An'ya Kuro

"She is a strange one&mdash;even among the Jedi. Her devotion to the Force is such that she even renounced her own name as a sign of selfless fealty. She is known only as&hellip;the Dark Woman!"

- Lekket

An'ya Kuro was a mysterious Human Jedi Master who abandoned her birth name as a symbol of humility before the Force and adopted the title of Dark Woman. Although the training methods of the Dark Woman were a cause for concern among members of the Jedi Council, several of her Padawans rose to prominence during the years in which the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems were embroiled in the Clone Wars. However, it was her failure to successfully train a female student named Aurra Sing&mdash;who later earned a reputation as a notorious slayer of Jedi&mdash;that caused the Dark Woman to enter into a self-imposed exile on the planet Cophrigin V.

The Dark Woman later returned to the Jedi Order in accordance with the will of the Force to participate in the Clone Wars as a spy. During the onset of the Great Jedi Purge, Kuro went into hiding until she was discovered and struck down by Darth Vader.

Early life
"A Jedi should have no possessions. Not even an identity. I gave mine up to show humility before the Force.''" "''Instead you allowed them to call you 'The Dark Woman'. Such an improvement!"

- An'ya Kuro and Tholme



After attaining the rank of Jedi Knight, Kuro began to travel the galaxy to find Force sensitive children that the Republic's screening process might have missed. One early success she met with on these travels was the discovery of Ki-Adi-Mundi on Cerea.

On Coruscant, Kuro convinced the Jedi Council to allow Ki-Adi-Mundi to begin training despite being older than most accepted younglings. When he was old enough, the Jedi Council chose to assign Ki-Adi-Mundi to Master Yoda for his Jedi training, lest an emotional relationship develop between Kuro and the young Cerean.

Kuro utilized unconventionally harsh training methods which were nonetheless effective, and the Jedi Council often assigned difficult trainees to her. These methods often produced strong Jedi that inherited a hint of Kuro's darkness, as visible in her former Padawan Jon Antilles. However, the harsh training conditions she imposed on her students sometimes led to failure.

Circa 53 BBY, Kuro discovered a Force-sensitive baby in the slums of Nar Shaddaa. Kuro brought the child to Coruscant to receive training. There, the child took the name Aurra Sing. Sing showed aggressive tendencies that led the Council to assign her to Kuro as a "problem case." Their efforts were in vain, however, and by age nine, Sing had still not attained the level of Padawan.

While at Kuro's training ground on Ord Namurt in 44 BBY, Sing was kidnapped by space pirates who convinced the young Jedi that she was sold off by her master. Sing, who had never been close to Kuro, believed the lie. Thus began a lifelong grudge against the Jedi.

Exile and return
"What a bizarre woman. I'd heard she was dead."

- Mace Windu

Demoralized by the loss of Sing, Kuro retreated to Cophrigin V to meditate on her role as a Jedi, her training techniques and the future. In 32 BBY, after twelve years of solitude, Kuro returned to Coruscant just as Ki-Adi-Mundi, now a famed Jedi Knight, was preparing for a mission to Tatooine. Before his departure, Kuro warned her former Padawan to take considerable care on Tatooine, as she had foreseen a great darkness approaching in her dreams.

Two years thereafter, the assassination of two Jedi verified the rumors of Sing's return as a Jedi-hunting assassin and bounty hunter. Kuro requested that the Jedi Council place her in charge of the hunt for her former Padawan, but she was denied on the grounds of her connection to Sing. Instead, Ki-Adi-Mundi, his new Padawan A'Sharad Hett, and Adi Gallia were dispatched to track Sing and bring her to justice.

Kuro returned to Cophrigin V, unaware that Sing had been hired to assassinate her. The Jedi task force converged on Kuro's retreat just as Sing prepared to strike. Hett engaged Sing in battle and subdued the bounty hunter, but was forced to tap into his anger to ensure victory. Discouraged by the darkness he had seen in himself, Hett wished to give up on his Jedi training until Kuro offered to train him to control his anger. As the Jedi prepared to depart with Sing in tow, a meteor shower struck their landing site, forcing a hasty departure leaving the Anzati-trained assassin behind.

Kuro later sparred Hett in a training room at the Jedi Temple. Hett would not continue his training until he received a lesson from Kuro. The Dark Woman attacked Hett fiercely with her lightsaber and her own words, trying to enrage him. Hett stayed in control, phrasing passages from the Jedi Code and passed his test according to Kuro.

Clone Wars
Kuro accompanied Master Windu to Geonosis where she aided in the starfighter battle against Captain Cavik Toth under the command of Adi Gallia. During the Clone Wars, Kuro chose to aid the Republic as a spy rather than a general. Together with Tholme and Aayla Secura, Kuro infiltrated Devaron to verify rumors of a Separatist base.

During their mission, Kuro was observed by Sing, who was on the planet to assassinate the Devaronian senator. Sing sprung a trap that pinned Tholme and Kuro under cavern rocks, but the young Secura was able to subdue Sing. The injured Jedi Masters recovered with bacta treatments and returned to Coruscant.

Great Jedi Purge
"Your power is at an end, Dark Woman."

- Darth Vader

With the onset of the Great Jedi Purge and the establishment of the Galactic Empire, Kuro sought safety on Cophrigin V, where she built a great garden and lived as a hermit. When Kuro's hiding place was discovered by Mara Jade, an Emperor's Hand and one of Palpatine's personal assassins, Darth Vader arrived to personally kill the maverick Jedi Master. After a brief discussion concerning extinction and evolution, Kuro told Vader that she already accepted her fate, but nonetheless put up a fight.

Eventually during their duel Vader brought down a huge tree on top of Kuro, trapping her. With a slash of his lightsaber, he ended her life. She merged with the Force and told him he still had the power left in him to become Anakin again. Enraged, Vader tried to strike her Force ghost with his blade, but Kuro's presence simply disappeared into the light of the Force.

Personality and traits
"The ways of her teaching are brutal...and disturbing!"

- Even Piell

An'ya Kuro was an unorthodox and mysterious Jedi Master. She believed strongly in the Jedi philosophy of humility, so strongly that she abandoned her own name and adopted the name, Dark Woman. Kuro was well known for training difficult or troubled Padawans such as Aurra Sing and A'Sharad Hett. However her teaching methods were brutal and to some, disturbing. Her teaching methods most likely contributed to Aurra Sing's hatred of the Jedi Master.

Though Kuro displayed some dark traits, such as her brutal training methods, she was still able to become a Force Ghost after her death, indicating that, underneath her mysterious, unorthodox and at times brutal exterior she was devoted to the light side of the Force. Kuro also believed that Darth Vader still had enough good in him to turn away from the dark side and her Force Ghost even referred to him as Anakin, the name of the man he had once been.

Powers and abilities


An'ya Kuro was a very powerful Jedi and was known to possess many Force powers uncommon among the Jedi, such as the ability to control plant matter, and bend light around her to render herself invisible. She even appeared to be able to pass through solid objects. . She also possessed the ability to use the Force to teleport. After her death Kuro appeared before Darth Vader as a Force Ghost.

Her lightsaber was particularly ornate, with an organic style to it, modified or perhaps built with artificial plant vines wrapping around it. She proved capable of holding her own against Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel, despite her advanced age. She also utilised several acrobatic maneuvres during the duel, which suggested she may be a practitioner of Ataru. Like Grand Master Yoda, her old age didn't seem to limit her speed and dexterity and at one point she even managed to disarm the Sith Lord, something very few other Jedi had been able to do. Kuro was also proficient in the use of Jar'Kai.

Behind the scenes
The Dark Woman was created by Jan Strnad as an incidental character for Star Wars: Republic: Vow of Justice.

The Dark Woman also appears as an action figure in a set including A'Sharad Hett and a comic book depicting the hunt for Aurra Sing.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Republic: Vow of Justice
 * Aurra's Song
 * Star Wars: Republic: Outlander
 * Star Wars: Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
 * Star Wars: Republic: The Hunt for Aurra Sing
 * Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
 * Star Wars: Republic 53: Blast Radius
 * Jedi: Aayla Secura
 * Star Wars: Republic 59: Enemy Lines
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Extinction
 * Star Wars: Empire 27: "General" Skywalker, Part 2

Notes and references
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