Asajj Ventress

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Asajj Ventress was a female Rattataki Dark Jedi and arguably the most dangerous of Count Dooku's Dark Acolytes. In actual fact, Ventress was trained as a Jedi Padawan, while an orphan child on her home world of Rattatak, under the tutelage of Jedi Knight Ky Narec. However, after Narec was slain, Ventress gave into her anger and began walking the path of the dark side; taking up the lightsaber of her dead master, she trained herself in the Niman/Jar'Kai style of lightsaber combat, before slaying all the warlords on Rattatak and installing herself as its ruler.

Eventually, Ventress's actions came to the attention of Count Dooku, and after a test of her abilities, she became a commander in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. She had yearned to learn the ways of the Sith from Dooku and if she had proven herself worthy, she would become his apprentice.

During the Clone Wars, she became one of the most feared beings in the galaxy, notorious for her defeat of several Jedi. As the war continued, Ventress became the bitter enemy of both Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his former mentor, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the latter of which was convinced that she could be redeemed. During Kenobi's mission to return Ventress to the light on Boz Pity, she received a life-threatening wound from Skywalker, faked her death and disappeared into the unknown; wishing to be free of the Jedi, the war and Count Dooku.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Clone Wars (22 BBY—19 BBY) 1.2.1 Initiation on Rattatak 1.2.2 Ohma-D'un 1.2.3 Ruul 1.2.4 Queyta 1.2.5 Duel with Jeht 1.2.6 Yavin IV 1.2.7 Growing obsession 1.2.8 Ord Cestus 1.2.9 Jabiim and afterward 1.2.10 Praesitlyn 1.2.11 Vjun 1.2.12 Rendili 1.2.13 Christophsis 1.2.14 Teth 1.2.15 Rugosa 1.2.16 Kamino 1.2.17 Gwori 1.2.18 Zygerria 1.2.19 Khorm 1.2.20 Rescuing Gunray 1.2.21 Disappearance 1.3 Legacy 2 Personality and traits 2.1 Appearance 2.1.1 Physical 2.1.2 Wardrobe 3 Powers and abilities 3.1 Lightsaber skills 3.2 Force powers 4 Trivia 5 Behind the scenes 5.1 Portrayal 6 Appearances 6.1 Non-canon appearances 7 Sources 8 Notes and references 9 External links

Biography

Early life

Asajj Ventress hailed from the barbaric planet of Rattatak. Her parents were local warlords who had been assembling a large army on Rattatak's southern hemisphere to challenge another warlord, Osika Kirske, when Ventress was a child. They were defeated and killed by a coalition of other warlords under Kirske. Ventress, alone on a harsh, unforgiving world, would have died had it not been for the timely arrival of a Jedi Knight named Ky Narec. Narec had become stranded upon Rattatak, and sensed Ventress's connection to the Force. Although Narec was cut off from the rest of the Jedi Order, he decided to train Ventress as his Padawan.^[3]

The two Jedi quickly became favored by the people, except for those who feared the power the two Jedi wielded. Tragically, Narec was killed by Osika Kirske before Ventress could learn mastery over her emotions. Ventress soon became a force of authority on her lawless home world, defeating most of the remaining twelve Rattataki warlords and getting her revenge on Kirske.

When Narec died, she had tattooed her hairless head and left her girlhood behind. Her skull was striped with twelve marks, one for each of the twelve warlords she had killed after swearing their deaths.^[4] Ventress, now in control of the land once held by the warlords who had murdered her Master, had a castle built on Rattatak, from where she controlled her new kingdom. Ventress kept Narec's lightsaber as a memento of the good times with her mentor, and developed a hatred of the Jedi, who she believed had abandoned Narec. Her bitterness and lust for revenge sent Ventress spiraling down the path of the dark side.

Clone Wars (22 BBY—19 BBY)

Initiation on Rattatak

Ventress was still in command on Rattatak when the Clone Wars began with the Battle of Geonosis. After Echuu Shen-Jon killed Sev'rance Tann on Krant, Count Dooku went in search of a new acolyte to serve as a commander in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He traveled to Rattatak, where he was met by a waiting humanoid co-conspirator. As he sat beside the Count in a nearby observation chamber, this robed individual was silently and swiftly dispatched by a dark, cloaked figure who then took his seat.^[source?] Dooku noted the presence of the killer, but initially voiced doubt about her combat abilities—until Ventress threw herself into a gladiatorial pit fight in the Cauldron and easily annihilated such foes as Blorga, Granda Dolma, Nilo, L8-L9, Flalios, Jasper McKnives, Krutch, Anchor Blue, Swyy'm-Ee, and Giant Flog.^[5]

Dooku applauded Ventress's talents, but she then went too far by declaring herself a Sith, and claimed that Dooku knew nothing of the dark side. Dooku decided to "enlighten" her. After rendering her unconscious with a blast of Force lightning and later defeating her in a duel, Dooku presented her to Darth Sidious, who approved his choice, and ordered her to kill a certain Jedi—Anakin Skywalker. After her departure, Sidious told Dooku that it was irrelevant whether or not Ventress succeeded. Either way, Palpatine won. In fact, events turned out better than even he had planned. Not only did Skywalker draw on his rage, but Ventress survived and the Sith gained a valuable assassin.

Before sending her on her way, Dooku gifted Ventress with the twin red blades of his former Padawan, Komari Vosa. The twin blades could be wielded separately or joined together to form a saberstaff, one more difficult to handle than the traditional design, given the curved nature of the handles. Dooku, having taken the blades from Vosa after her fatal fight with the late bounty hunter Jango Fett, now intended that Ventress should use them—much as Komari Vosa had—to be a bane to the forces of the light.

Ohma-D'un

Kenobi and Skywalker were completely unprepared for this new enemy's swift attack on the Gungan colony on Ohma-D'un. Ventress released swamp gas on the Naboo moon, decimating the settlement, then waited with the bounty hunter Durge for Jedi to arrive. She and Durge ambushed Kenobi's team; during the fight, Ventress decapitated Glaive, cut his Padawan's left arm, and nearly killed Kenobi. However, the arrival of Skywalker and Alpha-17 forced the Separatists to retreat—though now the Jedi would undoubtedly remember the new face of war.^[6]

Ruul

Ventress trained at Dooku's fortress. Three months after the Battle of Geonosis,^[7] she was sent to Ruul, where Mace Windu was to meet with the Jedi dissidents led by Sora Bulq. Bulq had been converted to the dark side by Dooku on Bakura following the Battle of Geonosis, and was part of Dooku's plan. Ventress was sent in as an assassin, whom the dissidents were led to believe she had been hired by Windu. The Korun Master eventually uncovered the truth, though not before Ventress killed Mira, twisted Rhad Tarn to join her side, and wounded K'Kruhk. Though Ventress briefly dueled Mace Windu, she realized she was no match for his skill—even using her deadly saberstaff—and fled Ruul with Bulq in a solar sailer.^[8]

Queyta

Kenobi and Ventress met again a standard month after the Mission to Ruul,^[7] on Queyta, where Ventress and Durge fought Kenobi, Nico Diath, Fay, Jon Antilles, and Knol Ven'nari for the antidote to the swamp gas chemical weapon. After wiping out the strike force, Ventress trapped Kenobi on a cliff face, but did not kill him as Dooku had forbidden her from doing so. She promised to kill him at their next meeting. Kenobi eventually escaped with the antidote.^[9]

Duel with Jeht

Some time after that, Ventress battled the Jedi Master Darrus Jeht in a jungle locale. Jeht was already verging on the dark side, and after she stabbed him in the chest with her lightsabers, he attacked her with Force lightning before being rescued by clone troopers. She contacted Dooku after the fight, who told her she had done well in her "exercise" and that he would reward her with one day to recover before she was to move on to her primary target after that.^[10]

Yavin IV

Four standard months after the Battle of Geonosis, Ventress traveled to Muunilinst to carry out her first command; kill Anakin Skywalker. Flying her Fanblade starfighter, Ventress attacked Skywalker over Muunilinst and then lured him to the jungle moon of Yavin 4.

There, she destroyed his starfighter and the clone squad sent by Obi-Wan Kenobi to assist him, then battled the young Jedi through the moon's jungles and one of the ancient Sith Massassi Temples. The duel ended when Anakin gave in to his rage, hurt Ventress's left hand to grab one of her lightsabers after being disarmed, and knocked her from the pinnacle of the temple. Skywalker escaped in Ventress's fighter, leaving Ventress wounded but alive on the planet.

At some point, Ventress became worshiped as a goddess on the planet Mauk.^[2]

Growing obsession

Although she had been tasked with eliminating Skywalker, Ventress slowly became obsessed not only with the boy, but also with his master—Kenobi. Somehow he was the center of Ventress's troubles, but she could not find any solution on how to dismiss it.^[11]

During almost every mission, she would meet Kenobi and Skywalker, either together or separately. Though she would gladly obey Dooku's order and complete the objective, her hatred towards the two Jedi would get in the way, as fellow Dark Jedi Tol Skorr would point out.^[12]

Ord Cestus

Ventress and Kenobi squared off at Ord Cestus after she incapacitated Kit Fisto, but she was defeated by the Jedi Master when Fisto turned the tide of the battle in Kenobi's favor.^[11]

Jabiim and afterward

Ventress later became one of the Separatist commanders in the Second Battle of Jabiim, aiding Alto Stratus, leader of the Jabiimi Loyalists, in an effort to have Jabiim break from the Republic. Eventually, they had succeeded.

When Obi-Wan and Alpha-17 were caught in the explosion of a fallen All Terrain Armored Transport, Ventress finally managed to capture the two, and transported them to her castle on Rattatak for interrogation and torture. While there, she placed a Sith torture mask on Kenobi and lied to him that Skywalker had died on Jabiim with the rest of the Padawan Pack, in order to break him and, she hoped, show Dooku how worthless the Jedi Knight was. Then, she would at last be accepted as Darth Tyranus's official Sith apprentice and a Dark Lord of the Sith.

However, one day, after Alpha-17 refused to tell Ventress the location of the Republic medical foundries under interrogation, she promised him a slow death and went to spar with a couple of Bugnaughts. While at that, she was aware that Kenobi, Alpha-17, and Osika Kirske had caused a prison break and caught up with them. Though she managed to avenge her parents' deaths by slaying Kirshe, Kenobi stole both Ky Narec's lightsaber and Ventress's own starfighter, using the latter to reach Riflor, and leaving Ventress broken and tearful on the landing platform.

Praesitlyn

During the Battle of Praesitlyn, Ventress ordered Muun Admiral Pors Tonith of the InterGalactic Banking Clan to give her a report on how he was faring. Tonith was rather fascinated by Ventress's looks and wished that she could aid him in the invasion, but the Rattataki was busy somewhere else at the moment.^[13]

Later on, when Ventress contacted Tonith again, the Admiral boasted of the battle turning to his favor and said that he may not need the reinforcements that Dooku promised him after all. Ventress, hardly impressed, responded to Tonith that the next time the two would meet, she would be his executioner. The Admiral scoffed of her remark, but knew deep inside that she meant it. Whether she knew that the Admiral would fail or sensed it through the Force is unknown.^[13]

Vjun

After the defeat at Praesitlyn, Ventress killed Jedi Padawan Jang Li-Li in a space dogfight and brought the severed hand and damaged lightsaber to Dooku for the deed, though Dooku mourned for Jang's death in a way since he knew her as a child before leaving the Order.^[4]

Ventress was with Dooku at Bast Castle on Vjun, a planet strong with the dark side. She was told to bring Jedi Master Jai Maruk before Lord Tyranus alive so that his "treaty" between him and Yoda would be complete. However, after scarring Maruk, she believed that he should have been made "number seventeen" in her list of dead Jedi.^[4]

Dooku's plan was setting in stone. Ventress watched from her ship, Last Call, as what seemed to look like Yoda enter a starship. She then followed him to Ithor and destroyed the escort pilots. But after realizing through the Force that "Yoda" was actually an actor named Palleus Chuff, playing as a decoy, she then decided that it would be best to capture him and destroy the ship to make it look like Yoda had perished.^[4]

The events on Ithor caused the Republic spirit to deteriorate, much to Ventress's liking. However, she was furious when news stated that she was known for killing eleven Jedi. Despite that, she continued her objective and hired a FIII Footman droid named Solis to give her the location of the real Yoda's whereabouts.^[4]

Ventress unsuccessfully ambushed Yoda on Phindar Station, but managed to slay Masters Maruk and Maks Leem. Recalled to the planet Vjun on Dooku's orders, she attempted to kill the Padawans of the two deceased Masters, Whie Malreaux and Scout. But after sensing Whie's feelings for Scout, she decided to enjoy herself first by telling the boy to give in to his dark nature and kiss the girl he adored.^[4]

Wounded, Ventress met up with both Skywalker and Kenobi, but turned tail when faced with the prospect of fighting them both at once.^[4]

Rendili

During the initial stages of the Battle of Rendili, Obi-Wan discovered the renegade Quinlan Vos aboard the exploration vessel Titavian IV. He had betrayed Dooku's trust, and the Count had sent Ventress and Tol Skorr to eliminate him. Ventress and Kenobi battled yet again, though this time Ventress felt assured of victory and rode a ferocious rancor in pursuit of her nemesis. Kenobi and Vos escaped, but Ventress put a Homing beacon on their ship's hull and followed them back to Coruscant, but had a little argument with General Grievous while on the way.^[12]

Upon her arrival, Ventress was unable to get at either Kenobi or Vos, as both were within the Jedi Temple. Instead she tracked down Anakin Skywalker, ambushing and engaging him in a duel in the upper underlevels of one of Galactic City's industrial sectors. Ventress dueled Skywalker and preyed upon the young Jedi's fears, leaving a scar down the side of Skywalker's face, though she claimed she could have taken his head. When she taunted Skywalker with threats to kill his wife, Skywalker again used his anger to defeat her. He entwined her body in thick electric cables, then sent her plummeting down into the murky lower levels. As on Yavin IV, Ventress barely survived her fall, but was this time too weak to continue fighting without assistance.^[12]

Christophsis

On the planet of Christophsis, Ventress led Separatist efforts to claim the important planet for the Confederacy. The Dark Jedi recruited the clone sergeant, Slick, to the Separatist cause and through him learned vital information regarding the Republic's defense of the planet. Asajj used this information and had her forces conduct a surprise attack on the secret location of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his troops; however, the timely intervention of Anakin Skywalker ensured that Kenobi and a portion of the clones with him escaped.^[14]

Realizing that there was a traitor amongst their men, Kenobi and Skywalker traveled to the Separatist headquarters on the planet to learn if they could discover the spy's identity. En route, the Jedi became aware of numerous droids noting their position, and doing nothing to stop them. Their fears that they were falling into a trap were confirmed when they arrived at the Separatist stronghold, there being no guards or resistance. Within, Ventress confronted the pair and engaged them in a violent duel.^[14]

The two Jedi constantly kept her on the defensive, forcing her to retreat. However, Asajj's main goal had truly been to delay the Jedi, so that Slick could safely destroy the weapons depot at their base; and while he succeeded at this, he was captured. Following the duel, Ventress ordered General Whorm Loathsom to march on the Republic forces, before leaving the planet to involve herself in Dooku's plan to ally with the Hutt clans.^[14]

Teth

Main article: Battle of Teth

Ventress took part in Dooku's plot to gain Jabba the Hutt's support against the Republic. She took custody of Jabba's son, Rotta from agents of his great-uncle Ziro, and held the Huttlet in an old B'omarr Monastery on the planet Teth. When Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano arrived to rescue Rotta, Ventress arranged for the espionage droid 4A-7 to edit a recording of Skywalker and Tano to show that they were kidnapping the child. She sent the footage to Dooku so that Dooku might use the footage to convince Jabba of the Republic's treachery.^[15]

Skywalker, Tano and Rotta made their way through the monastery to reach a landing pad, and then escaped from Ventress on a flying Can-cell and headed towards another mesa in the distance. As Skywalker, Tano, and R2-D2 escaped the planet with Rotta on a stolen ship, Ventress confronted Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had arrived with reinforcements. She dueled with him but fled the battle on a Vulture droid after she was disarmed of one of her sabers.^[15]

As the Battle of Teth came close to Republic victory, Ventress contacted Dooku that Skywalker was on his way to Tatooine. Knowing that Jabba was watching, she also lied that the Jedi had killed Rotta. Dooku knew right away Skywalker was bringing the Huttlet back to his father, so he told Ventress that he would deal with her later.^[15]

Immediately following her escape from Teth, Ventress visited the Kashyyyk system to meet with the Wookiee traitor Quaagan and take possession of Bitt Panith's secret Krossen project. Here she may have crossed paths—and blades—with Jedi Master Bant Eerin and her Padawan.^[16]

Rugosa

Some time after the Battle of Teth, Asajj Ventress challenged Grand Master Yoda on the coral moon, Rugosa, for the allegiance of Toydaria. It was decided that if her best troops could defeat Yoda, then King Katuunko would join the Separatists, if not he would join the Republic. After Yoda destroyed her droid army and Katuunko swore allegiance to the Republic, Dooku ordered Ventress to slay the Toydarian King. As loyal as she was, she was unsuccessful. Yoda showed up just in time to stop Ventress by force gripping both of her lightsabers in mid-swing and implored her to surrender. She, however, activated an explosive which sent a hill of boulders crashing down towards Yoda and Katuunko. While Yoda was occupied using the Force to stop the rocks from crushing them, Ventress was able to escape and fled the moon in Dooku's Solar Sailer, which the Sith lord had loaned to her.

Kamino

After her mission on Rugosa, Ventress traveled to the clone troopers' homeworld of Kamino, acting as a spy and reporting directly to General Grievous. The cyborg general was preparing his fleet to take over a scout base to prevent the alert of the clone homeworld. Their ultimate goal was to capture Kamino and destroy the cloning facilities to halt the Republic's army production for good. The plan eventually failed as the rookie clones protecting the station managed to destroy it and all the droids assaulting it, alerting the Republic. Ventress was left with no option but to leave Kamino.

Gwori

Ventress also accompanied Dooku to Gwori where she executed Overseer Juhm for his failure to protect the shipyards from being destroyed by the Republic.

Zygerria

Khorm

Rescuing Gunray

After being captured on Rodia by Senator Padmé Amidala, Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray was escorted by Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Ahsoka Tano, to be delivered into the custody of Captain Faro Argyus of the Senate Commandos so he can be taken to Coruscant for trial.

Upon being informed by Darth Sidious of the matter, Dooku decided to dispatch Ventress to rescue the Viceroy or eliminate him before he was to be interrogated by the Jedi. Though Sidious doubted Ventress's ability after having failed before, Dooku assured his master that Ventress would succeed and, after the hologram of Sidious faded away, told her to prove her worth of being his apprentice. Thus, she took a group of boarding ships that ambushed the Jedi cruiser Tranquility. Super battle droids were deployed to deal with the Clone troopers on the ship allowing Ventress to sneak aboard and plant explosives in the engine room.

With her plans set, she made her way to the detention block of the ship where she encountered Ahsoka Tano and the guards who were protecting Gunray. She managed to kill a number of clones while dueling with Skywalker's Padawan until Luminara Unduli arrived. Trapped, but while she was "surrendering," she used her explosives to disable the ship and put her enemies off balance before escaping into the engine room. She was quickly followed by Luminara Unduli and using stealth, she managed to rupture a coolant pipe which temporarily blinded one of the Jedi general's eyes. Eventually, she managed to defeat Luminara and drop a series of pipes on her thus trapping her allowing Ventress to deal the killing blow. However, before she could accomplish this, she was Force pushed away by Ahsoka. Ventress then dueled with the two Jedi until she received a signal from Separatist spy Argyus who had managed to escape with Gunray into the Consular-class vessel.

Her task complete, she used the Force to escape into the ventilation system and threw a remote bomb before her which knocked Ahsoka Tano for a loop. Ahsoka and Luminara attempted to follow the Dark Jedi. Ventress then managed to make her way into an escape pod and rendezvous with Argyus's ship. Once aboard, she killed the Senate commando by impaling him when he claimed that he would note Ventress as a "contribution" to the mission. Seeing the Senate guardsmen killed, Gunray stated that he always had a good feeling about Ventress.^[17]

Disappearance

Throughout their battles, Kenobi had learned more and more of Ventress's past. He concluded that Ventress was misled, not evil, and took it upon himself to find her and bring her back to the light. Skywalker was convinced that he had killed Ventress on Coruscant, and that Kenobi was not thinking clearly, but the two uncovered a trail of clues that confirmed her survival and location, battling and killing Durge on the way.

Ventress had been sent to the planet Boz Pity, where she was placed in a bacta tank by Count Dooku and given cybernetic modifications to amplify her rage. When Republic forces attacked Boz Pity, Kenobi came upon the chamber in which Ventress was contained within a Separatist facility, and was subsequently attacked by her when she detected him in her trance. She fought against both Kenobi and Skywalker, only to be unexpectedly abandoned by Dooku, who did not want her to delay his escape with an exhausted and malfunctioned Grievous. He ordered an IG-100 MagnaGuard to kill her as she desperately tried to reach Dooku's shuttle. Using a blaster rifle, the droid shot Ventress down as she approached the shuttle.

Enraged and wounded, Ventress attempted to kill Kenobi, who was trying to help her, only to be dealt a mortal wound by Anakin. As she lay dying, Ventress told Kenobi to protect the Galactic Core from Dooku, and finally let go of her anger and rage. Perhaps, she mused, Kenobi had been right about her. With that, Ventress appeared to die, and Obi-Wan ordered her corpse to be placed aboard a medical shuttle.

Despite appearances to the contrary, Ventress did not die, instead placing herself in a Sith trance on Boz Pity using her Sith healing techniques to heal the wounds she suffered. She was loaded aboard the med runner Bright Flight, and, while on board, emerged from her trance and ordered the pilots to alter their course; to take her as far away as possible from the war, Dooku, and the Jedi. The pilots complied.^[2]

Legacy

A rumor existed that Ventress was seen fighting in the Second Battle of Xagobah roughly a month after Asajj had apparently disowned the Separatist cause.^[7] Anakin Skywalker and a young Boba Fett engaged in a dogfight with the Ginivex-class starfighter similar to one used by Ventress over Xagobah. Its pilot was fighting on the Confederacy's side and protecting the Techno Union Foreman Wat Tambor.^[18] However, as Geonosis had more available Ginivex fighters than Asajj's own personal one,^[19] the rumor that Ventress still fought in the war was nothing but a rumor, as she had not been seen since Boz Pity.^[20]

In 16 BBY, Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote in his journal that he was reminded of Ventress by a desert plant during his exile on Tatooine. He then planted seeds in memory of her, under the mistaken impression that she had died at Boz Pity.^[21]

Personality and traits

As a child, Asajj Ventress was likely a very caring, compassionate individual, but the slaughter of her parents left her grief-stricken and angry. While her apprenticeship under Ky Narec allowed her to at least partially recover, his death caused her to spiral into darkness.^[15] Again grief-stricken, Ventress deteriorated into rage and vengeance, abandonning Jedi philosophy and pursuing power and retribution, becoming a vicious warlord. Taking over her homeworld in a flurry of bloodshed and left with no further enemies to slake her bloodlust, Ventress focused her hatred outward, coming to obsessively blame the Jedi for, from her point of view, abandoning her master.^[15]

Recruited by Dooku, Ventress became a Sith aspirant and embarked on a vicious killing spree against the Jedi as a Separatist commander during the Clone Wars. However, her obsession over the Jedi eventually developed into a puzzling obsession over Obi-Wan Kenobi, specifically. It is unknown why she focused on Kenobi to the point of monomania, but his frequent escapes from death at her hands likely had something to do with it.

Despite the number of Jedi Ventress slew, she remained angry and pained, coming to resent Dooku for not allowing her to join the Sith.^[15]

In addition to being an extremely angered and pained individual, Ventress was very prideful. She had a great deal of faith in her own abilities and accomplishments, such that whenever they understated or criticized, Ventress would often viciously punish whomever did so, with examples including the unfortunate Captain Argyus. Most of her pride was in her lightsaber skills, which while formidable, were described as those of an amateur, to Ventress's immense chagrin.^[17]

Appearance

Physical

Asajj Ventress was a slim, angular woman with a well muscled body. Her features were severe and somewhat pointed, with pale blue eyes.

Her bald head was adorned with several black slash-mark shaped tattoos, one for each Rattataki warlord she slew. The main purpose of these was to intimidate her opponents.

At some point during the Clone Wars, Ventress apparently added tattoos to her jaw, which were absent by the time of her disappearance.^[22]

Wardrobe

Ventress often garbed herself in a skintight robe with wrappings along her arms and legs, and a long skirt, often wearing a floor-length hooded cape over top. For footwear, she often wore knee-high combat boots, though she occasionally went without, with only her leg-wrappings covering her feet.

On occasion, Ventress instead wore a tight shirt that exposed her back and her cleavage, and either a set of shorts or a short skirt over her leg wrappings.

At one time, on Ord Cestus, Ventress wore a a skintight suit of black Sullust leather design.^[11]

All in all, Ventress's various wardrobes were extremely nonrestrictive, geared towards allowing her as much speed and agility as possible.

Powers and abilities

Lightsaber skills

A Jar'Kai practitioner, Asajj Ventress originally took up the style after the death of her master, Ky Narec, taking up his lightsaber alongside her own. However, without Narec's guidance, she spiraled down the path of the dark side, and this showed in her bladework, which became furiously aggressive. She demonstrated her skills to Count Dooku during his visit to Rattatak, viciously killing off the competitors in the Cauldron in a furious display of bladework and raw power in the Force. During her subsequent duel with the Count, she fell on him in a blind fury, but was nonetheless defeated. However, she did impress the Count, and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, with her skills. The Count awarded her with the twin curved-lightsabers of his former student, Komari Vosa.^[23]

Wielding these new lightsabers, Ventress developed her skills under Dooku's tutelage, applying her skills in dual-blade combat to Makashi,^[17] and began utilizing the paired function of the weapons, demonstrating impressive skill with the saberstaff, and occasionally joined the weapons together with a fibercord, flailing them about. Eventually, her prowess as a duelist allowed her to hold her own against up to three adversaries with little difficulty, as she demonstrated during her mission to Ruul.^[24] Her skills even advanced to the point where she was able to battle and defeat or at least hold her own against Council masters, something few of her contemporaries could do.^[11][24]

However, despite her skills, she was not without her weaknesses. During her earlier years, she lacked the major levels of physical strength to compensate for the inherent weaknesses of Jar'Kai; her blows lacked power, as shown by Dooku's casual defensive moves during their bout on Rattatak;^[23] and she was left vulnerable to power attacks, as shown by her retreat before Anakin Skywalker's offensive frenzy during their duel on Yavin IV.^[25] However, she eventually developed the physical strength necessary to compensate for this weakness, demonstrating the ability to hold up simultaneous bladelocks with both Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano,^[26] both of whom were Form V practitioners.^[20] However, her technique still was not without its flaws; notably her usage of Makashi was criticized by Luminara Unduli as being "unrefined," "amateurish," and "sloppy."^[17] Ventress was also heavily reliant on her second blade, and was left at a disadvantage if deprived of it.

Force powers

Though noted for her skill in physical combat, Ventress was in no means lacking Force strength; she was able to use telekinesis to a very high degree, as evidenced when she caused large sections of a roof to collapse during her initiation on Rattatak. In that same instance she demonstrated a mastery of Force speed. Ventress also displayed a great deal of aptitude with the Force Jump, performing it frequently during her duels.

Ventress was able to use the iconic dark side power of Force Grip, as witnessed when she telekinetically lifted Captain Rex, while simultaneously choking him. Shortly after this, Ventress demonstrated an aptitude for using the Affect Mind ability, when she used the Force to make Rex do her bidding. It is also possible that Ventress was capable of using the power Force Crush, as she attempted to use it to crush the heart of Jedi Master Fay during their confrontation.

It should also be noted that she had at least some of the more esoteric Force powers at her command. Ventress was able to easily command a Rancor in her and Tol Skorrs hunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan Vos, as well as apparently re-animate dead Gungans during the Battle of Ohma-D'un.

Trivia

• During her mission to Kamino, Ventress treated Grievous like a Sith lord, bowing slightly before him and even referring to him as "my lord". While Grievous was supreme commander of the CIS army and Dooku's right-hand, being higher in rank than Ventress, a lower commander, this still does not explain her response to his orders, as Grievous, like Ventress, was not an official Sith.

Behind the scenes

Asajj Ventress was voiced by Grey DeLisle in Star Wars: Clone Wars and Nika Futterman in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and TV series. The design for Asajj Ventress comes from early Attack of the Clones brainstorming sketches by Dermot Power for the design of Palpatine's apprentice that would later become Dooku. The concept art can be seen in The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. However, the character itself was created specifically for the Clone Wars multimedia project. Note that the concept art was later converted into comic content of the character in Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War.

Leland Chee suggested to use "Asajj" as the first name for Ventress, naming her after the character Asaji from Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.^[27] She originally was to be named Juno Eclipse.^[28]

Through the Star Wars: Battlefront II Xbox Live content, Asajj Ventress is available to download to the game. In the game, her lightsabers are connected together by a fibercord at the hilt. She also threw starblades.

In the Wii, PS2, and PSP versions of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, if you enter ACOLYTE as a cheat code, you can play as Asajj Ventress. ^[29]

Portrayal

Ventress was voiced by Grey DeLisle in the 2003 series Star Wars: Clone Wars. She was voiced by Nika Futterman in the 2008 series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as the homonymous film.

Appearances

The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Mentioned only) Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 6" Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 7" Star Wars: Clone Wars PhotoComic Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War Jedi: Mace Windu (First appearance) Star Wars Republic 53: Blast Radius (Appears in flashback(s)) Rogue's Gallery Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 11" Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 17" Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 18" Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 19" Star Wars: Clone Wars – "Chapter 21" (Indirect mention only) Jedi: Count Dooku (Mentioned only) Dark Heart The Cestus Deception Star Wars Republic 58: The Battle of Jabiim, Part 4 Star Wars Republic 59: Enemy Lines Star Wars Republic 60: Hate and Fear Star Wars Republic 62: No Man's Land (Mentioned only) Star Wars Republic 64: Bloodlines (Appears in flashback(s)) Star Wars Republic: Show of Force (Mentioned only) CIS Shadowfeed Dispatch 15:01:15 Edition Jedi Trial (Appears in hologram) Yoda: Dark Rendezvous Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili The Clone Wars: Shadowed Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Hidden Enemy" Star Wars: The Clone Wars film / novel Star Wars The Clone Wars 5: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 5: A Slave now, a Slave forever Star Wars The Clone Wars 6: Slaves of the Republic - Chapter 6: Escape from Kadavo The Way of the Jedi Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 1: Shipyards of Doom Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 2: Crash Course The Clone Wars: Prelude Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Ambush" Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Rookies" (Appears in hologram) The Clone Wars: The Fall of Falleen Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Cloak of Darkness" The Clone Wars: No Prisoners (Mentioned only) Star Wars The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct (Mentioned only) Star Wars: Obsession Boba Fett: Pursuit (Mentioned only) Labyrinth of Evil (Mentioned only) Star Wars Republic: The Siege of Saleucami (Mentioned only) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel (Mentioned only) Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Mentioned only) The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader (Mentioned only)

Non-canon appearances

• Star Wars: Battlefront II (Xbox Live content only)
• Orders are orders
• Sith make the best pancakes
• LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
• LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
• Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game

Sources

• The New Essential Chronology
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 116 (VEN1-2, Asajj Ventress)
• Star Wars Miniatures: Clone Strike
• Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties
• Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous
• Order 66: Destroy All Jedi
• The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide
• "Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season One Episode Guide, Part One" - Star Wars Insider 106
• The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles
•  A-17 (Alpha) in the Databank
•  Aidus in the Databank
•  Argyus in the Databank
•  Sora Bulq in the Databank
•  Dooku in the Databank
•  Durge in the Databank
•  Adi Gallia in the Databank
•  Geonosian fanblade starfighter in the Databank
•  Giant Flog in the Databank
•  Grievous in the Databank
•  Katuunko in the Databank
•  Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Databank
•  K'Kruhk in the Databank
•  L8-L9 in the Databank
•  Rattatak in the Databank
•  Rotta in the Databank
•  Asajj Ventress in the Databank
•  Mace Windu in the Databank
•  Yavin 4 in the Databank

Notes and references

External links

•  Kenobi Vs. Ventress: A Clone Wars Grudge Match on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Drawing Asajj Ventress on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Ventress, Asajj in the Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Asajj Ventress on Wikipedia

Dark Acolytes
Leader Darth Tyranus Acolytes Sora Bulq · Artel Darc · Dark Acolyte Trio · Karoc · Saato Kadrian Sey · Tol Skorr · Sev'rance Tann · Trenox Nikkos Tyris · Asajj Ventress · Vinoc · Quinlan Vos · Doppelgänger of Dooku