Warb Null

Shas Dovos was a Human male born on the Inner Rim planet Onderon who was, in his youth, a dedicated student of metallurgy. His homeworld was one with a rich history of allegiance to the ancient Sith, and was ruled from the walled-city of Iziz by a royal line that descended directly from a Dark Lord named Freedon Nadd. Sometime before the Great Sith War, Dovos traveled to a wild region of the planet during his studies, where he stumbled upon a hidden dark side treasury. The young Onderonian was Force-sensitive himself, and one particular artifact piqued his interest—an ancient Sith magic book hand-written by a member of the old Sith Empire. Dovos stole the tome and returned home, desperate to uncover the secrets hidden deep inside the ancient document.

Dovos was initially enamored by the book, though soon his fascination turned into complete obsession. He spent years attempting to break the coding, until he had forsaken his metalworking studies and lost interest in the other aspects of his life. Eventually, he deciphered the Sith lore and began construction on a set of specialized armor that would grant its wearer great power. In his forge deep beneath Onderon's surface, Dovos used basic Sith magic, combined with his extensive knowledge of alloys and metals, to forge the blackened helmet, breastplate, and gauntlets of a massive suit of armor. Many attempts were made by the young man, and many resulted in failure, until, after working for days on end in a final try, Shas Dovos's suit of armor was complete. However, he doubted his worthiness to wear it, as he was unsure of his grasp of the Sith magic necessary to produce such a weapon.

Dovos soon overcame his doubts and reasoned that if it had not been for him, the knowledge behind the armor would still be hidden in obscurity; if anyone deserved to wear it, he did. In fact, Dovos had been the unwitting victim of a decade of manipulation, and was bewildered when the agent of that manipulation suddenly spoke to him. Identifying itself as the spirit protector and keeper of the spellbook, the humanoid apparition revealed its clandestine interaction to Dovos and claimed that but for its intervention, the tome would have succumbed to the ravages of time millennia ago. Stricken with fear, Dovos finally realized the dangers of owning such property as a Sith spellbook. He learned that it had been the Sith protector's slow and subtle influence, as well as its interference with his dreams and thoughts, that led to his obsession with the tome and subsequent smithing of the tainted armor. Dovos then became the spirit protector's unwilling disciple, to serve as an extension of its will in the spirit's plan to restore the glory of the Sith Empire. Dovos was still scared of the humanoid spirit, though the being was far too powerful for the former student to defeat. The Sith spirit renamed him "Warb Null," and used its power to fuse the man to his newly-crafted armor. Warb Null became a mindless Sith warrior, remembering little of his previous life. The former metallurgist had been tricked into creating the armor by the Sith spirit, and now he was nothing more than a pawn of the long-dead darksider. Null later constructed a large, green-bladed lightsaber, with a hilt several times the length and width of a typical lightsaber hilt, one he wielded with aggressive skill. The Sith spirit taught him many powers, all of which would be necessary in Null's upcoming mission—service as the foremost protector to the spirit of the ancient king of Onderon and Dark Lord of the Sith, Freedon Nadd.

A transitional period on Onderon occupied the two years that followed the end of the planet's longstanding Beast Wars, as planetary rule was transferred from Nadd's late disciple, Queen Amanoa, to her daughter, Galia. Jedi Knights, representatives of the Galactic Republic, arranged for the relocation of the sarcophagi of Nadd and Amanoa to a fortress on the nearby moon of Dxun, following a funeral procession through the streets of Iziz. Null was charged to lead the secret army of Nadd and Amanoa's husband, former King Ommin of Onderon, in a recovery mission of both sarcophagi. In preparation for the mission, several of the wealthier Naddists purchased Akin-Dower Groundborers—colossal excavation machines—and fitted them with medium blasters, transforming simple mining vehicles into weapons of war. The machines were capable of transporting hundreds of men, with enough space to store the two sarcophagi, making them ideal for the purposes of the darksiders.

As the funeral commenced, a pair of exploring Beast Riders, men from the wild lands of Onderon, stumbled upon Null and his army of King Ommin in the labyrinth beneath the royal palace of Iziz, and the Naddists were forced into action. The groundborer emerged in the midst of the procession moments later, and the Sith army led by Null disgorged to engage the Jedi and Beast Rider attendees in the ensuing battle. Projecting an intense aura of uneasiness meant to unsettle his opponents, Null dueled four Jedi—Tott Doneeta, Oss Wilum, and brothers Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma—simultaneously, while Ommin attacked their Master, Arca Jeth, through the Force. Ommin's soldiers, meanwhile, retrieved the sarcophagi and loaded them onto the groundborer. With their mission accomplished, Null disengaged his opponents to join the Naddists in retreat.

