Asajj Ventress

Asajj Ventress (əˈsɑːʒ_ˈvɛntrəs) is a character from the Star Wars franchise. Originally intended to appear as an antagonist in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, she was first introduced in the 2003 micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars (voiced by Grey DeLisle), and is part of the Star Wars Legends continuity. A different version of Ventress was featured in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars and the subsequent television series of the same name, in which she is voiced by Nika Futterman. The character also appears in tie-in Star Wars media such as books, comics, and video games, and has become a favorite among fans. In the Star Wars universe, Ventress is a former member of the Nightsisters, a mysterious matriarchal cult of witches from the red planet Dathomir, who was sold into slavery as a child, and was subsequently taken in as a Jedi Padawan by the Jedi Master who saved her. Following her master's death in battle, Ventress falls to the dark side of the Force and becomes Count Dooku's informal Sith apprentice and personal assassin. As a Sith assassin, she wields two lightsabers with curved handles that can attach together and form a double bladed weapon with a curve in the middle. Originally a villain opposing the Jedi and the Galactic Republic, she is eventually betrayed by Dooku and, after a failed attempt to exact revenge on him, tries to distance herself from her old life by turning to bounty hunting. Despite her efforts, however, Ventress finds herself drawn back into the Clone Wars when she helps her former Jedi enemies in various situations, slowly redeeming herself. In the 2015 novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple, adapted from an eight-episode arc intended for the seventh season of The Clone Wars, Ventress works with the Jedi Quinlan Vos in a secret mission to assassinate Dooku, and ultimately sacrifices her life to save Vos from him. Before the character of Count Dooku was developed, the art department for Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones developed a villainess as a potential main antagonist.