Darca Nyl

In his younger years, Darca Nyl, a Human male, enlisted in a mercenary group operating in the Outer Rim Territories. He served for numerous years, switching allegiances to the highest bidder. After many battles, he earned respect as a seasoned veteran and accumulated numerous battle scars on his face and back. His extensive experience meant he was immune to battle stress and remained remarkably calm before missions.

During his time as a mercenary, Nyl became part of a crew that functioned as an air battalion. His team was equipped with jetpacks and deployed from transport vessels during combat to disrupt enemy ships. Nyl befriended several men in his unit, including D'Lew and Garrett, who admired his bravery and composure under pressure.

The life of a mercenary was fraught with danger. On one ill-fated mission, Nyl's dropship was hit by enemy fire during a large aerial battle. Nyl and Garrett were the only survivors. They abandoned the damaged ship and searched the battlefield for another battalion. However, a stray laser blast struck Garrett's jetpack, sending him plummeting. Ignoring Garrett's pleas to leave him, Nyl dove and caught Garrett just meters from the ground.

The senseless deaths of his comrades soured him on the mercenary lifestyle. Around that time, while visiting a remote cantina, Nyl met Teril and fell in love instantly. Teril reinforced his doubts, leading him to abandon his former life.

Nyl and Teril chose a simpler life, married, and moved to a deserted frontier. They bought land and began building a peaceful life as farmers. They were overjoyed when Teril became pregnant, eager to start a family. However, their perfect life was not to be. Teril died during childbirth, though their son, Neas, survived. Grief-stricken, Nyl buried his wife near their home and tried to conceal his despair for his son's sake. He transformed their house into a shrine, filled with holograms of Teril and Neas. Nyl continued to manage his farm and taught his son, building a strong bond as Neas grew into a young man. Their lives continued in this way until one day around 32 BBY, when a starship crashed near their property.

Seeing the smoke from the crash, Nyl told his son to stay inside. Armed with a shovel and a blaster, he went to the burning wreckage. He found a wounded man in the cockpit who told Nyl he was a Jedi Knight transporting a dangerous Dark Jedi named Lycan to trial on Coruscant. He gave Nyl his lightsaber, urging him to stop Lycan. Realizing Lycan was likely headed for his home, Nyl ignited the lightsaber and ran back, only to find Neas dead in the house.

Nyl was consumed by sorrow and rage. Determined to avenge his son, he buried Neas, gathered his belongings, and burned his house and possessions, symbols of his lost life. He bought a ship in town and began hunting Lycan.

Nyl's search for Lycan led him to a sparsely populated planet in the Outer Rim, rich in ore. Shortly after landing, he saw a boy being chased by two thugs. He defended the boy, demanding his release. When they refused, he injured one enforcer and was taken to Samuel, the owner of the planet's mining facility and the thugs' employer. Samuel mistook Nyl for a Jedi and revealed the boy was accused of kidnapping Samuel's daughter, Leddar. The boy claimed he was only playing with her and ran because he feared Samuel's reaction.

Samuel asked Nyl to provide security while he paid Leddar's ransom, promising to reveal Lycan's location in return. Samuel said Lycan had left a week earlier on the supply ship, but he would not give the destination until Nyl helped rescue his daughter. They wore protective suits to survive the harsh environment outside the colony. At the rendezvous, they were ambushed by Royce, the kidnapper. Nyl set his suit on autopilot and sneaked to where Royce was firing missiles. He tried to capture Royce, but Royce armed a grenade that fell from his hand, threatening Leddar. Nyl disarmed Royce and the grenade.

Samuel began firing on Royce, prompting Nyl to disarm him as well. Royce claimed he had helped Samuel find the ore and was cheated out of his claim. He only wanted Samuel to repay him and did not wish to harm Leddar. Samuel urged Nyl to kill Royce, but Nyl, disgusted by their feud and Samuel's callous attitude, rebuked them and urged them to focus on what mattered. He tossed his blaster on the ground, challenging them to fight if they wished. Samuel repented, leaving with Nyl and Leddar, but Royce tried to kill Samuel with the broken blaster. Ashamed, he fled into the wilderness.

Samuel honored his promise, telling Nyl the supply ship had gone to Molavar. Nyl booked passage on a cargo ship, but the crew attacked him to rob him. Nyl fought them off, but the freighter crashed on a nearby planet. Nyl considered leaving the thieves to die but, influenced by his experience with Leddar, he decided to act like a Jedi and risked his life to save the crew.

