Gorse Bendak

"Bendak's the best there ever was, plain and simple."

- Marl

Gorse Bendak was a former miner turned Mandalorian Neo-Crusader who fought in the last years of the Mandalorian Wars. Rising to the rank of a Field Marshal, Bendak had a great success among the nomadic warrior clans. After the war, he became a bounty hunter until a fortune posted on his head left him unable to work in the trade. Without a job, Bendak turned to his friend and employer Ajuur the Hutt, who convinced him to wear his armor once more and enter the dueling rings of Taris under the alias Bendak Starkiller. Refusing to leave an opponent alive, Bendak retired from the ring after the Sith outlawed death matches. During the Jedi Civil War he remained on Taris, watching matches in the cantina and hoping for the day he could return to the arena for another death match with a worthy opponent.

Biography
Bendak was born into a family of miners, a tradition that went back generations that he decided to follow. In the year that the Mandalorians invaded the Republic, Bendak was stationed on the mining colony of Vanquo. Working in the mines on the dayside when the invaders attacked, he began working on a defense for when they would reach the mines. And sure enough, that defense held the Mandalorians back for two weeks, killing a dozen Mandalorian warriors. Seeing his fighting spirit and abilities, he was offered to join the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. Bendak reluctantly agreed, as the only other alternative was slavery.

A quick learner in the art of combat and weapon handling, Bendak rose to the rank of Field Marshal in only two years, and received the golden armor of the Neo-Crusaders. His career however took an end when the forces under the command of Revan defeated the Mandalorian forces in the last battle of the Mandalorian Wars.

In need of work, Bendak became a skilled bounty hunter, offering his skills to the highest bidder. Bendak found himself with a huge bounty on his head soon after, as he accidentally killed a nobleman's daughter, and was forced to retire the trade and turn to his employer Ajuur the Hutt on Taris. The Hutt encouraged Bendak to become a duelist, using his old armor and adding a stagename to his own, Starkiller. Despite the fact that Mandalorians were hated on the world, Bendak Starkiller became a popular gladiator in the dueling ring&mdash;killing many unfortunate opponents. When the Sith took charge of the world, they immediately outlawed the death matches. Losing interest, Bendak decided to retire from the rings. He still hoped for a day when a worthy opponent would arrive for one last duel, so he would wander into the cantina to watch the duels.

That day eventually came, when the duelist known as the "Mysterious Stranger" became the new champion of Taris. An impressed Bendak came out of his retirement, wanting to duel him in an illegal death match. Revan, however, refused.

Behind the scenes
Bendak's canonical fate is unknown: assuming that the player picks the light side choice for this scenario, Bendak is not killed by Revan (as dueling with him gives dark side points). If, however, the player picks the dark side choice for the scenario, Revan has the possibility to duel and kill Bendak. In this case, Revan obtains Dark Side points, the largest purse of credits from the duel, and Bendak's blaster&mdash;a modified Mandalorian blaster pistol that is the strongest standard blaster in the game&mdash;is given to Revan by Ajuur after his death and defeat. The player could also convince Ajuur to give them an additional reward since it was a death match if the player has a high Persuasion. The player could also threaten the Hutt for the reward if persuasion fails, but this will gain more dark side points.

Revan could also get the bounty on Bendak from Zax in the Lower City.

Bendak's alias "Starkiller" is possibly based on the original last name for Luke Skywalker.

The announcer crows "Bendak is down! It's over! It's over! The fight is over! Bendak Starkiller is down!" when he is killed during the death match - it's a reference to Howard Cosell's famous call during the George Foreman/Joe Frazier fight.

Contradictions
The biographical details given for Bendak Starkiller above, though documented in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, contradict information from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, in which Tarisian death matches are said to have been outlawed for "nearly ten years" and Bendak is considered by the other duelists to be an old pro past his prime. Additionally, though the Sith enforced the ban during the game, it was not suggested that it had been they who introduced it, as their conquest and subsequent quarantine of Taris was implied (though not outright stated) to have taken place following the destruction of the Endar Spire. John Jackson Miller has stated that this tension will be explained in 2009.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Notes and references
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