Savage Opress/Legends

"This is not the work of a Sith Lord or a Jedi&hellip;but a reckless, impulsive animal."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, on Savage Opress's massacre on Devaron

Savage Opress was a powerful Dathomirian Zabrak Nightbrother who became a feared practitioner of the dark side of the Force during the Clone Wars. Originally a tribal leader on Dathomir, Opress was handpicked by the Nightsister Asajj Ventress to become her mate and servant, as part of her bid for revenge on her former Master, the Sith Lord Count Dooku. After being the only Nightbrother to pass Ventress's grueling tests of Selection, Opress was taken to Mother Talzin and her Nightsister witches, who employed their dark magic to grant him fearsome abilities and placed him under their control. To prove his now-imbued loyalty to Ventress, Opress murdered his younger brother, Feral, whom he had protected for his entire life. Entering the ongoing war on the side of Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems, the formidable Opress served as a Dark Acolyte during missions against the Galactic Republic at Devaron's Temple of Eedit and on Affa. Opress became a Sith apprentice to Dooku, who intended to use his new acolyte to overthrow his own Master, Darth Sidious, and claim control of the galaxy.

While Opress was subjected to brutal Sith training under Dooku's charge, Ventress prepared to pit the monstrous Nightbrother against Dooku. However, when Ventress's crusade for revenge culminated at Toydaria, she and her ex-Master found that neither of them could contain Opress's brute force and impulsive nature. In what became a three-way lightsaber duel, Opress overcame his ingrained allegiance to Ventress and broke free from his dual service to the Sith Lord and the jilted Nightsister. After further battling his way through Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, the weakened Opress returned to Dathomir, where he learned from Mother Talzin that he had another, long-lost brother aside from Feral: the former Sith Lord Darth Maul. With Talzin's blessing, Opress set off for the far reaches of the Outer Rim to receive further training from his exiled brother, hoping to soon be able to defeat Ventress, Dooku, and any pursuant members of the Jedi Order.

Born into darkness
"A brother? But all of my kin were killed!''" "''Not all of them. He lives in the Outer Rim, in exile."

- Savage Opress discovers his long-lost brother, Darth Maul, from Mother Talzin

A Force-sensitive Dathomirian Zabrak male, Savage Opress was born in the last decades of the Galactic Republic's rule. Being brought up in the Zabrak Nightbrother warrior culture of the planet Dathomir, Opress had at least two brothers among his kin. One of his brothers, born in the year 54 BBY, was taken away from Dathomir during infancy for training under the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. Under Sidious's tutelage, Opress's brother became known as the feared Sith Lord Darth Maul. However, Opress was unaware of his relationship to Maul or even of his existence, and he therefore grew up only knowing his younger brother, Feral, over whom he vowed to watch in the Nightbrothers' dangerous way of life. Maul, meanwhile, was presumed dead in 32 BBY after being cut in half by then–Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi during the final battle of the Invasion of Naboo. Located in an isolated region of Dathomir and headed by Brother Viscus, the Nightbrothers' village became home to Feral and Opress, who learned much about cruelty in his early life.

With a reputation of being brutal warriors, the Nightbrothers were subservient only to the matriarchal Nightsisters, a Force-practicing sect of the Witches of Dathomir that was heavily rooted in magic born of the dark side of the Force. Nightsisters often came to the Nightbrother village for the Selection, a ritual series of tests in which the female witches claimed male servants and mates from the Nightbrothers' nine formidable tribal heads, with death awaiting contenders who failed the Nightsisters' combat challenges. Because the Nightsisters made periodic, unpredictable visits to their village, Opress and his brethren were forced to stay in fierce fighting shape at all times; Opress often sparred with Feral in his free time. All too aware of the threat of the Nightsisters, Opress did his best to protect his younger brother from the fearsome witches. By the time of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, both Opress and Feral became tribal heads within the Nightbrother village, further heightening their risk of becoming candidates for the Nightsisters' deadly Selection. Opress himself gained credit as a fierce yet compassionate warrior, though his life was to soon intertwine with the very essence of the dark side.

