Asajj Ventress/Legends

"I am fear. I am the queen of a blood-soaked planet and an architect of genocide. I have helped to crack the Galaxy in half with this war and conquered every enemy I have ever faced&mdash;including death. All except for you."

- Asajj Ventress to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Boz Pity

Asajj Ventress was a Dark Jedi and one of Count Dooku's Force-sensitive operatives.

Asajj wielded twin lightsabers&mdash;coming from Dooku's former Padawan, Komari Vosa&mdash;given to her by Dooku, lightsabers which were specially modified to connect into a double-bladed lightsaber.

Biography
"You are no Jedi, girl. You are simply hatred and bile given form."

- Jedi Master Fay



Asajj hailed from the barbaric planet of Rattatak. She became cold-hearted and merciless from a lifetime of enduring cruel hardships that began when Osika Kirske murdered her parents while she was young. Ventress, alone on a harsh, unforgiving world, might have died, had it not been for the arrival of a Jedi Master named Ky Narec. Narec had become stranded upon Rattatak, and sensed Asajj's connection to the Force. Although Narec was cut off from the rest of the Jedi Order, he decided to train Ventress as his Padawan.

The two Jedi quickly became favored by the people, until Narec was killed by Osika Kirske before Asajj could become a fully-fledged Jedi. Because of this, Asajj was as skilled as any Jedi, but had not yet achieved mastery over her emotions. Asajj soon became a force of authority on her lawless homeworld, defeating most of the remaining twelve Rattataki warlords and getting her revenge on Kirske. She tatooed a black stripe on her bald head for every warlord she slew. Ventress, now in control of the land once held by the warlords, had a castle built on Rattatak, from where she controlled her new kingdom. Asajj kept Ky Narec's lightsaber as a memento of the good times with her mentor, and developed a hatred of the Jedi, whom she believed abandoned Narec. Her bitterness, and her lust for revenge sent Asajj spiralling down the path of the dark side.

The new face of war
Ventress was still in command on Rattatak when the Clone Wars began. After Echuu Shen-Jon killed Sev'rance Tann on Krant, Count Dooku went in search of a new Dark Acolyte to serve as a Commander in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He travelled to Rattatak, where he was met by Asajj herself, disguised as a simple native of the planet. Dooku easily saw through her ruse, and initially doubted her combat abilities&mdash;until Ventress threw herself into a gladitorial pitfight in the Cauldron and easily annihilated such foes as Blorga, Granda Dolma, Nilo, L8-L9, Flalios, Jasper McKnives, Krutch, Anchor Blue, Swyy'm-Ee, and Giant Flog. Dooku was impressed with Asajj's talents, but Ventress went too far by declaring herself a Sith, and that Dooku knew nothing of the dark side. Dooku decided to "enlighten" her. After beating her in a sparring duel, Dooku presented her to Darth Sidious, who made Asajj a commander of Separatist forces, and ordered her to kill a certain Jedi&mdash;Anakin Skywalker.

Before sending her on her way, Dooku gifted Ventress with the twinned red blades of his former Padawan, Komari Vosa. The twin blades could be wielded separately or joined together to form a saberstaff, though one considerably more difficult to handle than the traditional lightstaff, given the curved nature of the handles. Dooku, having taken the blades from Vosa after her fatal fight with bounty hunter Jango Fett, now intended that Ventress should use them&mdash;much as Komari Vosa had&mdash;to be a bane to the forces of good.

Ventress trained at Dooku's fortress on Kohlma, and first revealed herself to the Jedi at Ruul, where Mace Windu was to meet with the Jedi dissidents led by Sora Bulq. Bulq had been converted to the dark side by Dooku on Bakura following the Battle of Geonosis, and was part of Dooku's plan. Ventress was sent in as an assassin, whom the dissidents were led to believe had been hired by Windu. The Korun Master eventually uncovered the truth, though not before Ventress killed Mira and wounded K'Kruhk. Though Ventress briefly dueled Mace Windu, she realized she was no match for his skill&mdash;even using her deadly saberstaff&mdash;and fled Ruul in a solar sailer.



The Jedi seemed to take little heed of this new foe revealed on Ruul, and so Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker were completely unprepared for her cold-hearted attack on the Gungan colony on Ohma-D'un. Ventress released swamp gas on the Naboo moon, decimating the settlement, then waited with the bounty hunter Durge for Jedi to arrive. She and Durge ambushed Kenobi's team; during the fight, Ventress decapitated Glaive, injured his Padawan, Zule Xiss, and nearly killed Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, the arrival of Skywalker and Alpha-17 forced the Separatists to retreat&mdash;though now the Jedi would undoubtedly remember the new face of war.

Kenobi and Ventress met again several weeks later, on Queyta, where Ventress and Durge fought Kenobi, Nico Diath, Fay, Jon Antilles, and Knol Ven'nari for the antidote to the swamp gas chemical weapon. Ventress eventually yielded the antidote to Kenobi after she and Durge wiped out his strike force, though with her parting words, Ventress promised to kill Obi-Wan at their next meeting. Shortly after battling the Jedi Knight Darrus Jeht in a jungle locale, Ventress was sent to kill Anakin Skywalker. Flying her Fanblade starfighter, Ventress attacked Skywalker over Muunilinst, then led him to the jungle moon of Yavin IV. There, she destroyed his starfighter and the clone squad sent to assist him, then battled the young Jedi through the moon's jungles and ancient temples. The duel ended when Anakin gave in to his rage, and knocked Ventress from the plateau of a temple deep within the jungle. Anakin escaped, and Ventress, wounded but alive, was able to return to her Master.

