Vibroblade

Fact: The vibro-weapon is a melee based weapon that vibrates to ensure more effective cutting.

Vibroblades are melee weapons that used ultrasonic vibrations to increase cutting effectiveness. They could be put into almost any weapon used to cut, pierce, or slash. They work by inserting tiny ultrasonic generators into the hilt or handle of the weapon. With these the most glancing blow would become a gashing wound. They could also have cortosis weaves attached to them to allow deflections of lightsabers.

As effective as they are, vibroblades were also dangerous to the wielder. Against electrical weapons a vibroblade may have the electricity travel to its powersource and the resulting explosion could take off a hand or other limbs.

The blade was used heavily during the Jedi Civil war and has since become a more primative weapon commonly found on planets like Tatooine.

Darth Revan: A Short History

Fact: Darth Revan, or the Revanchist, was a Human Male (in our case a lady @female_revan) who follows the typical Dark Jedi path by falling to the Dark Side and then Redeeming in the end.

Little was known about Revan's parentage. It is thought that he was from the Outer Rim Territories, but nevertheless he was suitable for tutelage in the Ways of the Force. He was trained on Dantooine along with a friend Alek by Jedi Master Kreia. He was thought to have an insatiable desire to learn as much as he could. As with his childhood, little is known of all of his training. It is possible that he could have had 3 different trainers. All who held different opinions of his demenor and desire to learn. One apparently thought he was too eager to learn, often searching for knowledge pertaining to Sith magic. According to Jedi Mical he trained in Force bonding. By 3,963 BBY he had attained the rank of Jedi Knight.

Sometime after his appointment of Jedi Knight Revan began to gain a following by many people in the galaxy after his involvement in some Republic and Mandalorian affairs. It was because of his charasma and mislead followers that he eventually earned the title the Revanchist. He began to preach of Jedi intervention in the brewing Mandalorian Wars. In 3,961 BBY he found a Star Map on Kashyyyk that led him to Korriban. Here he discovered the Sith temple and what happened inside is largely unknown. However his former master Kreia assumed that he found of the Sith's great evil and in order to combat them, learned himself in their Ways. In order to end the Mandalore Wars Revan chose to use a massive superbomb to destroy the Mandalore fleet, but several Jedi opposed his opinion and instead he fought Mandalore the Ultimate and killed him in battle. The decision led to massive losses for both the Mandalorians and the Republic. In the resulting aftermath Revan, whose questionable tactics had led many Jedi to the Dark Side, refused to let the Mandalorians choose a replacement leader and exhiled them. This was the beginning of the first famous Bounty Hunters and mercinaries that the Mandalorians are famously known for being.

Shortly after the end of the wars Revan returned to Dantooine with a newly converted Jedi named Malak. His intent here was to investigate yet another Star Map and discover the whereabouts of the Star Forge. Warned by Malak that intruding on the Jedi Enclave would reveal their intent as Dark Jedi, Revan chose to cast asside the gurads and examine the Star Map. Having discovered and examining the Dantooine Star Map, Revan and Malak went on to find three more. In their studies they found the previously unknown Lehon system and made for the find. Once inside the system they crashed on the planet Lehon and were attacked by primitave Black Rakata. However being Sith they easily bested the Rakata. Revan made his desire to find the Star Forge evident to the Rakata, but their primitave minds did not understand the common language. Revan used the Force to uniquely drive common into their heads and afterward was taken to their leader The One. The same technique was used on him but it was discovered that they knew nothing of their past, but a tribe called Elders may know. Revan, instead of destroying them, decided to approach them in peace. His decision proved to be the right one and he learned about the past he sought. Revan knowing their loathe for their violent past said he served the light and sought to destory the Star Forge. Convinced the Rakata gave him access to the Temple of the Ancients to learn of the Star Forge's location. However, instead of destroying it as promised. He declared himself to them a new Dark Lord of the Sith.

Knowing of the capabilities of the Star Forge's dark power, Revan chose to use the artifact to construct a fleet big enough to take on the Jedi. Malak scoffed at his stupidity, but Revan explained how the device had once led the Rakata into civil war with themselves. He had no desire to repeat the same mistake. Once large enough, Revan left with his fleet and declared war on the "tyrannical" Jedi Order, starting the Jedi Civil War.

After several battles during the Jedi Civil War Malak thought himself to be stronger than Revan. Eventually the Jedi caught up with the pair and cornered them, but Malak seeing it as his opportunity betrayed him, saying that he was finally stronger than his master and fired on the bridge where Revan and his Jedi captors held him. The attack left him incapacitated and allowed for Malak's escape. Because of Malak's betrayal Revan was left with a bad case of amnesia. He no longer knew himself to be the Dark Lord of the Sith he had once been. He was thought dead by many, but kept alive by his Force bond with a former Master Bastila Shan. The Republic and Jedi siezed the chance and molded him to be a weapon to help capture Malak.

Around a year after his new identity had been imposed upon him Revan rescued a captured Shan was granted retraining by the Jedi. He was charged with finding Malak and his fleet and resulted to re-examining the Star Maps to find the Star Forge once again. However during this Malak revealed to him that he had been a Dark Jedi and recaptured Shan. Revan, undaunted, loved her and after finding the final Star Map, found the Star Forge. Once there he fought and defeated Malak and redeemed Shan who Malak had twisted to his will. Memories of his former self continued to return and a year after the defeat of Malak he decided to leave alone and confront the "true" Sith on his own.

As of 3,623 BBY it is still thought that he never returned.

This Week in Facts August 22-29

Week Long Facts Blog #1

Sat August, 22-Friday August 29

•Wampas are aggressive monster-like animals indigenous to Hoth.

•Luke returned to Hoth 9 years later and found the Wampa who's arm he severed to still be alive. He killed it that time around.

•Boss Nass was the leader of the Gungans on Naboo.

•The Wampa whose arm Luke cut off was named Willy. Willy Wampa.

•Hamo Blastwell was a Rebel fighter pilot who served in Red Squadron on the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence in the Galactic Civil War.

• The Independence was a Star Cruiser that acted as the Rebel Alliance Fleet's flagship in the Galactic Civil War.

•Admiral Ackbar was the Commander of the Independence.

•Theed is the capital of the planet Naboo.

•Mezhan Kwaad, known for conducting experiments upon the Jedi apprentice Tahiri Veila was a Yuuzhan Vong shaper and the master of Nen Yim.

•The first Death Star held 25,984 active Stormtroopers at any given time.

•Alderaan's population was approximately 2 billion people.

•Nemodians were the toad-like leaders in charge of the Trade Federation.

•Mara Jade began her devious career as a Hand for the Emperor.

•Although severely aged by his practices, Darth Sidioius was quite the swordsman.

•Padme Amidala's last name was Naberrie.

•Polis Massa, the birthplace of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.

•Queen Jamilla became the monarch of Naboo after Amidala left to be a senator.

•Kouhuns were vermiform arthropods with segmented bodies, roughly thirty centimeters long.

Star Wars Facts Survey

Here is a short survey that I want you to fill out honestly. Feel free to be as elaborate or succinct as possible in your answers. I WILL read all of these. I may NOT be able to respond due to overwhelming response but I will see your opinions. Just copy it and paste it into an email and send it to:

STARWARSFACTS (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM

1. What Is Your Age Range (optional)

11 or younger

12-16

17-19

20-24

25-30

30-40

41-50

50+

2. Are You (optional)

Male

Female

3. What is your first memory of Star Wars?

4. Who is your favorite character? Why?

5. What has been your favorite thing about @swfacts?

6. What do you think needs to be done to make @swfacts better?

7. Do you read the blogs? If so, do you enjoy them?

8. What kinds of things would you like to see in the future?

Bonus Question:

IV-VI, I-III or I-III, IV-VI?

Always feel free to @reply me if you have any questions or comments. On Twitter I generally respond. So don't hesitate to interact. That's why I do this!

May the Force be with you!

On Canon

Disclaimer: First let me say that even though I obviosly take a side in this article, I do not, however, disagree with the other side. Make sure you know that I am clear in that intention.

Recently, I @swfacts, @onewiththeforce, became good friends with a few people who, like me, LOVE Star Wars. These people spend a lot of time role playing characters many of them grew up watching, and some we have all come to love over the last few years. Wanting to do more than just post facts related to these characters and the Galaxy they inhabited, I made a new Twitter account and started a character of my own, @thecadbane. Cad Bane is a character who is new to the Star Wars universe and has very little known about his personal history. Seeing this as an intriguing opportunity to role play an unknown character who possesses characteristics I find interesting, I started to develop on the already established mannerisms and story surrounding him.

It has, however come to my attention that some involved in the community believe that canon is being hurt by the portrayals of the characters. I am one for sticking to canon when the story is being told for the purposes of the further development of the ever-growing Galaxy. But in this instance I don't believe it wrong to give a character a new personality quirk, or a new catch phrase.

A place like Twitter is a sort of safe-haven, an area where we, as fans, can gather and develop existing and new characters as we would enjoy, seeing them if they were our own. It is like a fan-run/designed website that deals in fanfiction. Maybe you didn't like Edward dating Bella. Perhaps you thought it served the story better to have her stay with Jacob. Changing that aspect in the evironment we work in is COMPLETELY safe because at the end of the day it doesn't matter at all to the canon of the Galaxy as long as we are happy with the produced creativity.

I agree with wanting to keep canon, canon, but Twitter, as with fansites of fanfiction, has become an outlet for us to become someone who, in real life, we may not be able to become. The stories we create there stay there and have no effect whatsoever on the stories we all enjoy reading and viewing outside of this medium of communication.

Link to the story on Canon:

http://tinyurl.com/kwvxu2

Star Wars: A Concept of Time

I love good questions. Something that makes me think for a few minutes before I realize what the correct answer should be.

@apostropheS asked me on twitter today, "what were the years called during the time of BBY?"

If we look at the concept of time in our own world, and the fictional worlds we all come to love, we can see many similarities in the way time is calculated. All great eras of time are divided by events, usually singular, in which something drastic happens. In our world we all seem to come together and agree, at least until the last few years where science has decided otherwise, that the birth and subsequent death of Jesus Christ was such an event. The era wasn't called BC until many years after his death, but we divided the time before him and after him as BC and AD.

Another such example occurs four separate times the world of Middle-Earth where "The Lord of the Rings" takes place. When Frodo dropped the Ring of Power into Mount Doom and Sauron was finally defeated, his tyrannical reign over Middle-Earth ended and the people there saw the end of an Age dominated by fear of him. Thus the Third Age ended and the Fourth began.

In Star Wars it works similarly. The people of the Galaxy have, for the most of its history, been involved in a Republic form of government. The Old Republic was dominated by a war with the Sith, but they never destroyed the Republic in the sense that Palpatine did when he overthrew it and began the Imperial reign. All of the sudden the people of the Galaxy found themselves outcasted if they did not accept Palpatine's total control. Some did, some didn't. Those who didn't became the Rebels and formed their Alliance. For nearly 18 years they survived under the worst threat the Galaxy had ever known. Therefore when the foundations of the Empire were rocked by the destruction of Death Star I at the Battle of Yavin, the tide of battle began to turn and the Rebels knew that they finally had a chance.

Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) symbolizes all of the events that occured from the beginning of recorded history with the Rakata and continues until Luke Skywalker's fateful flight down the narrow tunnel that allowed for the destruction of the Death Star I. After the events of that day, empowered by their victory in battle, the people of the Alliance finally knew that they had a chance, and when Palpatine fell for good they refered to everything afterward as After the Battle of Yavin (ABY). So when you read that something happened 4 ABY it simply means that it occured four years after the destruction of the Death Star I. The same goes with BBY, an event happening 5,000 BBY was 5,000 years before Luke took his shot.

Now time itself was divided into eras as well. They all follow the rules of BBY and ABY.

Old Republic (25,000 - 1,000 BBY)

Rise of the Empire (1,000 - 0 BBY)

Rebellion (0 - 5 ABY)

New Republic (5 - 25 ABY)

New Jedi Order (25 - 40 ABY)

Legacy (40 ABY -)

Thanks for the question! It was definitely one of the better ones that have been asked. If you want to read more on the actual eras and the major works that they are made up of check out:

http://cuthut.com/BhM

And don't forget to follow @swfacts for all the things the Empire doesn't want you to know!

Star Wars Trivia Thursday (07-09-2009)

We got a lot of really great questions this week.Thanks for all the input and feedback you all have given regarding this idea. Remember this is a short week due to work. Don't get discouraged if you question was not answered. Try again next week. There's a good chance you will get a question answered. And since I just posted the Rules, this week can slide.

And now, without further adieu, week on begins.

1. (via @woodlandelf) Does Leia remember Padme or Breha Organa when she says she remembers her mother in RotJ?

This is a good question to ask. Breha and Bail Organa were the foster parents that raised Leia from birth. In Return of the Jedi she says that she remembers her real mother but just as "images" and "feelings." Leia recalled her as being, "beautiful, kind, but sad." She new Breha was her adoptive mother as she most likely died during the destruction of Alderaan. So it is only conceivable to think that she must have been talking about Padme.

An interesting side note involves her description of remembering Padme. Padme died just after giving them names. It is possible that, being a Force sensitive individual, Leia remembers Padme, but also could be an error on the Lucas' part due to the large gap between the Original and New trilogies.

2. (via @theonecorey) How about the first appearance of Coruscant for all the EU haters out there.

Coruscant first appeared in the Expanded Universe and was called by its name in Timothy Zahn's book "Heir to the Empire" which was published in 1991. Nearly 15 years after the first movie was produced. It did not appear on screen for the first time until after the 1997 release of Return of the Jedi. The special edition editied in new effects and showed the celebration of the defeat of Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant.

3. (via @sdsb110) What planet was Boba Fett from before Kamino appeared in the New Trilogy?

I really like this question because it was hard. I am not sure that my answer will even be right. @sdsb110 has a book that has the "right" answer in it, so let me know if I'm right or way off wrong.

My first instinct would be to go with my first knowledge of Boba Fett and say Mandalore, but I also know that he was sent to an orphanage on Bespin. Correct me if I'm wrong.

4. (via @zombietips) Were there Zombies in the Star Wars universe?

God, I love zombies! The answer is yes.

The Sith were able to create zombies with alchemy to protect the Valley of the Dark Lords. The Rakghoul Plague turned people into mindless creatures similar to zombies. And Rajine, an energy vampire, used them to protect her palace from tresspassers. There are a few other instances in the Galaxy of reported zombies as well.

5. (via @churchy71) I want to know were the Stormtroopers clones, or were they enlisted?

You have to love Stormtroopers, but man did they need some better armor.

The first Stormtroopers were clones that survived the Clone Wars. They were officially renamed by Palpatine's Declaration of New Order. Three new batches were grown and sent to the Outer Rim Territories after the Battle of Kamino in 10 BBY. No longer guided by Jedi generals, Stormtroopers were free to enforce the brutal Imperial doctrine and seemed endless in number.

Thanks for the questions guys. Remember if yours didn't get picked don't get discouraged try again next week.

Bonus Round

These are some of the other questions I received. Feel free to answer them or @reply to the original owner if you would like.

@rbtgirl asks, "What was the name of Anakin and Padme's love song?" and "What's the name of Luke's theme?"

@hddnmcky inquires, "Who was Dorsk 81 and why was he unique?" and "Who was Qui Xux and what role did she play in the Empire?"

Star Wars Trivia Thursday Eligibility Rules

Hey guys,

Here are the official rules of the Star Wars Trivia Thursday

--All questions must be tagged with the hashtag #swtt to be considered.

--Questions must either come from the sexology of movies or the Expanded Universe, where the Expanded Universe consists of comics, books, or tv shows.

--Questions will be selected at 10* per Thursday and will be personally answered via @reply, retweeted, and at the Cantina (http://cuthut.com/BA8).

--All questions are eligible as long as tweeter hasn't had a question answered the previous week.

--Elibible questions will be accepted Monday beginning at 12:01 am until Thursday at 5:00 pm* Central Standard Time.

--This is a game for fun. PLEASE, no rude comments directed at others or myself regarding questions asked or answers given. Behavior like this will not be tolerated and will result in blockage of your account.

--All questions to be considered must come from followers of @swfacts.**

--Have fun. Be challenging! May the Force be with You!

*unless otherwise noted. Some days I may have to work. At this point I will post by the Sunday beforehand that only 5 questions will be answered.

**there are advantages to this as your account will be referenced in at least three different high traffic areas. You're most likely going to gain a few followers as well.

Darth Vader: The Early Years

Darth Vader is one of the most iconic villians of the last 30 years. Say his name and most anyone around will immediately know who you're talking about and will, in some small way or another, know at least a little about his story as it is involved around the six Star Wars movies that have been produced to date. He is number 2 on Empire Online's top 100 Movie characters (http://bit.ly/7BjC), and Wizards Magazine ranked him 11th in their Top 100 Greatest Villians Ever. This set of blogs, over the next few days is intended to give quite a detailed look at a complex character that began life as an innocent little boy, made some bad choices, and ultimately became one of the most impressive and beloved characters of an entire universe.

Anakin Skywalker was born to a slave mother Shmi Skywalker around 41 BBY. Although most believe him to have been born on Tatooine, he implied that he was born elsewhere and that he arrived on Tatooine around the age of three. Shmi claimed he was born of no father--although later in his life Qui-Gon Jinn would suggest he was born of the Force. (Evidence also suggests that he could have been part of an experiment devised by Darth Plagueis in his attempt to acheive immortality) Despite not knowing where he came from, she raised and cared for him nonetheless. Upon arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and his mother were sold to Gardulla the Hutt who was cruel to both of them. She was unnaturally curel to Anakin as was seen by her forcing him to participate in the Boonta Eve Classic podrace, knowing he was incapable of winning. Gardulla lost Anakin and Shmi in a podracing bet with the Toydarian junk dealer Watto.

Despite leaving the cruel life with Gardulla behind, things scarcely got better with Watto. Anakin was allowed few possesions. Watto, being a junk dealer, found Anakin to be a precious possesion because of his ability to repair almost anything. By the age of nine he had completed a protocol droid he named C-3PO and an entire podracer. Both he built from salvaged parts in his spare time.

Although extremely smart and resoruceful, Anakin was a bit of an adventurous child as well. At the age of five he climbed a large sand dune to chase off wild banthas from hunters. He almost collapsed from heat exhuastion several times. He also cared for a wounded Tusken Raider until the raider was taken away by others. One night before the Boonta Eve Classic, Anakin and a few other friends were captured by Sebulba who intended to sell them to Gardulla, but they cleverly disguised themselves as Jawas and snuck into Gardulla's palace to free other slave children. It was his lack of concern for his own well being that made Anakin such a remarkable young boy.

At the age of eight, while rummaging through old parts, Anakin found an old war droid. Hoping to slavage the holoprojector, he accidentally activated it and was flooded with cries for help, screams, and the mention of the word "Sith." Disturbed, Anakin rushed to a Republic Fighter Corps member he had met before and showed him the recording. The man told Anakin of the 4,000 year old conflict between the Sith that eventually turned inward, consuming the Sith altogether. However, he spoke of a belief that one Sith survived and passed down their teachings. He told Anakin that he believed this to be true, and knew that somewhere in the Galaxy the Sith, although few in numbers, still existed to this day.

In 32 BBY Anakin was discovered coincidentally by the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. The Jedi Master was forced to land on Tatooine because of a badly damaged hyperdrive. They sought parts at Watto's store where Anakin was working. Anakin, innocently confused, asked the young girl with Qui-Gon if she was an angel. She told him no and explained her situation to him as Qui-Gon tried to "convince" Watto to sell the parts for credits. A sandstorm, however, cut their search short and Anakin offered Qui-Gon and the others shelter at his home. Once at his house, and over dinner, Qui-Gon recounted their flight from Naboo and their need for the hyperdrive parts. A compassionate Anakin volunteered to enter an upcoming podrace so that he could give them the prize money and allow them to buy their parts.

Shortly before the race began Qui-Gon made a bet to free Anakin if he won, but Watto did not want to lose the boy. So he gave him a shot at Anakin or his mother with the role of a two colored weighted die and told Qui-Gon that red got him Shmi and Blue won Anakin. Knowing the outcome would most likely favor Watto, Qui-Gon used the Force to move the die to blue. Watto still agreed, knowing the boy had no chance of winning the race due to his lack of fast reflexes needed to operate such a fast vehicle. However, the boy proved Watto wrong and won the race with his Force sensitivity that he had always believed to be lightning fast reaction time. By winning Jinn was able to free Anakin, but not his mother. This offered Anakin a choice, stay and be with his mother or go with Jinn and become a Jedi.

He chose to leave with Qui-Gon, vowing to return and free his mother. Shortly after leaving home, they were attacked by the Sith Lord Darth Maul who Qui-Gon fought with while Anakin made for Amidala's ship. He warned Obi-Wan and they flew by to rescue Jinn. On board the ship Anakin gave Padme a trinket to remember him by, furthering their imminent bond. After arriving at Coruscant Anakin was tested by the Jedi Council and despite passing the tests with flying colors the Council believed him too old to become a Padawan. Jinn, believing him to be the Chosen One offered to train the boy himself after Obi-Wan had completed his trials, but he was denied. Yoda sensed much fear and anger in the boy due to his days as a slave. These emotions were made even more potent by being seperated from his mother. They thought that he could not mentally detatch himself from these as a Jedi was required to.

With no where to go, Anakin left and followed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on their mission to free Naboo. He accidentally joined the battle while he hid in a Naboo Fighter that he activated. The ship took him into orbit where he was able to skillfully fly through the Federation's defenses and destory their orbiting ship that controlled the ground forces. Having disabled the ground droids, the Gungans were saved from almost certain destruction. However, not all was happy. Qui-Gon Jinn was slain during battle with Darth Maul. Jinn made Obi-Wan promise to train the boy, a request that the Jedi Council reluctantly agreed to though they were still concerned about Kenobi's ability to train him as he himself was still young.

At the celebration of the liberation of Naboo Anakin first appeared dressed as a Padawan. It was here that he met the new Galactic Chancellor, former Naboo Senator Palpatine. Palpatine, patting him on the shoulder, promised to watch his career as a Jedi with "great interest."

Star Forge

This one will be short but sweet.

The Star Forge was a giant automated ship yard used by the Rakata to, of course, construct ships. It was intended to create the ships for the most powerful army of all time. It was constructed by the Rakata Infinite Empire 30,000 years BBY. The Star Forge drew energy from a nearby star and combined it with the power of the Force to create an endless supply of ships, droids, and other materials they used in their conquering of the Galaxy. However, the merciless Rakata used slave labor to construct it and the Star Forge fed off of their evil ways, and became a tool of great Dark Side energy. Eventually the Star Forge began controlling even the Rakata with the power of the Dark Side. This led to the ultimate destruction of the Rakata. The Star Forge was destroyed years later by Darth Revan, the conflicted Jedi turned Sith, as he was somehow able to repress his own Dark Side abilities to keep from being corrupted by the quasi-living structure.

Qymaen jai Sheelal

Tonight is a kind of two-fer. That's right, tonight we get to learn about two things. The subject of discussion is a known character in the Star Wars universe and is a special request of a friend of mine. Check her out at aaronsmum.blogspot.com.

Qymaen jai Sheelal is a Kaleesh male from the planet Kalee. Kaleesh are a spiritual people who believed that one who did good deeds in life became a god in the after life. They are a reptilian humanoid species with reddish-brown skin and for fingered/toed, clawed limbs. Their faces bore many tusks and their nostrils often stretched from their noses to their eyes. Kaleesh also had pointed ears. They built numerous temples and erected statues to the holiest of Kaleesh after their deaths. For Kaleesh war was essential and sacred. Honor led to many vengeance battles among their tribal social structure. Most Kaleesh were warriors, who, even though they fought amongst themselves constantly, would band together against any common enemy. It is from a common bond that one of their most famous warriors arose, Qymaen jai Sheelal.

Sheelal was a vital part of Kaleesh survival against the Huk in the Huk War. Born on Kalee Sheelal immediately learned the art of war. His skill on the battlefield during the Huk war led to god-like status among his people, even before his death as was custom. It was during this time that he met a master swordswoman that he fell in love with, Ronderu lij Kummar. The two fought valiantly together during the Huk War, but ultimately Ronderu was killed. Distraught Sheelal renamed himself Grievous and fought the Huk off of Kalee and swarmed them on their own homeworld. Overpowered by Grievous, the Huk enlisted in the Republic for help and Jedi were sent to drive back Grevious and his elite to Kalee where they were left to starve.

Grievous was desperate to help his people and took a job as an enforcer for Intergalactic Banking Clan. However it was not long before word got to Grievous that the Huk had once again invaded Kalee. Immediately he arranged to leave the IBC and return to his homeworld on his ship the Martyr, but by leaving he would pay a hefty price. The IBC Chairman consulted with Count Dooku and had a bomb placed on the ship. It exploded, but Grievous survived the explosion and resulting crash. The Chairman had Grievous apprehended and reconstructed his body with cyborg parts. He then gave the new and improved Grievous to Count Dooku to be used as a weapon in the upcoming war planned by Dooku.

Grievous was made Supreme Commander of the Confederation and wreaked havoc on the Republic for three years during the Clone Wars. He was trained in the art of Lightsaber dueling by Dooku and because of his cyborg limbs, was able to wield four lightsabers simultaneously. The lightsabers he used were said to have been taken from the many Jedi Grievous killed. His superb leadership skills kept the Republic reeling and drove fear into the hearts of many with Operation Durge's Lance, a massive strike on the Core planets.

In 19 BBY Grievous succeeded in taking Chancellor Palpatine from his office on Coruscant and held him captive. However, before he could flee, the Republic Navy led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker boarded his ship and freed Palpatine. It came at a great loss, Dooku was killed by Skywalker. Unable to keep military control in the Core after Dooku's death, Grievous fled to Utapau and tried to regain control of the battle. He was followed by Obi-Wan Kenobi and after a harsh duel was killed. The confederacy fell soon after.

Grievous death was not good news everywhere, however, as on his homeworld of Kalee a great statue of his cyborg self was erected in a holy temple. He had, at least to the Kaleesh, become a god after all.

Ulic Qel-Droma

Here's a little Star Wars "ancient" history for you. Today's topic is a character from the Old Republic Era of the Star Wars universe.

Ulic Qel-Droma was a young Jedi Knight human, who like most heroes was tragic. He was born to a Jedi mother on Alderaan and had a brother named Cay. Ulic was found to be strong in the Force and was sent to train under Arca Jeth. In 4,000 B.B.Y., he along with two others, was sent to the planet Onderon to resolve the Beast Wars conflict. However, things are not as they always seem. Once there they found the leader of the uprising, Queen Amanoa to be a darksider. With the help of Arca Jeth they were able to destroy Amanoa and her influence on Onderon.

At least that's what they thought.

Two years later, the Freedon Nadd Uprising began. Again Ulic and Cay were dispatched to take care of the problem. After killing their King, who had been aided by Nadd's spirit, Onderon was finally free.

Upon arriving home Ulic found that two new darksiders were threatening an entire star system. He was sent to dispose of the threat with his newfound love Nomi Sunrider, but was met with heartfelt defeat when his master was killed and his fleet destroyed. Driven to desperation, Ulic joined their ranks as a supposed Fallen Jedi and over time actually came to believe in the ways in which he practiced.

Ulic became a Dark Lord of the Sith, second in rank only to Exar Kun the man who had shown him the true power of the Dark Side. Together they went on a rampage igniting one of the fiercest battles with the Sith the Jedi had ever faced, the Great Sith War. Their plan was simple, conquer the galaxy.

And they were nearly successful.

Near the end of the war Ulic battled his brother Cay. Distraught with his brother's betrayal of the Force, Cay had no choice but to duel Ulic. They fought furiously, ultimately leading to the death of Cay. Grief-stricken by his mistake, Ulic immediately denounced the Dark Side, but not before Nomi Sunrider, his former love, cut him off from the Force. Permanently. Broken, Ulic wandered the galaxy for nearly a decade afterward.

It wasn't until he met Nomi's daughter Vima that he would be truly redeemed. Shortly after his redemption Ulic was killed by a spacer named Hoggan, but like all great Jedi Ulic became one with the Force. His spirit would survive on for nearly 3,500 years before he met and gave advice to another tragic character Anakin Skywalker, the boy who would become Darth Vader.

Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes

What a better way to start off a Star Wars blog about obscure topics and characters than with Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes. They are the band inside the cantina Luke and Obi-Wan visit during "A New Hope." And they play that same song, over and over.

Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes is an all Bith (that's their race) band famous for their somber looks, and even more somber hit "Mad About Me" which plays here in this cantina.

Just in case you do not know, Bith are a peaceful and highly evolved species from the planet Clak'dor VII. They are an intellegent race that tend to take to professions involving science or technology. Their large heads make them stand out and often have pale pink or yellow skin. They have large bulbous black eyes that can see even the minutest of details in an object. As a result they are very short sighted.

An average Bith is between 1.5-1.7 meters tall. Due to their dependency on technology, Bith do not reproduce naturally. Instead they bring their genetic material to a DNA computer and children are "grown" for a gestation period of a year.

Bith do not sleep as they have evloved past the need for sleep. Instead they enter a light medatative state and get enough rest in 4 hours that a human or other race would get in 8.