- "Some call them the Shrii-ka-rai: Eaters of the Force. To others, they are simply the Nameless. Their mere presence causes madness, hallucinations, in Force users."
- ―Kisma Uttersond
The Nameless, also known as the Shrii Ka Rai or Shrii-ka-rai (Eaters of the Force or Force Eaters), were creatures that preyed on the Living Force, thus making them into natural predators for Force-sensitive individuals. The beings had an effect on Force users that strengthened with proximity, causing hallucinations, loss of connection to the Force, and in some cases, death, reducing the victim to a lifeless husk. During the High Republic Era, the Path of the Open Hand, which knew the creatures as "Levelers," used them as part of its crusade to rid the galaxy of Force users. Centuries later, the leader of the Nihil marauders, Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro, who possessed the means to control the creatures, intended to use the creatures to bring down the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic; after obtaining and testing the effects of one of the beings, Ro later acquired numerous more. Ro released a number of the Nameless aboard the Starlight Beacon space station at the same time as he dispatched Nihil marauders to orchestrate its destruction, disturbing the Jedi aboard and preventing them from saving the station.
Following the time of the High Republic, the beings remained known to the Jedi. Spoken of alongside other phantasmagoria in stories by Jedi Initiates, the Nameless were also mentioned in a prophecy pertaining to the Chosen One and the supposedly frightening tale known as "The Curse of the Nameless."
Biology and appearance[]
Abilities[]
- "We understand that any Jedi, anywhere aboard Starlight, is vulnerable to these…attacks, at any moment. Any of us—all of us—may fall."
- ―Jedi Master Elzar Mann
The creatures known as the Nameless or Shrii-ka-rai, which translated to "Eaters of the Force,"[1] hailed from Planet X[3] in Wild Space. Nameless hatched from eggs that resembled large jewels.[5] Per their name, the Eaters[1] were powerful[6] hunters that feasted on the Living Force[4] and thus had a strong effect on Force-sensitives,[6] who became mere prey to the hungry Nameless.[2] To Force-sensitive individuals, the presence of the Nameless induced madness and hallucinations, which left Force users unable to truly see what a Nameless looked like,[1] overwhelming them and nullifying their connection to the Force.[6] Padawan Matthea Cathley attempted to overcome the symptoms of confusion, madness, fear, and pain brought on by a Nameless attack by concentrating on the joys of her past and focusing on something from her present reality. While she had a degree of success, her efforts ultimately failed when she came face-to-face with an entire pack of Nameless.[3]
The husk of Loden Greatstorm left behind after a Nameless feasted upon him.
Once close, the creatures were able to feed upon a Force user,[3] in the process killing and petrifying the individual.[6] The resulting condition left the victim in what came to be referred to as a "husked state"—desiccated and devoid of life, as if they were made of stone[2] and reduced to ash.[3] While some instances of husks were more substantial and solid, others disintegrated into ash at the slightest touch.[2] If the calcification process had begun, it was too late to save the Force user, who would die in a fearful, panicked state as their connection to the Force failed and their body was reduced to[5] a dried husk[7] while the Nameless[5] feasted upon the individual's[8] Force energy.[7]
The Nameless targeted all Force-sensitives, regardless of if they actually used the Force, and even honing in on those whose powers had yet to manifest.[3] The Nameless could also seemingly draw the life out of other Force users, making them appear as if they had aged dramatically and slowing their vital functions alike those of aged individuals.[2] Indeed, a Nameless known as the Leveler once fed off the Force-sensitive Elecia Zeveron over a period of time, seemingly aging the woman—who came to suffer seizures she passed off as Force visions—and slowly, but surely, reducing her body to stone. By the time of her death, Zeveron's arm had been reduced to stone by the Nameless's actions.[3]
Even at a greater distance, the creatures obscured the Force and disturbed Force-sensitives, causing distress and unease—a sense of dread on the edge of one's consciousness that originated from outside of the Force—and magnified existing feelings of fear and exhaustion.[2] The fear and confusion the presence of a Nameless put into a Force-user into left them in a state of terror, in which they might feel cut off from the Force and reality. Their mind might remain clouded for sometime afterward, with that fear sitting at the back of their mind or keeping their thoughts clouded for the time after their Nameless encounter.[3]
Features[]
- "It's long, sort of desiccated. With sharp claws. Twitching very slightly."
