Star Wars: Asajj Ventress Breakdown
Asajj Ventress made her first appearance in 2003 in Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars and never stopped being one of the best characters in the galaxy.
Asaji Ventress: The Beginning
Like Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress is a Dathomirian Zabrak with some Sith training. She was born into a Force-sensitive clan of Nightsisters led by Mother Talzin– who you may remember is Maul’s mother. Early in her life, Asajj was surrendered to the pirate Hal’Sted who in turn raised her as a slave until he was killed by Weequay pirates. Asajj was eventually found and rescued by the Jedi Knight Ky Narec, and from there, her education in the force was finally able to begin.
For a decade, Ky Narec taught Asajj to use the force and the two protected the people of Rattatak against the criminal underworld and pirates. Unfortunately, Asajj would be once again orphaned. Narec was eventually killed by the very pirates they were working to rid the planet of.
Joining the Dark Side
This loss filled Asajj with rage and grief and began her embrace of the Dark Side of the Force. Asajj began sieging power from the criminal underground she had previously fought to protect people against and ruled in their stead, but a failed assassination of the warlord Osika Kirske lead to her capture and return to slavery as she was forced to fight in his arena as a gladiator.
At some point after this, Count Dooku discovered Asajj and began training her as his Acolyte in the dark side. Throughout the Clone Wars and under Dooku’s guidance Asajj acted as a commander in the Separatist droid army and worked as an assassin to the Sith.
She would frequently engage in lightsaber battle with some of the wars most famous Jedi such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. But some of her more successful jobs include kidnapping Rotta the Hutt and infiltrating Kamino to rescue Nute Gunray.
Despite her power and loyalty, Asajj was always competing- and losing- for Dooku’s favor against General Grievous. And when Darth Sidious told Dooku to kill Asajj as a show of loyalty, he was more than happy to comply.
Asaji Left for Dead
Once again alone, she found her way back to Dathomir. There, Mother Talzin welcomed her back into the coven and tried to help her seek revenge against Count Dooku. But the assassination attempts failed. After that, Asajj chose to make a new life for herself and rejoin her clan on Dathomir for good.
What could have been a peaceful and meaningful end to her story turned once more to tragedy. General Grievous brought a droid arm to massacre the Nightsisters. This left Talzin and Asajj as some of the very few survivors.
Asaji the Bounty Hunter
Needing a new life and purpose, Asajj became a bounty hunter. And she found a great deal of success in the vocation. She rescued former enemies like Kenobi and worked alongside Ahsoka Tano. Eventually she even partnered with Jedi Master Quinlan Vos both romantically and in a plot to end Count Dooku once and for all.
Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos on the cover of Dark Disciple.
But if we know one thing about Asajj Ventress it’s that she’s destined to never have nice things. This mission, like all of the previous revenge plots she had attempted before, failed. It also resulted in the capture and dark-side-turn of Vos. She refused to go back to the dark side with Quinlan and was killed with Dooku’s force lightning.
What is your favorite Asajj Ventress moment? Which show, book, comic, etc. that she appears in is your favorite? Asajj deserved better, but what do you think her ending should have looked like? Let us know in the comments!
May The Force Be With You, Adventurers!
