Savage Opress/Legends

"This is not the work of a Sith Lord, or a Jedi... but a reckless, impulsive animal."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, referring to Savage Opress

Savage Opress was a male Dathomiri Zabrak who lived as a member of the Nightbrother clan on Dathomir. The brother of Feral, Opress was more commonly remembered as the brother of the Sith Lord Darth Maul. As a noble warrior, and one who cared for the well being of his kin, Opress was the leader of one of the Nightbrother tribes, who lived subservient to the Nightsister witches who lived on the other side of Dathomir. Following his transformation into a tool of the dark side of the force, Opress was a merciless brute who employed weapons such as the enchanted blade of the Nightsisters and a double bladed lightsaber.

In 21 BBY, in the midst of the Clone Wars, Opress was handpicked by Asajj Ventress, a Nightsister warrior who served as a disciple to Darth Maul's Sith successor, Darth Tyranus, to be physically enhanced by the witchcraft of the Nightsisters after proving his worth in three trials to test his combat capabilities. Opress was then donated to Tyranus as a new apprentice, under the guise of being a complimentary gift from Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters. In reality, Opress was implanted as a sleeper agent with the intention of killing Tyranus, a vehicle for Ventress' desire for vengeance. Mentally conditioned to obey Ventress, to the point of mindlessly killing his own brother Feral at her command, Opress nevertheless became an ally to Tyranus, single handedly killing two Jedi and a squadron of clone troopers on Devaron. Following several sessions of brutal Sith training, Opress was deployed on a botched mission to abduct King Katuunko of Toydaria, which ended in his accidental murder. When the time came for Ventress to carry out her plot to kill Tyranus, Opress' hatred for both of his masters broke his brainwashing and allowed him to act independently.

A subsequent battle with Dooku, Ventress and the Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the latter being the man who apparently killed Darth Maul on Naboo, left Opress wounded. Limping off to Dathomir, Opress turned to Mother Talzin for help. She claimed to Opress that Darth Maul had survived his encounter with Kenobi and was in exile in the Outer Rim. Talzin offered Opress a talisman that would lead him to Maul. Opress embarked on a personal journey to confirm that his brother was alive and to receive his help in destroying both Dooku and Ventress.

Warrior tests
"You have heard of the Sith Warrior, Darth Maul, have you not?''" "Yes&hellip;he was slain on Naboo at the hand of Obi-Wan Kenobi." "''A few still remain in his bloodline. The men dwell on the far side of Dathomir. What if I could provide another of his kind?"

- Mother Talzin and Count Dooku

In 21 BBY, Opress became tangled in a personal conflict between Count Dooku of Serenno, also known as Darth Tyranus, and his former apprentice Asajj Ventress, a Nightsister from Dathomir. Following an incident in orbit of Sullust in which Dooku left Ventress to die, Ventress swore revenge. Ventress then conspired with Mother Talzin in a new plot to get Count Dooku a replacement apprentice that would serve as his protector but eventually become his killer. Talzin contacted Dooku and offered him the chance to take on a male from Dathomir as his new apprentice, as he could not "tame" a female. The Count decided to take her up on the offer.

As soon as Dooku accepted the offer of another apprentice, Ventress went to the Nightbrother village and tested the best warriors there in a series of brutal combat exercises in which the candidates were killed one-by-one. After the tests, Opress was chosen and taken from his village.

Transformation
"May I present... Savage Opress."

- Mother Talzin presents Opress to Darth Tyranus.

Ventress exhibited her pick to Mother Talzin, who commended Opress for his physical build and his hatred for Ventress. Talzin placed Opress under a sleeping spell and brought him to a chamber where he was laid down on a stone slab. Talzin and the other Nightsisters then used their powers to amplify Opress' already powerful traits: his strength and his emotion, also giving him a more sinister appearance, with elongated horns and an abnormally large build. The ritual also mentally conditioned Opress to follow the bidding of Ventress.

Upon regaining consciousness, Opress attempted to murder Ventress via strangulation. Talzin instructed Ventress how to command her new pawn, by issuing a command with a calm, stern tone. Ordering him to let her go, Opress obeyed. In order to test the efficiency of the brainwashing process, Ventress ordered Opress to kill his own brother, Feral, who was taken prisoner following the warrior trials. Despite his kinman's pleas for mercy, Opress complied and, after a brief moment of hesitation, and a slap to the face from Ventress, broke his neck. Now fully convinced the noble warrior's transition to a mindless monster was a success, Talzin then traveled to Serenno beside Naa'leth and Karis in a Sheathipede-class shuttle and introduced Dooku to Opress.