- ―Sian Holt, on a Nameless' limb
The claws of an approaching member of the Nameless
The Nameless started out life as small sludge-like beings, but, through feeding, would quickly grow into bigger forms. As they grew,[5] the Nameless could become larger than humanoids,[2] possessing four legs and claws.[6] The beings' front limbs, which featured three claws, were long and desiccated, twitching slightly as they moved. They possessed sharp teeth and had tentacles around their mouth. Their skin was pale white and their face featured large red eyes. The creatures' blood was black in color.[1]
The creature's face featured fronds, from which saliva leaked.[3] The hallucinations that the Nameless caused manifested differently to individuals, resulting in various perceptions of the creatures, which included a darkness with hundreds of teeth,[1] claws, and eyes,[6] and a towering, monstrous creature.[1]
Behavior[]
- "It came after me."
"…what came after you?"
"Whatever it is. It's hungry. It's so hungry." - ―Stellan Gios and Elzar Mann
The calcified bodies of the Nameless' prey
The creatures were driven by a desperate desire to feed and a hunger that was satiated by drawing upon Force-sensitive individuals. They understood nothing beyond their hunger, and were incapable of comprehending dangers such as radiation.[2] The Nameless would continue to hunt their prey even when wounded.[1] The creatures made sounds that included growling and howling,[6] as well as loud screeches.[1] There was only one way for the Nameless to be controlled—an ancient artifact[1] in the form of a rod that could be twisted in order to command the beings.[6]
The Rod of Power offered its wielder complete control over the Nameless, but its lesser form, the Rod of Seasons,[3] attracted the beings[5] and provided a slight degree of control. The Power rod could be formed by combining the Rod of Seasons with the Rod of Daybreak: when that second piece fell into the possession of its master, Mother Elecia Zeveron, the Nameless known as the Leveler began to whimper, only to fall strangely silent and adopt a submissive position, as she claimed the Daybreak rod. Combining the two rods into the Rod of Power made the Leveler let out a howl—one that was either triumph or pain—and then cower before Zeveron, who quickly exploited her total control over the creature. Without choice, the Nameless was thus bound to her whims or those of whomever held the completed staff. However, at least if the staff-wielder tried to control multiple Nameless with the singular Rod of Power, the Nameless could put up a degree of resistance due to the power of their blood-lust.[3]
History[]
The Path of the Open Hand[]
Dawn of the Leveler[]
- "This creature is called the Leveler. I saw it in a vision from the Force, but I did not know if it was a true vision or just my heart's wish."
"One small creature cannot stop the many Force users in the galaxy."
