Korriban zombie

"This is the Sith's greeting for tomb robbers&mdash;magic and machines created them when the tombs were built!"

- The spirit of Freedon Nadd

Korriban zombies, also known as Korriban Sith zombies, were the reanimated corpses of dead Sith slaves. Developed with arcane Sith alchemy by the Dark Lord Dathka Graush, the zombies were used as an invincible army by Graush to take control of Korriban in the succession struggles prior to his reign. The zombies saw little use after the murder of Graush, though the Sith appeared to use them as a form of guardian in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Several grave robbers were known to have fallen victim to reanimated corpses.

Biology and appearance
"The dead walk"

- Babbnod Luroon

Korriban zombies, also called Korriban Sith zombies, was the name given to the first corpses of sentient beings that had been reanimated after death by Sith King Dathka Graush's experiments with Sith alchemy and magic. At some later point, mechanical techniques were added to the process. As time progressed, it became apparent that the zombies were capable of creating more of their kind through biting their victims. These wounds would be infected with Sith alchemical elements that would induce transformation into the undead.

The zombies' physical appearances varied widely, depending on their former species and gender. Moreover, their original features were distorted depending on damage sustained during battle and by the ravages of time, as the zombies were capable of laying dormant for extended periods of time. There had been accounts of beings that had been felled during battle, and had risen almost immediately with missing limbs and massive gaping wounds. Others had observed that the zombies were little more than half-rotted husks that emanated a horrid stench and moved with an odd shuffling gait.

The process of transforming into a zombie negated the impact of former attributes&mdash;except in retaining some basic skills such as weapons aptitude&mdash;thus, reducing a sentient being into a semi-sentient predatory creature. The zombie gained heightened visual acuity in the dark and strength superior to living beings. Furthermore, it was impossible to halt a zombie's advance with normal physical damage. The only known ways of destroying a zombie was massive trauma to the head, such as blaster fire, or severing the head from the rest of the body.

History
"All those who trespass here are cursed to guard this place forever."

- The spirit of Freedon Nadd



Sometime before the year 7,000 BBY, Dathka Graush and his forces were the victors in one of Korriban's cyclical civil wars, and during his fifty-year reign of terror and cruelty a dizzying amount of corpses accumulated. In part due to the sheer amount of raw material available, Graush's experiments with Sith alchemy and magic led to his discovery of a method of reanimating these corpses, thus forming a zombie army. Furthermore, during this time, Graush, using Sith magic and the most advanced technologies, had his heart replaced with a dark side Force-sensitive crystal jewel that was imbued with over one-thousand Sith spirits. After Graush's assassination, the spirits of his zombie army were captured in his heart, and the crystal was buried along with Graush's mummified remains in his tomb in the Valley of Golg. The zombies would lay dormant for extended periods of time, only awakening when a being touched Graush's heart, releasing their spirits. The spirits then searched for their former bodies and new victims to infect.

Three millennia later, Jedi Knight Exar Kun&mdash;under guidance from the spirit of deceased Dark Lord Freedon Nadd&mdash;arrived on Korriban during his search for the knowledge and power possessed by the ancient Sith Lords. Kun's explorations of the planet led him to the Valley of the Dark Lords &mdash;a valley of burial tombs and temples&mdash;where he came upon scattered bones, the wreckage of a starship, and skeletons of long dead space pirates; Kun surmised that he had found the remnants of tomb robbers. The spirit of Freedon Nadd appeared at Kun's side and disclosed that Kun was seeing the remains of those who violated the will of the Dark Lords and their resting place. The spirit further explained that any being entering the domain of the Dark Lords was doomed to remain. Moments later, darkside energies&mdash;created by magic and machines at the time of the building of the tombs&mdash;whirled around the corpses, reanimating them. The zombies advanced on Exar Kun, calling him a defiler, stating that they were the guardians of the tombs. As their attack began in earnest, the zombies claimed that no one may interrupt the sleep of the Dark Lords of the Sith. Nadd's spirit counseled Kun to take refuge in the Great Temple located nearby and continue his investigation.

For the next four millennia, the galaxy had little knowledge of the zombies, apart from vague rumors passed amongst spacers claiming Sith alchemy could be used to reanimate corpses, and that Korriban zombies occasionally dispatched unlucky freighter crews. However, in 24 BBY, a group of four Jedi Knights and their respective Padawans, which included Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, were forced to battle Korriban zombies during their pursuit of galactic criminal Granta Omega. Due in part of his obsession with the Sith and his hatred of the Jedi, Omega had obtained the support of a mysterious Sith Lord in his endeavours to destroy the Jedi Order and wreak havoc within the Galactic Republic. Once the connection between the two had been discovered by the Jedi, Omega traveled to the Valley of the Dark Lords to meet with his Sith benefactor, the Jedi Knights and Padawans in pursuit. Having tracked Omega to one of the tombs, Kenobi and Skywalker had been at the forefront of the search, plunging deeper into the tomb, the other Jedi held up near the entrance. Soon, the two Jedi were assaulted by a horrific stench mere moments before the Korriban zombies lurched out of the depths of the tomb and charged. Skywalker had been momentarily stunned by the appearance of the zombies, having read about the undead, but never expecting to encounter them. The Sith Lord had reawakened the zombies to guard the tomb&mdash;considered to be sacred Sith ground&mdash;and defend Omega. The creatures attacked the Jedi viciously with blasters and detonators. Kenobi and Skywalker had made their way determinedly through the undead, deflecting blaster fire with their lightsabers, avoiding the detonators, eliminating the reanimated corpses in their path, and continued their chase for Omega while the other Jedi destroyed the rest of the zombies.

Behind the scenes
Korriban zombies made their first appearance in the Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 3: Descent to the Dark Side comic, the third issue of the Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith story arc, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. However, the zombies had not been specifically named in this issue; they were referred to as guardian spirits. In the fourth and final issue of the Dark Lords of the Sith story arc, published in 1995, the zombies only had a mention as guardian creatures in the introductory synopsis. The release of the Dark Lords of the Sith audio drama in 2005 reinforced the zombies' role as guardians. In 2008, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia identified the guardian creatures of the Dark Lords of the Sith as Korriban zombies by publishing an image of one of the Dark Lords of the Sith creatures under the Korriban zombie entry.

In 2003, the Wizards of the Coast roleplaying Planet Hoppers web supplement, Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls, first identified Korriban zombies by name. In addition to presenting detailed characteristics and history of the zombies, this supplement also provided Korriban Sith zombie as an alternate name for the creatures. The zombies made their final appearance in 2004's Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown, the last novel of the Jedi Quest young reader series. In 2009, the zombies were mentioned in The Essential Atlas, under the Korriban planet entry.

There appears to be a gap in the history of the Korriban zombies that has not been explained as of yet. Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia both stated that the zombies originated in the Valley of Golg, one of Korriban's many burial valleys. Furthermore, these two sources claimed that the zombies were under the control of the Heart of Graush, and would be awakened only when this jewel was disturbed. However, Dark Lords of the Sith and Jedi Quest placed the zombies in Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords, without any mention of the Heart of Graush. One other element that added to confusion was that the Dark Lords of the Sith did not originally state the exact location of where the zombies had been encountered; it was only with the release of the Empire's End 2: Rage of the Emperor comic in 2005 that the issue was resolved. The caption of an image depicting the Great Temple&mdash;seen in both Empire End 2 and Dark Lords of the Sith&mdash;stated that the temple was located in the Valley of the Dark Lords.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 3: Descent to the Dark Side
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 4: Death of a Dark Jedi
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith (audio)
 * Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown