Asajj Ventress

**Asajj Ventress** is a recurring antagonist in the *Star Wars* franchise, appearing as a prominent antagonist in both the Canon and Legends continuities. In both continuities, Ventress is a Fallen Jedi who's the apprentice and assassin of Count Dooku, and a commander of the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. She is also the (former) arch-enemy of Ahsoka Tano.

## What makes her sympathetic?

* Her clan, the Nightsisters, gave her away when she was still a baby to the criminal, Hal'Sted, as payment.
* She was raised by Hal'Sted as a slave and forced to do things for him.
* Hal'Sted was eventually killed by a group of pirates. When Ventress discovered his body, she wept over it as the pirates surrounded her.
* A Jedi Knight named Ky Narec came to rescue her. Ventress threw a pirate in the air in order to save the Jedi.
* Ky Narec started training Ventress as his Jedi Padawan and the two of them formed a close bond with one another.
* The two of them fought to liberate the planet of Rattatak from criminals and pirates and were regarded as heroes by the local population.
* During one of their battles, a pirate shot and killed Ky Narec in front of Ventress' eyes. The enraged Ventress then kills all the pirates in fury. This causes her to be consumed by the Dark Side.
* Ventress blames the Jedi abandoning her master to his death which fuels her desire to destroy them.
* After she becomes Count Dooku's apprentice, Ventress feels genuine affection to her new master and wants to impress him (before he betrays her).
* She is eventually betrayed by Count Dooku who orders her death on behalf of Darth Sidious fearing she may kill him. This emotionally devastates Ventress who wants revenge on her former mentor.
* She has a love-hate relationship with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ventress likes him to an extent and tries to turn him to the Dark Side and after she becomes a bounty, she saves his life on one occasion (even though she does it partially for selfish purposes).
* When Ventress returns to her birth place she grows attached to the Nightsister clan. When General Grievous arrives to kill them all, Ventress helps in the defence of the village and is utterly devastated when all of the Nightsisters are slaughtered.
* Ventress then becomes a bounty hunter and her first task is to transport a chest to Belugan Lord Otua Blank. When it's revealed that the chest contains a young girl who was kidnapped from her village to become the new bride of Otua Blank, Ventress returns the girl to her brother because she feels sympathy since Ventress herself was also taken from her village at a young age against her will. However, she still takes money from her brother and tricks Otua to pay her as well.
* When Ahsoka is accused of treason against the Republic and there is a bounty on her, Ventress at first wants to collect the bounty but then starts sympathizing with Ahsoka because Ventress herself was also betrayed by the people she trusted. Ventress helps Ahsoka in her quest to prove her innocence.
* She allies with the Jedi Master Quinlan Vos who is tasked by the Council to assassinate Dooku. The two of them fall in love and when Vos is captured and tortured by Count Dooku, Ventress begs the other Jedi to help her save him.
* In their final confrontation with Count Dooku, Quinlan Vos is about to be hit by a Force lightning which would kill him but Ventress throws herself in front of her lover and sacrifices her life for him. After this, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Quinlan Vos and the other Jedi mourn her death and her body is taken back to Dathomir to be laid to rest with her sisters in the pools of her village.