mysql> show create database zabbix;
+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Database | Create Database                                                   |
+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| zabbix   | CREATE DATABASE `zabbix` /*!40100 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET latin1 */ |
+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> show variables like 'character%';
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| Variable_name            | Value                      |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
| character_set_client     | latin1                     |
| character_set_connection | latin1                     |
| character_set_database   | latin1                     |
| character_set_filesystem | binary                     |
| character_set_results    | latin1                     |
| character_set_server     | latin1                     |
| character_set_system     | utf8                       |
| character_sets_dir       | /usr/share/mysql/charsets/ |
+--------------------------+----------------------------+
8 rows in set (0.00 sec)