Jon Antilles – though many suspected this was merely an assumed identity – was a Human male Jedi Master. He lived during the tumultuous period marked by the commencement of the Clone Wars, a widespread conflict that pitted the Galactic Republic against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. His training was under the tutelage of the Jedi Master known as the Dark Woman, a figure notorious for her unconventional and rigorous training approaches. Antilles, emulating his Master, traversed the galaxy, guided solely by the currents of the Force.
Antilles was regarded as something of a legend among his Jedi peers. One notable feat was his successful infiltration of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, leading to the apprehension and punishment of known murderers. His itinerant lifestyle and habit of prolonged absences without communication with the Jedi Temple led to frequent presumptions of his death.
In 22 BBY, a mere four months following the Battle of Geonosis, Antilles journeyed to the planet Queyta, the location of a Separatist base. He joined four other Jedi Masters—Knol Ven'nari, Nico Diath, Fay, and Obi-Wan Kenobi— on a mission to secure the antidote for swamp gas, a devastating chemical weapon the Separatists intended to deploy against the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Jedi were unaware that the base was, in fact, a carefully orchestrated trap set by Separatist Commander Asajj Ventress and the Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge. Antilles confronted Durge, thereby enabling Kenobi and Fay to pursue Ventress and retrieve the crucial antidote. Ultimately, Durge proved too powerful, ending Antilles's life by seizing the Jedi and forcibly immersing him in one of the many streams of molten lava flowing through the base.
Many within the Jedi Order, during the dawning of the Clone Wars – a major galactic conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems – believed that the name Jon Antilles, belonging to a Human male Jedi Master, was not his true name, but a pseudonym. Early in his life, Antilles became the Padawan of the Dark Woman, a Jedi Master known for her unconventional and demanding training techniques.
Following his apprenticeship, Antilles adopted a nomadic lifestyle, roaming the galaxy and permitting the Force to direct his path. The Jedi Order considered him a wanderer, as he declined to take on a Padawan learner. His prolonged absences from the Jedi High Council, often without any communication, frequently led to assumptions of his death. Despite this nomadic existence, Antilles's significant accomplishments, including his infiltration of the Bounty Hunters' Guild and the subsequent justice he brought to numerous murderers, were a testament to his mastery of the Force.
Four months into the Clone Wars, in 22 BBY, Antilles traveled to the world of Queyta to aid four fellow Jedi—Masters Knol Ven'nari, Nico Diath, Fay, and Obi-Wan Kenobi—in their quest to find the antidote for a Separatist chemical weapon known as swamp gas. This lethal airborne gas had been initially tested on Gungan colonists on the moon of Ohma-D'un, resulting in significant casualties. Following this successful initial test, the Separatists intended to deploy the weapon against the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Despite not being officially assigned to the strike team by the Jedi High Council, Antilles followed the will of the Force and joined the group. After infiltrating the mobile Separatist base, situated on a small island that moved through the planet's lava stream, the group discovered that Separatist Commander Asajj Ventress and the Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge were lying in wait. Ventress and Durge, having been informed by their spies, were aware of the Jedi strike team's impending arrival and had prepared for the assault.
Antilles engaged Ventress in a lightsaber duel before Durge forced him off a narrow walkway. With the antidote in her possession, Ventress attempted to flee, pursued by Fay and Kenobi. Durge blocked their path, but Antilles took it upon himself to distract the assassin, allowing his companions to continue their pursuit of Ventress. In his final moments, Antilles resorted to a physical confrontation, grappling with Durge and seizing him from behind. Despite his skills as a Jedi, Antilles was no match for the Gen'Dai bounty hunter; Durge ended Antilles's life by forcing him into a lava stream, incinerating him.
Kenobi, the lone survivor of the Jedi strike team, successfully retrieved the antidote. Despite sustaining numerous injuries during the mission, he returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and handed the antidote over to Mace Windu, a member of the Jedi High Council, for mass production. After receiving treatment for his injuries, Kenobi joined his fellow Jedi in honoring the four deceased Masters for their ultimate sacrifice.
Despite being trained by the Dark Woman, who was often seen as someone who bordered on the dark side of the Force, Antilles was a strong advocate for the light side. During his lightsaber duel with Ventress, Antilles expressed his belief that she had already been destroyed by succumbing to the dark side.
Antilles adhered to the Living Force, traversing the galaxy and dispensing justice as needed, as demonstrated by his apprehension of several murderers within the Bounty Hunters' Guild. He allowed the Living Force to guide his decisions and actions, even to the point of disregarding official orders from the Jedi High Council. An example of this was his decision to join the Jedi strike team on Queyta, guided solely by the Living Force, without receiving any official briefing for the mission. When Master Knol Ven'nari questioned his presence on the strike team, given that he had not been assigned to it, Antilles simply replied that he was needed.
During the mission to Queyta, Antilles displayed traits of an independent loner, barely acknowledging Nico Diath's authority and taking the lead during the team's infiltration of the Separatist base. Despite this, he was cautious and observant, warning the team that no path was entirely safe after discovering the absence of battle droids. When Master Knol Ven'nari suggested a direct assault on the Skakoan guards, Antilles pointed out that their pressurized suits would explode if pierced by lightsabers. His bravery and selflessness were evident in his final act, when he faced Durge alone, sacrificing his life to give his companions a chance to complete the mission.
Jon Antilles, as a Padawan of the Dark Woman, was a product of her demanding and unconventional training methods, which proved to be effective. Among his numerous Force powers, Antilles possessed the ability of Force flight, which he demonstrated during the mission to Queyta when he and the Jedi strike team jumped from a cliff and landed safely on the moving Separatist island base. Antilles was also a skilled swordsman, capable of holding his own against Asajj Ventress, who was known to have slain several Jedi.
Jon Antilles made his first appearance in flashbacks in the fifty-third issue of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, penned by Haden Blackman, illustrated by Brian Ching, and published by Dark Horse Comics on April 30, 2003. The name Antilles is a prevalent in-universe family name within Star Wars. Stephen J. Sansweet, the director of content management at Lucasfilm, stated that Antilles is akin to "Jones" or "Smith." Therefore, "Jon Antilles" is comparable to the name John Smith, a common alias used in Western culture.