Ruslan Erzhanov

Asad Ishaqzai (Pashto: اسد اسحاقزی) is a supporting fan character in the Big Hero 6 universe.

Early Life
Asad Ishaqzai was born in San Fransokyo to parents Hamidullah and Gulalai. His parents were ethnic Pashtuns of the Ishaqzai tribal confederation who arrived in the United States as refugees from Afghanistan. Neither Hamidullah nor Gulalai were literate upon arriving in San Fransokyo, neither received ant college education, and both only spoke Pashto. The couple were wedded through an inter-tribal arranged marriage, and had four children in total (counting Asad). The family practises Hanafi Sunni Islam, the dominant religion of the Pashtuns.

In San Fransokyo, Hamidullah opened a bakery shop, Khowaga Pastry, that served a selection of Pashtun and American desserts and cakes. The bakery, unfortunately, never reached the status that Hamidullah had hoped it would achieve; it was highly overshadowed by its competitor, the Lucky Cat Café, and other shops that offered Japanese-oriented sweets.

Name Etymology
Asad (اسد) is a masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "lion", taken directly from the word أَسَد (ʾasad) meaning "lion".

Ishaqzai (اسحاقزی; also spelled Ishakzai) is a Pashtun tribal name meaning "son of Ishaq". The name is formed from the Arabic personal name Ishaq (إسحاق), a form of the Hebrew name Issac  (יִצְחָק‎‎) meaning "he will laugh, he will rejoice" combined with the Pashto word زوی (zoy) meaning "son (of)". This is the name of a real Afghani Pashtun tribe of the Durrani confederation.

Fun Facts

 * His parents named him Asad (meaning "lion"; see etymology above) because they believed it would provide him with a sense of power and strength whenever he felt weak or hopeless.
 * He is fluent in Pashto and English.
 * His family's bakery, Khowaga Pastry, is inspired by the real Persian Haleh Pastry shop in Campbell, California.
 * The name "Khowaga" (خواږه) literally means "sweets" in Pashto.

Scrapped Concepts

 * Asad was originally going to be of Persian ancestry with the name "Reza Heidari".