Juhani

Juhani's birth occurred by 3973 BBY to her parents and mother on the planet Cathar, which served as the homeworld for the Cathar species. During the early stages of Mandalorian aggression that would eventually lead to the Mandalorian Wars, she was merely a baby. The Battle of Cathar, during which Mandalore the Ultimate's chief strategist, Cassus Fett, orchestrated the genocide of her people, compelled them to surrender to avoid complete annihilation. Her parents fled with her, eventually establishing a new life on Taris.

On Taris, Juhani's family, like many non-Humans at the time, were confined to the Lower City and faced considerable difficulties. The native Humans displayed animosity towards them simply for being "aliens," treating them with disdain, persecuting them, and charging them higher prices for food compared to Humans. Juhani held conflicting sentiments towards the planet she inhabited, both hating it and considering it her home, despite referring to it as a "rat-hole" and a "warren." Despite the challenges she encountered, she maintained hope for a better future, inspired by the tales of the Jedi, whom she regarded as the Republic's heroes.

In 3963 BBY, the Mandalorians invaded Republic territory and laid siege to Taris. Xor, a Twi'lek who had previously fought alongside the Mandalorians on Cathar, instigated a conflict with Juhani's father, resulting in his death. Juhani's mother managed to escape with her daughter, but she never fully recovered from the death of her partner. Despite her efforts, Juhani's mother struggled to earn enough money to provide for both herself and her daughter. Consequently, she began borrowing funds from the Exchange, a criminal organization with a presence on numerous worlds and the primary supplier of slaves on Taris. Despite her attempts to conserve resources, her health deteriorated due to prioritizing her daughter's nutritional needs. One day, she collapsed in the cantina where she worked and, unable to afford medical assistance from a doctor, she passed away.

The Exchange held Juhani responsible for her mother's debts, and unable to repay them, she was forced into slavery. She would later reflect on this as the most difficult period of her life, where she was treated like an animal. Between 3961 and 3960 BBY, Revan, a Jedi Knight, and his followers arrived to liberate Taris from Mandalorian control. Before Xor, her father's murderer, could purchase her at auction, Revan freed her from slavery. Despite this, they never directly interacted, and she never saw Revan's face. Juhani perceived the Jedi, especially Revan, as embodying the ideals that had inspired her. A Human woman among Revan's followers encouraged Juhani to join the Jedi Order, leading the young Force-sensitive to pledge herself to becoming a Jedi.

Upon accumulating sufficient funds, Juhani boarded the first available freighter to Dantooine, where she began training under Jedi Master Quatra at the Jedi Enclave. Throughout her training, Juhani faced challenges in controlling her emotions due to her Cathar nature, leading her to question her place within the Jedi Order.

Dak Vesser, a Human male, joined the Order simultaneously with Juhani, and they became friends. Both harbored doubts about the Order, which they shared with each other. Vesser, feeling that the Order was overly restrictive, decided to leave and invited Juhani to join him. He further surprised her by revealing his romantic feelings for her, which she had been unaware of and did not reciprocate. Angered by her refusal, Vesser departed from the Jedi and eventually aligned himself with the Sith on Korriban.

Juhani formed a close bond with Belaya, a Human female and fellow Padawan, during their training. Belaya also struggled with emotional control, a point frequently emphasized by her Master, Zhar Lestin, a Twi'lek male and member of the Jedi Council. For several years, they were close companions, spending many nights together under the stars. Their strong attachment did not go unnoticed by the Council.

In 3959 BBY, Revan returned to Republic space as a Dark Lord of the Sith, accompanied by his Sith apprentice, Darth Malak, leading a Sith invasion fleet. Juhani was deeply disturbed by this transformation of her hero, wondering what could have driven such a paragon of the Jedi to embrace the dark side. In 3957 BBY, Darth Revan was captured by a Jedi strike team. Though he was said to have perished, the gravely injured Revan was secretly brought before the Council, where the Jedi used the Force to create a new identity for him. Bastila Shan was believed to be capable of accessing his subconscious memories to locate the Star Forge, the former Dark Lord's seat of power. Meanwhile, Juhani continued her training with the Jedi.

In 3956 BBY, Revan's new identity lacked knowledge of the Force. After the Sith ambushed Shan over Taris and destroyed the planet in an attempt to prevent her escape, Shan brought the amnesiac soldier to Dantooine for training and to begin his Jedi Trials. Before Revan's third trial, Quatra decided it was time for Juhani to face her own trials. Having taught Juhani all she could, Quatra chose to test Juhani in an unconventional manner, allowing her to succumb to her rage. During a heated confrontation, Juhani struck her Master down, leaving Quatra severely injured and feigning death.

Believing she had harnessed the dark side and killed her Master, Juhani fled the Enclave and sought refuge in the Ancient Grove, a place where Jedi would meditate. Juhani's dark emotions tainted the grove, causing the local kath hounds to become more aggressive and attack the local settlers. Rumors about the creatures and the conflict that nearly killed Quatra spread among those at the Enclave. The Jedi Council, believing that the strong emotions between Juhani and Belaya posed a greater risk than benefit, forbade Belaya from approaching her dear companion to help her return to the light side.

Master Zhar Lestin assigned Revan his final test before becoming a Padawan, tasking him with confronting the source of the darkness corrupting the Ancient Grove and eliminating the threat without assistance. Lestin explained that the trial would illustrate the constant danger the dark side posed to all Jedi, and how its corruption could even take root on Dantooine. Revan was unaware that he would be facing Juhani there.

As Revan neared the grove, Juhani sensed his power but underestimated him. Igniting a red-bladed lightsaber, she used the Force to paralyze his companions and engaged him in a duel before he could speak. Despite her boasts of strength, her bravado concealed her grief and shame until Revan defeated her and spared her life. Overwhelmed by her actions towards Quatra, she demanded to be left alone, but Revan persuaded her to seek mercy from the Jedi Council.

Juhani returned to the Enclave and discovered the truth about Quatra, who had been confident in Juhani's success and had already departed to train other students. She felt foolish for believing she could harm a Master like Quatra. Although she still carried the emotional scars of her brush with the dark side, she trusted her Master's wisdom and understood the lesson she was meant to learn: humility. Quatra's lesson was that even those dedicated to the Jedi teachings could fall to the dark side if they failed to understand or accept their own limitations.

With this final trial completed, Juhani concluded her training with Quatra. Reinstated as a Jedi, Juhani reunited with Belaya and spent time with her in the courtyard that Belaya frequented.

When Revan and Shan discovered the Star Map in the Rakatan ruins and were tasked with finding the Star Forge, Juhani sought permission from the Council to accompany the Padawan. Unaware of Revan's true identity due to never having seen his face, the Council believed she could serve as a reminder of the dangers of the dark side, and granted her request to join the crew of the Ebon Hawk.

During their travels, Juhani shared her past with Revan. When she revealed that Taris had been her homeworld, she initially lashed out in anger, blaming him for its destruction, but she regained her composure by reciting the Jedi Code. She came to terms with the fact that nothing could have prevented Taris' destruction. She confided in her friend about being inspired by the Jedi hero who became Darth Revan, unaware that she was speaking to that very person.

While searching for the Star Maps, Juhani encountered Xor, the Twi'lek slaver who had murdered her father and attempted to purchase her on Taris during the Mandalorian Wars. Xor attempted to buy her once more by making an offer to Revan. Revan stood by her, asserting her autonomy. Juhani confronted Xor, expressing her anger at him for wiping out her people on Cathar and killing her father on Taris, but she did not succumb to her anger. The thought of him remaining free enraged her, but she let him go. Xor vowed to return.

The second time Revan and Juhani encountered Xor, he was accompanied by two enforcers. After Revan and Juhani defeated Xor and his thugs, Xor attempted to provoke her into killing him, hoping to prove that she was no better than him. He recounted the burning of the people of Cathar and the pleasure he derived from it. With Revan's support, Juhani resisted the temptation and left Xor to his fate. Although she regretted not killing him herself, she prioritized resisting the dark side.

When the crew was captured by Saul Karath on his flagship, the Leviathan, Revan learned the truth behind his visions and lost memories as Malak dueled him and revealed the truth. Bastila Shan confirmed Malak's words before the Sith Lord captured her. Subsequently, Revan revealed his true identity to Juhani and the crew.

Juhani firmly stated that Revan, the man who had saved her from slavery, could never have fully embraced the dark side. She vowed that, inspired by his redemption, she would never fall again.

After Revan gathered the five Star Maps needed to locate the Star Forge, the Ebon Hawk approached the space station, but its disruptor field damaged their hyperdrive. The ship barely managed to reach the nearby planet Lehon without crashing. Juhani suggested searching the other downed ships for the parts needed to repair the Ebon Hawk, although the disruptor field still needed to be deactivated. The droid T3-M4 detected energy readings on the ship's sensors that seemed to originate from the Temple of the Ancients, revealing the potential location of the generator. The Elders granted Revan access to the temple, but tradition dictated that he should go alone. However, Juhani and Jolee Bindo both received a premonition warning them of great danger, insisting on accompanying Revan and struggling to persuade the Rakata to allow them to. This decision proved wise, as the temple was infested with numerous Dark Jedi, Sith Masters, and acolytes.

At the Rakatan temple's summit, the Jedi trio was confronted by Shan, who had been tortured and turned to the dark side by Darth Malak. When she was at a disadvantage, the fallen Jedi attempted to entice Revan into reclaiming his title as Dark Lord of the Sith. Although Shan mocked Juhani for her initial fear when she first touched the dark side, Juhani had grown stronger through her friendship with the man who had once saved her on Taris, and his inspiration helped her resist falling to the dark side again. Juhani and Bindo helped Revan resist Shan and reject his dark side persona for good.

Revan and his companions proceeded to the Star Forge to battle the Sith forces and confront Malak. Shan was persuaded by Revan to return to the light, and ultimately, Revan emerged victorious over his former Sith apprentice. Juhani and the rest of the Ebon Hawk crew survived the battle.

Following Malak's death, Bastila Shan's redemption, and the destruction of the Star Forge, Juhani was honored at the Republic's victory celebration on Lehon alongside Revan and their comrades. A holostatue of Juhani was erected in the Leisure Garden section of Axial Park in Coronet City on Corellia, alongside statues of Revan and his other companions, commemorating their deeds.

Juhani possessed yellow eyes, brown hair, and lightly-furred, cream-colored skin with light brown stripes. As a Cathar female, she belonged to a subspecies with less prominent claws compared to other Cathar.

Juhani's dedication to embodying the ideal Jedi made it difficult for her to accept failure in herself or others, yet she constantly struggled against her Cathar instincts and fierce temper. Her Master, Quatra, feared that her unchecked perfectionism would lead to frustration and ultimately drive her to the dark side. Quatra's final test compelled Juhani to re-evaluate herself and how her pride had nearly caused her fall, serving as a reminder for future reflections. Juhani believed that Cathar were naturally solitary and slow to trust. After joining the Jedi, she mostly kept to herself and had only a small circle of friends, including fellow Padawans Belaya and Dak Vesser. Among Revan and the Ebon Hawk crew, she maintained a distance, though she valued their companionship. Juhani was often a zealous advocate for the light side and the Jedi ways.

Due to Cassus Fett's unprovoked genocide on her birth planet of Cathar, Juhani harbored a grudge against Mandalorians, making it challenging to be civil with Canderous Ordo when they were allied in the quest for the Star Forge. Additionally, she held some animosity towards Humans due to the prejudice and persecution she and her parents faced on Taris. While some of the best people she knew were Human, she struggled to overcome her bitterness and would sometimes lash out emotionally at Revan. At one point, she blamed Revan and Bastila for the destruction of Taris, though she later apologized.

Juhani's heritage and isolated upbringing uniquely shaped the development of her Force powers. Her Cathar subspecies could rapidly alter the pigments in their fur, providing natural camouflage. This ability was enhanced when she instinctively learned to conceal herself using Force camouflage. As a Jedi Guardian, she favored lightsaber combat, but she also utilized various Force powers in battle. She augmented her lightsaber dueling skills with a range of battle-oriented Force powers, including Force speed, Force stun, Force push, and Saber Throw.

During her brief time as a Dark Jedi, she began learning dark side powers like Force Slow, Force Shock, and Force Choke, though she later abandoned the latter. She could also use the Jedi Mind Trick, but she often considered it a misuse of the Force.

Juhani was first seen in the 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, with Courtenay Taylor providing her voice. Originally, the character was going to be named "Bastila Shan," and early designs showed her in the color scheme that Bastila ultimately wore in the game. Although Juhani is technically an optional party member, as players can choose dark side options that lead to her death, the 2012 novel The Old Republic: Revan by Drew Karpyshyn confirmed that, canonically, Juhani was redeemed and joined Revan's group, continuing her service as a Jedi after the events of Knights of the Old Republic.

Within the Star Wars universe, Juhani holds the distinction of being the first character presented as LGBTQ+. Furthermore, she stands as one of the earliest positive representations of LGBTQ+ characters in video games and the first gay character of any gender in a game developed by BioWare. David Gaider, who co-designed Knights of the Old Republic, expressed surprise when his fellow developers, predominantly straight men, suggested taking this risk. Gaider, himself a gay man, had previously refrained from suggesting same-gender romance options, believing that both developers and audiences would reject the concept. Juhani's storyline as a lesbian character inspired him to include LGBTQ+ characters in his own subsequent projects, notably when he led the Dragon Age franchise.

According to Drew Karpyshyn, co-writer of Knights of the Old Republic, the team had to proceed with caution because Juhani was the first LGBTQ+ character in Star Wars. This led to a subtlety that left some players unaware of her lesbian identity. The writing team did not seek permission to include Juhani's storyline, nor were they explicitly prohibited from doing so. However, assumptions about the player base led to self-censorship, preventing Juhani from openly expressing her feelings. At the inaugural GaymerX convention, Gaider noted that they had "kind of hid it in the game a little bit because she never comes out and actually says 'I love you.' She talks around it. There's another character she mentions in the game who was her lover in the past, but she never says, 'She was my lover.' She just says, 'We were very close,' things like that." In a Q&A on LucasArts' now-defunct LucasForums, Gaider mentioned that on Dantooine and Korriban, the player "could run into Juhani's former lover as well (and she would attack you if you killed Juhani)," a description of events that only matches her friend Belaya.

As Revan and Juhani journeyed together to thwart the Sith, Revan earned Juhani's trust and respect, forging a close friendship with the typically solitary Cathar. However, a deeper, more intimate relationship is only possible if Revan is played as a female character; there is no romantic affection, reciprocated or unreciprocated, between Juhani and a male Revan.

In the grove, Juhani has unique dialogue options specifically for a female Revan. If told she is a "beautiful and talented young woman," Juhani responds that Revan seems to know how to affect her. When discussing her belief that she killed Master Quatra, she says, "I think, in my own way, I truly loved her." While thanking Revan for her redemption, Juhani expresses a desire to repay her. Subsequent conversations include additional lines from Juhani only when Revan is female. For example, after Revan's identity is revealed, Juhani hesitates to express her feelings and refers to Revan as the woman she has "come to care for" if the subplot has been maintained; otherwise, Revan is the woman Juhani has come to "admire" and whose heart she wishes she had.

The culmination of the romance with the female Revan hinges on earlier decisions and occurs when Revan initiates a conversation with Juhani after refusing to join Bastila on the dark side during their duel at the Rakatan temple. If the female Revan has not supported Juhani in the past, Juhani will only allude to her unrequited feelings, stating that she is glad to have been of value to Revan, even if it was not as much as she would have liked. However, if Revan has consistently supported Juhani and inquired about her past, Juhani will confess her feelings. Revan can reciprocate these feelings, which pleases Juhani, although she insists that they must confront Malak before addressing their mutual emotions.

Unlike the optional romances between the female Revan and Carth Onasi or the male Revan and Bastila Shan, Juhani and the female Revan do not explicitly use the word "love." Despite Juhani being one of two romantic options for the female Revan, the sequel assumes that a light-side female Revan had a romantic relationship with Carth Onasi. However, both the Juhani and Carth Onasi romance subplots are considered non-canon, as Revan was canonically male and married Bastila Shan after the events at the Star Forge.

Players have two opportunities to kill Juhani. The first is upon encountering her in the grove, where they can choose to kill her instead of redeeming her, thus losing a potential party member. The second occurs if the player saves Juhani but later chooses to follow Bastila to the dark side; in this scenario, Juhani and Jolee Bindo leave the party and become hostile, leading to the player killing them both.

After defeating Xor, players can persuade Juhani to succumb to her emotions and seek revenge instead of suppressing her anger. If the player succeeds, Juhani loses control and strikes Xor down in a fit of rage. Afterward, Juhani regrets giving in to the dark side again, even though she believes Xor deserved his fate.

Should the player choose to kill Juhani instead of redeeming her in the grove, Belaya's strong feelings for Juhani cause her to fall to the dark side. Upon returning to the enclave, Belaya confronts the player, expressing her anger towards them and the Jedi Council for their roles in Juhani's death. She believes that a more experienced Jedi, or one who believed in Juhani, could have spared and saved her, but the Council prevented Belaya from trying. She laments that she will never again spend nights under the stars with her dear companion, as they had done so many times before. Inconsolable, Belaya leaves the Jedi Order and embraces the dark side. When Revan arrives at the Sith Academy in search of the Star Map, Belaya is present as a student. She once again blames Revan for Juhani's death, stating that it placed a "bitter blackness in my heart," and vows vengeance for Juhani. She attacks Revan and is killed by the former Sith Lord.

Although Juhani's romance subplot is intended only for female player characters, some players reported that the romance appeared to be available to their male player characters in the initial release. Peter Thomas, one of Juhani's primary writers, confirmed on the BioWare forums in January 2004 that a script check during the first conversation with Juhani after she joined the party only set the romance variable to "true" for female player characters. The appearance of one romantic line for male player characters was a bug that was not corrected in time. Juhani's Databank entry on StarWars.com also contained inaccuracies, such as stating that she was a romance option for all player characters, regardless of gender, and that she had killed Quatra. This bugged subplot and the surrounding rumors led some players to mistakenly believe that she was intended to be bisexual rather than lesbian, among other speculations.

Players were aware early on that Juhani's personal quest line was bugged and difficult to trigger. By January 2005, rumors circulated that her entire character had been cut during development and added back shortly before the game's release. Some players incorrectly stated that her romance subplot was intended only for the male Revan and that its availability to the female Revan was a bug. Juhani's interactions with the female Revan were sometimes interpreted as platonic admiration or familial affection. Persistent rumors suggested that BioWare or Lucasfilm had learned about the writers' plans for a female romance for Juhani and ordered it to be eliminated or toned down. Online discussions about Juhani sometimes contained homophobic language, including on the official BioWare forums, the IGN Boards, the Jedi Council Forums, and the talk page for Juhani's Wookieepedia article.

Beyond individual lines that were removed from existing conversations, Juhani had several cut dialogue trees. One such tree would have allowed her to share her knowledge about the various planets the party visited.

Juhani's personal quest included three cut dialogue trees that remain in the game files. All three contained lines related to the optional romance with a female Revan. In one tree, the player could have inquired about Juhani's hostility towards Canderous Ordo, prompting her to explain the Mandalorian culture's impact on the Cathar species and her fear that it would lead her back to the dark side. If the player offered to protect her, her response would vary depending on whether the romance was active. Juhani's lines would also differ when asking the player to stop her if she fell again.

After Korriban, Juhani would have discussed the player's actions on that planet, with separate branches for dark side and light side/neutral actions. In the dark side branch, Juhani would have expressed her concern that she had not done enough to keep the player on the right path. A female player could dismiss Juhani's words, ending an active romance. If the female player instead engaged in the discussion, Juhani would express her wish that her concerns meant more and ask if the player would try to avoid the dark side for her sake. The light side branch would have included lines specific to the active female romance, with Juhani sharing that she has begun turning to the player whenever she has a problem, sometimes seeming to want them for the chance they provide to her.

A scripted conversation on the Leviathan before encountering Malak would have featured Juhani discussing her apprehension. In the dark side alignment branch, Juhani would have expressed her concerns about the player falling to the dark side, including a line specifically for the active female romance. Regardless of alignment, if the female romance was active, Juhani would express her wish that they had more time to see what the future held for them.

In the final game, Juhani's final history dialogue tree reveals to the player that Revan was the Jedi who saved her. This tree is only available before the Leviathan, where the player learns they are Revan and then informs their companions. Despite this condition, cut lines and a cut branch would have reflected Juhani and the player learning Revan's identity before the Leviathan. In this branch, Juhani says that she had not recognized Revan when they met because she had never seen Revan when she was saved. She would have expressed to Revan that they had changed her life, with the nature of that expression depending on whether the female romance was active.

On August 19, 2008, Wizards of the Coast released the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, a supplement for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. It contains artwork depicting Juhani in a lightsaber duel with Malak's Shadow Hand Darth Bandon. However, it is not confirmed whether this specific moment is canonical to the video game Knights of the Old Republic. The Star Wars Miniatures game collection for Knights of the Old Republic was released by Wizards of the Coast on the same day as the campaign guide. A "very rare" miniature of Juhani, part of the "Fringe" set on the checklist poster, depicts her in the brown and yellow colors from her concept art, rather than her in-game tan and teal attire. The miniature wields a blue-bladed lightsaber.

BioWare's PC video game Star Wars: The Old Republic features a non-repeatable bonus mission on Corellia called "Restore the Statues," where players restore holostatues of Revan's companions that were deactivated by Mandalorians. The hologram representing Juhani uses a generic Cathar model and lacks her unique attire. Four armor pieces replicating her Knights of the Old Republic outfit can be purchased in the Cartel Market.

Juhani and other Legends characters appear in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a mobile game released by Electronic Arts on November 24, 2015. The game allows players to collect characters from various Star Wars eras and use them in battles on a holotable. Due to the game's sandbox nature, it does not canonize Juhani in the current canon continuity. She was added to the game in the "Legends of the Old Republic VIII: Juhani" event on November 30, 2018.