Rael Averross

Rael Averross was a secondary protagonist in the canon Star Wars novel Master & Apprentice.
He was a native of the mid-rim world of Ringo Vinda. In the decades before the invasion of Naboo, Averross was a Knight of the Jedi Order, He was brought into the order at the then unprecedented age of five. Due to his late arrival he had memories of his family and life before becoming a Jedi, never losing his Ringo Vinda accent. As a padawan his Jedi Master was Dooku, who would later be Qui-Gon Jinn's Jedi Master. Much like Jinn would eventually be, Averross was unorthodox in his views, especially in matters of love and attachment. He would become one of the leading swordsmen of the order. He preferred comfortable, threadbare clothes and allowed his hair and beard to grow wild.
Shortly after Dooku took Qui-Gon as his apprentice, Averross met his former master and Qui-Gon during a battle on Shurrupak. He became friends with the young Qui-Gon, and told Qui-Gon to feel free to come to him if there was stuff he wasn't comfortable talking to Dooku about or wanted further instruction. Averross offered to train Qui-Gon on dueling techniques as well once they returned to Coruscant.
When Dooku lost his temper and nearly killed the Falleen serial killer Shenda Mol with force lighting, Jinn contacted Averross at Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana. Averross tried to reassure Jinn that it was just Dooku having a very human moment of being scared for his padawan and losing his temper rather than falling to the dark side. Jinn was not entirely convinced, feeling that Dooku was very close to the dark side at that moment.
In the following years Averross would introduce Dooku to an apparently unassuming Senator from the mid-rim world of Naboo named Sheev Palpatine. This would set in motion events that would later lead to Dooku falling to the dark side and becoming Darth Tyrannus.
Eventually a young woman named Nim Pianna was apprenticed to Averross. During a mission to save a freighter, Nim was hit by a slicer dart and the nanotechology took over her body and forced her to fight her master. In order to save the ship Averross was forced to kill his apprentice. While the Jedi Council absolved him of all blame, other Jedi such as Qui-Gon felt that Averross had been reckless and had he followed standard procedures his apprentice would not have died. In the aftermath the Jedi Council felt that Averross should help raise Fanry of Pijali to the point where she could become the Queen of that world, and act as regent in the meantime since she was a small child at that point. 
Averross spent the next eight years on Pijali, acting as Lord Regent of that world while raising the young Fanry. As she grew up, Fanry became enamored with the idea of becoming an absolute monarch instead of the constitutional monarch the Pijali intended her to be. Due to his unresolved issues and strong attachment to Fanry, Averross failed to discern her true feelings even though the clues were right there. As Fanry's coronation approached he requested asssistance from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan Kenobi to deal with opposition to her coronation and her signing of a treaty with the Republic which would have cemented Czerka Corporation control of the system.
At about the same time he learned that Dooku had resigned from the order and tried to reach him on Serenno, where Dooku had returned and taken his hereditary title. Dooku did not initially respond, and Averross was as shocked as the rest of the order that the highly respected Dooku would just leave as he did. 
When the coronation came, Fanry seized control of the government and refused to sign the treaty. With her true nature exposed, Averross realized how badly he had messed up. Averross helped Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon depose Queen Fanry before she could destroy a Czerka ship carrying hundreds of Czerka slaves. The population turned against Fanry as a result of her actions, and she was forced to abdicate in favor of a royal cousin who immediately abolished the monarchy for good in favor of a democracy and signed a more equitable treaty with the Republic.
With Fanry under house arrest until she was an adult and could be sent to a far away university, Averross's mission was over. Initially he was unsure if he wanted to return to Coruscant or leave the order and do something else. He ultimately decided to return to Coruscant. Admitting that love was perhaps a dangerous emotion, he decided to see what the council had to say and what they would have him do next. 
Before Averross finally returned to Coruscant, Dooku finally returned his call. Dooku encouraged his former apprentice to leave the Order and to join him on Serenno, promising to teach him the true nature of the Force (likely to train him in the ways of the Sith). When Averross declined and said he was returning to the Temple, Dooku derided it as a way of weakness. Seeing that Dooku was now walking a different path, Averross ended the call, but not before affirming his loyalty to the light side of the force to Dooku.
==Trivia==
Master & Apprentice author Claudia Grey envisioned a live action Averross being portrayed by .
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