Barriss Offee/Legends

"It's not the size of the Jedi or the amount of power running through her lightsaber, but the strength of her heart."

- Barriss Offee

Barriss Offee was a Mirialan Jedi Knight and General during the Clone Wars. A skilled Jedi Healer, Offee utilized her abilities at a Rimsoo on Drongar during the galactic conflict. She carried a blue lightsaber and was a practitioner of Form III: Soresu. Offee could be easily identified by the tattoos on her face. She was one of the victims of Order 66.

Early life
Born on a starliner in deep space, Barriss was brought to the Jedi Temple, where she would spend her early years in study of the Force. A loyal Padawan to the powerful Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, Barriss spent most of her time by her side, whether during important meetings with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine or in combat such as the Battle of Geonosis. When she reached sixteen years of age, she built her first lightsaber.

Mission to Ansion
"And that, my young Padawan, was a demonstration of what is known as dynamic diplomacy."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Shortly before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Barriss and Luminara&mdash;along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker&mdash;were sent to Ansion to prevent the government of the planet from voting to join the Separatists. The mission was important because, although Ansion itself was not very important, if it chose to join the CIS then many other planets would follow. However there were many beings set upon making sure the Jedi's mission was a failure, one of them being the Hutt Soergg who had been hired by Shu Mai to stop them.

The Jedi were allowed to talk to the Unity of Community. Luminara made a deal to the Unity: The Jedi would put an end to a conflict between the 'city-folk' and the Alwari natives if Ansion agreed to stay within the Galactic Republic and abide by their rules. The conflict was over land, so Luminara also said that they would get the Alwari to agree to share half or more of their land. The Unity agreed and the Jedi left. Before the Jedi could set off on their mission, two Alwari named Kyakhta and Bulgan were hired by Soergg to capture one of the Padawans. They caught Offee and held her prisoner, however both the Alwari were mentally impaired and so Offee managed to gain their trust by healing them. After this Kyakhta and Bulgan agreed to act as guides for the Jedi, as to secure the treaty with the Alwari, they would first have to find them. The Jedi left the city shortly after, riding suubatar. They shortly had more trouble with gairks in a stream but overcame this as well.

Eventually the Jedi managed to meet with the Yiwa&mdash;an Alwari tribe. At first, the Yiwa were mistrustful of the Jedi, and the Highborn, Mazong, requested that they each perform a display, and that after this, the Yiwa would decide whether or not to tell the Jedi where the overclan was. Barriss gave a display of acrobatics, which greatly impressed the Alwari, as well as Anakin. After the other Jedi had given their presentations, the Yiwa told them where the overclan could be found, and they set off again.

Later, the Jedi came across a group of Gwurran. After throwing a party for them, the Jedi left, but Tooqui&mdash;a Gwurran&mdash;came with them. It was shortly after that the Jedi met with a tribe of traders named the Qulun. The Jedi were offered food and accepted into the tribe, however the tribe leader Baiuntu was working for Soergg, and managed to capture the Jedi. Luckily, Tooqui got away, and shortly after rescued the six of them.

The Jedi soon came upon the Borokii overclan and gave their proposal. The Borokii agreed but only on the grounds that the Jedi settle a conflict that existed between the Borokii and the Januul, another overclan. The Jedi agreed and ultimately managed to settle the conflict diplomatically. They then returned to the city where they were again delayed by Soergg, who had hired thugs to dispatch them. However the Jedi managed to make it to the Unity, which was in the process of voting. Due to the fact that the Jedi had settled the border dispute, the Unity voted to stay within the Republic and the Jedis' mission was a success.

Battle of Geonosis
When Barriss and Luminara returned to Coruscant, they were dispatched by Mace Windu to Geonosis as part of the strike team to rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé Amidala. Although Barriss was not in the final circle that was picked up by Yoda's gunships, she did find a way out of the Petranaki arena along with Jedi Knight Pablo-Jill.

Skirmish on Ilum
Later on during the Clone Wars, Barriss and Luminara ventured to the ice-world Ilum. From this barren planet, the crystals needed in the construction of a lightsaber could be found. In a secret Jedi temple mine, Barriss built herself a new lightsaber with a crystal of her choice.

As she constructed her lightsaber, the location of the temple was compromised. Separatist chameleon droids had infiltrated the mines and placed explosive charges in the tunnels. Barriss and Luminara fought them off, but were trapped in the resulting cave-in using the Force to stop hold up the roof. This disturbance in the Force reached Yoda and the diminutive Jedi Master rescued them.

Mission to Geonosis
While her Master guarded Nute Gunray on the Tranquility, Offee oversaw a mission to Geonosis.

Second Battle of Geonosis
Offee and her master were sent to the planet Geonosis to aid Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, in helping destroy the weapons factory, headed by Poggle the Lesser. Tano and Offee were sent under to the catacombs, while Skywalker and Unduli acted as decoys. The Padawans made it to their destination, however they had been spotted and were attacked by the new Confederate super tank, as well as Geonosians, and the bombs they had planted were removed while the two were distracted. Tano and Offee took control of the tank, and came to the conclusion that the only way to destroy the factory would be to use the tank's weapons to fire upon the reactor, even though they knew that they likely would not survive the explosion. They did not know about the shielding on the tank, though, which saved the two Padawans, but they were buried under a large amount of debris. Worried they would die from lack of air, Ahsoka pulled a power cell apart, activating her comlink so their masters could find them. Anakin picked up the signal, leading their Masters to rescue them from the debris.

Brain worms
Barriss and Ahsoka were transporting a supply ship to the Ord Cestus medical station. The Padawans decided to get some sleep but while Barriss could Ahsoka couldn't. Unknown to them, a clone trooper was leaving the Brain worm eggs to spread across the ship. While Ahsoka and Barriss were eating, two clones tried to kill them. Later in the ship they saw Trap trying to infect them. Barriss was forced to kill him.

After discovering that clones upon their ship where being controlled by Brain worms, Barriss and Ahsoka then separated. Barriss was heading to the engineering section to disable the ships engines when she walked into a trap set by the clones. She was unable to resist as the clones exposed her to a brain worm and succumbed to the worm's influence. When she found Tano, the two began to duel. Ahsoka tried to convince Barriss to resist being controlled, and somewhat succeeded as Offee told Ahsoka to "kill her" in order to ensure the worm's death. However, when the worm tried to flee Barriss' body and enter Ahsoka's directly, Tano sliced the worm in half, releasing Barriss.

Coruscant Insurrection
During the Invasion of Coruscant, Offee commanded a squad of clone troopers in the fight against Separatist droid forces. In the underlevels of the city, her squad was overrun by battle droids, including the new C-B3 cortosis battle droids that were resistant to her lightsaber. Just in time, young Anakin Skywalker arrived at the scene and managed to push back the droid forces.

Mission to Drongar
Afterward, Barriss was sent to the planet Drongar; her first mission without her master. Drongar was the home to a valuable plant, bota, which was a miracle cure for almost anything and for any race, prized by both the Galactic Republic and the Separatists. Barriss, a gifted healer, assisted one of the medical units on the planet. Unknown to her, a spy was sneaking around the camp and several corrupt Republic representatives were shipping off bota illegally for their own profit.

In a turn of events, she accidentally injected herself with bota, and the natural drug opened up the Force in new and powerful ways. Barriss found this quick way to power to be too addictive and knew that it would lead her towards the dark side of the Force, but she resisted its luring pull. Once she had overcome the inner battle of resisting the dark side, she felt that she had earned the rank of Jedi Knight and General.

Order 66
Barriss remained in partnership with her former Master until the end of the Clone Wars. Dispatched to Felucia to serve as a healer with her new Padawan Zonder, they were captured by Gossam Commandos working for the Confederacy of Independent Systems and thrown in prison. They were later rescued by the Jedi Aayla Secura and Ekria, as well as the clone trooper lieutenant Galle. It was later revealed that Presidente Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild had arranged to poison Felucia's water supply, and so Offee and Secura sought to save the planet.

Following lieutenant Galle, Offee took a squad to Har Gau while Secura and Commander Bly went to Niango. When Offee's group arrived at their site, they saw that the defenders consisted mostly of sentients, rather than droids, and realized they could not simply blast their way into the center. Padawan Drake Lo'gaan, who had accompanied Secura to the planet enlisted Galle's help for his plan. In order for the Padawans to infiltrate the water planet, Zonder drew the attention of the Gossam Commandos, while Galle and the Padawans attacked, striking down the droids. The Padawans then detached from Galle's squad, moving into position near the center. Lo'gaan commed Galle and ordered him to activate the next phase of the plan, and Galle called for a retreat. The defenders pursued, leaving the way wide open for the Padawans to infiltrate the plant and stop the toxins.

As Galle fell back, Bly received an encrypted message from Coruscant, ordering him to execute Order 66, a contingency order that demanded the deaths of all Jedi. Galle and his squad rendezvoused with Offee, who was fighting off a number of battle droids. Galle came to a halt, and Offee ordered him to fire. The lieutenant complied; he ordered an AT-TE to open fire on Offee, killing her. As Offee died, lightyears away, her former master perished also.

When the Galactic Empire emerged, official records compiled by Sate Pestage stated that Offee and Secura were both executed because they were plotting to poison Felucia's water supply.

Personality and traits
Barriss was a thoughtful and observant person. She was generally reserved by nature but couldn't be intimated that easily. As a Padawan, she had a slightly impulsive streak which was frowned upon by some elder Jedi. She had also mentioned once that she would prefer negotiations with a lightsaber over diplomacy to settle differences as she felt it was much more straightforward.

She was also selfless and was willing to sacrifice her own life to save other lives. This was proven when she and Ahsoka Tano blew up a droid factory from the inside in the Second Battle of Geonosis, even with the full knowledge that they would probably be destroyed along with it. Fortunately, they both survived because they were inside a heavily armoured tank. Barriss became friends with Ahsoka during the mission. Shortly after this incident, while escorting a medical frigate, Barriss was infested by one of the Geonosian Brain worms which had taken over the ship. While dueling Ahsoka Tano, she managed to resist the worm's influence for a moment - only to plead with Ahsoka to kill her as she believed that was the only way to stop the parasites.

Barriss was very loyal to her master Luminara Unduli and was almost always by Unduli's side when she was her apprentice. After being made a Jedi Knight, Barriss was still uncertain if she deserved to be a Knight, but after resisting the lure of the dark side during a mission on Drongar, she became more confident about her promotion.

Barriss was known to have an unusual view of the Force as she believed that the light side and the dark side were only words and the Force was neither good nor evil, whereas most Jedi believed the light side was good and the dark side was evil. This showed that she was wise beyond her years.

Powers and abilities
Barriss Offee had the ability to use Floating Meditation and was a skilled Jedi healer which came in handy during the Clone Wars. On Illum, she displayed the ability to use Telekinesis to a high degree and along with her master she was able to hold up the roof of the cave they were trapped in until Yoda arrived to rescue them. She also used this ability to transfer explosive charges onto the chameleon droid intruders and crush a few more by bringing the roof down on them.

Like her Master, Barriss practiced the Soresu fighting style and her ability with her lightsaber was great enough for her to survive the Clone Wars before being murdered in Order 66. She was skilled in tandem fighting where her movements would be in sync with her partners in battle. This could be seen clearly when fighting alongside her Master - together she and Luminara were a formidable team in combat.

Portrayal
Barriss was portrayed in the films by Nalini Krishan. She was voiced by Tatyana Yassukovich in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon and Meredith Salenger in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. Barris was introduced in the novel the Approaching Storm which was written by Alan Dean Foster, it was a tie in to Episode II released several months later. The Ansion dispute from the novel was mentioned in Episode II which she also had a cameo in Chancellor Palpatine's office and at the Battle of Geonosis.

Continuity
Barriss was originally supposed to be in the Order 66 sequence, but was cut along with the deaths of Luminara Unduli and Shaak Ti. Unused footage from Attack of the Clones was going to be used for this appearance.

The New Essential Guide to Characters as well as The Approaching Storm identify Barriss as Human. While not specific, this is not a continuity error, as Mirialans are near-human and thus part of the Human species.

In the Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, it is stated that Barriss Offee's tattoos are Chalactan in nature. In the MedStar Duology, however, this fact has been corrected. Officially, Offee's tattoos are traditionally Mirialan.

Appearances

 * The Approaching Storm
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars PhotoComic
 * Star Wars: The New Droid Army
 * Star Wars Republic 58: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 4
 * Star Wars Republic: Show of Force
 * CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 15:01:15 Edition
 * MedStar I: Battle Surgeons
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Evasive Action: Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Evasive Action: Recruitment
 * Evasive Action: End Game
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * Death Star
 * MedStar II: Jedi Healer
 * Evasive Action: Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Evasive Action: Recruitment
 * Evasive Action: End Game
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
 * Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * Death Star
 * Death Star