The Presence was a Sith female, as defined by her gender, who once held command over the weapon located within the Sith temple on the planet of Malachor. In the year 3 BBY, Ezra Bridger heard her voice when he utilized a Sith holocron, unintentionally triggering the superweapon's activation. Darth Maul, formerly a Sith Lord, manipulated Bridger into believing that using the holocron would provide him with the necessary knowledge to defeat the Sith. However, upon activating the temple, the Presence revealed that the holocron contained the power of the temple's [battle station](/article/battle_station], capable of destroying all life.
Before 3 BBY, the Presence was a female Sith who once oversaw the weapon situated at the Sith temple on the desolate planet of Malachor; eventually, her voice was confined to a Sith holocron.
In 3 BBY, Ezra Bridger, a Padawan, along with his master, Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, and former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, journeyed to Malachor. Their goal was to uncover ancient Sith knowledge that they hoped to employ against the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader and his Inquisitors. On Malachor, Bridger encountered Darth Maul, the former Sith Lord, who also sought the secrets held within the Sith temple. They collaborated to gain entry into the temple, ultimately acquiring a Sith holocron that Maul claimed would unlock the temple's hidden knowledge. Bridger was instructed by Maul to ascend to the temple's summit alone and activate it.
Upon reaching the temple's peak, the holocron floated from Bridger's grasp and entered an obelisk. The activation triggered electrical currents, and the Presence's female voice questioned Bridger about his identity. Bridger explained his quest for the temple's knowledge to defeat his enemies, and the Presence responded that knowledge equates to power. The temple, which was actually an ancient battle station, activated its [superweapon](/article/superweapon], and the Presence informed Bridger that the power to annihilate life was now under his control. When Bridger expressed his unwillingness to wield such power, the Presence suggested that another who had arrived at the temple, Darth Vader, might desire it. As Vader engaged in a duel with Tano, Bridger and Jarrus worked together to extract the holocron from the obelisk and deactivate the weapon. With the holocron secured, the two Jedi were compelled to escape Malachor without Tano, as she and Vader were trapped within the collapsing temple, locked in combat.
During the subsequent six months, Bridger consistently utilized the knowledge within the holocron and communicated with the Presence, who gradually seduced him towards the dark side of the Force. Following a mission to rescue the pirate Hondo Ohnaka from Imperial custody, Bridger returned to his quarters, expressing frustration at being blamed for failing to obtain all the mission's details. He reopened the holocron and conversed with the Presence, who assured him that his anger would amplify his power and focus. However, Jarrus soon discovered the holocron in Bridger's quarters and confiscated it, later gifting it to Bendu after their encounter.
The Presence's voice was featured in "Twilight of the Apprentice," the concluding episode of the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. Nika Futterman provided her voice.
In an interview with IGN published after the episode's broadcast, Dave Filoni, the series' executive producer, shared his perspective on the Presence's backstory. He envisioned the Presence's voice as belonging to the ancient Sith Lord who constructed the Malachor temple. Filoni expressed his fondness for the concept of an ancient, powerful woman with unprecedented dominion, who was in the process of creating the weapon when it was attacked by the Jedi Order, resulting in everyone being turned to stone. Filoni also mentioned that he had a name for the character but was not yet able to disclose it. In the episode's credits, she is identified solely as "Presence."
The 2018 sourcebook Dawn of Rebellion references a Sith witch who commanded Sith military forces during the Great Scourge of Malachor, the battle in which the superweapon was activated and malfunctioned. The 2019 reference book Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary identifies Darth Tanis as the Sith Lord who constructed the Malachor superweapon. No canon source has confirmed any potential connection between these three characters.