Mandalore the Avenger

"Another person who would catch our attention later was the Mandalorian bounty hunter Shae Vizla. She was known to have participated in the Battle of Alderaan, and perhaps indeed she was the one who helped Malgus escape. We cannot know for sure, but we can be certain she survived."

- Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan

Shae Vizla (nicknamed Torch) was a Human Mandalorian female who lived during the Great Galactic War and the subsequent Cold War that resulted from the peace established between the two warring factions, the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire. Working as a bounty hunter, Vizla was often employed by the Sith Empire, who made use of her martial skills when undertaking the most risk-intensive missions. Shae Vizla was part of the Imperial force charged with attacking the planet of Alderaan, and later launched a strike on a Republic political envoy. During the assault, Vizla's brother was killed by the Jedi Master Aurei Eadon, and Vizla subsequently developed an intense hatred for the Jedi Order.

When the Empire elected to mobilize an attack on the galactic capital world of Coruscant, Vizla was contracted to disable the planet's defense grid, located within the Jedi Temple. In conjunction with a frontal assault by the Sith Lord Darth Malgus, Vizla infiltrated the Temple, proceeding to kill several members of the Temple Security Force during the resultant battle between the assailing Sith warriors and the defending Jedi Knights. She successfully completed her mission to disable the defense grid, allowing Darth Angral's Sith armada to strike at Coruscant, and when the attack was over and the Jedi defeated, Vizla briefly lingered until receiving the professional approval of Lord Malgus. She then utilized her jetpack to fly away from the Temple.

Following the war, Vizla retired from Imperial service and settled with her clan on Rishi, cooperating with the Nova Blades to maintain civil relations in Raider's Cove. When the Nova Blades aligned with the Order of Revan, Vizla broke ties with them and settled on an island to stay clear of the Revanites. However, after the Eternal Empire invaded the galaxy and Mandalore the Vindicated was slain in battle, Vizla was chosen as the next Mandalore and took the title Mandalore the Avenger.

Biography
"As this unthinkable battle scene unfolded below, the Mandalorian was navigating the Temple's upper levels and disposing of security personnel. It is unclear how the Imperials knew that Coruscant's security grid mainframe was located in the Temple, but the Mandalorian was most definitely working with extremely accurate intelligence."

- Jedi Master Gnost-Dural

A Human female, Shae Vizla was a Mandalorian warrior who lived during the time of the Great Galactic War. Earning a living as a bounty hunter, the mercenary-minded Vizla took jobs in the pursuit of money, without a care for her employers goals. However, at some point in her life, she developed a personal hatred for the members of the Jedi Order. Following the return of the Sith Empire from their millennia-long era of seclusion, and the start of the Great Galactic War between the resurgent Sith and the Galactic Republic, the Sith Imperials formed an alliance with the Mandalorian warrior clans, one that remained strong under the reign of Mandalore the Vindicated. Vizla became associated with the Sith Empire at some point during the war, and her exceptional skill earned her a reputation that found Vizla commonly employed by the Imperials for heavy-risk operations of a large and important nature.

In the heat of the Great Galactic War, Shae Vizla took part in the Sith Empire's attack on the peaceful Core World of Alderaan. Under the Sith Lord Darth Malgus, Imperial forces numbering hundreds of Sith warriors, several thousand assault droids, and a multitude of Sith troopers strong, invaded the arboreal world. Despite these odds, the Sith were held off by the combined forces of the Republic's special forces unit, Havoc Squad, and a cadre of Jedi Knights that included Satele Shan. Shan personally engaged Malgus, defeating and wounding the Sith Lord, leaving him beneath the rubble of a shattered rock face. However, Malgus escaped and returned to the war, and Shan theorized that it had been Vizla who was responsible for the Sith Lord's rescue.

Three years later, Vizla was tasked with assaulting a Republic political envoy. During the course of the attack, Vizla's brother was slain by Jedi Master Aurei Eadon. The Mandalorian mercenary challenged Eadon to a duel, seeking to avenge her brother's death, but Eadon refused. This event caused Vizla to develop an intense hatred for the Jedi, though she kept the reasons behind her bitter feelings to herself.

Sacking of Coruscant
In 3653 BBY, twenty-eight years after the start of the Great Galactic War, Sith forces contacted the Republic, expressing a desire to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the war. As delegates from both sides met on the planet Alderaan to form a peace agreement, Shae Vizla was contracted by the Sith Empire to aid in their surprise assault on the galactic capital world of Coruscant. Tasked with neutralizing Coruscant's defense grid, located within the Jedi Temple, Vizla found herself again working with Darth Malgus, in addition to his Twi'lek attendant, Eleena Daru. Once all three were in position at the Temple, and upon receiving Malgus' order, Vizla infiltrated the ancient ziggurat via a high window over the Temple's main entrance. At the same time, a Republic shuttle that had been co-opted by the Sith slammed into the Temple's main hall and the Sith warriors within had rushed out to engage the Temple's Jedi defenders, in what may have been little more than a distraction designed to allow the Mandalorian infiltrator to go unnoticed. Inside, Vizla shot and killed several members of the Temple Security Force as she made her way to the security grid mainframe. There, she brought down Coruscant's defenses, and allowed for the Sith fleet commanded by Darth Angral to begin a planet-wide attack on Coruscant. Following the takedown of the defense mainframe, Vizla flew into the fray in the Temple's lower levels using her jetpack, where she was responsible for numerous other deaths, both Temple Security guards and Republic soldiers alike.

In the aftermath of the battle for the Jedi Temple, and as the Sith stood victorious over the Jedi, Shae Vizla lingered outside the ruined entrance to the Temple, surveying the damage with her helmet off and held beneath her arm. When she was approached by Malgus, the two nodded to each other in turn. Recognized for her work, Vizla donned her helmet again, and flew away from the burning temple to await her payment from the Empire for services rendered.

Retirement on Rishi
"Shae Vizla. That little nickname, the locals came up with. Hell if I know why."

- "Torch" introduces herself to her challengers

Over a decade later, Vizla retired from the Empire's service to Rishi, where she earned the nickname Torch. During the Galactic War, Vizla's clan had dealings with the Nova Blades pirate gang, until the Blades began to work for the Order of Revan, forcing Vizla to move her clan to another island to stay clear of the Revanites. When she was later confronted by Republic and Imperial heroes looking for whatever information she had on the Revanites, Vizla demanded that they best her in a duel if they want her information. After a prolonged fight, Vizla was beaten. She then gave whatever information she had before departing with her clan.

Vizla later turned up on Yavin 4 to assist the allied Imperial and Republic forces against Revan. After the defeat of Revan and the subsequent revival of the Sith Emperor, Vizla departed the area, though not before renegotiating a contract with Darth Marr, telling him to let her know where the next fight will be.

The Mandalorian Resistance
Sometime after the battle against Revan on Yavin IV, the hidden Eternal Empire revealed itself to the galaxy. In the ensuing conflict, Mandalore the Vindicated led his forces on the frontlines, but was ultimately killed in action. The Galactic Republic and Sith Empire, the latter of which Vizla had closely worked with before, were both forced to concede defeat to the new dominant government.

However, even despite this defeat, many forces in the galaxy refused to bow to the Eternal Throne. The Mandalorians were one such force. Leaderless, the Mandalorians made Shae Vizla their new commander and christened her 'the Avenger', a title she reluctantly accepted.

When in need of an army, Theron Shan had contacted Shae to offer her a chance raid the Zakuul droid factory on Darvannis, they gain the weapons while the Alliance obtained GEMINI Prime. She agreed to the offer and brought the clans to the planet, planning their assault with the The Outlander.

After the raid had proven successful and the clans were ready for war, Mandalore the Avenger led her people into an alliance with the Outlander, helping defend worlds like Voss from the Eternal Empire.

Personality and traits
"I wish I could say that was the last we saw of her, but like Malgus, she would return again as well."

- Satele Shan

A Mandalorian mercenary, Shae Vizla fought for the promise of credits, selling her martial services for money with little care for the interests and goals of her employers. However, she possessed a personal hatred for Jedi, that stemmed from the death of her brother at the hands of Jedi Master Aurei Eadon. Vizla was closed-lipped on the reasons behind her feelings toward the Jedi; despite her hatred, following the sacking of their Coruscant temple, Vizla dispassionately surveyed the damage that had been inflicted by the Sith.

In her later years she gained a dislike for war, considering it to be boring, as she preferred to fight battles that were interesting instead of random killing. When becoming the new Mandalore, her goals became that of ensuring the Mandalorian's survival, leading her to have concerns about her right hand Khomo Fett as she knew he would want to bring back glory days of the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders.

With long red hair, fair skin, and hazel-colored eyes, her soft features belied her physical prowess, which she preferred to enhance with the use of customized armor. Vizla was an extremely skilled warrior, as noted by the Sith Lord Darth Malgus, and was capable of gracefully wielding her armor's numerous weapons while maintaining flight via her jetpack during battle. She was comfortable removing her helmet while in the presence of others, but was not so forthcoming as to tell Darth Malgus her name during the times in which they worked together.

Equipment
Shae Vizla wore Mandalorian armor of a primarily gray coloration, over a black flight suit. Her full-faced helmet differed from tradition in that it did not feature a T-shaped visor. Vizla made use of a jetpack possessing two individual thrusters that allowed her periods of sustained flight, and owned at least two blasters, including one blaster pistol that fired red bolts of plasma, that she was known to wield with deadly accuracy.

In addition to boots and a utility belt, Shae Vizla also benefited from her armor's gauntlets, the left of which was equipped with a hologram projector. Both gauntlets housed miniature flamethrowers capable of producing powerful streams of fire, and each was mounted with wrist rocket launchers that fired deadly projectiles.

Behind the scenes
"You were first introduced to this brutal Bounty Hunter as she joined the Sith fleet in an ambitious assault during the Sacking of Coruscant. Known as Shae Vizla, she is commonly employed by the Empire for large risky undertakings."

- Gentle Giant figurine blurb

Shae Vizla made her first appearance in official Star Wars canon in the Deceived trailer for the upcoming video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, released June 1, 2009. Throughout the course of the trailer, Vizla had no lines of dialogue, and was not initially named. A bounty hunter wearing armor similar to Vizla's, though not initially identified as her, was also seen in the second of The Old Republic trailers entitled Hope, released on June 14, 2010. The character remained nameless until an update on The Old Republic website featuring a Gentle Giant Studios statue of the bounty hunter with a promotional blurb revealing her name, and it was only with the release of The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural that Vizla's appearance in the Hope trailer was confirmed. She is voiced by Sumalee Montano.

Shae Vizla is the archetype character for The Old Republic bounty hunter class, and can be seen wearing bounty hunter armor in promotional images. Shae Vizla also possesses a surname similar to Tor and Pre Vizsla, established members of the Mandalorian Clan Vizsla. To date, there has been no confirmation of any link between the characters, and Shae's surname lacks the letter "s" present in the names of the other two individuals.

Due to the time between the sacking of Coruscant and the Revanite crisis, Shae looks much older in game.

In her concept art Shae Vizla is seen holding a blaster rifle, however it is not one of the weapons available to the Bounty Hunter class, and indeed is not capable of wielding one in-game..

Shae Vizla was later announced as an exclusive companion character, as a subscriber reward (by October 25, 2016) for the digital expansion to The Old Republic titled Knights of the Eternal Throne.

Appearances

 * The Old Republic: Deceived
 * The Old Republic: Deceived
 * The Old Republic: Deceived