The Eye of the Nihil was a position held by a leading member of the Nihil during the High Republic Era. Like his father before him, Marchion Ro was a member of the Nihil marauders who held the important post of Eye of the Nihil, and although he did not give orders—which the Tempest Runners were responsible for—everything revolved around Ro, who provided the factors that made the Nihil more than just a horde of Outer Rim raiders. The Eye of the Nihil had a tie-breaking vote in matters related to Paths. The Eye was placed in charge of protecting, discovering, and distributing Paths. This changed in 232 BBY when Marchion Ro had united all of the Tempests under his rule after the Battle of Kur by promising to expand their operations throughout the galaxy and defend their way of life from the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. The Jedi were unaware of Ro's existence and mistakenly believed that the Twi'lek Tempest Runner Lourna Dee was the Eye. After the Battle of Galov, Dee was believed killed, though she had secretly survived.
Still unaware of Ro's existence, Jedi High Council member Stellan Gios reported that there was unsubstantiated reports of a number of possible candidates for her replacement, including the Talpini Zeetar. Dee later revealed her survival to the Jedi, and the Jedi Master Avar Kriss believed her to still be the Eye. Dee was captured by the Jedi and brought to Starlight Beacon, though she was able to escape thanks to Marchion's destruction of the station. Following Starlight's destruction, Marchion revealed to the galaxy that he was in fact the Eye of the Nihil.
The title of Eye of the Nihil first appeared in the 2021 novel The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, written by Charles Soule. In Soule's The High Republic: Eye of the Storm 1, released January 12, 2022, Shalla Ro is referred to as the Eye, but Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia, written by Amy Richau and Megan Crouse and released November 9, 2023, states that Asgar Ro, her son who took control of the Nihil after her death, was the first Eye. This article includes Shalla Ro as an Eye for the purposes of its succession table.