This week Star Wars released the first trailer for season three of The Bad Batch, and while that is exciting news, the biggest take away from it for me and judging by social media trends, the fandom as a whole, was the return of Asajj Ventress. Considering she’s one of my favorite characters, I thought this week’s piece should focus on her. For a side character in the big picture, she’s become a fan favorite. While she comes off as one of the antagonists in Star Wars stories, there is so much more to her that many fans do not know. Strap yourselves in for a quick background story about the one and only Asajj Ventress!

Who is Asajj Ventress?

Before she went from a Jedi Padawan to a Sith Apprentice, Asajj Ventress was born on the planet Dathomir where the Nightsisters reside. The short, short description of the Nightsisters is they are witches first introduced in the legends novel: The Courtship of Princess Leia. They tap into the dark energies the planet Dathomir is engulfed in, and use it similarly to how Jedi and Sith use the force. They are not Jedi, nor are they Sith, but the magick they wield comes from the dark side of the force.

Almost from the very start, her way of life was doomed. As an infant, Asajj was given over to a slaver and taken to the planet Rattatak, which suffered constant raids from pirates. Eventually, her slave master was killed and she was alone, or so she thought. A Jedi Knight by the name of Ky Narec was on Rattatak at the time, and they found each other through the force. He took her as his Padawan. They stayed on the planet for a long time while he trained her as a Jedi until he was ultimately killed by Weequay pirates. Once again, Asajj was alone. This time, however, without her master to keep her in check, she lost it and turned to the dark side. This eventually led to Count Dooku discovering her and taking her in as his apprentice. His ultimate goal was to train her so they could overthrow his master, Darth Sidious.

Count Dooku was successful in training Asajj to be a cold blooded assassin. So much so that Darth Sidious felt the threat to his power and ordered Dooku to destroy her. Count Dooku did what his master ordered him to do, but he was reluctant at first. He attempted to kill her but she managed to survive the assault. She went back to where her life began—Dathomir and the Nightsisters.

The Nightsisters and Mother Talzin, their leader, set a plan in place to assassinate Count Dooku. They trained a Nightbrother, Savage Opress to become Dooku’s new secret apprentice and when the time was right, he would help Ventress kill him. The plan failed of course. It only succeeded in making the Sith Master angrier. He sent hellfire down on the Nightsisters and by the end, only a few survived. Asajj was broken at this point in her life. She went on to become a Bounty Hunter and even found herself running a job with a young Boba Fett. She also wound up in a situation that had her rescuing Obi-Wan Kenobi from Savage Opress and Maul, and not too long after that she was helping Ahsoka Tano who had been wrongfully accused of bombing the Jedi Temple. Her time helping Ahsoka was her final appearance in The Clone Wars, but her story didn’t end there.

In 2015, Asajj Ventress returns in the book titled: Dark Disciple. If you haven’t read the book, I can’t recommend it enough. Originally meant to be an eight-part story arc in The Clone Wars series, it was scrapped due to the Disney acquisition of Star Wars and the cancelation of the series. Author Christie Golden was brought in to write the novel, based on the episodes which had Katie Lucas (George Lucas’s daughter) as one of the writers of the episodes. The Jedi Council makes a bold and some might consider dark side influenced decision to assassinate Count Dooku in hopes of ending the war. They recruit their perfect Jedi for the job—Quinlan Vos. Knowing Asajj has ties to Count Dooku, he links up with her. Of course it takes time for her to trust him, but they eventually work together and work out the details of the assassination. In that time, they fall in love with each other. The story is action-packed, and feels like you’re watching The Clone Wars series in your head. It’s a fun and tragic story that deserves the love and praise it’s finally receiving.

When Did She First Appear in Star Wars

While she didn’t appear in the film, it’s important to mention Asajj Ventress was originally set to be a female Sith Lord in Episode II: Attack of the Clones, but the idea was axed leading to Count Dooku being the main Sith Lord of the film. In 2003, she made her animated debut in the Genndy Tartakovsky version of Star Wars: Clone Wars, which is a short series of non-canon short episodes.

The creation of Asajj Ventress is much like her background in the Star Wars universe. She was moved around a little bit and didn’t find her place until 2008 in The Clone Wars animated film. Her appearance in this film was different from the way she looked in Tartakovsky’s series, but she still masterfully wielded her two red lightsabers. After that film, she went on to be a prominent character in The Clone Wars series where she fought against heroes like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano.

Where Can You Find Asajj Outside of The Clone Wars?

If you’ve watched all of the Asajj Ventress episodes of The Clone Wars and want more, there are few places to look. I mentioned the Dark Disciple book earlier, but you can also find her in Dooku: Jedi Lost written by Cavan Scott; another banger of a book. She also appears in more than fifty non-canon comic books. Lastly, she appears in several video games ranging from the original 2005 Battlefront 2 to the Lego games and Galaxy of Heroes. With her upcoming appearance in season three of The Bad Batch, I can’t help but wonder if this opens the door to more Asajj Ventress projects in the future. Ventress has lived a life that most in the galaxy would struggle to endure, but she kept fighting and even found true love along the way.

If you’re interested in hearing more about her re-emergence into the Star Wars animated scene, along with our thoughts on the new season of The Bad Batch, check out my latest podcast episode—Episode 133 @Clone Army Radio. We cover all things Star Wars, so be sure to subscribe and check out our other episodes.