Kaleesh

The Kaleesh, who are also referred to as the Kaleeshi, were a species of humanoid reptilians with [red](/article/color] skin hailing from the planet of Kalee located in Wild Space. They possessed distinctive features such as snake-like, small yellow eyes with slitted pupils, complete with eyelids, noticeable brows, large tusks that jutted out from their upper jaws, bony protrusions on their chins, and a mouth containing teeth, with two fangs visible even when closed. While their facial characteristics bore a resemblance to those of bats, including elongated ears and snub or flat noses, they typically wore masks. Their bodies featured two long, slender arms, lengthy hands with four claw-like fingers and an opposable thumb, two legs, a bent back, and four toes.

They were digitigrades, meaning they walked on their toes instead of their entire feet. They also possessed a brain, a heart, lungs, a liver, various essential internal organs, and nerve endings. Their internal organs were notably highly flammable. The species consisted of two sexes: male and female. Their claws varied in color from white to black. The Kaleesh's scales seemed to quiver menacingly, as if they were ready to strike, and they were capable of detecting cold-bloodedness in others. Their eyesight allowed them to perceive color, and they could also detect the origin of individuals and the scent of death from a distance.

Despite being primitive, the Kaleesh possessed a fierce and proud culture of warriors renowned for their merciless nature. Dumas Mar'Ti, a Kaleesh individual, held beliefs in a pantheon of beings she regarded as her gods. According to Mar'Ti, her sins were a matter solely between herself and these deities. A young Grievous admired the warlords of Kalee, witnessing their return home with spoils of war.

Within their homeworld, Kaleesh warriors engaged in the hunting of creatures such as mumuu, erkush, and karabbac. However, their hunting practices extended beyond mere sustenance; they often killed to demonstrate their bravery and crafted clothing and masks from the hides of their prey. These fearsome masks were frequently fashioned from the skulls, bones, and teeth of the most formidable and lethal predatory beasts they encountered. When adorned with such a mask, a Kaleesh's features were typically concealed, revealing only their slitted golden eyes and visible tusks.

Prior to engaging in battle, the Kaleesh would smear their skull masks with war paint derived from karabbac-blood above their eyes. Given that they were rarely seen without these masks, it was often challenging to discern their expressions. It was apparent that the Kaleesh would not tolerate individuals wearing similar masks merely for aesthetic purposes. Kaleesh warriors traditionally donned campaign cloaks accompanied by headwears over half-hoods, which contributed to their menacing appearance. These warriors employed their martial disciplines and primary weapons, including swords, shields, spears, and slugthrowers, notably the Czerka Arms Outland rifle. The unarmed combat style known as "Na Jang" drew upon their techniques and incorporated them into the training of military units.

At one point in time, Kaleesh warriors and warlords would seize roggwarts as trophies from their conflicts with the Bitthævrian on their home planet of Guiteica.

The Old Republic, which was overextended, failed to address crimes on numerous outlying worlds, and Kalee was one such world that inadvertently suffered injustice as a result. Kalee became unified when the low-tech reptilian Kaleesh species were subjugated by a greedy insectoid species, the Yam'rii, who hailed from the desolate planet Huk within the same system. The Yam'rii had ruthlessly invaded numerous worlds within their sector, depleting their resources and selling their inhabitants into slavery. When the Yam'rii turned their attention to Kaleesh's homeworld, the consequences were devastating. The ensuing struggle between the Kaleesh and their technologically superior adversaries resulted in a never-ending war.

A Kaleesh individual named Qymaen jai Sheelal, who would later be known as Grievous, was born, grew up, and acquired brutal tactics, strategic acumen, battle strategies, and warfare knowledge during the Kalee's conflict with the Yam'rii of Huk, ultimately becoming a formidable warrior and warlord. Throughout the years of fighting alongside the strongest Kaleesh warriors, the Izvoshra, Grievous had gathered them to serve as his bodyguards. Subsequently, with heightened ferocity and resolve, Grievous led his people in an all-out war against the Yam'rii while on the offensive. In time, the Kaleesh forces successfully drove the Yam'rii away from their world. Grievous initiated a series of devastating campaigns on the planet Huk. However, the Yam'rii executed an unexpected maneuver by appealing to the Republic for assistance. The Republic and the Jedi intervened, siding with the Yam'rii against the invaders, resulting in the censure of the Kaleesh, the imposition of embargoes and fines, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of them due to starvation.

Grievous's animosity toward the Republic and the Jedi only intensified, leading to the development of a personal vendetta against them. It was perhaps this hatred that motivated Grievous to join the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Grievous achieved phenomenal success, making him one of the IGBC's most valuable assets. By that point, not only Count Dooku but also Darth [Sidious](/article/darth_sidious] himself had taken notice of his exploits and harbored significant intentions for him. One day, Grievous' shuttle was severely sabotaged during San Hill's assassination attempt, causing his troop carrier to crash and eject him from the wreckage, nearly resulting in his death and severely damaging what remained of his original body. After regaining consciousness in a bacta tank, the Kaleesh warrior discovered that he had been almost entirely gutted and deformed by surgical FX droids. Subsequently, he was transformed into a cyborg and assumed the role of Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, which brought him into direct conflict with the despised Jedi and allowed him to seize their lightsabers as trophies throughout the years until his death on Utapau.

During the First Order-Resistance War, a Kaleesh individual was present at the Vargo Spaceport on the planet Varkana, wandering around while the First Order stormtroopers searched the city for resistance spy Norath Kev.

During the High Republic Era, the Kaleesh Dumas Mar'Ti served as a captain of her own starship, the Athos, and was a member of the Byne Guild.

One of the most renowned members of this species was General Grievous, who was also regarded as its most infamous. His predominantly cybernetic body largely obscured any resemblance to other Kaleesh. As the Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, he participated in the Clone Wars until his demise at the hands of Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Battle of Utapau. Although not a Kaleesh himself, the Delphidian pirate Sidon Ithano donned a Kaleesh mask that had been stolen from the Kaleesh, adopting one of their masks painted in a chosen red color to conceal his Delphidian heritage.