Komari Vosa

"I thought she might one day prove a valuable ally. Instead, she became a liability."

- Darth Tyranus, reflecting on his disappointment over the loss of Komari Vosa

Komari Vosa was a female Human Jedi who ultimately succumbed to the allure of the dark side of the Force during the final years of the Galactic Republic. A once promising Padawan of the Jedi Order, as a fallen Jedi she became a crime lord through her position as the leader of the Bando Gora cult. The terror that her followers spread throughout the galaxy soon caught the attention of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Believing the deranged former Jedi to be a threat to his own vision for the future, Sidious ordered his apprentice, the Jedi apostate Darth Tyranus, to eliminate both Vosa and the Bando Gora.

Tyranus, formerly the Jedi Master Dooku who instructed Vosa in the ways of the Force, placed a five million credit reward for the capture of Vosa&mdash;a contest that secretly aimed to determine the ideal genetic template for the Kaminoan clone army. The Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett succeeded in subduing Vosa, impressing Tyranus despite Fett's lack of Force-sensitivity. With no further use for Vosa, the Dark Lord of the Sith telekinetically strangled his former apprentice to death.

Jedi Order
"Ah, the blast helmet of a Mandalorian warrior. Something I've not seen since I was a Jedi. I must have cut down twenty of your kind myself."

- Komari Vosa, to Jango Fett

A Force-sensitive Human female, Komari Vosa was recruited as a young child by the Jedi Order in accordance with tradition during the last century of the Galactic Republic. After completing her studies as a Jedi Initiate, Vosa became the Padawan learner of the Jedi Master Dooku in 50 BBY. Despite possessing a volatile temperament, Vosa proved to be a prodigious student in the ways of the Force, earning the respect of her Master who regarded Vosa as an excellent apprentice.

Komari Vosa accompanied Master Dooku and a Jedi strike force to the planet Galidraan in 44 BBY with orders from the Jedi High Council to neutralize the True Mandalorians. The Jedi virtually annihilated their Mandalorian adversaries in the Battle of Galidraan; Vosa herself demonstrated considerable skill with a lightsaber when she personally killed twenty experienced soldiers in combat. Though the Council later came to regret the massacre on Galidraan, Dooku was impressed by his apprentice's natural talents and believed that Vosa's future was all but secure in the ranks of the Order.

Vosa's status as a rising star in the Jedi Order was cut short when her Master barred her from participating in the Jedi Trials. Dooku, along with the members of the Jedi Council, became aware of Vosa's secret infatuation with her legendary Master. This and her aggressive demeanor convinced the Order to end Vosa's training, thus deeming her unfit to become a Jedi Knight. Enraged at what she perceived as a betrayal by her Master and the Council, Vosa fled the Jedi Temple and joined a Jedi task force deployed to stop the Bando Gora's activities on Baltizaar. The mission was a disaster, however. The team was decimated and forced to retreat back to Coruscant; many Jedi lost their lives and others were captured, including Vosa.

Though the Order believed her to be dead, in truth Komari Vosa remained alive and was held as a prisoner by the mysterious cult in a dilapidated citadel on Kohlma, a burial moon orbiting Bogden. Subjected to torture and other forms of cruelty, Vosa was driven both mad and into the dark side of the Force. Embracing her rage, the deranged Jedi defeated her tormentors and replaced them as the new leader of the Bando Gora.

Bando Gora
"I once tried to resist. But the Bando Gora have ways of weakening your mind and breaking your will."

- Komari Vosa

Komari Vosa&mdash;now a Dark Jedi and high priestess of the Bando Gora&mdash;maintained the citadel on Kholma as her base of operations from where she monitored her cult's activities throughout the galaxy with the aid of her chief lieutenant. Under Vosa's direction, the Bando Gora became a horrific icon of terror and intrigue, especially within the criminal underworld that became essential in her plot to expand the Bando Gora's influence and power. In order to do so, Vosa implanted brainwashing agents into death sticks, intending to use narcotics as a recruiting tool for the Bando Gora. The mind-altering substance was conditioned to suppress individuality and free will, thus enabling Vosa to use her Force abilities to turn drug-addicts into mindless spies and assassins. This form of slavery gradually built her a small army of warriors that Vosa deployed on the enemies of her cult.

The secrecy of the Bando Gora's operation necessitated the use of assets who retained their free will, leading Vosa to recruit criminals such as Gardulla the Hutt, Sebolto and Groff Haugg; the extent of her influence even infiltrated the ranks of the Galactic Senate, causing the corrupt Senator Connus Trell to serve Vosa as an agent of the Bando Gora. In short, her plan involved shipping the mind-altering substances to Gardulla on Tatooine to cover her trail. The cargo was then sent to Malastare where Sebolto processed them into the death sticks before delivering them to Coruscant's underworld leaders, including Haugg.

In the year 33 BBY, shortly after the Eriadu Trade Summit between the Republic, the Trade Federation and the Nebula Front, the Dark Lords of the Sith Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious learned that Vosa had not died and had become the Bando Gora's newest leader. Although Plagueis perceived Vosa as a potential threat, he advised not to exact revenge on the Bando Gora immediately.

