Farud

In the Shahnameh narrative, Farud is introduced as a son of Siavash and thus a scion of the Kayanian royal line and brother to Kai Khosrow. He rules Kelat and commands men from that stronghold. During Kai Khosrow's campaign to avenge their father's death, the king explicitly orders the army to avoid passing through Kelat so as to spare his brother; despite this injunction, Tus's contingent encounters Farud, leading to misrecognition, counsel from Tokhareh and Bahram on Farud's behalf, and a sequence of confrontations that culminate in Farud's retreat to his fortress and his being mortally wounded.

The supplied textual sources do not provide a sustained canonical physical description of Farud's appearance. Manuscript illuminations and later Qajar paintings depict episodes involving him (for example, shooting Zarasp or retreating to his fortress), but these artistic renderings are not quoted as descriptive textual evidence within the provided materials.

Farud is depicted as a formidable human warrior and commander. He conducts reconnaissance from the hills, withdraws tactically to a fortress, and in combat kills or maims opponents and their horses. Narrative passages emphasize his martial reputation—other characters describe him with similes (e.g., compared to a lion and a crocodile) as a warning not to provoke excessive revenge—but no supernatural powers are attributed to him in the cited sources. At times, following counsel, he deliberately kills enemy horses rather than riders to send a measured warning while limiting casualties.