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Saul Karath was a Human male born on Corellia who served in the Galactic Republic's Navy as an admiral during the Mandalorian Wars. In 3,963 BBY, Karath was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral after keeping the Mandalorian forces at bay for six weeks at the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line. When the fugitive Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick&mdash;who was fleeing from his Masters after being framed for the Padawan Massacre of Taris&mdash;attempted to warn Karath of the planet Serroco's impending destruction, Karath assumed that Carrick was a Mandalorian spy. When the Mandalorians razed Serroco's surface, Karath and his allies took Carrick into custody and, after boarding Adascorp leader Arkoh Adasca's flagship Arkanian Legacy, they participated in an auction in which Karath attempted to negotiate for Republic control of Adasca's exogorth superweapons. After Adasca's schemes were brought to an end, Karath also played a role in the events of the Covenant Affair, which saw the destruction of the Jedi Covenant&mdash;a secret Jedi organization which was dedicated to preventing the rise of the Sith&mdash;when one of the leaders, the Sith Acolyte Haazen, led an insurrection against the Jedi Order.

In that same year, the Jedi Knights Revan, Malak and their Jedi faction entered the war, with Karath becoming Revan's and Malak's subordinate. Karath later assisted Carrick in destroying the slavery organization known as the Crucible. In 3,960 BBY, after Revan and Malak led the Republic to victory against the Mandalorians in the war's final battle, Karath was one of the few individuals among the Republic forces who did not follow the Jedi into the Unknown Regions to search for the ancient Rakatan Star Forge space station, which produced an unlimited amount of war matériel. A year later, Revan returned to the Republic as the new Dark Lord of the Sith, with Malak as his apprentice, igniting the Jedi Civil War. In 3,958 BBY, Karath transferred his allegiance to Darth Revan's Sith Empire, bringing his flagship, the Leviathan, to Revan's service. In order to test Karath's loyalty, Malak ordered the Admiral to destroy the planet Telos IV. Karath killed millions of civilians on Telos, and earned the wrath of his former friend and protégé Carth Onasi, who had served with Karath during the Mandalorian Wars. After Malak betrayed Revan during the Jedi's and Republic's attempt to capture them, Karath continued to serve the Sith forces under Malak's command.

In the war's final year, Malak captured the ecumenopolis of Taris and ordered the Sith fleet to blockade the planet so that the Sith forces could search for Jedi Knight Bastila Shan. Karath was eventually ordered by the Dark Lord to destroy the planet in order to prevent Shan's escape, and Karath bombarded Taris. Shortly after Taris's destruction, Malak and Karath were informed by the bounty hunter Calo Nord of Shan's escape from the planet, and of Revan's survival and involvement in the escape. Malak and Karath hired Nord to capture Shan, but Revan, now a partially re-trained Jedi, killed Nord during his search for the Star Forge. After Revan located a fourth Rakatan Star Map&mdash;which was needed to find the Star Forge&mdash;and slew Malak's Shadow Hand Darth Bandon, Karath captured Revan's starship Ebon Hawk and tortured Revan, Onasi, and Shan in an attempt to discern their mission. The two Jedi and Onasi eventually escaped and confronted Karath on the Leviathan bridge. Karath offered to ask Malak to be merciful if the Jedi and Onasi surrendered; however, Shan, Revan, and Onasi refused. Karath and his forces attacked them, and after a heated firefight, Karath was grievously injured. As he lay dying, Karath informed Onasi about Revan's true identity as the former Dark Lord of the Sith, and then succumbed to the wounds dealt to him by Onasi and the Jedi.