In the aftermath of the crisis on Naboo in 32 BBY, Darth Sidious &mdash;who was in fact the secret persona of the newly-elected Supreme Chancellor Palpatine &mdash;decided that the time had come to eliminate the leader of the Bando Gora. Sidious found Vosa to be a nuisance and was convinced that the demented Dark Jedi was a threat to his own plans for the future of the galaxy. By then, Vosa's former Master Dooku renounced his allegiance to the Jedi Order and secretly became Darth Tyranus, the new Sith apprentice of the Dark Lord. While his decision had been mostly firmed by the death of his first apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn, who had helped resolve the Naboo crisis at the cost of his life, the drop which made the vase overflow was when Dooku learned that Vosa was still alive and leading a group that could pose a threat to the Republic.

Despite his initial reluctance, Tyranus complied with his Master's order to kill Vosa. In addition to dismantling the Bando Gora, the Sith Lord-in-training was also instructed to locate a suitable genotype that would serve as the basis for a massive army of clone soldiers. Placing a bounty on Vosa in the amount of five million Republic credits, Tyranus intended to accomplish both tasks with a single contest. At Sidious's suggestion, Tyranus hired several of the galaxy's most lethal mercenaries, including two Mandalorian soldiers-turned-bounty hunters Jango Fett and Montross.

Groff Haugg and Senator Trell were both killed when Fett and Montross&mdash;working in competition against one another&mdash;tracked Komari Vosa's low-level operatives to Coruscant. Her spies relayed the setbacks to their operations on the Republic capital, but the Dark Jedi dismissed the lost assets as irrelevant, insisting that gangsters and corrupt politicians were easily replaceable. She was also unconcerned about the hunters who were tracking her given that the location of her citadel remained unknown to all but a select few contacts. However, she did vow to have Fett and Montross killed if either of them made any more progress in their search for her.

Fett's exploits on Malastare and Tatooine resulted in the loss of Sebolto and Gardulla, thus disrupting the Bando Gora's operations even further, much to the annoyance of Komari Vosa. With most of her underworld contacts dead and the cult's criminal network in disarray, Vosa admitted that she had underestimated Fett and Montross. She then issued an order for the deaths of both mercenaries, turning the hunters into prey for the Bando Gora.

With the aid of a female Toydarian named Rozatta, Jango Fett learned that Komari Vosa's hidden base was located on Kohlma. He traveled to the dark moon in order to finish the hunt, but was also trailed by Montross who sought to claim Tyranus's reward. After killing numerous Bando Gora assassins, including Montross in a final duel to the death, Fett fought his way to the front entrance of the citadel. Upon entering the fortress however, he was quickly overwhelmed and captured by Vosa's followers. The Bando Gora tortured the bounty hunter in order to discern the identity of his employer, but Fett refused to cooperate in spite of the physical pain he endured. Vosa used a more psychological approach when she took over the interrogation, recalling her achievements against the Mandalorians on Galidraan during her life as Jedi. Amused at the persistence of Fett's resistance to her methods, Vosa promised to enslave Fett to her will.

Fett was ultimately saved by Zam Wesell, a female Clawdite mercenary who followed him to Kohlma in the hopes claiming the five million credits for herself. Although she killed two Bando Gora guards, Wesell's skills with a blaster were inefficient against Vosa's training in Jar'Kai. Wielding two curved-hilted lightsabers, the fallen Jedi easily parried the blaster shots before redirecting a single stray bolt into Wessel's shoulder. As Vosa moved to decapitate the Clawdite, Wessel freed Fett of his restraints in desperation. Though momentarily caught off guard, Vosa retreated deeper into the center of the citadel with Fett in pursuit.

Death
"He is here."

- Komari Vosa's last words

The former Jedi Padawan and the Mandalorian bounty hunter confronted each other in Komari Vosa's throne room. Outmatched by Vosa's lightsaber skills and Force powers, Fett relied on his JT-12 jetpack and the advanced weaponry of his armor in order to stand a fighting chance against an opponent who was trained in the Jedi arts. He eventually defeated Vosa, but chose to spare her life as the reward was the same whether she was dead or alive upon capture. At that moment, Vosa felt her old Master's presence in the Force nearby. She then struggled for a few moments against his telekinetic grasp on her throat, but was ultimately throttled to death by Darth Tyranus.

Although Tyranus was disappointed to lose a student as promising as Komari Vosa, he nonetheless congratulated Jango Fett for winning the contest. In addition to the five million credits, he also offered to pay even more money if the bounty hunter agreed to travel to Kamino in order to be cloned. Despite Fett's initial wariness, he agreed to become the template of an army of clones, all made in his own image and modified with accelerated growth and programmed obedience. He further complied with Tyranus's request that he personally oversee the clones' development and training to ensure that they became the perfect warriors. However, Fett's consent was based on the condition that he be allowed to claim the first clone for himself; a clone unmodified by genetic tampering and accelerated growth. Tyranus agreed to Fett's single demand and the two shook hands in agreement above Vosa's dead body, thus initiating the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic.

