- "I'm no Jedi."
- ―Ahsoka Tano, to Darth Vader
A Zabrak Force-sensitive Outcast
"Force-Sensitive Outcast" was a term during the Republic Era for Force-sensitive individuals who went after their own agendas in rejection of Jedi and Sith way. Those outcasts remained in the galaxy's outskirts, and with the possession of a lightsaber and the use of the Force, they had the choice to pursue their own destinies. While some outcasts had evaded discovery or recruitment by either order, some had been trained in either organization's ways but left—sometimes by choice and sometimes by expulsion. Some Force-Sensitive Outcasts were self-taught, and used their skills to gain wealth or influence outside of the law.[2] With the advent of the Imperial Era and near-total destruction of the Jedi, there were a greater number of Force-sensitives who, wanting to survive, remained in hiding[3][4] or rejected taking on a Jedi or Sith way.[5][6]
During the Clone Wars, Padawan Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order but continued her work to help those in need throughout the Imperial Era. Around that time, Maul was expelled from the Sith Order and the lineage of the Rule of Two by his master, Darth Sidious, and so worked in the criminal underworld to gather influence and power in the form of illicit syndicates such as the Shadow Collective and Crimson Dawn. The Nightsister Asajj Ventress rejected the doctrines of both the Jedi and the Sith and sought nothing but to live with her lover, Quinlan Vos, amidst the height of the war before embracing the act of self-sacrifice to save Vos's life on Christophsis, only for her to survive the ordeal.
Outcasts[]
Ty Yorrick[]
Main article: During the High Republic Era, Tholothian Ty Yorrick trained as a Padawan in the Jedi Order. Eventually, however, events transpired to cause her to leave the Order, becoming a "saber-for-hire" and independent monster hunter.[7] Yorrick would later work with Jedi Master Stellan Gios and Padawan Bell Zettifar against the Nihil pirates.[8]
Asajj Ventress[]
Lost[]
- "He abandoned me without warning. He said I had failed him for the last time, and left me for dead. But I survived, and I vowed to kill him."
- ―Asajj Ventress
After leaving the Jedi and Sith behind, Asajj Ventress became a bounty hunter.
Prior to the Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress served as the apprentice of Jedi Knight Ky Narec. However, after her master was killed by Weequay raiders, Ventress was corrupted by the dark side of the Force and renounced the Jedi way. Eventually, Ventress was recruited by the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, publicly known as Count Dooku of Serenno, as a Dark Acolyte. During the Clone Wars, Ventress served as a commander in the Confederacy military, having the title Supreme Leader[10] and earning a reputation as a fearsome assassin for Dooku. In 20 BBY, Tyranus attempted to have Ventress killed at the Battle of Sullust, as the former's master Darth Sidious became wary of Ventress' growing power.[11]
Surviving the battle, Ventress was now an outcast, ostracized by both the Jedi and the Sith. Exhausted, Ventress returned to the Nightsisters of Dathomir, the coven of witches she had been born into before being taken away by the enslaver Hal'Sted. With the help of Mother Talzin and the Nightsisters, Ventress began plotting her revenge against the Sith Lord who'd abandoned her.[11] After several failed assassination plots, Tyranus' wrath was brought down on the Nightsisters; he sent the Separatist Droid Army led by Supreme Commander General Grievous to annihilate the witches. The Nightsisters were subsequently wiped out, and Ventress was left alone once again.[12]
The path[]
- "[Y]our existence has been nothing but pain and loss. Never feeling secure. Never having a home. You deserve so much, and I can get it for us. The life we'll be able to have together once—"
"What kind of life will that be, Quinlan? The kind where we're slaves to our hatred? Our rage? That's what the dark side made me. That's what it does. Nothing is ever enough. You get more, and more, but you're never happy. It's a trap baited with all the things you want most. That life—it's not worth living. I already left that behind. You can, too. You have a choice." - ―Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress
Partnered with Quinlan Vos, Asajj Ventress ultimately chose the way of the light, saving the Jedi from falling to darkness.
Taking up work as a bounty hunter and using her affinity with the Force as an advantage over others, Asajj Ventress soon found herself embroiled in the Jedi Order's plot to assassinate Count Dooku. Allied with the Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, the former Sith-aspirant trained Vos to master the dark side of the Force in conjunction with the light in her attempt to ready themselves for facing Dooku.[9]
As teacher and disciple spent more time together and trained on desolate Dathomir, the two fell in love. When the time came for them to strike at Count Dooku, however, the Sith overpowered Ventress and captured Quinlan Vos, the latter of whom succumbed to emotions including fear, anger, and hatred, and thus fell to darkness. Burdened with guilt of presenting power Vos was not prepared to control, Asajj Ventress turned to the Jedi for help. Despite joining forces with the Jedi, Ventress remained independent, and eventually found her way to Quinlan Vos.[9]
Whilst Ventress was faced with the onslaught of Republic forces in a Separatist tower alongside Vos and Dooku, the former Sith acolyte realized that the dark side led to imbalance and deprivation, and was able to let go of revenge and[9] embraced the light.[13] Asajj Ventress let go of killing Dooku, ultimately[9] appearing to[14] sacrifice herself amidst the Sith Lord's taunts and counter-attack to save her lover, as well as the Jedi Order, from straying into darkness.[9] She survived, however, and was alive during the Imperial Era.[14]
Ahsoka Tano[]
- "I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not coming back."
- ―Ahsoka Tano, to Anakin Skywalker
Following her expulsion and trial, Ahsoka Tano lost faith in the Jedi Order.
