Onimi

Onimi belonged to the Elite and was a Shaper. He eventually discovered that the eighth cortex, meant to contain the knowledge needed to survive the decades-long war that the Yuuzhan Vong had condemned themselves to, was empty. After incorporating yammosk tissue into his brain (likely the action that restored his connection to the Force, given the yammosk's inherent telepathy), Onimi was branded a Shamed One, transforming into a physically and mentally deformed, insane being. He held the gods responsible for his suffering, particularly Yun-Harla, the Trickster goddess.

Despite his seemingly weak and twisted physique, with short limbs, small hands, and a repulsive face, Onimi's lowly status and appearance led to him being underestimated. The Royal Court viewed him as a nuisance, a Shamed One unworthy of Supreme Overlord Shimrra's attention. Yet, Shimrra tolerated him for reasons unknown to them.

This was because Onimi now possessed a connection to the Force, lost to the Yuuzhan Vong for millennia. This granted him the ability to manipulate minds. His experiments also yielded other powers; he could amplify energy within his body and create deadly toxins, secreted through bodily fluids like sweat or saliva, even from his nails.

Seeing an opportunity for advancement with the Intendant Supreme Overlord Shimrra, Onimi influenced him to take him as a familiar, becoming his jester. Exploiting his proximity to the Supreme Overlord, Onimi manipulated Shimrra and the other Yuuzhan Vong to orchestrate the invasion of the galaxy that the species chose as their new home. Onimi aspired to be the savior of his race.

Onimi's role wasn't limited to court jester. As Kae Kwaad, he collaborated with the heretical Nen Yim to develop the eighth cortex and new technologies for the Yuuzhan Vong. The invasion wasn't progressing as planned, so Onimi tasked Nen Yim, through Shimrra, with filling the eighth cortex. He also occupied himself in Shimrra's court, cackling in obscene rhymes and defying norms during meetings with the Elite. However, Onimi lacked a strategic mind for war and couldn't be blamed for the failures of Warmaster Tsavong Lah, the rise of heretical movements, or the resilience of the "infidels" whose galaxy he sought to conquer. The invasion faltered; two years after the Battle of Coruscant, where the Vong seized the New Republic's planetary capital, the enemy, now the Galactic Alliance, aimed to reclaim their territory.

Onimi controlled the biologically enhanced Slayer warriors when Luke Skywalker and the Solo twins breached Shimrra's chambers during the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar, as they tried to fight off the Jedi. He eventually fled, leaving the Slayers and his puppet Supreme Overlord to be killed by Skywalker and the twins. Jaina Solo pursued Onimi into the command chamber of Shimrra's Citadel, but was quickly disabled by the deformed creature. Upon waking, bound between statues of Yuuzhan Vong deities, Onimi revealed the truth of the invasion, his manipulation, and his belief that Jaina was the goddess Yun-Harla, whom he blamed for his disfigurement. This belief likely stemmed from Jaina's use of Yun-Harla's reputation as psychological warfare against the Vong. Crucially, Onimi was genetically linked to the Citadel, controlling its every movement. As Shimrra died, the Citadel's top section launched into space, with Onimi planning to kill all life in the galaxy when the Alpha Red pathogen reached the living world of Zonama Sekot, destroying it due to its genetic similarity to the Yuuzhan Vong (Zonama was the seed of the original Vong home world of Yuuzhan'tar), and transforming him into a god. With the section under Onimi's control, those who doubted Shimrra's death believed the vessel's arrival proved their leader's continued existence.

Onimi awaited Jacen Solo in his command chamber. He sensed the "divine glow" of Yun-Shuno, the Pardoner goddess of the Shamed Ones, within Jacen. He declared that the death of "Yun-Shuno" and the destruction of Zonama Sekot would solidify his godhood. Onimi then attacked Jacen, using all his powers to destroy his final enemy. However, Jacen had deepened his connection to the Force, embracing its purity. He matched Onimi blow-for-blow, remaining balanced and deflecting his toxins. Jacen, whom Onimi saw as Yun-Shuno, achieved oneness with the Force, becoming a being of light against which the warped Yuuzhan Vong couldn't prevail. As the Force flowed through Jacen, it overwhelmed Onimi, pinning him and reversing his deformities. However, this also severed Onimi's connection to the Force, causing him to lose control of his internal poisons. He collapsed and dissolved into a puddle of hydrocarbons, absorbed by the yorik coral.

With Onimi's death, the section he controlled self-destructed. Those who witnessed the destruction, including Warmaster Nas Choka, knew the Supreme Overlord was dead, ending the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Jacen's fight with Onimi had significant future consequences. His experience of oneness with the Force led to an ideology similar to the Unifying Force philosophy; he was beyond good and evil, light and dark. This motivated Jacen during the Dark Nest Crisis and his eventual fall to the dark side of the Force by the Second Galactic Civil War. Jacen became the Sith Lord Darth Caedus and died at the hands of Jaina, the sister he saved from Onimi.

Han Solo commented on Onimi three times, twice during his son's reign as Darth Caedus and once after Caedus's death. Han wished to believe his son had died when he killed Onimi, considering Caedus a monster who had taken over the empty shell of the Jacen who ended the Yuuzhan Vong War. Two years after the Second Galactic Civil War, Han mourned Jacen's loss, wondering where his son went wrong after being such a great Jedi, notably for killing Onimi.

Onimi, by adding Yammosk DNA, regained the Force, impossible for his species otherwise. He learned all his powers independently. He used his mental powers to command gravity-manipulating animals to weaken the Skywalkers when they attacked Shimrra's throne room. He also read Jaina Solo's mind to anticipate her attacks. He could also sense and touch Vong minds, read the thoughts of those near his supposed master and relay them to him (making Shimraa appear to have holy powers of detecting lies), and mind-controlled the Supreme Overlord, although Shimrra was beginning to resist. The Shamed One could use the Force for his sight, perceive the power and he claimed divine glory inside of Skywalkers and Tahiri, and felt Shimraa's death. His will guided the Yuuzhan Vong Slayers as they fought Luke, Jaina, and Jacen, without their awareness.

He possessed telekinetic powers, moving objects and Vong craft, even hurling chunks of his ship as weapons. He also clad himself in lightning while charging at Jacen, forcing the Jedi to create a shield of electricity.

Jacen Solo considered him the greatest user of Art of the Small he had ever seen. He used toxins to paralyze and capture Jaina Solo after ambushing her. He then released drugs at Jacen, though they were ineffective. This toxic art proved fatal, as his body dissolved under the weight of his toxins when Jacen cut him off from the Force. Despite being maimed, the Vong Shamed One could run and move very quickly, dodging Jaina's blade, and seemed to fly as he jumped. He was a sneaky and skilled fighter, physically stronger than Jacen, able to disarm her and throw her across a room. Still, his blows were useless against Jacen when the Jedi used Oneness.

There's debate about Onimi's rank before his shaming. While most sources state he was a Master Shaper, Onimi stated in The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force that he was denied that rank. In The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, Nen Yim noted that he had normal Yuuzhan Vong digits, lacking even the shaper hands given to Shaper Adepts. These factors suggest Onimi was a Shaper Initiate.

Onimi is described as speaking in rhyme in several New Jedi Order novels while in Shimrra's court. He would have been speaking in the Yuuzhan Vong language, consisting of guttural noises that likely wouldn't rhyme as they would in Basic.

In Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force, Onimi is simply referred to as the Supreme Overlord.

During The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force, Onimi appeared to lose all power over Shimrra. When he revealed to Jaina that he was the true Supreme Overlord, he explained that his "preoccupation with defeating you (Jaina) allowed what remained of Shimrra to re-emerge." However, it's unclear why Onimi hadn't lost control earlier, such as in The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, when he wasn't in contact with Shimrra for most of the novel.