Selection and transformation
"As long as I live, you will not harm him! Please, spare him. Take me."

- Savage Opress protects Feral by submitting himself to Asajj Ventress

While the Clone Wars consumed countless lives across the galaxy, Opress resided with the Nightbrothers, their world remaining relatively unaffected by the pan-galactic conflict. Around 21 BBY, the second year of the war, the Nightbrothers became host to Asajj Ventress, a powerful Nightsister in search of a servant from the Zabrak warriors. Formerly a Confederate-allied Dark Acolyte for the Order of the Sith Lords, Ventress had recently been betrayed by her Master, Count Dooku, and she now sought to acquire an adept servant for a plot to gain revenge on her ex-Master. Ventress arrived at the Nightbrothers' village square aboard an Ubrikkian speeder just as Opress was sparring there with Feral. When brought forward by Viscus alongside the other tribal heads for Ventress's inspection, Opress warned Feral against drawing attention to himself, hoping that neither of them would be subjected to the Nightsister's tests. Nevertheless, both brothers were among the six clan leaders who were deemed fit as candidates for the Selection, much to Opress's dismay.

Opress, Feral, and their four fellow Nightbrothers proceeded to a combat arena near their village for the first of Ventress's trials: facing the Nightsister herself in armed combat. Fighting with a curved dagger, Opress was initially Force-pushed against the combat field's railing by Ventress, but rebounded and avoided several thrown spears as he approached the Nightsister. When she targeted Feral, Opress abandoned his dagger and quickly came to his younger brother's aid, though both of them were knocked to the ground by the unimpressed Nightsister. With only Opress, Feral, and two other Nightbrothers still alive, the next round began, in which the four warriors were to confront Ventress without the light of the arena's torches. The two other Zabrak warriors fell to Ventress's deadly flail in quick succession, but Opress managed to pinpoint Ventress's next strike in time to pull himself and Feral out of harm's way. Now the only two surviving contenders in the Selection, Opress and Feral graduated to the third and final challenge: once more fighting Ventress, but now amidst moving crates brought forth from the ground. Opress tried his best to stay close to Feral and evade Ventress in the crate-laden combat field, but Feral soon lost his purchase on one of the platforms and fell to the ground. When Opress found his brother, Feral was at the mercy of Ventress, who was preparing to kill the winded contestant with a Force-choke.

Intervening on his brother's behalf, Opress lashed out at Ventress and bodily threw her against an adjacent crate. Placing himself between Ventress and the weakened Feral, Opress fended off the Nightsister's attacks, refusing to let harm come to his brother. At one point, he requested that the Nightsister spare his brother and instead take him as her servant. Ordering Feral to leave them, Ventress continued her fight with Opress in unarmed combat; Feral reluctantly obeyed. During his subsequent battle with Ventress, Opress drew upon his rage on several occasions and attempted to use his brute strength to fatally wound her in the head. However, it was Opress who took a beating, and he finally surrendered his life to the Nightsister when triumphed over. Nevertheless impressed by Opress's performance and fighting prowess in spite of his defeat, Ventress took her newly acquired servant and mate away from his village the next morning aboard her Ubrikkian speeder. Opress spared Feral, who remained behind with the other Nightbrothers, a glance of farewell before leaving with Ventress. Crossing much distance to reach the village of Ventress's Nightsister clan, Opress was brought to the leader of the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin. After examining Opress and sensing the hate and power coursing through his veins, Talzin touched her finger to Opress's temple to put him into an enchanted sleep in preparation for the performance of magic that was to come.

In an ancient ceremony heavily rooted in the dark side, Talzin and a group of her Nightsister witches bound together, using their magic to grant Opress even more brutality, an unmatched ferocity, and fearsome power for Ventress's plot for vengeance over Dooku. Subjected to the Nightsisters' dark magic, Opress was mutated into an even more powerful warrior: he gained greater height and size, longer vestigial horns, and enhanced physical potential and Force abilities. In addition, the Nightsisters placed him under their control so that Ventress could dictate his actions, though the only underlying loyalty that he would later retain would be to Talzin. Transformed into a monstrous warrior whose sole purpose was to kill all those in his path, Opress's first act when awoken in his new build was to choke Ventress with his bare hands. After obeying Ventress's command to release her, Opress was presented with a final test to prove his imbued loyalty to her.

Feral, who had been taken prisoner by the Nightsisters following the Selection, was brought before the transformed Opress, who was ordered by Ventress to kill his brother. For all the care and protection that he had afforded Feral as an elder sibling up until that point, Opress strangled his kin in a single stroke in a monstrous display of cruelty, despite Feral's pleas for mercy. Assured of her agent's indoctrinated servitude, Ventress gave Opress a short first lesson in the practice of the dark side&mdash;to draw power from hate and never sympathize with the enemy. For weaponry, Talzin drew forth an enchanted vibro-ax for the Nightbrother, who also employed his newly granted bulk and muscle density to heft an entire suit of full-body plate armor for protection during combat.

Ventress's agent, Dooku's apprentice
"I foresee we will do great things together. I shall teach you the ways of the dark side. Soon, your powers will rival that of the great Sith Lord Darth Maul. We will be even more powerful than Lord Sidious. We shall rule the galaxy together, my apprentice.''" "''I am your servant, Master."

- Dooku and Savage Opress

Bestowed with the power of the Nightsisters, his life committed to the dark side, Opress was to be gifted to Count Dooku, becoming a Dark Acolyte for Dooku's Confederacy and replacing Ventress herself as the Sith Lord's personal assassin. When the time was right, Ventress would unleash her warrior against her former Master, seeking his death for his betrayal during the Battle of Sullust. Talzin and fellow Nightsisters Karis and Talia escorted Opress aboard a captured Sheathipede-class transport shuttle to Dooku's homeworld of Serenno, where the Count maintained a palace residence. Upon being introduced by Talzin to Dooku, Opress bowed to his new Master as a gesture of loyalty, though the Nightsisters' magic would ensure that this allegiance would not be permanent. As Dooku required proof of his warrior abilities before any training could commence, Opress was sent on his first assignment: to seize control of the Temple of Eedit on the jungle planet Devaron for the Separatists. Because the temple served as a military outpost for the Republic and the Jedi Order, the base's capture would would enable the Confederacy to conquer that area of the galaxy. Dispatched alone to the Devaron system aboard Dooku's personal Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop, complete with an FA-4 pilot droid, Opress proceeded to the Temple of Eedit, where a battle for control of the outpost was already raging between the Republic and the Confederacy.

Upon landing on the path leading to the temple, Opress pushed through the B1 and B2 infantry droids of the Separatist Droid Army, focusing only on the defenders of the temple: a clone trooper detachment from the Grand Army of the Republic led by Jedi Master Halsey and his Padawan, Knox. Wielding his vibro-ax halberd, Opress smashed his way through the clone troopers, his blade cutting through their armor to lethal effect. After all of the troops had been eliminated&mdash;including the unit's leader, Clone Commander Trauma &mdash;Opress was left only with Halsey and Knox, who had in the meantime destroyed the remainder of the battle droids. Intent upon challenging the Jedi, Opress disarmed Halsey of his lightsaber before engaging the Jedi Master in combat. Although the diminutive Halsey initially used his formidable agility to great effect, Opress battered him to the ground and killed him with a stab through the chest. Knox soon followed his Master into death, being speared on the end of Opress's blade when he attacked the Nightbrother.

With all droids, Jedi, and clones slaughtered and left before the Temple of Eedit, Opress approached the base alone, reporting the capture of the Republic outpost and the defeat of the Jedi to Dooku via holoconnection. Impressed by the work of his new acolyte, Dooku had Opress return to Serenno at once. Opress's performance on Devaron earned him praise from Dooku, who formally took the Nightbrother agent as his Sith apprentice. In addition to intending to train Opress to the level of the revered Darth Maul, Dooku envisioned using his new apprentice to overthrow his own Sith Master, Darth Sidious, in accordance with the Sith's Rule of Two doctrine. With Sidious defeated, Dooku and Opress would claim control of the galaxy in the name of the Sith. In his new capacity as Dooku's apprentice, Opress embarked on another assignment for his Master, traveling to the planet Affa aboard Dooku's solar sailer to confront the Hutt merchant Noggox, who sponsored Republic business but was content to watch the Republic and the Confederacy destroy each other during the war. As two of his Republic-allied freighters had recently been raided by pirates en route to the Republic's Fondor Shipyards, Noggox had enlisted the help of a Jedi Padawan named Nuru Kungurama, who claimed that the pirates were being backed by the Confederacy and had volunteered to escort Noggox's other freighters to Fondor.

Sent to remove Noggox from action before Kungurama could reach Affa, Opress landed at the main hangar of Noggox's fortress, where he allowed himself to be captured and deprived of his vibro-ax by the Hutt's bodyguards. Brought directly to Noggox in chains for questioning, Opress warned the merchant that a Jedi was approaching, though the Hutt mistook his words to mean that the Jedi posed a danger. Opress instead revealed his ties to Dooku, and his awareness of Noggox's request for the Jedi's help, before breaking free of his shackles and reclaiming his halberd. After killing Noggox and the entirety of his bodyguard entourage, Opress made his way back to the solar sailer to announce his success to Dooku. Although Opress wished to remain on Affa so that he could confront Kungurama, Dooku ordered him to immediately return to Serenno. Reluctantly obeying the will of his Master, Opress departed from Affa, leaving the victims of his massacre behind for discovery by Kungurama and his clone trooper unit, Breakout Squad. Having become brutally adept in the use of his enchanted halberd, Opress upgraded his preferred choice of combat weaponry to a double-bladed lightsaber, for which he received training from Dooku. In the throne room of the Count's palace, Opress engaged in a practice session of lightsaber combat with Dooku, a highly accomplished swordsman who owed his reputation to his previously abandoned career as a Jedi Master.

Ultimate loyalties
"I was betrayed by Ventress. The Jedi are after me. I'm not nearly strong enough to defeat them all!"

- Savage Opress, to Mother Talzin

Quest to the Outer Rim
"You have an important destiny to fulfill, Savage Opress&mdash;you and your brother. Go&mdash;you will know where to find him.''" "''I will return, Mother."

- Mother Talzin and Savage Opress

Warrior of the Nightbrothers
"There are only two of us left, brother&hellip;but only one will survive.''" "No. Not if I can help it. Stick together. We must work as a team''."

- Feral and Savage Opress

Monstrous darksider
"He certainly is a sight to behold.''" "The fiercest of his kind, my lord. He will serve you well." "''Yes, he shall."

- Count Dooku and Mother Talzin, on Savage Opress

Powers and abilities
"You have no technique. Sloppy! But with the proper training, you could be a powerful warrior. You have a natural ability, but we must hone it. I love for the challenge of putting your hate to better use."

- Count Dooku, to Savage Opress

Behind the scenes
"Savage is a lot like Frankenstein's creation. He's a monster, but you get brief glimpses of a real heart beneath the surface. He's a complicated character&mdash;I don't think he would have turned to the dark side without the manipulation of the witches. They use him."

- Katie Lucas

Savage Opress is voiced by voice actor Clancy Brown.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Opress Unleashed
 * The Clone Wars: Season Four
 * The Clone Wars: Season Four
 * The Clone Wars: Season Four
 * The Clone Wars: Season Four

Non-canonical appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace