Galia

"All of your ancestors belonged to the dark side, Galia. But that is over. The shadow has been broken. Let go of the past. You are free!"

- Arca Jeth

Galia was a Human female and the Queen of the Inner Rim planet of Onderon during the era of the Great Sith War. Growing up under the pall of the dark side&mdash;both of her parents, King Ommin and Queen Amanoa, were Sith cultists&mdash;Galia lived during the turbulent period of Onderonian history known as the Beast Wars, when the government of the walled city of Iziz battled exiled criminals known as the Beast Riders who used drexl warbeasts as mounts. At some point, she met Beast Rider leader Oron Kira, and the two fell in love. Knowing that the Princess of Onderon and a Beast-Lord could never be together, they faked a kidnapping in 4,000 BBY and went to Kira's fortress in the wilderness beyond Iziz's walls to be married. However, the ceremony was interrupted by three Jedi Knights&mdash;brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, and the Twi'lek Tott Doneeta&mdash;who were sent by Amanoa to retrieve her daughter. After telling the Jedi their story, Galia and Kira formulated a plan with the Knights to try to convince Amanoa to end the Beast Wars peacefully.

However, Amanoa rejected their overtures, and they were forced to enact their backup plan, in which a large Beast Rider army attacked Iziz. With the help of Jedi Master Arca Jeth, the Beast Riders were victorious in the final battle of the Beast Wars, with the Queen perishing at the conclusion of the fighting. Galia and Kira consecrated their marriage under the laws of the Galactic Republic and became the new monarchs of Onderon. However, their battles were not at an end, as two years later, Naddist cult members&mdash;like Galia's parents, worshipers of former Dark Lord of the Sith Freedon Nadd&mdash;led a rebellion against their rule. Although the darksiders briefly managed to drive Galia and Kira out of Iziz, the Naddists were ultimately defeated, and peace once again reigned on Onderon. In 3,996 BBY, Galia and her husband faced another menace; a Mandalorian fleet attacked Onderon in one of the closing battles of the Great Sith War, but the Mandalorians were defeated. Galia's descendants went on to rule Onderon for thousands of years after her eventual death.

Ascension to the throne
"Galia&hellip; my only daughter&hellip; how dare you betray us? Never will you belong to an outcast! I will see you die first!"

- Queen Amanoa, to Galia

A Human female, Galia was born in 4,018 BBY into royalty as the daughter of King Ommin and Queen Amanoa of the Inner Rim planet of Onderon. Galia grew up in the Royal Palace of the walled city of Iziz, during the turbulent period of Onderon's history known as the Beast Wars, when Iziz waged battle with a clan of exiled dissidents who used the planet's native fauna as mounts. Both of her parents were practitioners of the dark side of the Force; members of the Naddist Sith cult, they worshiped the dead Dark Lord of the Sith Freedon Nadd. However, Galia was not a darksider herself. At some point during her childhood, Galia's father fell ill with a wasting disease caused by his use of the dark side and was attached to a mechanical life support exoskeleton deep within a subterranean fortress. One day, Galia met Beast Rider leader Oron Kira, who was secretly in Iziz trading with the political underground, and the two fell in love. Knowing that marriage between the Princess of Onderon and a Beast-Lord was forbidden, she and Kira devised a plan to run away together, in which she would be "abducted" by a team of Beast Riders. She would then stay with Kira in the wilds beyond Iziz's walls, as she had become tired of living under the pall of the dark side.

In 4,000 BBY, a group of three Jedi Knights&mdash;brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma, and the Twi'lek Tott Doneeta&mdash;came to Onderon on a mission to broker a peaceful end to the Beast Wars. Galia and her mother met with the three Jedi in the throne room of the Royal Palace, and it was there that Galia and Kira put their plan into action. Kira and another Beast Rider, Gobee, broke through the throne room's windows on their drexl warbeast and, covered by several waves of reinforcements, successfully made it to the Princess's hiding place and kidnapped her. Galia was taken back to Kira's fortress, where her marriage to Oron Kira promptly began. However, the ceremony was interrupted by Doneeta and the Qel-Droma brothers, who stormed into the castle on tamed boma beasts, as Amanoa had sent them to retrieve her daughter. Ulic Qel-Droma was able to take hold of Galia, but when she revealed that she was willingly marrying Kira, she was released. With the conflict resolved, the Jedi were asked to stay for the wedding banquet. There, Galia, Kira, and Kira's father and grandfather revealed to the Jedi the monarchy's dark side allegiance and asked the Jedi to join them in one final battle to end the Beast Wars. Although Ulic Qel-Droma wanted to work out a peaceful solution with Amanoa, the two sides came to a compromise; Galia, Kira, and the Jedi would go to Iziz and try to broker peace with the Queen, but, if that attempt failed, the Kiras would lead a great Beast Rider army against Iziz.

