Asajj Ventress

Asajj Ventress was a Dathomirian Nightsister who lived through the fall of the Galactic Republic, becoming an accomplished warrior in the Clone Wars. She was taken from her family as an infant on the planet Dathomir and enslaved by pirates on the war-torn world of Rattatak, where the stranded Jedi Knight Ky Narec found Ventress and took her under his wing. They defended the local populace against warlords and pirates, but Narec was killed before training was complete, and the Force-sensitive girl hunted Rattatak's warlords in rage. Bereft of guidance, Ventress was discovered and trained as an acolyte by the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, publicly the Separatist leader Count Dooku. She led Separatist droid forces against the Republic's clone army and the Jedi who defended its democracy during the Clone Wars, clashing blades against Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Dooku's dark disciple was responsible for kidnapping Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta, rescuing Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, and infiltrating the clone homeworld of Kamino, though she competed with the Separatist military leader General Grievous. When Dooku abruptly abandoned Ventress under the orders of his master, Darth Sidious, she rejoined her Nightsister brethren and helped Mother Talzin's plots against the Sith, attempting to assassinate Dooku and training the Dathomirian Savage Opress as a Nightsister pawn who posed as Dooku's aspiring apprentice—only for her sisters to be massacred by Grievous and his army.

Ventress was deeply hurt by the loss of her newfound family and so took to wandering the galaxy in search of a purpose, finding her skills useful in bounty hunting. Her work forced her to adopt a series of unexpected alliances—she rescued Obi-Wan Kenobi from the clutches of the renegade Sith Lord Maul and Savage Opress and worked with Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, when Tano was falsely accused of bombing the Jedi Temple. When the Jedi Order sent Jedi Master Quinlan Vos on a secret mission to assassinate Dooku, Ventress worked with Vos and taught him about her former master—and about the dark side of the Force. Ventress and Vos fell in love while preparing for their attempt, but it failed as well.

Under Dooku's torture and goading, the Jedi Master fell decisively to the dark side as he developed hatred for Ventress’ slaying of his own Jedi Master earlier in the war, and he became known as the Separatist Admiral Enigma. Shattered but determined to right her mistake, Ventress approached Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Jedi High Council, and they worked together to rescue Vos. Although Ventress sensed his fall, Vos refused to believe that he still had his own darkness, and the Jedi Council assigned him to battle Dooku, albeit with backup. Ventress joined Vos, and though the Jedi realized that he indeed was giving himself fully to the dark side, Ventress was unwilling to part with her lover despite being taken by surprise that Vos was working closely with Dooku. She tried to take them away from Republic forces on Christophsis to no avail. Although Vos was attempting to uncover the mysterious Darth Sidious through Dooku, the Separatist leader would have killed Vos if not for the intervention of Ventress, who sacrificed herself and embraced the light.

Asajj Ventress' death prompted Vos to renounce the dark side and surrender to the Jedi. She was honored for her sacrifice by the Jedi Council, which recognized their own mistakes. Vos and Kenobi returned Ventress' body to her clan's village on Dathomir. As her body sank into the waters of her home, Ventress entered the spirit world, where she heard the voice of Mother Talzin. The Nightsister leader offered her the chance to return to the land of the living at the cost of giving up her heart's desire. Ventress decided to do so, stepping back into life.

With the Clone Wars over and the Galactic Empire now ruling the galaxy, she returned to bounty hunting, during which time she helped the fugitive clone Omega during a brief encounter on Pabu. In time, Ventress gave up her old life in favor of a quiet life as a security guard on an unremarkable astronomical object. However, upon meeting the young Jedi Lyco Strata, she assisted him in escaping Imperial stormtroopers and an Inquisitor before embarking on several other missions together.

Text and facts from the “Asajj Ventress” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.