Cin Drallig/Legends

"There is one lesson you've yet to learn. How to become one with the Force!"

- Cin Drallig to Darth Vader

Cin Drallig was an esteemed Jedi Master of the Jedi Order and the Jedi battlemaster at the Coruscant Jedi Temple during the waning days of the Galactic Republic.

Early years and rise
Like most Jedi of the era, Drallig was brought to the Jedi Temple soon after being discovered to be Force-sensitive and sorted into an Initiate clan for group instruction in the Jedi academy. Training of his clan was overseen personally by Grand Master Yoda, who guided Drallig until he graduated the academy and was selected by a Jedi Master as a Padawan. Eventually, Drallig passed the Jedi Trials and was made a Jedi Knight by the High Council. After years of service and attaining the rank of Master, Drallig was appointed as a lightsaber instructor and passed down his skills to the next generation of Knights. Eventually, Drallig's skills progressed to such a level that when the position was open, the High Council elected him Temple battlemaster. Overseeing the other instructors in the academy, Drallig trained many students, eventually earning the nickname "the Troll."

Stationed on Coruscant throughout much of his career, Drallig taught the basics of lightsaber combat Forms I through VI to thousands of students, including such virtuosos as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. At some point, Drallig was introduced to the contentious and troublesome Initiate Serra Keto. Envisioning the great Jedi she had the potential to become, Master Drallig crafted her into a living weapon, tempering her aggression into her skill with a lightsaber. Keto's rebelliousness eventually subsided, and she went on to become Master Drallig's most accomplished apprentice.

During the Clone Wars, Drallig continued tirelessly to churn out students from the academy with proficient lightsaber skills. After the death of fellow Jedi Mierme Unill, Unill's Padawan, Zett Jukassa was informally assigned to Master Drallig, awaiting reassignment.

Order 66
At the height of the war, Drallig was alerted by the High Council of a possible assault on the Temple by the Sith in 19 BBY. As Council member Mace Windu moved to arrest the Sith Lord, Drallig worked with Masters Shaak Ti and Jurokk to coordinate Temple security. When Windu failed to kill Darth Sidious, the insidious Sith sent his apprentice, Darth Vader, to secure the Jedi Temple in the name of the Dark Lords. As the 501st Legion marched on the Temple, Drallig readied his students for the assault. As clone troopers were felled on his blade, Drallig was made a priority target for elimination and Vader began hunting for his former mentor. However before Drallig and Vader could confront each other, Drallig's former student, Knight Keto, intercepted the Sith and engaged him in a duel. As Drallig rushed into the Tower of First Knowledge he witnessed Keto fall to the Sith Lord. Briefly engaging the Sith, Drallig retreated to the Room of a Thousand Fountains where a large group of younglings were being protected by several Padawans. When Vader arrived in the greenhouse, he cut down Padawans Bene and Whie Malreaux before quickly overwhelming Drallig and hacking through his shoulder. With Drallig and the older Padawans dead, the remaining children were quickly cut down by blasterfire. The incident was recorded by Temple security camera TR4-121. Drallig's body was later found by Grand Master Yoda and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had returned to the Temple to reset the emergency beacon to warn all surviving Jedi to flee into exile.

With the Order nearly extinct overnight, the newly emerged Galactic Empire needed to cover up the true reasons for the execution of the Republic's peacekeepers. On behest of Emperor Palpatine, Sate Pestage compiled official reasons for each Jedi's death. Incident report #890-I, filed by Commander CC-1119, contained the certificate of death, while Pestage reported to the public that the battlemaster had attacked Imperial agents, forcing them to execute him.

Legacy
Cin Drallig's legacy was preserved in those Jedi who survived the Purge. His lightsaber techniques were passed down by those Jedi who survived to train others, including Master Kenobi's training of Luke Skywalker.

While still adjusting to his life-supporting armor, Darth Vader often reflected upon the actions that had brought him to such a state. One of his clearer memories was that of crossing blades with Master Drallig, his former lightsaber instructor, the night of Order 66.

