Ginivex-class fanblade starfighter
The Ginivex-class fanblade starfighter, also known as the Ginivex series or the Geonosian fanblade starfighter, represented a specific starfighter model. These craft were produced by the Huppla Pasa Tisc Shipwrights Collective. Notably, Asajj Ventress, a Sith apprentice and Separatist commander, piloted this type of fighter against the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. A key feature of this ship was its solar sail, which enhanced its speed and shielding. However, this sail also made the fighter easier for enemy sensors to detect.
Ventress possessed six of these fanblade fighters. One was used in a mission that took place in 22 BBY on the planet Cato Neimoidia. During this particular mission, Ventress left her starfighter hovering near a sewage tunnel's exit while she engaged with the Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Mill Alibeth. She eventually seized Alibeth and boarded the starfighter. Subsequently, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi damaged the craft using his lightsaber, which forced Ventress to retreat into the sinking ship while Skywalker rescued Alibeth. Later, in 20 BBY, Ventress encountered Skywalker again. This time, she employed a fanblade starfighter in a failed attempt to extract Zast Tri'vak, a treacherous Republic senator, from the MPO-1400 Purgill-class star cruiser named Halcyon.
In the same year, Ventress also utilized one of these starfighters during the Battle of Sullust. After she destroyed the Star Destroyer Resolute with her fighter, Ventress engaged Kenobi and Skywalker in combat. However, she was compelled to crash-land inside the hangar of the Separatist command ship. Despite the fact that her master, Count Dooku, betrayed her and ordered his remaining forces to eliminate the flagship, Ventress managed to escape aboard her damaged fanblade fighter before the cruiser's destruction.
Characteristics
Design and equipment
The Ginivex-class fanblade starfighter, sometimes referred to as the Ginivex series or the Geonosian fanblade starfighter, was a Confederacy of Independent Systems craft. It was manufactured by the Geonosian-operated Huppla Pasa Tisc Shipwrights Collective and constructed on Geonosis, a planet in the Outer Rim. It measured 13.05 meters (equivalent to 42 feet and 11 inches) in length, 2.25 meters in width, and 14.40 meters in height with its sail extended. Its maximum speed was 1,250 kilometers per hour (or 777 miles per hour). The fighter was equipped with life support systems, air scoop thrusters, a class 1 hyperdrive, and a deflector shield generator.
The design of the fanblade fighter, which was based on Count Dooku's Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop, a Sith Lord and Confederate Head of State, was easily recognizable. The fuselage was gray, and the cockpit was located at the front, enclosed by a glass dome (either clear or red-tinted) that offered the pilot a broad view. The hull was compact, designed for a single occupant. The cockpit's glass was hinged for easy access. Inside, there was a single seat and screens displaying information about enemy starships. A yoke, featuring a targeting computer at its center, controlled the fighter. This yoke could also display red holographic transmissions.
Crimson blade
The ship featured a large, vertically oriented solar sail, which appeared as a translucent red semicircle. It was attached to a retractable boom that could fold inward during flight or landing. Additionally, the fanblade fighter included a backup sail. Huppla Pasa Tisc Shipwrights Collective engineers developed an enhanced sail for Ventress's fighter after Dooku requested one for his own vessel. Resembling deflector shield technology, the Ginivex-class's solar sail created an energy fan that captured radiation and redirected it to the starfighter's shields, weapons, and engines.
Despite the sail's lack of impact on performance and its resistance to most weapons, an ion weapon could force it to recharge and redeploy. As a safety measure, the sail had to be deactivated in atmospheric flight and before hyperspace jumps due to the structures holding the sail not being rugged enough. The crimson solar sail fan, which distinguished it from other starfighters and most starships, made the fighter easily identifiable. Although conspicuous, the ebullient blade's effect on opponents outweighed the starfighter's lack of stealth. Each tip of the solar sail housed a laser cannon that rotated forward when the sail was retracted. These cannons could aim independently or together, covering a full 360-degree range. Their firepower could penetrate the hull of a Venator-class Star Destroyer.
Role
The Ginivex-class fanblade fighter, a rare and expensive craft capable of starfighter combat, was exceptionally fast due to its solar sail. When deployed, the sail enhanced the ship's deflector shield pattern, strengthening its shielding. However, the resulting energy output made the starfighter more detectable by other vessels' sensors. When piloted by a Force-user, the fighter could execute impressive turns and flips, demonstrating the combined capabilities of the craft and its pilot.
