Darth Bandon

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

- Darth Bandon, to Revan

Darth Bandon was a Human male Jedi Padawan who defected to the Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War, a conflict initiated by the Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Sometime after Malak betrayed his Master Revan, during an ambush by the Jedi and Republic forces attempting to capture them, Bandon became Malak's first Shadow Hand, elevating him to the second-in-command in the Sith Empire. Malak was pleased with his choice, for Bandon was successful in eliminating many of his former comrades.

When the Sith attacked the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan's ship, the Endar Spire, above the planet Taris, Bandon boarded the ship, with the Sith troopers and Dark Jedi under his command, to try and capture Shan. He killed the Republic ensign, Trask Ulgo, who sacrificed himself to save Revan&mdash;who had been rescued by Shan after Malak's betrayal, and reprogrammed to be loyal to the Republic by the Jedi Council. Revan and the Republic captain Carth Onasi fled aboard the ship's last escape pod, and crash-landed on Taris, where Shan's pod had also landed. Sometime after Taris' destruction, which Malak ordered in an attempt to destroy Shan, the bounty hunter Calo Nord was sent by Malak to capture Shan, who had escaped the planet through the efforts of Onasi and Revan.

After Nord was slain by Revan, Malak dispatched Bandon to find and capture Shan. If capture proved to be improbable, Bandon was ordered to kill the Jedi. 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&mdash;the ancient Rakatan space station under Malak's control that produced the matériel needed to fuel the Sith war effort. 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, Bandon's powerful emotions&mdash;such as anger and hatred&mdash;raged within, 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, the heroes of the Mandalorian Wars, found the ancient Star Forge spacestation&mdash;a relic of the Infinite Empire of the Rakata species that had ruled the galaxy nearly 20,000 years before&mdash;and named themselves the new Dark Lords of the Sith. Revan and Malak declared war on the Jedi Council and the Galactic Republic, and initiated 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&mdash;along with his strength with the Force, his natural cruelty, and his utter ruthlessness in his quest for power&mdash;soon set him apart from his fellow students, and brought him to the attention of Darth Malak, Revan's Sith apprentice. Bandon eventually won Malak'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, Revan, by ordering his flagship's guns to fire on Revan's vessel. After Malak thought he successfully eliminated Revan, he seized his former Master's mantle of the Dark Lord of the Sith.

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 to effectively destroy the Jedi and the Republic. Malak took the promising Bandon as his Shadow Hand, which made him second only to his Master in the Sith Empire. Malak imparted much of his Sith knowledge to the young Bandon, and was not disappointed with his choice, since 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 strength in 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, he sent a Sith battle fleet to ambush the ship. Bandon led the boarding party that stormed the Endar Spire, in an attempt to capture or kill Shan. An amnesiac Revan&mdash;who had been rescued by Shan after Malak betrayed him, and mind-wiped by the Jedi Council&mdash;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, and ensure that Shan escaped the ship alive, they ran into Bandon.

Bandon was given 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. Shan successfully fled the ship aboard one of the escape pods, and crash-landed on Taris, as did Revan and Onasi. Malak ordered a blockade of the planet, so that the Sith could search for Shan.

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 in an attempt to kill Shan, so that her battle meditation would no longer be a hindrance to the Sith, he was informed by the Sith Admiral Saul Karath&mdash;a former Republic admiral who betrayed the Republic when Revan and Malak initiated the Jedi Civil War&mdash;and the bounty hunter Calo Nord, who had survived the planet's bombardment, of Shan's escape from Taris. Malak hired Nord&mdash;who told the Dark Lord that his former Master, Revan, was not only alive, but had also assisted in Shan's escape&mdash;to find and capture Shan, stating that her companions meant nothing to him and that he wanted her alive. After Nord was killed by Revan, who had been retrained in the Jedi ways and commissioned by the Jedi Council on the planet Dantooine to find the Star Forge, Admiral Karath informed Malak of Nord's failure. Malak 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&mdash;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, expressing his fear that someone else had killed the redeemed Jedi, thereby depriving Bandon the "pleasure" of slaying him. Bandon also mentioned the recently deceased bounty hunter Calo Nord, calling him "pathetic", and stating that while Revan may have defeated Nord, that the former Dark Lord was no match for him. Revan recognized Bandon, stating that he would pay for killing Trask Ulgo. Bandon told Revan that his words meant nothing to him, unless he wished to beg for his life, and added that he would try to make Revan's death both quick and painful. Bandon and his Dark Jedi then fought Revan and his companions. Despite the Sith apprentice's skill, Bandon&mdash;and the two Dark Jedi assisting him&mdash;were struck down by Revan and his team.

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 also thought that his skills were more than adequate to defeat Revan and his companions, telling the former Dark Lord that he was no match for him.

Some in the Sith hierarchies felt that Bandon would eventually rise to challenge Malak for his mantle of Dark Lord, because of the Sith belief that the strongest must rule&mdash;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. He also displayed his proficiency in using a single lightsaber when he dueled the Cathar Jedi Juhani. 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 could use it to alter the air currents around his opponent, turning it into a maelstrom. This swirling vortex of Force energy would lift an opponent into the air, spin them around, and completely immobilize them. Bandon was also able to use it to render himself virtually invulnerable to most offensive Force powers for a limited time, demonstrating this against Revan.

Bandon's 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 was capable of using the dark side to drain his enemies' life-forces. Bandon used the dark side to strangle his opponents, and could use it to debilitate his victims, using it as a fast-acting toxin.

Behind the scenes


Darth Bandon was created by the developers at Bioware as a villain 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.

A picture of Darth Bandon in the campaign guide depicts him dueling the Cathar Jedi Juhani. According to the Twi'lek Jedi Deesra Luur Jada's account of the Jedi Civil War, Revan killed Darth Bandon after escaping the Leviathan, the Sith Admiral Saul Karath's flagship. However, this is impossible, since Bandon was defeated by Revan after he found the fourth Star Map, shortly before Revan and the crew of the Ebon Hawk were captured by the Leviathan. The guide Jedi vs. Sith: Essential Guide to the Force incorrectly states that Bandon died in the year 3,951 BBY, along with Darths Traya, Sion, and Nihilus. It also states that Bandon was a Dark Lord, which is impossible since his Master, Darth Malak, was the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith.

The planet on which Revan battles Bandon is determined by the order in which the Star Maps&mdash;leading to the location of the Star Forge&mdash;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 are 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 could only be acquired if he is defeated on the Selkath homeworld of Manaan.

Bandon is normally accompanied by two hooded Dark Jedi on the desert world Tatooine or Manaan. However, if Revan encountered him on the forest world 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