Massacre at Devaron
"There were no survivors on Devaron. Everyone was killed, including Master Halsey and his Padawan."

- Boss reports on the aftermath of Opress' rampage on Devaron

Immediately after personally aquainting himself with Opress, Darth Tyranus tasked him with his first assignment: to seize the Temple of Eedit on the jungle planet Devaron, which was the final remaining stronghold of the Republic on the planet. While Opress questioned the ethics behind a military attack on what was seemingly a place of spirituality, Tyranus assured him that the Temple was a front for a military base overseeing Republic activity in the sector.

Upon his arrival at the Temple of Eedit, Opress cut a swath through the clone trooper forces under the command of the Jedi Master Halsey and his Padawan, Knox, making use of the enchanted blade supplied to him by the Nightsisters. Attempting to make a final stand against this unknown enemy, Halsey lunged at Opress, but was subdued and brutally murdered at the edge of Savage's blade, with Knox following immediately afterward. With the Republic holdouts successfuly neutralized, Dooku ordered his new apprentice to return to Serenno.

This sudden and spontaneous defeat of the two Jedi and an entire battalion of clone troopers was a cause for alarm for the Jedi Council, who quickly authorized an investigation of the incident. To this end the renowned clone commando Delta Squad was deployed to Devaron. Delta Squad confirmed to the Jedi Council that there were no survivors and retrieved the bodies of the two Jedi. A recovered security recording confirmed to the Jedi Council that the one responsible for the slaughter was a man from the same clan as Darth Maul, who were known to inhabit Dathomir.

Sith training
"I foresee we will do great things together. I shall teach you the ways of the dark side. Soon, your powers will rival that of the great Sith Lord, Darth Maul. We will be even more powerful than Lord Sidious. We shall rule the galaxy together, my apprentice." "I am your servant, Master."

- Darth Tyranus and Savage Opress

Upon his return to Serenno, Opress was greeted with much praise from his master. Tyranus vowed to take Opress under his wing as a secret Sith apprentice with the intention of overthrowing Darth Sidious and consolidating the Confederacy of Independent Systems and Galactic Republic to begin a new Sith empire. Opress was to continue the legacy left behind by Darth Maul, being trained in the use of a double bladed lightsaber as opposed to the standard single edged weapon used by most Jedi and Sith. Though Tyranus recognized Opress' potential as a warrior, he strongly criticized Opress' lightsaber technique, or lack thereof. Tyranus urged him to use form and coordination as opposed to his brutish hacking.

After besting Opress a number of times during their lightsaber fencing sessions, Tyranus began to focus his lectures on the use of hatred to achieve power. When tasked with lifting several large monoliths outside of Dooku's palace, Opress deemed the task to be impossible. Tyranus urged him to use passionate hate to power himself, and brutally tortured him with blasts of Force lightning. Opress was able to lift the monoliths by channeling his hatred for Tyranus.

After being subjected to many of Dooku's harsh and brutal tests, Opress was assigned a new mission by Tyranus: capture King Katuunko of Toydaria and bring him to Dooku alive. King Katuunko had originally blown off an arrangement with Dooku to allow a Separatist military prescence on Toydaria in favor of a Republic base, and ironically survived a subsequent assassination attempt by Asajj Ventress, under Dooku's wing at the time. Transported to Toydaria in a solar sailer, Savage killed the Toydarian guards who greeted him upon landing and proceeded to cut a swath through Katuunko's defenses. Slaughtering every guard in his path, Opress subdued the King and began to carry his unconscious body back to the solar sailer.

Opress unexpectedly encountered two Jedi Knights, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who were led to Toydaria by Mother Talzin as part of their investigation of the Devaron massacre. The two Jedi attempted to subdue Opress. During the confusion, Katuunko regained consiousness and tried to escape, but Opress gripped his neck with the Force in an attempt to recapture the king, but inavertantly exerted too much pressure, and broke Katuunko's neck, killing him. Opress finally managed to seemingly crush the two Jedi with a hovering platform, and, with the King's corpse in tow, fled Toydaria for an awaiting Separatist dreadnought, but not before destroying the ship of the two Jedi.

