The Stranger

The male individual, who claimed the name "Qimir" as his public identity and stated he had no true name, existed during the High Republic Era. At one point, this human became a Jedi and was mentored by Vernestra Rwoh. However, he later abandoned the Jedi Order after growing disillusioned with their teachings about the Force, claiming to have been betrayed and discarded by someone he trusted, who also inflicted a permanent scar upon him. Eventually, "the Stranger" succumbed to the dark side of the Force, becoming a Sith warrior and Sith Lord after being trained by his Master, Darth Plagueis.

In his alternate persona as "Qimir," the individual pretended to be a former smuggler who once trafficked weapons for the Hutt Clan. As time passed, he supposedly changed his profession to become a trader, dealing in rare and unusual goods. In this new role, he lived a comfortable life, having navigated the dangerous starports of some of the galaxy's most lawless regions.

Sometime after 148 BBY, the Stranger encountered Mae-ho Aniseya, a witch belonging to the Brendok coven, and initiated her training as his acolyte. He was careful to conceal his true identity from her, referring to himself only as "the Master" and interacting with her primarily as Qimir, who was supposedly a fellow follower of the Master. As her mentor, he instilled a great deal of fear in his apprentice.

By 132 BBY, the Master tasked Mae with a mission to kill the four Jedi stationed on her home world of Brendok, whom Mae believed were responsible for the apparent death of her sister, Verosha Aniseya, during an intervention at the coven's fortress. Qimir specifically instructed that one Jedi, the Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca, was to be killed without any weapon at all, a challenge he dubbed "the final lesson," which Mae considered impossible.

After Mae killed the Jedi Master Indara on Ueda, she met with the Master, who showed her his red-bladed lightsaber and explained that a true acolyte does not kill with a laser or steel, but by destroying the Jedi's dreams.

Following this lesson, Qimir accompanied Mae to a city on the planet Olega, setting up shop in a store owned by an apothecary to assist her in her plan against Master Torbin, who was stationed at the nearby Jedi temple. After an initial failed attempt to assassinate Torbin, Mae entered the store and abruptly woke Qimir—who had tried to stay awake all night for her but had fallen asleep after sampling the store's merchandise—by throwing a mug near him. Mae explained that she had failed to kill Torbin, calling the Jedi "impenetrable." Qimir suggested finding the Master's weakness, claiming everyone had one. When Mae protested, she handed Qimir a bag of bunta, asking him to create a poison. Qimir claimed Master Torbin needed absolution that only Mae could provide, referring to his toxic concoction. The acolyte then left, warning Qimir that it would be bad for both of them if he told her master about their plan.

Following Mae's successful second attempt to murder Torbin, a Jedi Padawan from the nearby temple noticed Qimir entering the store, noting that he was not the apothecary who ran it. The Jedi sent Verosha Aniseya, Mae's twin sister, to impersonate her sister and extract a confession from Qimir. The man quickly became suspicious during their conversation but inquired if the poison had worked, stating that Mae's master would be pleased if she managed to kill Torbin without it. The Jedi, who were listening in on the conversation, considered Qimir's question a confession. Just as he revealed that he knew Osha was an imposter, Osha pulled a stun blaster on him, and the Jedi Yord Fandar, Sol, and Jecki Lon entered immediately after to interrogate him.

Sol offered Qimir a lenient warning if he cooperated. When questioned about his relationship with Mae, the man claimed he was simply her supplier, having started as a gunrunner for the Hutts before simply providing people with "what they need" for the right price. Sol inquired about the individual Qimir had mentioned and whether Mae had a master. Qimir denied knowing anything aside from the fact that Mae wanted revenge on four Jedi, but he informed the Jedi that Mae would be returning later that night, as he was holding some items for her.

That night, the Jedi set a trap for Mae, but the acolyte managed to escape. The next morning, she confronted Qimir and threatened to kill him for betraying her to the Jedi. The man offered to make amends by getting her out of the city and to the Outer Rim retreat of Khofar, where the Wookiee Kelnacca, one of the four Jedi Mae was targeting, lived. The pair traveled to Khofar on the Exile II, landing in the mountains outside the forest where the Wookiee Jedi resided, and began their trek with three hours of daylight remaining.

As they journeyed through the mountains, Qimir asked how Mae planned to kill Kelnacca without a weapon, given her previous failures with Torbin and Master Indara. In return, Mae questioned Qimir about his relationship with her master. Qimir denied having made any deals with the Master, simply stating that he owed him a debt. Mae then asked how Qimir felt about her sister after their encounter on Olega, to which he replied that she seemed out of her depth but showed a fondness for Master Sol.

While in the forest shortly before sunset, roughly ten minutes north of Kelnacca's shelter, Mae decided to stop and rest in preparation for her fight with the Wookiee and began to express doubts about the possibility of her mission, much to Qimir's disapproval. Regardless, the man decided to fetch water while Mae regained her energy. While he was gone, Mae decided she no longer needed to kill the Jedi, as her sister was alive, and instead decided to turn herself in. She set a trap for Qimir and screamed for help to lure him back. The Sith ran into her trap and was hoisted upside down from a tree branch, after which Mae left him to confess her murders to Kelnacca.

After Mae abandoned him, Qimir freed himself, donned his armor, and went to kill Kelnacca himself with his lightsaber, leaving the Wookiee's body in his home. Just as a team of several Jedi, including Jedi Master Sol, arrived at the scene searching for Mae, the Master emerged from the forest and ignited his lightsaber against them. The Jedi attempted to rush him, but the Master pushed them away using the Force. Despite being outnumbered, the Master engaged the Jedi in single combat. Using a combination of unpredictable swordsmanship and his cortosis armor, the Master managed to kill most of the Jedi search party, including Ithia Paan and another human Jedi, while wounding Yord Fandar in the process.

After shrugging off a shot from Osha's stun blaster, the Master attempted to kill Osha before being intercepted by Sol. The two warriors then engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel before the Master disengaged to find Mae. After finding Mae subdued by Jecki Lon, the Master mocked his apprentice, suggesting she could learn from the Padawan's loyalty. Mae then fled while the Master was distracted by Jecki, who attacked him again. Determined to prevent Mae from exposing him to the Jedi, the Master attempted to silence her before being confronted again by Sol and Jecki.

During the fight, Jecki managed to break the Master's cortosis helmet by smashing the hilt of her lightsaber against it. As the helmet fell to the ground, distracting Jecki, the Master pulled out a hidden lightdagger from the bottom of his hilt and stabbed Jecki three times in the chest, killing her. With the Stranger's identity as both Qimir and the Master now revealed, the Stranger used the Force to pull Mae to himself, holding his lightsaber against her head. Sol, still wanting to save Mae, threw down his own lightsaber, demanding to know the Stranger's affiliation. The Stranger revealed that he was what the Jedi would call a Sith. When asked what he wanted, the Stranger claimed he desired the freedom to wield his power openly without answering to the Jedi Order, who claimed that the Sith Order should not exist, and that he wanted an apprentice of his own, which he no longer considered Mae to be after her betrayal.

In a surprise attack, Yord returned to the fight, breaking the Stranger's cortosis gauntlet, which left a scar on his arm, and using a piece of the broken cortosis helmet to disable the Stranger's lightsaber. Despite being unarmed, the Sith grabbed Yord and broke his neck with his bare hands. Enraged, Sol attacked the Stranger, beating him into submission and preparing to decapitate the unarmed Sith with his lightsaber, only to be stopped by Osha. The Stranger gleefully asked Osha if she still trusted Sol after his display of aggression. Sol argued that the Stranger's mind was twisted by the dark side, to which the Stranger responded that he had accepted his darkness, but taunted Sol by asking him what he had done with his own. At this point, Osha discreetly pointed to a group of umbramoths she and Yord had lured to the clearing, prompting Sol to deactivate his lightsaber, claiming that Jedi do not attack unarmed opponents. The Stranger scoffed at Sol's adherence to the Jedi Code before retrieving his own lightsaber and turning it on, unaware that the light attracted the creatures. To further entice them, Osha attached her PIP droid to the Sith's back after turning his torch function on, causing the umbramoths to attack the Stranger, picking him up and dragging him into the trees. The Stranger eventually freed himself from the creatures, and stumbled upon an unconscious Osha, who had been knocked out by Mae. Draping his cloak over her, he tended to her wounds.

After healing Osha's wound using the Force, the Stranger brought her aboard his starship and took her to his shelter on an island, where he allowed her to rest. He then packed his belongings and ventured out of the shelter to a nearby shallow cove to bathe. As he left, Osha, who had awakened, followed him to the cove, intending to ambush him with one of Mae's daggers she had taken from the shelter. After the Stranger undressed, leaving his lightsaber behind before entering the water, Osha revealed herself and grabbed it, ordering him to stay where he was. The Stranger, however, defied her and exited the water, politely requesting to put on some clothes as Osha held him at saber point. Osha questioned why he had not killed her, deducing that she was his prisoner, but the Stranger reminded her that she was the one with a weapon. After taunting her about her feelings for her former master Sol, the Stranger walked away, with Osha following him.

As they walked back to the shelter, Osha suggested that the Stranger was keeping her as leverage to lure Sol back to him. She then asked the Sith why he spoke as if he were a Jedi, to which he replied that he once was, long ago. He then pointed to a nearby island where the starship was kept and suggested that Osha should either start swimming towards it or wait for the tide to go out, inviting her to dinner in the meantime. Osha accepted the invitation and joined the Stranger in the shelter, but kept her distance from him.

As the Stranger was cooking dinner, Osha asked him what he meant about her being strong in the Force, as it had been years since she last trained and, according to the Jedi, her skills would have faded. The Stranger mused about the Jedi's narrow-minded views and explained that there was another way to access the Force, by tapping into one's raw emotions, including anger, fear, and desire. Osha pointed out that this was the path to the dark side, to which the Stranger agreed, stating that it was "semantics." Furious, Osha reminded him that he murdered her friends, but the Stranger clarified that he had merely killed Jedi who threatened his existence. He then reminded Osha that Yord had arrested her for a crime she did not commit and that both Jecki and Sol, for whom she had feelings, would never fully commit to her, asking why she chose to be close to people who would only go so far.

Conflicted, Osha stormed out of the shelter, but the Stranger followed her and reminded her that she had stayed on the island to take revenge on him. He then grabbed her hand and placed the lightsaber she was holding against himself, inviting her to turn it on. Osha refused, stating that the Jedi would not attack the unarmed, but the Stranger reminded her that she was no Jedi. Osha said that it was her choice to leave the Order, but the Stranger pushed her, asking whether the Order had left her behind, causing Osha to ignite the lightsaber and push him against the wall, shouting that she left the Order because she had failed. The Stranger reassured her by placing his hand on hers and revealing that he had also lost everything once, but that losing everything was when one was finally free. Understanding, Osha turned off the lightsaber and followed the Stranger back into the shelter.

As Osha ate the dinner the Stranger prepared, the Sith repaired his cortosis helmet, which had been damaged by Jecki Lon during the battle on Khofar. Osha asked if the discussion they had was the same pitch he gave to Mae, but the Stranger admitted he had made a mistake with Osha's sister, believing she wanted more than just revenge, specifying that he wanted something more, "the power of two." He then pulled up his shirt to wipe his face, revealing the scar on his back. Osha asked where it came from, and the Stranger suggested it was from someone who stabbed him in the back and threw him away. When Osha asked if that was his Jedi master, the Stranger remained silent.

Instead of answering, the Stranger tapped on his helmet, explaining that it was made of cortosis, which, besides providing protection from lightsabers, also acted as a sensory deprivation headpiece, allowing the wearer to commune alone with the Force. He then picked up his equipment and prepared to leave, inviting Osha to try the helmet on. After a long period of contemplation, Osha ultimately accepted and put the helmet on. Upon her doing so, the Stranger chuckled softly and smiled. As Osha meditated, however, she began to struggle. The Stranger, panicking, attempted to help her, reaching out to access her mind and getting caught in the effects of Osha's struggle. Though he fell into a dark trance similar to those used by the witches of Brendok, the Stranger managed to get the helmet off of Osha. She revealed that she had a vision of what she assumed was her sister, killing Sol without a weapon, which the Stranger noted with fervor.

As they walked to the Exile II to confront Mae, Osha asserted that they would go together, as only she knew where her sister was, so the Stranger resolved to see who reached Mae first. Though the Stranger was surprised Osha expected him to act fairly, Osha invoked his expectation that Mae would have kept up her end of their deal. The Stranger asked if Osha would ever consider being trained by him, which Osha denied twice, saying that she wasn't her sister. The Stranger agreed, as Mae had made such a deal without even thinking about it. As they departed, the two were unknowingly watched by a figure lurking in the shadows of the Stranger's cave abode—the latter’s master, the Muun Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.

As the Stranger and Osha arrived at Brendok and descended into the atmosphere, the Stranger noted that Osha was all the way back home; Osha shut down the opening to the conversation by disabling his cockpit controls. Osha observed that Mae and Sol were already on the planet, and Sol watched the two land from the surface as the Jedi looked for Mae. As the Stranger and Osha approached the witches' derelict fortress, Osha explained that with the door inoperable, the only way in was to climb, though the Stranger skillfully floated away, leaving Osha to find a way in on her own.

The Stranger, securing his helmet, infiltrated the fortress's dim depths, eventually locating Sol. He expressed gratitude to Sol for guiding him back to Mae, playfully remarking on their effective partnership, before activating his lightsaber to engage the Jedi. Their duel was intense, spilling out onto a bridge where stray strikes from their sabers scarred the metal railings. Descending from the bridge, Sol declared his unwavering resolve to eliminate the Stranger if necessary. The Stranger, bisecting his lightsaber into two, retorted that Sol wouldn't get the chance if "she" intervened first. Despite the Stranger's continued efforts, Sol consistently outmatched him, leveraging his superior lightsaber skills to outmaneuver the Sith, incapacitating him with well-placed kicks and using the Force to disarm him of his dual lightsabers. As the Stranger reassembled his weapon and resumed their fight, he spotted a Jedi vessel approaching from the distance. Sol asserted that the Stranger would finally face retribution for his actions, but the Sith remained confident that the Jedi weren't there for him. Their duel reignited, sabers colliding in a fierce exchange, but with a decisive blow, Sol cleaved through the Stranger's lightsaber hilt, concluding the battle. Resigned, the Stranger conceded defeat, dropping his broken weapon and removing his helmet to confront Sol's drawn blade.

Suddenly, Mae launched a surprise attack on Sol, disarming him and seizing his lightsaber. The Stranger fueled her rage, urging her to embrace her anger, the root of her suffering, and to strike down Sol to complete her transformation. Mae, however, resisted, determined to ensure Sol faced justice by confessing his crimes before the Jedi Council, the Senate, and the Republic. Sol attempted to justify his actions, elaborating on Mae and her sister's origins. While Sol explained his theory that Mother Aniseya possessed immense power and used the Force to create the twins, the Stranger seemed to grow uneasy. The Stranger observed as Sol admitted to Aniseya's murder, an act witnessed by the newly arrived Osha. Consumed by fury, Osha used a Force choke to bring Sol to his knees; Sol, with tears in his eyes, reassured Mae that it was alright, accepting his fate and dying at the feet of his former apprentice. Overcome with emotion, Osha collapsed to the ground in tears, prompting the Stranger to offer comfort with a touch. Osha reacted with violence, igniting Sol's lightsaber, but before she could strike, the blade's color shifted from blue to red, the crystal bleeding from Osha's intense emotions.

Abruptly, the Stranger detected something - the presence of his former Jedi Master, Vernestra Rwoh, who had just landed on the surface of Brendok with her Jedi Knight team. Recognizing each other through the Force, the Stranger, startled, replaced his helmet and disappeared, leaving the Aniseya twins to fend for themselves.

As Master Rwoh and the other Jedi entered the courtyard, discovering Sol's lifeless body, the Stranger observed from the shadows. Rwoh dismissed the other Jedi to search for Sol's killer and knelt beside the fallen Jedi's body. Lost in thought, Rwoh glanced up to the spot where the Stranger had been watching moments earlier, finding it now empty.

The Stranger met Osha and Mae at the bunta tree, a place where the twins spent time as youngsters. He greeted them by telekinetically retrieving Sol's lightsaber from Osha. Despite Osha's intention to confess Sol's deeds to the Jedi, the Stranger expressed his disbelief that Osha still trusted the Jedi after everything that had happened. He, along with Mae, believed Osha would suffer a similar fate to their mother if the Jedi learned the truth about her powers. Knowing the Stranger likely wanted Mae eliminated for her failures, Osha proposed a bargain: she would train with the Stranger as his acolyte if Mae were allowed to go free. The Stranger suggested attempting a memory wipe on Mae, allowing her to escape without being able to provide the Jedi with information that could implicate her sister or himself. Osha and the Stranger confirmed their agreement with a handshake as he handed Sol's lightsaber to her. As the twins shared a tearful embrace, Osha vowed to find Mae, and as they recited a rhyme from their childhood, the Stranger began to erase Mae's memories of himself and her sister.

Having solidified their new alliance, the Stranger and Osha returned to their secluded island base. As they both looked out at the turbulent ocean, the Stranger clasped Osha's hand as she gripped Sol's lightsaber, now corrupted and claimed as her own.

On Coruscant, Rwoh attended a Galactic Senate hearing, presenting an account of the recent events that omitted any mention of her former student, instead blaming Sol for the murders committed by the Stranger and his acolyte. Later, when Rwoh met with an amnesiac Mae, the Jedi Master was determined to rectify the situation, seeking Mae's assistance in locating her former pupil who had succumbed to the dark side.

The Stranger possessed fair skin, brown eyes, and lank black hair, which framed his face. His height was 1.82 meters.

As a Sith who only went by the title "the Master," this human male concealed his identity through a voice-altering and face-obscuring mask, ensuring Mae remained unaware of his true self despite their professional relationship with his public identity as Qimir. The Jedi found his secrecy perplexing, as they couldn't fathom an apprentice not knowing their own Master. As Qimir, he claimed the Master was known to "collect" individuals, including himself; in his public guise, he had been "collected" by the Master and was unaware of his employer's identity.

The Stranger believed the Jedi justified their galactic dominance in the name of peace, but he saw that peace as a fabrication. He also considered Torbin's meditative state to be penetrable, and that the Master mistakenly believed he had found peace. A wandering vagrant, he appeared to have no concerns beyond his personal enjoyment.

In battle, the Stranger was a vicious and merciless combatant, repeatedly stabbing a Padawan and brutally breaking another Jedi's neck with his bare hands. Witnessing Jecki Lon's unwavering loyalty to her master, the Stranger mockingly suggested that his own apprentice, Mae, could learn from her dedication. After killing Lon, he dismissively referred to her as "it."

The Stranger was unconcerned about being unclothed in the presence of others, asserting that the dark side was the key to liberation and overcoming the Jedi's ideologies. As a Sith, he saw no issue with eliminating those he perceived as a threat.

Qimir could wield the Force, such as telekinetically pushing away a group of Jedi and levitating from high above. He was also a skilled swordsman, capable of killing Kelnacca with a slash from a red-bladed lightsaber. Furthermore, Qimir could provide Force training without revealing his face, and Mae believed he could easily kill her. During combat, he could briefly disable lightsabers and resist being stunned due to his armor. The Sith also deviated from traditional lightsaber combat techniques, extensively employing Tràkata and probing the minds of his opponents to undermine their composure. His telekinetic abilities allowed him to pull a Jedi onto a lightsaber and casually manipulate his wayward student. The Sith survived being attacked by a swarm of umbramoths. The Sith was also capable of at least partially erasing someone's memory, including removing all memories of certain people in a person's life.

As the Master, he wore a cloak and a black sleeveless tunic. He was protected by a fully enclosed and battle-worn helmet, featuring a narrow eye slit and decorations resembling a predatory grin, along with a voice modulator to mask his voice. The helmet was made of cortosis, a material capable of short-circuiting lightsabers. He also wore a vambrace made of the same metal on his left arm. Both were used to deflect incoming lightsaber strikes during combat.

He wielded a single red-bladed lightsaber that could be split into two separate lightsabers: a full-sized blade and a shorter shoto, often used to surprise unsuspecting adversaries, as when he stabbed Jecki. As his false identity, Qimir wore stolen garments in shades of dark green and brown while on Olega.

Qimir was conceived for the Disney+ live-action series The Acolyte and debuted in the show's first two episodes, "Lost / Found" and "Revenge / Justice," released on June 4, 2024. The character's first visual appearance, however, was in the series' initial trailer, uploaded on March 19 of the same year, and the name "Qimir" was first revealed in the StarWars.com article "The Acolyte Characters Revealed - First Look," published on the same day.

Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto played Qimir, a role that creator and executive producer Leslye Headland specifically envisioned him for, making Jacinto feel incredibly fortunate. Headland stated that if Jacinto had declined the role, she would likely have rewritten the character. Jacinto's casting was announced on March 18, 2024, in a StarWars.com article titled "The Acolyte Trailer, Key Art, and Premiere Date Revealed."

Years before the show's premiere, Jacinto met with Headland to discuss the series and felt inspired enough by the conversation to write a two-page essay explaining how to approach a character they had discussed. After some hesitation, he emailed it to Headland, but only received a thank you for his passion in return, not hearing back from the showrunner for weeks. Four months later, while in Todos Santos, Mexico, for another project, the actor received a voicemail from Headland expressing her desire to have him in the show. She then sent Jacinto an outline of the character he would be playing, as he was still unfamiliar with the final concept.

The actor was awestruck upon first entering the set, with his first day being in the apothecary. The level of confidentiality required from Jacinto was immediately high, requiring him to sign numerous non-disclosure agreements and prohibiting him from printing scripts or taking on-set photos, though he later understood the reasons for such secrecy after the overwhelming reaction to the show's trailer. Working on Star Wars was also an emotionally taxing time for Jacinto. He was separated from his family for eight months during the project and struggled with seasonal depression while in London for the winter, taking salt baths at night to help him unwind. Given the immense responsibility of handling the Star Wars franchise, the actor made efforts to distance himself from the pressure of pleasing everyone.

Qimir's other identity, the Stranger, was also initially revealed in the trailer as a mysterious red lightsaber user. According to series costume designer Jennifer Bryan, the Master's mask underwent at least ten iterations before being finalized. In an interview with Variety, Bryan remained tight-lipped about the character's identity but hinted that the mask's "teeth" might have a purpose. Variety identified the figure as a "Sith Master" but provided no direct quotes from Bryan confirming this.

Neal Scanlan's creature department, led by designer modeler Nick Tyrrell, finalized the helmet's design and creation. Tyrrell mentioned on Instagram that "a real challenge set down by Leslye was the mask had to have a sinister smile incorporated. The final design was a helmet which had exposed tubes that resembled teeth. My idea was that the tubes were some sort of breathing apparatus/ voice changer that was exposed and that the teeth look was just a happy accident."

Den of Geek also asserted, without providing supporting quotes, that the helmeted master was a Sith in its interview with showrunner Leslye Headland. Regardless, Headland did discuss the Sith with Den of Geek, stating The Acolyte was "an expansion of Sith ideology." The fifth episode, "Night," released on June 25, 2024, confirmed that Qimir and the Master known to Mae were the same person. Qimir's identity as a Sith was then explicitly confirmed in behind-the-scenes material, with Jacinto himself referring to his character as a Sith Lord the day after the episode's release in an Entertainment Weekly article. The character's status as a Sith Lord was canonically confirmed by the Star Wars Insider article "Star Wars: The Acolyte Companion."