Into the Mind of a Killer: The Asajj Ventress Thread - Current Topic/Challenge: Only Two There Are!

Welcome, fellow lovers of the beautiful, mysterious, and downright evil Asajj Ventress.

[image=http://www.starwars.jp/character/image/asajj_ventress_2.jpg]

While writing my last fanfic entitled "The Emperor's First Hand," starring the one and only Asajj, I realized that I had not seen a discussion thread about her, so thanks to Leona and the other awesome mods...here you go!

So who is Asajj Ventress?

Originally she was Count Dooku! Well, not exactly, but for all intents and purposes, I guess you could say she was. In the early drafts of Episode II, George Lucas actually contemplated having a female Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, and the sketches were remarkably similar to Asajj Ventress. However, we all know how it turned out in the end. Lucas finally decided on Count Dooku - who was undoubtedly another brilliant character - and the "Asajj" character was simply scrapped.

Thank the Force, some time later, the writers of the Clone Wars multimedia projects found those sketches, and just like that - bam!

Asajj Ventress was born.

Now, whether she was fighting Anakin Skywalker on Yavin IV or stalking Obi-Wan Kenobi on Ord Cestus, Asajj Ventress always came off as a smooth, calculating, seductive, and most of all, ruthless killer - I dare say, the perfect character.

She is such a powerful character, that as of right now, she is still alive and well somewhere in the Star Wars Universe, after the "Obsession" series left her fate (I'm sure quite intentionally) very open-ended.

So there you have it. Asajj Ventress in a nutshell. Yet there is so much more we can expand on, and we can dig so much deeper into the heart and mind of this Dark Jedi.

And that's what this thread is for. This thread will be a series of discussion topics and challenges to further our knowledge and understanding of the one and only, Asajj Ventress. Also, I will be indexing your Asajj fics and challenge responses, so when you got'em, send me the links via PM or e-mail, and you'll see them here soon enough! That being said...

Let's get it started! (We'll start off light...)

Discussion Topic For Starters: What does Asajj Ventress mean to you?

A few questions to consider: How were you first introduced to the character? In which medium do you enjoy witnessing Asajj most? What are your favorite moments thus far with her? What do you most like and dislike about Asajj?

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[hl=white][color=crimson][b][u]***Asajj Ventress Story Index***[/u][/b][/color][/hl]

[link=http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=21768546&replies=0]A Grievous Crime[/link]
Author: Palpy560
Timeframe: Clone Wars
Characters: GG, Count Dooku, Asajj, Shaak Ti, Palpatine, Mace Windu, Anakin and Obi, San Hill and Yoda.
Notes: This is my first attempt at GG.
This is written in script format for the character dialogue. (My regulars, you know what I mean, others, I hope you enjoy.)

[link=http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/21478421]Just For Tonight[/link]
Author: Jennifer_Lyn
Genre: Drama/Romance
Timeframe: Clone Wars
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Asajj Ventress
The Dare: From vader_incarnate: Your story will feature an Obi-Wan/Asajj Ventress romance, though not necessarily mush. The story will be 1000+ words long and be set in a hive of scum and villainy. You must mention clones, droids, gold, smoke, chains, and balls.
Notes: remember this was done on a DARE!

[link=http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/23536393/]The Emperor's First Hand[/link]
Author: JediMindTrick000
Genre: Action/suspense/angst
Timeframe: Shortly after ROTS (not AU)
Characters: Asajj, Palpatine, Vader
Summary: Like the many Hands who followed her, Asajj Ventress has the distinct honor of doing the Emperor's every bidding.

[link=http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/21751329]When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted[/link]
Author(s): Jennifer_Lyn
Timeframe: Interology
Characters: Obi-Wan, Asajj Ventress and evil OCs
Genre: Drama
Summary: Asajj Ventr

 

Asajj is Mon Mothma in disguise.

Seriously, there's a chance she joined up with the Rebellion a few years down the road from Obsession. Obi-Wan seemed to have gotten to her. To me, she's a character who realised that she lost the game and is backing off without attempting to salvage pride. The latter part is especially meaningful to me, because otherwise she'd keep following Dooku's orders, regardless of what it did to her. Or, Dooku would see her as a failure, but she'd still carry out her "missions" on her own, creating all kinds of unnecessary havoc.

Hopefully she stayed more or less reformed.

 

Hey, sounds good JMT...do know of any Asajj Resources outside of The Un-Official Encyclopedia, or Wiki???

Didn't she make a cameo in Dark Rendevous also?

 

Discussion Topic #1: What does Asajj Ventress mean to you?

I think she's Mara Jade's mom. *dodges tomatoes* Well, yes I do! I think she and Obi-Wan hooked up sometime when she had captured him *dodges even more rotten tomatoes* and baby Mara was conceived. That's why Obi-Wan was so obssessed with her, you see. Later on, Palpatine found out this powerful Force-wielding not-Sith witch had a baby girl by an equally powerful Jedi and ergo - the most famous of the Emperor's Hands was admitted into the Evil Dark Lord's School for the Gifted and Demented.

 

lovely thread idea, JMT, and not surprising coming from you!

Discussion Topic #1: What does Asajj Ventress mean to you?
Asajj intrigues me, often because she is such a mystery. i don't know an awful lot about her, yet i find myself knee deep in exploring her as a character.

she's quite relentless in pursuing her goals, yet she sadly does not realize until it's too late that she's been played for a fool. she's a viper, lashing out at the drop of a hat.

yet under all of this, she started out under the tutelage of a Jedi Master. that's the part that means the most to me in her character. somewhere under all of that Sithy anger is a layer of the Light side. what she chooses to do with that information leaves a lot of grey area when it comes to Madame V.


and for JMT's index:

Title: Just For Tonight
Genre: Drama/Romance
Timeline: Clone Wars
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Asajj Ventress
The Dare: From vader_incarnate: Your story will feature an Obi-Wan/Asajj Ventress romance, though not necessarily mush. The story will be 1000+ words long and be set in a hive of scum and villainy. You must mention clones, droids, gold, smoke, chains, and balls.
Notes: remember this was done on a DARE!
http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/21478421


Title: When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted
Author(s): Jennifer_Lyn
Timeframe: Interology
Characters: Obi-Wan, Asajj Ventress and evil OCs
Genre: Drama
Summary: Asajj Ventress appears on Tatooine looking for Obi-Wan's help.
http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/21751329

 

You know, from the posts we have already, we could have a the makings of a very successful soap opera here. Mara Jade, while traveling the stars with Talon Karrde discovers...Mon Mothma is my mother?! But wait, there's more! All this time she's been wearing a wig, and she is none other than...Asajj Ventress! Well now that would explain why Mon's been making all those midnight runs to Tatooine. I mean really, who wants to go there?

See, you guys gotta watch the fuel you give me. That sounds like a great challenge idea. =)

corellian_ale, I'll have to get back to you on Dark Rendezvous because I have yet to finish it, but I'm sure someone has. The bulk of my knowledge of Asajj comes from the "Star Wars: Republic" comic book series (which you can now buy as trade paperbacks), and specifically #60 has her origin and #71 is where she gives Anakin the scar on his face while battling on Coruscant. Asajj was brilliant in The Cestus Deception. In fact, she was one of the few redeeming qualities to what I thought was an otherwise dry book. And of course, you have your Clone Wars cartoon series.

Edit: But I will also say wiki is a fantastic source if information with tons of cross references, and so far I've never found it to be inaccurate.

 

JMT Note: I made a couple slight changes. We'll hold off on the first challenge for the time being, and I elaborated on the first topic to make it a little more clear. Thanks all!

 

Discussion Topic #1: What does Asajj Ventress mean to you?

In all honesty, I've seen her as a minion of Dooku. In the Clone Wars, Count Dooku had several key minions. General Grievous, Asajj and Durge. Now of course she is mysterious and has a unique personna. She wants to be a Sith more than anything. But there is that element of tragedy because she might have been a Jedi.

She might have been the future apprentice of Count Dooku. That's the part I like. The fact that Dooku had little apprentices on the side.

In 'Grievous Crime' I painted her as someone dedicated to Dooku's plan. So dedicated in fact, that she sacrificed herself. Was this the best interperatation? No. In fact, it was no more than a cameo.

Nonetheless, I got my point across with it. I always thought Asajj was dedicated to Dooku.

Hopefully you folks can help me learn more.

Edit: JMT, It took me a minute to realize that was you. I didn't recognize you without your Obi-wan Icon/Avatar.

 

It took me a minute to realize that was you. I didn't recognize you without your Obi-wan Icon/Avatar.

Ha! Changed it just for the occasion. I'll change it back sooner or later. It's rather my trademark, and can't have too many folks thinking I'm a bald headed chick. I have hair. Oh, and I'm a dude.

And if you want to PM the link info to "Grievous Crime," I'll still include it in the index since Asajj does make an appearance in it.

 

I have to begin by saying I know very little about Asajj...what little I do know is that it appeared Anakin had beaten her in the Clone Wars cartoon. To me, she is simply the GFFA's most perfect assassin... kinda like an evil, female James Bond.

EDIT: Yeah, JMT, I miss your icon too. I was so confused...

EDIT 2: Yeah, I know James Bond isn't an assassin. I just, for some reason, got that feeling while watching her.

 

Okay, okay, just cuz I love you guys...

 

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I was going on vacation for a week or so. Let's keep this thing going, and I'll see you in a jiffy!

MTFBWYA

Brad

 

Great idea here JMT!!

What does Asajj Ventress mean to you?

She is a woman who could have had an excellent and prosperous life if it had not of been for her Master dying (don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming the poor bloke for being killed hehehe). But because of his death she took out her vengeance on those responsible and the result was her fall to the darkside.

I actually feel sorry for the woman... and later on during the comics it became even more evident of her loss.

Loved her take in Dark Rendezvous (yep she had a part in it). Her asking if not begging Dooku to take her on as a Sith apprentice so together they could perhaps take out Sidious. Dooku's reply was sad...but true. Once her 'drive' was over (which was to rid the galaxy of the Jedi) what would be left for her? What would she do then? He brought up some serious issues there. Besides stating he was too old to become the 'Master' (take out Sidious and take over the regime of schemes that the Sith Master had instore).

Asajj to me is a very interesting character and would have loved to have seen more on/about her. Though the comics and the cartoons brought us that (few books too).

How were you first introduced to the character?
Comics/cartoons

In which medium do you enjoy witnessing Asajj most?
In her flare for vengeance

What are your favorite moments thus far with her?
The end of the comic Obsessions was my fave (won't say a word cuz I don't want to spoil it for those who've haven't read it) actually that WHOLE last comic (#3 I think...) her interactions with Obi and Obi's with and those around him with her. (bites tongue again )

What do you most like and dislike about Asajj?
Like: Her strive to want to learn more and be the best about what she does...though being a blood thirsty killer has its drawbacks - no other feelings but rage. Loved the one comic that had Obi her prisoner and then he escapes with Alpha. When he talks to her about her old Master (while fighting) it causes her to think upon the man and causes sadness. Probably something she doesn't want to feel ever again.

Dislike: Prob the aspect that all she does is kill kill kill, excellent assassin, don't get me wrong. And quite interesting at seeing that she's a woman and doing that. Similar to Mara Jade who was Palpy's 'Hand' and also a killer, but she fell for Luke. Poor Asajj...perhaps she would have fallen for Obi? Had to add that in cuz of a few fanfics floating about of those two hehehe.

If I come up with anything else I'll post on it later (when I have full internet capabilities then)

Once again excellent topic and character to chit chat about!!

 

Kynstar!!! Sorry, I wish I had more time to post, but unfortunately, family duties, ie dinner, call! It is so great to see you, and look forward to many Dooku/Asajj convos with ya!

And vacation is loverly...

 

Only have a bit of familiarity with Asajj, but very much enjoying the links to the stories with her and the discussion.

Mara Jade's mother?? Fathered by Obi-Wan?? I really like these ideas.

 

Frankly, I think she wants to own the galaxy. No less than that. And the Force is with her enough to where she's not entirely off her rocker thinking she can.

I can see her gathering around her a whole army of wannabe evil Force-users. And I suspect in the period between Episode III and IV, and maybe even extending until after the end of the OT, that's what she's got in mind. Asajji is Evil. Make no mistake. EVIL with a capital EVIL. When she realizes there's no way she can crack into the ranks of the Sith, and she recovers from the state she's in after the comics, she basically forges her own way as an agent of her own fortune. She hates Sith and Jedi with equal venom. And she's powerful enough to be a continuing worry for Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. To use lame-o AD&D terms, which seem to express things in the easiest way in this case, she's Chaotic Evil to the Lawful Evil of the Sith. In a way she's a lot like Dooku/Tyrannus, whom she served. She's a wild card.

Oh yeah, she tends to become an obsession in the minds of people like Obi-Wan and Anakin/Vader. Because she just has that effect on guys. I can see a dynamic between her and Vader resembling Aeon Flux and Trevor Goodchild. Which could be...intriguing.... But that would result in something not suitable for this family forum unless handled extremely delicately. ~_^

 

Wow, this thread has gotten a pretty good turnout, and I am quite thankful for that. Welcome, HardwareStoreJedi, I'm glad you've joined us! I do love your idea, and not to shamelessly plug my story, but as it does actually relate to your post, you may enjoy my story "The Emperor's First Hand" which is in the index of this thread, and where Asajj definitely gets to show off her evil tendencies. The story takes place right after ROTS, so it is right in the timeframe you are talking.

We'll have our first challenge and official discussion next week when I get back. Thanks all, and by all means, talk amongst yourselves.

 

"The Emperor's First Hand" is pretty cool. Yeah, we seem to agree on her...a LOT.

Such a BAAAAAD grrl. Gotta love her. She's easily one of my favorite characters to come out of the Prequel Trilogy milieu. Her and Mace Windu. Hey! Nobody's had those two face off! That could rock. They'd have to fight to some sort of a draw, though. Kind of like Anakin vs. Asajji in Clone Wars.

I love how Sidious/Palpatine plays with her mind. He's going to do a screw-job on her, isn't he?

BTW all the fics I have published so far have been in a completely different milieu: "Daria." I'm not a stranger to fanfic but I'm a noob when it comes to SW fics.

Here are the ones I still "claim" as my own. I wrote a bunch more but I'm rather uncomfortable with them.

 

Hey, no time to post at the moment, but just wanted to let everyone know a new chapter of Jennifer_Lyn's "When the Hunter Becomes the Hunted" is out, so you should definitely go check it out!

Also, we should have our first "real" topic and challenge tomorrow, so stick around!

 

Discussion Topic #1 - Dark Jedi vs. Sith

Now, as we all know, Asajj was never classified as a Sith, but rather a Dark Jedi. This is mainly because of Darth Bane's "Rule of Two," and as long as Dooku was Sidious' apprentice, he could never have one of his own. However, there must be other differences between these two titles. What are your feelings on the differences between Dark Jedi and Sith? Also, would Asajj been anywhere near as effective as Dooku or Vader as Darth Sidious' apprentice following ROTS? Discuss!

Challenge #1 - Only Two There Are

Write a piece of any length to be posted in the Saga Forum where Asajj finally gets to become the Sith she has always dreamed of being. This story can take place any time between the Clone Wars to after the end of Episode III. Now, just remember, only two there are, so you must decide who her Master is...will it be Sidious, Tyranus, or even Vader? Tell the tale of how Asajj Ventress finally gets to become a Sith apprentice.

We'll be on this topic for a while, but I'll keep you posted as to when we want to cut off submissions, and then we will vote on our first Asajj Ventress Challenge Winner!

Just PM me with the link info, and I'll be sure to index your work as soon as possible. Happy writing!

 

That is an awesome challenge! In fact, my former padawan and I were co writing one similair (unposted as of yet) until she disappeared from the boards .

Asajj is an incredibly flexible character to write. I love that. No set thing about her except her skill and passion. She's very fun.

 

Great topic & challenge JMT000!

I think the key difference between the Dark Jedi & The Sith is legacy. The Sith have a long storied history of exploring the nuances and special traits of the Dark Side; which they've been able to store in their own Sith Holocrons.

Not to dismiss Asajj at all, but Dark Jedi are really just Force-adepts that seem to have some training (or their a "fallen" Jedi), but without the more imlicit teachings of the Sith.

Dark Jedi have fallen to the Drk Side because they let the negative emotions guide their actions, while Sith seem not only to make a concious decision to be Evil, but learn the traits (I believe Force-lightening is one) that only the Sith command.

 

What are your feelings on the differences between Dark Jedi and Sith?

I've always thought of the Sith as the arch-enemy of the Jedi Knight. They work for eons just to bring down the Jedi. They hate, fear and seduce the Jedi. They are totally devoted to the Dark Side and it's almost like a dark religion for them.

Dark Jedi, like Jerec or Asajj, are like rogues. People who don't really fit anywhere. This gives them an incredible amount of freedom to do whatever they want as far as the Force. They don't have to use the Dark Side. But they prefer it.

Now, I don't think Asajj could be as effective as Dooku or Vader. But she seems tied with Maul. Maul was just a killer. And Asajj could fill that role to boot.

Who knows though, if she was given the Sith title, she might become all the more interesting. Seeing as how she is desperate to become a Sith. With that desire taken care of, she might unleash all this evil upon the Galaxy.

 

So all that being said, Dooku plainly stated upon meeting Asajj "You are not Sith." We have already said that Dark Jedi have no problem using the Dark Side of the Force, so what is that little "something" that would make a person a Sith? Does someone have to take them on as an apprentice?

 

the way i've understood it, a Dark Jedi is someone who has once trained as a Jedi of the Light side and later fell prey to their fears and anger. there are numerous other classifications of Dark side adepts as well.

the Sith, on the other hand, are more than just fallen Light siders or simply beings who've chosen to use the Dark side of the Force. they are true mirrors of the Jedi in that they study the ways of the Force and try to discern portents and greater meaning from their visions.

i think this is the main reason Asajj would not be a very effective Sith apprentice. her main drive seems to be eliminating the Jedi for revenge, as Palpy560 said, similarly to Darth Maul.

in contrast, Darth Sidious and Count Dooku are looking at the wider scope of galactic events, concentrating on using the Dark side to attain a goal with a much broader scope that will increase their personal power exponentially. it is possible that the elimination of the Jedi is simply a single, if major, step toward that goal. i.e. step 1. eliminate all who stand in our way. step 2. take over the galaxy.