Gantoris

Gantoris was born into the only settlement on the isolated and volcanic world of Eol Sha. His connection to the Force became evident early in life when, as a child, he survived an avalanche. While his companions were crushed by falling rocks nearby, Gantoris instinctively used the Force to shield himself from the rockfall. His latent Force-sensitivity proved beneficial to the colony, enabling him to accurately predict earthquakes, eruptions, and avalanches. These warnings were crucial on the volatile planet, where even routine tasks like gathering food were dangerous. Whether hunting bugdillos with spears or collecting lichen from dormant geysers, the colonists constantly faced the threat of death. Gantoris's abilities, combined with his strong will and charismatic leadership, led to him becoming the leader of the surviving colonists. However, his Force-sensitivity also brought recurring nightmares of a "Dark Man" who promised great power only to ultimately destroy him.

In 9 ABY, a New Republic sociologist rediscovered Eol Sha during a brief visit. His report, recommending the immediate evacuation of the planet, mentioned the unusual abilities attributed to Gantoris by his fellow colonists. Although the report was soon lost within the Republic's bureaucracy, and no formal action was taken, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker later noticed it. Combining this report with information that Ta'ania, the illegitimate daughter of a Jedi Knight, was among the original colonists around 89 BBY, Skywalker traveled to Eol Sha in 11 ABY. He sought Force-sensitive individuals to train at his new Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. When Skywalker arrived, Gantoris and other colonists were attempting to rescue two children trapped in an avalanche. Gantoris, a driven man, worked with exceptional fervor. Warton brought Skywalker to Gantoris, and the Jedi Master immediately aided the rescue efforts by moving large boulders with the Force. They eventually found the two children, one crushed to death and the other severely injured. In the heat of the moment, Gantoris reacted angrily to Skywalker's presence, associating his black robes and powerful abilities with the "Dark Man" from his nightmares. The other colonists also viewed the stranger with suspicion, his arrival coinciding with the death of one of their own. The Jedi Master explained his purpose and offered to prove his good intentions in any way Gantoris deemed necessary. While Gantoris carried the dead boy back to the village, he ordered Skywalker to be separated from the colonists and confined to a dilapidated storage module, informing him it was the dead child's favorite play area to unsettle him.

Gantoris decided to test Skywalker's abilities with two challenges, to determine if the young Jedi possessed the powers he claimed. First, Gantoris led him into a geyser tunnel under the pretense of collecting lichen. On the way, Skywalker sensed that while Gantoris moved with confidence, he was uncertain and unsure whether to trust him. He tried to persuade Gantoris by offering safety for his people, promising them a paradise world given the inevitable destruction of their current one—the moon of Eol Sha was being drawn towards the planet, leading to a collision within centuries—but Gantoris remained unconvinced. After leading Skywalker deep into the geyser, Gantoris secretly exited, waiting to see if Skywalker could survive an imminent eruption. Sensing the rising heat and pressure, Skywalker attempted to climb out but ultimately used a Force Jump to escape. For the second test, Gantoris made him cross a lava pit and confront the deadly fireworm within. Upon seeing the fireworm, Skywalker used his lightsaber to puncture its metallic armor, allowing lava to seep in and kill it from the inside, causing it to explode when the lava reached its air bladders. Having passed both challenges, Gantoris agreed to leave Eol Sha with Skywalker, who promised to relocate the other inhabitants of the hostile world with the New Republic's help.

Skywalker and Gantoris journeyed to Bespin to persuade Streen, a gas prospector, to join them. During the trip, Skywalker began teaching Gantoris about the Force, showing him how to reach out with his mind. Skywalker was impressed by Gantoris's concentration and his ability to detect a flow of emotion—memories of Skywalker's first duel with his father, Darth Vader—when they orbited Bespin. Gantoris demonstrated his dedication to training, practicing reaching out through the Force and detecting Streen over a long distance while Skywalker was in a resting trance. To demonstrate the Force's potential to Streen, Skywalker continued to teach Gantoris. Skywalker used telekinesis to move a metal structure, creating a gong-like sound that startled a rawwk into flight. Gantoris proved to be a quick learner, sensing all the buildings around him through the Force and performing the exercise perfectly on the third attempt, moving a different structure with telekinesis and disturbing several more rawwks. The two new students became friends at the Praxeum.

During his brief stay on Coruscant, Gantoris spent time with Leia Organa Solo, who was searching for a planet to re-home the colonists of Eol Sha. She felt uneasy around Gantoris, sensing a darkness in his eyes and viewing him as a man of power made insignificant. Solo was also intrigued by him, observing his wonder at the things on Coruscant she considered commonplace. When she showed Gantoris images of Dantooine, the planet chosen for relocation, he considered it a paradise, assuming the pictures were representative.

At the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, Gantoris quickly demonstrated his talents as a student, which amplified his sense of self-importance. Accustomed to prestige due to his former position, Gantoris often complained when assigned menial tasks, such as clearing the Massassi Temple that was to become the Praxeum. He frequently explored the Praxeum's surroundings with other students, sensing the power emanating from the Massassi temples on the forest moon. Alongside the other students, Gantoris developed abilities like augmenting his strength with the Force, but he still thought of those he left behind, asking Wedge Antilles about the status of the colonists' new home when he delivered supplies.

Gantoris soon became a rival of Corran Horn, a Corellian student, former Rogue Squadron pilot, and CorSec officer. Both men were disciplined, rising earlier than other trainees to exercise and start the day before their peers. Skywalker believed their mutual envy stemmed from their similarities, both constantly pushing themselves to improve and striving to be the best student. Skywalker believed Gantoris felt threatened by this equally ambitious student, seeing him as a true challenge to his own skills. Similarly, Horn envied Gantoris for his grasp of certain Force techniques, particularly telekinesis, an area where Horn was weak. Gantoris's dislike for the Corellian became evident when Horn discovered his strength in using the Force to Alter Mind. Intending to lift a large boulder with telekinesis, Horn unintentionally implanted the image of the stone rising in the minds of all the students without actually moving it. Gantoris, believing he was tricked, demanded an explanation. Skywalker calmed Gantoris, saying Horn was beginning to discover his potential with the Force.

The "Dark Man" from Gantoris's dreams began to communicate with him, convincing him that Skywalker was withholding the true secrets of Jedi knowledge. Gantoris's impatience only increased the temptation of the power the Dark Man claimed to teach. Skywalker's student eventually discovered that the "Dark Man" was Exar Kun, a long-dead fallen Jedi turned Sith Lord who had instigated the Great Sith War 4,000 years earlier. Desperate to learn more, he secretly accepted Kun's tutelage, first learning how to eliminate tiredness so he never had to sleep. Soon after, while roaming the area around the Praxeum while the other students slept, Gantoris began to understand the techniques for constructing a dual-phase lightsaber thanks to Kun's guidance. To build the weapon, he used three corusca gems found near one of the Massassi temples. The combination of these gems gave the blade a purple hue and the ability to quickly extend its length to three times that of a normal lightsaber.

Skywalker took all the apprentices to an underground hot spring to test their ability to channel energies through the Force. Knowing there would be surges of heat, Skywalker attempted to teach his students to use the Force to shield themselves. When it was clear Dorsk 81 would not shield himself in time, Gantoris showed his leadership by swimming to him, protecting both himself and the Khommite student. After the heat subsided, Gantoris encouraged Dorsk 81, agreeing with his view that he would be stronger next time. Following this ordeal, he revealed to Skywalker that he no longer believed him to be the "Dark Man" from his nightmares.

The next morning, Gantoris revealed his constructed lightsaber and challenged Skywalker to a duel, threatening to strike him down if he didn't defend himself. He attacked out of anger multiple times during the fight, forcing Skywalker to constantly defend. The Jedi Master refused to go on the offensive, fearing it would further agitate the student. Gantoris's rage brought him dangerously close to the dark side. Only when he was momentarily distracted by a runyip charging through the undergrowth was Skywalker able to telekinetically pull the lightsaber from his hand, ending the duel. To the astonishment of the other students, Skywalker returned the lightsaber to Gantoris, warning him to be wary of the anger that had consumed him during the duel, before returning to the temple.

The night after his duel with Skywalker, Gantoris knew he would be visited by the "Dark Man" again. He no longer trusted Exar Kun but believed he could face the Sith Lord without help from the other Jedi trainees or Skywalker. Gantoris attempted to remain calm during Kun's taunting, but the specter showed him the colonists he had led on Eol Sha being slaughtered by Imperial forces under the command of Admiral Natasi Daala. Gantoris lost his composure upon witnessing an AT-AT blasting his old friend, Warton. He leaped at Kun's shadow, slashing futilely with his lightsaber but striking only the wall. Laughing, Kun incinerated Gantoris from the inside out, killing the student. The next morning, when the other Jedi students went to Gantoris's room, they found his charred remains and his lightsaber on the floor. This made him the first of Skywalker's academy students to die, deeply shaking the Jedi Master's confidence in his teaching abilities.

As the strongest apprentice at the Praxeum, Gantoris's death shook Skywalker's confidence in his ability to teach the Jedi trainees he had gathered. Gantoris's fall to the dark side, despite his evident skill with the Force, also unnerved many students. Gantoris's death served as an example of the power of the dark side, its seduction, and its eventual destruction of oneself, but the students also used him as motivation to overcome the dark side and work together.

After his death, Gantoris was buried in a grove on Yavin 4, and the site was marked by a gray plinth. Gantoris's lightsaber was used by several students at the Praxeum who did not have their own. Kirana Ti wielded it when the students confronted Exar Kun's spirit, and Kyp Durron was given it during a redemption test by Skywalker. Durron had to enter Kun's temple with the lightsaber and passed the test by refusing to use it to strike down Kun's shadow that appeared before him. The shadow then transformed into Durron's brother, Zeth Durron, showing he had passed. Corran Horn, motivated by their rivalry, created his own dual-phase lightsaber to prove his skill matched Gantoris's.

Having become a respected leader, Gantoris was headstrong and confident, even arrogant. He was accustomed to his leadership position and unaccustomed to yielding to others' opinions and decisions. His rapid progress at the Praxeum reinforced his self-importance, as he surpassed his peers. His high ambition drove him to constantly improve his skills, as his life on Eol Sha had taught him to rely on his own abilities. This ambition led him to challenge Luke Skywalker to a lightsaber duel, which he lost. Corran Horn believed Gantoris had a 'healthy ego,' a trait he recognized in himself. However, Horn also considered Gantoris someone who would seek any advantage over a rival, as Streen revealed Gantoris had been trained by Skywalker on Bespin before performing exercises at the Praxeum.

He struggled to accept that others could possess powers he did not, as demonstrated when Corran Horn created the illusion of the rising rock for all the Praxeum members. Gantoris's outburst demanding an explanation showed he felt fooled by Horn and loathed being deceived or outclassed. This trait led him to follow Exar Kun's mysterious lessons to build his own lightsaber and challenge the strongest person at the Praxeum—Skywalker himself. Gantoris was familiar with manipulating minds, as he sought to unnerve Luke Skywalker by detaining him in the playspot of a dead child shortly after their initial meeting.

Despite these flaws, Gantoris's harsh experiences taught him the importance of solidarity, teamwork, and helping others. He led by example, constantly challenging himself to improve and encouraging others at the Praxeum to do the same. He upheld honor above personal disputes, as shown when he refused to attack an unarmed Horn during combat training. Despite his strength compared to other students, Gantoris was respected by many peers, with Streen and Dorsk 81 considering him a friend at the Praxeum.

Gantoris had used his ability to sense his surroundings with the Force for most of his life, making him skilled at feeling the area around him and noticing changes, especially surges of emotions or environmental instabilities. With minimal training, he could sense the emotions of those around him, detect incoming presences, and use simple telekinesis. At the Praxeum, he and Streen could lift seemingly impossible loads by using the Force to enhance their muscles.

Having relied on the Force to survive the harsh world of Eol Sha, Gantoris quickly learned the techniques taught at the Praxeum. He was the most promising student, showing strength in generating a protection bubble. He used this to protect himself and Dorsk 81 from a surge of heat when the students relaxed in a natural hot spring. Gantoris was highly skilled in telekinesis, able to make several small stones fly around his head, and demonstrated his fighting ability during sparring sessions led by Kam Solusar and Corran Horn. Under Exar Kun's instruction, Gantoris learned to overcome tiredness by drawing strength from the Force, eliminating his need for sleep and leading him to wander around the Praxeum, where he learned to construct his lightsaber. His lightsaber blade was constructed using three focusing crystals, allowing him to extend its length to that of a spear. He also wielded the lightsaber with skill exceeding his training.

Gantoris was created by Kevin J. Anderson and first appeared in Jedi Search, the opening novel of The Jedi Academy Trilogy. He is the first student Luke Skywalker recruits for the Jedi Praxeum, and as the most promising student, he represents the success of the new line of Jedi. Gantoris did not fall to the dark side, though he came close, and was killed by Exar Kun for refusing to turn. He is also used in the novel to introduce Exar Kun, a key antagonist, in the second Jedi Academy novel, Dark Apprentice. However, only Gantoris's entry in the Star Wars Encyclopedia specifies that Gantoris knew the Dark Man was Kun.

Gantoris's lightsaber is described in Dark Apprentice as purple-white with rainbow colors. No other works mention these shimmering colors, with Gantoris's lightsaber referred to as purple, amethyst, or purple-white in other works, including I, Jedi, The Jedi Academy Sourcebook, and The New Essential Chronology.

The Jedi Academy Sourcebook allows the playable Gantoris character to wield a double-bladed lightsaber, although his lightsaber is specified as being dual-phase in Dark Apprentice and I, Jedi.