Jedi hunter/Legends
The term Jedi hunter typically referred to a being or droid who was particularly adept at killing Jedi.
Overview
No specific background was common among Jedi hunters; they came from diverse upbringings and species.
Numerous Jedi hunters were Force-sensitives themselves. The majority of Force-using Jedi hunters were members of dark side cults and groups that were traditional enemies of the Jedi, the most notorious of these being the Sith. Darth Maul, for instance, had been raised and trained by Darth Sidious to prey upon Jedi.[1][2] Others were former Jedi driven to the dark side by unfortunate, traumatic events, and, believing their former mentors responsible, decided to pursue a homicidal grudge against the Order.[3] Examples of such beings included Asajj Ventress, Aurra Sing, or the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Some Jedi hunters were ordinary beings with bodies heavily augmented by cybernetic enhancements that allowed them to compete with the Jedi on the physical level. However, if the being was naturally Force-sensitive, then the lack of flesh could prevent the use of certain Force powers, such as Force lightning. The most notable example of a cybernetic Jedi hunter was the CIS military leader General Grievous. Grievous was equipped with computers slaved to his brain that increased his reflexes and precision to superhuman levels, and a largely mechanical body that provided him with superhuman speed, strength and stamina.[4]
Arguably, Darth Vader could also be considered an example of a cyborg Jedi hunter, as his armored body suit provided him with limited resistance to lightsaber blows, and his prosthetic limbs and implants provided him with vastly augmented strength and stamina.[3] There were also whole series of droids created specifically to assassinate and hunt down the Jedi. As droids could not typically be sensed through the Force due to their inorganic nature (unless it was through the use of Mechu-deru, a rare ability among Jedi), and could have their physical attributes extraordinarily augmented, they could be extremely effective Jedi hunters.[4]
Many hunters were not Force-users, heavily augmented cyborgs, droids, or genetically created/altered creatures, but were instead ordinary people. These hunters often relied on skill and cunning as opposed to sheer power to bring down Jedi.
Equipment and tactics
Skilled hunters understood that confronting a Jedi with standard tactics and equipment was often doomed to failure, so many of them employed novel, unorthodox strategies and weaponry. One of the more standard Jedi killing weapons was the slugthrower, a weapon that employed chemically propelled solid projectiles instead of an energy discharge. These weapons were extremely useful when confronting an individual with a lightsaber, as the standard metal projectiles utilized in most slugthrowers could not be redirected by a lightsaber in the same manner as a blaster bolt; they simply vaporized on contact with the blade.[5] Flamethrowers also worked well, as the jet of fire produced by one could not be blocked by a lightsaber. A skilled enough Jedi could use the Force to shield themselves from the flames, but this took considerable effort and uncommon strength in the Force.[6]
Lightsaber collecting was also a fairly common practice among Jedi Hunters. As they were unique to each Jedi, they provided proof of kill, and could be kept as trophies. The bounty hunter Boba Fett was known to collect lightsabers.[source?]
History
- "Poor Jedi, your kind will soon be extinct. And how fitting that one of their precious lightsabers brings an end to the Jedi delusion!"
- ―Darth Sidious
At the end of the Hundred-Year Darkness, Jedi hunters helped defeat the Dark Jedi at the Battle of Corbos. When Revan became a Sith Lord following the Mandalorian Wars, he employed both specialized Sith assassins and Force-insensitive assassins to kill Jedi. Utilizing assassination techniques the Jedi had never seen before, Revan decimated the Order nearly to the point of extinction. During the First Jedi Purge, the Sith Lord Darth Sion achieved infamy as one of the greatest Jedi hunters of all time, along with his Sith triumvirate partner, Darth Nihilus. Nihilus however, did not hunt Jedi in a traditional manner or for traditional reasons. Rather, he sought to kill Jedi as a form of sustenance, using his unique variant of Force drain to consume their life and Force energy. While he could and did strip other lifeforms of their energy, sometimes even on a planetary scale, Jedi were especially targeted by him as they provided more energy than most other beings. Sion, on the other hand, sought the extinction of the Jedi purely out of malice. In the Mandalorian Wars, Dungeon ships were developed to move and capture Jedi prisoners, and were later reused with Universal Energy Cages in the Great Jedi Purge. The assassin droid HK-47 also became a notorious Jedi hunter during this time period.
Following the end of Clone Wars, the clone troopers of the 501st Legion were placed in the service of Darth Vader, a Jedi-turned-Sith and the most infamous Jedi Hunter in galactic history. During Operation: Knightfall, Vader, alongside the 501st, sacked the Jedi temple and massacred hundreds of Jedi, from venerated Masters to Youngling. Vader would later go on to kill dozens more Jedi during the Purge until Palpatine called it off, believing the remaining few Jedi to be of no threat to his plans. Due to their role in the Great Jedi Purge, the 501st became vicious Jedi hunters in their own right, earning the nickname 'Vader's Fist'.
Appearances
Sources
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition (As "Jedi Hunter")
- The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- Star Wars Handbook 3: Dark Empire