Revanchist

In the year 3964 BBY, amid the Outer Rim skirmishes between the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders and the Galactic Republic, a youthful and compelling Jedi Knight by the name of Revan traveled throughout the Jedi Order, making his case for Jedi involvement in the war. Initially, his was a solitary voice among the Jedi, though he eventually amassed a considerable following. The first Jedi to rally to his cause was his closest companion, Alek, who assisted Revan in enlisting Jedi to their banner. The Revanchists, also recognized as the Jedi Crusaders, commenced gathering intelligence and scouting the impending Mandalorian menace on the Outer Rim, all without the backing of the Jedi High Council, as the Mandalorian and Republic fleets engaged in unproductive combat within the neutral Republic frontier.

En route to the Outer Rim, Revan and his Jedi made a stop on the planet Taris, hoping to enlist additional Jedi from the local Jedi temple. While there, Alek, Revan's longtime friend and honorary apprentice, attempted to recruit a Padawan named Zayne Carrick. After Alek rescued Carrick when the Padawan was freefalling in the Tarisian cityscape after a failed attempt to apprehend the Snivvian black marketeer Marn Hierogryph, the two had a conversation about the war, in which he tried unsuccessfully to recruit the Padawan. Carrick revealed that the Jedi Masters on Taris, particularly his Master Lucien Draay, were of the opinion that the Jedi should abstain from involvement in the Republic's conflict with the Mandalorians, instructing him and his fellow students that the Jedi's duty was to defend the Republic against the Sith. Alek informed Carrick that sometimes one had to venture into the darkness to preserve the light, asserting that the Sith threat had been neutralized decades prior.

While Revan proceeded to investigate occurrences on Onderon and its moon Dxun, the majority of the Revanchists, including Alek, were captured on the planet Suurja before its fourth battle by the Neo-Crusaders. They were transported to Flashpoint Station, a deserted Republic research facility commandeered by the Mandalorians. The Revanchists were subjected to experimentation by a sociopath named Demagol, a Mandalorian scientist endeavoring to decipher the origin and essence of the Jedi's Force abilities, with the aim of nullifying and/or replicating them. The Revanchists were liberated by fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick—who had been framed for the Padawan Massacre of Taris by Carrick's Master and Revan's associate Lucien Draay— and Mandalorian turncoat Rohlan Dyre, who had come to rescue the female Arkanian Offshoot Jarael. The group of Revanchists headed back to Republic space with the unconscious Demagol.

Subsequently, on the planet Cathar, while searching for evidence of the Mandalorian's slaughter of the Cathar people, Revan, Alek, and their adherents sensed the demise of thousands on Serroco as the Mandalorians rained nuclear warheads on the surface of the planet Serroco. Shortly thereafter, Revan, along with the Republic admiral Saul Karath and the Mandalorian leader Mandalore the Ultimate, was invited to bid on the exogorth superweapons that the Adascorp leader Arkoh Adasca was selling. Alek, under Revan's instructions to eliminate this potential threat, represented the Revanchists in Revan's stead, as Revan remained on Cathar to uncover evidence of the Mandalorian's massacre of the Cathar people.

Following the Adasca affair, the Taris Siege, and the bombardment of Jebble, Jedi Master Lucien Draay, a member of the clandestine Jedi cabal known as the Covenant, was appointed to the Jedi Council. Draay asserted that recent Republic intelligence indicated a setback to the Mandalorian's conquest plans, seemingly due to an insurrection within their ranks. He argued that Revan's pursuit of an "interventionist" approach was misguided for both the Jedi and the Republic. The Council sanctioned Draay's motion, which mandated the recall, or even detention, of the Revanchists. After Alek, operating under the alias "Malak" to evade the arrest warrant issued against him, (initially as "Alek") testified against the Covenant on behalf of the fugitive Jedi Zayne Carrick, he was dispatched back to Revan and his Jedi with a final warning. He departed under protest, informing the Arkanian female Jarael that he would remain "Malak" until the war's suffering came to an end.

Upon Malak's arrival on Cathar, Jedi Master and High Council member Vrook Lamar and a contingent of Jedi journeyed to the planet to confront Revan, Malak, and the Revanchists. Lamar and the Jedi conveyed to Revan that the Mandalorians were undeserving of the Jedi's assistance in the war, instructing the Revanchists to permanently disband. During the discussion, Revan discovered and retrieved a helmet, and when light illuminated it, all the Jedi experienced a vision of the Mandalorians driving the Cathar towards the sea. They bore witness to a Mandalorian female, the former owner of the helmet now in Revan's possession, pleading with Cassus Fett, Mandalore's chief strategist, to spare the Cathar, arguing that they had been defeated. However, Fett was resolute in avenging what the Cathar had inflicted upon them during the Great Sith War, and ordered the Cathar's genocide.

Following the conclusion of the vision, Revan became incensed, exclaiming that the Mandalorians were under no obligation to kill them, as they had already been defeated, and that while the Mandalorian female acknowledged this, the other Mandalorians refused to heed her. He then donned the mask, vowing to champion the Mandalorian female's cause and to keep the mask on until the Mandalorians had been defeated. Despite the revelation of the events on Cathar, the Jedi still did not offer Revan and Malak their full support. Nevertheless, Revan succeeded in organizing the Revanchists under the banner of a Republic mercy corps. The Jedi Council sanctioned Revan, Malak, and the Revanchists' participation in the Mandalorian Wars. Both Malak and Revan were elevated to the rank of general. The disclosure of the events on Cathar also swayed many more Jedi to join the Revanchists.

The Revanchists swiftly became indispensable to the Republic's war efforts. Revan and Malak demonstrated themselves as capable commanders in the field, rapidly ascending through the ranks, with Revan's tactics and Malak's righteous fury proving unmatched. Revan, granted complete operational control of the Republic's forces, leveraged his newfound authority to spearhead the Republic's war effort, and under his direction, the nearly defeated Republic Navy commenced pushing the Mandalorians back. However, at some juncture during the Mandalorian Wars, Revan and Malak discovered a Rakatan Star Map within the ancient burial mounds near the Dantooine Jedi Enclave. Having successfully navigated the "trials" set by the guard droid left behind by the so-called "builders," they gained access to the Star Map. Moments before they went beyond the door that led to the dark side artifact, however, Malak warned Revan that stepping beyond this threshold would mean that they could never return to the Jedi Order. Whether or not Revan considered this, or even cared, as he paced in front of the sealed door is unknown; but if he had any doubts, he swiftly cast them aside. At some point during the latter part of the Mandalorian Wars, during the Kanz Disorders, the Revanchists raided an isolated slave colony on Lorrd II, the second moon of Lorrd. They freed the slave population on the moon. However, this was not done out of a sense of justice, rather, this was to acquire Lorrdian gemstones for use in lightsaber construction, because the gemstones were imprinted with the Force. It was said that the Lorrdian gemstones allowed the wielder to anticipate a sentient being's actions.

Later during the wars, in the year 3961 BBY, Revan found another Star Map on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. Sometime after he found the Kashyyyk Star Map, Revan discovered the ancient Sith world of Malachor V, which was considered taboo to the Mandalorians. On its surface, Revan was quickly assaulted by the destructive dark side energies that permeated the world, yet through the strength of his will, Revan was able to withstand the dark power without succumbing to it. Soon thereafter, Revan stumbled upon the Trayus Academy, an abandoned training center built by the ancient Sith Empire. While unearthing the planet's buried secrets, Revan learned the location and significance of the planet Korriban, the homeworld of the ancient Sith species.

In the year 3960 BBY, Revan forced a final battle with the Mandalorians over Malachor V. Revan dueled Mandalore the Ultimate on the planet's surface, but learned from his defeated enemy that the Mandalore had been influenced by a group of Sith to attack the Republic. After he defeated Mandalore, he forced the surviving Mandalorians to surrender, ordering his forces to dismantle their weapons and Basilisk war droids. Revan also denied the Mandalorians their fallen leader's ancestral mask, denying the vanquished force the right to choose a new leader. Revan condemned the Mandalorians to perpetual exile, causing many to become bounty hunters, bodyguards, and mercenaries.

Revan and Malak followed Mandalore's instructions to the planet Rekkiad, where they discovered the tomb of the Sith Lord Dramath the Second. From the Sith's Dramath the Second's datacron, the pair learned of the "true" Sith Empire, and left Mandalore's mask in the sarcophagus while they departed for this new enemy. However, Revan and Malak were broken by the Sith Emperor, who sent the pair back to the Republic to prepare for his invasion. Revan and Malak would break free of their conditioning, but they were still corrupted—they established their own Sith Empire and rediscovered the ancient Rakatan superweapon known as the Star Forge. With the exception of Meetra Surik, the Human female who would later be known as the Jedi Exile, most of the Revanchist Jedi who survived the battle became Sith, serving the empire of their former leaders. Revan and Malak, who had each taken the "Darth" title, declared war on the Jedi Council and the Galactic Republic that they once sought to defend.

Not long after Revan redeemed himself by defeating Malak and his Sith Empire, he departed for the Unknown Regions with the intention of locating the reconstituted remnants of the Sith Empire, which both he and Malak encountered following the Mandalorian Wars. Roughly three centuries subsequent to Malak's demise, the True Sith Empire that Revan set out to confront initiated an assault on the Republic. This sparked a war that persisted for decades, culminating in the Sith Emperor signing a treaty with the Republic. Images of personnel from the Revanchist organization were showcased in a pair of holodocumentaries produced by the Kel Dor Jedi archivist Gnost-Dural for the Jedi Archives.

The Jedi who became part of Revan's group regularly interacted with the Republic military, sharing their mess halls, battleships, and front lines. While the Revanchists were celebrated as heroes by the Republic and its citizens, some of these Jedi abandoned the war when they saw how thoughtlessly Revan approached the dark side. Others were spies that were commissioned by the Jedi Council to report on Revan and his Jedi's actions. When Revan set off to challenge the invading Mandalorians, Revan's closest friend Malak was the first to join his cause. The Jedi Master Arren Kae, who had trained Revan, joined her former Padawan in his war effort against the Mandalorians. The Jedi Cariaga Sin, Nisotsa, Talvon Esan, and Xaset Terep were all recruited by Malak, along with Meetra Surik, the Human female who would eventually come to be known as the Jedi Exile. Other Jedi who were a part of the Revanchist organization included Cale Berkona, Ferroh, Duqua Dar, Acaadi, Voren Renstaal, an Ithorian Jedi, a Human female Jedi, and the Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell's Padawan.

The Revanchists commonly adorned themselves in conventional Jedi robes, which they augmented with armor plating akin to that worn by the Republic's soldiers. Double-bladed lightsabers were highly favored among the Revanchists, with numerous renegade Jedi leveraging the enhanced killing potential afforded by the weapon's dual blades.

The Revanchists were initially referenced in BioWare's 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as integral to the backstory of the game's events. The organization was prominently featured in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comic series, penned by John Jackson Miller and published by Dark Horse Comics. The group was first formally identified as such in "The Taris Holofeed: Siege Edition," which appeared in the comic series' fifteenth issue. Further insights into the Revanchists were provided in Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force and the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide. The organization was granted two distinct entries in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, under the headings "Revanchists" and "Jedi Crusaders." Visual depictions of Jedi associated with the Revanchist organization were included in the eighth and ninth installments of the Galactic Timeline, an online video series created to elaborate upon the background for the upcoming PC video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. These installments, titled The Jedi Civil War and The Mandalorian Wars, respectively, can be accessed via The Holonet section of The Old Republic's official website.