Tru Veld

Tru Veld
Biographical information
Homeworld	Teevan
Born	42 BBY, Teevan
Died	19 BBY, Coruscant
Descriptive information
Species	Teevan
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Silver
Skin color	Silver
Chronological and political information
Affiliation(s)	Jedi Order Galactic Republic
Masters	Ry-Gaul

"I think I'm truly seeing you for the first time."

―Veld ends his relationship with Anakin Skywalker

Tru Veld was a male Teevan Jedi Knight who served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars as a Jedi General.

Biography

"Transit Red, end of the line."
"You're a good friend."

―Veld gives Skywalker whispered instructions to the illegal Dordon Caves podrace during the Galactic Games of 26 BBY.

A Force-sensitive Teevan, Tru Veld was born to a family on Teevan who gave him to the Jedi Order for training in the ways of the Force. A student of the Coruscant Jedi Temple's academy, Veld was selected as the Padawan of Jedi Master Ry-Gaul at the start of the Separatist Crisis which would plague the Galactic Senate for the next decade. During his apprenticeship Veld would construct a crimson-bladed lightsaber, which he wielded with his left hand. Despite the functionality of the weapon, Veld's lightsaber was poorly designed and had many vital flaws.

Becoming close with fellow apprentice Anakin Skywalker after meeting in an alley searching for droid parts, the pair joined their masters on several missions together that led them to worlds such as Radnor, where they assisted in the world's evacuation, and Euceron where they served as security at the Galactic Games with Ferus Olin. On a mission with Darra Thel-Tanis, Veld was shocked when she was injured on Haariden. Assigned to practice his sparring with Master Soara Antana to assist Skywalker hone his battle skills, Veld became very loyal to Skywalker, standing up for his friend when Olin questioned his loyalties to his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Despite their friendship, Skywalker grew more and more confrontational as time passed, and Veld's failure to understand the antipathy between Skywalker and Olin would only lead to more trouble in the future.

Jedi Padawan Tru Veld.

Along with their Masters, Veld, Skywalker, Olin and Thel-Tanis were dispatched to Korriban by the Jedi High Council to locate and detain the mysterious Granta Omega. As the Padawans worked together, Veld became truly aware of Skywalker's failings when confronted with Olin and was dismayed by their failure to cooperate. When Veld was injured while fighting super battle droids in the Sith Academy and his lightsaber was damaged, Olin noticed that the weapon was on half-power and offered to fix it (although Skywalker, eavesdropping on the interaction, wrongly assumed that Veld had betrayed their friendship and gone to Olin for help instead; as such, Anakin allowed his jealousy to cause him to forget to remind Veld to adjust the flux aperture, to ensure Olin's fix held). Ferus did not report the saber damage to the Masters (as was required) and assisted Veld, much to the Teevan's surprise. Veld continued to fight with a flawed weapon, for Olin's repair inadvertently reversed the fixes Skywalker had applied earlier, and the lightsaber's power supply dwindled. Unwittingly, Veld entered the Valley of the Dark Lords alongside the other Jedi with a useless weapon, and when a firefight broke out, his lack of a well-tuned lightsaber proved fatal. After he and Olin had swapped lightsabers at a moment when Veld's weapon began to flicker and fail, Omega unexpectedly came at them from behind, leaving Ferus (who had assumed a backup position) open to attack with the faulty saber. As he attempted to block Omega's blaster bolt from striking him, the weapon would not activate and it shot past Ferus, striking down Padawan Thel-Tanis, who was just then leaping into the fray to protect Olin.

While the Jedi ultimately completed the mission successfully, Thel-Tanis died from her wounds, filling Veld with grief. Because of his failure to report the malfunctioning weapon, Olin resigned from the Order and departed for the Outer Rim Territories, no longer a Jedi. Veld eventually came to realize that Skywalker had been aware of Olin's faulty fixes to his lightsaber, but he chose to remain silent in order to shame Olin. Confronting Skywalker with his suspicions outside of the High Council Chamber at the Jedi Temple, Veld ended his friendship with Skywalker that day, a friendship Skywalker knew would never be mended.

When the Clone Wars erupted between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Veld was elevated to the rank of Jedi Knight and served as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic. Having constructed a teal-bladed lightsaber to replace his faulty one, Veld served throughout the war until the very end. When his former Master was dispatched on a top-secret mission to the Outer Rim, Veld was assigned to remain at the Temple to collect and compile very important information which would aid Ry-Gaul in his mission. Veld was in the Temple Archives when Anakin Skywalker, now the Sith Lord Darth Vader, initiated Operation: Knightfall at the Temple. As the Temple burned, Veld was able to flee the slaughter and escape through the Coruscant underworld. A special bulletin was issued to Coruscant Security personnel warning that they should call in assistance from the 501st Legion before opening fire on the Teevan Knight.

Despite his efforts, Veld was unable to escape the devastation of Contingency Order 66. Veld was ultimately found and executed by clone troopers who were once loyal to him and his lightsaber was confiscated. Returning it to the Jedi Temple, the clones added the weapon to a collection of other lightsabers in the Temple's storage sub-basement as part of a trap to lure other Jedi survivors into the basements to be killed. Having returned to the Temple to investigate the rumored Jedi prison, Ferus Olin discovered Veld's weapon and reflected on his fallen friend, returning the weapon to the pile of lightsabers as a way of honoring his lost friend.

Personality and traits

A Teevan with silver eyes, Tru Veld's skin had a silvery cast and his tall, lanky frame was exceptionally flexible and could bend in surprising ways. His long, many-jointed arms and legs caused him to move "like a rolling wave of water." It was this quality that made him an exceptional, versatile fighter.

As a matter of habit, Tru carried small bags of sweet figda candy in the pocket of his tunic, which he often shared with his friends.

Powers and abilities

While moderately skilled in lightsaber combat, Veld was less seasoned when it came to a saber's construction, and his crimson-bladed weapon was produced with several flaws, requiring frequent repairs and maintenance, which he relied on others to perform for him. Notwithstanding his weakness in Jedi weapons construction, he possessed a photographic memory and a keen mind that, ironically (in light of his faulty lightsaber), seemed otherwise to grasp with great facility all aspects of technical design and wizardry.

Appearances

• Jedi Quest: The Way of the Apprentice (First appearance)
• Jedi Quest: The Trail of the Jedi (Mentioned only)
• Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games
• Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise
• Jedi Quest: The Moment of Truth
• Jedi Quest: The Changing of the Guard (Mentioned only)
• Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown
• SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story (Mentioned only)
• Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel (Mentioned only)
• The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission (Mentioned only)
• The Last of the Jedi: Dark Warning (Mentioned only)
• The Last of the Jedi: Underworld (Mentioned only)
• The Last of the Jedi: Secret Weapon (Mentioned only)
• The Last of the Jedi: Reckoning (Mentioned only)

Sources

• "Tru Veld, Jedi Padawan" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
• The New Essential Chronology
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Veld, Tru in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
• The Essential Reader's Companion

Notes and references

In other languages

• Deutsch
• Nederlands
• suomi