History
Mission to Cato Neimoidia
Only six Ginivex-class fanblade starfighters were ever created, all for Asajj Ventress. Ventress, a Force-sensitive Dathomirian loyal to the Sith, was apprenticed to Count Dooku. As a commander within the Confederacy of Independent Systems, she brought one of her fanblade fighters to Cato Neimoidia during the Clone Wars in 22 BBY. She was acting as a Separatist emissary during the investigation of the bombing that occurred in the Cadesura district of Zarra, a city on the planet.
Ventress falsely accused Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master and the Galactic Republic's emissary, of the bombing. After Anakin Skywalker, Mill Alibeth, and R2-D2 rescued Kenobi from the Neimoidian authorities, Ventress used her fighter to block their escape from Cato Neimoidia. She positioned the fighter above a large drop, near an exit of one of Zarra's sewer tunnels, through which Skywalker, Alibeth, and R2-D2 were traveling. Skywalker sensed the starfighter and, despite initially being confused by its design, noted its familiarity. Ventress then used one of the fighter's blaster cannons to collapse the duracrete tunnel exit. She confronted Skywalker in the tunnel, but after he defeated her in a duel, she seized Alibeth and jumped through an opening Skywalker had created in the rubble.
The impact of landing on her craft with her captive caused the hovering vessel to dip slightly, sinking into the fog before stabilizing. This distracted Ventress, allowing Skywalker to use the Force to pull Alibeth from her grasp. Before he could safely retrieve her, Ventress stood atop the fanblade's cockpit, pulling back on Alibeth with the Force, leaving the girl suspended in midair between the ship and the sewer. Kenobi, arriving above the sewer, threw his lightsaber at the starfighter's vital systems, piercing the hull and causing smoke and flame to emerge. As systems failed, the fanblade starfighter began to descend, forcing Ventress to release Alibeth, allowing Skywalker to pull her to safety. Ventress scrambled inside the cockpit as the vessel descended further, allowing the Jedi to escape Cato Neimoidia.
Hunting an artifact
Following the successful capture of Outpost 716, Dooku dispatched Ventress to locate a Jedi artifact. He promised it could be used to overthrow his own Sith Master, Darth Sidious. Ventress traveled to the ruins of a Jedi Temple on the Moon of Staggec in the Outer Rim aboard one of her Ginivex-class fanblade starfighters, landing in a town near the temple. However, she found only traces of the object's presence in the Force. Returning to her fighter, she was ambushed by Republic clone troopers, who had been informed of her location by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly Sidious. Ventress swiftly defeated the clones using her twin lightsabers.
Sensing the artifact was on Naboo, a planet in the Mid Rim Territories, Ventress departed the moon aboard her Ginivex and journeyed there. She landed her starfighter outside Theed, the Naboo capital, and ventured into the city. There, she encountered Kenobi and Skywalker and attempted to take a Wookiee doll from a Gungan child. Ventress sensed the artifact was hidden inside the doll by Yarua, a Wookiee Senator. After escaping Skywalker and Kenobi, Ventress decided against stealing the doll, realizing Dooku did not truly value her. She departed Naboo aboard her starfighter and returned to Dooku's solar sailer, claiming she had failed to find the artifact, much to Dooku's anger.
Halcyon escape
In 20 BBY, Ventress used a fanblade starfighter to infiltrate the Halcyon, an MPO-1400 Purgill-class star cruiser operated by the Hutts. Her objective was to extract the treacherous Republic Senator Zast Tri'vak. The cruiser's proximity alarm activated upon her entry into the hangar, but it was dismissed as a malfunction. However, Skywalker, present with Senator Padmé Amidala to monitor Tri'vak, sensed her arrival. A duel ensued, but Tri'vak offered to betray both the Republic and the Separatists to the Hutts, leading Ventress to kill him.
Ventress remotely activated the fanblade starfighter to open its cockpit hatch and depart the Halcyon's hangar. She then used her lightsabers to shatter a viewport and leap into the vacuum of space, where her starfighter awaited. As Skywalker sealed the breach, Ventress escaped in her fighter.
Battle of Sullust
During the Battle of Sullust in the same year, Ventress piloted one of her fanblade fighters, the Banshee, against the Republic. Supported by two groups of droid tri-fighters from her fleet, Ventress targeted Skywalker's flagship, the Resolute. She inflicted significant damage to the Star Destroyer's bridge, resulting in its destruction.
Ventress and her tri-fighters then directly targeted Kenobi and Skywalker, who were piloting their Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptors. After Ventress damaged Kenobi's craft with her fanblade fighter's lower laser cannon, the Jedi separated. Skywalker engaged the droid starfighters while Ventress pursued Kenobi. As Kenobi approached the Separatist flagship, Ventress scored a second hit on his ship, forcing him to land in the command ship's main hangar. Skywalker intercepted Ventress, damaging the Banshee's hull and forcing her to crash in the hangar.
Ventress betrayed
Ventress, stranded in the hangar with her ship's solar sail disabled, contacted Dooku via hologram from the fighter's cockpit, requesting assistance. However, Dooku, under orders from Darth Sidious to eliminate Ventress due to her growing power in the Force, declared her a failure and dismissed her as his apprentice. Embittered, Ventress emerged from the cockpit and briefly fought Kenobi and Skywalker as Dooku ordered the remaining Separatist forces to destroy the flagship. A Hyena-class Droid Bomber crashed into the hangar and exploded, prompting Kenobi, Skywalker, and Ventress to return to their respective craft and narrowly escape before the command ship's destruction.
Following the battle, a crew of scavengers found Ventress adrift and unconscious aboard her fanblade fighter, sustained by its life-support systems. They brought the ship aboard their salvage freighter, the Raider. The fighter's resilience ensured Ventress's survival. After securing the fighter in the freighter's hold, the crew removed the cockpit dome and revived Ventress, who promptly used the Force to strangle them. With her fanblade fighter aboard, Ventress seized control of the Raider and piloted it to Dathomir, her homeworld.
Behind the scenes
Appearance
The Ginivex-class fanblade starfighter made its debut in the current Star Wars canon with the "Nightsisters" episode. This was the twelfth episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars' third season, an animated television series, and it premiered on January 7, 2011. The starfighter initially appeared in the Star Wars Legends animated micro-series, Star Wars: Clone Wars. Its first appearance there was in "Chapter 7," which aired on November 17, 2003. Mike Chen, the author of the 2022 novel Brotherhood (featuring Ventress and one of her Ginivex-class starfighters), wrote the interactions between Anakin Skywalker and Ventress as if the Clone Wars micro-series were still canon. He assumed Skywalker never saw Ventress's face during their first meeting. To indicate a previous encounter, Skywalker is noted to recognize her fanblade starfighter.
The design for Asajj Ventress herself originated from unused concept art for the 2002 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. This art depicted a warrior reminiscent of Japan's samurai. Paul Rudish, Star Wars: Clone Wars Art Director, drew inspiration from Japan for Ventress's starfighter. Rudish based the ship's distinctive shape on the sensu, a type of Japanese folding fan.
A Ventress-themed variant cover for the thirty-fifth issue of the 2020 comic series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra included one of Ventress's Ginivex-class fanblade starfighters. The cover, released on August 23, 2023, was drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli. It depicts a fanblade flying near the B'omarr Order Monastery on Teth, a Wild Space planet. Ventress used this monastery early in the Clone Wars in a Separatist plot to frame the Jedi Order for the kidnapping of Rotta the Huttlet.
Naming and contradictions
In Legends continuity, the ship was known as both the Ginivex-class starfighter and the Geonosian fanblade starfighter, according to the now-defunct StarWars.com Databank. The Episode Guide for "Nightsisters" on StarWars.com officially called the vehicle the Geonosian fanblade starfighter, and the 2017 canon reference book Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia named it the Ginivex-class fanblade starfighter.
A scene that was cut from "Nightsisters" showed Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's Jedi apprentice, disabling Ventress's fanblade fighter during the Battle of Sullust; however, in the final version of the episode, Tano is not present, and Skywalker causes Ventress's crash. The cockpit of the fighter is visibly clear in "Nightsisters," but the Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia rendering of the fanblade fighter shows a red-tinted cockpit window, a detail also present in the third issue of the Star Wars: Halcyon Legacy comic book miniseries, which was released on May 11, 2022, written by Ethan Sacks, and featuring illustrations by Will Sliney. The 2018 reference book Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles, penned by Landry Q. Walker, specifies the fanblade fighter's length as 13.1 meters, while the nineteenth issue of the Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing magazine, which came out later that year, and the Star Wars Encyclopedia booklet "Republic and Separatist Ships (2)," released on January 28, 2022, indicate a length of 13.05 meters. Given the more recent publication dates of the latter sources, their measurements are favored in this article.