"There are more. Deep in Wild Space, on a planet unlike any other. These, uh, jewels, their—their eggs litter the landscape, and it would be no hardship to raise an army of Levelers to spread the love of the Path." - ―Elecia Zeveron, Elder Aris Ade, and Radicaz Dobbs
By the time of the High Republic Era, the creatures had become known to some as the Nameless and to others as the Shrii-ka-rai, or Eaters of the Force.[1] The Ros, a family of Evereni, had a history of conflict with the Jedi Order, but their fate in that conflict came about due to both the Jedi and an artifact,[9][10] the Rod of Seasons,[5] that controlled the Nameless. Their family was associated with one of the creatures, which the "faithful" revered as the Great Leveler, unaware of its true name.[6][1] Then known simply as the Leveler, the connection between Ros and the Nameless began when the smuggler Radicaz Dobbs gave what, unknown to him, was the egg containing the being to Elecia Zeveron, who led the Path of the Open Hand cult on the planet Dalna as "the Mother"[5] but in secret actively used the Force and only cared for her own power.[3] Ro cousins Marda Ro and Yana Ro were part of the cult, which believed anyone, including the Jedi, using the Force was dangerous. According to what she claimed, Zeveron had received a Force vision of the being that revealed its name to be "the Leveler."[5]
Zeveron with the egg that contained the Leveler
Zeveron made Yana and the other Children, elite members of the Path tasked with liberating artifacts, steal the Rod of Seasons from the Hynestian Royal Treasury. She also dispatched Dobbs to look into the location of the Rod of Daybreak, which was on the moon of Jedha but moved from a museum to a Jedi-guarded vault after the Childrens' theft. The Rod of Ages, meanwhile, was missing entirely. The Leveler was hatched when Zeveron unleashed it during the Jedi Order's mission to Dalna to investigate the Rod of Seasons's theft. The young Leveler killed both Jedi Knight Zallah Macri and Padawan Kevmo Zink, whom Marda had fallen in love with. During the incident, Yana ended up taking hold of the Rod and thus was followed by the Leveler, leading the gathered-Path Elders to declare her its champion, much to Zeveron's secret anger. Intending to murder Zeveron for arranging the deaths of the other Children, including Yana's girlfriend Kor Plouth, Yana did not divulge her realization that the being was only following her because of the Rod and accepted the position. Marda, meanwhile, blamed the Jedi for indoctrinating Zink into their Order and resolved to help Zeveron destroy the group, with Dobbs promising he knew the location of the Leveler's planet, where they would find more Nameless eggs.[5]
The Path heralded the Leveler as an agent of balance. To give the Leveler time to grow away from dangers, the Path escaped from Dalna onto their starship, the Gaze Electric. There, Yana and Kor's father, the cult's former leader[5] Werth Plouth,[11] plotted Zeveron's downfall, while Zeveron and Dobbs plotted to steal the Rod of Daybreak from Jedha. After Zink and Macri failed to report in, Jedi Knight Azlin Rell was dispatched to Dalna and investigated the abandoned Path compound, where he found their chalk-like remains and felt fear.[5] Believing the Jedi were not agents of "balance" like the Leveler was,[6] the Path[5] would use the Nameless against the Jedi.[12]
The Herald and Yana Ro,[3] both of whom allied together with plans of overthrowing the Mother,[5] unleashed the Leveler against Force-sensitives in the Holy City on Jedha, helping to spark a riot that would evolve into the Battle of Jedha.[13] During the battle, the Herald and the elite Children of the Open Hand retrieved the Rod of Daybreak and united it with the Rod of Seasons to form the Rod of Power, which had the ability to completely and unilaterally control the Nameless. Using the Rod of Power, the Herald forced the Leveler to kill Jedi Master Leebon. Shortly thereafter, he lost possession of the artifact due to the timely arrival of Jedi Master Vildar Mac and his friend Tey Sirrek, but Yana later reclaimed it with the help of the corrupt archivist Feric Oranalli.[3]
Night of Sorrow[]
- "[Towards a dead Nameless] You were supposed to protect us. You were supposed to attack the Jedi, not our children."
"Marda."
"[Still towards the Nameless] You were supposed to attack them. Attack them."
"They're supposed to attack those sensitive to the Force. Anyone, Marda, no matter who they are. Like Utalir."
"Utalir does not use the Force."
"How do you know? Maybe it's an ability that will develop in time. Or maybe it will remain dormant for the rest of her life. Either way, that monster could smell it on her. Your monster, Marda." - ―Marda Ro and Yana Ro during the Night of Sorrow
At the behest of the Mother, Dobbs led three groups of Path members on a mission to the mysterious Planet X in Wild Space, where he had originally found the Leveler's egg, to retrieve many more of the Nameless. Hoping to secure her position as Path Guide, Marda Ro joined the mission without the Mother's permission. The mission team encountered resistance in the form of an Under-Dweller, which attacked them, and a being known as the protector, which tried to prevent their escape. One of the team members, Bokana Koss, had a vision while on world that their actions only helped the Under-Dwellers, who would have a chance to spread over the galaxy as a blight. Another team member, Calar, had a similar vision, alleging that the mission would lead to the destruction of the Force itself. However, both warnings were ignored. While Marda and the others were offworld, Yana returned to Dalna with the Rod of Daybreak, which the Mother combined with the Rod of Seasons to reform the Power rod and totally control the Leveler. At that time, the Mother was actively been feasted upon by the Leveler, but she kept its actions a secret.[3]
Marda Ro unleashed the Nameless during the Battle of Dalna but came to regret her decision.
Marda and the others successfully retrieved many eggs and brought them back to the Path compound, where Marda took near-total control over the cult by reforming it into the Path of the Closed Fist and claimed the Rod of Power. Both the Herald and the Mother joined Marda's new militant faction, while Yana was left abandoned by her cousin. The Mother and Marda unleashed the Nameless against the Jedi during the battle known as the Night of Sorrow. The Nameless took the lives of many Jedi during the battle. However, all of the Nameless gathered except for the Leveler were killed in an explosion and flood set off by Marda at the end of the battle: already growing horrified at the way the creatures fed, Marda saw that the creatures just as easily turned on members of the Path, even if those Path members did not actively use the Force as per their ideals. Even if a Path member did not know they were Force-sensitive, such as the Little Utalir, they would find themselves targeted by the Nameless.[3]
Furthermore, Marda learned that the Mother had been lying about her supposed visions to keep herself in power and actively used the Force herself. Securing the Rod of Power from the Mother, Marda gathered all the Nameless in one place and set off an explosion, which caused a flood that drowned all the Nameless except for the Leveler. In the flood, the Rod of Power also broke in two into the Rods of Daybreak and Seasons. Making it out with the Rod of Seasons, Marda decided to maintain control over the Leveler and turned the creature on the Mother for her usage of the Force and manipulation of the Path. Still eager to free the Force, Marda then escaped with the Rod of Seasons and the Leveler. Seeing that her cousin would not abandon the Path's ways, Yana kept hidden the fact that she had recovered the Rod of Daybreak and left with it. With both cousins going their separate ways,[3] Marda took the Leveler with her aboard the Path's former flagship the Gaze Electric and took care of it, even feeding it Jedi.[14] The Nameless were kept out of the Jedi Archives by Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Creighton Sun, who did not want them to be used against the Order again.[15] While the Path had been defeated in the Night of Sorrow,[3] Marda's descendants were left longing for revenge.[12]
Ancestors and artifacts[]
- "But it will be worth it…to look upon the Leveler. To feel its nullifying peace."
"As our ancestor did, long ago." - ―Kufa and Marchion Ro
A member of the Nameless species
Having been looked upon by one of the family's ancestors, the Leveler came to be frozen in ice in the Shrine underneath the surface of the planet Rystan, guarded by droid attendants and visited by further generations of the family.[6] The Elders of the Path, a group who strongly opposed the Jedi and Force-sensitives, came into the possession of parts of the control rod that control the Nameless.[16][1][17] Aware of the danger the artifact posed as a weapon, the Elders divided it in two and hid both pieces, swearing to never reveal the locations. One of the two halves was hidden in the Kharvashark Ruins on the moon Vrant Tarnum, in the Stygmarn system.[17] The other half of the rod remained in the ownership of the Ros.[10]
As per the decision made by Yoda and Sun,[15] the Jedi tried to suppress all knowledge of the Nameless[12] and even kept information about the creatures out of the Jedi Archives themselves. Sun and Yoda reasoned the Jedi would be in danger if word of such an anti-Force-sensitive creatures got out, yet their actions[15] also left later members of their own Order unaware of the threat.[1] Yoda had a degree of knowledge about the Nameless already but still was faced by many unanswered questions, so he and Sun agreed to not speak of the Nameless again until they had learned more.[15]
The beings were associated with a nursery rhyme song—the words of which could also be found in the ruins—that began with the line "shrii ka rai ka rai"; the words of the song claimed that the listener would be "taken away," and that when they were found all that would be left was dust.[18] Jedi Knight Azlin Rell, who had encountered the Nameless and was severely affected by them three times during the Night of Sorrow,[3][19] was driven to madness, the effects of the Nameless not leaving him and his mind haunted by the "Shrii ka rai" song. Consumed by fear,[19] Rell fled from the Jedi Order[1] in the wake of his encounter. He had complied information on the Nameless in a journal that he left with fellow Jedi Arkoff and his droid ZZ-10, who guarded the journal in a hidden burial site. The Path-aligned mercenary Vol Garat had ripped out several pages from the journal by that time.[19] Rell ended up dedicating and spending his life studying the creatures.[20] Rell's script that was also present[1] in the Vrant Tarnum's Kharvashark Ruins.[18]
Lying in wait[]
The Great Leveler (pictured) was locked away on Rystan
The nursery rhyme associated with the creatures was sung by Ruusstha Vidyarvrikt, an Ongree nursemaid from Dalna who cared for Jedi younglings during the High Republic Era.[21] Among those who heard the song as younglings were future Jedi Masters Stellan Gios and Emerick Caphtor.[18] On Rystan, the Leveler came to be neglected by those whose ancestors had revered it, unvisited and forgotten.[6]
The Ros eventually became aligned with the Nihil, a marauder group[9] that arose from the Elders of the Path[16] and was created by a member of their family as a weapon to wield against the Republic and the Jedi. Asgar Ro, who established himself as the Eye of the Nihil after killing his mother,[9] came to possess the Ros' half of the artifact as well as a number of associated texts that he kept in his collection aboard his flagship, the Gaze Electric.[6] After Asgar Ro's death, his son, Marchion, took his place. Inheriting Asgar's goal of revenge,[10] Marchion Ro took possession of the artifact as well as the texts, which he studied extensively, seeking to achieve what he believed his father had been too afraid to try.[6]
Ro and the Leveler[]
- Dis: "I thought you…you came here to worship?"
- Ro: "The Leveler isn't a god."
- Dis: "Then what is it?"
- Kufa: "Balance."
- ―Udi Dis, Marchion Ro, and Kufa, as they approach the Leveler[6]
Around the year 232 BBY,[22] Ro orchestrated the Great Hyperspace Disaster, bringing the Nihil to the attention of the Republic and the Jedi. After the Battle of Kur, Jedi Knight Elzar Mann had a Force vision of the screams and fear[10] the Nameless would bring.[6] Having searched for the other half of the artifact for years, Ro learned its location, recovering it from Vrant Tarnum in the wake of the Great Disaster.[23] Ro set out to retrieve the Leveler around a year later, traveling to Rystan in the starship Squall Spider. Along with him, he brought the Nihil member Udi Dis, a Force-sensitive Talortai navigator, in order to test the power that the creature had on Force users; Dis, however, was unaware of Ro's intentions. Ro and Dis met with the former's cousin, Kufa—who herself had not visited the Shrine in a decade—in order to be led to the Leveler.[6]
The Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro moved to unleash the Nameless to bring down the Jedi Order.
Approaching its location, Dis began to feel its effects, feeling as if something was missing when he reached out to the Force. As they arrived at the Shrine, Dis was overwhelmed by the Leveler, losing his senses and seeing hallucinations of his past. The group fought through the droid attendants that guarded the Shrine, during which Dis was fatally injured, having been unable to sense the attack coming. In awe of the Leveler's power and satisfied with his test, Ro killed both Kufa and Dis, setting a beacon for the Leveler to be collected. Keeping the Leveler encased in ice, Ro brought it with him to the Nihil's base on the planetoid Grizal. The creature was transported to the laboratory of the Chadra-Fan doctor Kisma Uttersond aboard the Gaze Electric, where Uttersond fabricated a heating rig to defrost it so that the creature could be tested on their subject, the Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm, who Ro had taken prisoner around a year earlier. Greatstorm was killed during the ensuing Battle of Grizal, while Mann and Padawan Bell Zettifar were left in mental anguish for the time being. Seeing Greatstorm's corpse left in a calcified state, even Jedi Master Stellan Gios was left afraid as the body turned to rubble.[6]
Jedi investigator Emerick Caphtor was dispatched to learn more about Greatstorm's death[18] and was partnered with private detective Sian Holt at the request of Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh. At the same time, Uttersond was trying to defect from the Nihil by selling Nameless off on the black market.[24] Meanwhile,[21] Tempest Runner Lourna Dee used the Leveler against the Jedi during the skirmish on Xais as a test for the creature, hurting Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis and beginning the calcification process on Jedi Knight Terec, which also impacted their bond-twin Ceret. Jedi Master Avar Kriss noted she was unable to feel Ceret's connection to the Force as the process began.[25]
Although they were both left in a hibernation trance, Ceret and Terec's bond saved them both from death.[26] Caphtor interviewed Trennis in the aftermath of the incident to try to better understand the threat. Meanwhile, Ro uncovered evidence of Uttersond's betrayal but ordered the doctor be kept alive to better understand the deception the Nihil were facing.[21]
Fall of a star[]
After the Leveler's actions proved the usefulness of the Nameless, Ro followed old family secrets to locate the hidden world where he could find more of the creatures. Ro undertook this mission with a team of Nihil he called his his She'ar. After sacrificing a large number of Strikeships to get through the veil around the world, Ro and the She'ar snuck through to the planet's surface in the Cloudship Ikoru. Ro then used the control rod to lead his team to the Nameless, ordering his She'ar to fight through the planet's fauna as it reacted in rage to the rod. Collecting several Nameless and escaping, Ro told the surviving members of the She'ar of the power the beings held and how his family has once used them against the Jedi. With more Nameless secured,[12] Ro plotted to bring down Starlight Beacon as a major strike against the Republic and Jedi.[2]
As three Nihil agents—the technicians Cale, Werrera, and Leyel—snuck aboard and sabotaged Starlight's systems, the seven Nameless they kept aboard their freighter, logged as Rathtars to keep their existence hidden, left the Jedi on Starlight on edge and unable to sense the sabotage. As the station began to break apart, the Nameless broke free from the ship[2] and began a rampage throughout Starlight,[27] killing a number of Jedi, including Orla Jareni.[2] Meanwhile, the Republic launched an attack on a Nihil convoy that, unknown to them, was carrying more Nameless[28] to Starlight,[1] so Caphtor was left in a state of shock when a mere peephole was opened on one of the crates.[28] Arriving to Starlight amid the destruction, Uttersond told him and Holt about the Nameless before they boarded, handing over ripped pages that[1] once belonged to Rell's journal.[19] As Uttersond escaped, they encountered a Nameless, which Holt needed to describe to her Jedi partner as he was unable to truly see it.[1]
Holt and Caphtor managed to escape the falling station with a Nameless claw, with the hope they could use it to learn more about the creatures, and a ship full of Jedi Initiates. Jedi Master Torban Buck stayed behind but gave Caphtor his robes, which were soaked in Nameless blood, to help the research.[1] As the Nameless continued their rampage, Starlight finally crashed onto the surface of Eiram, killing everyone and the remaining the Nameless still aboard. Ro took a moment to reflect on losing those seven Nameless but understood he alone held the advantage of possessing them.[2] With it clear the Nihil had a weapon they could not understand, the Jedi Order ordered all Jedi to return to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, only for Ro to take advantage of their absence via the deployment of the stormseeds. After informing the captured Obratuk Glii of his victory, he feed Glii to one of the Nameless and smiled.[12]
