Star Wars: The High Republic Unveils a New Batch of Villains

Lucasfilm has unveiled a first look at the new batch of villains featured in Star Wars: The High Republic. StarWars.com has officially pulled back the curtain on a slew of new monsters and marauders that were terrorizing the galaxy during the High Republic sub-era of the Age of Republic, 200 years before the events of the Skywalker saga. Along with new character concept art, the creators behind Lucasfilm's multi-pronged publishing initiative shared some additional insight into the new adversaries, providing more details about the Drengir, the Nihil, and Marchion Ro. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/27/star-wars-the-high-republic-explained"] "One of the north stars for this initiative is to answer the question, 'What scares the Jedi?' Which is a really fun but extraordinarily challenging question to answer," explains Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain. "All five authors, as well as the Story Group and Publishing teams, had thoughts on what would scare them — and why — but everyone agreed that had to be something new." You can check out the new batch of villains in our slideshow below or keep scrolling for the full article. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-meet-the-villains-of-the-high-republic&captions=true"]

The Drengir

First up: The Drengir. These amorphous, vegetated villains are looking to "reap a terrible harvest across the galactic frontier," according to High Republic writer Cavan Scott. With their tentacle-riddled bodies and mouths chock full of teeth, the Drengir are described as "sentient plant-life" who rise up from the ground to wreak havoc at a time when the Jedi are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the Great Disaster, and are "inescapably linked to the fate" of one of the Jedis. Scott says the concept of the new creeping terror came from a sketch by the legendary Star Wars artist Iain McCaig in the early days of The High Republic's development. Where to Find Them: Star Wars: The High Republic comic by Cavan Scott.

The Nihil

The Nihil are a group of "brutal, savage marauders, based in the Outer Rim," reveals Light of the Jedi author Charles Soule. The Nihil are organized into three main divisions known as Tempests, with each faction serving under a captain who wields total control over their plans, which run directly through both the Republic and the Jedi Order. The chaotic clan are fully equipped with weapons, ammunition and "anything that might kill you," which they're not afraid to use to get what they want. In fact, the Nihil sound like pure nightmare fuel because they have the ability to "appear anywhere almost at will" and "if you stand in their way, they will kill you and everyone you love," according to Soule. "The Nihil are truly unlike any villain we've seen in Star Wars before," adds Daniel José Older, the writer of The High Republic Adventures comic book series. "I am really excited to go deep behind enemy lines in the [IDW Publishing] ongoing series and give readers a chance to learn about the inner workings of one of the most vicious, unyielding, and chaotic groups the galaxy has ever known." Where to Find Them: Star Wars: The High Republic - Light of the Jedi novel by Charles Soule / Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic by Daniel José Older.

Marchion Ro

Marchion Ro "holds an important post within the greater Nihil organization — he is the Eye of the Nihil, as was his father before him," Soule explains. Ro isn't the person in charge of delivering the orders to the various factions because that role is already assigned to the Tempest Runners. However, everything is said to revolve around this mysterious cloaked character who seems to play an influential role in the group. "The things that make the Nihil more than just a bunch of Outer Rim raiders all come from Marchion," according to Soule. Where to Find Him: Star Wars: The High Republic - Light of the Jedi novel by Charles Soule / Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic by Daniel José Older. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Lucasfilm delayed the launch of its cross-media Star Wars prequel series from August 2020 to January 2021 as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so there's still plenty of time to dig into The High Republic archives. Check out the opening crawl for this all-new era of tales, and then discover more about the galaxy's new Jedi Knights and Masters and the next class of Jedi Padawans. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

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