Sith zombies of Korriban, also known as Korriban undead Sith, were semi-sentient, undead humanoid predators that were endemic to the Sith tombworld of Korriban. These creatures were first brought into existence before 7000 BBY through the experiments of Sith King Dathka Graush, who employed Sith alchemy and magic to revive dead bodies. It was soon discovered that these beings could propagate their kind by biting living, sentient creatures. Following a turbulent fifty-year rule, Graush was assassinated, and the spirits that animated the zombies were confined within a crystal buried alongside him in his tomb situated in Korriban's Valley of Golg.
For the subsequent seven millennia, the zombies functioned as sentinels guarding the tombs of the Sith Lords in both the Valley of Golg and the Valley of the Dark Lords. These creatures remained inactive for long stretches, only to be roused by the commands of the deceased Sith Lords' spirits or by disturbances to Graush's crystal, with the purpose of eliminating intruders or potential tomb raiders. Possessing limited intelligence, the zombies were capable of using weapons, and this trait, combined with their frightening appearance, meant that few sentient beings survived encounters with them. In 3997 BBY, Exar Kun, a self-proclaimed Jedi Knight, managed to survive an encounter with these guardian zombies while exploring the Valley of the Dark Lords. Similarly, a group of Jedi Knights and their respective Padawans also survived nearly four millennia after Kun, during their pursuit of a galactic criminal. Another encounter with the creatures took place six months before the Battle of Yavin, when a pirate vessel suffered a crash-landing near the Valley of Golg.
Korriban zombies, alternatively referred to as Korriban Sith zombies, was the designation given to the initial corpses of sentient beings that had been revived from death through Sith King Dathka Graush's alchemical and magical Sith alchemy and magic experiments. Later on, mechanical augmentations were integrated into this process. As time passed, it became evident that these humanoids could create more of their kind by biting living victims. These bites caused infections with Sith alchemical substances that induced transformation into the undead.
The physical characteristics of these zombies varied greatly, depending on the species and gender they had been in life. Furthermore, their original features were often distorted by battle damage and the effects of time, as these zombies could remain dormant for extended periods. There were reports of individuals who had fallen in battle rising almost immediately, missing limbs and bearing severe wounds. Others described the zombies as little more than decaying husks, emitting a foul odor and moving with a peculiar, shuffling gait.
The transformation into a zombie granted the creature enhanced visual perception in darkness and strength exceeding that of living beings. Additionally, conventional physical damage was ineffective in stopping a zombie. The only methods of destroying a zombie involved inflicting massive trauma to the head, such as with blaster fire, or severing the head from the body.
The transformation into a zombie nullified most former attributes, except for retaining some basic skills such as weapon proficiency, reducing a sentient being into a semi-sentient predatory creature. The creature was driven by an overwhelming urge to consume the flesh of living, sentient beings, although it could temporarily satisfy its hunger with bodies buried in the tombs. When presented with the opportunity to feed on living flesh, a zombie would relentlessly pursue its prey. Its limited intellect allowed it to wield weapons such as blaster pistols and thermal detonators, depending on its former capabilities. Often, the intended victim was paralyzed by fear due to the zombie's terrifying presence, inadvertently facilitating their own demise.
Sith King Dathka Graush and his forces emerged victorious from one of Korriban's recurring civil wars. During his fifty-year reign over Korriban, which the Sith considered exceptionally cruel and terrifying even by their standards, a significant number of corpses accumulated. This abundance of raw material enabled Graush to experiment with Sith alchemy and magic, leading to the discovery of a method to reanimate these corpses. The spell Tsaiwinokka Hoyakut, translated from ancient Sith as "Reanimated Dead," was used to create a zombie army. During this period, Graush also utilized Sith magic and advanced technologies to replace his heart with a dark side, Force-sensitive crystal jewel infused with over a thousand Sith spirits. Following Graush's assassination, the spirits of his zombie army were trapped within his heart, and the crystal was buried with Graush's mummified remains in his tomb in Korriban's Valley of Golg. The zombies remained dormant for extended periods, awakening only when someone touched Graush's heart, releasing their spirits. These spirits then sought out their former bodies and new victims to infect.
Three millennia later, Exar Kun, a Jedi Knight guided by the spirit of the deceased Dark Lord Freedon Nadd, arrived on Korriban in search of the knowledge and power of the ancient Sith Lords. Kun's exploration of the planet led him to the Valley of the Dark Lords, a valley filled with burial tombs and temples, where he discovered scattered bones, the wreckage of a starship, and skeletons of long-dead space pirates. Kun deduced that these were the remains of tomb robbers. Nadd's spirit appeared and revealed that Kun was seeing the remains of those who had violated the will of the Dark Lords and their resting place, warning that any being entering the domain of the Dark Lords was doomed to remain. Moments later, dark side energies, generated by magic and machines during the construction of the tombs, swirled around the corpses, reanimating them. The zombies advanced on Kun, accusing him of defilement and declaring themselves guardians of the tombs, asserting that no one was permitted to disturb the sleep of the Dark Lords of the Sith. Nadd's spirit advised Kun to seek refuge in the nearby Great Temple to escape the zombies and continue his investigation.
In the millennia that followed, rumors circulated among galactic spacers about the use of Sith alchemy to reanimate corpses, and tales of Korriban zombies dispatching unlucky freighter crews. A group of four Jedi Knights and their Padawans, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, were compelled to fight Korriban zombies during their pursuit of the galactic criminal Granta Omega. Omega, driven by his obsession with the Sith and hatred of the Jedi, had gained the support of a mysterious Sith Lord in his efforts to destroy the Jedi Order and cause chaos within the Galactic Republic. After the Jedi uncovered the connection between them, Omega traveled to the Valley of the Dark Lords to meet his Sith benefactor, with the Jedi in pursuit. Tracking Omega to one of the tombs, Kenobi and Skywalker, leading the search, ventured deeper into the tomb while the other Jedi remained near the entrance. They were soon assailed by a foul stench, followed by the emergence of Korriban zombies. Skywalker was momentarily stunned by the sight of the zombies, having read about them but never expecting to encounter them. The Sith Lord had reawakened the zombies to guard the tombs, considered sacred Sith ground, and to defend Omega and his accomplice, Jenna Zan Arbor. The creatures attacked the Jedi with blasters and detonators. Kenobi and Skywalker fought their way through the undead, deflecting blaster fire with their lightsabers, avoiding detonators, and eliminating the reanimated corpses, continuing their pursuit of Omega while the other Jedi destroyed the remaining zombies.
After 11 ABY, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Master and founder of the New Jedi Order during the era of the New Republic, dispatched Jedi researchers to investigate Korriban, the ancient Sith homeworld. While exploring the tomb of Dathka Graush, the researchers discovered recorded logs from a missing pirate freighter named Jynni's Virtue, detailing a subsequent encounter with Korriban zombies. The logs, with time codes indicating that the first recording was made six months before the Battle of Yavin, revealed that the freighter had been disabled by an Imperial scout patrol and forced to crash-land on the planet near the Valley of Golg. The captain of Jynni's Virtue, Naz Felyood, explored the valley in search of treasure and discovered Graush's tomb. Believing that Graush's sarcophagus contained great riches, the Captain removed the Heart of Graush from its resting place. Felyood became possessed by the spirit of Dathka Graush, reawakening the zombie army under his control. Felyood sent the undead to attack the Virtue, and First Mate Babbnod Luroon realized that she and the remaining crew were unlikely to survive. Luroon ordered Deksi Fivvl, the ship's engineer, to rig the Virtue's engines to explode. The resulting explosion destroyed most of the zombies attacking Jynni's Virtue, as well as the vessel and its crew.
In addition to the recordings, the Jedi researchers found a brief hand-written message believed to be written by Naz Felyood. In the letter, Felyood described the destruction of the Virtue and his subsequent loss of the Heart of Graush. Consequently, he was no longer possessed by Graush's spirit but was cursed to wander Korriban, eternally immortal, in search of the jewel. The researchers found no evidence of the Heart or the zombie army, considering the potential return of Graush's zombie army a threat to anyone landing on the planet. Many also considered it fortunate that Emperor Palpatine, the Sith Lord ruler of the Galactic Empire, had never discovered the secrets to creating or reawakening the undead, thus confining the zombies to Korriban.
Korriban zombies debuted in the Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 3 comic, the third issue of the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith story arc, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. However, the zombies were not specifically named in this issue; they were only referred to as guardian spirits. In the fourth issue of the Dark Lords of the Sith story arc, published in early 1995, the zombies were only mentioned as guardian creatures in the introductory synopsis. The release of the Dark Lords of the Sith audio drama in 2005 reinforced the zombies' role as guardians.
The third and fourth issues of the Dark Lords of the Sith story arc did not initially specify the exact location of Exar Kun's encounter with the zombies. The location was established with the release of the Empire's End 2 comic in late 1995; the caption of an image depicting the Great Temple, seen in both Empire's End 2 and Descent to the Dark Side, stated that the temple was located in the Valley of the Dark Lords. In 2008, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia identified the guardian creatures of the Dark Lords of the Sith as Korriban zombies by publishing an image of one of the Dark Lords of the Sith creatures under the Korriban zombie entry.
In 2003, the Wizards of the Coast Planet Hoppers roleplaying web supplement Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls first identified Korriban zombies by name. In addition to providing detailed characteristics and a history of the zombies, this supplement also offered Korriban Sith zombie as an alternative name for the creatures. The zombies made their final appearance to date in 2004's Jedi Quest: The Final Showdown, the last novel of the Jedi Quest young reader series. In 2009, the zombies were mentioned in The Essential Atlas, under the Korriban planet entry.
A continuity inconsistency appears to exist regarding the origin of the Korriban zombies, which remains unexplained in Star Wars canon. Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia both state that the zombies originated in the Valley of Golg, one of Korriban's burial valleys. Furthermore, these sources assert that the zombies were controlled by the Heart of Graush, located in the Valley of Golg, and would only awaken when this jewel was disturbed. However, Dark Lords of the Sith and Jedi Quest place the zombies in Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords, without mentioning their control by the Heart of Graush.