Bastila Shan

Bastila Shan is a female video game character who features in Star Wars.

Biography

Bastila Shan was a female Force-sensitive human who was born in the galaxy far, far away. At some point, she came to be taken in by the Jedi Order and trained to be a Jedi Knight.

Shortly before Darth Malak's rise to power, Bastila wielded a single-bladed yellow lightsaber, the standard weapon of Jedi Sentinels at that time. However, by the end of the war, Bastila had exchanged this sword for a double-bladed yellow lightsaber. The double-bladed lightsaber was first invented by the great Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun. A difficult weapon to master, it has been wielded by extremely few over the millennia, and at no time in greater abundance than during the Jedi Civil War, when it became very popular in Darth Revan's new Sith Empire but also among a few Jedi. Bastila was part of a strike force sent to capture Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith, during the Jedi Civil War. Though Bastila and her strike team managed to corner the Dark Lord on the bridge of his flagship, Darth Malak chose that moment to betray his Master by opening fire on Revan's ship. Though Revan was severely injured and almost killed in the attack, Bastila managed to save his life, thus forging a powerful Force bond between the two. Revan was brought to the Jedi Council, who either opted not to restore his former memories or were unable to, gave him a new identity as a faithful and skilled member of the Republic, and was later requested to serve under Bastila on the ship Endar Spire. Along with the loss of his previous identity of the Dark Lord Revan, he also lost all remembrance of his Force sensitivity, though the Force still worked strongly through him without his knowledge.

Over the planet of Taris, the Endar Spire was ambushed by a Sith fleet intent on capturing Bastila, killing most of the crew. Among the few survivors were Bastila, Revan, and Republic officer Carth Onasi, who took escape pods down to the planet Taris. Revan and Carth Onasi shared the last functional escape pod, while Bastila had previously escaped in a separate one. Revan and Carth were able to escape undetected from their escape pod, however, Bastila's escape pod crashed in the lower city on Taris, and she was quickly kidnapped by a swoop bike gang known as the Black Vulkars. Her lightsaber was lost to her, only to be found by the Black Vulkars later. The Vulkars believed her to be only a simple Republic officer, and planned to award her as a slave to the winner of the annual Taris swoop race. Meanwhile, Revan and Carth set up base in an abandoned apartment in the Upper City of Taris and eventually learned of Bastila's enslavement. Hoping to rescue Bastila by winning the swoop racing tournament, Revan volunteered to ride a dangerous experimental swoop. He emerged victorious, but Brejik, leader of the Black Vulkars, refused to surrender his beautiful, young Jedi slave, claiming that Revan had cheated because of the use of the prototype swoopbike. It was at this moment that Bastila used the Force to free herself from her cage, showing extreme mental strength because she was restrained by a "Neural Inhibitor", and together she and Revan finished off Brejik and his gang. Bastila escaped Taris by stealing a crime lord's ship, the Ebon Hawk. Revan, Bastila, and Carth, along with Twi'lek slicer Mission Vao, her Wookiee partner Zaalbar, Mandalorian mercenary Canderous Ordo, and the astromech droid T3-M4, escaped the planet just as Malak destroyed Taris with an orbital bombardment in an attempt to end his long hunt for Bastila.

After making it off Taris, the group left for the Jedi Academy on Dantooine to seek guidance on training the memory-wiped Revan. After a remarkably fast training, the two were sent to investigate ruins on Dantooine which had been visited by the Sith Lords Revan and Malak. There they found a Star Map which told of the Star Forge, an ancient alien artifact of unknown significance. The map showed the planets Tatooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk, and Korriban as having other maps. In order to defeat the Sith, the Jedi Council on Dantooine sent Revan, Bastila, and their companions to find other Star Maps on these planets and piece together the location of the Star Forge. During the travels, Bastila was approached by a female Twi'Lek who claimed to be an assistant to Bastila's father who tells her of his death, and that Bastila's mother, Helena, was on Tattooine. Upon meeting Helena, Bastila was told that her father was killed by a Krayt dragon, and that she should find a holocron that belonged to her father. Eventually, Revan and Bastila found the holocron next to the Star Map in what was a broken equipment pack. Bastila was reluctant to give the holocron to her mother, but Revan urged her to do so. Upon giving the holocron, Helena told Bastila to keep the holocron, and convinced her that she was dying. Bastila and Helena reconciled, with Bastila giving Helena credits to see a doctor on Coruscant. During their travels, Bastila became increasingly intrigued by Revan. Although she had been charged with guiding him along the path of the Light, she eventually began to consider her role as a redundant one due to Revan's actions. Gradually the two fell in love, but while Revan had no reservations Bastila refused to give in, hating herself for having feelings for the man who had been the scourge of the Jedi.

