Savage Opress

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"You have grown so powerful."
"And I shall complete your training. Not as your brother–but as your master."

―Savage Opress and his brother, Maul^[src]

Savage Opress was a Force-sensitive Dathomirian Nightbrother who became a Sith apprentice under Darth Tyranus and later became a Sith Lord, apprenticed to his brother, the renegade Sith Lord Maul, during the Clone Wars.

Originally a tribal leader on Dathomir, Opress was handpicked by the Nightsister Asajj Ventress to become her "mate" and servant following her grueling tests of Selection, as part of her bid for revenge on her former Master, the Sith Lord Count Dooku. In accordance with their plot against Dooku, Mother Talzin and her Nightsister witches employed their dark magic to grant Opress fearsome abilities, such as a strong, raw connection to the Force and domineering physical power, while also placing him under their control. After murdering his beloved brother Feral in a display of loyalty to Ventress, Opress entered the Clone Wars as a dark acolyte, serving as an enforcer in Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems.

However, Opress soon saw he was being used by Ventress and betrayed both her and Dooku and fled, being guided on a quest by Mother Talzin to seek out his long-lost brother and Talzin's son Maul. Opress was led to the junkyard world of Lotho Minor, where he found his brother Maul half-mad. He brought his brother back to Talzin, who restored both his mind and his legs. She then left the pair together as Maul became reconnected with the changed world around him. He and Savage then embarked on a quest of death and chaos, seeking vengeance on Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Seeking to take everything he loved from him, Maul conquered Mandalore and killed Obi-Wan's lover, Satine Kryze. Opress stood by his brother as he enacted his revenge, but they were soon faced by Maul's old master, Darth Sidious. Sidious fought Maul and Savage, and ultimately killed Savage Opress in battle, leaving Maul to mourn his brother's death.

Biography

Sith apprenticeship

"A brother? But all of my kin were killed!"
"Not all of them. He lives in the Outer Rim, in exile."

―Savage Opress learns of his long-lost brother Maul from Mother Talzin^[src]

SavageStranglesFeral-Monster — Savage Opress killed Feral, his own brother, on the orders of Asajj Ventress.

Savage Opress was born on Dathomir to Mother Talzin.^[10] By the time of the Clone Wars, Opress lived in the Nightbrother village on the planet Dathomir. As part of the Nightsister Asajj Ventress's plot for revenge on her former Master, the Sith Lord Count Dooku, she traveled to the Nightbrother village to select a warrior to serve Dooku but secretly be controlled by the Nightsisters so they could exact their revenge. As Ventress put the group of Nightbrothers through her grueling tests of Selection, which involved the deaths of many of the candidates, Savage Opress emerged as an excellent, fearsome and brave warrior and was handpicked by Ventress to become her servant.^[4]

In accordance with their plot against Dooku, Mother Talzin and her Nightsister witches employed their magicks to grant Opress fearsome abilities, greatly amplifying his strength, aggression, as well as physically transforming him into a hulking and imposing brute. After murdering his beloved brother Feral in a display of loyalty to Ventress, Opress was equipped with armor and a mystically enhanced spear before being offered to Dooku^[4] as a dark acolyte by Talzin.^[11] Dooku accepted Opress, allowing for him to enter the Clone Wars as an enforcer in Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems. Opress was initially sent to execute a mission against the Galactic Republic on the planet Devaron to prove himself. At the Temple of Eedit, Opress slaughtered a group of clone troopers and slew his first Jedi, Master Halsey and his Padawan Knox, overpowering them with his brute strength, endurance and hand to hand combat skills. Opress soon became apprenticed to Dooku, who intended to use his new acolyte to overthrow his own master, Darth Sidious, and claim control of the galaxy.^[4]

Breaking free

KatuunkoChoked-WOTM — Opress chokes King Katuunko to death.

While Opress was subjected to brutal Sith training under Dooku's charge, Ventress prepared to pit the monstrous Nightbrother against Dooku. Opress began to use a double-bladed lightsaber as his training progressed. Dooku forced Opress to accomplish incredible feats of strength, using Force lightning on his apprentice as punishment. For example, Dooku forced Opress to lift a dozen obelisk stones telekinetically as part of his training, and when Opress wasn't able to accomplish this feat, he was continuously shocked with Force Lightning. Opress was sent on a mission to Toydaria, where he killed King Katuunko. However, the assignment had been to bring the King back to Dooku alive. Opress was again subjected to Force lightning, and when he begged for mercy from his master, Dooku replied that mercy was not the way of the Dark Side. However, Ventress soon arrived and enacted her plans for revenge, revealing Opress's hidden allegiance to her and attacking her former master. After a scuffle, Opress began to break free of the spell, with Ventress discovering that neither her or Dooku could contain Opress's impulsive nature and rage. In what became a three-way lightsaber battle, Opress overcame Ventress's spell of control and also terminated his service to Dooku, further battling his way through Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as well as an army of droids, before escaping to Dathomir. Returning to Talzin, he learned of his kinship to the former Sith apprentice Maul. Talzin told him to track down his lost brother and train under him.^[8]

Search for Maul

Opress's search for his brother took him to the Outer Rim. When he was pursued by the authorities after an altercation at a diner on Stobar, he encountered a an assortment of cargo crates that gave him clues to his brother's location. He forced the captain of the ship to let him travel with him to the planet Lotho Minor and later tossed the unfortunate man out of the ship when they arrived. There, with the help of the Anacondan Morley, he navigated through the tunnels of junk, slaying numerous Junkers, and evading acid rain, but was then attacked by a spider-like creature upon entering a tunnel, which Opress soon realized was his deranged brother with cybernetic legs. After killing Morley for setting him up, he rescued his weakened brother from his tortured existence on the junk world^[12] and brought him home to Dathomir, where Talzin restored his mind and body with her magicks. Maul was given new cybernetic legs and had his injuries healed. Opress then began his service to his experienced brother, becoming involved with Maul's pursuit of vengeance on Kenobi, who had cut him in half over a decade ago in the Theed Royal Palace on Naboo.^[13]

Serving Maul

MaulAndSavageWillBePatient-Revenge — Opress and Maul, brothers reunited

Maul planned to lure out Kenobi by committing a massacre on the planet Raydonia. When Kenobi arrived, Maul and Opress surprise-attacked him and overpowered him. As they tortured him, Ventress arrived to help her former foe Kenobi (doing this because capturing Opress would grant her a wealthy bounty), who escaped from them after a lengthy battle onboard their ship.^[13]

Opress and Maul continued their plans for revenge and galactic domination, turning to the criminal underworld to achieve their needs. Opress and Maul cut a swath through the Outer Rim, battling through civilians and Jedi Knights alike who stood in their way. After pillaging the Cybloc Transfer Station, Maul asserted his dominance over his brother, acknowledging his brother as a Sith Lord but forcing him to become his apprentice. Opress was taken aback by the change in power and challenged his brother to combat, but was quickly and ruthlessly defeated and forced to submit to his renegade Sith brother in accordance with the Sith Rule of Two.^[9]

Maul then led his brother to capture a starship belonging to a group of Weequay pirates, whom they forced into their service. They then contacted their leader, Hondo Ohnaka and informed him that if he did not join them that they would forcibly take his base. However, as Maul and Opress set the pirates on each other, Kenobi and Jedi Master Adi Gallia arrived. After an intense battle, Opress charged Gallia, impaling the Jedi Master on his horns, killing her. Kenobi barely fought off the two brothers before allying with Ohnaka and escaping into the complex. After Ohnaka was able to assert control over the treasonous pirates, he rallied his forces and attacked the brothers. Opress dueled Kenobi, but lost his left arm to Kenobi's lightsaber. Maul helped his wounded brother limp away from the reinvigorated pirates and fled.^[9]

The Shadow Collective

However, Kenobi continued his pursuit of Opress and Maul off Florrum, destroying their ship and forcing them to eject in the escape pod. The two became stranded until they were discovered unconscious by members of the Death Watch, a group of Mandalorian warriors led by Pre Vizsla. The two brothers were taken to the Death Watch encampment on Zanbar, where Vizsla aided them by giving Maul new cybernetic legs and Opress a cybernetic arm. When Opress woke to see droids working on his new arm, he destroyed them in his anger and pain. However, Maul confronted him, telling him that they would be wise to ally with Death Watch but reassuring him that they would still be able to finish Kenobi after helping their new allies reclaim Mandalore. Vizsla and his second in command Bo-Katan Kryze then entered the tent and informed them that they had agreed to the proposed alliance.^[7]

Maul advised Vizsla to gather allies to grow in strength to overthrow the pacifist rulers of Mandalore. As their first step to assembling the Shadow Collective, Opress traveled with Maul, Vizsla, and Death Watch to Mustafar to meet with Black Sun leadership. Greeted by Vigo Ziton Moj, they were invited to the council chambers to meet with Xomit Grunseit. When he refused to join them, he commanded his forces to kill them and take their weapons and ships. Opress grabbed an advancing guard and snapped their neck, hurling the body onto the council table. When Maul delivered his ultimatum, but Grunseit once again refused, at which point Maul stepped back to allow Opress to finish the job. Hurling his double-bladed lightsaber, he beheaded the entire council, leaving Moj in control. Moj quickly agreed to their proposed alliance.^[7]

Epguide514 — Savage during the attack on Nal Hutta, with his cybernetic arm

Opress, Maul, and the Mandalorians were soon joined by the Pyke Syndicate before traveling to Nal Hutta to meet with the Hutt Ruling Council. When they refused to join without being paid a large sum of credits, the Shadow Collective was attacked by a force of bounty hunters. Opress battled with the bounty hunter Embo and his anooba Marrok, and eventually the bounty hunters were defeated. They returned to find Oruba the Hutt still inside, who Opress killed before they planned to travel to Tatooine to find Jabba the Hutt. After a battle at Jabba's Palace, Jabba and Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo decided to join Maul.^[7]

After this, the Sith brothers and Death Watch ordered members of the Shadow Collective's crime syndicates and gangs to attack and overrun the Capital of Mandalore, thus revealing Duchess Satine's inability to protect the planet from invasion. The members of Death Watch would then stage a rescue where they would defeat the invaders (with Opress being one of them) thus becoming heroes of the public. With the support of the civilians, Death Watch was able to take control of Mandalore.^[14]

Even though the operation succeeded, Vizsla and his men arrested Opress and Maul and successfully maneuvered their way into good favor with the populace. However, the two brothers were not finished. Opress and Maul broke free from prison alongside Almec, Mandalore's incarcerated Prime Minister, and the two brothers arrived in the throne room to confront Vizsla. Maul challenged Vizsla to a duel for control of Mandalore, which he accepted. Opress watched as Maul seized control of Mandalore after defeating Vizsla in lightsaber combat and beheading him. Some of Vizsla's supporters did not accept Maul's rule and left, but the remaining warriors pledged themselves to Maul.^[14]

Death

"Brother, I am an unworthy apprentice. I'm not like you. I never was."

―Savage Opress's last words, spoken to Maul^[src]

DoubleShotShiak-TL — Opress is impaled by the blades of his brother's former master.

The brothers' rule of Mandalore attracted unwanted attention from Maul's former Master, Darth Sidious, who saw their growing power and alliances as a threat to the dominance of his Sith Order. Sidious traveled to Mandalore and confronted the two. Though Opress was skilled, Sidious ultimately bested the Zabrak warrior in combat, and impaled Opress with his twin lightsabers, before flinging him from the building with the force. In his dying breath, Opress expressed regret for never having been Maul's equal. As he died, a green mist emanated from his body and his armor disappeared. His muscles and physique reverted back^[3] to their form from before the Nightsister ritual,^[4] and Opress died^[3] as the man he had been before becoming Ventress's pawn.^[4] An enraged Maul tried to kill his former master, but was quickly defeated and captured.^[3]

Legacy

UncontrollableRage-SoH — Savage Opress, force of uncontrollable rage

"Next you're going to tell me that you weren't planning to mention Captain Rex, Ahsoka, Ventress, Cad Bane, Savage Opress, Jar Jar, and the Mandalorians?"
"Well… I guess I could always go back and tell their stories later."
"Out of order? That's just going to confuse everybody!"
"I think they'll figure it out."

―A Whill and another Whill^[src]

Savage's death would continue to fuel his brother Maul's rage for the rest of his life. Fifteen years after Opress's death, Maul recalled the loss of Opress while explaining his hatred of the Sith to Ezra Bridger in an attempt to make him his new apprentice.^[15]

Opress was later mentioned by a member of the Whills as someone to be remembered in galactic history.^[16]

Powers and abilities

"You have no technique. Sloppy! But with the proper training, you could be a powerful warrior. You have a natural ability, but we must hone it. Are you up for the challenge of putting your hate to better use?"
"Yes, Master."

―Count Dooku and Savage Opress^[src]

Savage Opress was a formidable Sith warrior, proficient with the use of the various weapons in the Nightbrother village.^[4] He was also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, utilizing the Nightbrother's mixture of combat styles best known for its acrobatics and agility. For these reasons, Oppress was considered to be among the best of the clan's fighters,^[17] able to fight on par with Asajj Ventress even before his transformation.^[4] After Savage was handpicked by Ventress to become her apprentice, Mother Talzin used magick to grant him fearsome abilities and was transformed into a terrifying opponent for the Jedi.^[11] After his transformation, Savage was a head taller, had a much broader chest and even stronger arms, and a full crown of sharp and elongated horns, as well as experiencing dramatic increases to his already considerable strength, durability, agility, and stamina.^[4]

SavageIsRemade-Monster — Savage Opress is transformed by Nightsister magick and became a brutal warrior with unmatched ferocity.

Savage was a proficient lightsaber duelist. Dooku began training Savage Opress, who quickly mastered the double-bladed lightsaber like his brother before him, a tricky weapon because it could be much more dangerous to its wielder than an enemy.^[18]^[11] His combat style was based on his immense strength to hammer and swiftly repel his opponents with raw kinetic power.^[8] Opress was quickly able to fight on par with skilled opponents, including several simultaneously, as seen when Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi confronted him on Toydaria and Dooku's ship.^[8] Side by side with Ventress, with his immense strength, Opress bested and disarmed Dooku, one of the greatest duelists of his time.^[8]

After joining his brother Maul, he further advanced in his Sith training. Opress's skill grow quickly, able to contend with and even defeat Jedi Council members like Obi-Wan Kenobi. He even became skilled and powerful enough to slay Adi Gallia in a duel on Florrum.^[9] When fighting Darth Sidious alongside his brother Maul, he proved to be quick and skilled enough to keep up with the immensely powerful Dark Lord of the Sith. Opress fought hard alongside Maul and even threw Sidious off the balcony with a headbutt, proving to be a great foe for the Dark Lord. However, when separated from his brother, his immense strength and brutality proved to be no match for Sidious' flawless swordsmanship.^[3]

SavageChokesMasters-WOTM — Savage finally snapped under the strain of his abusive training, turning his fury on both Dooku and Ventress.

In addition to being a formidable lightsaber duelist, Opress was massively powerful in the Force and strong in the dark side of the Force.^[19] He possessed enough telekinetic power to simultaneously lift and Force choke Dooku and Ventress when enraged. He was also able to use a powerful Force wave to take down battle droids and push Kenobi and Skywalker simultaneously. Opress could throw his lightsaber with lethal precision, decapitating the Black Sun members with a single stroke at his brother's command.^[7]

Equipment

"For you, an enchanted blade blessed with our most potent magicks."

―Mother Talzin to Savage Opress^[src]

Savage Opress USWNE — Opress wielded a double-bladed lightsaber.

Prior to his transformation, Savage wore simple rags matching those of his Nightbrother brethren, and wielded crude archaic weaponry such as an ax. Upon his transformation, Mother Talzin gifted Savage with a specially designed suit of armor and a spear.^[4] The suit of armor was incredibly durable, capable of withstanding blaster fire^[8] and the acid rain of Lotho Minor.^[12] The armor seemingly dissipated upon Savage's death at the hands of Darth Sidious.^[3] Savage used the spear during the Devaron massacre, killing a handful of clone troopers and two members of the Jedi Order with the enchanted weapon.^[4]

At some point after the Devaron massacre, Savage began using a crimson double-bladed lightsaber in favor of the enchanted spear given to him by Talzin.^[8] Savage used his lightsaber until his death at the hands of Darth Sidious.^[3] After betraying his Sith Master, Savage returned to Dathomir and was given a magic talisman by Mother Talzin.^[8] The talisman served as a compass that eventually led Opress to his long-lost brother Maul.^[12]

During his apprenticeship under Darth Tyranus, Opress piloted a Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop similar to his master's. Opress used the ship to travel to and from Devaron^[4] and Toydaria, and later escaped Tyranus's Providence-class Dreadnought aboard the solar sailor.^[8]

For his journey to Lotho Minor, Opress piloted a hijacked Turtle Tanker.^[12] He also used the Turtle Tanker to travel to Dathomir and later Raydonia.^[13] After their duel with Kenobi and Ventress, Opress and Maul stopped using the tanker in favor of a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter. The brothers used the YV-865 to travel to Florrum; however, it was later damaged beyond repair by the Ohnaka Gang on the planet's surface.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Savage Opress was voiced by prolific voice actor Clancy Brown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, first appearing in the episode "Monster."^[4] Savage Opress's introduction in the series was instrumental, along with George Lucas' recommendations, to bring back Maul into the series following his apparent death in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[20]

Early plans of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twin Suns" featured Maul experiencing Force visions of both Opress and Satine Kryze before facing Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. In contrast to Kryze, Opress nearly actually made it to design phase before Dave Filoni thought it better, feeling that in an already lengthy episode, there was no time to explain Savage's origins as they couldn't risk alienating new Star Wars fans who would be confused with Opress's sudden appearance.^[20]