Star Wars: Asajj Ventress — All Fear the Huntress of Dathomir
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.
The best Star Wars villains leave an impression—from Vader and Thrawn to that silly goober Grievous, they’ve all carved out territory in our minds. Asajj Ventress is no different. She’s a terrifying warrior who, let’s be honest, serves a fierce look. Her dual-lightsabers are quick and so is her wit, as illustrated in her spicy fights with a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. But who is Asajj Ventress the Nightsister?
Asajj 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 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. From there, her education in the force was finally able to begin.
For a decade, Ky Narec taught Asajj to use 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 siezing power from the criminal underground she had previously fought to protect people against. She chose to rule in their stead. A failed assassination of the warlord Osika Kirske led 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, under Dooku’s guidance, Asajj acted as a commander in the Separatist droid army and worked as an assassin for the Sith.
She frequently engaged in lightsaber battles with some of the war’s most famous Jedi, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. However, some of her more successful jobs included 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.
Asajj Ventress 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 rejoined 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. Leaving Talzin and Asajj as some of the very few survivors after the battle.
Asajj Ventress 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.
But if we know one thing about Asajj Ventress, it’s that she’s destined never to 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.
Appearance in the Bad Batch
Asajj’s story didn’t end there – she survived. She resumed taking bounty hunter jobs while traveling on her own starship and carrying a new yellow lightsaber. She was contacted by Fennec Shand, who asked for more information on the Empire’s hunt for individuals with high Midi-chlorian counts. Shand also provided Asajj with information on the clones and Omega so she could track them down.
When she confronted them, she told them they were being “wreckless” in their search for information and needed to back off and lay low. After an altercation with the clones, all parties agreed to a truce. Ventress would be allowed to test Omega’s abilities and Midi-chlorian count. After the test was complete, Asajj went on her way alone.
If and when she’ll show up in the galaxy again is unknown.
