Darth Bandon

"I have studied at the foot of the Dark Lord himself!"

- Darth Bandon, to Revan

Darth Bandon was a Human male who, as a Jedi Padawan, defected to the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War initiated by the Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Sometime after Malak betrayed his Sith Master Revan when the Jedi and Republic forces attempted to capture them, Bandon became Malak's first Shadow Hand. Malak was pleased with his choice, because Bandon murdered many of his former comrades.

When the Sith attacked the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan's ship, the Endar Spire, above the planet Taris, he boarded the ship with the Sith troops and Dark Jedi under his command to try and capture or kill Shan. He killed the Republic soldier Trask Ulgo, who sacrificed himself to save Revan, who had been rescued by Shan after Malak's betrayal, mind-wiped by the Jedi Council, and placed under Shan's command as a Republic soldier.

Sometime after the destruction of Taris, which Malak ordered in an attempt to destroy Shan, the bounty hunter Calo Nord, who had survived the Sith's bombardment of Taris, was sent by Malak to capture Shan, who had escaped the planet through the efforts of the Republic captain Carth Onasi and the amnesiac Revan. After Nord was slain by the reconditioned Revan, Malak then dispatched Bandon to find and capture Shan.

Bandon tracked down and confronted Revan, Shan, and their allies after they had found the fourth of the Rakatan Star Maps that would lead them to the location of the Star Forge, an ancient Rakatan space station under Malak's control. Bandon underestimated the former Dark Lord and his companions, arrogantly assuming that they would be no match for him. This proved to be his downfall, as Revan and his team vanquished Malak's apprentice, along with the Dark Jedi accompanying him.

Early life
The Human male who would be known as Darth Bandon was a Jedi Padawan, though he never fully accepted the teachings of the Jedi Code. Even though the Force flowed through him, his powerful emotions, such as anger and hatred, raged within the young Jedi, fueling his strength. His Jedi Master tried to curb these strong emotions, but the brash Jedi chafed under his Master's guidance.

In the year 3,959 BBY, the former Jedi Knights Revan and Malak, who were the heroes of the Mandalorian Wars, found an ancient Rakatan spacestation called the Star Forge, and named themselves the new Dark Lords of the Sith, declaring war on the Jedi Council and the Galactic Republic, initiating the Jedi Civil War. Bandon rejected his old Master and the Jedi Order, fleeing to the revitalized Sith Academy on the ancient Sith homeworld of Korriban.



Jedi Civil War
As a student in the new Korriban Sith Academy, Bandon fully embraced the teachings of the dark side and the Sith code. This, along with his strength with the Force, his natural cruelty, and his utter ruthlessness in his quest for power, soon set him apart from his fellow students, and brought him to the attention of Darth Malak, eventually winning the Dark Lord's admiration.

Two years into the Jedi Civil War, the Jedi and Republic forces set a trap for Revan and Malak in an attempt to capture both Sith Lords. During the battle, Malak betrayed his Sith Master by ordering his flagship's guns to fire on Revan's vessel. In the tradition of the Sith Order, Malak sought a single learner among his followers to become his official apprentice, someone that could learn the Sith secrets and use them effectively to destroy the Jedi and Republic. After Malak thought he successfully murdered Revan, he seized his mantle as the Dark Lord of the Sith and took the promising Bandon as his Shadow Hand, imparting much of his Sith knowledge to him.

Malak was not disappointed with his choice, because many Jedi soon found themselves the victims of Bandon and his double-bladed lightsaber. It was not long before rumors began to spread that Bandon would challenge his Master for the right to rule, as was the manner of the Sith. Bandon even began to set his sights on his Sith Master's throne.

Raiding the Endar Spire
"Damn–another Dark Jedi! I'll try to hold him off, you get to the escape pods! Go!"

- Trask Ulgo sacrifices himself against Bandon



In the year 3,956 BBY, Darth Malak was searching for a Jedi Knight named Bastila Shan, fearing her power with Battle Meditation, a Force power that boosted the Republic forces' morale during battle, while sapping the Sith's will to fight. When Malak learned of Shan's location on the Republic warship Endar Spire above the planet Taris, Bandon led the boarding party that stormed her ship. An amnesiac Revan, who had been rescued by Shan after Malak betrayed him and mind-wiped by the Jedi Council, was placed under Shan's command as a common Republic soldier on the Endar Spire. When he and a Republic ensign named Trask Ulgo were attempting to reach the ship's escape pods, they ran into Bandon.

Bandon had a chance to kill the former Dark Lord. However, before he could do so, Ulgo made a desperate and futile charge, sacrificing himself so that Revan could get to the escape pods and flee the ship with the Republic captain Carth Onasi. After Bandon killed Ulgo, he escaped the Endar Spire before Sith interceptors destroyed the ship.

The search for Bastila and downfall
"My apprentice, Darth Bandon, shall take care of our young Jedi friend. [...] Find Bastila and bring her to me, alive if possible." "As you command, Master."

