Nikkos Tyris was a male Anzati who had served the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight during the final decades of the Republic Classic era. Lost to the Order after a violent confrontation with the Bando Gora cult, Tyris fell to the dark side of the Force and became one of the founders of the Jensaarai. He was one of Count Dooku's Dark Acolytes during the Clone Wars, and was killed by Nejaa Halcyon during the conflict.

BiographyEdit

Discovered at an early age to be Force-sensitive on his homeworld of Anzat, Nikkos Tyris was trained at the Jedi Order's largest academy, the Coruscant Jedi Temple. During his time as a Padawan, Tyris crafted for himself an azure-bladed lightsaber, and utilized a bizarre form of the shien lightsaber technique. Ascending to the rank of Jedi Knight, Tyris was dispatched to Baltizaar with a task force of other Knights assigned to wipe out the dark side cult known as the Bando Gora. However, the Jedi were outmatched by the dark-siders and most were slain; the Jedi High Council believed Tyris to be among the casualties. However, he survived and gathered other survivors to him, encouraging them down the path to the dark side and to relocate themselves on Susevfi.^[1]

For nearly two decades Tyris and his cult studied ancient Sith texts in their newly erected bastion, combining the techniques of the Jedi with dark side heresies into the doctrine known as the Saarai. Taking the name "Jensaarai", the "hidden followers of truth" in the ancient Sith language, the cult grew strong enough to become a concern for both the Jedi High Council and the secret Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious. When the Clone Wars erupted between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 22 BBY, Tyris was approached by Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy and the alter ego of Sith Lord Darth Tyranus. Dooku gifted Tyris with a Sith holocron favored by former Anzati Jedi Volfe Karkko and convinced the cult leader to join the Separatist war effort. Granting the Jensaari members the title of Dark Acolytes within the ranks of the Separatist Droid Army, Tyris and other leading members of the group, known as the Saarai-kaar, remained on Susevfi during the final days of the war.^[1]

A month before the war would end, the Jedi Order dispatched the Knights Nejaa Halcyon, Ylenic It'kla, and Desertwind to remove the Jensaari leadership. Attacking their fortress on Susevfi, the Jedi engaged Tyris, Dustrose, and another loyal follower, in an attempt to remove the Jensaari from the war. Recalled as Nightsweat by Jedi It'kla, the Jedi attempted to turn the Dark Jedi from their path, but were rebuffed. As the battle raged on, the other members of the Saarai-kaar fell to the Jedi leaving Tyris alone with Jedi Halcyon. Taking advantage of Halycon's lack of telekinetic powers, Tyris was able to impale the Human on his lightsaber. As Halcyon lay dying, he mustered his remaining strength to drain Tyris' weapon of its power and conjure a "fist" of energy. Releasing the energy, Halcyon crushed every bone in the Anzati's body before passing into the Force. The release of dark side energies at the deaths of the three Jensaarai leaders collapsed the structure where the rest of the Jensaarai were dwelling, killing all but four of the apprentices. The survivors included the wife of one of Tyris' apprentices, the woman who would later become the Saarai-kaar of the Jensaarai.^[1]

Powers and abilitiesEdit

Tyris favored the Shien variant of lightsaber combat, holding the blade pointed toward the ground by the strong side hand, with the off side hand riding loosely on the weapon's pommel. He moved the blade in a triangular pattern that effectively warded the lower two-thirds of his body from attack. With this unique style, he could deliver lightning-fast slashes and ripostes that could easily split an opponent from groin to neck, while also rapidly rotating upwards to block overhead strikes.^[1]

Behind the scenesEdit

Both "Nikos" and "Tyris" are actual Greek name and surname respectively; in Greek the full name would be "Νίκος Τυρής". Nikos is a diminutive of Nicolas.

AppearancesEdit

• I, Jedi (Appears in dream and Caamasi memnis)
• Vision of the Future (Mentioned only)

SourcesEdit

• The Official Star Wars Fact File 24 (DEA4, The Destruction of Alderaan)
• "I, Jensaarai"—Polyhedron 157
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 116 (DOO8, Count Dooku)
• Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
• Ultimate Alien Anthology
• The New Essential Chronology
• The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
• Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties on Hyperspace (article) (content now obsolete; backup links 1 2 on Archive.org)
• Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition Core Rulebook
• Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
• The Unknown Regions
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and referencesEdit