In the meeting with the Queen, their peaceful overtures failed. Amanoa declared that the Princess had betrayed her and rejected her daughter's relationship with Kira. Despite Galia's plea that her marriage to the Beast Rider could mark the beginning of a new golden age for Onderon, Amanoa called the power of the dark side down upon their group. Oppressed by the power of Sith magic and under attack by palace guards, Galia led her husband and the Jedi to refuge in her father's old laboratory. With Cay Qel-Droma still stuck in the throne room, Ulic decided to go back for him, telling Doneeta to escort Galia and Kira to his starship, the Nebulon Ranger. However, instead of joining his wife and Doneeta on their trek to the ship, Kira left to join the battle. The Beast Rider army began their assault but soon found themselves overwhelmed by Amanoa's dark power. Just as the Beast Riders seemed to be defeated, Jedi Master Arca Jeth, the teacher of Doneeta and the Qel-Droma brothers, arrived in his ship, the SunGem, and turned the tide of the battle with his battle meditation ability, a development that Galia observed from Iziz's ramparts. Galia and Doneeta were soon joined by Kira and the Qel-Droma brothers as Jeth landed nearby. The Jedi Master led them into the deepest sublevels of the Iziz Royal Palace to find Amanoa; they finally encountered her by the sarcophagus of Freedon Nadd. Amanoa died in Galia's arms, and Galia blamed Jeth for killing her mother. However, Jeth explained that Amanoa's power had fled her and informed Galia that she was finally free from the shadow of the dark side. With the Beast Wars over, Galia and Kira had their marriage consecrated under the laws of the Galactic Republic, turning the two warring tribes of Onderon into one unified society. Galia took her place as Queen of Onderon, with Kira as the new king, in a ceremony that was attended by Jeth and the other Jedi.

The Naddist crisis
"Come to me daughter&hellip; stay with your old father&hellip; I need you for my work."

- Ommin, to Galia

Although the people of Onderon experienced a period of relative peace after the Beast Wars, two years later the newly-minted Queen Galia and Kira faced a new crisis. Naddist cult members were in open rebellion in Iziz, and, in an effort to reduce the dark side permeation of the city, Jeth ordered that the sarcophagi of both Freedon Nadd and Amanoa be removed from the planet and placed in a new tomb on the neighboring moon of Dxun. Galia and Kira led a grand funeral procession through the streets of Iziz, but the ceremony was interrupted by a Naddist strike force led by the cyborg warrior Warb Null, who emerged suddenly through the planet's surface in a groundborer machine. The Naddist soldiers, comprising dissident members of the Royal Armed Forces, laid waste to Galia's troops. A unit broke off to attack the Queen herself, but they were stopped by Kira and a Beast Rider team. In the end, the Naddists were able to obtain the sarcophagi, fleeing the battlefield in the groundborer once they accomplished their objective.

Following the skirmish, Jeth collapsed, overwhelmed by the dark side presence he had felt during the fight. Searching for an explanation, Galia suggested they visit her father, whom Jeth thought to be dead, as she believed that he might be able to help them. Galia, Jeth, and Ulic Qel-Droma set out for Ommin's subterranean fortress, while Kira, Doneeta, Cay Qel-Droma, and the Vultan Jedi Oss Wilum stayed behind to secure the Royal Palace. However, after meeting with Ommin, they soon found themselves confronted by the spirit of Freedon Nadd, who had been called back from Chaos by Galia's father. She watched as Ommin suddenly rose and attacked Jeth, knocking him unconscious and smothering him in dark side energy. The former King then turned his attention to Galia, with hopes that she would stay with him and help in his dark side work. Ulic Qel-Droma intervened but was attacked by Warb Null, whom he killed in defense of the Queen. However, while Galia and Qel-Droma were distracted by the Dark Jedi, Ommin carried off the incapacitated Jeth.

