Vanasha

Full Name	Vanasha
Alias(es)	Unknown
Origin	Horizon Zero Dawn
Occupation	Spy Nasadi's handmaiden
Powers / Skills	Combat skills Espionage Tactical ingenuity
Hobby	No information
Goals	Act as a spy for the Carja and facilitate Itamen and Nasadi's rescue. Free Nasadi and Itamen from the Shadow Carja Sun-Priests and bring them back to Sunfall. (both successful)
Family	Unknown parents
Friends / Allies	Avad Marad (superior) Uthid Itamen Nasadi Aloy
Enemies	Bahavas † (arch-enemy) Shadow Carja Helis Eclipse
Type of Hero	Secret Agent

Vanasha is a minor character in the 2017 video game Horizon Zero Dawn as well as its 2022 sequel Horizon Forbidden West. She served as a spy to the Carja, who was stationed in Sunfall, to facilitate the rescue of Nasadi and Itamen, the figurehead leaders of the Shadow Carja tribe. After two years of planning, with the help of Aloy, Vanasha was able to smuggle Itamen and Nasadi out from Sunfall all the way to Meridian, thus initiating the collapse of the Shadow Carja, after the Battle of the Alight.

Vanasha is voiced and portrayed by Lara Rossi.

Appearance

Vanasha looks to be in her late 20s or early 30s, who is tall and has a dark complexion. She has dark eyes. She wears an armoured second clothing, which indicates that she is in excellent physical shape. She appears in a long, dark purple, hooded, shoulder-less robe with an armoured chest plate when first observed. Her second attire consists of purple leggings, sandals, an armoured headgear, and a dark coloured crossing armour plate that covers her shoulders and arms but exposes her midriff. The chest armour and the headgear both seem to be constructed of metal or machine components.

Personality

Vanasha is flirty and can be amiable and engaging in both a genuine way and as a useful way to ingratiate herself as part of her job. She sincerely cares for and supports the underprivileged, possibly recognising in them a reflection of her own upbringing. Because of the suffering that Bahavas, Helis, the Kestrels, and other Jiran loyalists inflicted on her, her family, and all the other defenseless men, women, and children who could not fight back against them, she has a strong moral code and feels intense hatred for them. She believes that this was the Sun's will.

Abilities

She appears to be a master of deception, much like her tutor Marad, having worked as a spy in the Citadel for years without ever raising even the slightest suspicion. In fact, she managed to methodically plot Nasadi's betrayal without anybody noticing. She is quite good at acquiring intelligence, just like Marad. She is also a superb fighter, having defeated a squad of well-armed and trained bounty hunters on her alone and dispatched charging Eclipse cultists with ease.