Quinlan Vos/Legends

"I am not part of the dark&mdash;simply deeper in the shadows."

- Quinlan Vos

Quinlan Vos (59 BBY&mdash;) was a Kiffar Jedi Master and General in the Grand Army of the Republic. He hailed from the planet Kiffu in the Inner Rim.

With long, dreadlocked hair and a band of pale yellow across his upper face, Vos was gifted with psychometric powers which allowed him to "read memories" from inanimate objects through physical contact.

Early life


Quinlan Vos was the son of Quian and Pethros Vos, members of Clan Vos, the rulers of Quinlan's homeworld. Quinlan was born with psychometric powers, and thus destined to become a Guardian like his parents. Most Kiffar had this psychometric ability to some degree, but Quinlan's latent ability with the Force enhanced his own, and he was considered by many to be the best exemplar of the ability that had ever been seen.

Initially, Vos' people were unwilling to give him up to the Jedi Order, as that would require him to relocate to Coruscant, cutting him off from his homeworld. As a compromise, Jedi Watchman Tholme agreed to train Vos initially on Kiffu. This changed when both of Quinlan's parents were murdered by Anzati and Quinlan's aunt, Tinte Vos, forced him to use his abilities to read the memories implanted in his deceased mother's medallion. Quinlan screamed for days on end, and only Tholme was able to calm the boy. Knowing that he would never be safe on his homeworld now that his aunt was ruler, Tholme took the boy to the Jedi Temple, and he entered into regular Jedi training.



As a Youngling, he trained alongside other Jedi hopefuls such as Siri Tachi, Bant Eerin, Shayla, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vos trained as a Jedi under Jedi Master Tholme and later trained Aayla Secura as his own Padawan. As a young apprentice, he fought beside his master in the Stark Hyperspace War, where he became close friends with fellow Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Vos had an ongoing struggle with the dark side of the Force, particularly after he sustained recurrent amnesia after he overdosed on an illegal drug administered by an enemy shortly after the Battle of Naboo. The Sith Lords Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus both showed an interest in him.

Vilmarh Grahrk
A year after the Battle of Naboo, Quinlan suddenly found himself inside of a burning building on Nar Shaddaa, with no memory of who or where he was, nor what he had been doing. He was able to escape to the roof, encountering a small group of bounty hunters upon doing so. Acting instinctively, he Force pushed them off the edge, sending them to their deaths. Diving into one of Nar Shaddaa's many dark alleys, Vos encountered Vilmarh Grahrk, a Devaronian smuggler.

Using a commandeered speeder bike, the two managed to find a place to hide, avoiding assassins at every turn. Villie, as he liked to be called, explained to Vos that the local criminals had made bets based on how long Quinlan would survive on Nar Shaddaa, knowing of his Jedi origins and his amnesia. Once they were safe, Villie put his blaster to Vos' head and pulled the trigger, but it turned out that Quinlan had switched the weapon's power cell while using it against enemies on Villie's speeder.

Quinlan kicked Vilmarh to the ground and, after grabbing the blaster and switching its power cell once again, demanded Grahrk tell him everything he knew, or he would kill him. Before he could do so, two beings carrying lightsabers walked into the room, claiming to be Jedi. Vilmarh told him that they in fact were in fact "bad boys," and with that the two attacked. Quinlan instantly killed one with Villie's blaster, then grabbed his downed opponent's green lightsaber.

As it touched his hand, visions suddenly flowed through his mind, including that of his padawan, Aayla Secura, and his own name. With a great deal of his power returned to him, he quickly killed the other lightsaber-wielding foe, a Gotal. Villie revealed that, while Quinlan was killing the fake Jedi, he had made a new bet: that he would get off of Nar Shaddaa alive. After being convinced to go with Grahrk, Quinlan grabbed the other lightsaber; a pink one, that he could sense belonged to Aayla Secura. With that, the two began their trek off of the Smuggler's Moon.

Leaving Nar Shaddaa


On the way, Quinlan encountered more intense visions; of Tatooine, Bib Fortuna, Tinte Vos, and glitteryll, among other things. After learning of who Bib Fortuna was from Grahrk, Quinlan demanded that they find him; realizing that they would never leave the moon unless they did so, Villie agreed. Vos and Grahrk located the Twi'lek, and the Jedi asked Fortuna aggressively what glitteryll was. Bib only revealed that someone in a high position on Coruscant was "behind it all" before a group of guards busted into the room.

Quinlan and Villie quickly dispatched the guards, though Fortuna was able to escape in the process. After the emergence of a droideka, the two hastily jumped through the window and stole Bib Fortuna's speeder, flying off to a docking bay containing Villie's ship, the Inferno, which had security droids surrounding it. Villie explained that he had actually lost it in his recent bet regarding Quinlan's death, and the two were forced to destroy the droids and steal it back.

Upon entering the ship, Vos and Grahrk were not allowed to take off due to the Inferno's onboard navigation droid, NT 600, correctly claiming that Villie was no longer the owner. With annoyed bounty hunters and gamblers fast approaching, Quinlan quickly told the droid that activating the ship's shields would "protect the new owner's investment." Agreeing with this logic, NT activated the shields, though they began deteriorating instantly due to an ion cannon-wielding bounty hunter firing upon it. A Quarren named Gorzima suddenly came on-screen, accusing Villie of stealing back the Inferno. Vilmarh promised that he would simply fly the Inferno off-planet, collecting his gambling money due to Quinlan escaping Nar Shaddaa, and allowing himself to buy the Inferno back. Gorzima disagreed, but Vos was able to persuade him, allowing the two to fly away from Nar Shaddaa.

Grahrk transferred his newfound credits to Gorzima once out of the atmosphere. With Quinlan not being sure where to go next to fill out his memory a bit more, Villie reasoned that the best place would be where he was born. So, NT 600 scanned the Jedi and discovered that he was a Kiffar from the planet Kiffu. After granting him transport to his homeworld, Villie stayed behind on the Inferno, allowing Quinlan to seek out his past, and perhaps learn a little more about himself.

On his home planet, Quinlan met with his aunt, Tinte Vos, the Sheyf of Kiffu and Kiffex. Though she shunned the Jedi, as well as Quinlan's Padawan Aayla Secura, she told him that a few weeks ago he and Secura had come to Kiffu to learn of a drug called glitteryll. She said that it was a combination of glitterstim and ryll, that the Corporate Sector Authority was interested in it, and that he and Aayla had investigated the matter on Nar Shaddaa and Tatooine. She also echoed Bib Fortuna's statement on Nar Shaddaa that someone high up on Coruscant was behind it all. She told him to go to Ryloth to seek information, and his Padawan.

Seeking Aayla Secura


Once on Ryloth, Quinlan and Villie were met by Asanté Vos, a fellow female Kiffar and Quinlan's cousin. Quinlan didn't recognize her, and, after a brief moment of disappointment, Asanté brought him to Pol Secura, a Twi'lek chieftain on Ryloth and uncle of Aayla Secura. Quinlan explained his situation to Pol, who said that, last time Vos and Aayla came to Ryloth, they found nothing in their investigation and went to Kessel, the place of origin for glitterstim, one half of gliteryll's components. Weary from his ordeal on Nar Shaddaa, Quinlan stayed the night at Secura's residence.

When he awoke, he was contacted via hologram by Vilmarh Grahrk, who told him to meet him by the Rock Gardens. Upon arrival, Quinlan was confronted by another Devaronian, Holmar Grahrk, Villie's cousin. Holmar was quickly shot down by the approaching Villie, who told Quinlan that he had recently made another bet that he would get off of Ryloth alive. Quinlan wasn't ready to leave just then, and the two investigated a nearby cave, Quinlan picking up traces of his and Aayla's visit there.

When they arrived, the two found a mass web of giant spider eggs; the kind found normally on Kessel, and used to make glitterstim. They were soon attacked by a group of hatched spiders, resulting in Villie being knocked down a pit, though he was able to survive by landing on a spider web. All of a sudden, Asanté Vos walked in wielding a blaster, and shot Quinlan in the back. She explained that he and Aayla had gotten too deep into the glitteryll situation, and that she and Pol Secura had overdosed them with glitteryll to wipe their memories, in the process protecting them from higher-ups behind the scenes. As she prepared to kill Quinlan, pulling her blaster up to his head, she was stabbed from behind by the mother spider. With a recovered Villie's help, Quinlan was able to kill the spider and, with his new information, decided to visit Pol Secura once more.

Quinlan and Vilmarh barged into Pol Secura's quarters overlooking the caves of Ryloth, aggressively demanding to know where Aayla was. Pol shakenly revealed that she was now one of his servants, motioning to her, mere feet away. Quinlan introduced himself and asked if she remembered him, but she didn't. He handed her her pink lightsaber and encouraged her to ignite it; even when she did, she recalled nothing. Quinlan threateningly asked Pol what he had done to her, and he explained that she had to be given more glitteryll every day to suppress her Jedi memories.

