Savage Opress

Biography

Sith apprenticeship

Savage Opress first came into the world born on the planet of Dathomir, the offspring of Mother Talzin. He had two brothers, Maul and Feral. When Maul was still young, he was abducted from Dathomir by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. By the time the Clone Wars erupted, Opress was living with Feral in the Nightbrother village on Dathomir. As part of the Nightsister Asajj Ventress's scheme to exact revenge on her former Master, the Sith Lord Count Dooku, she journeyed to the Nightbrother village to select a warrior who would ostensibly serve Dooku but would secretly be controlled by the Nightsisters, allowing them to carry out their revenge. Ventress subjected the group of Nightbrothers to a series of brutal Selection trials, resulting in the deaths of many candidates, Opress distinguished himself as a remarkable, fearsome, and courageous warrior. Ventress personally chose him to become her servant.

To execute their plan against Dooku, Mother Talzin and her Nightsister witches employed their magicks to grant Opress incredible abilities, significantly enhancing his strength and aggression, while also physically transforming him into a massive and intimidating brute. Opress experienced a substantial increase in height and physical size, and even the horns on his head grew much larger. After strangling his brother Feral, whom he had fiercely defended during the Selection, to death as a demonstration of loyalty to Ventress, Opress was equipped with armor and a mystically-enhanced spear before being presented to Dooku as a Dark Acolyte by Talzin. Dooku accepted Opress, allowing him to join the Clone Wars as his personal enforcer. Opress was initially tasked with carrying out a mission against the Galactic Republic on the planet Devaron to prove his worth, assisting the Separatist forces that were attacking the Temple of Eedit. Opress slaughtered a group of clone troopers and killed his first Jedi, Master Halsey, and his Padawan Knox, overpowering them with his raw strength, endurance, and hand-to-hand combat skills. Opress soon became Dooku's apprentice, who planned to use his new acolyte to overthrow his own master, Darth Sidious, and seize control of the galaxy.

As Opress underwent rigorous Sith training under Dooku's supervision, Ventress made preparations to turn the monstrous Nightbrother against Dooku when the opportunity arose. Opress started using a double-bladed lightsaber as his training progressed. Although Dooku easily defeated him in duels and disdainfully noted his sloppiness and lack of technique, he acknowledged that Opress had the potential to become very powerful if properly trained. Outside, on the castle grounds, Dooku put Opress and his abilities to the test, forcing him to telekinetically lift a dozen obelisk stones simultaneously. When Opress failed to complete the task, he was repeatedly shocked with Force lightning as punishment for his failure. Opress grew increasingly angry as he was subjected to these tasks and the punishments for failing them.

Breaking free

Eventually, Opress was dispatched on a mission to Toydaria, where he was ordered to capture the Toydarian King Katuunko. Opress slaughtered several guards and forced his way into the royal palace, but accidentally killed Katuunko by Force choking him. He was confronted by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he overpowered them and returned to Dooku with the King's corpse. Opress was once again subjected to Force lightning as punishment for killing the King instead of bringing him back alive, and when he pleaded for mercy from his master, Dooku responded that mercy was not the way of the Dark Side. However, Ventress soon arrived and put her plans for revenge into action, revealing Opress's hidden allegiance to her and attacking her former master. While initially disarming Dooku and knocking him down, he was repeatedly overwhelmed and weakened by Dooku's Force lightning.

A furious Ventress ordered him to kill Dooku, but after Dooku unleashed another blast of Force Lightning at him, an exhausted Opress claimed that Dooku was too powerful, prompting Ventress to berate him. Being tortured by Dooku and berated by Ventress, Opress eventually broke free from Ventress's spell of control and ended his service to Dooku. In a fit of rage, he Force choked them both and threw them back. He then viciously attacked both of them and initially gained the upper hand, but was then thrown back by Dooku and Ventress. Dooku then escaped, followed by Ventress, leaving Opress alone. Opress then proceeded to escape, battling his way through Skywalker and Kenobi, as well as an army of droids. Opress eventually reached the hangar, escaped, and headed to Dathomir. Upon returning to Talzin, he told her that Ventress had betrayed him and then learned about his connection to the former Sith apprentice Maul. Talzin instructed him to track down his lost brother and train under him.

Search for Maul

Opress's quest to find his brother took him to the Outer Rim. While being pursued by the authorities after an incident at a diner on Stobar, he came across a collection of cargo crates that provided clues to his brother's location. Locating the nearest ship, he forced the captain to allow him to travel with him to the planet Lotho Minor, and later tossed the unfortunate man out of the ship upon arrival. As he began his search, he was greeted by the Anacondan Morley, who offered to be his guide. Opress initially refused, but after realizing that he would have little success locating his brother alone on the dangerous and unfamiliar world, he reluctantly followed Morley, who claimed to have seen another of his kind on the planet.

Navigating through tunnels filled with junk, killing numerous Junkers, and avoiding acid rain, Opress eventually discovered what he believed to be his brother's residence. However, when his talisman stopped glowing, he became frustrated. At that moment, Morley tricked him, sending him falling through the junk into a tunnel, with the Anacondan remarking that he would soon be killed by his master. After wandering through the tunnels, Opress was attacked by a spider-like creature, which Opress soon realized was his deranged brother with cybernetic legs. Upon realizing this, Opress chased after his brother, calling out to him until he caught up to him in a cavern. Opress attempted to communicate with his sibling, but Maul's words were nothing more than desperate and nonsensical ravings.

After killing Morley for setting him up, he began to question his brother to learn more about how he had ended up in this state. He eventually discerned his brother's hatred for the Jedi, and eventually rescued him from his tortured existence on the junk world and brought him home to Dathomir, where Talzin restored his mind and body with her magicks. Maul was given new cybernetic legs and had his injuries healed to an extent. Opress then began his service to his experienced brother, becoming involved with Maul's pursuit of vengeance on Kenobi, who had cut him in half over a decade ago in the Theed Royal Palace on Naboo.

Serving Maul

Maul devised a plan to lure out Kenobi by orchestrating a massacre on the planet Raydonia, believing that the Jedi would not ignore it. He then sent the Jedi a hologram of him slaughtering the civilians and called for Kenobi. When Kenobi arrived, Maul and Opress ambushed him in the ruins of the town and, using several coordinated attacks, knocked him out and took him prisoner. As they tortured him aboard their ship, Ventress, seeking to collect the substantial bounty on Opress's head, arrived to aid her former enemy Kenobi. After an extended battle inside the ship, Kenobi and Ventress escaped from the two brothers.

Opress and Maul continued their plans for revenge and galactic domination, and, guided mostly by Maul, turned to the criminal underworld to achieve their goals. Opress and Maul cut a path of destruction through the Outer Rim, battling through civilians and killing multiple Jedi Knights who stood in their way. After pillaging the Cybloc Transfer Station, Maul asserted his dominance over his brother, acknowledging him as a Sith Lord but forcing him to become his apprentice. Opress was taken aback by the change in power and recklessly challenged his brother to combat, but was quickly and ruthlessly defeated and forced to submit to his renegade Sith brother in accordance with the Sith Rule of Two.

Maul then led his brother to seize a starship belonging to a group of Weequay pirates, whom they forced into their service. They then contacted their leader, Hondo Ohnaka, and informed him that if he did not join them, they would forcibly take his base. However, as Maul and Opress turned the pirates against each other, Kenobi and Jedi Master Adi Gallia arrived. After an intense battle, Opress charged Gallia, impaling the Jedi Master on his horns, killing her. Kenobi barely fought off the two brothers before allying with Ohnaka and escaping into the complex. After Ohnaka was able to regain control over the treasonous pirates, he rallied his forces and attacked the brothers. Opress dueled Kenobi, but lost his left arm to Kenobi's lightsaber. Maul helped his wounded brother limp away from the reinvigorated pirates and fled.

The Shadow Collective

However, Kenobi continued to pursue Opress and Maul off Florrum, destroying their ship and forcing them to eject in an escape pod. The two became stranded until they were discovered unconscious by members of the Death Watch, a group of Mandalorian warriors led by Pre Vizsla. The two brothers were taken to the Death Watch encampment on Zanbar, where Vizsla aided them by providing Maul with new cybernetic legs and Opress with a cybernetic arm. When Opress woke to see droids working on his new arm, he destroyed them in his anger and pain. However, Maul calmed him down, explaining that it would be wise to ally with Death Watch but reassuring him that they would still be able to finish Kenobi after helping their new allies reclaim Mandalore. Vizsla and his second in command Bo-Katan Kryze then entered the tent and informed them that they had agreed to the proposed alliance.

Maul advised Vizsla to gather allies to grow in strength in order to overthrow the pacifist rulers of Mandalore. As their first step in assembling what would become the Shadow Collective, Opress traveled with Maul, Vizsla, and Death Watch to Mustafar to meet with the leadership of Black Sun. Greeted by Vigo Ziton Moj, they were invited to the council chambers to meet with Xomit Grunseit. When he refused to join them, he commanded his forces to kill them and take their weapons and ships. Opress grabbed an advancing guard and snapped their neck, hurling the body onto the council table. When Maul delivered his ultimatum, but Grunseit once again refused, at which point Maul stepped back to allow Opress to finish the job. Hurling his double-bladed lightsaber, he beheaded the entire council, leaving Moj the lone Black Sun member left in the room. As de facto leader, Moj quickly agreed to their proposed alliance.

Opress, Maul, and the Mandalorians were soon joined by the Pyke Syndicate before traveling to Nal Hutta to meet with the Hutt Ruling Council. When they refused to join without being paid a large sum of credits, the Shadow Collective was attacked by a force of bounty hunters. Opress battled with the bounty hunter Embo, and eventually the bounty hunters were defeated. They returned to find Oruba the Hutt still inside, who Opress killed before they planned to travel to Tatooine to find Jabba the Hutt. After a battle at Jabba's Palace, Jabba and Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo decided to join Maul.

After his brother was seemingly captured by the Morubas crime family, Opress went to Bahlah with a force of the Shadow Collective, beginning the battle around the stronghold of the Morubas crime family. In reality, Maul had purposefully allowed himself to be captured in order to bring down the Morubas family. Upon reuniting with his brother, Opress left the world as the two brothers prepared for their takeover of Mandalore.

Soon after, the Sith brothers and Death Watch ordered members of the Shadow Collective's crime syndicates and gangs to attack and overrun the capital of Mandalore, thus revealing Duchess Satine Kryze's inability to protect the planet from an invading force. Opress joined the attackers in perpetrating crimes throughout the city. The members of Death Watch would then stage a rescue where they would defeat the invaders such as Opress, thus becoming heroes of the public. With the support of the civilians, Death Watch was able to take control of Mandalore.

Even though the operation succeeded, Vizsla and his men betrayed and arrested Opress and Maul and successfully maneuvered their way into good favor with the populace. However, the two brothers were not finished. Opress and Maul would easily break free from prison, also freeing Almec, Mandalore's incarcerated Prime Minister. The two brothers then arrived in the throne room to confront Vizsla. Maul challenged Vizsla to a duel for control of Mandalore, which he accepted. Opress watched as Maul seized control of Mandalore after defeating Vizsla in lightsaber combat and beheading him. Some of Vizsla's supporters did not accept Maul's rule and left, but the remaining warriors pledged themselves to Maul. Maul installed Almec as the puppet ruler of Mandalore.

Death

The reign of the brothers over Mandalore drew the unwelcome attention of Maul's previous mentor, Darth Sidious. He perceived their escalating influence and alliances as a danger to the supremacy of his Sith Order. Sidious journeyed to Mandalore to confront the siblings. Although Opress possessed considerable skill, Sidious ultimately triumphed over the Zabrak warrior in battle, impaling him with his twin lightsabers before using the Force to hurl him from the structure. With his last breath, Opress voiced his sorrow for never attaining Maul's level. As he perished, a green mist, indicative of Nightsister sorcery, emanated from his body and his armor vanished. His muscles and physique reverted to their pre-Nightsister ritual state, and Opress met his end as the man he once was, before Ventress manipulated him. A furious Maul attempted to assassinate his former master, but was swiftly subdued and taken prisoner.

Legacy

Within the Mustafarian mining facility located on Mustafar, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker—who had embraced the dark side, becoming Sidious' new apprentice Darth Vader—engaged in a duel, progressing into the war room and briefly into an adjacent conference room. During the confrontation with his former student, Kenobi found his former friend's focused hatred horrifying, a sensation he had previously experienced from Opress, Dooku, Maul, and Ventress.

Savage's demise would continue to fuel his brother Maul's rage throughout his remaining years. At some point between 19 BBY and 5 BBY, aware of his adversaries, Sidious, and Kenobi, Maul embarked on a search across various worlds to find the advantage he required, which led him to a Sith castle situated on the ash-gray planet of Damanos in the Outer Rim Territories. Inside the castle, he encountered a vision of Savage Opress, who rejected his inability to be either a master or a brother to him. Deep within the castle, he came across another vision, that of his old enemy General Grievous, who had been responsible for Mother Talzin's death during their final encounter on Dathomir. Throughout their battle, "Grievous" persistently mocked Maul about the loss of his family. Sixteen years following Opress' death, Maul recalled the loss of Opress while articulating his hatred for the Sith to the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger in an effort to recruit him as his new apprentice.

Opress was later acknowledged by a member of the Whills as a figure worthy of remembrance in galactic history.

Personality and traits

Savage Opress was identified as a male Dathomirian Zabrak, standing at a height of 1.89 meters, or 6 feet, 2 inches before his transformation, and 2.18 meters, or 7 feet, 2 inches after. Opress's complexion was yellow, adorned with brown tattoos, and his eyes, initially grayish-green, shifted to yellow as the dark side energy coursed through him. Opress shared a strong connection with his younger sibling, Feral, both residing in the Nightbrother Village. Feral possessed considerable physical strength, enduring the initial two trials of the Selection, but Opress demonstrated superior strength, briefly holding his own against Ventress and imploring the witch to spare his brother's life during the final trial. Upon being presented to Mother Talzin, she employed her magic to enhance his height and physical prowess. Despite being intended as Dooku's new assassin, he maintained loyalty to Talzin and Asajj Ventress, with his true objective being to aid Ventress in assassinating the Count.

After Opress became convinced that he could not kill Dooku because of the Count's Force lightning, Ventress's screams ignited such intense anger within Opress that he turned against her, using the Force to choke both the witch and Dooku. Subsequently, upon reuniting with his brother Maul, they forged a bond and collaborated as master and apprentice, adhering to the Sith's Rule of Two. After Opress sustained fatal wounds to his chest from Darth Sidious's lightsabers, he lamented never having achieved parity with Maul. As he succumbed to his injuries, the green mist of Nightsister magic emanated from his body, and his armor dissipated. His muscles and physique reverted to their pre-Nightsister ritual condition, and Opress perished as the individual he was before becoming Ventress's pawn.

Powers and abilities

Savage Opress stood out as a powerful Sith warrior, highly skilled in the use of various weapons found in the Nightbrother village. Furthermore, he was a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, utilizing the Nightbrother's distinctive combat style characterized by acrobatics and agility. Consequently, Opress was recognized as one of the clan's most accomplished fighters, capable of competing with Asajj Ventress even before undergoing his transformation. Following Ventress's selection of Savage as her apprentice, Mother Talzin employed magic to bestow upon him formidable abilities, transforming him into a formidable adversary for the Jedi. Post-transformation, Savage experienced a significant increase in height, a broadened chest, enhanced arm strength, and a full crown of sharp, elongated horns, alongside dramatic improvements in his already substantial strength, resilience, agility, and stamina.

Savage demonstrated proficiency as a lightsaber duelist. Dooku initiated Savage Opress's training, and he swiftly mastered the double-bladed lightsaber, a weapon that, like his brother knew, could be more dangerous to its wielder than to an opponent. His combat approach relied on his exceptional strength, with Opress delivering powerful blows and swiftly repelling adversaries using sheer kinetic force. Opress rapidly progressed to a level where he could contend with skilled opponents, even multiple ones simultaneously, as evidenced during his encounters with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Toydaria and later on Dooku's ship. Working alongside Ventress, Opress's immense strength enabled him to overcome and disarm Dooku, a highly skilled duelist. However, when Dooku resorted to Force Lightning, Opress was significantly weakened and overwhelmed, even acknowledging Dooku's superior power.

After aligning with his brother Maul, he advanced further in his Sith training. Opress's skills developed rapidly, enabling him to challenge and even defeat members of the Jedi Council, such as Kenobi, in combat. He attained sufficient skill and power to slay Adi Gallia in a duel on Florrum, although he sustained a dislocated knee and a severed arm from the Jedi Master in the process. When confronting Darth Sidious alongside his brother Maul, he exhibited the speed and skill necessary to keep pace with the immensely powerful Dark Lord of the Sith. Opress fought valiantly alongside Maul, even knocking Sidious off a balcony with a headbutt, proving to be a formidable adversary. However, when separated from his brother, his immense strength and brutality proved insufficient against Sidious's impeccable swordsmanship.

Beyond his capabilities as a lightsaber duelist, Opress possessed significant Force abilities and a strong connection to the dark side of the Force. He wielded telekinetic power sufficient to simultaneously lift and Force choke both Dooku and Ventress when enraged. Furthermore, he demonstrated the ability to unleash a potent Force repulse capable of incapacitating battle droids and simultaneously pushing back Kenobi and Skywalker. Opress could hurl his lightsaber with deadly accuracy, decapitating Black Sun members with a single strike at his brother's command.

Equipment

Prior to his transformation, Savage donned simple attire akin to that of his Nightbrother counterparts and wielded rudimentary weapons such as an ax. Upon his transformation, Mother Talzin presented Savage with a custom-designed suit of armor and a spear. The armor exhibited exceptional durability, capable of withstanding blaster fire and the acid rains of Lotho Minor. The armor seemingly disintegrated upon Savage's demise at the hands of Darth Sidious. Savage employed the spear during the Devaron massacre, eliminating several clone troopers and two members of the Jedi Order with the enchanted weapon.

Sometime following the Devaron massacre, Savage transitioned to using a crimson double-bladed lightsaber in place of the enchanted spear bestowed upon him by Talzin, wielding the weapon until his death at the hands of Darth Sidious. After betraying Ventress and Dooku, Savage returned to Dathomir and received the Talisman of Finding from Mother Talzin. The talisman served as a compass that ultimately guided Opress to Lotho Minor and his long-lost brother Maul.

During his apprenticeship under Count Dooku, Opress piloted a Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop similar to his master's. Opress utilized the ship for travel to and from Devaron and Toydaria, and later escaped Tyranus' Providence-class Dreadnought aboard the solar sailor.

For his voyage to Lotho Minor, Opress commandeered a Turtle Tanker. He also employed the Turtle Tanker for travel to Dathomir and subsequently Raydonia. Following their confrontation with Kenobi and Ventress, Opress and Maul abandoned the tanker in favor of a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter. The brothers utilized the YV-865 for travel to Florrum; however, it sustained irreparable damage from the Ohnaka Gang on the planet's surface.

Behind the scenes

Development

Savage Opress was voiced by the accomplished voice actor Clancy Brown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, making his debut in the episode "Monster." Savage Opress's introduction in the series, along with George Lucas's suggestions, was crucial in reinstating Maul into the series after his apparent demise in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

Initial plans for the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twin Suns" involved Maul experiencing Force visions of both Opress and Satine Kryze before his confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. Unlike Kryze, Opress nearly progressed to the design phase before Dave Filoni deemed it unsuitable, believing that the already lengthy episode lacked the time to adequately explain Savage's origins, as they could not risk confusing new Star Wars fans with Opress's sudden appearance.

The Witches of Dathomir Squad Pack for Star Wars: Shatterpoint indicates that Oppress was Talzin's eldest son. However, the preview databank entry for the set stated Maul was his older brother. This article takes no position on which is correct.

Non-canonical information

In the LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales episode "Crisis on Coruscant," Savage Opress was present on Geonosis alongside numerous other Separatist operatives, seated at a table within a room of a factory as General Grievous presented top-secret Republic plans to Count Dooku. As Opress and the other Separatists prepared to view the plans, R2-D2—disguised as a Separatist astromech droid—instead played footage of several Ewoks dancing. A group of Jedi—led by Yoda—then arrived, and Opress initially engaged Ki-Adi-Mundi in combat. The factory soon exploded after R2-D2 became entangled in some of its gears, compelling the Jedi, C-3PO, and R2-D2 to escape with the plans while the Separatists fled on their own. C-3PO later recounted this narrative to Admiral Gial Ackbar during the Imperial Era.