Above right: Fara Maku, as a panther. (Both pictures courtesy of
Agamemnon.)
Species: Werepanther
Gender: Male
First Appearance: "Mark Of The Panther"
Other Appearances: None
Fara Maku lived in Nigeria. When his love, Tea, left him to live in the city of Abuja, he found the ancient city of Karadigi in the jungle, and made a deal with Anansi- in exchange for Fara becoming a werepanther and hunting for the spider, he would insure that Tea would stay with Fara. Anansi agreed, and Fara, now a werepanther, marked Tea, transforming her into a werepanther as well.
However, Tea was not thrilled with her new way of life, and made it her mission to hunt down the werepanther who'd marked her, even if it meant killing every panther she met. Fara, for his part, now lived in the jungle with a local tribe, and became friends with Diane Maza.
When Tea and her fellow poachers came to slay the panther the tribe was ready to ceremonially release in 1996, Fara was forced to reveal his werepanther self, which changed Tea's indifference towards him to rage. She pursued Fara through the jungle with the Avalon travellers attempting to stop her, but she finally managed to catch up with him in Karadigi. There, the two weres, the travellers, and Diane Maza were confronted by Anansi, and Fara realized his mistake- he had been selfish in putting his desires before Tea's. After Tea attacked Anansi and was hurt, Fara tried to get the spider to free her from the curse, and in exchange he would hunt for Anansi forever. Anansi, however, decided he liked the idea of turning all of the people present into werepanther servitors. The entire group was forced to battle Anansi, and they eventually "destroyed" him. Tea realized that her anger had made her into a monster, and both Fara and Tea decided to atone for their wrongs by using their curse to protect the jungle. It is there that they remain.
Fara Maku was a rather average African male when in human form, but he could assume the form of a panther, wherein he possessed all of the typical abilities of that jungle cat.