Yuthura Ban

Yuthura Ban, a Twi'lek female with sensitivity to the Force, first breathed on the Outer Rim world of Sleheyron during the time preceding the Jedi Civil War. At a young age, she was subjected to enslavement under the slave master Omeesh, a Hutt. Consumed by anger at her situation, Ban sought revenge by fortifying her resolve to not simply be "nothing." On one occasion, while alone with Omeesh in his private chambers, Ban stabbed the intoxicated Hutt and made her escape from his compound. Ban then fled the planet by concealing herself on a cargo ship. Upon their discovery of her presence, the ship's crew abandoned her on a desolate planetoid, leaving her to die.

Nevertheless, the Jedi Order eventually rescued her. They recognized her potential with the Force and resolved to train her in the Jedi ways, despite her relatively advanced age. Although Ban progressed to the rank of Padawan, she found herself unable to relinquish her anger toward her former oppressors and all others who practiced slavery, having been raised in such circumstances and thus being able to empathize with their position. Perceiving the apparent inaction of the Jedi regarding this matter as intolerable, and unable to resolve her differences with the Order, Ban abandoned her Master and the Jedi teachings. She vowed to discover a new means of acquiring the power necessary to combat what she deemed to be the wickedness of slavery throughout the galaxy.

Following her departure from the Jedi path, Ban wandered the galaxy until she arrived on Korriban, the homeworld of the Sith and the headquarters of Darth Malak, the Dark Lord of the Sith's Sith Empire. As the Jedi and Sith engaged in war, Ban sought refuge at the Sith Academy. Upon being accepted, Ban was initiated into the ways of the Sith and willingly embraced her emotions. The Sith at the academy considered her rage and hatred to be her natural talent and ability; coupled with her anger towards the Jedi and hatred of slavery, Ban experienced a quick rise through the ranks.

Her skill with a lightsaber and her unrestrained anger attracted the attention of Uthar Wynn, the Academy's headmaster and a Sith Master. Wynn took Ban as his apprentice, teaching her to harness her hatred and transform it into a weapon of the Empire. As the headmaster's apprentice, Ban gained significant authority within the Academy, including the power to make the final decision on whether a hopeful would be admitted into the Academy.

In time, Ban's ambition for power led her to conceive a plot to overthrow her master. This plan involved a promising new recruit to the Sith, whose connection to the Force was remarkably intense. Although Ban sensed something unusual about the young Human, she did not suspect that she had, in reality, enlisted the services of Revan, the deposed Dark Lord of the Sith, on his journey around the galaxy searching for the Star Maps.

Forming a quick connection, Ban confided in Revan about her plan to seize control at the Academy. Together with her powerful new ally, Ban and Revan attacked Headmaster Wynn and succeeded in killing the Sith Lord. With Wynn dead, Ban was prepared to assume control at the Academy. In a calculated—if not entirely desired—act of betrayal, she turned on Revan to ensure that no other being would attempt to overthrow her. Despite her power, Ban was no match for Revan and was defeated. She yielded to Revan, who allowed her to live. By sparing her, Revan convinced Ban that she had chosen the wrong path, leading to her redemption. Renouncing her title at the Academy, Ban departed Korriban and returned to Dantooine to seek redemption in the eyes of the Jedi Council.

However, Darth Malak had attacked Dantooine, and the Jedi Enclave was destroyed by his flagship, the Leviathan, through orbital bombardment. Ban's fate was lost to history when all records were destroyed during the First Jedi Purge.

Even as an apprentice herself, Yuthura Ban served as a lead instructor and mentor at the Sith Academy. She valued initiative and cunning in her students and possessed both qualities herself. Like the majority of Force-sensitives at the academy, she wore the uniform of a Sith officer rather than robes.

Unlike most characters, Ban wielded a lightsaber shoto as her weapon instead of a standard lightsaber. Yuthura Ban's home planet, Sleheyron, was initially intended to appear in Knights of the Old Republic. Although it was ultimately scrapped, it was incorporated into Ban's background as a tribute to the effort invested in its planning.

If Revan plays through Korriban after being imprisoned on the Leviathan, he or she can question Ban about what the Sith Lord used to be like. If the player mentions that he/she is Revan, Ban will not believe him, though if the player chooses to do so again after defeating Ban and sparing her life, she realizes he is telling the truth, and sees that he is no longer the Dark Lord he once was; alternatively, after the attempted coup, if Uthar Wynn is favored and Ban defeated, he will recognize Revan and devote the Academy to him. When Ban asks who Revan's "companions" are the player has the option of saying "they are just my slaves." Despite her past, this doesn't seem to bother her much even though she hates slavers. Most members of your party will play along, although some may question. There are many choices for the player to make in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic regarding Ban's fate. The most extreme light side choice is outlined above, with the other options detailed below.

On Korriban, various options in the Sith Academy are present to the player, who plays as Revan. Revan can tell Uthar Wynn about Ban's plans to betray him and, after doing so, Wynn instructs Revan to perform a small task that will ensure Ban is weakened via poison by the time of the final trial—making her considerably easier to defeat. It is up to the player whether or not to do as Wynn asks. A second choice is that, after informing Wynn of Ban's plot, Revan can then go on to tell Ban about Wynn's plotting against her. It is up to the player whether or not to inform Ban about the poison; if so, then she takes precautions against it. In response to this news, Ban tells Revan to poison Wynn's bed and provides the poison and access to his room. Revan can again choose whether or not to do this. If the player doesn't tell Ban about the poison, there is the option of poisoning them both. After Revan passes the prestige trials to enter the tomb with Ban's help and completes the assignment therein, Wynn tells Revan to fight Ban to pass the final trial and show no mercy. Depending on the player's previous choices, the player will obtain different reactions from Ban and Wynn throughout this section of the game, for example Ban won't be surprised by Wynn's attempt to turn Revan on her if you have informed her of his plot and Wynn won't be poisoned if you didn't undertake Ban's task.

Sample light side choices after the duel in the tomb of Naga Sadow, a deceased Sith Lord, include Revan siding with Ban and the two of them killing Wynn. Ban then turns on Revan and is defeated. If the player befriended Ban earlier, and after the Jedi enclave is destroyed, Revan then reveals his real identity and tells Ban to abandon the Sith, which leads the Sith to attack Revan after Ban left. An alternate light side choice is that Revan destroys Wynn for Ban. Once done, Ban battles Revan and is defeated. If the player learned about Ban's former life, it is possible to convince her to return to the light side. If succeeded, the player can meet her in the courtyard on Dantooine where she describes being accepted there and even brought her old Master to tears upon her return, this is only possible of course if the player locates the Korriban Star Map before at least two others, or else Revan will not be able to even go to Dantooine to see her there. A third alternate light side choice is that Revan sides with Ban and they kill Wynn. Once done, Ban battles Revan and is defeated. She pleads for mercy and Revan spares her life but does not return her to the path of the light. She leaves unharmed and takes up mastery of the Academy, in Wynn's place. It is also possible, as a Jedi, that Revan sides with neither Sith and kills both.

Sample choices which take the player to the dark side of the Force include Revan siding with Ban and the two of them killing Wynn. Once done, Ban battles Revan and is defeated. She pleads for mercy but Revan strikes her down, killing her. Another alternate dark side choice is that Revan sides with Wynn and kills Ban. Depending on the actions taken while on Korriban, Wynn may attack. If not, Revan may choose whether or not to kill Wynn, or to allow him to live and keep mastery of the Academy when Revan leaves. The third and final dark side choice is that, as the only "true Sith," Revan sides with neither Ban nor Wynn and instead kills both.