The Dark History of the Most Horrifying Star Wars Villain
For over four decades, the Star Wars universe has continued to grow exponentially, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. Following the release of Return of the Jedi, which ended the original trilogy, and the series as we know it (at the time), many authors and creators have written literally thousands of new adventures involving the main heroes introduced in the films. The story then continues in the prequel trilogy and shows such as The Clone Wars, Rebels, and others. We now have a whole host of characters existing within the entire universe, some of them incredibly powerful, and incredibly dark. Sadly, following the release of Disney's sequel trilogy, a lot of these characters are no longer considered canon, and have instead been relegated to what we now refer to as Legends. One such character technically exists within both Legends and canon. Her name is Abeloth.
With the main focus of the Star Wars universe being on the fight against the Jedi and Sith, a lot of fans do not know much about some of the other terrifying characters out there. Abeloth is one of the most powerful and most dangerous Dark Side users ever to be created. She is more than just a formidable foe. Celestial beings had to intervene just to imprison her. When they were no longer able to help, Jedi and Sith had to basically work together side by side to stand a chance. Even Palpatine had nothing on her.
During the events of Clone Wars, fans were introduced to the Father, the Son, and the Daughter, three entities known as "The Ones." The Son represented the Dark Side of the Force, the Daughter the Light, and the Father basically kept the two existing harmoniously in balance. Abeloth was also part of this family. Originally, before being called Abeloth, she was known as the Servant. It was not clear how she actually came to be in the first place, but she existed on an unknown jungle planet where the Ones lived around 100,000 BBY (before Battle of Yavin). She served the Father, the Son, and the Daughter, catering to their every need. She later became the Mother, and kept the peace between the Son and the Daughter. She also doted heavily on the Father for many years. Under her guidance, the two children stopped fighting one another. With her help, the Son refocused his destructive powers towards restoring their home back to its former glory after years of destruction caused by the two siblings.
As she was a mortal, she continued to grow older while the Ones remained ageless. With her youth and strength fading, she was no longer able to keep the peace between the siblings and began to fear that she would be abandoned. To prevent this, she decided to commit an act known as the Forbidden. With the Father distracted by his warring children, the Mother snuck a drink from the Font of Power, like the Son had done years before her. She also bathed in the Pool of Knowledge, just like the Daughter before her. These actions granted her power. However, because she was mortal, they also twisted her mind and body. The dark side entity Abeloth was born.
With her newfound powers, Abeloth was able to subdue her adopted children, forcing them to bow before her in front of the Font, something no other being had been able to do before. The Father, horrified and disappointed by his beloved's actions, took his children and fled the planet, leaving Abeloth alone. Her fear of abandonment was now a reality. Left alone on the planet that had been her home for so long, Abeloth descended deeper into madness as she craved the love and adoration from the family she once had.
Knowing the extreme danger their Mother now possessed, the Son and Daughter took control of the Killik hives on Alderaan to counter this new threat. By tapping into the Son and Daughter's immense powers in the Force, the Killiks were able to build many technological wonders, such as Centerpoint Station, and Sinkhole Station. Using Centerpoint, the Ones crafted the Maw, a spherical shell of black holes around their homeworld. They then placed Sinkhole Station inside to keep Abeloth imprisoned within. Following this, both the Son and Daughter removed their powers from the Killiks, and allowed them to return to normalcy. The two siblings then retreated with the Father to Mortis, where would remain until their appearance and subsequent deaths in Clone Wars.
Despite the immense forces keeping her at bay, Abeloth would escape during times when the current of the Force (the flow of time) was altered in some way, causing utter chaos and destruction in her wake. Each time she escaped, she would send the galaxy into absolute chaos and turmoil. Her ability to consume beings for their life force and spread darkness all through the galaxy, meant millions of lives were at risk each time she broke free. The Son and the Daughter would subdue her time and time again for thousands of years, until their deaths. Thus, the Killiks would refer to her as the "Bringer of Chaos."
Based on her relationship with the Ones, we can assume her history up until the point of Clone Wars was still canon. However, most of our encounters with Abeloth was in the Expanded Universe after the events of the original trilogy. In her desire to end her loneliness, she would use her immense powers to reach out to other Force-sensitive beings entering into the Maw, and draw them to her by creating an overwhelming desire for companionship inside them. As her powers grew over time, she would be able to extend her reach beyond the Maw. In one story, she was able to influenced the mind of former Jedi Knight Callista Ming sometime before 44 ABY (after Battle of Yavin), and ended up consuming her. Interestingly, Abeloth was also linked to the Skywalker Saga as she would fight Luke Skywalker and his son several times in stories set after Return of the Jedi.
Even though Abeloth has yet to make her actual debut in canon, her connection with the Ones (whose appearances in Clone Wars made them canon) means that we may soon see her in one of the new Star Wars shows. After all, these shows are interweaving Legends characters with established canonical ones. As rumors circulate online of a show focusing on Luke setting up his new Jedi Order, we could see her as a worthy antagonist opposite the famous Jedi.
Did you know of this character? Are there other obscure or forgotten characters from the galaxy far, far, away? Be sure to let us know.
Until next time!
Source: Wookieepedia