In 19 BBY,[16] Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano was framed by the fallen Jedi Barriss Offee for the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar. Despite Tano's pleas of innocence, the Jedi High Council expelled her from the Order, believing she was responsible for the bombing. Tano's master, Anakin Skywalker, was able to unearth Offee's plot and Tano was exonerated. The Council invited Tano back into the Order, but, having had her faith in the Order shattered, she opted to not return to the Jedi. Subsequently, Tano began life as a Force-sensitive outcast in the underworld of Coruscant,[15] leaving the Jedi to pursue her destiny.[17]
During the Siege of Mandalore, Tano was contacted by Obi-Wan Kenobi via hologram. Amongst other things, Kenobi informed Tano that Skywalker had been assigned by the Council to spy on Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. Kenobi told Tano that she should speak to Skywalker, as Tano's former master was unhappy with the assignment. Tano believed that she was not the best person to defend the Council considering her own faltering opinions on them. Later, Tano was confronted by the renegade Sith Lord Maul in the Grand Salon of the Sundari Royal Palace on Mandalore. Maul used Tano's discontent for the Council in an attempt to convince her to join his side.[18]
Ahsoka Tano in her Mandalorian battle outfit
After successfully capturing Maul, Tano expressed her dissatisfaction with the Jedi's role in the war to Clone Commander CT-7567 "Rex" during their journey back to Coruscant onboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal. Just like Offee, Tano had grown to dislike the Jedi's involvement in the Clone Wars, specifically their ongoing transition from peace-keepers to soldiers. Rex told her his thoughts on the war, saying that without it, he and his clone brothers would not exist. Tano decided that she believed that was one good thing that came out of the war and thanked Rex for being such a good friend to her. However, after the execution of Order 66, the clone troopers onboard the ship turned on her and attacked her.[19] Tano rescued Rex from the effects of the inhibitor chip by removing it from him and escaped with him in a BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bomber as the Tribunal began to plummet onto a nearby moon.[20]
After the fall of the Jedi and the Galactic Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire, Tano found her place in helping those in need in the Outer Rim Territories. Diverting from the Jedi ways, Tano served the people of the galaxy through her bonds with others, inspiring those suffering under the Empire's grip to rise up and fight for freedom.[21]
In 3 BBY,[22] Tano visited the Lothal Jedi Temple with Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger. The entrance to the temple required a user of the Force to raise it from the ground. Bridger suggested that Tano should raise the temple, however, considering she was no longer a Jedi, Tano stated that she couldn't.[23] Later, during the Mission to Malachor, Tano encountered the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Refusing to believe that her former master could ever be as vile as Vader, Tano remarked that she would avenge Anakin's death. Vader questioned Tano's words, believing that revenge was not the Jedi way. Tano proceeded to draw both of her lightsabers while telling Vader that she was no Jedi, displaying her detachment from the Jedi path.[1]
Maul[]
- "So, the rumors are true, Darth Maul lives."
"Formerly Darth, now just Maul." - ―The Seventh Sister and Maul
In 32 BBY,[16] the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Maul was defeated in battle by the Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Naboo.[24] Maul's mangled body was taken to the junk world Lotho Minor where he progressively became insane over the course of ten years.[25] After being found and rehabilitated by his brother, Savage Opress, Maul set out to retake his title as a Sith. However, after Sidious killed both Opress and their mother, Talzin, Maul felt betrayed by the Sith and sought revenge against his former master.[1]
As head of the Shadow Collective, Maul became ruler of Mandalore.
Maul formed a criminal organization known as the Shadow Collective and commenced a hostile takeover of the planet Mandalore.[26] Defeated by both sides of the Force, he had come to realize that he had only ever been a pawn of Sidious and vowed to prevent the Sith's domination of the galaxy. When Ahsoka Tano came to liberate the planet from Maul's rule during the Siege of Mandalore, he empathized with their shared disconnect from their respective orders and asked her to join him in defeating Sidious. Tano asked Maul why he opposed the Sith, to which he replied that the Sith took everything from him.[18]
Maul was among the individuals targeted by Order 66, his master's plan to eliminate the Jedi. As she was chased aboard the Tribunal by clone troopers, Tano freed Maul from his vault and sent him to cause chaos so that she may escape.[19] Maul sabotaged the ship's hyperdrive, and as the Tribunal began its collision course towards the moon, he stole a shuttle and fled to find a place under the new regime.[20]
Maul was forced into exile after becoming stranded on Malachor.
Following the birth of the Galactic Empire, Maul took to the shadows of the galaxy and returned to his criminal connections, becoming the secret leader of the Crimson Dawn syndicate.[27] During this time, he was hunted by the Inquisitorius, Sidious' cadre of Jedi hunters. He operated in this position until he was marooned on the Sith world Malachor, where he was trapped until the arrival of Ezra Bridger, who came to the planet seeking knowledge to destroy the Sith. When questioned by Bridger, Maul confessed that he was neither Jedi nor Sith, and held a deep resentment against the Dark Lord for cursing his life.[1]
Maul maintained that he was no Sith, correcting the Seventh Sister of the Inquisitorius when she referred to him as "Darth Maul," replying that he was no longer known by that title. He continued to seek a partner in the dark side, however, and attempted to make the Padawan Bridger his apprentice.[1] Later, after discovering that Kenobi was still alive, he tracked the aging Jedi Master to the desert outskirts of the planet Tatooine and confronted him in a final duel. Maul was mortally wounded in the encounter, and in his final moments he realized that Kenobi was protecting a boy who he considered to be the Chosen One, a hero prophesied to defeat the Sith. With his final words, Maul told Kenobi that the boy would avenge them both.[28]
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures — "The Maker of Zoh"
Star Wars: Visions — "The Duel"- Star Wars: Visions — "Journey to the Dark Head"
Sources[]
Star Wars: Destiny — Way of the Force (Card: Force Sensitive Outcast) (backup link)- Rise of the Separatists (First identified as Force-Sensitive Outcast)
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection (Picture only)
