Who is Asajj Ventress in Star Wars? There are plenty of formidable bad guys in Ahsoka, with Grand Admiral Thrawn taking most of the plaudits as the series’ Big Bad. But there’s also the lightsaber-wielding duo of Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati, not to mention the sinister Nightsisters.
That’s more than enough baddies to keep any of the Star Wars heroes busy. Series creator Dave Filoni has drawn from multiple Star Wars series, as well as the Star Wars movies in order, for Ahsoka. The result is that we have some of the best Star Wars characters from nearly five decades of history on show, alongside some of the best Star Wars villains. And in Ahsoka episode 7, there was a special mention for a certain Asajj Ventress.
That name will mean nothing to some people and everything to others. But it’s certainly worth getting a little excited about and indulging in some wild speculation about one of the best TV series Star Wars has given us to date. So who is Asajj Ventress and will we see her turn up when the Ahsoka release schedule reaches its finale?
Who is Asajj Ventress in Star Wars?
Asajj Ventress is a dangerous Star Wars villain and descendant of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. She was introduced in The Clone Wars as Count Dooku’s apprentice and caused lots of problems for our heroes with her strong Force powers.
Ventress was originally intended as the main antagonist of Attack of the Clones before Christopher Lee came into the fold as Count Dooku. The character made the move to animation, debuting in the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: Clone Wars. In 2008, she returned for the animated movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the subsequent animated series, in which she was a primary villain.
On that show, Ventress was Dooku’s apprentice, but ultimately turned against her master when he tried to kill her due to her rising power. It was at that time we learned that she was a descendant of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, gaining assistance from their magic in an ill-fated attempt to kill Dooku by using a Nightbrother called Savage Opress.
Ventress became a bounty hunter after that, which included teaming up with a young Boba Fett. She ultimately had something of a face turn, fighting alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi against the increasingly dangerous Opress and his brother Darth Maul. She also served as an unlikely ally for Ahsoka Tano in the fifth season. Crucially, we never saw her killed off on screen.
Brilliantly voiced by Nika Futterman, Ventress is one of the great villains from the animated side of the Star Wars canon. It would be thrilling to see her strut her stuff in live-action at some stage, particularly given Dave Filoni’s increasing willingness to bring the animated world into the best Disney Plus shows for Star Wars fans. After all, Ventress and Ahsoka have something of an uneasy bond.
Is Asajj Ventress in Ahsoka?
Anakin Skywalker mentioned Asajj Ventress as a formidable foe in a hologram recorded for Ahsoka. Given the prominence of the Nightsisters in Ahsoka, there’s a chance we might see her deadly lightsaber skills again.
We haven’t seen Ventress on screen just yet, but we did see a hologram message Anakin Skywalker recorded for Ahsoka prior to his descent into darkness. During that recording, Anakin outlines some of the different enemies Ahsoka could face during the Clone Wars, including Ventress.
However, the Nightsisters have played a big role in Ahsoka, which means there might well be room for Ventress. She believed herself to be the last survivor of the massacre by General Grievous that wiped out the residents of Dathomir, but we’ve seen several Nightsisters among the Ahsoka cast already.
We think there’s a good chance that Ventress could become involved at some point, whether that’s in the Ahsoka finale or in a future story around the surviving Nightsisters. They’re a fascinating species with endless storytelling potential, so we think Filoni would be a fool not to take a deeper dive into them at some point.
For more from Ahsoka, learn more about the villains with our guides to Grand Admiral Thrawn, Captain Enoch, and the Night Troopers. You can also find out more about what’s really calling to Baylan Skoll. It’s a mystery, but we think we’ve got some answers.
Elsewhere in the galaxy far, far away, find out about the new Star Wars movies and learn about Thrawn’s absurd real name. Finally, check out everything new on Disney Plus this month and look ahead to another of the best science fiction movies of the future with our guide to Avatar 3.