Head: Star Wars A.O.T.C. Padme Amidala - Coruscant attack with Predacon dreadlocks & attached to JvC Zarana neck

Torso: Bombstrike

Arms and upper legs: JvC Zarana

Crotch: JvC Scarlett

Feet: Funskool Cover-girl with added-on kneepads from some spy-troops gear

Ammo-belt: VvV Scarlett quiver with added-on Funskool Croc-master collar from the croc

Zanya is the result of a temporary love affair Zartan had with a woman in Chicago, an affair he took only because he needed some cover, not because he was particularly interested in her. When Zartan gave the woman the cold hand and left, there hadn't yet gone enough time to even suspect a pregnancy. Since Zartan never leaves any traces of where he's going, the woman could not find him again by the time Zanya was born, and therefore Zartan remained completely unaware of his off-spring until Zanya herself looked him up in her early teens.

Growing up in a rough neighborhood under the poor conditions of a drunken mother, Zanya developed the skills and attitude of a street brawler in order to survive. Growing more and more impatient with her life in which her mother constantly got involved with the wrong type of men, she rebelled against everything that was to hold her in line, fueling her inborn aggressions against authority. This led to her developing a constant temper, but instead of letting this get her into trouble, she managed to channel her rage into her street-fighting behavior, making her a gang-leader of the streets. When her mother finally decided to take her own aggressions of her miserable life out on the misbehaving child, Zanya retaliated - harshly. Nobody has been able to come up with an explanation of what had happened, but the apartment Zanya grew up in was burned down, and both her mother and her mother's boyfriend perished in the fire.

Zanya fled her hometown, and her resourcefulness allowed her to travel from gang to gang by participating in illegal street fight competitions, in which she was a constant winner and earning a lot of blood money. Her travels led her to the Everglades where in a local biker-turf she was discovered by members of the Dreadnoks. Winning them wagers in a fight, they were so impressed by her fighting-skills that she was invited to a Dreadnok-party, where she came face to face with her father Zartan. Confronting him, Zartan became quite shocked from the revelation of who she was, while his sister Zarana became enraged by Zanya's apparent accusations and threatened to have her killed.

Zartan corroborated Zanya's story though through his contacts in Chicago, and allowed her to join the Dreadnoks with the warning that his organization was not a nursery, and that she would have to abide by the harsh rules of a lawless gang. Zanya would of course not have it any other way, and she has lived by that rule ever since. During the years that followed, Zanya became more and more Zartan's successor of the Dreadnoks, much to Zarana's chagrin. Zartan on the other hand now has to work hard to avoid revealing that he cares a lot more for Zanya than he's willing to admit - she is after all his flesh and blood.


Personal Comments:

I find it sad that Zanya never made it to become recognized as an official figure, and she probably never will now that G.I.Joe has rebooted. She and several others were such interesting characters, and should therefore not be just tossed aside and forgotten. The Devil's Due representation of Zartan's outfit was also very interesting, and I felt that I wanted a figure of this one as well - you can view that result in the second picture. Since it's a replica of similar figures that has already been presented on this site, I won't bother to put mine up, unless I'm asked to.