Daka

"Rise, sisters. Undead sisters, rise from your sleep. The time has come. Awaken. You have been called upon."

―Daka, after delivering the Chant of Resurrection^[3]

Daka, also known as Old Daka, was an elderly female Dathomirian witch and member of the Nightsister coven of witches who lived in the Nightsister lair on her homeworld Dathomir during the Clone Wars. The oldest and wisest of the Nightsisters, her vast knowledge of arcane magicks was unprecedented. As the elder of her clan, Daka passed down her expertise to the other Nightsisters. This lended her the reputation of being the most powerful member of her clan. The clan's leader, Mother Talzin, regarded Daka as so in particular.

One such ability Daka possessed was the ability to resurrect the dead. The skill was notably used during the Battle of Dathomir, where the sisters stood against the vengeful Count Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems. The sisterhood's victory was not to be, however, as Daka was stabbed by one of Supreme Commander of the Droid Army General Grievous' lightsabers. Before her death however, Daka was able to direct the distressed witch of no clan Falta to the location of her daughter, who had previously joined the Nightsisters.

Biography[]

Born on the^[1] Outer Rim Territories^[5] planet Dathomir,^[1] Daka served as a member of the Nightsister coven of Dathomirian witches.^[3] The oldest and wisest,^[1] Daka served as an elder in her clan^[6] as well as a healer.^[7] As an elder, Daka passed down spellcraft and had a vast knowledge on the history of the clan.^[6]

Battle of Dathomir[]

"Choono slalem denni tay'lori olee-ay. Lucheno vadem klavlane. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Villos susko kono lamal! Vlemon tagoo!"

―Old Daka reciting the Chant of Ressurection — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

Ancient Magicks SoH — Old Daka performing ancient magicks

In 20 BBY,^[2] in retaliation of reborn Nightsister Asajj Ventress' betrayal and plots against him, the Confederacy of Independent Systems leader Count Dooku dispatched^[3] the Kaleesh warlord^[8] General Grievous and the Separatist Droid Army to completely wipe out the Nightsisters so they could prove no further threat. When Separatist forces landed and the battle began, Ventress declared to leader Mother Talzin that the Nightsisters fighting at the frontier would need reinforcements to survive the onslaught brought on by the droid forces.^[3]

Listening to Ventress, Talzin journeyed to the Hidden Cave, a hidden room in the Nightsister lair which could be accessed through the use of magick,^[3] a use of the Force exclusive to the witches of Dathomir.^[9] Talzin came before Old Daka who agreed to use a spell to unleash the undead Nightsisters' Army of the Dead to help fight the droids. Daka began to enchant and recite the Chant of Resurrection, a spell which would raise the undead. When the undead army awoke and crawled out of their burial pods, they aided the living Nightsisters in fighting the droids. However, despite the support from the zombies, the Nightsisters were outmatched by the droid army, which pushed forward.^[3]

DeathOldDaka — General Grievous driving one of his lightsabers into Daka's chest, wounding her.

Dooku sent Grievous directly to Talzin in order to kill her before she could complete a voodoo spell to take the Count's life. Following the source of the magick, Grievous made his way through the fortress, and had a BX-series droid commando blast through the walls of the Hidden Cave, giving him easy access. Daka was helpless to stop the General, who roughly grabbed her and drove one of his lightsabers into her chest, grievously injuring her, and flinging her aside. With Daka's spell broken, the undead army fell to ruin, leading to the swift extermination of the rest of the Nightsisters by overwhelming droid forces.^[3]

Death and legacy[]

"Safe. Further. Off-world"

―Daka to Falta in her dying breaths^[9]

After the battle ended, Falta, a witch of no clan, arrived to search for her daughter Yenna who had joind the Nightsisters long before the battle. As Falta entered the Hidden Cave, she noticed Daka lying in the corner. As she was about to lay the old witch to rest, Daka's eyes opened, having not been dead yet but only unconscious. Before passing away, Daka told her that Yenna had been sent off-world in an escape pod. This began Falta's search for her daughter, which eventually brought her and her pet tooka, Ichor, to the planetoid Sídi where she met the young girl known as "Bug." When telling "Bug" about her story, Falta mentioned her encounter with Daka.^[9]

Personality and traits[]

"Daka, as the oldest and wisest of us, I need you to resurrect our fallen sisters."

―Talzin^[3]

Daka was the wisest of the Nightsisters,^[3] and her knowledge of the arcane magicks was unprecedented.^[1]^[10]^[11] Daka was skilled in spiritual guidance and leadership.^[4]

Daka stood at 1.83 meters tall, the equivalent of 6 feet,^[4] and had a bent body shape.^[12] Daka had a deep, raspy voice, and when reciting spells, she spoke in the Dathomirian language.^[3] She had white,^[3] braided hair^[12] with red streaks in it, silver eyes,^[3] and purple tattoos with aged, mottled skin and shrunken eyes.^[13]^[3]

Powers and abilities[]

"Ventress will need the aid of the undead army to achieve victory."
"Then I will begin the Chant of Ressurection."

―Talzin and Daka^[3]

Daka's mastery of the Nightsister powers was without peer toward the end of her life, as was her knowledge of the clan's abilities. Keeper of the Nightsisters' most dangerous lore, Daka could even perform the Chant of Resurrection, which granted her the ability to raise the dead. Mother Talzin herself could not go about performing the spell, seeking Daka's powers instead.^[3] By 20 BBY,^[2] Daka was the most powerful and mighty of the Nightsister clan, reflected in her status as the clan Elder.^[14] Daka was also able to see into the future and acted as a spiritual guide to her clanswomen.^[4]

Equipment[]

When using the Chant of Resurrection^[3] in 20 BBY,^[2] Daka completed the spell using a Witches' Orb^[3] and the Talisman of Resurrection.^[15] Daka wore a headdress of bones^[12] and a decorative garment of various colors such as red, purple, and black.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Daka-FirstConcept — Andre Kirk's first illustration of Daka with six variant heads

Daka first appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars season four episode "Massacre," released on February 24, 2012.^[16] She was voiced by actress Kathleen Gati in the episode.^[3] Concept art for Daka was drawn by Andre Kirk and went through at least six head variations of different shapes and headresses. In the final model for Daka, her mouth was sourced from Talzin's model in the season three episode "Nightsisters," and her fingers were sourced from that of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious with changes in the texture and nail length.^[12]