An ' ya Kuro An ' ya Kuro was a Human female who gave up her name in service of the Force and became the Dark Woman . A mysterious yet respected Master of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars , the Dark Woman trained several Force - sensitives of later prominence in the Jedi arts . However , it was her failure to successfully train a female student named Aurra Sing — who later earned a reputation as a notorious slayer of Jedi — that caused the Dark Woman to enter into a self - imposed exile on the planet Cophrigin V . The Dark Woman later returned to the Jedi Order in accordance with the will of the Force to participate in the Clone Wars as a spy . During the onset of the Great Jedi Purge , Kuro went into hiding until she was discovered and struck down by Darth Vader . Biography . Early life . A Force - sensitive Human , An ' ya Kuro was trained in the ways of the Force by the Jedi Order , attaining the rank of Jedi Knight and constructing a purple - bladed lightsaber . Showing much devotion to the Force and the Jedi Code , Kuro took to heart the Order ' s rule on attachments , shedding her own name and taking up the moniker , the Dark Woman . During her time as a Knight , Kuro began to travel the galaxy to find Force - sensitive children that the Republic ' s screening process might have missed . In concert with the Order ' s Acquisition Division , one of Kuro ' s early successes was the discovery of a young Ki - Adi - Mundi on Cerea . While Kuro was negotiating with the child ' s father in the family farm , a gang of raiders came to steal the harvest of the household . Ki - Adi - Mundi was immediately hidden because of the special status of boys on Cerea — the birth rate for female Cereans to males was twenty - to - one , and raiders would steal young boys to raise as their own . At first , the Dark Woman wished to fight the gang , but the boy ' s father asked her not to intervene . Indeed , even if the raiders were defeated on the spot , they would probably come back for revenge after the departure of the Jedi . Knowing all of that , Kuro put her lightsaber back and witnessed the raid . Following this new violent experience , Ki - Adi - Mundi ' s father accepted to let his son go . The Dark Woman was urged to take the child with her before the patriarch could change his mind . Returning to Coruscant with the Cerean child , Kuro convinced the Jedi High Council to allow Ki - Adi - Mundi to begin training despite being older than most accepted Jedi Initiate s . When he was old enough , the High Council chose to assign Ki - Adi - Mundi to Master Yoda for his Jedi training , lest an emotional relationship develop between Kuro and the young Cerean . Kuro utilized unconventionally harsh training methods which were nonetheless effective , and the High Council often assigned difficult trainees to her . These methods often produced strong Jedi that inherited a hint of Kuro ' s darkness , as visible in her former Padawan Jon Antilles . However , the harsh training conditions she imposed on her students sometimes led to failure . Circa 51 BBY , Kuro discovered a Force - sensitive baby in the slums of Nar Shaddaa . Kuro brought the child to Coruscant to receive training . There , the child took the name Aurra Sing . Sing showed aggressive tendencies that led the Council to assign her to Kuro as a " problem case . " Their efforts were in vain , however , and by age nine , Sing had still not attained the level of Padawan . While at Kuro ' s training ground on Ord Namurt in 44 BBY , Sing was kidnapped by space pirates who convinced the young Jedi that she was sold off by her master . Sing , who had never been close to Kuro , believed the lie . Thus began a lifelong grudge against the Jedi . Exile and return . Demoralized by the loss of Sing , Kuro retreated to Cophrigin V to meditate on her role as a Jedi , her training techniques , and the future . In 32 BBY , after twelve years of solitude , Kuro returned to Coruscant just as Ki - Adi - Mundi , now a famed Jedi Knight , was preparing for a mission to Tatooine . Before his departure , Kuro warned her former Padawan to take considerable care on Tatooine , as she had foreseen a great darkness approaching in her dreams . Kuro later sparred with Ki - Adi - Mundi ' s new Padawan A ' Sharad Hett in a training room at the Jedi Temple . Hett would not continue his training until he received a lesson from Kuro . The Dark Woman attacked Hett fiercely with her lightsaber and her own words , trying to enrage him . Hett stayed in control , phrasing passages from the Jedi Code and passed his test according to Kuro . Two years thereafter , the assassination of two Jedi verified the rumors of Sing ' s return as a Jedi - hunting assassin and bounty hunter . Kuro requested that the Jedi Council place her in charge of the hunt for her former Padawan , but she was denied on the grounds of her connection to Sing . Instead , Ki - Adi - Mundi , A ' Sharad Hett , and Adi Gallia were dispatched to track Sing and bring her to justice . Kuro returned to Cophrigin V , unaware that Sing had been hired to assassinate her . The Jedi task force converged on Kuro ' s retreat just as Sing prepared to strike . Hett engaged Sing in battle and subdued the bounty hunter , but was forced to tap into his anger to ensure victory . Discouraged by the darkness he had seen in himself , Hett wished to give up on his Jedi training until Kuro offered to train him to control his anger . As the Jedi prepared to depart with Sing in tow , a meteor shower struck their landing site , forcing a hasty departure leaving the assassin behind . Clone Wars . Kuro accompanied Master Windu to Geonosis where she aided in the starfighter battle against Captain Cavik Toth under the command of Adi Gallia . During the Clone Wars , Kuro chose to aid the Republic as a spy rather than a general . Together with Tholme and Aayla Secura , Kuro infiltrated Devaron to verify rumors of a Separatist base . During their mission , Kuro was observed by Sing , who was on the planet to assassinate the Devaronian senator . Sing sprung a trap that pinned Tholme and Kuro under cavern rocks , but the young Secura was able to subdue Sing . The injured Jedi Masters recovered with bacta treatments and returned to Coruscant . Great Jedi Purge . With the onset of the Great Jedi Purge and the establishment of the Galactic Empire , Kuro sought safety on Cophrigin V , where she built a great garden and lived as a hermit . When Kuro ' s hiding place was discovered by Mara Jade , an Emperor ' s Hand and one of Palpatine ' s personal assassins , Darth Vader arrived to personally kill the maverick Jedi Master . After a brief discussion concerning extinction and evolution , Kuro told Vader that she already accepted her fate , but nonetheless put up a fight . Eventually during their duel , Vader brought down a huge tree on top of Kuro , trapping her . With a slash of his lightsaber , he ended her life . She merged with the Force and told him he still had the power left in him to become Anakin again . Enraged , Vader tried to strike her Force ghost with his blade , but Kuro ' s presence simply disappeared into the light of the Force . Personality and traits . An ' ya Kuro was an unorthodox and mysterious Jedi Master . She believed strongly in the Jedi philosophy of humility , so strongly that she abandoned her own name and adopted the name , Dark Woman . Kuro was well known for training difficult or troubled Padawans such as Aurra Sing and A ' Sharad Hett . However , her teaching methods were brutal and to some , disturbing . Her teaching methods most likely contributed to Aurra Sing ' s hatred of the Jedi Master . Though Kuro displayed some dark traits , such as her brutal training methods , she was still able to become a Force ghost after her death , indicating that , underneath her mysterious , unorthodox and at times brutal exterior , she was devoted to the light side of the Force . Kuro also believed that Darth Vader still had enough good in him to turn away from the dark side and her Force ghost even referred to him as Anakin , the name of the man he had once been . Powers and abilities . An ' ya Kuro was a very powerful Jedi and was known to possess many Force powers uncommon among the Jedi , such as the ability to control plant matter , and bend light around her to render herself invisible . She even appeared to be able to pass through solid objects . She also possessed the ability to use the Force to teleport . During the hunt for Aurra Sing , Kuro had additionally shown to possess an incredible talent for Force healing , being able to casually heal a misfired blaster wound almost instantly . After her death , Kuro appeared before Darth Vader as a Force ghost . Her lightsaber was particularly ornate , with an organic style to it , modified or perhaps built with artificial plant vines wrapping around it . She proved capable of holding her own against Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel , despite her advanced age . She also utilized several acrobatic maneuvers during the duel , which suggested she was possibly a practitioner of Ataru . Like Grand Master Yoda , her old age did not seem to limit her speed and dexterity , and at one point she even managed to disarm the Sith Lord , something very few other Jedi had been able to do . It should be noted however , that she had to ambush him to accomplish this . Kuro was also proficient in the use of Jar ' Kai . Behind the scenes . The Dark Woman was created by Jan Strnad as an incidental character for " " . The Dark Woman also appears as an action figure in a set including A ' Sharad Hett and a comic book depicting the hunt for Aurra Sing .