Meanwhile, Grand Master Yoda returned to the Jedi Order during the Battle of the Corellian Shipyards with a hooded figure,[29] Azlin Rell,[20] who sang the nursery rhyme[29] connected to the Nameless.[1] Yoda promised his fellow Jedi they would uncover the secrets of their Order's past to prepare for their future.[29] Ro moved to claim Rell's journal about the Nameless and left the operation under his new partner Vol Garat. However, Jedi Masters Arkoff and Savina Besatrix Malagán recovered Rell's journal and ZZ-10.[19] In the year after the fall of Starlight, Ro mostly kept the Nameless caged away, further starving the creatures for when he needed to release them once more.[8] Yoda also worked with Rell to discover the secrets locked away in his mind, only for Rell to use an opportunity to destroy a city on the planet Travyx Prime to keep a route to the Nameless homeworld buried, proclaiming to Yoda he had struck a blow for every Force user in the galaxy, including the Sith and Jedi.[20]
Legacy and legend[]
- "Only through sacrifice of many Jedi will the Order cleanse the sin done to the nameless. The danger of the past is not past, but sleeps in an egg. When the egg cracks, it will threaten the galaxy entire. When the Force itself sickens, past and future must split and combine. A Chosen One shall come […]"
- ―A Jedi prophecy of the Chosen One
In the time following the High Republic Era, the Nameless remained known to the Jedi Order through various tales. After their lessons, clan-mates of Jedi Initiate Dooku often swapped tales of the Nameless, among other phantasmagoria. However, Dooku himself did not engage in the stories, distancing himself from the "overactive imagination" of his peers. After becoming a Sith Lord later in his life, Dooku mentioned his fellow Initiates' tales of the Nameless while recounting his past to his apprentice Asajj Ventress.[31]
According to a holocron that contained the prophecy of the Chosen One, a sin was done to[30] the Nameless[8] that required the sacrifice of many Jedi to be cleared away by the Order. The holocron further stated that dangers of the past only remained dormant, and the entire galaxy would be at threat once the darkness was released. Thus, when the Force itself falls to corruption, a Chosen One would come, fatherless, and ultimately restore balance to the Force. While training his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn continued to study the holocron and its ancient prophecies, having become facinated with them as a Padawan himself under Dooku's tutelage.[30]
While detained in the castle of the Sith Lord Darth Vader on the planet Mustafar during the war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, Alliance lieutenant Thom Hudd spoke of knowing "the Curse of the Nameless." Hudd claimed that the tale was frightening enough to keep one awake at night, and mentioned other dark tales such as "The Silent Circle." While Hudd had brought up the tales in an attempt to stall a bored Vaneé—the horror-loving aide of Vader in the castle—from executing him, Vaneé nonetheless expressed his disinterest in Hudd's stories and prepared to kill the rebel.[32] Despite Vaneé's efforts, Hudd was rescued by Lina Graf, a fellow rebel.[33]
Behind the scenes[]
Concept art of the Nameless
The Nameless were first mentioned in the novel Master & Apprentice, written by Claudia Gray[30] and published on April 16, 2019,[34] while the October 1, 2019[35] script release of the audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost, written by Cavan Scott, mentioned the Nameless as a capitalized noun.[36] A StarWars.com article confirmed that the uncapitalized "nameless" mentioned in Master & Apprentice were indeed the Nameless featured in the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative.[8]
Sketches of creatures labeled "Nameless" appeared in the announcement trailer for the The High Republic, which includes Gray and Scott among its writers. Iain McCaig produced concept art of the Nameless, with sketches featuring two figures of varying height and amount of limbs.[37] The 2021 novel The High Republic: The Rising Storm, written by Scott, introduced a creature known as the Great Leveler,[6] while Gray's novel The High Republic: The Fallen Star, published on January 4, 2022,[38] introduced multiple of the beings, using the term "nameless creatures" on one occasion.[2] On February 2, 2022, a preview released on StarWars.com for the comic The High Republic: Trail of Shadows 5, written by Daniel José Older, explicitly identified the creatures as the Nameless. The preview furthermore gave the creatures the additional names of "Shrii-ka-rai' and "Eaters of the Force."[1]
One of the Nameless concept art images was used to represent the Drengir in the second episode of Star Wars: The High Republic Show.[39]