As the group made their way to the fourth Star Map planet, the Ebon Hawk was captured by the Sith flagship, the Leviathan, and Bastila was kidnapped by Saul Karath. Imprisoned along with the rest of the crew, Bastila was brutally tortured by the sadistic Republic traitor in order to coerce Revan into revealing their mission, even though Karath already knew the answers to all of his questions. It wasn't long before Bastila, Revan, and Carth escaped, killing Admiral Karath and battling their way toward the Leviathan's docking bay. On their way to freedom, however, they were intercepted by Darth Malak who revealed Revan's true identity. Though Revan and Carth managed to escape, Bastila was kidnapped by the Dark Lord and held as his prisoner. After torturing her for weeks with Force lightning, Malak eventually succeeded in forcing Bastila to give in to her hate. She fell to the dark side and became the Dark Lord's apprentice, replacing Darth Bandon as Malak's double-bladed lightsaber-wielding apprentice. Bastila, consumed with the treachery inherent in the ways of the Sith, met with Revan atop an ancient Rakatan temple on Lehon and tried to persuade him to reclaim his former title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Revan refused to give in to the dark side again. After an intense lightsaber duel, Bastila escaped on a G-Wing ship and returned to the Star Forge in rage and shame, where she and Revan eventually faced off a second time. Even though her powers were continually renewed by the Star Forge, Bastila found herself unable to defeat Revan. Beaten at last, she begged the former Dark Lord to take her life. Revan refused, however, and eventually persuaded Bastila to renounce the dark side and return to the light by drawing on the love they shared. Bastila then used her Battle Meditation to turn the tide of the battle in the Republic's favor, allowing the Star Forge to be destroyed after Revan had slain his former apprentice Malak in personal combat.

After the battle, the Jedi reconvened, Bastila and Revan, along with their companions Republic soldier Carth Onasi, Twi'lek slicer Mission Vao, Zaalbar the Wookiee, astromech droid T3-M4, Mandalorian warrior Canderous Ordo, Juhani the Cathar Jedi, hunter-killer assassin droid HK-47, and former Jedi Jolee Bindo, were honored as the saviors of the galaxy. A year after the Star Forge's destruction, Revan, having remembered a great threat to the galaxy he discovered as the Dark Lord, set out alone into the Unknown Regions, leaving his companions behind. Bastila remained behind as well.

Overview

Powers and abilities

Within the hierarchy of the Jedi Order, she was regarded as a Jedi Sentinel with all the traits of that class.

Shan had the rare ability of Battle Meditation that was usually only accessible by the most experienced Jedi Masters. This power could influence the course of massive battles by bolstering the courage of one side of a battle while draining the resolve of another in tandem through sheer force of will.

Notes

• Bastila Shan was created by BioWare where she was voiced by actor Jennifer Hale and featured in the setting of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Alternate Versions

• After confronting Bastila again on the Star Forge, the player defeated her in a lightsaber duel. Bastila begs the player to kill her. The player can choose either to kill or to spare her, in any case, The player later confronted Darth Malak and killed him as well. With Bastila dead or supporting the Republic, the Sith fleet lost the advantage of Bastila's battle meditation. The Republic destroyed the Star Forge after the Sith starships fell into disarray. Victorious, Admiral Dodonna awards the player and the surviving crewmen of the Ebon Hawk with the Cross of Glory, and Master Vandar honors Revan as a redeemed Jedi Knight. In the canonical ending, she survives.
• If the player chooses to give in to the dark side, Revan and Bastila kill Jolee Bindo and (if you turn Juhani back to the light and not kill her) Juhani on top of the Rakatan Temple on the Unknown World. When returning to the Ebon Hawk, Revan attempts to persuade the rest of the party to join him. The droids HK-47 and T3-M4 do so willingly, being programmed to follow any orders given to them by their current master (Revan is HK-47's original constructor), and Canderous Ordo pledges his loyalty to the man he believed would bring him battles in which he could find honor, as he had in the Mandalorian War. Carth Onasi refuses and flees. Mission Vao refuses to believe that Revan has once more turned to the dark side and does not run away. Zaalbar initially agrees to join Revan as he owes him a "life debt"; with the Force Persuade power, Revan can force Zaalbar to kill Mission. Before approaching the Star Forge, Bastila persuades the Republic to attack the Sith fleet stationed there as a measure to defeat the Republic. The Republic is under the impression that she would use her Battle Meditation against the Sith, but she will turn it against the Republic just before Revan faces Malak. Master Vandar realizes this but is unable to do anything. After Revan defeats Malak, he reclaims the title of Dark Lord of the Sith and Bastila becomes his apprentice and lover. Together, they will unite the Sith and set out to conquer the galaxy.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic:
• Star Wars: The Old Republic:

External Links

• Wikipedia Entry

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