Koth, Eeth

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Nar Shaddaa

• Species:
  Iridonian Zabrak

• Gender:
  Male

• Size:
  1.71 meters

• Weapon:
  Lightsaber

• Affiliation:
  Jedi Council

• 

From the Canon

Eeth Koth was a member of the Jedi High Council in the final years of the order. From within the polished towers of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the Council governed the actions of the Jedi Knights. Koth one was one of the 12 Jedi present when Qui-Gon Jinn presented Anakin Skywalker as the chosen one to the Council.

He continued to serve, a decade later, at the outbreak of the Clone Wars. During a space battle with General Grievous' warships, Koth was taken prisoner. The evil Grievous proudly broadcast his victory over Koth directly to the Jedi Temple, prompting a rescue mission undertaken by the Jedi.

Koth was a humanoid male whose face was etched with simple tattoos. A crown of vestigial horns sprouted from his skull. He carried a green-bladed lightsaber.

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From the Expanded Universe

Before Episode I
Eeth Koth's background was developed in a number of spin-off publications that accompanied the theatrical release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Pieces of his biography would surface in such guide materials as Star Wars: Episode I Who's Who by Ryder Windham (1999, Running Press), Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace Scrapbook by Ryder Windham (1999, Random House), and Star Wars: Episode I The Visual Dictionary by David West Reynolds (1999, DK Books)

Though a Zabrak, Koth does not hail from the planet Iridonia. Instead, he was born in the squalor of Nar Shaddaa, the smuggler's moon orbiting the Hutt-controlled planet of Nal Hutta. When Koth was four years old, his Force potential was discovered. Brought before the Council, Koth was first deemed too old to begin Jedi training. His remarkable mental discipline, however, convinced the Council otherwise.

Like other members of his species, Koth had seemingly interminable willpower and endurance to physical pain. His raw physical abilities, mental disciplines and Force talents were honed by his master.

Prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, Koth was one of ten Jedi Knights to voyage to the Yinchorr system on a mission led by Mace Windu to contend with the violent Yinchorri Uprising. Eeth was partnered with Adi Gallia, Tsui Choi and Theen Fida. These events were told in the comics series, Jedi Council: Acts of War, a four-part series written by Randy Stradley and illustrated by Davidé Fabbri with Christian Dalla Vecchia. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in 2000.

In the 2001 video game Star Wars: Obi-Wan (published by LucasArts), Koth figures as a level objective. In the swamps of Obredaan, Koth was held captive by Jin'ha miners, who were illegally exploiting cortosis deposits on the world. Koth and fellow Council-member Plo Koon had investigated the operation, but the Jedi Council had lost contact with them. They dispatched the Master-Padawan team of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to find the missing Jedi -- which leads to the gameplay of the level.

After Episode I
Koth was featured prominently in some of the first Star Wars comics to be published following the release of Episode I. Outlander, a six-issue arc that ran through Star Wars #7-12 -- written by Timothy Truman with art by Tom Raney and Rob Pereira -- establishes that Koth had a Padawan named Sharad Hett who had left the Jedi order to follow his own path. Intelligence reports from Tatooine strongly suggest that Sharad has surfaced on the desert planet as the leader of a violent tribe of Tusken Raiders. Fearing that he holds two strong a connection to his former apprentice, Koth delegates the mission to investigate Hett's reappearance to his fellow council-member, Ki-Adi-Mundi. These issues were published by Dark Horse Comics in 1999.

Koth appears at the start of the following six-issue arc, "Emissaries to Malastare," (written by Timothy Truman with art by Tom Lyle, Robert Jones, Jan Duursema, Walden Wong, John Nadeau, and Jordi Ensign). In Star Wars #13 (1999, Dark Horse Comics), Koth and Master Mace Windu engage in the peculiar Concordance of Fealty, a Jedi ritual in which Masters exchange lightsabers for a time to better share a bond. This was a rather conspicuous act of continuity-mending to explain why Mace Windu had been depicted with conflicting lightsaber designs in various contemporary sources.

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones by Simon Beecroft (2002, DK Books) describes Koth as a casualty of the Battle of Geonosis. A Republic gunship that explodes on-screen in the Episode II movie is described in this book as carrying Eeth Koth, Tarados Gon, and Sora Bulq. In reality, the figures inside the gunship are indistinct and anonymous in the movie. Koth's death -- like Sora Bulq -- would be disregarded in the canon of Star Wars lore, as the character design would resurface in the Clone Wars micro-series, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.

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Behind the Scenes

In the initial development stages, Eeth Koth was slated to be the leader of the Jedi Council. Concept artist Iain McCaig turned to the leader of the Art Department for inspiration, and early sketches of the horned Jedi Master bear Doug Chiang's likeness. Koth's species has been established as a Zabrak, making him of the same alien species as the deadly Darth Maul.

Koth was played by Hassani Shapi in his brief appearance in Episode I. Archival footage of Shapi was used to depict Koth in the council scenes in Episode II. When the storyline of Episode II required all available Jedi Knights to voyage to Geonosis, Koth was one of the characters to undertake the mission, however, the now Australian-based production used a local performer, Tux Akindoyeni, to play Koth. The two incarnations of Eeth Koth were visually different enough to prompt Lucasfilm to establish a second Zabrak Jedi Master, named Agen Kolar, though most production paperwork -- scripts and call sheets -- would refer to the character as Eeth Koth for both Episode II and Episode III.

This left the fate of Eeth Koth unknown. Lucasfilm Licensing killed off the character as a callout in a battlefield map in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, though that death would be disregarded when the character returned in "Grievous Intrigue," a 2010 second season episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, written by Ben Edlund and directed by Giancarlo Volpe. Koth was voiced by actor Chris Edgerly.