After two days, Nyl found Jaren being chased by a man on a speeder bike. He cut the speeder bike in two, but let the pilot escape despite Jaren's protests. Jaren said she was a negotiator from a village sent to mediate with an enemy village and was attacked. Her brother, Ament, a large, slow man, was her bodyguard. Jaren said the planet had telepathic qualities, allowing people to see images in campfire flames. Nyl saw an image of Neas and became upset.

The next day, Ament said Nyl and he were alike, broken and guilty. When Nyl asked about Ament's guilt, Ament left. That night, Nyl searched for him and was attacked by a large beast. He killed it but heard Jaren scream. He found Ament beating another creature to death with a stone. Shocked by Ament's rage, Nyl connected it to Ament's assumption of guilt when Nyl saw a face in the fire. After Jaren fell asleep, he made Ament look into the fire, revealing a sea of faces. Ament was a killer.

The next day, Nyl found the searchers from the village and turned Jaren and Ament over. Ament, though simpleminded, was a mass murderer prone to uncontrollable rage, and Jaren had helped him escape from prison. The villagers imprisoned them, and Nyl secured passage to Molavar.

On Molavar, Nyl learned Lycan had killed several people in a local casino and stolen a ship. He joined a convoy led by Tooth, a Molavaran, and found the abandoned ship in the desert four days later. Spotting Lycan's tracks, Nyl began to pursue him, despite lacking sufficient supplies.

After three days, Nyl found the heavily mined homestead of Byrom and Ensa. Byrom, a former mercenary, took him in and said Lycan had attacked Ensa before heading for the mountains, which was why they had set up the mines. When Byrom confronted Molavarans led by Sleeth demanding protection money, Nyl intervened, challenging Sleeth and demanding the money back. When Sleeth's men opened fire, Nyl deflected it while Byrom triggered the mines, killing all but Sleeth, who fled. Byrom told Nyl that Sleeth was an enforcer for his mother, Magon, who had a larger criminal enterprise that would retaliate. Chastened, Nyl apologized. He wanted to help defend their home, but knew Lycan would escape. He decided to continue after Lycan, a decision Byrom and Ensa accepted.

The next morning, Nyl left. However, he felt guilty about leaving the farmers. His desire to do good overcame his thirst for vengeance, and he convinced Tooth's caravan to defend the pair in exchange for the right to start a farm on their land. When Magon arrived, Tooth's people turned them away. Nyl, however, was a week behind Lycan.

Lycan seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the Molavaran mountains. After days of tracking, Nyl caught up with him and prepared to shoot Lycan from a distance. Realizing that would not defeat the Dark Jedi, he laid a trap, seeding an underground cave with mines, intending to sacrifice himself to destroy Lycan.

The plan went awry. Lycan found him napping, and Nyl ran, but Lycan used the Force to break two of Nyl's ribs. Nyl ran back to the cave, pursued by Lycan. Lycan caught up and battered him with rocks thrown through the Force. Lycan used the Force to grab Nyl's lightsaber, but Nyl told Lycan he suspected the crash had given him amnesia, and he did not know who he was.

At Lycan's request, Nyl explained Lycan's past and why he was pursuing him. Glad to have his identity back, Lycan prepared to kill Nyl. At that moment, Nyl activated the mines. He was ready to die in the collapsing cave, but a vision of his wife and son urged him to live. As a stone crushed Lycan, Nyl realized his life could have meaning beyond revenge. He rushed from the cave, taking one of Lycan's lightsabers.

He found satisfaction in helping others and decided to honor his family by aiding the helpless. Darca Nyl returned to Byrom and Ensa's farm and began a life of doing good.

About a decade after killing Lycan, the Clone Wars began, during which Nyl stayed out of sight. Three years later, the Galactic Empire was formed from the Galactic Republic. Nyl joined the Rebel Alliance to oppose the Empire. Living in an Action series freighter on a remote, rainy jungle world, Nyl used his mercenary skills to train spies for the Rebellion. He was known as a formidable individual who had killed a Dark Jedi.

He met Wyl Tarson, a Rebel spy and possibly one of his trainees, whom he distrusted. Some of Nyl's students died during training, and the Alliance stopped using Nyl's services. Abandoned, he lived alone in the freighter, carving statues of Teril and Neas.

In 0 ABY, Tarson, Laynara, and Baco Par entered Nyl's home. Nyl attacked, but Laynara threatened to destroy his carvings if he did not listen. Recognizing Tarson, Nyl gave him a chance to speak. Tarson asked him to help with a mission on Ahakista. Nyl refused, mistrusting Tarson. Laynara appealed to his love for Teril and his desire to do something meaningful, and he agreed to go, but remained suspicious of Tarson.

As their ship approached Ahakista, they found a large Imperial fleet. Tarson broadcast the signal that cleared them to land safely at the Daystar Casino, where they were greeted by Sardoth. Sardoth explained the local unrest, which the Empire was suppressing. Nyl was summoned to Sardoth's office, where Sardoth showed him a collection of lightsabers. Noticing Nyl carried Lycan's lightsaber, he asked if Nyl was a Jedi. Nyl said he was not and declined Sardoth's offer to buy it.

The next day, Sardoth escorted the group to a meeting with the Ahakistan resistance and Captain Rasha Bex, a suborned Imperial Intelligence officer. Sardoth revealed their mission: to strike at the Hub, an Imperial Navy computer center. Sardoth could lead them through tunnels to an entrance, but they needed the resistance, led by Dunlan, to breach the energy field guarding the entrance. Tarson devised an alternate plan, relying on Bex to disable the field. They began immediately.

Nyl, Tarson, Par, Laynara, and Sardoth entered the tunnels, with Tarson and Nyl dealing with stormtrooper sentries. Nyl told Tarson he knew Tarson was working for the crime lord Raze, not the Rebellion. He would remain watchful, but was glad to fight the Empire again. When Tarson was attacked by one of the tunnel creatures, Nyl rushed to save him, though Laynara shot the beast first.

At the entrance, the energy field was still active. While the others waited for Bex, Nyl scouted for another way around. Sardoth followed him and revealed he was Lycan's former apprentice and a Dark Jedi. He attacked, and Nyl was wounded in the shoulder. Sensing Sardoth's use of the Force, Darth Vader appeared to kill the other Force user. While Vader concentrated on Sardoth, Nyl struck Vader's helmet. Vader Force-pushed him away and killed Sardoth. Nyl fled into the tunnels, saw Par dead, and vowed revenge on Tarson, convinced of his betrayal.

Darca Nyl possessed hair of a brown hue, eyes that were green, and skin that was pale. A mercenary of considerable talent, Nyl had a career that spanned many years. His reputation in battle was built on his unwavering composure, and he showed a blatant disregard for his personal well-being. However, Nyl was well-known for his protective nature towards his friends and comrades, going to considerable lengths to ensure their safety. He struggled with loss, and the deaths of a significant number of his squadmates eventually prompted him to abandon his life of constant warfare.

However, maintaining a peaceful existence proved impossible for him. The contentment he found in his pastoral life was marred, first by the death of his wife, and then by the death of his son. The murder of Nyl's son, Neas, his last remaining loved one, at the hands of the Dark Jedi Lycan, ignited a furious rage within him, leading him to dedicate his life to seeking vengeance. Although driven by a desire for revenge and an intense loathing for Lycan, Nyl demonstrated moments of tenderness during his quest, revealing that he valued and respected the concepts of family, justice, and loyalty. Furthermore, he avoided killing unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

Nyl felt that his sole remaining purpose in life, after the loss of his family, was to kill Lycan. He was prepared to die after that, accepting punishment for the misdeeds he had committed as a mercenary. However, after finally defeating Lycan, Nyl came to the realization that his life still had value, even without his family or the motivation to avenge them. He discovered a new purpose in assisting those who were unable to defend themselves. By taking up a lightsaber, he had inadvertently assumed the role of a Jedi, and he resolved to embody that ideal.

As an expression of his ideals, Nyl became a member of the Rebellion. However, after training incidents, the Rebellion dismissed him. Hurt by this, Nyl retreated into a solitary and bitter existence, finding solace only in the carvings he made of his deceased family. Only Teril's expression of love for him convinced him to participate in the mission to Ahakista. Once involved, he felt invigorated by once again fighting the Empire and standing up for his beliefs.

Throughout his pursuit of Lycan, Nyl displayed a tendency to make hasty, impulsive judgments and act rashly, frequently exacerbating the situation. In his interactions with Samuel's men, Jaren, and Magon's bandits, Nyl intervened on behalf of those he believed were in danger. However, his lack of understanding of the circumstances often led him to act in ways that were detrimental to the very people he later intended to help.

He possessed skill with both blaster rifles and pistols, and he could also wield a lightsaber with relative ease. Despite lacking Force sensitivity, Nyl developed sufficient skill to deflect blaster fire, demonstrating exceptional reflexes.

The character of Darca Nyl was the creation of writer Rob Williams and artist Brandon Badeaux, making his first appearance in the Star Wars Tales story "Nomad." Nyl later reappeared in Star Wars: Rebellion: The Ahakista Gambit, also penned by Williams but with illustrations by Michel Lacombe. In Ament's Databank entry, Nyl was incorrectly identified as a fallen Jedi.