Luminara Unduli/Legends

"Pure defense is inferior to a combination of defense and offense."

- Barriss Offee, training with Luminara Unduli

Luminara Unduli was a Mirialan Jedi Master and a Senior Jedi General of the Galactic Republic during the time of the Clone Wars. Her last Padawan was Barriss Offee. The two Mirialans often worked together on the battlefield, their amazing lightsaber skills and agility making them a formidable duo.

Biography
Luminara became a Master in the years prior to the Invasion of Naboo. All her Padawans, including Offee, were natives of Mirial, as Mirialan cultural standards required that any children given to the Jedi Order be trained by Mirialan masters. Luminara was a close friend to fellow masters Shaak Ti and Quinlan Vos. In the years preceding the Clone Wars, Luminara and Offee served on several missions together.

Mission to Ansion


Shortly before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Luminara and Barriss were sent by the Jedi Council on a mission to a small Mid Rim world named Ansion. Despite its general unimportance in the galactic order, the planet was considered key by both the loyalist and separatist movements because it was the unfortunate center of a series of interlocking treaties and alliances. Luminara, her Padawan, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, were to discover and forestall any separatist movement fermenting on Ansion. Their mission was made difficult by the cultural division which gripped Ansion: one part of the planet's population dwelt in cities and towns&mdash;and engaged in trade with other worlds in the Republic&mdash;while the other part lived in a loose confederation of nomadic clans on Ansion's vast and windy plains. The two factions had been in conflict for more than a thousand years.

Arrival in Cuipernam
Not long after arriving on the planet, the two Mirialan Jedi were ambushed in the streets of the Ansionian capital, Cuipernam, by employees of Soergg the Hutt, a local crime lord whose services had been retained by the separatists. Cornered against a wall, Luminara sustained a minor blaster graze before Obi-Wan and Anakin handily defeated their attackers with help from the element of surprise.

Luminara and Obi-Wan, along with their Padawans, secure in their persons for the time being, proceeded to the Ansionian council building, where they conducted initial negotiations with the Unity of Community Council, which represented the city-dwelling Ansionians. Like Ansion, the council was deeply divided. Roughly half its membership favored the Separatists, having been promised a quick and forceful end to the conflict with the prairie-dwelling Alwari nomads by the Separatist leadership&mdash;and an escape from Republic taxes and regulations.

After a particularly unorthodox demonstration of the Force on the Armalat delegate Tolut, and a promise of a very favorable settlement with the Alwari, Luminara was able to persuade the Council to provisionally agree to remain in the Republic&mdash;so long as the Jedi delivered on her promise.

The quartet's new focus was interrupted when Barriss was captured by two mentally disabled Ansionian gangsters in the employ of Soergg, Bulgan and Kyakhta. The young Padawan was able to convince her captors to help her escape Soergg's men by offering to heal them of their injuries. Restored to their former selves, the pair quickly aided Barriss in eluding the Hutt's clutches. Unsurprisingly, Luminara located her escaped Padawan before Obi-Wan or Anakin sensed her presence.

Bulgan and Kyakhta, grateful to and in awe of Barriss&mdash;and sensing an opportunity&mdash;appointed themselves guides the the four Jedi. Luminara and her colleagues accepted the aid of the Ansonian pair, not least because the two were both outcast members of Alwari clans.

Into the prairie
In short order, the Jedi set out on an expedition to locate the scattered Alwari clans, particularly the Borokii overclan. Luminara, Barriss, their two colleagues and their guides, crossed out of Cuipernam into Ansion's vast prairie, riding on magnificent suubatar animals recommended by Bulgan and Kyakhta as much for their prestige among the Alwari as for the very practical advantages of the beasts.