- Darths Malak and Bandon

Sometime after Malak ordered the destruction of Taris, he was informed by the Sith Admiral Saul Karath and the bounty hunter Calo Nord, who had survived the planet's bombardment, of Shan's escape from Taris. Malak hired Nord to find and capture Shan, and eliminate her companions. After Nord was killed by Revan, who had been retrained in the Jedi ways and commissioned by the Dantooine Jedi Council to find the Star Forge, Admiral Karath told Malak of Nord's failure. Malak then determined that no mere bounty hunter could stand against a Jedi, and sent Bandon after Revan, Shan, and their companions, ordering his apprentice to bring Shan to him; alive, if at all possible.

After Revan and his companions, found the fourth of the five Rakatan Star Maps that would lead them to the Star Forge, Bandon confronted Revan. Accompanied by two Dark Jedi, the Shadow Hand presumed that Revan and his team would be no match for him. Revan recognized Bandon and told him that he would pay for killing Trask Ulgo. Bandon and Revan fought, but despite all the Sith apprentice's skill, he was struck down by the former Sith Lord along with his companions.

Personality and traits


During his time as a Sith, Darth Bandon was known for his ruthless behavior. It was not uncommon for him to take the lives of people and damage equipment to enforce his position for a perceived transgression as minor as walking in his way. He was also focused on the destruction of the Republic and the slaughter and extinction of the Jedi Order. Bandon seemed to hold contempt for the bounty hunter Calo Nord; before Bandon fought Revan, he had a brief conversation with the redeemed Jedi, in which he called the recently deceased Nord a "pathetic bounty hunter." He thought his skills were more than adequate to defeat Revan and his companions, telling Revan that he was no match for him.

Some in the Sith hierachies felt that Bandon would eventually rise to challenge Malak for his mantle of Dark Lord, because of the Sith belief that the strong must rule, and when the apprentice surpassed the Master, the Master must fall. As time went by, Bandon grew arrogant, and he began plotting to overthrow his Sith Master.

After Bandon joined the Sith ranks, he constructed a double-bladed lightsaber containing a red crystal. His lightsaber resembled the one used by the Sith Lord Exar Kun, who initiated the Great Sith War forty years before the end of the Jedi Civil War. Bandon also wore a customized set of light fiber armor which he fitted to his robes. Both his lightsaber and armor might have been acquired by Revan after the redeemed Jedi killed him.

Powers and abilities
"You may have defeated the pathetic bounty hunter my Master sent after you, but you are no match for me!"

- Darth Bandon, to Revan

Darth Bandon spoke and comprehended the Basic and Sith languages. He was proficient in the use of his double-bladed lightsaber, killing scores of his former Jedi brethren. Before he fought Revan, he had yet to meet his equal in combat.

Because of his strength in the Force, Bandon was capable of using many Force powers; he could use the Force to push his opponents to the ground, and was also able to use it to render himself virtually invulnerable to most offensive Force powers for a limited time, demonstrating this against Revan. His strength with the dark side of the Force enabled him to use dark-sided powers such as Force lightning, and he also used the dark side to tap into his rage and direct it against his opponents. He could also use the Force to instill fear in his opponents, driving them temporarily insane. Bandon's strength with the dark side was such that he could drain his enemies' life-forces.

Behind the scenes


Darth Bandon was created by the developers at Bioware as a villian for the 2003 Xbox and PC video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Bandon's name was derived from the word "abandon". In the article "The 100 Greatest Things About Star Wars&hellip; Ever!", which appeared in Star Wars Insider 100, Bandon came in the twenty-second place, beating out his Sith Master Darth Malak, who came in at twenty-third place. In the section on the Sith in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, Darth Bandon is referred to as a Sith Lord, when other sources, including his entries in the campaign guide and the Databank, refer to him as a Sith apprentice.

The planet on which Revan battles Bandon is determined by the order in which the Star Maps that lead to the location of the Star Forge are obtained. Bandon appears on the planet where the fourth Star Map of the journey is found. If Revan has already found three Star Maps, and for any reason returns to the site of one of the previous ones, Bandon will confront Revan. In the Xbox version of the game, Bandon's double-bladed lightsaber appears to have some unusual properties that set it apart from other lightsabers. When certain crystals are added to Bandon's blade, their effects were different than they were on standard lightsabers. The lightsaber loses its effects if the red crystal is replaced with another color crystal. Bandon's unique lightsaber can only be acquired if he is defeated on Manaan.

Bandon is normally accompanied by two hooded Dark Jedi on Tatooine or Manaan. However, if Revan encountered him on Kashyyyk, he is accompanied by two Dark Jedi that resemble the Sith Governor inside the Tarisian Sith Base. On Korriban, he is accompanied by two students from the Sith Academy, the place where he was trained. If Revan found the fourth Star Map on Manaan, Bandon would tell Revan that he knew about his and Malak's search for the Map, stating that he followed the same route Revan and Malak did underwater, leading him right to the Hrakert Station.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic