Lo-Taren

"I can't believe my luck, a Jedi Youngling!"

- Lo-Taren on the capture of Ahsoka Tano

Lo-Taren was a Trandoshan male and a member of a hunting guild organized by the Trandoshan Garnac which specialized in the hunting of other sentient beings. During the year 20 BBY, Lo-Taren was searching for potential hunting prey on the planet Felucia when he came across the Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Lo-Taren captured the Togruta and took her to the moon of Wasskah. Dropping her off on an island along with several other prisoners, Lo-Taren opened fire as soon as they were free, killing two of the prisoners. The next day, Lo-Taren continued the hunt but was nearly killed by the Jedi youngling Kalifa when she used the Force to strangle him out of anger while he was distracted. However, Tano allowed Lo-Taren to live.

Lo-Taren later investigated a freighter the Jedi caused to crash before returing to the guild's floating headquarters. When Tano later attacked the floating fortress with two other younglings and a Wookiee in tow, Lo-Taren attempted to defend the fortress. The Trandoshans were nearly successful, but a rescue mission led by the Wookiee general Tarfful turned the tide. Lo-Taren was killed by a Wookiee soldier during the ensuing firefight which ultimately saw the deaths of Garnac and the hunting guild itself.

To catch a Jedi
"We have found new prey for the hunt. The youngling will provide great sport."

- Lo-Taren announces his successful capture of Ahsoka Tano

Lo-Taren was a Trandoshan male who, during the year 20 BBY, was a member of a hunting guild that was led by the Trandoshan Garnac. The guild, which operated on the moon of Wasskah, hunted other sentient beings that would be captured by the guild from across the galaxy. During 20 BBY, Lo-Taren was present on one such kidnapping expedition. Detaining prisoners on a HCT-2001 Dragonboat-class Reugeot 905 freighter piloted by the Trandoshans Goron and Clutch, Lo-Taren's hunt eventually brought him to the planet Felucia. By this point, the freighter already held the Snivvian Katt Mol, the Sakiyan Vadoo, the Terrelian Jango Jumper Lika, and the Selkath Morgo.

At the time of Lo-Taren's arrival, Felucia was hosting a battle between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems as a part of the ongoing Clone Wars. While out in the Felucian jungle, Lo-Taren trailed a squad of Republic clone troopers led by the Jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano. Although Tano was aware of Lo-Taren's general presence due to her connection with the Force, she was unable to focus in on her tail. Lo-Taren followed the Republic unit to a Separatist fortress, and when the Republic began to attack the fortress, the clones ascended an outer wall. Tano, however, decided to cover them from the ground, as she still sensed Lo-Taren. Distracted by her hunch, the Trandoshan hunter ambushed Tano with an electrified net gun and rendered the padawan unconscious with a well-aimed stun net. Happy with his prize, Lo-Taren hauled Tano back to the Dragonboat freighter and, after confiscating her comlink, locked her in a cage.

When Tano awoke, Lo-Taren stood over her with her comlink in hand, which was receiving messages from Tano's master, Anakin Skywalker. Lo-Taren crushed the comlink and went to the ship's bridge where he met with Garnac and informed him that new Jedi prey had been acquired. In turn, Garnac turned to his son Dar and expressed hope that Lo-Taren's capture would become Dar's first Jedi kill. Lo-Taren agreed with the sentiment. The freighter departed Felucia for Wasskah immediately after.

Padawan hunt
"Kalifa! Don't kill him out of hatred. It's not the Jedi way."

- Ahsoka Tano spares Lo-Taren from Kalifa's wrath

Upon arriving to the moon, Garnac ordered for the ship's compliment of prisoners to be released on the beach of Island Four. When the captives stalled on the beach, Lo-Taren manned a forward facing laser turret and opened fire, killing Vadoo and Morgo. The survivors quickly departed into the island's jungle. While Clutch and Goron left Wasskah to hunt for more prey, Lo-Taren remained on Wasskah where he and the other Trandoshans awaited the next day's hunt on Garnac's Ubrikkian floating fortress headquarters. With the capture of Tano, Garnac was preparing to send his son Dar into the young hunter's first hunt in order to kill his first Jedi.

The following dawn, Garnac officially endorsed the beginning of the hunt. Lo-Taren and the other hunters jumped aboard hover pods and went to the moon's surface. Hunting by himself on foot, Lo-Taren found Tano out in the open who, ironically, was hunting for him. The Togruta had earlier separated from three other stranded Jedi she found, the younglings Kalifa, O-Mer, and Jinx. Lo-Taren attempted to shoot Tano, but she disarmed him with the use of the Force. They engaged in an unarmed brawl in which Lo-Taren successfully wore Tano down. The Trandoshan grabbed his dropped rifle, but before he could kill Tano, he was lifted into the air by Kalifa and telekinetically strangled. Not wanting Kalifa to kill simply out of hatred, Tano had her release Lo-Taren before his windpipe was crushed.

Lo-Taren called for backup, which prompted O-Mer and Jinx to attack him and keep him silent. Lo-Taren managed to escape their grasp, but before he could act again, O-Mer and Jinx used the Force to throw him into a tree and knock him out. Before running off, Tano grabbed the Trandoshan's blaster rifle. However, the rifle was remotely deactivated so that the Jedi could not make use of it. That night, Lo-Taren was present at Dar's initiation ceremony, and partook in chanting Dar's name. However, Lo-Taren's inability to kill the Jedi inadvertently led to Dar's death at Tano's hands the next day. Garnac killed Kalifa shortly after and swore revenge on the remaining Jedi.

Wookiees versus Trandoshans
"Ahh, it's the younglings that did this. They're getting bold." "What about survivors?" "Both of our men were killed, and there was only one prisoner, a Wookiee. And he's missing."

- Lo-Taren reports on the Dragonboat crash to Garnac

The following day, Lo-Taren, Garnac, and several other Trandoshans returned to Island Four's beach, which was the site of the destroyed Dragonboat-class freighter that the Trandoshans had been using to capture prey. Lo-Taren investigated the crash, and found that pilots Clutch and Goron were dead, and that the sole prisoner, the Wookiee Chewbacca, had escaped and joined the Jedi. Lo-Taren relayed the information to Garnac and expressed belief that with the ship grounded, the Jedi had become bolder. Garnac likewise concluded that the Jedi had become organized.

On the next day, the Jedi and Chewbacca launched a surprise attack on the floating fortress using a stolen hover pod. After the attackers threw Lagon to his death, Ramy called for backup. Lo-Taren and the other Trandoshans swarmed to Ramy's position and began to fight the attackers. Lo-Taren, alongside fellow hunter Sochek, attempted to take the upper hand by flanking the Jedi. However, O-Mer used the stolen hover pod's blaster cannon to force the two Trandoshans behind cover. O-Mer was quickly shot down by Garnac, and the crash halted the Jedi offensive. Garnac congratulated Tano's force on their effort, but before they could be eliminated, the fortress was besieged by the starship Halo, piloted by bounty hunters Sugi and Seripas. The bounty hunters brought Wookiee reinforcements led by General Tarfful, who had earlier received a signal from a makeshift transmitter that Chewbacca built out of the Trandoshan freighter's wreckage.

Lo-Taren and Sochek fired on the Wookiees with their weapons, but were forced to take cover behind an overturned hover pod. Lo-Taren failed to kill any enemies, however, and after straying too far from the hover pod's cover he was shot and killed by a Wookiee soldier. Lo-Taren's demise distracted Sochek long enough for O-Mer to use the Force to move the overturned hover pod away from Sochek. Upon realizing his vulnerability, Socheck too was shot.

The conflict concluded after all of the Trandoshans were eliminated, including Garnac, who fell victim to Tano's use of the Force. The hunt had come to an end.

Personality and traits
"Your son will outplay all comers."

- Lo-Taren tells of his faith in Dar

An excitable Trandoshan with orange-colored skin and yellow eyes, Lo-Taren was eager for the hunt on Wasskah. Upon capturing Ahsoka Tano, Lo-Taren expressed excitement at the capture of a Jedi youngling. During Dar's initiation, Lo-Taren, along with the other Trandoshans, cheered for Dar as he prepared for the hunt. Lo-Taren had faith in Dar's abilities, believing that the young Trandoshan would outperform the prey. Lo-Taren cared little for the captives he and the others detained and showed no qualms about gunning the prisoners down on Island Four's beachhead, where they were afforded little cover. Lo-Taren was proficient in hunting and combat, being able to ambush a Jedi even while they could sense his presence.

Lo-Taren was also able to go up against Ahsoka Tano, a skilled Jedi padawan, and best her in hand to hand combat. Despite being able to capture Tano with a net-launcher and gun down two captives with ship turret, Lo-Taren proved to be inaccurate with blasters, as he failed to shoot to score a hit on Tano when he hunted her in the jungle, and similarly failed to kill any of the Wookiee soldiers that attacked the floating fortress.

Equipment
While hunting Tano on Felucia, Lo-Taren carried an electrified net gun that could render targets unconscious with disintegrating stun nets. While hunting for prey on Wasskah, Lo-Taren used a blaster rifle that could be remotely deactivated if it fell into the hands of prey, which is exactly what happened when Tano stole his rifle. After the loss of the weapon, Lo-Taren switched to carrying two blaster pistols that he dual-wielded during the fortress battle. However, he proved to be less than accurate with the weapons, and repelled no one.

Behind the scenes
Lo-Taren was created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series and played a supporting role in season three's twenty-first episode "Padawan Lost." Lo-Taren appeared again in a smaller role in the subsequent episode "Wookiee Hunt," which concluded the story from "Padawan Lost." In both episodes, Lo-Taren's voice was provided by Richard Green.