Drallig's knowledge of lightsaber combat was recorded in the Great Holocron and was rediscovered by the New Jedi Order.

Powers and abilities


Cin Drallig's lightsaber instructor was none other than Master Yoda himself, and under Yoda's guidance, Drallig became an extremely skilled swordsman.

During the time of the Clone Wars, Master Drallig acted as the Jedi Order's battlemaster, making him the leading lightsaber combat instructor and one of the Jedi's top swordsmen. Drallig was a master of every form of lightsaber combat save Form VII, though he possessed enough knowledge of the style to give his pupils an accurate description.

In addition to his mastery of lightsaber combat, Cin Drallig was very adept in the use of Force Speed, often using it in combat to overwhelm his opponents. The Jedi Master was also proficient in the use of the protection bubble, which he used during his battle against Darth Vader. He was also capable of making this an offensive technique as well, encasing Vader within the bubble, and hurting him with it's Force energy.

Despite being the Temple’s finest swordmaster at the time of Darth Vader's raid on the Jedi Temple, even Cin Drallig was unable to defeat the Sith Lord in combat. By killing Master Drallig and his apprentice, Serra Keto, Vader had successfully removed one of the Temple's last hopes.

Behind the scenes
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Cin Drallig was played by Nick Gillard, who was the stunt coordinator on all three films of the prequel trilogy, and a stuntman in A New Hope. In the Revenge of the Sith video game, the likeness of Nick Gillard is used in the character's appearance while, vocally, Cin Drallig is portrayed by Tom Kane.

The name "Cin Drallig" comes from reversing Nick Gillard's name, only removing the k in Nick.

The novelization of Revenge of the Sith tells a somewhat different version of Drallig's actions during the fall of the Jedi Temple. The novel mentions younglings fleeing into the Room of a Thousand Fountains (not the Temple training hall), with Drallig, Whie, and Bene coming backing after, deflecting clone troopers' blasterfire back at the shooters. Vader then kills the Jedi, allowing the remaining clones to blast the children to shreds. When Yoda and Obi-Wan later find Drallig's body, Yoda comments that Drallig would not abandon his young students.



In the film, he is seen only briefly in a holographic recording, however, he has a larger role in the video game. It is unknown if Cin Drallig was as much of a challenge for Darth Vader as depicted in the game since only a brief portion of the fight with Vader is shown. According to Keeper of the Holocron Leland Chee, however, Drallig's death as it appears in the game is non-canon.

As Kit Fisto's lightsaber hilt was a personal favorite of Nick Gillard, Cin Drallig's lightsaber hilt bears a resemblance to Fisto's. Based on behind the scenes materials, the lightsaber blade was originally to be rotoscoped in yellow. However, George Lucas would only allow either blue or green as the color of any regular Jedi's lightsaber blade. With the exception of Samuel L. Jackson's violet lightsaber blade he used as Mace Windu, Lucas would go no further with other colors. With no choice, Nick Gillard chose green instead; however, in a promotional image, which can be seen at the top of this article, Drallig is shown with a blue lightsaber.

In the video game, Anakin kills Cin Drallig by impaling him via a lightsaber throw. The duel also takes place in the training room above and on the terrace outside the room of a thousand fountains. In the film, Drallig has dark blond hair, however, in the video game, he is shown with white hair.

In the video game, Cin appears as a duel character. When the players both select Cin, one of them controls a seemingly dark side-version of him: dark robes, darker hair and a red lightsaber.

There is a possible appearance in the Star Wars: the Force Unleashed novel as one of PROXY's training modules, but that has not been confirmed by the LucasArts team.

In the Star Wars Miniatures set Champions of the Force, the Jedi Weapon Master character resembles Cin Drallig.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: The Way of the Jedi
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Republic Commando: Order 66 game
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith game
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Evasive Action: Recruitment
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen