The Ronin

For other uses, see Ronin.

This article is non-canon within the canon continuity.

This article covers a subject from a Star Wars: Visions story that Lucasfilm declared is set in an alternate history within a reimagined galaxy.

The title of this article is a nickname, call sign, or alias.

This article is about a subject that has not been identified with an official name and is known only by a nickname, call sign, or alias.

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"It's a shame I'm not a Jedi. You might have had a chance."

―The Ronin to Kouru^[1]

The Ronin was the alias used by a male human former Sith who wandered the far edge of the Outer Rim Territories in the aftermath of the Sith rebellion. He would later be nicknamed as Grim. The Ronin had begun the rebellion as the Dark Lord of the Sith and led the Sith armies in battle after they broke away from the Jedi clans, seeking to control their own destinies and end the cycle of never-ending wars between rival feudal lords and their Jedi knights. The lords formed alliances as they sent their Jedi to battle the Dark Lord, his witch, their forces, and the Sith demons that the witch resurrected after their deaths. However, the Dark Lord grew disenchanted with what the Sith became during their rebellion and turned on his followers, ending the rebellion. The Dark Lord renounced the Sith, shed his former identity, and became the Ronin. After the rebellion failed, the former rival lords led a revitalized Empire that ruled much of the galaxy.

Accompanied by the faithful astromech droid, B5-56, the Ronin wandered through the Outer Rim in a self-imposed exile and did not speak about his past. Pledging allegiance to no clan, he made it his life's mission to hunt and eliminate other Sith, collecting their kyber crystals to prevent them from causing any more evil. He was both guided and taunted by the disembodied voice of the Witch in his head to whom he sometimes responded aloud.

Twenty years after his rebellion, he came upon a village on the planet Genbara that was being attacked by a bandit group led by Kouru, who claimed the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Their lightsaber duel ended when the Ronin killed her; however, she awoke from her death as a Sith demon.

As the Ronin continued his journey, he met the Traveler when he heard them playing their flute. The Traveler accompanied him to the Osou spaceport.

Biography[]

Dark Lord of the Sith[]

"Not long ago, there was a certain Jedi. A knight, who rose from the ranks of the children welcomed into one of our esteemed clans. He was blessed, you could say. Favored by the gods, if you'd rather. Or simply very good at following orders as his masters imagined he should. Yet this was the very man who so famously turned on the Jedi. I've often wondered why."

―Hanrai, speaking about the Ronin's own past to the Ronin^[1]

Sith - SW Visions — The Ronin was a former Jedi who broke off from the Jedi clans and created the Sith.

Prior to the reunification of the Empire, Jedi knights had served various constantly-warring feudal lords. The Sith arose as a splinter faction of the Jedi clans seeking self-determination and an end to the constant wars plaguing the galaxy. The individual who became the Ronin had once been a Dark Lord of the Sith who initiated and led the Sith rebellion against the state of feudalism in the galaxy. Together with a Sith witch, the future Ronin led the rebellious faction. The witch would resurrect the bodies of the dead before they could join the Force to create Sith demons that continued to fight for the Sith.^[1]

As the Dark Lord of the Sith, he devised lightsaber auxiliary technology that extended the capabilities of lightsabers, and blueprints for his designs were distributed amongst the Sith cells. After the young warrior Kouru built her lightsaber, she received the dark lord's blueprints to construct a parasol auxiliary, and her Sith master made a fan auxiliary. The Dark Lord and the Sith witch had been in love, and they conceived a daughter, unknown to the Dark Lord.^[1]

During the great muster on Rei'izu, the Dark Lord looked into the divine kyber mirror of Shinsui Temple and saw a vision of horrors and warfare. He became disenchanted with the rebellion he had led and turned his lightsaber against the Sith who had followed him. The Sith rebellion came to an end after the Ronin's change of heart. At the culmination of the rebellion, the Empire was reunited through alliances amongst the rival feudal lords, and the Jedi came to be the Emperor's most faithful servants. The Sith became scarce in the galaxy as they were hunted down by Jedi Knights and agents of the Empire, as well as by the Ronin himself. Unknown to the Ronin, the witch gave birth to their daughter on Rei'izu.^[1]

An unlikely hero[]

"It will ward off evil spirits. Take great care of it."

―Ronin, giving the village chief Kouru's kyber crystal^[1]

Two decades after the Sith rebellion, the Ronin wandered the Outer Rim Territories with his droid companion, B5-56. At some point, a lord fired a blaster bolt at the Ronin; although he dodged, it struck the left side of his face and left his jaw misshapen and scarred. Thereafter, the Ronin wore a metal prosthetic that supported his jaw from ear to ear, and he took the lord's blaster to carry on his own belt. He also acquired a mysterious voice whispering in his mind, urging him to danger. He made it his life's mission to hunt down other Sith, collecting their kyber crystals as to prevent them from causing further harm.^[1]

Eventually, the duo came to the planet Genbara, where the Ronin stopped at a teahouse just outside a village. He repaired the shopkeeper's power droid in exchange for food and tea, when a gang of bandits led by a self-styled Dark Lord of the Sith named Kouru attacked the village. Kouru's bandits rounded up the village's residents in a central area when a group of bounty hunters who had been hired to protect the village counter-attacked. They began to turn the tide of the battle when Kouru emerged, killing a Trandoshan guard with her lightsaber parasol.^[2]

B5-56 had sustained damage from the attackers' shrapnel. The teahouse's the Sullustan shopkeep had once been a mechanic, so the Ronin entrusted his astromech to the store owner for repairs while a pot of tea boiled and departed to duel Kouru. The former Sith strolled casually down the village road towards the bandit leader amidst violent carnage until he reached her. Kouru asked the Ronin who would dare challenge her, telling the man he did not look like a villager. The errant Sith identified himself as "just a simple wanderer." Kouru removed her lightsaber's parasol auxiliary and leapt ferociously to strike him. However, the Ronin froze the bandit mid-air with telekinesis, leading her to boast "it's been a long time since I killed a Jedi."^[2] The Ronin drew his red lightsaber and retorted that he was not a Jedi, unfortunately for her; claiming that if he were, she may have stood a chance.^[1]

The pair dueled in the village square before moving to a river. They continued to fight on floating logs down the river to the edge of a waterfall that concealed a temple.^[2] The bandits had killed all but one guard, a Gran, when the shopkeep's tea boiled.^[1] At that moment, B5-56 flew up in the air and launched a salvo of missiles which killed every bandit except Kouru.^[2]

The Ronin jumped off the log upon which he and Kouru had been balancing and lay in ambush in the temple below. Kouru followed his footsteps into the temple, where she saw the more handsome of his lightsabers activated. She struck the being holding his saber, cleaving it in half, only to see that it had been held by a metal statue of a Jedi rather than her foe. The Ronin then killed Kouru, stabbing her through the chest with the blade of his scabbard auxiliary.^[1] After returning to the village, he was initially mistaken for a Jedi knight by the child village chief. He demonstrated to the villagers that he was not by unsheathing one of his red blades and using it to shatter Kouru's lightsaber hilt. Although he initially collected the kyber crystal from within,^[2] the voice in the Ronin's head observed to him that the boy had a familiar look on his face. Recognizing that the boy was too ready to become old but had no protection to help him survive, the Ronin gave the crystal to the child and said it would ward off evil.^[1]

As the Ronin made his way to the Osou spaceport, he met a being who was playing their flute with little musical skill. They told the Ronin to call them the Traveler. The Traveler and the Ronin met up with other villagers making their way to the spaceport and heard rumors from them about dead bodies departing battlefields as they did in the days of the Sith Rebellion. The return of the Sith Demons frightened the villagers and concerned the Ronin.^[1]

As he reached town the Ronin found a wanted poster for himself accusing him of banditry and being a Sith warrior. The Traveler informed him that the Gran bounty hunter who had helped defend the village from Kouru was in a local cantina telling tales of the Sith who had attacked the village. Having his status as a Sith revealed, the Ronin fled, telling B5 to keep an eye on the Traveler. He was hunted down by the mobilized Genbara army, but intercepted by Kouru, narrowly escaping her. During a fight with Kouru in the dockyard the Ronin jumped onto the open ramp of an ascending ship where B5 was waiting for him. Kouru tried to follow but was pushed down by the Traveler using the black current.^[1]

New allies[]

"You must be wondering why we'd go to such trouble to rescue an errant Sith warrior."

―The Traveler to the Ronin^[1]

Aboard the ship the Poor Crow the Ronin used his mechanical knowledge as well as the force to disable the gravity on the ship. He threatened to disable more systems as he interrogated the Traveler. The interrogation was quickly interrupted by the bounty hunter Chie who attacked the Ronin with an electrostaff and the ship's captain Ekiya. The fight deescalated and the group sat down together to drink tea and discuss what they wanted from each other. The Traveler explained that the crew was hunting the Sith Witch who was resurrecting the dead and that they had tracked down the Ronin due to his expertise of hunting Sith. Together they set course for the planet Dekien in search of a shard of the kyber mirror of the Shinsui Temple which the Ronin had previously hidden in the Seikara caverns.^[1]

On route to Dekien the Ronin ate and slept to regain his strength and then at the urging of the Traveler sparred against Chie to prepare him for their oncoming adventure. While sparring Chie surprised the Ronin with her skill and ferocity and she interrogated him about his past as a Sith, revealing her distaste for the Jedi's loyalty to their lords rather than the people and the Sith's hypocrisy in conquering planets in the name of liberation. After a long match the Ronin was able to disarm her, but her words had provoked a violent anger in him such that he was unknowingly floating many of the cargo containers in the room with the Force.

The Traveler interrupted their session and as they left the room Chie revealed to them that she did not trust the Ronin as he stayed behind, the anger ringing in his ears. Eventually Ekiya came to check on the cargo crates that the Ronin had disturbed, and the Ronin realized that they were various religious artifacts containing Kyber crystals. She interrogated the Ronin on why he and the Sith had betrayed the Jedi and revealed that she had been a citizen of Rei'izu, pressed into the Sith army and taken off world to fight on the front lines shortly before the planet disappeared. The Ronin attempted to apologize but realized there was no excuse for his past actions and that his numerous sins were catching up to him.^[1]

The Ronin built a new lightsaber as a replacement for the one he lost to Kouru and sparred Chie again, revealing that his new lightsaber's hilt extended into a staff. The Ronin passed time with the Traveler who told the Ronin stories about how the crew had come together and repeatedly cheated in their games of Shogi.^[1]

Undercover[]

When the Poor Crow arrived on Dekien, wanted posters for the Ronin had already arrived. In order to avoid detection by the authorities and bounty hunters, Ekiya disguised the Ronin as an auteur actor who was considering taking a role in a holographic performance where he would be playing the Dark Lord of the recent Sith rebellion. While on route to the caverns he overheard gossip from rich dignitaries about the disappearing bodies of fallen Jedi and how it might signify the return of the Sith Witch who was presumed dead. The Ronin found himself arguing for the valor of the Sith cause and had to hold his tongue so that he would not let his anger get the best of him and blow his cover. The Traveler stepped in and diffused the situation pretending to be the Ronin's assistant.^[1]

When the crew spotted that Lord Hanrai and his entourage were also pilgriming to the Seikara caverns they decided to avoid him. The crew split up, with Chie attempting to delay Hanrai while Ekiya stole an escape vehicle and the Ronin and Traveler proceeded to the caverns. The Ronin became concerned by the Traveler's secrecy and offered to tell them the story of how he got his jaw prosthetic if the Traveler revealed something about themself in turn. The Ronin revealed that he had been shot by someone he had betrayed and did not defend himself, though he did take his blaster. Before the Traveler could reveal something of their own, the coast was clear and they moved into the cave system.^[1]

Within the caves, the Ronin plunged himself and the Traveler into an underground river following the current to a graveyard. The Traveler revealed their face to the Ronin, in order to properly glare at him, and the Ronin pried them for more information about their past to which the Traveler delayed. Eventually they came across the grotto where the Ronin had left the shard of the Mirror of Shinsui Temple. When they realized that the shard was no longer there, the two fled, but they were intercepted by Hanrai before they could reach the exit. Hanrai addressed the Traveler and challenged them to a duel. When the Traveler protested Hanrai drew and attacked anyway and the Ronin drew his own blade to defend the Traveler. The Ronin found an even match in Hanrai who attacked with the strength of a wave and deftly defended against all of the Ronin's own attacks. The Ronin was briefly distracted when Chie dragged the Traveler off a ledge. He attempted to use the Force to soften their fall but was interrupted by Hanrai who attacked him and revealed that Chie had been secretly working for him. Their fight was interrupted however when the ceiling of the cavern burst open, torn with the Force by two of Hanrai's entourage who had been killed by Kouru and were now Sith demons. The Ronin stopped fighting and was caught in a trance staring at the undead, the unnatural consequences of what he had helped unleash on the galaxy causing his mind to fall into disarray.^[1]

A prisoner[]

Hanrai and his entourage used the opportunity of the Ronin's fugue state to take him prisoner aboard the Jedi Dreadnaught Reverent. The Ronin came to in his cell, where he was guarded by several pairs of Jedi each fully immersed in opposite aspects of the Force, in order to counter any power that he might try to use. While talking back to the voice in his head a young Twi'lek Jedi guard named Yuehiro overheard him and asked him about his identity. They talked for a while before Chie came to take the Ronin to Hanrai. Hanrai challenged the Ronin to a game of Shogi and offered him tea. As they played, they discussed the Ronin's history, both his initial Sith rebellion and then his reason for turning on the Sith. The Ronin explained that the vision he saw in the Mirror of Shinsui Temple caused him to abandon the Sith and in turn Hanrai revealed that he had found the shard that 10 years ago he had found the shard of the mirror that the Ronin had hidden. He entrusted the shard to his student, the Traveler, with a mission to find the lost planet Rei'izu. He had not heard from them until they appeared alongside the Ronin in the Seikara Caverns.

Hanrai offered the Ronin a place by his side in the coming Imperial succession crisis. He especially wanted the Ronin's help dealing with the Sith Witch who had been raising the dead. Hanrai left the Ronin alone with the two undead Jedi who had been captured and Yuehiro as a guard. The Ronin told Yuehiro that he believed the only truth was suffering and violence and that he would not join Hanrai. The Ronin used the Force to destroy the hull of the Reverant underneath the cell blocks the two undead Jedi where kept in, launching them out into space.^[1]

Powers and abilities[]

Though no longer in the prime of his health in the decades after his rebellion, the Ronin was a capable lightsaber duelist and skilled with the Force. At the time of his duel against Kouru on Genbara, the Ronin believed his sensitivity to the Force had dulled with lack of practice.^[1]

The Ronin had long been skilled as a mechanic, with the Force amplifying his affinity for the workings of electrical and mechanical systems including droids and vehicles. He believed those talents made him better understand intricate electronics than other sentient beings. He used his talent for repairs to earn credits, food, and lodging during his travels. Likewise, his mechanical genius made him skilled at designing the Sith lightsaber auxiliaries and at breaking starships.^[1]

Equipment[]

After the Sith rebellion, the Ronin used a prosthetic jaw support due to a prior blaster injury, and later a respirator after his duel with Hanrai resulted in weakened lungs. The Ronin carried two lightsabers with him, one of which had an elegant hilt and was sheathed in a scabbard constructed from other lightsaber hilts, and the other a scabbard auxiliary that had a cruder appearance. He more publicly utilized the former lightsaber, while the second was a backup and used to trick his opponents. He also carried the blaster that had injured his jaw and kept it well-maintained.^[1]

When the Ronin's main saber was stolen by Kouru, he constructed a new one with a hilt that could extend into a staff.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The Ronin first appeared in "The Duel," a short film and episode of Star Wars: Visions produced by Kamikaze Douga^[2] and released for streaming on Disney+ on September 22, 2021.^[3]