Galia and Qel-Droma escaped from Iziz's sublevels and found that the Royal Palace had been destroyed. Although Kira and the other Jedi survived the Naddist attack that razed the structure, the group was forced to flee Iziz and regroup at Kira's fortress. While Galia's forces rebuilt their strength for an assault on the Naddists, the Queen received help from the Republic; due to a plea for help from Ulic Qel-Droma, the Republic sent military aid, including elite Republic rocket-jumpers, to help in their efforts to retake Iziz. By the time the rocket-jumpers arrived, Galia and her troops had been surrounded in the fortress, trying to make a stand alongside Kira's Beast Riders and the Jedi. The Republic troops succeeded in driving the Naddists back, and Galia and the others took the fight to Iziz. The city was ultimately retaken and the Naddists were defeated, with Ommin perishing in the battle. The sarcophagi of Amanoa and Freedon Nadd were recovered, and they were buried alongside the former King Ommin in the Dxun tomb.

The Sith War and legacy
"Oron, what are those objects in the sky? They aren't our flying warbeasts.''" "''It's something much worse, I fear."

- Galia and Oron Kira sight the Mandalorian fleet

By 3,996 BBY, the galaxy had been thrown into the turmoil of the Great Sith War. Ulic Qel-Droma, now the Sith apprentice to Dark Lord Exar Kun, led a Sith army against the Republic and the Jedi Order. Although the Sith, who were assisted by the Mandalorians, had early success in the war effort, the Republic was able to retake the momentum. Toward the end of the war, Mandalore the Indomitable, the leader of the Sith-aligned Mandalorians, led a large assault force against Onderon on orders from Qel-Droma. Galia and Kira sighted the Mandalorian fleet while out on a balcony of the Royal Palace, and the King immediately departed to fight them off with his Beast Rider warriors. After a heated aerial battle, Kira and the Beast Riders were ultimately victorious over the Mandalorians, while the Mandalore was killed at the conclusion of the skirmish.

Galia and Kira's descendants continued to hold the throne of Onderon for thousands of years, until at least 11 ABY, when a man named after Kira's father, Modon, held the title of king. By the time of their descendant Talia's reign as queen around 3,951 BBY, the life and times of both Kira and Galia were common subjects of discussion among the people of Iziz.

Personality and traits
"I love my mother&hellip; and I love my dying father, King Ommin&hellip; but I can no longer live under the pall of the dark side of the Force!"

- Galia

Despite their being on opposite sides of a civil war, Galia had a deep and true love for Oron Kira, so much so that she willingly disavowed her royal heritage to marry him. Galia also loved her mother and father, Queen Amanoa and King Ommin, even though she saw her mother as evil and had grown tired of living under the influence of the dark side. She still grieved over her mother's death, however, and the depth of her sorrow was so great that she blamed Jedi Master Arca Jeth for killing Amanoa. Although she loved her father as well, she very rarely visited him after he became immobilized by his illness and feared his mastery of the dark side. Galia could be quite cunning, helping to formulate the plan for her "abduction" in order to marry Kira. Above all, what both Galia and Kira wanted was peace for Onderon, so the Beast Riders and Iziz could be united. Although she was highly skeptical of the Jedi Knights whom she first met in 4,000 BBY, believing them to be novices, she grew to greatly respect them.

Behind the scenes
Galia first appeared in Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon, the first story arc of the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi comic book series, written by Tom Veitch and released in 1993. Galia later appeared in the Freedon Nadd Uprising and The Sith War arcs as well, and was featured in the Tales of the Jedi audio drama, wherein she was voiced by Allison Dougherty. During her appearances in the Tales of the Jedi comics, Galia was drawn by Christian Gossett, Tony Akins,  and Dario Carrasco, Jr. She was mentioned in a host of other sources and reference books, including the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Tales of the Jedi Companion, The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons, The New Essential Chronology, and Galaxy at War. Galia also garnered entries in the Star Wars Encyclopedia, the third edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon
 * Tales of the Jedi audio drama
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Freedon Nadd Uprising
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 6: Dark Lord
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic