Revanchist

"Do not heed the words of the Jedi Council. The Republic will fall if we do not act now. The Mandalorians have already taken several star systems along the rim, they will only grow stronger in time. Let us rise up, and 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 him, 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. They officially entered the war sometime in the year 3,963 BBY.

At the end of the Mandalorian Wars, most of the Revanchists that were not killed in the Battle of Malachor V had fallen to the dark side. The group was re-organized as the Sith Empire under the command of the new Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak. After Darth Malak's death at the hands of a redeemed Revan at the Battle of Rakata Prime, the few remaining Sith that did survive went into hiding.

History
"Who I am is not important, my message is."

- Revan

During the Outer Rim skirmishes between the Mandalorians and the Republic, Revan, a young and charismatic Jedi Knight, 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 come together and scout the looming Mandalorian threat as the Mandalorian and Republic fleets battled ineffectually within the neutral Republic frontier. Revan began to take his followers to investigate the Mandalorian activities on the Outer Rim, without the Jedi High Council's support. On their way to the Outer Rim, they stopped on the planet Taris in hopes of recruiting more Jedi from the local Jedi temple. While there, Alek Squinquargesimus&mdash;by now Revan's honorary apprentice &mdash;attempted to recruit a Padawan named Zayne Carrick. Although Carrick was a less than promising student, Alek said he had "a hunch" that Carrick would be a major player during the war.

Soon after leaving Taris, most of the Revanchist faction were left behind on the planet Suurja while Revan went to investigate events on Onderon and Dxun. Those left on Suurja were captured during the Fourth Battle of Suurja by the Neo-Crusaders and taken to Flashpoint Station, an abandoned Republic research station that the Mandalorians had captured. There, they 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. They were rescued by Zayne Carrick, who had been framed for the Padawan Massacre of Taris by his Master and Revan's acquaintance Lucien Draay, and a Mandalorian turncoat named 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.

During the Battle of Serroco, Revan, Alek, and those followers who were on the planet of Cathar, 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 and Mandalore the Ultimate, was invited to bid on the exogorth superweapons that the Arkoh Adasca was selling. Alek Squinquargesimus represented the Revanchists in place of Revan, who was attending to other business.

Sometime after the Adasca affair, the siege of Taris, and the Mandalorian bombardment of Jebble, the Jedi Master Lucien Draay, a member of a secret Jedi organization called the Covenant, was appointed to the Jedi Council. He 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 his motion ordering the recall, or even detention, of the Revanchists. After Alek, 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.

The Mandalorian Wars


The revelation of what exactly had occurred at the Battle of Cathar changed everything. Spurred into action by the tragic genocide of the Cathar, Revan defied the Jedi Council and began to recruit more followers to join him in his crusade against the Mandalorians. The Revanchists quickly became vital to the Republic's war effort. Revan and Alek 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.

Eventually, in the year 3,961 BBY, Revan found an ancient Star Map on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk that was left by the Rakata, an ancient civilization that ruled the galaxy approximately 20,000 years earlier. He then discovered a planet called Malachor V, which was considered to be taboo to the Mandalorians. There, he discovered an ancient Sith academy known as the Trayus Academy. During his time there, he learned that a surviving Sith faction known only as the True Sith, were the ones who goaded the Mandalorians into attacking the Republic so it would be weakened when they attacked it. Revan, who wanted to protect the galaxy, turned to the dark side in an attempt to guard the galaxy from this unseen Sith threat.

Revan forced a final battle with the Mandalorians over Malachor V, during which he used his new 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. He also denied them 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 Jedi who would later be known as the Exile, most of the Jedi who survived the battle eventually became the Sith that served in the Revan's Sith Empire when he and Malak, with the guidance of the Star Maps, 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, his closest friend, Alek Squinquargesimus, was the first to join Revan's cause. The Jedi Master Arren Kae, who had trained Revan joined her former Padawan, who welcomed her. The Jedi Cariaga Sin, Nisotsa, Talvon Esan, 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, Duqua Dar, Acaadi, Voren Renstaal, an unidentified Ithorian Jedi, and the Padawan of the Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell.

The Jedi who joined Revan experienced regular interaction with the Republic military, sharing the mess halls, battleships, and front lines. While Revan and his Jedi 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.

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 19: Daze of Hate, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 20: Daze of Hate, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 21: Daze of Hate, Part 3
 * "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 22: Knights of Suffering, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 23: Knights of Suffering, Part 2
 * 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 42: Masks
 * The Betrayal of Darth Revan
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Notes and references
Revanchista (facción)