As the expedition progressed, Luminara noticed a clear tension between Barriss and the confident Anakin, and discussed the brash Padawan's unusual case with Obi-Wan. On the way, they had to fend off attacks by gairk at a river crossing, and seek shelter from a large flock of suicidal kyren. At the camp of the first Alwari clan they encountered, the Yiwa, Luminara and the others were welcomed, but were required to provide entertainment that evening. After gaining a deeper understanding of the Alwari sense of tradition, Luminara contrived an entertainment that would satisfy the Yiwa. Taking a handful of sand from the ground, she let it fall through her fingers, but against the wind. Turning the stream of sand into a coil with expert manipulation of the Force, Luminara lifted twirling columns of sand around her in glittering spirals. Then she also began to twirl herself, until she was rapidly whirling around with spirals of sand forming a vortex around her as she rose off of her feet into the air. Climatically, the sand was formed into a globe around her as she spun in mid-air. Her dizzying performance completed, she returned to her place among the other Jedi amid the Alwari equivalent of applause. Even her companions were impressed by this feat.



Luminara again had cause to worry about Barriss when the Padawan disappeared chasing a Gwurran thief Tooqui. However, the Padawan was found, this time surrounded by rambunctious, inquisitive Gwurrans. Tooqui insisted on coming along with them, and Luminara reluctantly agreed, passing off responsibility for him to Barriss. The Gwurran would prove his worth when he rescued all four Jedi and the two Alwari after the Qulun clan used a scented perfume to send the Jedi to sleep and capture them in order to receive a payment from Soergg. After they escaped with their mounts, Luminara would later save Anakin's life when he was attacked by two predatory shanhs.

After being led to the Borokii clan, the Jedi were required to retrieve a tuft of wool from the exceedingly rare albino surepp herd animals without modern technology. Luminara went into the herd at night, bouncing off the top of each animal and retrieved the wool. On the way back, she slipped and was knocked unconscious. The other Jedi brought her out of the herd and the negotiations proceeded. The Borokii agreed to the settlement, but the Jedi were required to deal with their traditional enemies, the Januul clan. Under the leadership of Obi-Wan, the Jedi agreed, although Luminara was flabbergasted. When the two clans drew up to engage each other, the Jedi went in between of them and declared their intention to not fight either side. Luminara and the other Jedi then fended off attacks launched against them by both sides, but they parried only weapons, injuring and killing none of the combatants. Stunned, both clans agreed to the Jedi's proposition.

Return to Cuipernam
Returning to Cuipernam to inform the Unity Council, Soergg again tried to ambush the Jedi, who were then aided by an honor guard of both Januul and Borokii clans. Luminara then proceeded to the negotiations, where Ansion&mdash;a vital hub of alliances&mdash;agreed to stay in the Republic. Her hard work, research, ingenuity and skill had helped keep a vital world in the Republic.

Battle of Geonosis


Shortly after Luminara and Barris returned from the mission to Ansion, it became apparent that a full-fledged military conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems would occur. Obi-Wan Kenobi was captured by the Confederacy on Geonosis, and Luminara and her Padawan joined Master Mace Windu's quickly launched rescue mission.

Luminara and Mace were the vanguard for the approaching Jedi. The pair slipped past the planet's significant anti-orbital defenses and commandeered newly landed TX-130S fighter tanks which they used to destroy Geonosian gun emplacements blocking the way to the arena. When Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Senator Padmé Amidala were brought to the Geonosis arena, Luminara, Barris, and 212 other Jedi revealed themselves to Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederacy, who was personally overseeing the planned execution.[19] A heated but short battle followed; 179 Jedi Knights fell in battle before Master Yoda arrived with the newly-created clone army in several LAAT gunships to rescue the twenty or so Jedi who remained. The stadium was littered with droid parts. But Luminara and her Padawan survived; they and the other surviving Jedi joined the battle as military commanders.

Clone Wars (22 BBY—19 BBY)
Luminara served as a Senior Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Units under her command included the 41st Elite Legion and a Republic naval task force of unknown designation.

Assault on Ilum
Four months after the Battle of Geonosis, Luminara led her Padawan to the secret Jedi temple on the icy world Ilum, where the two traveled to complete Barriss's final lightsaber construction ceremony as a Padawan. Moments after the observance was completed, the two were attacked by invisible Separatist chameleon droids which had infiltrated the temple in an attempt to destroy the cavern's precious natural lightsaber crystals.

Together, they were able to halt the droid assault, but much of the temple was brought down upon itself by mines the droids had set before attacking. Luminara and Barriss plunged into the depths of the temple cavern as great slices of rock and small and precious crystals alike plummeted to the ceremonial floor. For moments, they were able to elude the stone maelstrom, but even their great powers working in concert were soon not enough to allow escape. The Jedi were trapped. Barriss reached out bodily with the Force to halt the falling debris above her, and succeeded, only to glance at her master, who sat in meditative harmony with the Force and falling stone. The apprentice joined the master in reflective poise, and, together, they calmly held up the crushing vault of stone which piled above them.

Eventually, the pair were extricated by the efforts of Master Yoda, who had sensed their battle at a great distance while traveling through space.

Battle of Nadiem
Five months after the Battle of Geonosis, Luminara fought against General Grievous on the pastoral Republic world Nadiem in the Outer Rim.

Tasked with evacuating a city under threat from Grievous's approaching droid army, she dispatched a strike team under Barriss's command to Threadneedle Canyon, a strategic choke point between the city and the Separatist column. She had ordered her Padawan to attempt to set off explosives to block the droid army's path, but Barriss, mindful of Luminara's lessons in hiding in plain sight, decided to play dead as the droid army walked past, and then attack them from the rear. The team set off their explosives while the droid army was crossing through the canyon, destroying the column entirely.

Grievous' remaining forces were eventually defeated, though the general himself escaped Luminara's army and a blockading naval force commanded by Saesee Tiin.

Parting with Barriss
"Barriss Offee, your training is complete."

- Luminara Unduli, to Barris Offee

Soon after departing from Nadiem, Luminara and her Padawan at last parted ways. Barriss had grown much as a Jedi under her instruction, and had little still to learn. Following a similar mission on Drongar, Barriss ascended to the rank of Jedi Knight, and they saw little of each other for the remainder of the war.

Later, she commanded a Republic task force which engaged a Separatist fleet near the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. Due to this, Master Luminara was unable to aid the forces of General's Kenobi, Koon and Skywalker, whilst they engaged the Malevolence.

Sometime during the war, Master Unduli dueled the Separatist Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, who successfully rescued the captured Trade Federation Viceroy, Nute Gunray.

Battle of Kashyyyk
"Many ships ring this planet, Master Unduli. Many. Numbers they have, but the Force is with us. A plan I have, but move quickly we must. The enemy marches."

- Yoda, upon arrival to Kashyyyk

Luminara was one of several Jedi generals dispatched to the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk during the Outer Rim Seiges to defend the vital Republic member world from Separatist attack. The Confederacy of Independent Systems desired secret hyperspace routes recorded in the Wookiee archives that could turn the war in its favor, and was threatening to overrun the planet.

Luminara commanded the first units of the Grand Army to land on the Wookiee homeworld, including the 41st Elited Legion, led by Commander Gree. She was quickly joined by units commanded by Quinlan Vos and Commander Faie.

Alongside sparse members of their respective clone army divisions, Luminara and Vos, as well as Wookiees led by an elder from the Palsaang tribe, Gumbaeki, infiltrated an encampment of Trandoshans, using the Separatist raiding party as an excuse to capture and enslave Wookiees. They easily and swiftly destroyed the encampment and freed the hairy simians, but an ambushing crab droid pinned down the small force until the Devaronian smuggler, Vilmarh Grahrk, a friend of Master Vos, and his young Wookiee friend, Gumbaeki's grandson, Chak, intervened by firing on the droid with their small ship's weapons.

By the time the primary droid assault was launched, Luminara and Vos had returned to the Republic command base at Kachirho, where they had been joined by Master Yoda. Luminara's 41st Elite and detachments of the 501st Legion, supported by Wookiees, were assigned to fight on the beachfront defending the sea wall and to hold the line until Separatist forces were fully committed. When the droid army committed in full, Yoda gave the word to Luminara to charge the left flank of the droid army. Simultaneously, Quinlan Vos, alongside Chewbacca and Tarfful, was sent across the lagoon to lead an attack on approaching Separatist forces.

The battle seemed to go back and forth until, despite the best efforts of the combined Wookiee/Grand Army of the Republic defense, Kachirho became in danger of being overrun by the Separatists. The 501st Legion was beaten back by Separatist forces, which advanced on the Kachirho seawall in an attempt to destroy a crucial oil refinery.

The best efforts of Luminara's soldiers managed to keep the sea wall intact until General Yoda could arrive to push the Confederacy back. With the foiling of this crucial mission, the droid army began to retreat. Luminara turned to the healing of wounded clone troopers and Wookiees as the battle neared its end.

Order 66


When the treacherous Order 66 was transmitted to the clone troopers under her command, Luminara was still healing troopers wounded during the battle. She was gunned down by the troopers led by Commander Faie.

When the Galactic Empire emerged, official records compiled by Sate Pestage stated that Luminara was executed because she was a conspirator in the plot to overthrow the Republic.

Postmortem
Eight months after the execution of Order 66, the Wookiee Chak created a memorial to the Jedi lost on Kashyyyk in one of the high caves. Her image stood above that of Quinlan Vos, and adjacent to Master Yoda's.

Powers and Abilities


"Her lightsaber skills were impressive. In battle, her movements were focused and precise, flowing from one to the other. All Jedi are my brothers and sisters, but only with a few, like Luminara Unduli, do you intuitively mesh."

- Quinlan Vos on Luminara Unduli's skills.

Trained as a Guardian, Unduli possessed power that very few Jedi were able to overcome. She had amazing lightsaber skills, as she was a master of Form III and had some skill in Form V. Not only were her lightsaber skills superb, but she had also trained herself to become so incredibly flexible that she could easily twist to evade almost any attack that she did not block with her green lightsaber. These skills were often flawlessly used in tandem with her apprentice Offee, who had long studied at her side. Quinlan Vos thought in particular that she was one of few Jedi who easily connect with and complemented her companions during battle.

Appearance
Her lower lip was stained a permanent purplish-black, and a series of interlocking black diamond-shaped tattoos covered her chin, while more intricate markings covered her knuckle joints. These were Mirialan signs of her dedication to physical discipline. Her eyes were of an intense blue color, a contrast to her olive-colored skin. They gave the Jedi Master a serene, otherworldly look.

Behind the scenes


Luminara was played by Mary Oyaya in Attack of the Clones and Fay David in Revenge of the Sith. She was voiced by Cree Summer in the 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon, by Lori Tritel in the The Clone Wars video game and by Olivia d'Abo in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Luminara seems to be inspired from the Latin word for light, lumen/lumin-. One word descended from this root that may have inspired Luminara's name is the Spanish luminaria, a Christmastime decoration used in Latin America and the Southwestern U.S.

The New Essential Guide to Characters and The Approaching Storm identify Luminara as Human. While not specific, this is not a continuity error, as Mirialans are near-human and thus part of the Human species. She is also called a Jedi Knight throughout The Approaching Storm, a designation which, while technically correct, ignores her distinction of Jedi Master, which she had earned sometime before Cloak of Deception.

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * The Approaching Storm
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars game
 * Hide in Plain Sight
 * Star Wars Republic: Show of Force
 * CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 15:01:15 Edition
 * MedStar I: Battle Surgeons
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Versus
 * Star Wars Republic: Trackdown
 * Boba Fett: Pursuit
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Republic Commando: Order 66

Notes and references
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