as well as a different name.
• The character of Iza from the series of written novels Azarian Stories is partially based on Giza, as the two bear distinct resemblance in name, design and personality.