 | This articlemay need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia'squality standards.You can help. Thetalk page may contain suggestions.(May 2024) |
| Asajj Ventress | |
|---|---|
| Star Wars character | |
 Asajj Ventress inStar Wars: The Clone Wars | |
| First appearance |
|
| Created by | |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species | DathomirianZabrak |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Jedi Padawan Sith assassin Separatist Commander Bounty hunter |
| Affiliation | Jedi Order Sith Order Confederacy of Independent Systems Nightsisters |
| Significantother | Quinlan Vos |
| Home | Dathomir |
| Masters | Ky Narec (Jedi Master) Count Dooku (Sith Master) |
| Apprentices | Savage Opress Quinlan Vos |
| Homeworld | Rattatak (homeworld;Legends) Dathomir (birthplace) |
Asajj Ventress (/əˈsɑːʒˈvɛntrəs/) is a character in theStar Wars franchise created byGeorge Lucas. She was introduced inGenndy Tartakovsky's 2003 animated seriesStar Wars: Clone Wars (voiced byGrey DeLisle). The character later appeared in the 2008 animated filmStar Wars: The Clone Wars, the 2008television series of the same name, the 2021Disney+ seriesStar Wars: The Bad Batch and the 2025 seriesTales of the Underworld (voiced byNika Futterman).
Ventress is aZabrak fromDathomir's Nightsister clan of witches who is surrendered into slavery as an infant before being rescued and trained in the ways ofthe Force as aJedi Padawan. The death of her Jedi master causes Ventress to fall to the dark side of the Force and become theSith LordCount Dooku's informal apprentice and personalassassin. She serves as a commander for theConfederacy of Independent Systems and fights the Jedi of theGalactic Republic during theClone Wars until she is betrayed by Dooku. Ventress returns to the Nightsisters and makes numerous failed attempts on Dooku's life, after which she turns tobounty hunting as an independent mercenary. She forms an alliance, and later a relationship, with the JediQuinlan Vos and seemingly sacrifices herself to save him from Dooku, although she survives via resurrection by Mother Talzin and attempts to locate the Jedi path and encountersClone Force 99 during the reign of theGalactic Empire.
The character also appears in tie-inStar Wars media such asbooks,comics, andvideo games, and has become a favorite among fans.
Before the character ofCount Dooku was developed, the art department forStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) developed a villainess as a potential main antagonist.[1]
When theStar Wars expanded universe resurrected this female Sith idea as one of Dooku's underlings who could appear more frequently throughout theClone Wars, this nameless Separatist Commander was dubbed Juno Eclipse but the name was rejected as "not villainous enough", and she was renamed Asajj Ventress. The name Juno Eclipse was later given to a character from the video gameStar Wars: The Force Unleashed, with no relation to Ventress.[2]
LucasArts'sLeland Chee suggested using "Asajj" as the character's first name, naming her after the character Asaji fromAkira Kurosawa'sThrone of Blood.[3]
Asajj Ventress was voiced byGrey DeLisle in the 2003Clone Wars micro-series, and byNika Futterman in the 2008 animated filmStar Wars: The Clone Wars and itssubsequent TV series,[4] as well most of her video game and other animated appearances.
Ventress is an antagonist in the 2008The Clone Wars film. As the disciple of Count Dooku, she helps him with his plan to turnJabba the Hutt against theGalactic Republic by kidnapping his son Rotta. Ventress fights Jedi KnightAnakin Skywalker and apprenticeAhsoka Tano, who rescue Rotta, and later also battles Jedi MasterObi-Wan Kenobi, who defeats her, forcing her to flee.
Ventress is a lead character in all five broadcast seasons of the subsequentThe Clone Wars animated series. In season one, Ventress travels to the moon of Rugosa as Dooku's emissary to form an alliance between the planet Toydaria and the Separatists. The king of Toydaria is reluctant but allows her forces to faceYoda in battle to prove which side is superior. When the king decides to side with the Republic, Dooku gives his assassin permission to kill the king so they may have a better chance with the successor. Yoda thwarts her attempt, however, and she is forced to flee. Dooku orders Ventress to spy on the planetKamino for the Separatist forces, planning an invasion withGeneral Grievous to destroy the clone production facilities while stealingJango Fett'sDNA template from the production facility. Ventress then freesTrade Federation ViceroyNute Gunray from the custody ofLuminara Unduli and Ahsoka, fighting the two Jedi before ultimately succeeding in her mission.
In season three, Ventress'back story is explained: she hails from the planet Dathomir and was sold by the Nightsisters to criminals. She would have likely been killed in a pirate raid if not for Jedi Ky Narec, who had crashed on Rattatak. Narec sensed her potential and trained her in the ways ofthe Force. However, warlord Osika Kirske killed Narec before Ventress could become a full-fledged Jedi. She developed an implacable hatred of the Jedi Order, which she believes abandoned her master and ignored the bloodshed on her planet.
Eventually,Darth Sidious comes to see Ventress as a liability, and orders Dooku to eliminate her. Dooku attempts, unsuccessfully, to kill her, as she engages Anakin and Obi-Wan in one final duel, in which she is wounded. She turns to the Nightsisters of Dathomir for help, and they engineerSavage Opress to serve as Dooku's new apprentice in order to earn his trust, before ultimately killing him on Ventress' behalf. The scheme fails, however, when Opress turns on both Dooku and Ventress and attempts to kill them both.
In season four, Ventress returns to the Nightsisters. She undergoes the ritual to become a full-fledged Nightsister, but is thwarted when Grievous' droid army slaughter the Nightsisters while their matriarchMother Talzin is rendered incorporeal. Told by Talzin to find her own path, Ventress later helpsBoba Fett's team of bounty hunters in a dangerous but profitable mission. She then finally makes peace with her past with an ideal future as a bounty hunter. While still haunted by Opress, she tracks him to Raydonia to collect a bounty on him. When she arrives on Opress' spaceship, she confronts him andDarth Maul as they are about to kill Obi-Wan. Ventress teams up with her old nemesis to fight Maul and Opress, but they are ultimately forced to escape in their shuttle.
In season five's final arc, Ventress nearly apprehends Ahsoka, who has been framed for attempting to destroy the Jedi Temple. She ultimately helps Ahsoka escape on the condition that she would be exonerated. Ventress later helps Anakin to find out thatBarriss Offee, who stole her lightsabers, framed Ahsoka.
In the 2015 novelDark Disciple, based on unfinished episodes fromThe Clone Wars, Ventress teams up with undercover Jedi MasterQuinlan Vos in an "un-Jedi like" mission to kill Dooku.[5][6] Ventress falls in love with Vos. After Vos is turned to the dark side by Dooku, Ventress ultimately manages to redeem him, but she is killed by Dooku withForce lightning shortly after. Vos later returns Ventress' body to Dathomir so that she may rejoin her fallen sisters in spirit.
In January 2024, the Season 3 trailer forStar Wars: The Bad Batch revealed that Ventress had survived the events ofDark Disciple and would appear in the season's storyline. Brad Rau, the supervising director ofThe Bad Batch said that the appearance would be faithful and not contradictory to the events of the book.[7] She comes face to face with Clone Force 99, and despite getting in a fight at first, she ends up coming to the aid of Omega. Her appearance inThe Bad Batch showed viewers that although she was once a villain, she is now harnessing the light side of the force and is capable of compassion.[8]
Ventress appeared in the third season of theStar Wars TalesDisney+ anthology series,Tales of the Underworld which aired onStar Wars Day 2025.[9] Featured in "A Way Forward", "Friends" and "One Warrior to Another", it is revealed that after her death inDark Disciple, Ventress was resurrected by the spirits of Mother Talzin and the Nightsisters, as Vos's love was a gift, presenting her with two paths; she could either stay with her fallen Nightsisters on Dathomir or she could return to the living. She chooses the latter. Years later during the Empire's take over of the Galaxy, Ventress underwent a new journey alongside Lyco Strata, a teenage Jedi Padawan who was looking for "the Path", which Vos established to help get young Force users to safety. After a battle against a Sith Inquisitor, a reunion with her bounty hunter acquaintance Latts Razzi and her droid assassin C-21 Highsinger, and an encounter with an elderly former Separatist and his granddaughter, Ventress and Lyco managed to find the Path, but chose not to go and instead continued travelling together.
Star Wars Resistance executive producer/head writer Brandon Auman revealed in 2021 that prior to itscancellation the series had almost featured a duel between Ventress andsequel trilogy antagonistKylo Ren (respectively the first and last characters to use the titles of "Supreme Leader" in theStar Wars universe).[10]
With the 2012 acquisition ofLucasfilm byThe Walt Disney Company, most of the licensedStar Wars Expanded Universe material produced since the originating 1977 filmStar Wars was rebranded asStar Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.[11][12][13]
Ventress first appeared as a supporting villain in the 2003 micro-seriesStar Wars: Clone Wars. WhenSith LordCount Dooku arrives to add the planet Rattatak to hisSeparatist movement, he witnesses Ventress fighting several opponents in a large arena, defeating them all before claiming to be a Sith warrior. When Dooku laughs aside the notion that she could be a Sith, Ventress tries to attack him, but the Sith Lord renders her unconscious withForce lightning. After she awakens, Dooku attacks her again, but she jumps backwards and ignites her lightsabers. In her quarters, a short duel takes place in which Dooku cuts her two lightsabers in half, rendering her defenseless. Although Ventress is defeated, Dooku is impressed by her abilities and recruits her to be his apprentice by appealing to her hatred of the Jedi.
Darth Sidious later personally assigns Ventress to killAnakin Skywalker, and Dooku presents theDark Jedi with a new pair of lightsabers with curved hilts. After Ventress leaves, Sidious remarks that she is certain to fail, but that she will serve as a useful test for Anakin. Ventress then engages the Republic fighter forces in orbit of the planetMuunilinst and lures Anakin into a chase. Anakin and a small contingent of clones track Ventress toYavin IV, and a fierce battle from the forest to theMassassi temple takes place. Though she eliminates all the clones and initially gains the upper hand in their duel, Anakin briefly succumbs to his connection to the Darkside ofthe Force and brutally overpowers her, causing her to fall over the edge of a cliff; thus confirming Palpatines' assesment of Anakin Skywalker's potential.
As portrayed in the novelThe Cestus Deception, Ventress appears on Ord Cestus during the Bio-Droid Crisis. She is behind the X'Ting criminal Trillot's dealings with Obi-Wan. Ventress also destroys the Republic Cruiser carrying Barrister Doolb Snoil returning to the Republic; however, Snoil survives. Ventress later challenges Kenobi and his fellow Jedi MasterKit Fisto to a duel. Ventress disarms Fisto but is then engaged by Kenobi. Their duel leads them into an underwater chamber and Ventress is forced to escape after Kenobi slices her across her abdomen. She lets loose a smoke bomb and flees back to the Confederacy and Dooku.
In theStar Wars: Republic story "The New Face of War", Ventress joins forces with thebounty hunterDurge on the invasion ofNaboo'smoon, Ohma-D'un. Together they useswamp gas to wipe out theGungan colony and prepare to launch abiological attack on Naboo. In the ensuing battle with Republic forces, Ventress makes her first public appearance in the war (in the chronological timeline). Ventress kills Jedi Master Glaive in the battle and cuts off his apprentice Zule's left arm. She engages Obi-Wan and the pair are evenly matched. Ventress escapes with Durge after ARC Trooper Alpha destroys their fueling station.
InStar Wars: Jedi - Mace Windu, Dooku sends Ventress to Ruul to help frameMace Windu. Ventress briefly confronts Sora Bulq, who had been secretly corrupted by Dooku, as a ruse. Ventress kills Mira in the battle and then engages Jedi Masters Sian Jeisel, K' Kruhk and Rhad Tarn all of whom she defeats singlehandedly. After framing Windu for the crime, Ventress corrupts Tarn. While Tarn fights against Jeisel, Ventress defeats K'Kruhk in combat. Windu's timely arrival saves the Jedi; Ventress finds that she is no match for Windu's power and is forced to flee.
In theRepublic story "Blast Radius", Ventress and Durge again engage the Jedi taskforce in a facility on the planet Queyta. Ventress briefly fights against Kenobi and Fay. Durge kills Jon Antilles and Knol Ven'Nari. After Ven'nari is killed in an explosion, Durge pushes Antilles into alava pit. Ventress uses her lightsabers to collapse the ceiling, sending a shower of lava onto Diath's head. Although the Separatists claim a victory, Ventress spares Obi-Wan's life under Dooku's orders, though she impales Fay in the chest with her lightsabers. Fay gives Obi-Wan the last of her strength to escape the facility.
In "The Battle of Jabiim", Ventress captures Obi-Wan and Alpha from Jabiim and transports them to Rattatak fortorture and interrogation. Obi-Wan and Alpha escape in the following story, "Hate & Fear", and the Jedi Master takes Ky Narec's lightsaber, making the animosity between him and Ventress deeply personal.
In "Dreadnoughts of Rendili", Ventress and fellow Dark Jedi Tol Skorr fight Obi-Wan andQuinlan Vos on Titavian IV. Obi-Wan unleashes arancor to distract Ventress, but she manipulates it via the dark side. Obi-Wan fights Ventress after killing the rancor but he escapes with Vos before the duel is settled. Grievous arrives to rescue the two Dark Jedi, shaming Ventress in their master Dooku's eyes.
Ventress then travels toCoruscant to kill Vos and Obi-Wan. During the mission, she discovers Anakin's secret marriage to SenatorPadmé Amidala. Enraged, Anakin engages Ventress. During the duel, Ventress scars Skywalker's face but she is once again overpowered and suffers another huge fall. Republic Intelligence assumes that she is dead.
"Obsession" marks the character's final appearance inRepublic. Ventress survives her encounter with Anakin on Coruscant but is badly injured. She is sent to Boz Pity where Dooku places her in a bacta tank and fits her withcybernetic modifications. One month later, Obi-Wan infiltrates the facility. Ventress wakes up and subsequently attacks him. She fights against both Obi-Wan and Anakin but is abandoned when Dooku orders an IG-100MagnaGuard to kill her as she runs towards Dooku's shuttle. Enraged and badly wounded, Ventress tries to kill Obi-Wan as he tries to help her. Anakin slashes her from behind, mortally wounding her. As she lies dying, she tells him the location of the Separatists' next target. Believing Ventress to be dead, Obi-Wan puts her on a ship bound for Coruscant. However, Ventress survives by placing herself in a Sithtrance. While on the shuttle, she emerges from her trance and orders the pilots to take her as far away as possible from Dooku, the Jedi, and the war. The clones agree, and so Ventress escapes the Clone Wars.
Ventress can be found in the character creator ofLego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (along withSaesee Tiin), she is playable inLego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars while she is unlockable inLego Star Wars: The Force Awakens andLego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga asDLC.
Ventress is a playable hero character inStar Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. She is available for the Separatists onSaleucami andSullust.
Ventress appears in severalStar Wars: The Clone Wars video game spin-offs, including as a playable character inThe Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels andLego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, and as aboss inThe Clone Wars - Jedi Alliance andThe Clone Wars - Republic Heroes.Nika Futterman reprises her role as Ventress in all these games.
Ventress has a non-canon appearance in thePlayStation 2,Wii, andPlayStation Portable versions ofStar Wars: The Force Unleashed as a costume skin that can be used on Starkiller. In the Wii version, she is also a playable character in the 2-playerfighting game mode called Duel Mode. She is also playable in the multiplayer mode for the Wii version of the sequel,Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. Ventress is voiced byGrey DeLisle in the first game and by Nika Futterman in the second game.
The character is featured in severalStar Wars games that were released after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm:
But now she's back… and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld will help explain how.
| Media |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes | |||||
| Characters |
| ||||
| Related |
| ||||
Media from Commons
