Koro Ziil

"Koro Ziil is dead. You will have to speak to the Hidden One."

- Charsae Saal to Luke Skywalker on Koro Ziil

Koro Ziil, also known as the Hidden One and hu'aac-du'ul-staranjan&mdash;which, translated from his native language to basic, meant "the one who dwells in darkness"&mdash;was a male Force-sensitive Kel Dor. He was a member of the Baran Do sages, a group of Force-sensitive Kel Dor on Dorin. He was one of the few Baran Do to be trained in combat, and became a master of the Order. He trained Baran Do sage Charsae Saal, who would become the senior combat instructor at the Baran Do temple. In 34 ABY, Ziil also taught many Baran Do Force techniques to Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, who had spent the last five years travelling the galaxy in search of answers. By 43.5 ABY, Ziil had become the leader of the Hidden Ones&mdash;a secret sect of the Baran Do tasked with preserving the Order's knowledge.

In 43.5 ABY he met with recently exiled Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and Luke's son, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, shortly after becoming the leader of the Hidden Ones, and attempted to make them join the sect, refusing to let them leave in order to protect their secrecy. The Skywalkers resisted, and turned many of the Hidden Ones against him. With the tension mounting between them, Ziil eventually confronted Luke in a duel, which Ziil lost. After this, the Hidden Ones fully revolted against his rule and returned to the surface.

Becoming the Hidden One
"This is not a little secret. This is the seed of the Baran Do, the seed that must take root if the Order itself dies."

- Koro Ziil

Koro Ziil was a Force-sensitive Kel Dor from the planet Dorin, and a member of the Baran Do sages. As a master of the Baran Do, he trained Charsae Saal as his apprentice. In approximately 23 ABY he took Saal&mdash;whom he had sworn to secrecy&mdash;to the Caverns of the Hidden One, a series of caves deep beneath the surface of Dorin. Ziil thought that Saal would likely someday join the Hidden Ones, a secret sect of the Baran Do dedicated to preserving the knowledge of the Order so that, if the sages were ever wiped out, they would have the ability to restore their Order.

Ziil was present in the Baran Do temple in Dor'shan in approximately 34 ABY, when Jacen Solo arrived on Dorin seeking to learn various Force techniques. Ziil was known to have taught him many, including ayna-seff, the "dead brain" technique which took him three days to master, and other techniques in the hassat-durr family. He also trained with Solo in combat. Ziil found that Solo had a scarred spirit, but he believed the scars to be healed. From his time with the Jedi Knight, Ziil perceived that Solo's childhood had been unsettled, and that he had severed himself from it. He also found, however, that Solo seemed to be at peace, and his journey for knowledge was nearing its end. Solo would go on to find Lumiya and become the Sith Lord Darth Caedus, leading the Galactic Alliance in the Second Galactic Civil War.

About nine years after meeting Solo, Ziil went through the ceremony of "death" traditional to the Baran Do who wished to join the Hidden Ones. When a Baran Do sage felt that they had done everything necessary in their life and had nothing left for which to live but the preservation of knowledge, they held a ceremony in which they pretended to die, and after this ceremony they would join the Hidden Ones deep beneath the surface of Dorin. Sometime after Ziil joined the Hidden Ones, he became their leader and took on the title of the Hidden One, no longer recognizing his old name.

Unrest in the Hidden Ones
Shortly after Ziil joined the Hidden Ones, Luke Skywalker&mdash;who had been exiled from Coruscant and the Jedi Order by Chief of State Natasi Daala for failing to prevent Jacen's fall to the dark side&mdash;and his son, Ben Skywalker, sought out Ziil in in hopes of finding out more about why Jacen turned to the dark side. Upon finding the Baran Do sages in Dor'shan they learned that Ziil was dead. The Skywalkers trained with the sages, later attending Charsae Saal's funeral ceremony when he decided to "die" as well. But Luke and Ben found a secret chamber underneath Saal's pyre where they found the sage alive. They convinced the sages to allow them to travel with Saal to the Hidden Ones. Saal&mdash;who now went by the name of Chara&mdash;showed them around the caves, revealing that Ziil had taken him down there nearly twenty years earlier. Chara told them that, in order to protect the secrecy of the Hidden Ones, the would never be allowed to leave.

The Skywalkers met with Ziil, and talked to him about his time with Jacen Solo. He told them that he had trained Solo in the hassat-durr and other Force techniques, as well as in combat. Ziil also told them that Solo seemed to have a scarred soul, but the scars appeared healed and he seemed to be at peace. Changing the subject when it became clear that Ziil did not have much information on Solo's fall, Ben asked whether Ziil planned to kill the Jedi that would undoubtably come searching for them. He grew angry and began an argument with Ben, which finally ended when Ziil got up and walked away.

Days later, Luke and Ben had set about the task of creating permanent quarters, spending their free time exploring the caverns. Luke decided to gather all of the Hidden Ones together by anouncing that he and Ben would be taking on new names; of course, he had no intention of actually doing this. Once the Hidden Ones had gathered in the throne chamber of the Hidden One, Ziil expressed his pleasure that the Skywalkers were finally choosing new names. Luke, however, revealed that when he had said they would be gathering for a naming ceremony, he meant that he was hoping to rename members of the Hidden Ones; not himself. Luke then attampted to show the Hidden Ones that they were just wasting away down in the caverns. To Ziil's great displeasure, Luke told them that the Force is the energy of life, which is risk, energy, and vitality. He told them that&mdash;by accepting their "deaths" and joining the Hidden Ones&mdash;they had rejected these things, and were thus rejecting the Force, which was why they were weakening. As evidence, he pointed to how Charsae Saal had recently beaten Ithia in a duel, when she had always been Saal's superior before she had joined the Hidden Ones. Ziil attempted to terminate the meeting immediately, but Luke continued pursuading the Hidden Ones that their way of life was wrong.

Duel with Luke
"I will show you life. I will show you the Force"

- The Hidden One preparing to attack Luke

Eventually, Luke proposed a duel between Ben and Saal, who was the best fighter of the Hidden Ones and by far Ben's superior in combat. In order to get the Hidden One to accept the duel, he promised that if Ben lost, he and Ben would accept their fate and stay in the caverns. The Hidden One agreed to the proposal, and Saal and Ben were each armed with a hardwood staff. They dueled, with Ben emerging as the victor.

Now the Hidden Ones were willing to listen to Luke's arguments&mdash;even Saal, Ziil's former apprentice, was ready to believe what Luke was saying. But Ziil was not going to give up so easily. He revealed that he had sent word to the surface that there had been an accidental collapse in the caves in which the Skywalkers had been killed, so there would be no need to send down any more oxygen-nitrogen canisters, which the Skywalkers needed to breathe in the toxic atmosphere of Dorin. Without these canisters, they would run out of air within the next couple days and die. Several Hidden Ones spoke out in protest, which only angered the Hidden One further. He attacked Luke, blasting him with white Force lightning, which Luke blocked with his lightsaber. The strength of the lightning threw Luke backwards into a pillar. Luke got up and began moving towards the Hidden One, who created a Force whirlwind, breaking off the lightning to increase the whirlwind's power. Luke deflected the whirlwind, sending it into a nearby pillar. Luke deactivated his lightsaber, again moving towards the Hidden One, whose whirlwind was moving from pillar to pillar, until it hit a pillar behind Luke, causing it to fall towards the exiled Grand Master. Luke caught the pillar in the Force and moved it aside before letting it fall to the ground. The Hidden One Force-threw his throne at Luke, which he intercepted with the fallen pillar. Luke then gave the pillar a Force-push, rolling it along the ground towards the Hidden One, forcing him to jump over it. Luke jumped up and kicked the Hidden One in the stomach in midair, sending him flying and ending the fight.

Dissolution of the Hidden Ones
"I will decide. And no one leaves."

- Ziil, after his defeat

Even after his defeat at the hands of Skywalker, Ziil would not allow for the Hidden Ones to leave. He proposed that they would free their servants and appoint a board of advisers, and he would tell those on the surface that the earlier message reporting the deaths of the Skywalkers was a mistake. He promised that after a year or two they would review the situation. Annoyed, Ben set off a secret explosive of Ziil's that collapsed the only known exit from the Caverns. Ziil told him that he had just doomed himself, because there was no other way in or out. Ben told him to stop lying, and revealed to the Hidden Ones the many lies that their leader had told them. Still, Ziil would not reveal the existence of a secret escape route from the Caverns. At last Burra gave in, and revealed a secret turbolift chamber. The Hidden Ones then returned to the surface to return to life and the Baran Do. Luke later speculated that Ziil would either find a new way to continue his old goal&mdash;such as by distributing the archives of the Baran Do&mdash;or he would stay down in the Caverns, unable to change his ways.

Personality and traits
Ziil proved to be a very paranoid leader; he feared that the Baran Do would be purged the same way the Jedi were in 19 BBY. As such, he was very set in his idea that the Hidden Ones' mission of "dying" and preserving the Baran Do's knowledge was a just and noble goal. Ziil thought nothing was more important than this way of life&mdash;the way of the Hidden Ones&mdash;and was prepared to let the Skywalkers die in order to keep the caverns secret and their Order safe from the rest of the galaxy. Ziil also carried about him a sense of superiority. He expected other beings to listen to him and obey his every word, and was thus very distressed when the Hidden Ones began turning against him.

Powers and abilities
One of the few Baran Do sages to be trained in combat, Ziil was also known to possess a wide range of Force powers, including mastery of the hassat-durr family of techniques. He could conjure up a powerful Force whirlwind, and possessed the ability to perceive buildups of energy on the planet which could lead to dangerous weather storms. Ziil was also able to use a Force lightning technique which gave off a white color as opposed to the normal blue.

Behind the scenes
Koro Ziil was created by the established Star Wars author Aaron Allston to be the leader of the Hidden Ones in Outcast, the first novel in the Fate of the Jedi series.

Appearances

 * Outcast