Obsession
Although she had been tasked with eliminating Skywalker, Ventress slowly became obsessed with not the boy, but his master&mdash;Kenobi. She and Kenobi squared off at Ord Cestus after she incapacitated Kit Fisto, though she was unable to defeat the elder Jedi. However, during the Battle of Jabiim, Ventress finally managed to capture Kenobi, and transported him to her castle on Rattatak for interrogation and torture, to show the Count how worthless the Jedi Knight was. However, Kenobi escaped with Alpha-17, and again fought Ventress before leaving. Kenobi stole both Ky Narec's lightsaber and Ventress's own starfighter, using the latter to reach Varonat, and leaving Ventress broken and tearful on the landing platform. Asajj later met up with both Anakin and Obi-wan on the planet Vjun, but turned tail when faced with the task of fighting them both.



During the initial stages of the Battle of Rendili, Obi-Wan discovered the renegade Quinlan Vos aboard the exploration vessel Titavian IV. He had betrayed Dooku's trust, and the Count had sent Asajj and Tol Skorr to eliminate him. Asajj and Obi-Wan battled yet again, though this time Asajj felt assured of victory, riding a ferocious rancor in pursuit of her nemesis. Obi-Wan and Quinlan escaped, but Asajj followed Obi-Wan back to Coruscant.

Once there, Asajj ambushed Anakin Skywalker, engaging him in a duel atop the skyscrapers of one of Galactic City's industrial sectors. Ventress seemed to have the upper hand, and left a scar down the side of Anakin's face. However, when she taunted Skywalker with thoughts of killing his wife, Anakin again used his anger to defeat Ventress. He entwined her body in thick electric cables, then sent her plummeting down into the murky lower levels. As on Yavin IV, Asajj barely survived her fall, but was this time too weak to continue fighting without assistance.

Redemption
Throughout their battles, Obi-Wan had learned more and more of Ventress' past. He concluded that Asajj was misled, not evil, and took it upon himself to find her and bring her back to the light. Anakin was convinced he had killed her on Coruscant, and that Obi-Wan was not thinking clearly, but the two uncovered a trail of clues that confirmed her survival and location.

Ventress had been sent to the planet Boz Pity, where she was placed in a bacta tank by Count Dooku and given cybernetic modifications to amplify her rage. When Republic forces attacked Boz Pity, Obi-Wan came upon the chamber in which Ventress was contained, and was subsequently attacked by her when she detected him in her trance. She fought against both Kenobi and Anakin, only to be unexpectedly abandoned by Dooku, who ordered an IG-100 MagnaGuard to kill her as she desperately tried to reach Dooku's shuttle.

Enraged and wounded, Ventress attempted to kill Kenobi, who was trying to help her, only to be dealt a mortal wound by Anakin. As she lay dying, Ventress told Obi-Wan the location of the Separatists' next target, and finally let go of her anger and rage. Perhaps, she mused, Obi-Wan had been right about her.

Despite appearances to the contrary, Ventress did not die, instead placing herself in a Sith trance on Boz Pity. She was loaded aboard the medical frigate Bright Flight, and while onboard, emerged from her trance and ordered the pilots to alter their course; to take her as far away as possible from the war, Dooku, and the Jedi.

The fate of Asajj Ventress after the fall of the Republic is unknown, although it is known for sure that she survived the Galaxy-wide Clone Wars.

As an appendix to Ventress's exploits, it was believed she may have returned to the Clone Wars, despite her declaration aboard the medical frigate. She was reportedly seen dogfighting Boba Fett and Anakin Skywalker in a Fanblade starfighter over Xagobah. Her reasons for returning to the war, if the pilot was indeed Ventress herself, remain a mystery.

[[Media:asajj.ogg|Hear Asajj Ventress]]

Behind the scenes



 * Asajj Ventress was voiced by Grey DeLisle in Star Wars: Clone Wars.


 * The design for Asajj Ventress comes from early Attack of the Clones brainstorming sketches by Dermot Power for the design of Palpatine's apprentice that would later become Dooku.


 * Dermot Power's concept art, which later became Asajj Ventress, can be seen in The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. The concept art was converted into comic content in Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War.


 * Through the Star Wars: Battlefront II new content, Asajj Ventress is available to download through X-Box live, though in the game, her lightsabers are connected together by a fibercord at the hilt.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Clone Wars
 * Chapter 6
 * Chapter 7
 * Chapter 17
 * Chapter 18
 * Chapter 19
 * CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 15:01:15 Edition - Ventress Issues New Jedi Bounties
 * Jedi: Mace Windu
 * Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War
 * Star Wars Republic 53: Blast Radius
 * Dark Heart
 * The Cestus Deception
 * Star Wars Republic 60: Hate and Fear
 * Jedi Trial
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
 * Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili
 * Rogues Gallery
 * Star Wars: Obsession
 * Boba Fett: Pursuit
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novelization
 * Star Wars Battlefront II (X-Box Live content)