Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: parents, pronouns, children, siblings, partners, families, feathers and unrecognized parameters: era
- "Why are you doing this? Didn't you torture me enough in camp? What did I do that you'd hold a grudge...for years?"
"Do? You did nothing. In fact, I'm grateful to you." - ―Ania and her former tormentor
This masked bounty hunter or that guard was a former female Human prison guard from Drash-So who became a bounty hunter in the aftermath of the Second Imperial Civil War. During the last years of Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire, she worked as a prison guard at a One Sith-run labor camp on the planet Drash-so. While working as a prison guard, she developed a reputation for her brutality and cruelty, and wielded a laser whip. At some point, she came into contact with Ania Solo, a descendant of the smuggler Han Solo. Ania and her lover Ramid attempted to escape the prison camp. While Ania succeeded in escaping offworld, Ramid was recaptured.
Unwilling to report her failure to her Sith superiors, she instead assumed Ania's identity. Following the defeat of the One Sith, the labor camp was liberated by the Fel Empire. Due to her stolen identity, the guard was able to evade prosecution for her crimes. At some point, she encountered the Imperial Knight Teemen Alton and murdered him. Since she had stolen Ania's identity, the Galactic Federation Triumvirate believed that Ania had committed the crime. After Ania resurfaced following the Carreras Incident, the Triumvirate placed her on their Most Wanted list in 139 ABY. The guard then assumed the persona of a bounty hunter and sought to hunt down and capture Ania.
She wanted to frame Ania for her crime by replacing her organic hand with her own prosthetic one. Following a lengthy pursuit, the bounty hunter succeeded in tracking Ania down to a remote world which rained acid and glass. Before she could complete her frame-up, Ania Solo was rescued by her Imperial Knight friend Jao Assam. During the struggle, Jao succeeded in severing her prosthetic hand. After shaking him off, the bounty hunter advanced on Ania, but the latter managed to snag the remote for her TIE/sa bomber, causing it to crash into the bounty hunter and killing her. Subsequently, Ania was arrested by stormtroopers and taken back to Coruscant for trial. However, Assam collected the bounty hunter's prosthetic hand and presented it as evidence to clear Ania's name.
Biography
Imperial service
The bounty hunter in her outfit
- "I know you...from Drash-so! You were a guard!"
- ―Ania Solo's reunion with her former captor
During the Second Imperial Civil War, this unidentified masked bounty hunter served as a prison guard at an Imperial prison camp on Drash-so. This unnamed guard was known for her cruelty and brutality towards prisoners, and wielded a laser whip. At some point, she lost her left hand and obtained a prosthetic hand that was capable of linking to her laser whip. During her stint as a prison guard, she encountered Ania Solo, a descendant of Han Solo, who had been sent to the labor camp with her lover Ramid for murder. Ania recalled that the guard regularly beat and tortured her. When Ania escaped the labor camp and fled offworld to the Carreras system, the guard did not report her escape to her One Sith superiors for fear of being punished for losing a prisoner, a misdemeanor which carried the death penalty.[1]
Instead, the guard assumed Ania's identity. When the "renegade" Fel Empire liberated the Drash-So prison camp, she had the perfect alibi and was able to escape prosecution for her crimes. Assuming Ania's identity, the former prison guard escaped Drash-so as a refugee. At some point, she came across the Imperial Knight Teemen Alton, whom she regarded as an arrogant man. When the Knight got in her way, the impostor killed him with her laser whip in the Opoku system. The former guard then assumed the persona of a bounty hunter until things cooled down.[1]
Hunting Ania Solo
- "Please! We...we don't know anything! But we have... credits!"
"Where is Ania Solo?" - ―An alien creditor encountering the bounty hunter in Ania's junk yard
The bounty hunter's TIE bomber
Following the Carreras Incident, the Triumvirate placed a bounty on Ania's head for the alleged murder of Teemen Alton as part of their new program of hunting down war criminals.[3] The former prison guard, now a bounty hunter, decided to settle old scores with Ania. After learning that Ania had traveled to the Carreras system following her prison break-out, she visited Ania's abandoned junkyard on Carreras Minor's moon. There, she stumbled across a group of creditors who had come to collect Ania's unpaid debts and killed them, but not before demanding to know Ania's whereabouts.[4]
Meanwhile, Ania and her newly-found companions traveled to Lasgo Port to deliver supplies while on their quest to hunt down the rogue Sith Darth Wredd.[4] However, Ania was instead kidnapped by her old lover Ramid, who had a grudge against Ania for leaving him for dead during their escape attempt from Drash-so. Ramid intended to collect the Triumvirate bounty on her head. Ramid and his crew ended up on a barren planet that rained acid and glass. While entering the planet's atmosphere, they were pursued by the masked bounty hunter, who had by then procured an antique TIE bomber. The masked bounty hunter pursued Ramid's starship and inflicted damage, forcing it to crash-land on the barren planet's surface.[3]
Ania and a wounded Ramid survived the crash but were quickly cornered by the bounty hunter. The bounty hunter exited her TIE bomber and demanded that Ania come out if she was still alive.[3] The bounty hunter announced that she preferred to take her prey alive but vowed to kill her if she resisted. After sending a medical droid to tend to the wounded Ramid, Ania exited Ramid's starship and open fire on her pursuer, knocking her out with a blast to the head. Ania then fled into the nearby wilderness before her pursuer could recover. The bounty hunter survived because her head was shielded by her visor.[5]
Ania eventually stumbled upon a ruined temple that overlooked a valley populated by giant beetles. Ania fell over the cliff and was almost trampled to death by the beetles. However, she was rescued by the masked bounty hunter hunter who used her laser whip to drag her out of the valley. The bounty hunter then used her laser whip to bind Ania's hands and led her back to her TIE bomber. During the journey, Ania denied killing the Imperial Knight on the grounds that she had been caught so easily. However, her captor retorted that Ania had shot her in the head, which did not make her sympathetic to her cause. The bounty hunter then used her remote to summon her TIE bomber. Ania attempted to taunt her captor for being a lone wolf but the bounty hunter would have none of her banter. Before the bounty hunter could take Ania away in her transport, Ania's old lover Ramid resurfaced on his speeder bike and rescued Ania. During the attack, the bounty hunter was knocked unconscious but was unhurt. [5]
Final Stand
- "Oh? I take it I don't need anything special to work this?"
"The remote--" - ―Ania and the bounty hunter during the latter's last moments
The bounty hunter torturing Ania Solo
Ania and Ramid managed to escape on their speeder bike into the wilderness. While sheltering during a "glass storm", the two reconciled their differences and forgave each other. Meanwhile, Ania's companions—the Imperial Knight Jao Assam, the assassin droid AG-37, and the Mon Calamari engineer Sauk—learnt from the Imperial Knight Master Yalta Val that Ania had been framed for the murder of Teemen Alton. Val found evidence that the real murderer had a prosthetic hand. By this stage, Ania's companions had landed on the barren planet that rained acid and glass and were closing in on Ania's trail. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter traveled to the planet's only settlement where she killed the local residents, but not before they managed to send a distress call. The bounty hunter then hid within the settlement, setting a trap for Ania and Ramid.[2]
The masked bounty hunter managed to ambush Ania, when she stumbled across a pile of bodies of the residents who had been killed by the bounty hunter. Before Ania could alert Ramid, the bounty hunter snuck up on her from behind and grabbed Ania around the neck with her laser whip. However, Ramid then appeared and attacked the bounty hunter from behind. He managed to stab the bounty hunter's breathing apparatus but the bounty hunter then threw him against the wall. She then proceeded to strangle Ramid, who tried to disable her prosthetic hand with his knife. However, the bounty hunter proved stronger and succeeded in breaking Ramid's neck. Before she could turn her attention to Ania, the young woman's Imperial Knight friend resurfaced and fought against the bounty hunter with his lightsaber. Ania then took the opportunity to flee outside only to get caught in an acid rainstorm.[2]
Following a protracted duel, the bounty hunter managed to drive Jao away by detonating a thermal detonator, which damaged the building. However, the Imperial Knight survived due to his Force powers. The bounty hunter then found Ania hiding in a cave. The assassin droid AG-37 had carried her into the cave before shutting down due to internal damage caused by the acid storm. Ania fought with the bounty hunter and jumped into a chasm. However, the bounty hunter caught on to her boot with her laser whip. Ania then dragged her down with her and managed to grab a laser whip. Since the bounty hunter had rigged the whip to work with her prosthetic hand, Ania was unable to activate it.[1]
After revealing her identity to Ania, the bounty hunter knocked her unconscious and fastened her left hand to a metal restraint. She intended to amputate Ania's hand and implant her prosthetic hand in order to frame her for the murder of Teemen Alton. When Ania asked her why she still wanted to torture her, the bounty hunter explained that she had been punished by her Sith superiors for letting Ania escape. However, the bounty hunter then assumed Ania's identity, which enabled her to evade capture following the end of the Second Imperial Civil War. The bounty hunter also claimed responsibility for murdering Alton but blamed the Knight for his own death.[1]
Before she could carry out her surgery, the bounty hunter was ambushed by Jao Assam who managed to throw her to the ground, causing her to drop her remote. The TIE bomber then crashed into the pit. The masked bounty hunter fought back with her laser whip and managed to choke Jao with it. However, Jao managed to free Ania using his Force powers and the girl grabbed a blaster. Ania then shot the bounty hunter's prosthetic hand, causing her to drop her whip and to lose her grip on Jao. Before Jao could recover, the bounty hunter approached Ania and attempted to execute her with a blaster pistol. However, Ania grabbed the bounty hunter's remote and used the TIE bomber to ram into her, killing the bounty hunter.[1]
Legacy
- "I took this artificial hand from a woman who was trying to attach it to Ania...to make Solo pay for a crime she didn't commit!"
- ―Jao Assam, presenting evidence clearing Ania's name
The death of the masked bounty hunter ended the threat that she posed to Ania Solo. Despite her death, the damaged that she had wrought on Ania remained behind. Shortly after her death, a squad of Trandoshan stormtroopers arrested Ania for the alleged murder of Teemen Alton. Ania was flown to the galactic capital Coruscant to face trial. Having uncovered evidence pointing to the bounty hunter, Master Yalta Val represented her in court. When the military tribunal demanded evidence to corroborate Ania's innocence, the Imperial Knight Jao Assam presented the dead bounty hunter's severed hand. Faced with evidence pointing to Ania's innocence, the Triumvirate authorities were forced to exonerate Ania and release her from custody.[1]
Personality and traits
- "Ania Solo, show yourself now -- if you still live! I prefer to take you alive but I will take you in pieces if I need to! Come out or I blow up what's left of this ship."
- ―The bounty hunter displaying a ruthless and violent streak
The bounty hunter was skilled at fighting with lightwhips
The masked bounty hunter had a reputation as a cruel and sadistic prison guard. She was hated by many of her former prisoners including Ania Solo. The masked bounty hunter also had a vindictive streak as evident when she went to great lengths to frame Ania for a crime that she herself had committed. She regarded the Fel Empire as "renegades" and was loyal to the One Sith and their Galactic Empire.[1] The bounty hunter was also willing to kill without hesitation as shown when she murdered several creditors who happened to visit Ania's junk yard to collect debts.[4] Later, she killed the entire population of a settlement on a remote world during her quest to hunt down Ania Solo.[2] She also exhibited an unfriendly demeanor and had little patience for jokes and bantering.[5]
Powers and abilities
- "You shouldn't have followed me. I have experience killing Imperial Knights."
- ―The bounty hunter, while fighting Jao Assam
The masked bounty hunter was skilled in fighting and using laser whips. She was able to take on lightsaber-wielding Imperial Knights on at least two occasions. At some point, she lost her left hand and acquired a prosthetic hand that was rigged to operate her laser whip.[1] She was also resourceful enough to use her whip as a lasso and a pair of improvised restraints. The bounty hunter was also a tough and resilient fighter, who was capable of taking damage.[5] The bounty hunter also flew an antique TIE bomber, which had been modified to fly on autopilot when activated by a remote. She was also a skilled pilot and was able to down Ramid's starship.[3]
Behind the scenes
The masked bounty hunter first appeared as the main villain in Star Wars: Legacy Volume 3—Wanted: Ania Solo, the third story arc in Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman's Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2 which ran from January 22 to May 28, 2014. She was designed by Jimmy Presler, drawn by Gabriel Hardman, and colored by Jordan Boyd. There was speculation among fans that the bounty hunter was Morrigan Corde, Cade Skywalker's mother and Ania's aunt. However, Bechko and Hardman dismissed the credibility of this plot twist and decided to keep the bounty hunter an unknown character.[6]
Appearances
- Legacy 11 (First appearance)
- Legacy 12
- Legacy 13
- Legacy 14
- Legacy 15 (First identified as Unidentified masked bounty hunter)