Designing an alien species for a science fiction franchise can be harrowing. Certain physiological traits imply personal characteristics in their owners. For example, exotic skin tones like green or blue communicate a species' distance from humanity as a baseline. Crimson skin, facial tattoos, and horns tend to evoke popular images of demons, instantly painting a species as evil. Ask the Zabrak, who carry a terrible reputation due to their most notable representatives.
Darth Maul should beone of the most forgettable villains in film history. He rarely speaks, has no notable personality, and is violently excised from the mainline franchise after his first appearance. However, his design was immediately iconic, and his fight scene is the film’s high point, so he’s remained a fan favorite in extraneous media. As a result, his species has enjoyed a similar boost in popularity.
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What Are the Zabrak?
The Zabrak are an alien species known for their horns, facial tattoos, and fierce sense of independence. Most Zabrak hail from the planet Iridonia, but asubspecies emerged on Dathomir. Most of the Zabraks that fans would recognize are Dathomirian Zabraks. Iridonian Zabraks have a range of skin tones similar to human beings, while Dathomirian Zabraks can be red, yellow, orange, blue, gray, or white. All Zabraks possess two hearts. All male Zabraks have horns, but Dathomirian females feature completely bald heads. Though they are technically the same species, the behavior of Iridonian and Dathomirian Zabraks could not be more different.
What is Dathomir Like?
Dathomir s one of the most unpleasant planets in the Star Wars universe. It’s an obscure location, millions of light-years away from the core worlds. Most people who know Dathomir simply refer to it as the “rancor planet” for its most notable export.The massive reptilian carnivoresare the most iconic native of Dathomir, but the planet is crawling with other dangerous animals and plants. Conditions are harsh on Dathomir. The two primary landscapes are murky swamps and barren mountains. The planet’s proximity to a red star bathes its surface in unpleasant crimson light. For unknown reasons, Dathomir is particularly strong in the Dark Side of the Force. Fans ofStar Wars: Jedi Fallen Ordercan explore Dathomir firsthand.
The population of Dathomir is small. Its highest estimate is just over 8,000 sentient beings. The lion’s share of those residents are humans. That puts the number of Dathomirian Zabraks somewhere around 1,000 at most. Dathomirian Zabrak culture is split into two castes. The ladiesare known as Nightsisters, and the gentlemen are called Nightbrothers. Nightbrothers are brutal warriors who solve everything through violence. Nightsisters are skilled in powerful magics that allow them to enslave their male counterparts. Dathomir’s distinct dark side presence influences most of the planet’s Zabraks to become cruel, violent, and insidious. To see perfect examples of male and female Dathomirian Zabraks, look to Darth Maul and Asajj Ventress, respectively.
What Did the Zabrak Do?
Iridonian Zabraks lived in harmony with the Galactic Republic but fiercely resisted the government when it fell to the Empire. Two Iridonian Zabraks became Jedi and fought the Sith, but their subspecies didn’t fall along the same lines. Thanks to Dathomir’s inherent connection to the Dark Side, the Dathomirian Zabrak posed one of the most credible threats in the galaxy tothe leadership of Darth Sidious. Near the end of the Galactic Republic’s reign, a single Nightsister named Talzin unified the fractured clans into a single force. Talzin swiftly became one of the mightiest masters of dark magic in the galaxy, drawing the attention of Sidious. Sidious took Talzin’s son Maul as his apprentice and nearly got him killed on Naboo. Talzin swore revenge.
What Happened to Dathomir?
Talzin spent years tryingto assassinate Count Dooku, but her efforts were for naught. She slipped Nightsister Asajj Ventress and Maul’s brother Savage Oppress into the Sith as potential apprentices for Dooku. Both were unable to kill Dooku, and he responded with a tremendous show of force. Droid armies obliterated most of Dathomir. The only surviving Nightsisters were Talzin, Ventress, andMerrin ofFallen Orderfame. Maul and Oppress created the Shadow Collective to gather power and take on Sidious, but the Sith Lord defeated them as well. Maul eventually kidnaped Dooku and dragged him to Dathomir, where Talzin tortured and nearly killed him. Unfortunately, Grievous and Sidious intervened, killing Talzin and ending the reign of the Zabraks on Dathomir.
The Zabraks are a complex species. The Iridonians followed a very common path for species in the galaxy during therise of the Empire. The Dathomirians were evil, but they could’ve been accidental heroes by saving the universe from a much worse fate. Zabraks are, unfortunately, defined by surviving harsh conditions and failing to make galaxy-sweeping changes. There’s a lot of fun to be had with this unique horned race, but most of the ones who fans could name have given their lives in vain.
