Darth Zannah

"I am Darth Zannah, apprentice of Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. And one day I will destroy my Master and choose an apprentice of my own, continuing the legacy of the dark side."

- Darth Zannah to Darovit

Zannah, known as "Rain" in her childhood, was a Human female from the planet Somov Rit, and was the cousin of males Root, Tomcat (Darovit) and Bug (Hardin). She was initially recruited by Jedi Scout Torr Snapit to fight for the Army of Light during the Ruusan campaign of the New Sith Wars. However, upon her arrival on Ruusan, Rain was separated from her cousins during a Sith attack and was presumed killed. Unbeknownst to the Jedi, Rain was saved and befriended by the Bouncer Laa.

When the Dark Lords of Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness unleashed a planet wide Force storm during the Sixth Battle of Ruusan, Rain survived by instinctively enveloping herself and Laa with a bubble with the Force. Unfortunately, when she watched Laa being killed haplessly by Jedi scouts, she was so stricken with anger that she killed them, unwittingly giving in to the dark side to do so. Rain's display of rage attracted the attention of the war's only surviving Dark Lord, Darth Bane, who decided to take the young girl as the first and only apprentice in his fledgling Order of the Sith Lords. Rain cast away the handle of her youth, and became Darth Zannah.

As a student of the dark side, Zannah studied the ancient Sith magics and attained proficiency as a sorceress. As an extension of Bane's will, Zannah executed a variety of missions that were designed to group create separatists within the Republic, including the manipulation of the terrorist Anti-Republic Liberation Front into a botched assassination attempt on former Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum. When Zannah was implicated as the cause for the mission's failure by several of the ARLF's members, she was brought before their leader, Hetton, who recognized her Sith status. He pledged allegiance to Zannah, and from him she recovered information regarding the creation of holocrons, a secret highly sought by her Master, Bane. Zannah later tricked Hetton into attacking Bane, which resulted in Hetton's death.

When the parasites that comprised Bane's body armor began to cause him concern, Zannah was tasked with infiltrating the archives of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to obtain whatever information was available about the creatures. The unexpected presence of her cousin Darovit in the Temple brought Zannah's mission to a halt; the young man had exposed her to the Jedi, and then confessed to her his guilt. Zannah took Darovit and fled to her Master on Tython with the Jedi in pursuit, and prepared herself for the impending confrontation. Despite their superior numbers, all the Jedi were ultimately slain, though Bane lay grievously wounded and on the brink of death. Zannah took him back to their camp on Ambria, and demanded that the local healer, Caleb, save the Dark Lord under penalty of death. She betrayed and killed Caleb upon his completion of the procedure, and drove Darovit mad as a decoy convincing the Jedi that he was the Sith Lord they were after, the Jedi killed Darovit and assumed the menace was over not realizing the real Sith were hiding. With no remaining witnesses, the existence of Darth Zannah and her Master remained safely anonymous.

Jedi recruit
"War is no place for children. I have enough doubts about taking you boys&hellip;''" "''All Rain's asking for is a chance! Please?"

- Torr Snapit and Darovit, discussing Rain

Zannah was a Human girl from the planet Somov Rit. In her youth, she lived with her cousins Darovit, Hardin, and Root, and per the custom of the people of that world, was known by her nickname Rain. Unlike Darovit and Hardin, Rain had not shown any sign of Force potential, so, when Jedi Scout Torr Snapit of the Army of Light arrived looking for Force-sensitives to fight for the Jedi in the war against the Sith, he was initially hesitant to take her. However, Rain did not want to be left behind while her cousins went off to war, and with assistance from Darovit, she manipulated the Force sufficiently enough for Snapit, and was allowed to join her cousins in their departure from Somov Rit to partake in the war's final campaign on the planet Ruusan.

Upon arrival, their ship was attacked by a squad of Sith Buzzard fighters, courtesy of the Brotherhood of Darkness. When a hole was blown in the ship, Rain fell out to the forests below. Unable to maneuver in the midst of the attack in an attempt to rescue her, the Jedi ship left Rain behind, and she was believed dead by her cousins. In fact, the girl had been saved, her fall cushioned on the soft back of a Bouncer called Laa. Rain instantly befriended the creature, and spent the next few days in recovery from her traumatic experiences.

While blood was being shed on the other side of Ruusan, Rain and Laa traveled the planet's landscape together. During the sixth battle for Ruusan, the Dark Lords of the Brotherhood combined their power to create a wave of destruction that obliterated the planet's landscape for miles. Rain and Laa were caught in the fallout, but Rain subconsciously enveloped herself and Laa in a bubble of protective Force energy. Rain then realized that she was strong in the Force, and hoped to become a Jedi one day; but to Rain's dismay, Laa prophesied that she would instead grow into a powerful Dark Jedi. Bewildered by Laa's prediction, Rain flung herself off a of cliff in a suicide attempt, but decided that her destiny was not controlled by what the bouncer saw, and instead levitated herself to safety.

Touch of the dark side
"I'm a killer, too."

- Zannah, to Darth Bane

With the widespread destruction on Ruusan, many Bouncers were driven to madness, and began transmitting images of pain and death into the minds of the Jedi. To end their own suffering, the Jedi Petja, and a companion were charged with killing the Bouncers to prevent the onset of full panic within the army. They came across Laa and killed it, even though Laa had not fallen victim to the same madness as its kin. Rain was sitting nearby and was unable to prevent the Jedi from murdering her Bouncer friend. By the time she was noticed by the two Knights, she had been paralyzed by her grief, and unwittingly gave into her rage&mdash;using the dark side to break the necks of both men. Crying, Rain returned to the body of Laa. Rain's raw display of anger and subsequent use of the dark side attracted the attention Dark Lord Darth Bane, who also happened to be in search of his own apprentice. Rain impressed him further by showing no fear in his presence, and when he told her of his own murderous transgressions as a test of her resolve, Rain confessed that she, like him, was also a killer. He then offered to teach the child the ways of the dark side, and Rain accepted. From then on she went instead by her birth name of Zannah.

The final battle on Ruusan saw the decimation of both Jedi and Sith armies with the unleashing of Lord Kaan's soul-consuming thought bomb, and Zannah and her new Master were among few survivors. She accompanied him to the caves where Kaan and his brotherhood had made their final stand, and listened as Bane explained the thought bomb's significance. Zannah's cousin Darovit then appeared from another of the caves, and immediately brandished his own red-bladed lightsaber upon sight of the man behind her. Before he could commence his attack, Zannah used the dark side to explode Darovit's weapon-hand. When Bane questioned Zannah's reason for sparing the boy, she stated that killing him was pointless. Her affection for the boy was obvious to Bane, but he also allowed Darovit to live. Zannah and her Master then departed the caves, in preparation for their ultimate departure from Ruusan.

Final test
Though Bane felt that Zannah's innate Force ability was considerable, he was also aware that she still lacked even the rudimentary skills of an apprentice. In their haste to leave Ruusan, Zannah quickly learned from him to channel the Force to sustain and augment her physical skills. Her calculating nature also factored into Bane's belief that Zannah was indeed the apprentice he sought. Before she was officialy accepted by him, however, she was given a final test; to find her own way offworld, and in ten standard days meet Bane on the planet Onderon.

Initially resentful with Bane for the task laid before her, Zannah wandered in search of a means to completing her task, and chanced upon a shuttle with four Humans nearby. Calling herself Rain again for the time being, Zannah was mistaken for a war orphan and brought her on board their vessel, the Star-Wake, where she was fed, and introduced to her hosts. The adult female named Irtanna, whom Zannah believed to be a soldier of some sort, consulted the other present adult, a Human male called Bordon. They offered to let Rain join them, but she refused, stating that she needed to go to Onderon. After insisting on her destination, Zannah's hosts decided to take her back to the Republic fleet, where the young girl's destiny would be decided for her.

When Zannah was offered an opportunity to stay with Bordon and his family, she was immediately conflicted by her commitment to Darth Bane, who had instructed her to meet him on Onderon, where he would then help her reach her full potential. However, she was thoroughly exhausted with the struggle that had been her life thus far, and considered the tranquility that Bordon extended towards her. Her mind was made when she realized that the Republic would eventually discover her Force-sensitivity, and also the existence of her Master. Before she could resolve her dilemma, however, Rain was approached by Bordon's youngest son, Wend. After a brief conversation with the boy, Zannah made up in her mind to reject Bordon's offer, realizing that the peace he offered her amounted to nothing more than a lie; though they were happy, Bordon had no way of protecting himself or his family from real danger. When Wend was summoned to the ship's cockpit, Zannah seized the opportunity to search for a means of forcing her saviors into doing her bidding. She located a blaster pistol just as Bordon's older son, Tallo, arrived, and was tackled by the boy in an attempt to wrench the weapon from her grasp. Bordon arrived to find Zannah and his son in quarrel, and was mortified as he watched her put a gaping hole in the boy's chest with the blaster. Zannah gunned down Bordon next, and rushed to the cockpit herself to prevent Irtanna and Wend from interfering. After ordering the woman to set the autopilot on a course for Onderon, Zannah killed Irtanna, and professed her Sith allegiance before doing the same to Wend. She then rode the Star-Wake for seven days to Onderon, to rendezvous with Darth Bane.

Zannah's arrival preceded Bane's, and she was forced to make a rough landing in the deep jungles of Onderon. Her presence attracted the attention of the Skelda clan of native Beast Riders, warriors who flew great winged beasts in battle. Zannah was quickly surrounded as she exited the Star-Wake, and attempted to bluff her way out of the inevitable confrontation. Zannah tried to flee when they threatened to take her ship, but was quickly tackled by the leader. To his surprise, Zannah reflexively used the Force to blast the man off of her. He realized that Zannah was an untrained Force-sensitive, and offered her one last chance to surrender in the face of insurmountable odds. Zannah, however, revealed that she was far from alone&mdash;as Darth Bane appeared in the sky above them, mounted on a drexl larger than any of those commanded by clan Skelda. She then watched in awe as her Master singlehandedly defeated the entire clan, sustained near-fatal injuries, and recover from them instantaneously before her, thanks to the orbalisk crustaceans that now covered his body. The Dark Lord was indeed impressed that Zannah had survived the preliminary tests he had set before her; she was then officially made his apprentice, and her real training began.

Bane's apprentice
"I see you decided to teach me two lessons today, Master."

- Zannah to Darth Bane

For much of their early time together, Zannah's training took place on the world of Ambria. Because he sought to keep his new Order concealed fom galactic notice, Bane taught Zannah secrecy, patience, and ingenuity. Her first lesson was to tame a wild neek&mdash;reptilian creatures native to Ambria, specifically near the dark side Lake Natth&mdash;and to bring the newly-domesticated creature back to their camp of its own free will. While familiarizing herself with the animals, Zannah spent days earning one particular neek's trust, and in doing so, became emotionally attached to it, treating it almost like a pet. Finally, she was able to coax the reptile into following her. When they arrived at the camp her Master was pleased, and then suddenly, snapped its neck through the Force, and ordered Zannah to toss the dead thing into a boiling pot nearby. She realized at that moment that her Master's lesson was twofold: having the patience to dominate another being or creature through cunning, and to bend them to her will, all while maintaining a sense of detachment.

By the time Zannah was fourteen, her training had advanced into the study of the ancient Sith. She learned to harness the power of the dark side through Sith spells, which Bane had discovered as he transcribed the holocron of Freedon Nadd he had found during his exploration of Dxun. Bane himself expressed how he was not attuned to the intricacies of Sith magic, that his talents were expressed in more natural and elemental uses of the dark side of the Force. Zannah, however, was eager to learn Nadd's teachings, and immediately began absorbing everything she could. As she was allowed to study the transcript, Bane warned her that if she ever attempted her spells on him, he would destroy her.

Not long after, Zannah constructed her personal double-bladed lightsaber, whose customized forging included a longer than average hilt, which was powered by a Synthetic lightsaber crystal known as Bane's Heart. This special crystals produced blades that were shorter than normal length&mdash;each just under a meter in length, and also released an electrical discharge when the weapon was utilized by anyone other than its owner. Zannah built her lightsaber in this manner to compensate for the proportions of her small body. Bane explained to Zannah that her weapon was critical to her chosen style of lightsaber combat, one that expended minimal energy while maximizing her endurance in battle, creating what he described as the "impenetrable defense" of Form III: Soresu.

Anti Republic Liberation front
In 990 BBY, Zannah&mdash;now an instrument of Bane's will&mdash;was sent on a variety of covert missions, with the intent of destabilizing the sanctity of the Galactic Republic. She was tasked with the exploitation of a group of dissidents on the planet Serenno known as the Anti-Republic Liberation Front. In doing so, Zannah, undercover "Rainah," became the lover of one of the ARLF's more prominent members, a Twi'lek male named Kelad'den. She convinced the Lethan, who was colloquially known as "Kel", to make an attempt on the life of former Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum, who was scheduled to visit Serenno soon on a diplomatic mission. However, the attempt ultimately failed and resulted in four of the members of the Front's deaths. In the aftermath, Zannah was apprehended by the surviving members, Cyndra and Paak taken to meet the leader of the rebel faction, Hetton, by. Once there, she used her Sith Sorcery to drive Cyndra insane, climaxing in Cyndra tearing out her own eyeballs and babbling on the ground. In retaliation, Paak attacked her with a vibro blade. Zannah deciding to demonstrate her abilities knowing that Hetton was no match for her, used the force to summon her lightsaber and snap her restraints. She toyed with Paak which resulted in him pulling a blaster on her. She deflected the first round and sent the second bolt into his head killing him. Hetton then confessed that he had been waiting for someone like Zannah all his life. He revealed that he had spent the last thirty years collecting dark side artifacts and knowledge by using his vast resources. In his research he found a long forgotten hyperspace route to Tython which is where he learned that the temple of Belia Darzu lies, a Sith Lady who had learned the secret of Sith holocrons among other things. During their conversation Hetton revealed that he had eight stealth assassins from the academy at Umbara at his disposal and if she would accept him as her apprentice they would swear loyalty to her as well.

Since her master needed to know the secret to building a holocron, Zannah tricked Hetton and accepted him as her apprentice. Once she was given a data card with all of his knowledge and library in her hands, she took him and his Umbaran assassins to Ambria, to attack her master. Hetton and his guards were killed in the process while Zannah leaned against a wall and watched, Bane thought Zannah had betrayed him and attacked her. After taking a beating, she was able to get through Bane's orbalisk induced rage and blood lust, by yelling that she had found the information to create holocrons. This statement was the only thing that stopped Bane from delivering the finishing blow. Zannah told him that she had the information that he needed to build the holocron and handed him the data card, surprised that it was not destroyed while she was being tossed about, and explained that she'd only used Hetton, to bring it to him. She further explained that she knew that he would defeat Hetton and his assassins, which was therefore why she did not lend a hand attacking Bane. Bane asked the question, "What if they had defeated me?" and Zannah's reply was, "Then you would have been unfit to be a Dark Lord of the Sith." Bane smiled with sinister approval.

First duel with the Jedi
While Bane went to Tython to discover the secret of the creation of a holocron, Zannah was assigned another task. She made her way to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, under the alias of a Padawan named Nalia Adollu, and headed into the Jedi Archives to find information, for her master, on how to remove orbalisks from his body. While she was in the archives, Darovit, her cousin, came to Coruscant as well, where he found Zannah. After she acquired the information she needed, she took her cousin with her aboard the Loranda, to avoid being caught by the Jedi, since Darovit had compromised her and her Master. They made their way to Tython, as well, where they met up with Bane. After the Jedi aboard the Justice Crusader engaged in a duel with Zannah and her Master, Zannah was nearly overpowered by the massive Sarro Xaj. However, after Worror's battle meditation was broken up, Zannah easily defeated her Jedi foe. She then used her cloaking abilities to sneak up behind Raskta Lsu and stab her in the back. After Bane disarmed Johun Othone, Zannah impaled the young Jedi Knight, killing him.

Since Bane was injured in the duel, Zannah had to use the Force to levitate him to their ship, the Loranda. They headed back to Ambria, to meet with Caleb. There, Zannah was unable to convince Caleb to heal Bane, however, Darovit was able to make a deal with the healer. The condition was that Zannah deactivate the Loranda and notify the Jedi that Bane was on Ambria and injured, therefore pending arrest. Zannah agreed, however, she soon changed her mind after a talk with her Master confirmed that he was still able to reason, and plan with his mind.

Zannah killed Caleb, hacking him into many pieces over and over. She then hid, with her master underground from Caleb's shack, and used her sorcery to drive Darovit insane. When the Jedi arrived, Darovit attacked them, making them believe that he was the Sith Lord. Luckily for her, the Loranda was left by the Jedi for the junkers, but since the Jedi did not know of Zannah's presence because of her cloaking abilities, she was able to repair the ship and continue her tutelage under her Master. She then told Bane that one day, she would be strong and knowledgeable enough to take him down, and become the Dark Lady of the Sith. Upon hearing this Bane gave her his normal grim smile, and she knew he approved.

Drastic measures
As ten years have passed, Bane began to perceive Zannah as weak; she had not chosen to end his life by subterfuge nor deception. The question loomed large as to if she had not learned the lesson of detachment and passion in which her chains would be broken, in that she could only rely on herself. With such a notion, there was the question as to if she was worthy to be his apprentice. With this belief, Bane began to look into the legend of Darth Andeddu's holocron, which was said to hold the secret of eternal life. At the time, Bane and Zannah were living as wealthy brother and sister merchants on Ciutric IV.

However, in the search of this ancient Sith artifact alone; Zannah decided that it was the time to fulfill her destiny in craving the power and to begin the cycle anew. In order to keep Zannah occupied while he searched for (and retrieved) Andeddu's holocron, he sent her on a mission to retrieve Sith artifacts from the planet Doan. There, Zannah encountered evidence of a Dark Jedi that was also searching for the Sith artifacts. She tracked the Dark Jedi, Set Harth, to Nal Hutta, and offered him the chance to become her Sith apprentice. Harth accepted, and the pair returned to Ciutric IV, only to discover that Bane had been captured by the Royal Guard of the Princess of Doan. Unknown to Zannah and Harth, the princess was actually Caleb's daughter Serra, looking for revenge on the Sith she believed killed her father. Zannah and Harth travelled to Doan to rescue Bane from Serra, who kept Bane in a underground prison and had tortured him with multiple injections of several drugs. Bane escaped with the help of Serra's bodyguard Lucia, who idolized Bane from their time together in the Gloom Walkers. In the aftermath, Zannah located Bane and challenged him to a duel in an attempt to defeat her master. During the confusion, Harth located and stole Darth Andeddu's holocron, which was confiscated from Bane and kept in custody of the Doan Royal Guard, and escaped from the planet Doan and from Zannah's apprenticeship. Zannah and Bane fought to a standstill; the prison was set to self-destruct by the princess in an effort to destroy them, and they fled the planet in separate ships.

By this time Bane had taken on a new apprentice: a Force-sensitive Iktotchi female assassin who called herself "the Huntress". The Huntress, who now went by the name Darth Cognus, tracked Serra through the Force to her father's farm on Ambria. Bane sent out a distress call to Zannah's ship in an effort to lure her to the farm and kill her. Shortly after Bane killed Serra in revenge for her torture of him on Doan, Zannah arrived on the farm. Cognus watched as the pair dueled to the death, stating she would remain impartial and serve whoever was victorious. Zannah used Sith sorcery to call upon dark side tentacles that cut through Bane's skin, incapaciting him. Not to be defeated, Bane invoked the secret spell for eternal life from Darth Andeddu's holocron, destroying his body in the process. Bane's soul fought Zannah's soul for possession of her body, after which Zannah collapsed to the ground. When she awoke, she appeared to be herself except for an uncontrollable tremor in her left hand, a trait Darth Bane used to possess.

Legacy
"The smaller blades give you greater speed and maneuverability&hellip;You will sacrifice reach and leverage, but you will be able to create a shield of impenetrable defense."

- Darth Bane to Zannah

Darth Zannah wielded a unique, red, double-bladed lightsaber powered by crystals given to her by her Master, Darth Bane. Her lightsaber was different in that its blades were each slightly shorter than one meter, while most double-blade lightsabers traditionally had beams of a meter and a half. This was primarily for making her able to defend more effectively and with less exertion. Long after Zannah's death, this lightsaber came into the possession of General Grievous, and then later N-K Necrosis.

Darth Bane and Darth Zannah, while their dates of death are unknown, were eventually succeeded by Darth Cognus and her three eyed mutant apprentice, Darth Millennial.

Personality and traits
"Do you know the ways of the Force? Do you understand the true nature of the dark side?''" "''No. But you can teach me. I'm young. I will learn."

- Zannah accepts Bane's training

As a youth Zannah had short tousled dirty blond hair, and blue eyes. She grew into an athletically built left-handed woman of average height, with long blond curls of hair and eyes yellow with the dark side. She was often looked upon by those whom she encountered in public as unusually beautiful, and was fully aware of her striking appearance; however, because of her required anonymity, Zannah took measures to make herself inconspicuous when necessary. Wearing unflattering clothing and wrapping herself in a Force aura of insignificance were among her methods, though the occasional double-take would occur.



As a child, Zannah was timid, and had to be convinced to display her Force ability when Torr Snapit arrived. She displayed compassion for the bouncer Laa, as well as deep sorrow for Laa when it was killed. The death of her bouncer friend drove Zannah to anger, then to murder, displaying no mercy to the Jedi for their incompetence. She showed no fear of Darth Bane upon their first meeting, instead admitting that she, like him, was a killer as well. With time Zannah grew in cunning and ingenuity, and Darth Bane became impressed with Zannah's subtle and calculating nature, the same with which she employed the Force. Nonetheless, Zannah was regarded as no more than an heir by her Master to his Sith legacy.

Zannah displayed a hunger for knowledge and readily accepted Bane's offer to train her, passing several tests as a child to convince him of her dedication. She was eager to learn the spells of Freedon Nadd, and also eager to learn a more aggressive style of lightsaber combat, before her Master explained the reason for elevating her to Form III mastery. Of all the things Zannah learned from Bane, compassion and love were not among them, and she found herself questioning what an actual loving paternal relationship would be like. She did experience love of the romantic sort, however, from the Twi'lek Kelad'en, though she only pretended to love him in return.

Zannah was loyal to Darth Bane throughout her time with him, and unquestioningly carried out his orders. She expressed concern with his parasitic armor, partially with her own intentions in mind. When Bane lay dying on Tython, Zannah cared him, albeit selfishly; her reason for keeping him alive was to continue her studies in the dark side. She was given to betrayal as well, having done so to Hetton and his entire ilk, the healer Caleb, even her own cousin, Darovit. Zannah recognized that treachery against her Master one day was also the way of the Sith, and pledged herself to striking him down in accordance with the Rule of Two.

Powers and abilities
"I can use my powers to conjure up your worst nightmares and bring them to life before your eyes. I can drive you mad with fear, shred your sanity, and leave you a raving lunatic for the rest of your life."

- Zannah describing the effects of her sorcery

Darth Zannah was a left-handed master of the lightsaber combat form Soresu, becoming proficient at creating defensive barriers using her double-bladed lightsaber. Her unique two blade lightsaber allowed her to defend herself indefinitely against enemies with minimal effort, only switching to the offensive when her adversary was weakened or frustrated.

She was also an accomplished sorceress, being talented in arts of Sith sorcery. She could utilize sorcery to cover herself and others in a false light side aura, drive people to insanity by showing them their greatest fears, or even simply masking her presence in the Force. She had great control over the Force instinctively. She used her basically untrained power to survive the thought bomb when some of the greatest Jedi (and Sith) were simply overpowered by it.

Behind the scenes
The character of Darth Bane and his first apprentice was first established by George Lucas in his backstory for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and given to author Terry Brooks to detail in his novelization of the film. As the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization was written before the identity of Zannah was established, it refers to Darth Bane's apprentice as "him."

Zannah's first actual appearance as a character was in Jedi vs. Sith, but she is curiously absent in the short story Bane of the Sith. The New Essential Chronology explained this discrepancy by describing Zannah finding her own way to Onderon. She subsequently appeared in a cameo role in the epilogue of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and is featured fully in its sequels, Darth Bane: Rule of Two and the upcoming Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil.

Appearances

 * Jedi vs. Sith
 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * Bane of the Sith
 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization

Notes and references
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