Revanchist

"Do not heed the words of the Jedi Council. The Republic will fall if we do not act now. Already the Mandalorians have taken three systems along the Rim. They will only grow more powerful with time. Come stand with me. We will use our might to help the Republic in its time of need. Join Revan and I. Together, we will battle this menace."

- Malak

The Revanchists, also known as the Jedi Crusaders, were a renegade faction of the Jedi Order during the Mandalorian Wars that was founded by the charismatic Jedi Knight Revan, who was nicknamed "The Revanchist" at the time, in the year 3,964 BBY. Under Revan, the Revanchist faction of the Jedi took a more proactive role in the days just before the start of the Mandalorian Wars, going against the Jedi Council's wishes. In 3,963 BBY, the Revanchists entered the war with the sanction of the Council, after Revan uncovered the truth of the Mandalorian's genocide of the Cathar people.

At the end of the Mandalorian Wars, most of the Revanchists that were not killed in the final battle at the Sith planet Malachor V had fallen to the dark side. The group was re–organized as the Sith Empire under the command of the new Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Revan and his Sith apprentice Darth Malak, after the new Sith Lords declared war on the Jedi Council and the Republic, initiating the Jedi Civil War. After Darth Malak's death at the redeemed Jedi Revan's hands during the final battle at Rakata Prime, the few remaining Sith that survived went into hiding.

Early start
"Several years ago, when the Mandalorian threat first arose, Revan and Malak were eager to journey to the Outer Rim to defeat the enemy of the Republic. But the Council felt it best if we moved with care and caution. The true threat, the Council feared, had not yet revealed itself. But Revan would not be dissuaded. Charismatic and powerful, it was inevitable many of the Order would flock to Revan's seemingly noble cause.Malak was the first to join his closest friend. Others soon followed, many of our youngest and brightest, intent on saving the galaxy from the Mandalorian threat."

- Zhar Lestin

During the Outer Rim skirmishes between the Mandalorian Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders and the Galactic Republic, a young and charismatic Jedi Knight named Revan, moved throughout the Jedi Order, arguing his case for Jedi intervention in the war. At the start he was considered a lone voice among the Jedi, although he eventually gathered something of a following. The first Jedi to join his cause was his closest friend Alek Squinquargesimus, who aided Revan in recruiting. In the year 3,964 BBY, the Revanchists, who were also known as the Jedi Crusaders, began to gather and scout the looming Mandalorian threat on the Outer Rim without the Jedi High Council's support, as the Mandalorian and Republic fleets battled ineffectually within the neutral Republic frontier.

On their way to the Outer Rim, Revan and his Jedi stopped on the planet Taris in hopes of recruiting more Jedi from the local Jedi temple. While there, Alek Squinquargesimus, Revan's longtime friend and honorary apprentice, attempted to recruit a Padawan named Zayne Carrick. After Squinquargesimus rescued Carrick when the Padawan was freefalling in the Tarisian cityscape after a failed attempt to capture the Snivvian black marketeer Marn Hierogryph, the two had a conversation about the war, in which he tried unsuccessfully to recruit the Padawan. Carrick mentioned that the Jedi Masters on Taris, especially his Master Lucien Draay, did not think the Jedi should be involved in the Republic's war with the Mandalorians, and that the Masters taught him and his fellow students that the Jedi were supposed to defend the Republic against the Sith. Squinquargesimus told Carrick that sometimes one had to enter the darkness to save the light, and then stated that the Sith threat was dealt with decades ago.

Flashpoint Station
While Revan went to investigate events on Onderon and its moon Dxun, most of the Revanchists, including Squinquargesimus, were captured on the planet Suurja before its fourth battle by the Neo-Crusaders. They were taken to Flashpoint Station, an abandoned Republic research station that the Mandalorians had captured. The Revanchists became test subjects of a sadistic Mandalorian scientist named Demagol, who was attempting to divine the source and nature of the Jedi's Force abilities, hoping to negate and/or replicate them. The Revanchists were rescued by fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick&mdash;who had been framed for the Padawan Massacre of Taris by Carrick's Master and Revan's associate Lucien Draay&mdash; and Mandalorian turncoat Rohlan Dyre, who had come to rescue the female Arkanian offshoot named Jarael. The group of Revanchists headed back to Republic space with the unconscious Demagol.

Battles of Serroco and Omonoth
During the battle of Serroco, Revan, Squinquargesimus, and those followers who were on the Cathar homeworld felt the deaths of thousands on Serroco as the Mandalorians rained nuclear warheads on its surface. A short time later, Revan, along with the Republic admiral Saul Karath and the Mandalorian leader Mandalore the Ultimate, was invited to bid on the exogorth superweapons that the Adascorp leader Arkoh Adasca was selling. Squinquargesimus, who had been instructed by Revan to take this potential threat "out of the mix", represented the Revanchists in place of Revan, who was attending to other business. Revan stayed on Cathar so that he could find evidence of what the Mandalorians did to the Cathar.

Sometime after the Adasca affair, the siege of Taris, and the bombardment of Jebble, the Jedi Master Lucien Draay, a member of a secret Jedi cabal called the Covenant, was appointed to the Jedi Council. Draay claimed recent Republic intelligence reports indicated there was a blow to the Mandalorian's plans of conquest, seemingly by an insurrection in their ranks. He stated that the "interventionist" path sought by Revan was wrong both for the Jedi and the Republic. The Council approved Draay's motion which ordered the recall, or even detention, of the Revanchists. After Squinquargesimus, who was going by the alias "Malak" in order to avoid the warrant for his arrest, testified against the Covenant on behalf of the fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick, he was sent back to Revan and his Jedi with a final warning. He went under protest, telling the Arkanian female Jarael that he would remain "Malak" until there was an end to the war's suffering.

Vision on Cathar
"They were beaten! You didn't have to do it! One of you knew, but you didn't listen! I don't know your name&mdash;but I take up your cause. I will not remove your mask until there is justice&mdash;until the Mandalorians have been defeated once and for all. So swears&hellip;Revan!"

- Revan, after the vision of the Mandalorians slaughtering the Cathar

When Malak arrived on Cathar, the Jedi Master and High Council member Vrook Lamar and a group of Jedi Masters went to the planet to confront Revan, Malak, and the Revanchists accompanying them. Lamar and the Masters told Revan that the Mandalorians were not worth the Jedi's aid in the war, and ordered the Revanchists to disband permanently. During the discussion, Revan found and picked up a mask, when the light shone on it, all the Jedi experienced a vision of the Mandalorians driving the Cathar out to the sea. They witnessed an a Mandalorian female, who had owned the mask now in Revan's hands, plead with Cassus Fett, Mandalore's primary strategist, to spare the Cathar, arguing they they had been beaten. However, Fett was intent on gaining revenge for what the Cathar had done to them during the Great Sith War, and ordered the Cathar's genocide. After the vision was complete, Revan became enraged, shouting that the Mandalorians did not have to kill them, since they were beaten, and that while the Mandalorian female recognized this, the other Mandalorians refused to listen to her. He then donned the mask, swearing to take up the Mandalorian female's cause and not remove the mask until the Mandalorians had been defeated once and for all. The Jedi Council officially sanctioned the Jedi's involvement in the Mandalorian Wars, and Revan and Malak were promoted to the rank of General. The revelation of what occurred on Cathar also convinced many more Jedi to join the Revanchists.

The final battles
"Revan and Malak were heroes, the great saviors of the Republic."

- Dorak

The Revanchists quickly became vital to the Republic's war effort. Revan and Malak proved to be capable commanders in the field and swiftly rose through the ranks, with Revan's tactics and Malak's righteous fury unmatched. Revan, who had been given full operational control of the Republic's forces, used his newly found authority to spearhead the Republic war effort and under his leadership, the all–but–defeated Republic Navy began to push the Mandalorians back. However, at some point during the Mandalorian Wars, Revan and Malak found a Rakatan Star Map in the ancient burial mounds near the Dantooine Jedi Enclave. After successfully passing the "trials" set for them by the guard droid that had been left behind by the so called "builders," they were given access to the Star Map. Moments before they went beyond the door that led to the dark side artifact, however, Malak warned Revan that stepping beyond this threshold would mean that they could never return to the Jedi Order. Whether or not Revan considered this, or even cared, as he paced in front of the sealed door is unknown; but if he had any doubts, he swiftly cast them aside. At some point during the latter part of the Mandalorian Wars, during the [Kanz Disorders]], the Revanchists raided an isolated slave colony on Lorrd II, the second moon of Lorrd. They freed the slave population on the moon. However, this was not done out of a sense of justice, rather, this was to acquire Lorrdian gemstones for use in lightsaber construction, because the gemstones were imprinted with the Force. It was said that the Lorrdian gemstones allowed the wielder to anticipate a sentient being's actions.

Later during the wars, in the year 3,961 BBY, Revan found another Star Map on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. Sometime after he found the Kashyyyk Star Map, Revan discovered the ancient Sith world of Malachor V, which was considered taboo to the Mandalorians. On its surface, Revan was quickly assaulted by the destructive dark side energies that permeated the world, yet through the strength of his will, Revan was able to feed on the evil power without being consumed by it. Soon thereafter, Revan stumbled upon the Trayus Academy, an abandoned training center built by a mysterious Sith faction known as the "True Sith". While unearthing the planet's buried secrets, Revan learned the location and significance of the planet Korriban, the homeworld of the ancient Sith species. Revan also discovered the continued existence of the "True Sith". In order to prevent a greater evil, Revan turned to the dark side.

In the year 3,960 BBY, Revan forced a final battle with the Mandalorians over Malachor V, during which he used his powers to pull all the forces loyal to him, Jedi and Republic alike, to the dark side. The Jedi who were not loyal to him perished in the battle. After he defeated Mandalore the Ultimate, he forced the surviving Mandalorians to surrender, ordering his forces to dismantle their weapons and Basilisk war droids. Revan also denied the Mandalorians their fallen leader's ancestral mask, denying the vanquished force the right to choose a new leader. Revan condemned the Mandalorians to perpetual exile, causing many to become bounty hunters, bodyguards, and mercenaries. With the exception of the human female who would later be known as the Jedi Exile, most of the Jedi who survived the battle eventually became the Sith that served in Revan's Sith Empire after he and Malak, with the Star Maps' guidance, found the ancient Rakatan superweapon known as the Star Forge, named themselved the new Dark Lords of the Sith and declared war on the Jedi Council and the Galactic Republic that they once sought to defend.

Members
When Revan set off to challenge the invading Mandalorians, Revan's closest friend Malak was the first to join his cause. The Jedi Master Arren Kae, who had trained Revan, joined her former Padawan, who welcomed her. The Jedi Cariaga Sin, Nisotsa, Talvon Esan, and Xaset Terep were all recruited by Malak, along with the human female who would eventually come to be known as the Jedi Exile. Other Jedi included Cale Berkona, Ferroh, Duqua Dar, Acaadi, Voren Renstaal, an Ithorian Jedi, and the Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell's Padawan.

The Jedi who joined Revan experienced regular interaction with the Republic military, sharing the mess halls, battleships, and front lines. While the Revanchists were hailed as heroes by the Republic and its citizens, some of those Jedi abandoned the war when they saw how thoughtlessly Revan approached the dark side. Others were spies that were commissioned by the Jedi Council to report on Revan and his Jedi's actions.

Behind the scenes
The Revanchists were first mentioned in the 2003 Xbox and PC videogame Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as part of the backstory for the events in the game. The organization had a prominent role in the Knights of the Old Republic comic series, written by John Jackson Miller and published by Dark Horse Comics. Further details on the Revanchists were featured in Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force, and the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 0: Crossroads
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 6: Commencement, Part 6
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 8: Flashpoint, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 9: Flashpoint Interlude: Homecoming
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 10: Flashpoint, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 14: Days of Fear, Part 2
 * "The Taris Holofeed: Siege Edition" - Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 15: Days of Fear, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 18: Nights of Anger, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Daze of Hate
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 22: Knights of Suffering, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 23: Knights of Suffering, Part 2
 * "Galactic Republic Defense Ministry Daily Brief KD0092" - Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 24: Knights of Suffering, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 28: Vector, Part 4
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 29: Exalted, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 31: Turnabout
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 32: Vindication, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 35: Vindication, Part 4
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 42: Masks
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 46: Destroyer, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 47: Demon, Part 1
 * The Betrayal of Darth Revan
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd
 * Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd

Notes and references
Revanchista (facción)