Nomen Karr

"My oldest and most hated enemy. An old wound that continues to fester."

- Darth Baras

Nomen Karr, also known as the Sith Lord Retrost when undercover, was a male Human Jedi Master who was one of the Jedi Order's most veteran masters during the Cold War between the Republic and the Sith Empire and the personal nemesis of the Sith Lord, Darth Baras.

A gallant Jedi, Karr was known to touch the dark side of the Force while within the lines of the Sith Empire, yet remained true to the Jedi Code.

Intent on exposing Imperial spies in the Galactic Republic, Karr trained Jaesa Willsaam as his Padawan. His activities caught the notice of Darth Baras, who sent his latest apprentice, the future Emperor's Wrath, to destroy him.

Early career
A Force-sensitive Human, Nomen Karr was educated in the ways of the Force by the Jedi Order, attaining the rank of Jedi Master and constructing a green-bladed lightsaber. Although valued for his experience, Nomen Karr was known to challenge the Order's rigid precepts in his crusade against evil in the galaxy. When the Sith Empire returned to Republic space, Karr went behind Imperial lines under the alias of Retrost in an effort to gather information on the Empire and the Sith who populated it. The determined Karr even dared to touch the dark side during his time behind the Imperial border, but emerged a valiant champion of the light. He was convinced that the Republic had been infiltrated by the Sith Empire, and hoped to prove the Jedi High Council wrong for trusting the word of a Sith. Baras managed to expose Karr before their duel on Nal Hutta ended in stalemate before the latter fled. As a result of Karr's betrayal, the two became bitter enemies.

Karr was driven to expel the Imperial infiltrators which he believed were hidden throughout Republic and Jedi ranks, he sets himself to find these spies and bring them to justice, though Baras continued to thwart him at every turn. In this endeavor, he spent his time in the undercover area of the Empire. Learning of an Alderaanian young woman with the extraordinary gift of being able to discern a person's true nature at a glance, Nomen Karr immediately claimed her for the Order and as his student. He dedicated his life to her tutelage and protection, hoping she could expose those that Karr believed to be a threat to the Galactic Republic or the Jedi Order. However, the Jedi High Council continued to remain skeptical that Karr's Padawan's power was foolproof. As part of their training, he sent his apprentice to Tatooine to be trained by the the respected Jedi Master Yonlach.

Last days
"I have no choice but to put an end to you, Sith, and all will become calm again. Once you're out of the way, Jaesa will provide the proof I need to open the Jedi Council's eyes and expose Baras's network of spies." "Come, Karr, let us embrace death and settle this once and for all."

- Karr and the Sith Warrior before fighting

During the Cold War, Karr learned that his old enemy, Darth Baras, had acquired an extraordinarily strong new apprentice. As part of his continued surveillance of Baras' assets, Karr ordered a Republic orbital monitoring station in Huttese to monitor and track the movements of the apprentice's ship. The apprentice was headed to Balmorra and Nar Shaddaa, which Karr assumed to be providing extraction for Baras' agents.

When Baras and his apprentice found out, the latter arrived at the listening station and put a violent end to the spying. Karr, monitoring the station via hologram, pleaded for the lives of Hirosho and other technicians. The Sith refused his plea and slaughtered them before Karr's eyes. Horrified by what he has just seen, Karr declared the Warrior to be every bit Baras' minion. He then calmed himself, telling the apprentice that they had no idea what he had planned. But the Sith surprised him yet again, revealing that they knew of his Padawan and claimed her powers to be a sham. Briefly unsettled by the revelation, Karr declared that he would protect his Padawan from the taint of the Sith, even though the Warrior promised "to keep her skull as a trophy." Proclaiming the Sith to be unreasonable, Karr summoned a squad of elite troopers, claiming them to be the Republic's finest and demanded the Sith surrender, but was refused. The apprentice swiftly slaughtered the attack squad. Noting how ferocious the Warrior was, Karr stated that he now had insight for their eventual confrontation.

The listening post incident proved instrumental in Karr's undoing. Noting how protective Karr was of his Padawan, Baras ordered his apprentice find and kill the people who had been closest to, starting with Yonlach on Tatooine, and eventually her parents on Alderaan. Baras' plan was to unbalance Karr's apprentice and draw her out so she could be killed.

The plan ultimately proved successful and Jaesa contacted Baras' apprentice to arrange a one-on-one meeting. Karr soon discovered her arrangement and branded it foolish and rash. He forbid her to attend the meeting, and in her place sent a pair of trained Jedi Knights, Ulldin and Zylixx, to end the threat permanently. The pair proved no match for Baras' apprentice, and were quickly defeated.

Tiring of the endless intrigues, Karr then contacted Baras directly to arrange a duel to finally end their conflict. The stage was set for a final battle at the site of Karr's betrayal years earlier. But because Baras feared a trap, and because he knew of his apprentice's great strength, Baras sent the Warrior in his place. Karr was sorely disappointed to see the Warrior alive and in place of Baras, but he was confident that he would be able to defeat the apprentice and expose Baras' network of spies. But the Warrior proved to be stronger than he expected, both physically and in the ways of the dark side.

"Ahh! The Force is... very strong with you... I must dig deeper..." "Release your anger! It's the only way to defeat me!" "No! This is not right! Fall! You must fall to me!" "I fall to no one!"

- Nomen Karr and the Sith Warrior during their duel

Karr succumbed to the Warrior's taunts and turned to the dark side for the strength to win their fight. The Jedi Master failed and was defeated by Baras' agent. Mortally wounded, Karr felt that the dark side has underestimated him, and would try to fight his way back to the light side and die in order to protect Willsaam, but Imperial operatives dispatched by Baras were able to stabilize him so that the Warrior could use him as bait to draw Willsaam into the trap; and in a moment of true darkness, the Wrath chose to torture Karr, promising he would "suffer as no one has ever suffered". The ruse was successful and she arrived to witness her master twisted by the dark side into something she couldn't recognize as he spewed his hate for both Baras and his apprentice. At first she considered the possibility that Karr had been hiding this all along before she accused the Sith of corrupting her Master. The Warrior told her that the only way to find the truth is to use her power on him. Willsaam complied and saw these dark traits within Karr but refused to believe it. The Warrior continued to taunt her into giving into her anger as well and lash out. She engaged the Sith Warrior in fair combat, but she turned out to be no match against the Sith apprentice. Surrendering herself and following the path towards the dark side, Jaesa became the Warrior's new apprentice. Karr tried to fight the dark side within him, and show part of himself in the light side. He tried to tell his apprentice that she was not fully trained to fight a Sith, but Willsaam wanted to follow the Sith Warrior's path since she was fond of this new power - using brutality to force the truth to the surface - and, as the Warrior pointed out, Karr was a master of the light himself but had failed as much as she had.

As Willsaam was concerned of what to do with her former master, the Warrior eventually ordered her to kill him as her first test in becoming strong in the dark side. Feeling regret for facilitating his apprentice's corruption and letting himself become a slave to the dark side, Karr pleaded her not to become a murderer, but Willsaam retorted that the Jedi are hypocrites for taking lives themselves. She then immediately decapitated and killed her former master.

Personality and traits
Being a Jedi Master, Nomen Karr demonstrated unwavering devotion to the light side of the Force. It is this that drives him to try and expose the Imperial infiltrators in hiding across the galaxy, despite Baras' constant interference. However, he arrogantly believes in the light's superiority over the dark side, showing a darker sense of pride.

Beneath his noble and passionless demeanour, lies a hidden dark persona. It is this dark reflection that Karr assumed he left behind after his infiltration of the Sith, but was later brought out by the Emperor's Wrath. Giving into his anger in the belief that it would defeat his enemy, Karr showed he was hypocrite to the Jedi teachings. The dark side clouding his mind, Karr began to let out all his repressed hatred for both Baras and his apprentice. But in the final moments of his life, Karr began to feel remorse for his errors.

Powers and abilities
Nomen Karr was a master of lightsaber combat. With the Force, he could leap back and forth with such speed when between two opponents and throw a lightsaber. On occasion, he would use Force push to distance himself a few feet from an adversary before closing back into the duel.

When he fell to the dark side during his duel with the Sith Warrior, Karr learned the technique of Force choke, lightning shield, and Force rage.

Behind the scenes
In The Old Republic, if the player chooses the dark side dialogue, he/she would be the one to kill Nomen Karr since Baras wanted him dead instead of letting Jaesa kill him.

Nomen Karr is voiced by actor Michael Gregory in Star Wars: The Old Republic, who also provides the voice for Harron Tavus.

Light side story
If the player chooses to remain with the light side dialogue options, Karr's responses would be as different from that from the dark side story.

While Karr watches the Sith Warrior spare Hirosho and the other technicians in the listening station via hologram, he is taken aback, stating that "your temperance is remarkable." That does not prevent him from bringing out the Republic soldiers on the Warrior, however. After the Warrior defeats them, he/she attempts to convince Karr that they can finish this peacefully. Karr acknowledges that he wishes it was possible before cutting transmission.

In Karr's safe house on Hutta, the Warrior tries once again that he/she has not come to fight Karr, but the Jedi Master will not listen.

"I haven't come to kill you." "No, I'm sure you're here to play pazaak. You are Baras' pawn&mdash;an especially resourceful and powerful one, but still only that. I must put an end to you. Once you're out of the way, Jaesa will provide the proof I need to open the Jedi Council's eyes and expose Baras's network of spies." "Don't force me to destroy you." "This ends now, Sith."

- The Sith Warrior attempts to come to peaceful terms with Nomen Karr before fighting him.

After the first part of the fight, Karr digs deeper with the dark side. The Warrior tries to persuade him to give up, but Karr refuses and attacks again and again.

"Ahh! The Force is... very strong with you... I must dig deeper..." "Stand down, Karr. No one has to die." "Never. [...] No! This is not right! Fall! You must fall to me!" "You're weakening, Karr. Surrender." "Silence, Sith!"

- The light side dialogue during Karr and the Warrior's duel

Soon, Karr is seriously wounded and prefers to die, that way no one would reach Jaesa. The Warrior tries to convince him that he/she is not here to kill Jaesa, but Karr believes it to be lies before falling into unconsciousness. Imperial troops arrive and patch him back to health.

After Karr awakes, shackled to a chair, he assumes that the Warrior saved him so Jaesa would believe he/she was "pure," which is true, in the case of lightsiders. When Jaesa arrives and sees Karr in his maddened state, the Warrior tells her to use her power on Karr, to see what he really is. Reluctantly, Jaesa does so and finds "pride and... envy and hate... and vengeance" in her Master. Karr argues that it's all a trick and tells Jaesa to use the power on the Warrior, to which the Sith agrees. Jaesa sees "mercy... and fairness and... even perhaps compassion." She knows this now because the Warrior had previously spared Master Yonlach on Tatooine and her parents on Alderaan. Karr is unconvinced, saying that the Sith is trying to disguise both of them so Jaesa would "doubt" her powers. Jaesa is confused, believing that both Karr and the Warrior are trying to drive her mad. Karr pins the blame on Darth Baras' manipulation and orders Jaesa to kill the Sith Warrior so that she can see. The Warrior does not intend to fight, but a lost Jaesa activates her lightsaber and tells her opponent to raise his/her defenses.

Jaesa is defeated and the Warrior holds back the killing blow. Jaesa now sees that the Warrior's sense of darkness is a "mask" and Karr holds a "much... uglier one." The Warrior assures her that the Jedi Master's Force connection is "flawed." After having putting through many lies, including those from the Jedi, Jaesa sees that the Warrior has the power to reveal someone's "true nature." She agrees to become the Warrior's Sith apprentice, but in a lighter sense of the term.

Karr is detained by the Imperial soldiers either to Baras, left to his "misery," or to the Jedi Temple on Tython to atone for what he has done. Angry, he will see that Jaesa will become an enemy of the Jedi Order, but she feels that he "took me as far as you were able." He is led away, ranting.

"No... no, this cannot be... my fate. Who are you to preside over me? You... you are... nothing. I am... I am Nomen... Karr..."

- Karr in his pitiful state.

On the Fury-class Imperial interceptor, if Karr is left alone or taken to Tython, the Warrior has the option to lie to Baras that the Jedi is dead, gaining affection points from Jaesa and Vette.

Even if he is taken to Tython for healing, his old apprentice Somminick Timmns admits his emotions have since been stunted, and he no longer communes with the Force, suggesting that he had a crisis of faith.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic