Rakghoul

Rakghouls were a type of Sith-spawned mutants, engineered by the Sith Lord Karness Muur. Desiring an army to rule over and seeking a way to cheat death as so many other Sith before and after him did, Muur had a talisman forged that he poured his spirit and power into, one that eventually came to be known as the Muur Talisman. Muur's talisman could turn almost any sentient being near him into a mindless rakghoul which he could control, but he found that there were exceptions: Force-sensitives and certain alien species could resist the talisman's effects. Thus, Muur engineered the "rakghoul plague," a virus-like disease that could be spread by a rakghoul's bite or a scratch from its claws, and that subjected the victim to a slower transformation into a rakghoul. Jealous and fearful of his power, Muur's Sith rivals killed him, and over time, the Muur Talisman came to reside on the Outer Rim world of Taris where the rakghoul plague ran rampant throughout the world's impoverished Undercity, creating vast numbers of rakghouls. The people of Taris would manage to put an end to the rakghoul presence on their world at some point prior to the year 19 BBY, and by the days of the Second Imperial Civil War, rakghouls were believed to be extinct.

However, with the Muur Talisman lay the ability to create new rakghouls, and the galaxy would see the return of rakghouls when the oubliette belonging to the Sith Lord Remulus Dreypa was uncovered by Darth Vader, and the Jedi Knight Celeste Morne who had entombed herself and the talisman within for safekeeping nearly four thousand years prior, was revived. Morne battled Vader, but was no match for the skills of the Sith Lord and his clone stormtroopers, so she called upon the talisman's power to turn the stormtroopers into rakghouls; outnumbered, Darth Vader fled, stranding Morne on the desolate moon she had awakened on with only rakghouls and the spirit of Karness Muur for company. Several years later, Morne and the talisman would escape the moon aboard a Rebel Alliance shuttle, turning the crew of an orbiting Imperial-class Star Destroyer into rakghouls during her escape. Later, after her ship had been taken aboard a Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer, Morne turned the crew of the Iron Sun into subservient rakghouls with the power of the Muur Talisman. Morne and her rakghoul crew later came into contact with former Jedi Cade Skywalker, who convinced Morne to join him in his campaign against the current Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Krayt, after curing the rakghoul plague he had been infected with using his unique healing ability. During their attack on Krayt's forces, Krayt was killed and Morne convinced Skywalker to end her life and her suffering under Karness Muur's constant psychic presence. Skywalker then destroyed the Muur Talisman as it attempted to bind itself to a new host, effectively putting an end to the primary source of rakghouls.

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