Minch

"A Jedi, I am. My path is with the Force."

―Minch

Minch was a male member of a short-statured tridactyl species, who served in the Jedi Order as a Knight of the Galactic Republic. Seven hundred years prior to the Battle of Yavin, Minch was assigned by the Jedi Council, along with his Zabrak Master, T'dai, on a mission with a group of Knights in the Bpfassh system to find and suppress the destructive rampage of several Bpfasshi Dark Jedi. When they boarded a Commerce Guild space station in Bpfassh space, Minch managed to corner one of the Dark Jedi and engage him in lightsaber combat. He lost the duel just before the darksider killed himself at the sight of Minch's companions. Intent on proving himself in battle, Minch then pursued the Dark Jedi's Master to the planet Dagobah against the orders of T'dai. Minch tracked the Bpfasshi to a cave, where he fought and slew him, which resulted in the cave becoming a place tainted with the malevolent energies of the dark side of the Force.

Biography

Mission to the Bpfassh system

"The Council must be desperate to send Padawans after us."
"A Jedi Knight, I am."

―Bpfasshi Dark Jedi and Minch

Minch, disarmed and defeated by his Bpfasshi opponent.

Minch was a male Jedi of a small tridactyl species who served the Galactic Republic. Minch studied under a Zabrak Jedi Master named T'dai, who trained the young learner successfully to Knighthood.

In 700 BBY, the Jedi Council received word that the Bpfassh system was being terrorized by several Dark Jedi. Minch was selected by the Council as a member of a team of Jedi Knights led by Master T'dai to venture into Bpfassh space and end the violence instigated by the Dark Jedi. Minch and his team's hunt led them to a trading station owned by the Commerce Guild, where Minch was able to intercept one of the Dark Jedi alone on the station's fifth level. He engaged the Dark Jedi in combat, but was looked down upon by his opponent, who believed that Minch was nothing more than a mere Padawan because of his small physical appearance. Minch continued to duel while professing that he was more than a simple apprentice. However, the Bpfasshi—who still doubted the Jedi—was able to disarm, and in doing so, defeat Minch.

Minch was rescued when Master T'dai and the rest of the teammates arrived to corner the Dark Jedi while demanding to know the whereabouts of his Master, who had thus far eluded capture. The Bpfasshi conceded defeat and refused to divulge anything to the Jedi regarding his leader, before killing himself by plunging his own lightsaber into his gut. Minch's own Master then received a comm from their ship, the Takara, advising that a small craft had escaped the space station while they had been otherwise occupied. T'dai deduced that it must be the Dark Jedi Master, and Minch was ordered alongside his comrades to take to their own starfighters in pursuit. The Jedi chased the Bpfasshi Master through the Sluis sector to the Dagobah system, where he headed to the namesake planet. While his teammates maintained orbit around the world in their fighters and awaited the Takara's arrival, Minch broke formation to follow after their quarry. He was ordered to stand down by T'dai, who cited that Dagobah's lack of technology, massive lifeforms, and severe weather conditions were ample reasons to wait for reinforcements. Minch, however, was driven to prove himself to those whom he felt discounted his miniature proportions; he ignored T'dai's instructions and followed the Dark Jedi Master's ion trail into Dagobah's atmosphere.

The Dark Side Cave

"Surrender, you must. Your minions have fallen. Failed you have."
"I think not. There are always more to be turned. Perhaps you."

―Minch confronts the Dark Jedi Master on Dagobah

Minch, in battle with the Bpfasshi Dark Jedi Master.

The storms of Dagobah that T'dai had identified were indeed perilous, and Minch's starfighter was disabled by a bolt of lightning upon entry. His ship crash-landed in a swamp, but he survived otherwise unscathed. Master T'dai had Minch's coordinates and ordered him to stay put as the Takara was only a parsec away. Minch had other plans, though, and immediately sensed the dark presence of the Bpfasshi Master. He began to survey the area, and it was not long before he came upon the Dark Jedi, who fled capture as Minch approached. The diminutive Jedi lost sight of the Bpfasshi, but his Force sense eventually guided him to a dark cave overgrown with brush. He ignited his green-bladed lightsaber to clear a passage for himself and, upon entering the cave, demanded that the Dark Jedi surrender in the face of defeat.

Scorning Minch, the Bpfasshi Master stated that there would always be those who would be willing to embrace the dark side of the Force and that perhaps Minch was one of them. Minch affirmed his status as a Jedi, but the Bpfasshi derided him as nothing more than a small child full of fear and anger. Minch attacked at that moment, intent on proving that his size was not a measure of his skill. In response, the Dark Jedi grew to an enormous height and towered over Minch. Stricken with fear, Minch lashed out with his lightsaber and struck his adversary, but the Bpfasshi did not die, much to Minch's surprise. Instead, he changed into hundreds of smaller versions of himself and began to overwhelm Minch, who thrashed about with his lightsaber in blind terror while his enemy repeatedly attempted to seduce him into accepting the power of the dark side.

Minch's panic finally subsided to reveal that the Bpfasshi had been dealt a fatal blow. As he too lay on the ground, Minch was mocked again by the Dark Jedi, who proclaimed himself the victor, dying with the belief that he had successfully driven Minch into using the dark side of the Force to achieve his goal. Minch then received a comm from T'dai stating that the Takara had landed on Dagobah and that he needed to prepare for extraction. The Jedi told his Master that he had slain the Bpfasshi and promptly left the cave to rejoin his comrades. The shedding of the Bpfasshi's blood and subsequent death at the hands of Minch within the cave on Dagobah tainted that location with the dark side, and over time, transformed it into a focal point of malevolent Force energy.

Personality and traits

"A Jedi? You are but a child—small and weak, full of fear and anger."
"I am not a child! Size matters not."

―Bpfasshi Dark Jedi Master taunts Minch

Minch was a short-statured, green-skinned Jedi, with eyes of the same color and brown hair that he wore pulled back in a long braid. Minch was underestimated by his opponents because of his diminutive stature; he was mistaken for a Padawan by the first Bpfasshi Dark Jedi he fought, and was even patronized by the Dark Jedi's Master as a child while dueling him on Dagobah. To this end, Minch sought to prove himself as a capable Jedi Knight. He was courageous, yet impulsive, evidenced when he single-handedly attacked the Bpfasshi on board the Commerce Guild Station. His determination to prove himself combat-ready caused Minch to disobey a direct order from Master T'dai, his superior, when he chose to break formation in pursuit of the Dark Jedi Master to Dagobah. According to the Bpfasshi Master, Minch's feelings were quite transparent; he was able to sense Minch's anger and fear and even sought to capitalize on the young Jedi's emotional weakness by attempting to turn Minch to the dark side of the Force. Though Minch resisted the seductions of the darksider, his fear and anger did guide him into slaying the Bpfasshi. Upon death, Minch's opponent assured him that such feelings would guarantee his fall into darkness—eventually.

Powers and abilities

"Wait—Darkness I sense. Nearby he is."

―Minch, sensing the presence of the Dark Jedi Master

Minch, wielding his green–bladed lightsaber.

Minch wielded a green-bladed lightsaber in an aggressive two-handed style. Even though he was able to duel opponents of greater size than himself, his skills proved insufficient in his battle against the lone Dark Jedi on board the Commerce Guild station; the Bpfasshi broke through Minch's guard, causing him to both drop his lightsaber and fall to the ground. Minch displayed a talent with Force sense and was able locate the Bpfasshi Master on Dagobah by searching for him through the Force. Though unsuccessful against the learner, Minch was able to defeat the Dark Jedi Master in combat, even though his fear nearly consumed him while doing so. Minch was also a capable starfighter pilot.

Behind the scenes

"And Minch is not part of Yoda's name."

―Leland Chee

Minch first appeared in author Paul Lee's "Heart of Darkness", which was featured in Star Wars Tales 16. It was later compiled into a trade paperback version, Star Wars Tales Volume 4. Plausible stories in Star Wars Tales 1–20 were initially considered S-canon until referenced in a non-Tales source, at which point the subject matter was elevated to C-canon. In the story treatment for Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, "Minch" was attributed as the given name of Yoda, and early drafts saw only "Minch" used. This was subsequently dropped in favor of simply "Yoda".

The Dark Horse Comics publisher's summary for Star Wars Tales 16 indicates that Minch and Yoda are one and the same, describing the events of Heart of Darkness as a "story from Yoda's past". This position was supported by Lucasfilm official Leland Chee, who described aspects of "Heart of Darkness" as non-canonical, citing their contradiction of Yoda's established history, and further stating that "Minch" was not a part of Yoda's name.

However, Minch later received his own entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, simultaneously establishing him as a unique character and raising his existence in Heart of Darkness to C-canon.

Appearances

• "Heart of Darkness" — Star Wars Tales 16 (First appearance)

Sources

• Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
•  Yoda in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)

Notes and references

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