Quinlan interrogated Pol with Force lightning, demanding to know who was behind selling the drugs to the Corporate Sector. After suffering much pain, Pol yelled that it was Chom Frey Kaa, a Senator from Ryloth. As Quinlan prepared to kill him, Aayla instinctively Force-pushed them both off of the ledge, leaving Quinlan hanging on the edge and sending Pol plummeting to a stone platform, killing him. As Aayla rushed to her uncle, Vilmarh Grahrk pulled Quinlan up, explaining to him that going after Aayla would be useless, because to her he was nothing more than the man who made her kill her uncle. Quinlan reluctantly agreed, and the two made their way back to the Inferno, flying out of the atmosphere.

Confronting Chom Frey Kaa


Soon after entering outer space, Vos and Grahrk were contacted via hologram by Jedi Master Mace Windu, who said that he had learned of Quinlan's memory loss from Tinte Vos, as well as his assassination of Pol Secura on Ryloth, and that he was to come back to Coruscant for retraining immediately. Quinlan cut off the transmission and, against Villie's cautioning, decided to go to Coruscant to find Chom Frey Kaa.

Landing in the underbelly of Republic City, Quinlan displayed unsureness as to where to find Kaa. Without warning, Villie shot Quinlan in the back, presumably with a stun blaster. When the Jedi awoke, he found himself handcuffed, laying next to Chom Frey Kaa, a large white Twi'lek, and Vilmarh Grahrk. Kaa revealed that in fact Grahrk was the one who transported the spider eggs from Kessel to Ryloth in the first place, and that he also brought Quinlan from Ryloth to Nar Shaddaa after his memory wiping. Villie however made his third betrayal of the day, tossing Quinlan's lightsaber to him, allowing him to unshackle himself and destroy the Twi'lek's battle droid guards.

As Quinlan prepared to kill the Senator, he was interrupted by Mace Windu, who told Quinlan that to kill him would be to succumb to the dark side of the Force. Quinlan was disobedient, not willing to let Kaa survive. After a brief lightsaber duel between the two, Master Windu, with his pacifism, was able to make Quinlan see the error in his actions, and Vos pledged himself to the Jedi Order's retraining, with only one request: that Aayla be retrieved from Ryloth and taught the same.

Slave of the Witches
Three months into his retraining, Quinlan Vos was sent to Dathomir to investigate the local Witches, following reports that they had something to do with the planet Ova mysteriously vanishing. With only four days to work, Quinlan flew into the planet's orbit and, activating the ejector seat in his starship once he had entered the atmosphere, crashed down into Dathomir's towering forests. He was soon confronted and taken as a slave by the female-dominated Dathomiri.

While excavating one of the Dathomiri's ancient temples, Vos introduced himself to a Givin named Yag Shushin, before being quickly reprimanded by one of his Dathomiri slavemasters for fraternizing with other slaves. Quinlan, hoping to find out what exactly they were doing with this excavation, told her to "burn in the fire rings of Fornax," causing her to angrily attack him with a Force pike. Before she could accurately hit him, a sudden "rock-quake" sent boulders crashing onto many of the workers, including Yag Shushin, though he survived due to the Givins' tough exoskeleton.

While being kept in his laser prison with the other slaves, Quinlan was offered healing by Ros Lai (known to the workers as "the Rancor"), the hunchbacked daughter of Matriarch Zalem. Though he refused, he sensed something special about her. Suddenly, a group of Dathomiri riding actual rancors, led by Yongti, arrived, shooting and injuring Ros Lai, but not killing her. Yag quickly explained to Quinlan that they were a rival clan of Witches, coming to steal slaves and mates. One of them then fired upon the laser grid security console, allowing them to walk through unscathed and take anyone they liked.

Quinlan was soon lassoed by one of the rancor-mounted Witches, and desperately used the Force to reactivate the laser grid, killing one of the rancors. Suddenly, a large tunneling machine called a subterine piloted by a Dathomiri came flying out of the ground, and fired upon all of the attacking Witches, killing all of them and successfully defending her slaves.

Lizard Keeper
The next day, Quinlan's digging was interrupted by a giant wuffa burrowing out of the ground and attacking the workers. Weary of letting anyone else see his lightsaber, Quinlan dived into the massive worm's mouth, stabbing into its heavily exposed brain with his glowing green blade; the only witness was Yag Shushin, who didn't say anything. Upon hearing of Quinlan's accomplishment, Zalem promoted him and Yag to Lizard Keepers, guardians of the Kwi, a blue saurian species native to Dathomir.

Upon arriving in the Kwi stable, Yag explained to Quinlan that the Dathomiri were cutting off the Kwi's paws, and using them to activate the machines in the temples they're excavating. He also said that he knew where the Witches kept their subterines, and that he could easily pilot them. A fellow worker explained to him how to do it, but just as he was about to eagerly demonstrate on an unfortunate Kwi, Quinlan punched him to the ground, taking out his lightsaber and killing all attacking slaves. Quinlan then sliced through the Kwi cages, setting them free, and told Yag to go get a subterine. He did so, and Quinlan noticed one Kwi standing its ground, seeming to want to converse with Quinlan via psychometry. He agreed, and put his hand up to the creature's paw.

The Kwi told him of his species' ancestors, the Kwa, and how they built interstellar gateways called Infinity Gates, underground, concealing them with large, pyramidal Star Temples. The Temples were laden with lethal traps throughout the interior, and guarded by giant wuffas from without. As a result of both of these detriments, the Dathomiri were attempting to dig under the Star Temples and access the Infinity Gate. The Kwi told Quinlan that, as he has killed one of the Temples' guardians, he must replace it. Quinlan understood, and the Kwi ran off with the rest of the herd.

The deceptive sister


Quinlan suddenly realized that Ros Lai, the hunchbacked daughter of Zalem, was spying on him. He chased after her, only to be lured into a large pit filled with hog-like creatures. Ros Lai walked away, saying she didn't want him "interfering with her plans." Quinlan killed just enough of the boars to safely Force jump out of the hole, catching up with Ros Lai, who had transformed from her disfigured guise into an upright, red-haired, attractive woman.

Quinlan eavesdropped on Ros speaking to a Force spirit; her father, and thus Zalem's wife. He learned that Zalem killed her husband for being Force-sensitive, fearing any male becoming too powerful. Ros promised to take revenge. Quinlan then revealed himself, offering that the two should work together to stop Zalem's excavating of the Star Temples. Ros disagreed, explaining that she wanted Zalem to gain access to the Temples, then she would kill her and use the Infinity Gate for herself.

With that, Ros used Force choke on Quinlan, planting him against a pillar. Before she could kill him however, three other Witches appeared; Vonya, Yani and Leela; apparently having heard the previous conversation. As Ros released Quinlan from her Force choke, the Witches seemed pleased to learn that Ros had become beautiful, and accepted her into their sisterhood. Ros didn't seem very eager to do so however, as she once again used Force choke, this time on Leela, killing her. Yani ran away in fear, as Vonya used the Force to throw nearby rocks at Ros Lai.

Realizing that she would be a powerful ally, Quinlan slashed the rocks apart before they could touch Ros, causing Vonya to retreat. Quinlan once again made his offer to Ros, but she wasn't any more willing to help him than before. Quinlan, finally relinquishing, decided to rendezvous with Yag Shushin and use a subterine to dive underground. He was soon attacked however by a group of Dathomiri, taken prisoner, and transported to Zalem's personal tent.

Infinity's end
Shackled to a vertical bed, Quinlan was injected with deadly artery worms. Before they began to take effect, Ros Lai arrived, closely followed by Yag Shushin in a subterine. After dispatching of some of Zalem's guards, Quinlan and Ros boarded the subterine and flew off to safety, digging underground once at the location of the Infinity Gate. Ros gave Quinlan a potion containing her blood, which, being a Witch's blood, was immune to artery worms. Suddenly, two Dathomiri ships, piloted by Vonya and Zalem respectively, and the three ships flew into the Star Chamber, the massive chamber containing the Infinity Gate.

Firing upon Quinlan's subterine, Vonya knocked Yag back roughly, shattering his exoskeleton and killing him. Quinlan took revenge, blasting relentlessly at Vonya's ship, destroying it in a ball of flame. They were too late to kill Zalem however; she had docked with the control station and, forcefully using a captured Kwi's paw, activated the Infinity Gate's weapons systems, aiming it and firing it at Coruscant. With only one hour to spare until it would make contact with the Republic capital, Ros docked at the station, claiming to be holding Quinlan as a prisoner.

Ros declared herself to be on Zalem's side, but her mother needed convincing. Ros, using an illusion spell, stabbed her Force pike into Quinlan's chest, and demanded justice for her fallen father from Zalem. After being denied, Ros stabbed her mother in the stomach, killing her, then walked off, leaving Quinlan to die against Zalem's guards. Quinlan, backed up against the wall, psychically activated the Star Chamber's death traps, killing all of the guards, though Ros was able to dodge them. Vos activated another trap, this one simply stunning Ros, allowing Quinlan to reverse the energy beam plummeting towards Coruscant, sending it towards his current location. Quinlan gathered Ros, carrying her back to the subterine and making the jump to hyperspace, flying to the now-safe Coruscant with his mission accomplished.

Clone Wars


A veteran of the Battle of Geonosis, Vos played a major part in the Clone Wars when he infiltrated Count Dooku's inner circle, under strict orders from Tholme and the Jedi Council, and provided valuable information to the Jedi and the Republic. Count Dooku played into Vos' dark side weakness and drew him "closer to the shadows", as Vos himself described it, than he had ever been before. Dooku had hinted to Vos that his great-aunt, Sheyf Tinte held a dark secret. Vos using his psychometric powers discovered that Sheyf Tinte had sacrificed Vos's parents to Anzati vampires as part of an unholy business deal. Vos went into a blood rage and with a surge of dark side power, Vos butchered his terrified aunt. Dooku now knew Vos's conversion was no act.

By 20 BBY, Vos was Dooku's assassin. He had already murdered Senator Viento under the false impression that he was the second Sith Lord as well as Kh'aris Fenn, a traitor to the Confederacy of Independent Systems. To cement his position as one of Dooku's Dark Side Adepts, Tyranus gave Vos the ancient crystal that once powered Darth Andeddu's blade to power his own. Most Jedi, with the exception of Tholme, were convinced that the Kiffar had surrendered to the dark side.



But Vos escaped Dooku's grasp; meeting his childhood friend, Obi-Wan, in a derelict spaceship, they found themselves on opposite sides. But by helping him escape Asajj Ventress and Tol Skorr, Vos managed to convince Kenobi that he still served the Republic. He returned to Coruscant, where he managed to convince the Jedi Council as well. Vos was given time to recuperate and then served as a Senior General. But Vos had not faced his demons yet; he continued working for the Confederacy in a mad race to uncover the second Sith Lord, who had mistakenly discovered in the face of Separatist Jedi Sora Bulq. On Saleucami, where he fought as part of the Jedi General team that was sent to prevent the Morgukai clones from leaving the planet, he eventually faced his demons, killing Bulq and returned to the light fully again. But not to the Jedi. Vos intended to leave the Jedi Order at the end of the Clone Wars to be with Khaleen Hentz who was pregnant with his child.

Vos was on Kashyyyk when Order 66 was transmitted to the clone commanders throughout the Galaxy. While on the overseer's platform of a Juggernaut, a neighboring tank fired on him and destroyed the tank he had been standing on. Although believed dead, Vos emerged from the explosion badly wounded, but alive.

His fate remains unknown.

Behind the scenes
Although Vos was based on a background character from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, he appeared primarily in the Star Wars: Republic and Star Wars: Jedi comic book series from Dark Horse Comics.

His character was created by author John Ostrander and artist Jan Duursema, though Vos' first appearance was actually a cameo in the Timothy Truman-penned Emissaries to Malastare. After this, he would take centre-stage in the Ostrander/Duursema work Twilight.



In a rare example of an Expanded Universe character becoming part of film canon, Vos was slated to appear in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, joining his former padawan, Aayla Secura. The scene was ultimately cut but nevertheless, a line of dialogue in the movie, said by Kenobi, still referred to a "Master Vos".

Vos showed up again in the Star Wars Tales comic, Ghost. Quinlan Vos rescued a young Han Solo, who was trying to find a treasure with a map he won in Sabacc, from a swoop gang on Socorro. The swoop gang hunted Quinlan because they believe him to be a Jedi. After Vos' confronted young Solo, he disappears into the shadows, never to be seen again. However, as that Star Wars Tales issue came out when most of Tales was considered to be Infinities, this story is most likely non-canonical.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
 * Star Wars Republic: Twilight
 * ''Star Wars Republic: Infinity's End
 * Heart of Fire
 * ''Star Wars Republic: Darkness
 * Star Wars Republic: The Stark Hyperspace War
 * Star Wars Republic: The Devaronian Version
 * Star Wars Republic: Rite of Passage
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic adaptation
 * Star Wars Republic 49: Sacrifice
 * Star Wars Republic 50: The Battle of Kamino
 * Jedi: Mace Windu
 * Jedi: Shaak Ti
 * Star Wars Republic 54: Double Blind
 * Jedi: Aayla Secura
 * Jedi: Dooku
 * Star Wars Republic 63: Striking from the Shadows
 * Star Wars Republic: Show of Force
 * Star Wars Republic 68: Armor
 * Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili
 * Star Wars Republic: Trackdown
 * ''Star Wars Republic: The Siege of Saleucami
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (mentioned)
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (comic)
 * ''Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Ghost in Star Wars Tales 11