Landing aboard the dreadnought, Savage delivered the corpse to his master. The angry Dooku, who demanded that the King be taken alive, unleashed a barrage of force lightning upon Savage, while rebuking him for his foolish actions. At that moment, Ventress arrived to the surprise of Dooku, and, after engaging in a brief battle of witticisms with Dooku, tapped Opress on the forehead and reminded him of his loyalties, while Dooku demanded that Opress attack Ventress. Ultimately, Opress sided with the former and, at Ventress' side, engaged in combat with Dooku. However, he failed to breach Dooku's defenses, upsetting Ventress and causing her to rebuke him as she fought the Count. Angered at his skills being rejected by both of his "masters," Savage betrayed both Dooku and Ventress by force choking them into a brief submission, broken when the two fled through escape hatches in the floor to persist in their battle elsewhere. Abruptly, Savage was now confronted by Anakin and Obi-Wan once more, as the two had managed to follow him to the dreadnought. However, Dooku, after defeating Ventress and forcing her retreat, commanded his battle droids to kill Savage Opress, deeming him a "traitor." However, Opress barely managed to escape the two Jedi and Dooku's battle droids, making his way to Dathomir in Dooku's stolen solar sailer.

After Opress's attempt to kill Tyranus, he headed back to Mother Talzin wounded and exhausted, claimng that Ventress had betrayed him. Needing a new teacher, Mother Talzin claimed that Savage had a surviving brother in Darth Maul, and that Maul, despite his apparent death on Naboo, was capable of training Savage. Mother Talzin gave Opress an artifact before he left, allowing him to search for his brother, who Talzin claimed was somewhere in the Outer Rim.

Personality and traits
Originally, Savage Opress was an honorable being, caring greatly for his brother, Feral. He went so far as to abandon his attack on Ventress, risking death in the process, to ensure that Feral was alright. Savage knew and understood that Feral was weaker than he was, and during the selection, told Feral not to draw attention to himself. In what would be their last stand together before Savage's transformation, Savage asked that Ventress spare his brother. This showed that he, at this point, was dedicated to Feral's own life, even if Savage himself was killed. After the Nightsister's rituals transformed him, the former Savage ceased to be, replaced by a violent, psychotic monster.

Indeed, Opress's first act after regaining consciousness was to attempt to strangle Asajj Ventress to death, recognizing her initially as the one who put him through such brutal punishment. His compassion for Feral was also gone, replaced by disgust for his brother's weakness, and he brutally murdered Feral with no remorse and only a moment's hesitation. Upon taking his position as Count Dooku's enforcer, Opress proved himself utterly ruthless, slaughtering every clone trooper in his path and even destroying his own droid allies if they stood in his way. He also expressed contempt and hate for the Jedi, brutally slaying both Halsey and Knox in battle without a second thought and absolutely no hesitation.

As his training under Dooku continued, Opress grew to hate his master, a hate which made the Zabrak stronger in the dark side of the Force. He also showed himself to possess poor impulse control, and was prone to give in to frustration, blindly attacking Dooku during his training and later, murdering King Katuunko when he failed to capture the Toydarian alive. At several points during his brief apprenticeship under Dooku, Opress also displayed something of a defeatist state of mind, disbelieving that he could accomplish a training exercise, and, during his duel with Dooku, did not believe that he could best the Sith Lord.

When Opress discovered that he was nothing but a pawn in Ventress' vendetta against Dooku, the Zabrak warrior was enraged, violently throttling her in pure spite, and attempting to follow her to continue his attack. In his subsequent escape from the Conferate Dreadnought, Opress further expressed his brutality, viciously attacking Kenobi and Skywalker as well as forcefully destroying every droid that got in his way. Upon returning to Dathomir, Opress recognised that he was not powerful enough to destroy his enemies, and sought a new teacher, that he might be trained to obtain his revenge.

Powers and abilities
After becoming the Nightsisters' pawn, Opress developed brute strength and a knack for destruction. Opress was strong in combat, proving capable of surviving the tests he was subjected to, and even putting up resistance to Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress. After his transformation, Opress's skill remained formidable, but increased. He easily tore his way through a legion of ARF troopers, and besting two Jedi with little difficulty. He also has great skill with an vibroaxe as shown when he used his vibroaxe to easily cut through all the clones in his path and slay the two Jedi. During his training under Darth Tyranus, Opress learned to use the Force to both move objects and choke beings. During his attempt to kidnap King Katuunko, Opress showed considerable skill and power in the use of telekinesis, choking one of the king's guards to death, and activating a hovering platform without touching it. Opress could also produce considerable telekinetic power, breaking Katuunko's neck within seconds of beginning to choke him, simultaneously choking both Dooku and Ventress, pushing Kenobi and Skywalker with enough force to send both Jedi flying, and producing a force wave strong enough to destroy almost every battle droid surrunding him, as well as stun Kenobi and Skywalker. Opress also showed a degree of skill in the use of a double-bladed lightsaber. Although his technique was simple and brutish, Opress was able to defend himself from Dooku's atacks during their duel on the Dreadnought, as well as repel Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, two of the most skilled Jedi of their time.

Behind the scenes
Savage Opress is voiced by voice actor Clancy Brown.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game