Brakiss

"You each have tools inside to master yourself, and to master the Force. And to draw on the strength of the Force, you must learn to draw on what is strongest in you: strong emotions, deep desires, fear, aggression, hate, anger."

- Brakiss while teaching at the Shadow Academy in 23 ABY

Brakiss was a fallen Human Jedi trainee. He was brainwashed by Imperials, and then sent to infiltrate Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum. He later formed the Shadow Academy for the Second Imperium.

Early life
As a baby, he was discovered by agents of the Empire to be Force-sensitive. After passing enough tests to save his life, he was taken from his family and brainwashed into serving the Inquisitorius.

Jedi Praxeum
Ordered by the Inquisitorius to infiltrate the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, Brakiss became one of the first trainees of Luke Skywalker. Skywalker, who knew the reason why Brakiss was there, tried to turn him to the light numerous times. After three years at the praxeum, Brakiss underwent an ordeal to face the darkness in his own soul, during which he saw the darkest parts of himself and fled, psychologicially scarred by the incident.

Brakiss returned to Msst and reported in to his supervisors, but only under the condition that he live in peace from then on in. Deeming Brakiss of little use now that his mind was not whole, they agreed. Brakiss then left Msst again to find his own path. He then made his way to the droid foundries of Telti, to heal and recuperate.

Almanian Uprising
But in 17 ABY, under the influence of another fallen Jedi of Skywalker's academy, Dolph, he fell fully to the dark side. Dolph, now known as Kueller, and Brakiss attempted to overthrow the New Republic in what was called "The New Rebellion", by manipulating political events and strategic use of powerful miniature bombs implanted in all the droid that came out of Telti, which Brakiss still controlled.

Second Imperium
After that plan failed, Brakiss went to the Deep Core and reestablished his Imperial warlord contacts. Although Admiral Daala had killed all of the warlords, Brakiss became a neutral broker between the power brokers that had sprung up. In the wake of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty, which was met by disgust by Brakiss and the surviving Deep Core powers, all parties pooled their resouces and created the Shadow Academy, a Dark Jedi academy which was to be led by Brakiss.

From his new hyperspace-capable space station equipped with a cloaking device, Brakiss headed to Dathomir and recruited Nightsister Tamith Kai, who became his second in command, and her apprentice Vilas (among others), and they used the Great Canyon Clan as a recruitment ground.

In 23 ABY, his agents led by Tamith Kai raided the GemDiver Station in the gas giant Yavin and kidnapped Jedi trainees Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo and Lowbacca. He and Tamith attempted to brainwash them though their captives resisted their attempts to indoctrinate them they were then rescured by Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka

Realizing that capturing high-profile people and any existing Jedi trainees may bring unwanted attention, Brakiss's agents went on a recruitment drive in the dangerous lower levels of Coruscant, and were told to bring back people no one would miss. Among their recruits was Zekk - a friend of the Solo twins. Zekk, believing that no one cared for him, was fully brainwashed and became Brakiss' protegé and eventually, the Shadow Academy's Darkest Knight.

With the sudden arrival of the back-from-the-dead Emperor Palpatine, Brakiss then gathered his forces and attacked the Jedi Academy. He arranged a meeting with Skywalker, who again tried to turn him back to the light. Brakiss refused to listen to Skywalker, and returned to the Shadow Academy. When he arrived, he demanded to see the Emperor, but he discovered "the Great Leader of the Second Imperium" was really nothing more than four Royal Guards. Furious, he killed three of them, but the fourth escaped and activated the Academy's self-destruct system. Brakiss was killed in the ensueing explosion.

Appearances

 * I, Jedi
 * The New Rebellion
 * Young Jedi Knights: Heirs of the Force
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy
 * Young Jedi Knights: The Lost Ones
 * Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
 * Young Jedi Knights: Darkest Knight
 * Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Under Siege
 * Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan