The Grand Inquisitor

"The Jedi are dead, but there is another path. The dark side."

- The Inquisitor

The Inquisitor was a male Pau'an agent of the Galactic Empire who hunted and eliminated Jedi who had survived the destruction of the Jedi Order. The Inquisitor received his orders from Darth Vader, who tasked him with converting or destroying Force-sensitive children, as well as Jedi who could train them, before they could become a threat to the Empire. To accomplish his tasks, the Inquisitor was trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force and studied the records of the Jedi Temple, giving him insight into the Jedi and their fighting style. As a result, he was a deadly foe for any surviving Jedi. The Inquisitor took an interest in killing both Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger, after the rebel crew of the Ghost was brought to his attention.

Darth Vader's orders
"The Emperor has foreseen a new threat rising against him: the children of the Force. They must not become Jedi." "Yes, Lord Vader." "Hunt down this new enemy, and if they will not serve the Empire, eliminate them along with any surviving Jedi who would train them. This is my master's command."

- Darth Vader and the Inquisitor

The individual known as the Inquisitor was a male Pau'an from Utapau, born over fifteen years prior to the Invasion of Naboo. After Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire, the Inquisitor came into the service of the Empire and the Sith. Though not a Sith himself, the Inquisitor was tasked with hunting down and eliminating any Jedi who had survived Order 66, the order given to the Grand Army of the Republic by Chancellor Palpatine to destroy the Jedi Order. To accomplish this task, the Inquisitor was trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force and studied the the records of the Jedi Temple in order to defeat his enemies.

At one point, the Inquisitor spoke via hologram with Darth Vader, who told the Jedi hunter that the Emperor had foreseen a new threat rising against him. Vader declared that the threat, which he called the children of the Force, could not become Jedi. The Sith Lord ordered the Inquisitor to hunt them down and either make them join the Empire or destroy them, along with any Jedi survivors who could train them. With the order given, the Inquisitor told Vader that it would be done.

Trap on Stygeon Prime
"I am the Inquisitor. Welcome."

- The Inquisitor, to Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger

Some time later, fourteen years after the rise of the Empire, a group of rebels who operated on Lothal came to the attention of Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau. The rebels rescued a group of Wookiees that had been enslaved in the spice mines of Kessel, a mission in which the rebel leader, Kanan Jarrus, used a lightsaber and revealed himself as a Jedi survivor. After the rebels escaped, Kallus contacted the Inquisitor and informed him about what happened on Kessel. The Inquisitor was pleased that Kallus informed him of the rebel cell and the Jedi in its ranks.

The Inquisitor laid a trap for Jarrus and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger, on Stygeon Prime. Using the bones of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, who had been killed during the fall of the Republic, the Empire was able to project an image suggesting that Unduli was alive. This information was then reported by Gall Trayvis, a former member of the Imperial Senate who went into exile after speaking out against the Empire; the information suggested that Unduli was being held prisoner in The Spire, a prison on Stygeon Prime. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to rescue a Jedi survivor, the rebels undertook a mission to the prison where they intended to rescue the Jedi Master.

Once in the prison, the rebels fought their way through stormtroopers who were stationed there. Jarrus and Bridger made it to the detention area, and Jarrus believed he could sense the Jedi Master&mdash;though in actuality, it was the power from her bones. They entered the cell and saw a projected image of Unduli, which faded into a sarcophagus that revealed the remains of the Jedi Master. The Inquisitor entered the cell, his lightsaber ignited, and approached the two Jedi, revealing that Luminara had been dead for many years. Jarrus attacked the Inquisitor and the two engaged in lightsaber combat. The Inquisitor was able to correctly deduce that Jarrus had been trained by Jedi Master Depa Billaba, as she had been a teacher of Form III lightsaber combat, which Jarrus employed extensively. The two continued their duel within the cell until Bridger set off a small detonator that allowed him and Jarrus to flee.

Though they had escaped the cell, the Inquisitor pursued them and continued his fight with Jarrus in the halls of the prison. He soon pushed Jarrus away through the Force and, per Vader's command, attempted to convert Bridger to the dark side. The boy refused, however, and the Inquisitor prepared to strike him down, but Jarrus used the Force to pin the Inquisitor to the ceiling, giving the two Jedi a chance to flee. The Inquisitor followed them and chased them through the prison, before they met back up with their fellow rebels. Separated by a number of closed doors, the Inquisitor sliced through them with his lightsaber and arrived in time to see the rebels beginning to escape. He made one last attempt to stop them by throwing his lightsaber towards them, but Jarrus deflected it and the rebels escaped aboard the Phantom, the attack shuttle that belonged to their main ship, the Ghost.

Personality and traits
The Inquisitor was a male Pau'an with grey, lined skin and red tattoos adorning his face. He wore black armor emblazoned with the crest of the Galactic Empire and carried a red double-bladed lightsaber, which had the ability to spin; the Inquisitor used this type of lightsaber in order to intimidate his opponents. In particular, he was able to throw inexperienced Jedi off-balance. Because Jedi relied on balanced emotions, the imbalance gave the Inquisitor an edge in combat. Although he was a physical opponent for Jedi and tapped into the dark side of the Force, he did not use emotions such as anger, instead operating as a cold and analytical mind. Whatever intensity he showed was a result of his purpose in completing his mission.

Through the dark side, the Inquisitor was able to learn about individual Jedi and use their secrets against them. He studied the records of the Jedi Temple to not only identify Jedi, but also have an understanding of their combat forms and traditions. His knowledge was extensive enough that he could identity who a Jedi was trained by, such as when he identify Depa Billaba as Jarrus' Jedi Master. He utilized this, like his lightsaber, to inflict an opponent with fear, which was his most powerful weapon against his enemies. Once in combat, he did not show mercy, having been tasked with judging and eliminating Jedi survivors.

Powers and abilities
The Inquisitor was a practitioner of the dark side of the Force and trained in lightsaber combat. He wielded a double-bladed lightsaber, which he used in multiple settings; single-bladed, double-bladed, as well as double-bladed with the blades spinning on the hilt. In addition to using the weapon to unnerve his enemies, he wielded it in order to quickly and efficiently end combat with as little effort as was required. This allowed him to skillfully execute the Jedi he encountered.

Behind the scenes
"Once we put the Utapauan head on, it all kinda fell into place. Suddenly there was this black-suited, evil Inquisitor."

- Dave Filoni

The Inquisitor was created as one of the primary antagonists of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. When designing the character, who is voiced by actor Jason Isaacs, the look and species went through several different iterations and was a topic of much discussion at Lucasfilm. The production team wanted to ensure that the character was not a carbon copy of past iconic villains such as Darth Maul or Darth Vader. At one point, the Inquisitor was designed as a Chagrian. Eventually, it was decided that they would make the character a Pau'an, which, according to series executive producer Dave Filoni, was when the character fell into place. Fellow executive producer Simon Kinberg felt it gave the character a real and human quality, while at the same time evoking a creaturely, terrifying, and nightmarish look.

In further differentiating the Inquisitor from past villains, the production team crafted him as a cold and analytical character who presents himself as elegant, sophisticated, and educated. Furthermore, they did not want him to be similar to villains from cartoons from the 1980s, which Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo described as having the villains lose in every episode yet still be presented as a credible threat. Instead, the Inquisitor is meant to be someone whose arrival is a significant event and a challenge to the rebels.

The Inquisitor was the first character announced for Star Wars Rebels. The character was revealed at New York Comic Con 2013 during a panel about the show, in which a video was shown introducing the Inquisitor as a Jedi hunter who would be a recurring antagonist for the heroes. The character's action figure was revealed on December 30, 2013, with a more in-depth video about the character, as well as an announcement about Isaac's casting, released on July 17, 2014. The Inquisitor made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, which premiered on October 3, 2014. Spark of Rebellion re-aired on October 27 on ABC, with a new scene at the beginning of the episode featuring the Inquisitor speaking with Darth Vader.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
 * The Inquisitor's Trap
 * Beware the Inquisitor
 * A New Hero
 * Battle to the End
 * Battle to the End
 * Battle to the End