Null's forces returned to the deep subterranean tunnels beneath the palace with their prize but were pursued shortly afterward by Queen Galia, who had led the Jedi there in search of her father. The spirit of Nadd revealed itself just then as Ommin lashed out to incapacitate Jeth, taking him captive. With their prisoner and the sarcophagi in tow, Ommin and Nadd ordered Null to dispatch Ulic Qel-Droma, the remaining Jedi, while they fled to the King's life-support facility further beneath the palace. Desperate at the apparent loss of his Master, Qel-Droma lashed out at Null, whom Ommin realized was overmatched and likely to meet his demise. Nadd agreed, as Null had been the Dark Lord's pawn all along, and would serve as a test of the enraged young Jedi's nascent dark side potential. Qel-Droma severed Null's weapon arm, and the Dark Jedi was forced to beg for mercy. Regardless of Null's pleas, Qel-Droma decapitated his opponent with a swift, unsuspecting blow of his lightsaber, thus ending the Dark Jedi's brief time as a Sith.

Millennia later, Null's armor and lightsaber would be enshrined in a hexagonal structure in the mountains of Nicht Ka, where they would be discovered by the Jedi Ekim Ryelli, Staguu Itincoovar, and Telloti Cillmam'n in 19 BBY. After donning the armor, Cillmam'n was flooded with visions that made him turn to the dark side. Carried away by his newfound power, he killed Ryelli and Itincoovar, assuming the identity of Malleus, the Hammer of the Dark Side.

In his youth, Shas Dovos was a dedicated metalworking student. He held great importance in his studies and was extremely inquisitive. He was never tempted by the promise of the dark side, yet he was desperate to unlock the secrets withheld in the Sith tome, if only to satisfy his curiosity. However, as the dark side slowly affected him, Dovos became obsessed and no longer cared about anything other than the book. He saw it as his destiny to uncover the book's secrets and to wield its power. He was weak-willed, and the Sith spirit's magic easily gained complete control over him; after several years Dovos had acted exactly as the spirit had wanted him to.

Warb Null was an extremely loyal warrior after his transformation and did the bidding of his superiors without question. His loyalty, however, meant little to Ommin and the spirit of Freedon Nadd, both of whom simply used Null for their own personal gain. Nor was his death mourned, as his former life had been abandoned long ago, while his dark side superiors felt that he had fulfilled his purpose. Ultimately, Null was expendable to those he served with loyalty. During the Battle of Onderon in the Freedon Nadd Uprising, Null bravely led the Naddist troops into combat and single-handedly took on four Jedi. Once again, in the rehabilitation facility in Iziz, Null fought numerous foes alone, showing his bravery. He was self-confident and saw Ulic Qel-Droma's powers as insignificant next to his own. However, he was overcome with agony after losing his hand and vainly begged the Jedi to spare his life.

Warb Null was Force-sensitive with an innate talent for Sith magic, a skill not possessed by all those attuned to the dark side. After his transformation into a creature of the dark side with no discernible thoughts or emotions, he became significantly more powerful; energy manipulation, hibernation trances, combat and danger sense, and the ability to dismay opponents with his malevolent aura were all skills he acquired from the Spirit protector.

Lightsaber combat was one of Null's most prominent abilities—he used a long-hilted and powerful weapon in combat. He was an extremely strong man physically, and he used his strength to deal heavy blows to any opponents he faced. Null's skill was such that he was able to hold off multiple opponents, even keeping four Jedi Knights at bay during the ambush of Amanoa's funeral. Null's primary advantage in combat, however, was his Sith armor. Black in color and covered with dozens of sharp spikes, the armor concealed his true appearance. Tempered entirely of alchemically-treated black metal, Null's armor was imbued with Sith magic and possessed at least partial lightsaber-resistance. The forbidding suit enhanced his own malevolent aura and brought despair to his opponents. Despite its benefits, the ungainliness of Null's armor slowed him considerably, nor was it sufficiently protected at his hand and neck, which resulted in his demise.

Warb Null was created by Star Wars writer Tom Veitch for the first issue of The Freedon Nadd Uprising sub-series, part of the Tales of the Jedi comic series. He was illustrated by Tony Akins, Denis Rodier, and Suzanne Bourdages in his only appearance. His backstory was later expanded upon in the Tales of the Jedi Companion, a roleplaying game supplement to the Tales of the Jedi series. He was also featured in the Tales of the Jedi audio rendition, written by John Whitman, wherein Null loses his arm to Ulic Qel-Droma in their duel before being killed, whereas in the comic version he is simply killed. Null was also given his own entry in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

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• Tales of the Jedi Companion
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Official Star Wars Fact File113
• Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook
• "Star Wars Q&A" — Star Wars Insider 95
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• "Authors of the Expanded Universe: More Tales of the Jedi" — Star Wars Insider 151