StarWars.com is pulling back the curtain on Star Wars: The High Republic, a publishing epic set centuries before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with insights from creators, new details, and never-before-seen concept art. In this installment, StarWars.com dives into the role that creatures known as the Nameless will play in Phase III of the publishing initiative.
What scares the Jedi? That question has been at the core of the entire Star Wars: The High Republic epic, and the answer just might be the Nameless.
Teased in Claudia Gray’s Star Wars: Master and Apprentice and fully introduced in Phase II of The High Republic, the Nameless are creatures that feed on Force sensitives. As part of his plot to destroy the Jedi, Nihil leader Marchion Ro unleashes the beasts — once thought to be the stuff of legend — on the guardians of peace and justice. Unfortunately for the Jedi, the Nameless are back in Phase III.
“The Nameless are more dangerous and terrifying than ever before,” Michael Siglain, creative director of Lucasfilm Publishing, tells StarWars.com. “Ro has kept them mostly caged over the last year, so when we first see them again they look pale and slightly emaciated. But when they're let loose, we'll see them as feral, monstrous creatures that are very, very hungry. In fact, they will do whatever they need to do to feed, even if it means twisting and breaking their own bones to satiate their hunger.”
The mystery of the Nameless runs deep, as does their fierceness. Unlocking their potential as a tool in the Nihil arsenal is a driving force for the marauder boss and Baron Boolan, his twisted Minister of Advancement. “Marchion Ro is looking to further weaponize the Nameless against the Jedi, and has called upon scientist Baron Boolan for assistance. To say that the Baron's experiments are horrific would be an understatement,” Siglain says. “Baron Boolan could teach Baron Frankenstein a thing or two.”
“One of the things that is interesting about the experiments on the Nameless is their relationship with the Children of the Storm,” adds author Cavan Scott, current writer of Marvel’s Star Wars: The High Republic ongoing series. “Baron Boolan is experimenting on Force users to transform them into vicious hunters with one mission and one mission alone: to find and kidnap young Force sensitives that can add to their genetically mutated number. In doing this he has teamed most of his hunters up with one or more Nameless, a partnership that causes nothing but trouble — and pain — for the Children themselves. How do the Children cope with such trauma? Well, you'll have to keep a look out for future stories by myself and George [Mann] to find out! Needless to say, it isn't pretty.”
Phase III will send readers deeper into Boolan’s house of horrors, promises Scott. “Boolan has also been experimenting on the Nameless themselves, the corridors of his various secret laboratories lined with their preserved remains,” he says. “Only two of these experiments have borne fruit, creating Boolan's personal guard-Nameless, both of which have received numerous cybernetic 'upgrades.'” Boolan isn’t toiling away in solitary, however. Just like Dr. Frankenstein had Igor, Boolan has his own loyal assistants.
“Every scientist needs help, and Boolan is no different,” says Siglain. “Reek is his Ewok-sized, rodent-like assistant whom we'll meet in future issues of The High Republic from Marvel. Niv Drendow Apruk is Boolan’s protégé. Niv Drendow is cold and calculating and is working on his own experiments to impress the Baron. We'll meet him in Escape from Valo from Disney Lucasfilm Press.”
With the release of George Mann’s novel The Eye of Darkness earlier this month, Phase III is officially underway. The Nameless feature in the story, but it’s only a taste of their larger role in the overall narrative.
“The Nameless are one of the key mysteries of the High Republic — despite having seen them a fair amount by now, and the Jedi and Republic having a pretty decent understanding of what they’re capable of, we don’t know much about them,” says author Charles Soule. “There’s definitely a story to them, which the writers have known since the beginning, but part of the point of Phase III is to underscore that the Nihil and Marchion Ro don’t know enough about the Nameless, either. The Nameless are their own kind of storm.” That storm may be too much for even Ro to control — but it’s still a danger the Jedi must face.
“During this Phase, we'll see more Jedi come into contact with the Nameless which, needless to say, will not go well for them,” Siglain teases. “The fear brought upon by the Nameless is devastating to the Jedi. How they deal with this physical and emotional threat to themselves — and to the Force — is a big part of our upcoming storytelling.”
Nameless concept art posters by Steve Kurth (pencils and inks) and Giulia Priori (paints). Reek and Niv Drendow concept art posters by MinJi Yoon.
Visit Lucasfilm's official hub for all things Star Wars: The High Republic at StarWars.com/TheHighRepublic.
