Zahir was raised by his grandmother Abuto, a talented mechanic. Unknown to the Rakata, she squirreled away bits of machinery that would not be missed, using it to further her own knowledge. Abuto taught Zahir all she learned in her relatively long life, and it served as a strong foundation as he continues his intellectual journey after her death.
Generally known as a brute and a troublemaker, Zahir has been moved from one encampment to the next with barely enough time to learn the names of his superiors, let alone the other slaves. As such, he places little stock in relationships of any kind, knowing they are temporary.
At each new encampment, Zahir makes a point of getting into a fight within the first day. It is important that the Rakata see him as nothing more than a violent brute - he wouldn't want them to know his true strengths, or to find his hidden experiments.
To further his mechanical knowledge, Zahir tries to recreate any Rakatan machinery he has access to. In doing so, he hopes to get a deeper understanding of the principles behind each piece of equipment. Zahir is willing to share bits of his knowledge with those he works alongside, but he is set against showing anyone his private experiments or the entirety of his knowledge.
Zahir has had one person he would have called friend. Sozim. A togruta he met shortly after the passing of Abuto, the first time he was moved to a new encampment. Sozim had seen the fight Zahir started - more importantly, the hidden pain that stoked the desire for a fight - and came to find him with some food and scraps of cloth to bandage his bruised hands. It was the first of many kindnesses Sozim gifted to him.
By luck of fate, they ended up being placed in the same work crew. They spent every hour of every day side by side. Sozim was the first to learn how much Zahir really knew, and took to his teaching with voracity - though it took some time for those teachings to stick. In return, Sozim taught Zahir how to hide in plain sight of the Rakata, and how to lie effectively when caught. Unfortunately, Zahir took to subterfuge about as well as Sozim took to machinery.
Several months after his arrival at the encampment, one of Zahir's more...lethal experiments was found. All the nearby slaves - just over two dozen - were brought together. The Rakata claimed that if the experiment's creator did not come forward, all of them would be killed on the spot. Zahir and Sozim shared one look of panic. Then Sozim sprinted forward, without a word to Zahir, and claimed he was the creator. They killed him without a second glance.
A piece of Zahir died that day, too - that vital piece that convinces a person to enjoy the rays of the sun, a cool drink of water after a hard day's work, or the breath in their own lungs. He picked a fight every day for the next month, until he was beaten by the Rakata so badly he could barely move. He was recovered and at a new encampment a week later, dedicated to forget the name of every person he came across and to spit at the feet of any who offered him kindness.

Freedom: The Rakata's blatant disregard for the freedom of all peoples is abhorrent to Zahir. He dreams of ways to work against their cruel reign, but feels a certain hopelessness in the face of their power.

Knowledge: Zahir believes the greatest weapon is that which the Infinite Empire has already mastered: knowledge. He seeks to learn from whatever sources he has access to, and will pass that knowledge on to all who are willing.

A tall, hulking brute of a man, Zahir has dark green skin and a plethora of scars. A tangle of thin black symbols have been tattooed into his forehead and down his nose, a broader, angrier version mirrored across his chest and shoulders. His brow juts out heavily above his burnt orange eyes, his nose obviously broken on more than one occasion. His lips seem to be weighed down heavily at the edges at all times - you'll only see his teeth when he's in the midst of battle or discussing the intricacies of a perplexing machine.