Mask of Lord Momin

"The Mask of Lord Momin. A powerful artifact of the dark side."

- Darth Sidious, to Darth Vader

The Mask of Lord Momin was a mask worn and sculpted by the Sith Lord Momin. It was eventually captured by the Jedi Order and placed in the Order's archives in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. After the hunt and death of Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu, Darth Sidious took the mask for himself, before he gave it to his Sith apprentice Darth Vader and was eventually stored on the Imperialis.

Description
"Okay, Korin, I get that it's old, and it's rare, and it's Sith or whatever&hellip;but how much is all this stuff worth?''" "''Lando, unless I miss my guess, these are pieces by Lord Momin&mdash;an ancient Sith sculptor. All of his works were thought lost."

- Lando Calrissian, to Korin Pers on the helmet and other artifacts

The Mask of Lord Momin was a blue helmet created by the Sith Lord and sculptor, Lord Momin. It had a central horizontal opening, an enclave in the center connected to the horizontal opening, and a second vertical opening positioned on the elevated face plate of the mask. Additionally, the mask extended to the neck with a small gorget. The mask was also damaged as it had several cracks that ran along the surface.

When individuals were left alone with the mask in an enclosed area, they were susceptible to being corrupted by the dark side of the Force. One way the mask could corrupt an individual with the dark side was when two red, glowing eyes appeared and emitted a flash of red light when an individual gazed upon them. The corruption was strong enough to control and influence bodies even after they had been decomposed, despite that the mask did not have to be worn but could be in close proximity to individuals in order to do so. The Mask of Lord Momin not only had the ability to corrupt and control individuals, but could communicate with them as well, as the mask had communicated with Darth Sidious to tell him of its history. Once an individual had been possessed by the mask and worn it, the mask could control the individual's actions, as was the case with Lieutenant Roggo. Roggo became possessed by the mask and wore it, allowing him to architecturally design the castle of Sith Lord Darth Vader in mere minutes.

Creation and the Jedi
The mask was created by Lord Momin, a Sith Lord who was considered a heretic by his own Sith brethren as he believed in achieving power through creation, rather than destruction. The mask was considered to be a powerful Sith artifact, though records of Lord Momin and his activities were suppressed by both the Sith and the Jedi Order. By 19 BBY, the Mask of Lord Momin was housed within the Jedi Archive vault in the Jedi Temple on the Core World planet of Coruscant, along with other rare artifacts such as a lightsaber rifle, a Sith holocron, another holocron, and a black starfighter.

Shortly after the creation of the Galactic Empire, Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious tasked his Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, with hunting and capturing Chief Librarian Jedi Master Jocasta Nu. Coincidentally, Master Nu arrived on Coruscant to obtain a memory crystal that contained a list of Force-sensitive younglings in order for her to establish her school and rebuild the Order.

When Nu arrived at the Jedi Temple and secured the crystal from the vault, she confronted the Grand Inquisitor in the Jedi Archives. When Darth Vader arrived, Nu fled to the Archive vault and utilized the lightsaber rifle against him, eventually blowing a hole through the temple wall and escaping outside. Nu was eventually captured and later killed when she told that Sidious was seeking to replace him, and that the list of younglings was what he was after.

Tool of the Sith
Some time following the confrontation, Sidious and an entourage of droids and Imperial Royal Guards were at the vault examining the trove of artifacts when Vader arrived following several assassination attempts on himself. Sidious was holding and examining the Mask of Lord Momin when Vader began asking about the attempts.

Eventually by 18 BBY, the Jedi Temple was transformed into the Imperial Palace, and the Mask of Lord Momin continued to be housed there, along with other artifacts. At some point during Sidous' possession of the Mask of Lord Momin, the mask told Sidious of Lord Momin and its history. Years following the establishment of the Empire, following a chase of two rogue Inquisitors, Sidious gave Vader three gifts; the planet Mustafar to be used as Vader's personal stronghold, the Naboo Royal Starship as Vader's own vessel, and finally the Mask of Lord Momin. Sidious believed that by Vader having the mask on his mission to Mustafar, Vader would be able to unlock the secrets contained in the Sith cave and grow stronger in the dark side of the Force.

The Mask of Lord Momin, along with Vader, architect Colonel Alva Brenne, and Lieutenant Roggo traveled to Mustafar on board the Naboo Royal Starship, when en route Colonel Brenne examined the mask as she pondered Vader's architectural preference. After a tenuous landing on Mustafar, Vader meditated in the Sith cave while Colonel Brenne and Lieutenant Roggo drew up plans for Vader's fortress. After Brenne gave Vader an initial design that he rejected, Brenne returned to the Royal Starship but was killed. Vader, hearing Brenne's cries entered the Royal Starship to find Brenne's body and Roggo wearing the mask of Lord Momin, which had activated.

Vader used his lightsaber to cut down Roggo, and shortly after a hologram was activated showing a new design for Vader's fortress, which the mask had created during its corruption of Roggo. Many years later, the helmet was in Sidious' personal yacht, the Imperialis, along with other rare artifacts.

Appearances

 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 8: The Dying Light, Part II
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 12: The Rule of Five, Part II
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 21: Fortress Vader, Part III
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 22: Fortress Vader, Part IV
 * Lando, Part III
 * Lando, Part IV
 * Lando, Part V