By the time when the Clone Wars emerged in 22 BBY, approximately one decade after Komari Vosa's death, Darth Tyranus began training an acolyte named Asajj Ventress, a female Nightsister of Dathomir, as his own personal assassin. A skilled fighter with training in Jar'Kai, Ventress was given possession of Vosa's twin lightsabers by her new Master.

Personality and traits
"Komari Vosa was once an excellent pupil, if a bit unstable."

- Darth Tyranus

Before turning to the dark side of the Force, Komari Vosa was regarded as a beautiful female Human, with sharp, angular features during her time with the Jedi Order. The combination of torture and the physical effects of the dark side transformed her appearance. The Bando Gora inflicted dozens of small scars along her jawline and upper body, while the dark side changed her blond hair to a bone white color and her irises yellow.

As a Jedi Padawan, Vosa possessed a strong sense of aggression and a passion for combat, despite the Jedi Code's stance against both emotions due to their connection to the dark side. She was a headstrong apprentice, impatient but exceptionally talented in the Jedi arts. Although Dooku overlooked Vosa's characteristic flaws due to her skills as a Jedi, it was ultimately Vosa's growing infatuation with her distinguished Master that led to her banishment from the Jedi Order. This in turn convinced Vosa that she had been betrayed and abandoned by Dooku and the Order, causing her to become bitter and resentful of both.

Subjected to physical and psychological agony by the Bando Gora, Vosa lost her sanity and underwent a drastic personality change. The affects of torture and her broken psyche opened Vosa's mind to the dark side of the Force. As a Dark Jedi, she became malevolent and vindictive; a deranged woman who reveled in her leadership of a cult composed of mindless, enslaved assassins. Vosa, still an enthusiast for battle, would give in to fits of hysterical laughter. While the combination of her madness and lack of ethics inspired fear throughout the criminal underworld, Darth Sidious perceived her to be insane and ultimately a threat to his own plans.

Powers and abilities
"My powers are far beyond any of your barbaric weapons."

- Komari Vosa, to Jango Fett

A well-trained student in the Jedi arts, Komari Vosa was an accomplished practitioner in lightsaber combat. Though she demonstrated considerable skills as a duelist on Galidraan by personally vanquishing twenty Mandalorian warriors in battle, Vosa especially favored the use of paired lightsabers. A lethally efficient wielder of the Jar'Kai combat form, Vosa was also talented in Soresu. On Galidraan, she was capable of deflecting numerous long-range attacks from the Mandalorians. She also utilized this defensive technique against Jango Fett and successfully blocked the majority of his attacks before her defeat.

As a Force-wielder, Komari Vosa was adept at mind control, particularly over her Bando Gora followers who became enslaved to her will. In addition to possessing enhanced speed and agility through the Force, Vosa was also trained in utilizing certain forms of telekinesis such as Force push. Through Force sense, Vosa was capable of detecting the presence of other lifeforms and could also communicate with them through telepathy. Her immersion in the dark side provided Vosa with a powerful vitality, allowing her to sustain dozens of blaster bolts with only minimal injury. However, this left her careless as she constantly dropped her defenses to rush at Fett, allowing the bounty hunter to gradually wear her down through a series of relentless long-range attacks.

In addition to her knowledge of Galactic Basic Standard, Vosa was also fluent in several other forms of communication such as Huttese and Kaminoan, as well as the ancient language of the Sith.

Lightsabers
As a Jedi Padawan, Komari Vosa wielded a single-bladed lightsaber that contained a blue crystal. This was the Jedi weapon that she used on Galidraan to kill twenty seasoned warriors during the Jedi Order's confrontation with the True Mandalorians. After her fall to the dark side of the Force, Vosa created two identical red-bladed lightsabers that contained a synthetic crystal. Both sabers were built with a curved-hilt, reflecting her former Jedi Master's own lightsaber. After Vosa's death, her lightsabers remained in Darth Tyranus's possession for years until he gave them both to Asajj Ventress.

Behind the scenes
Komari Vosa was voiced by Tamara Phillips in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.

In an alternate ending to Bounty Hunter, if the player loses against Komari Vosa, she leaps onto Jango Fett's shoulders and slices his head off with her dual lightsabers, mirroring Fett's canonical demise by in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Dooku's death in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

A date for Komari Vosa's apprenticeship to Dooku (50 BBY) is given in the Star Wars Annual 2008 as part of a timeline in Dooku's article. However, since the timeline has other obvious continuity issues, the date may not be accurate. Assuming Vosa was 12 years old when she was chosen as a Padawan, this gives her an approximate birthdate of 62 BBY. She would then have been about 18 at the current placement of the Battle of Galidraan (44 BBY), and would have been captured by the Bando Gora at approximately age 23 in 39 BBY.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
 * Star Wars: Maul: Lockdown
 * Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
 * Jango Fett: Open Seasons 3
 * Jango Fett: Open Seasons 4
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns