10 Things In 'Star Wars' You Didn't Know Were Still Canon
Much has been made of Lucasfilm's handling of EU content, rebranding it as Legends a year and a half after the Disney buyout to help clear up the timeline and make room for other stories. While this has drawn the ire of many within the fanbase, there are some things that were spared the Legends banner and are still canonical events within the Star Wars universe. Here are ten of them.
10. Delta Squad
This elite team of clone operatives rapidly became favorites of Star Wars fans and gamers alike after the 2005 release of Republic Commando. This first-person shooter is a fast-paced thrill ride through several iconic Star Wars locales, expanding the lore of planets and species, and giving detailed background on the Clone War. The game's main mechanic (besides scrapping an army of battle droids) is the use of squad tactics to achieve the mission. The player controls the squad leader, aptly named Boss, and commands his clone brothers Fixer, Sev, and Scorch to achieve Republic victory. This elite team was made canon in The Clone Wars episode "Witches of the Mist," where they are seen reporting on the massacre at Devaron.
9. Durge
The canonization of Durge is a unique item on this list as it has been announced but has yet to truly happen. Announced for Doctor Aphra #11, coming out in June of this year, Durge will make a formidable foe for anyone who gets between him and his target. A Gen'Dai bounty hunter trained by a Mandalorian in Legends, Durge tracks and kills the scum of the galaxy for 1500 years before being recruited to the Separatist cause by Count Dooku. As a Gen'Dai, Durge is a formless, boneless being who relies on his heavy armor and extensive cybernetic enhancements to retain his form. This also allows him to heal from virtually any wound, including being blasted apart from the inside by Obi-Wan.
8.Darth Tenebrous
The Bith known as Rugess Nome, galactically renowned designer of starships and accomplished scientist, is in reality the Sith Lord known as Darth Tenebrous, according to Legends. A Dark Lord of the lineage of Bane, Tenebrous is the Sith Master of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Tenebrous is obsessed with using science and advanced experimentation to prolong his life and end his enemies. Tenebrous and his Master, an unknown Twi'lek Sith Lord, attempt to create a virus to sever the Jedi from the Force, though this is ultimately a waste of time and resources. Canonized in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, Tenebrous is the namesake of the 26th Sith Trooper Legion from the film.
7. Battle of Dantooine
One of the most memorable moments of the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars animated shorts comes during the Battle of Dantooine. With his forces decimated and a CIS superweapon smashing its way through Republic lines, Windu hurls himself through enemy droids to disable the Separatist seismic tank single-handedly. While the details of the conflict remain lost to Legends, the fact that Mace Windu's forces sustain heavy casualties is mentioned in the canon The Clone Wars series by Ki-Audi-Mundi during the "Brain Invaders" episode. This is a clear nod to the sequence in Tartakovsky's work.
6. Jaster Mereel
The Journeyman Protector of Concord Dawn, in Legends, Jaster Mereel leads a group of Mandalorians by his code of conduct called the Supercommando Codex. With his right-hand man Jango Fett at his side, Mereel fights in the Mandalorian Civil Wars to protect rural worlds from the murderous, marauding Death Watch. Jango's mentor is canonized in a subtle Easter egg during The Mandalorian, in which Boba Fett reveals his chain code, which includes Jaster's name and describes him as a "mentor" to Jango.
5. Mandalorian Neo Crusdaers
Another sneaky re-canonization Easter egg by Dave Filoni, a Mandalorian Neo-Crusader helmet can be seen on display by a Trandoshan hunter in The Clone Wars episode "Wookiee Hunt." The Neo-Crusaders have a long and rich history in Mandalorian culture, including the pioneering of the planet Mandalore and assisting the Jedi in defeating Darth Nihilus. Like many Mandalorians, the Neo-Crusaders follow a warrior code, developing many of the militaristic and disciplinary practices used by Mandalorians for millennia to come.
4. Hundred-Year Darkness
Despite their claim of peace, calm, and tranquility, the Jedi have more than their fair share of schisms and bloodshed. Approximately 7,000 years before the rise of the Empire, a group of radical young Jedi begin espousing the use of both light and dark sides of the Force to gain ultimate power and understanding of the cosmic energy field. These ideas horrify the Jedi Council, and the leaders of this movement are expelled from the Order and branded "Dark Jedi." Using their dark powers, these exiles raise an army of hellish abominations, creatures infused and mutated by the power of the dark side. This mindless horde, led by the exiled Jedi, terrorize the Republic for a century, doing near constant battle with the guardians of peace and justice. The true Jedi are eventually able to gain victory after the Battle of Corbos, slaying the last of the mutilated dark beasts and accepting the surrender of all surviving Dark Jedi. These survivors were exiled to Korriban, with the Jedi Council hoping meditation on this desolate world may help the exiled see the error of their ways. Instead, the Dark Jedi find a native species called the Sith, who welcome them as gods. While details of this conflict are in question within canon, the Hundred-Year Darkness has been mentioned in canonical sources.
3. Jedi Master Tholme
The Jedi Master of Quinlan Vos, Tholme is a veteran of many conflicts and a wise leader in both conflict and diplomacy. With his grizzled visage and artificial left eye, he is an intimidating presence on the battlefield. While his Legends story has him living far beyond the fall of the Jedi Order, ending up in exile among the Wookiees of Kashyyyk, his canon life is far shorter. Killed by Asajj Ventress early in the war, his death is used by Dooku to drive Vos toward the dark side in the Dark Disciple novel.
2. Psychometry
The rare Force gift of feeling the emotions and thoughts of beings by touching their possessions, psychometry is a gift used by at least three prominent Jedi in current canon: Quinlan Vos, Cal Kestis, and Rey Skywalker. A handy tracking ability, Vos uses this ability during the hunt for Ziro the Hutt to determine the criminal's location. Upon touching the Skywalker saber, Rey experiences several visions linked to the blade and once again uses it when tracking Ochi on Pasaana.
1. Darth Bane
While Darth Bane is technically a George Lucas creation mentioned in the novelization for The Phantom Menace, he is not mentioned onscreen until The Clone Wars season 6. Prior to that, he was given very popular Legends stories. Founder of the Rule of Two, Bane begins the plan for Sith vengeance on the Jedi a millennia before Darth Sidious is inducted into the Sith Order. A physically strong and imposing figure, Bane grows up in the cortosis mines of Apatros under an alcoholic and abusive father. (Canonical sources reinforce that he is from Apatros.) This traumatic childhood paves the path for him to join the dark side. Swiftly rising through the ranks of Sith warriors, Bane sees how the dark side has been corrupted by greedy, treacherous beings unworthy of the title "Darth." Bane tricks Lord Kaan and the Brotherhood of Darkness into destroying themselves in an ill-advised attempt to wipe out the Jedi's Army of Light. With the Sith purged, Bane is able to forge the Order as he sees fit. Taking on a apprentice named Zannah, who goes on to become a cunning Sith sorcerer, Bane sets forth on the Sith path of galactic domination. It is possible that some aspects of Bane's backstory may still fit into canon.