Melis Shryke

Melis Shryke
Biographical information
Homeworld	Bantoo
Descriptive information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Pronouns	She/her
Height	1.68 meters (5 ft, 6 in)
Hair color	White
Eye color	Red
Skin color	Pale
Family information
Family	Shryke family
Parent(s)	Melis Shryke's father Melis Shryke's mother
Chronological & political information
Affiliation(s)	Nihil Shryke's crew
Masters	Abediah Viess (mentor)

Melis Shryke was a female warlord of the Nihil pirate group working under General Abediah Viess. She typified everything about the Nihil that Jedi Knight Bell Zettifar wanted to stop.

Biography

Becoming a Nihil

Shryke was the heir to of the Shryke family who ruled over the city of Jodzia on the planet of Bantoo. As the heir to this fortune she had to adhere to social imperatives, rituals and rules her entire life. She was dressed, preened and paraded her whole life, not being allowed to speak her own mind or do what she wanted. When the Nihil established the Occlusion Zone and came to Jodzia demanding tithes but the mayor refused, the Nihil started destroying the city, levelling three entire districts in the process. Shryke, rather than scrambling guards and protecting the citizens as her family was supposed to do, enjoyed the chaos, death and destruction caused by the Nihil. She found herself drawn to the purity of the Nihil's actions. She saw them as people who did not have to abide social norms or rules, but as people who did whatever they wanted without question, concern or guilt. To Shryke, who had never experienced such a thing in her life, it meant ultimate freedom. It was a life she did not imagine to ever be possible. So she decided to pay the tithes demanded by the rampaging Nihil under the condition to be admitted into their own ranks. She wore her ceremonial armor, took her father's blaster and shot him, killing him without feeling a sense of guilt or regret, instead feeling a great sense of liberation when she pulled the trigger and seeing her shocked father realize whom he had been shot by. She threatened her fathers chief adviser to open the family vault, killing two of his staff in the process. With as many credits as she could carry she ran out onto the streets approaching Genral Viess who accepted her into the Nihil.

Campaign of Terror

Shryke was the captain of the Nihil vessel Cacophony. She waged a campaign of Terror on the worlds scattered along the border of the Occlusion Zone, attacking civilian targets without regard for any life. During one of her raids around 229 BBY Shryke managed to abduct Grand Master Pra-Tre Veter which was one of her greatest triumphs in the Nihil. She found herself having fun continuing the work of the Eye Marchion Ro by bringing chaos and disorder to the galaxy, killing and harvesting credits in the process. She developed a hatred for the Jedi who wanted to put an end to her killing spree, making it her objective to capture more of them for Marchion Ro and his Nameless creatures. However after abducting Grand Master Pra-Tre Veter she could not replicate her success which strained the relationship between her and her mentor General Viess.

Avar Kriss and Porter Engle with the help of Belin, Rhil Dairo and KC-78 managed to board the Cacophony in Nihil space when Shryke was on her way to a raid in the Seswenna sector/Legends. Avar Kriss when taking the bridge of the Cacophony severed one of Shrykes hands and crunching one of her knee joints seriously injuring her. Kriss managed to escape the Occlusion Zone which led to the Jedi capturing her.

Behind the scenes

"And he's set his sights on one Nihil in particular, named Melis Shryke, who typifies everything about the Nihil that he wants to stop."

―George Mann, about Bell Zettifar's role in Eye of Darkness

Melis Shryke was created for Phase III of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project by author George Mann as an antagonist for Bell Zettifar. Shryke was first revealed in an article on StarWars.com on November 3, 2023 and made her first appearance in the novel The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness, published on November 14 the same year. She was later depicted for the first time in the third issue of the 2023 comic miniseries Star Wars: The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight. The issue was written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Jethro Morales, and published by Marvel Comics on December 13, 2023.

Appearances

• The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 4 (Mentioned only)
• The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight 3 (First pictured)
• The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness (and audiobook) (First appearance)

Sources

• Inside Star Wars: The High Republic: Reunite with the Jedi and the Nihil in Phase III on StarWars.com (backup link) (First mentioned)
• Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy