History Characters / StarWarsAsajjVentress

* HeelFaceTurn: She has this during the fourth season, although it's less of a change in morality and more a choice to stop actively opposing the heroes.

!All spoilers regarding the Prequel Trilogy, the Original Trilogy, ''The Clone Wars'' and ''Dark Disciple'' are unmarked. Examples relating to Disney's EU and the new movies can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NikaFutterman

* BreakTheCutie: She started out as a girl sold to a slaver as an infant. Then her owner, who is implied to have been a decent one, got killed, and she was taken in and happily adopted by a Jedi Knight... then ''he'' got murdered. Alone and driven mad with grief, she fell to the Dark Side and then became a pawn to Count Dooku. Then, Dooku betrays and tries to kill her at the behest of ''his'' master. Then, her clan is wiped out in retribution for her surviving the assassination attempt and proceeding to try and pay Dooku back in kind.

* FallenHero: Ventress was once a Jedi Padawan who fought to free Rattatak from gangs of ruthless criminals. She fell to the Dark Side after her Jedi Master Ky Narec was killed and she sought revenge.

->'''Appearances:''' ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAdventures Adventures]]'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAgeOfRepublic Age of Republic]]'' | ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' | ''Literature/KindredSpirits'' | ''Literature/DarkDisciple''

* BaldWoman: It’s not naturally since flashbacks present that she used to have a mohawk (in ''Legends'', she was bald naturally as a Rattataki species trait) and then shaved her head after the death of Ky Narec. She eventually grew it back.

* CanonImmigrant: She originated from ''Legends''' ''Clone Wars'' micro series before becoming a character in the Canon as a result of her appearances in ''The Clone Wars''.

* [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tetragonist]]: She has the most extensive character arc besides Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka.

* [[WellDoneSonGuy "Well Done, Apprentice" Girl]]: The main reason for her siding with the Separatists seems to have been her desire to prove herself to Count Dooku as a worthy apprentice.

* ShesGotLegs: And likes to show it. Her Nightsister outfit is a HellBentForLeather ZettaiRyouki.

* [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tetragonist]]: She has the most extensive character arc besides the Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka.

->'''Appearances:''' ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAdventures Adventures]]'' | ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' | ''Literature/KindredSpirits'' | ''Literature/DarkDisciple''

* CanonImmigrant: She originated in the early 2000s ''Clone Wars'' multimedia project before becoming a character in the Canon as a result of her appearances in ''The Clone Wars''.

** She herself dished one out to the Nightbrother competitors in [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E13Monster "Monster"]]. Savage was the only one to come close to matching her.
** After Savage turned against her during their battle against Dooku, she tried to fight her former Master on her own, but she had no chance. Dooku even warned her that without the aid of Savage, she's no match for him.

* DarkActionGirl: She's very sinister and quite dangerous, at least until the end of Season 4, where she becomes more of a neutral figure (although she's no less dangerous).

As an infant, Asajj Ventress was given over to a slaver from Rattatak to spare the rest of the Nightsister tribe from a similar fate. After the slaver was killed in a pirate attack, Ventress discovered her strength in the Force and was taken under the wing of a Jedi Master named Ky Narec. After Narec was killed, Ventress succumbed to the Dark Side, eventually becoming an acolyte and loyal assassin to Count Dooku and serving him during the Clone Wars. However, late in the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious grew concerned by Ventress' growing strength and ordered Dooku to kill her, to which the Count reluctantly complied. Ventress survived the attack and returned to Dathomir, seeking aid in avenging the Sith Lord's betrayal. After a complex series of events that saw the creation (and rebellion) of the monstrous Savage Opress, Dooku ordered an assault that all but destroyed the Nightsisters, leaving Ventress to fend for herself in the galaxy.

* CompositeCharacter: Her roles of being Quinlan Vos' lover and later redeeming him through love appears to be inspired by the ''Legends'' character Khaleen Hentz.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: She dies in Quinlan Vos' arms after saving him, physically and spiritually, from Dooku.

* MuggedForDisguise: She was attacked by Barriss Offee, who steals Ventress' helmet and lightsabers to pose as her while attacking Ahsoka.

* OppositesAttract: Quinlan Vos' fun and friendly personality is one of the things that win him the no-nonsense yet usually cold and distant Ventress' love.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: In the ''Legends'' comic books she originally appeared in, she was a member of the planet Rattatak's indigenous people called Rattataki. In ''The Clone Wars'', this was changed so that she was born a Nightsister of Dathomir, who grew up on Rattatak. Meanwhile, the Siniteen species have become the new indigenous species of Rattatak, with "Rattataki" simply an interchangeable name.

* BaldOfEvil: Flashbacks revealed that she's not naturally hairless, and only shaved her hair after the death of Ky Narec. It was confirmed by Filoni that she chose this as a way to express her allegiance to the Dark Side and to the Sith, and after leaving Dooku and becoming a bounty hunter, she decided to let her hair grow out. Between that and the destruction of the Nightsisters, she has been slowly moving towards BaldOfAwesome.

* BreakTheCutie: She started out as a girl sold to a slaver as an infant. Then her owner, who is implied to have been a decent one, got killed, and she was taken in and happily adopted by a Jedi Knight... then ''he'' got murdered. Alone and driven mad with grief, she fell to the Dark Side and then became a pawn to Count Dooku. Then Dooku betrays her and tries to kill her at the behest of ''his'' master. Then her clan is wiped out in retribution for her surviving the assassination attempt and proceeding to try and pay Dooku back in kind.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Ventress' voice is much lower and more gravelly than most of the other female characters in ''The Clone Wars''.

* EvilAlbino: Her chalky white skin (which is common to all Dathomirian females) combined with her Separatist allegiances for the first three seasons makes her this trope. After Count Dooku's betrayal, she's more of a morally ambiguous albino.

** To a lesser extent, she's a counterpart to Ahsoka as well: both of their Masters were Jedi who fell to Dark Side, they both started by using a single green-bladed lightsaber and picked up DualWielding later, and the way the Jedi Council abandoned Ahsoka under pressure from the Senate eerily resembles how Dooku betrayed Ventress on Sidous' orders. They even came to realize that they had rather similar experiences during the fifth season.

* EvilSoundsRaspy: Ventress has a very low, raspy, sinister voice, bordering on GutturalGrowler.

* ImportantHairCut: Inverted. WordOfGod said that Ventress shaved her hair as a way of showing [[BaldOfEvil her allegiance to the Sith]]. By ''Dark Disciple'', she stopped doing so as a way of showing that -- at least partially -- she'd turned away from the Sith teachings.

* LastOfHerKind: In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E19Massacre "Massacre"]] Grievous's army decimated the Nightsisters, leaving -- ironically -- Ventress and Talzin, the primary targets of the attack, the sole survivors. After ''Dark Disciple'', both her and Talzin are dead.

* MindOverMatter: Just like nearly all Force-users, Ventress is telekinetic.

** First after Savage turned against her during their battle against Dooku, she tried to kill her former Master on her own, but ultimately she was forced to abandon the fight.
** During the Battle of Dathomir, she was shot by a droid and was forced to run to save her life.

* SheFu: Her unarmed combat style includes lots of unnecessary acrobatic stunts.

* StatuesqueStunner: According to the Official Database, Ventress is 179 cm/5'10" tall [[note]]however, an earlier version of the Database listed her height as over 6 feet, and her model in ''The Clone Wars'' is roughly the same height as Anakin, who's 185 cm/6'2"[[/note]], she is considered rather attractive by multiple characters, and she's one of the female characters that are [[MsFanservice fan service]] on ''The Clone Wars''.

* [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tetragonist]]: She has the most extensive character arc besides the Anakin/Obi-Wan/Ahsoka trio.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Though she starts off seeming like your typical villainess, it's revealed that she was this all along. She becomes especially sympathetic after Count Dooku, the man who trained her in the ways of the Dark Side, betrayed her.

** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E12Nightsisters "Nightsisters"]] after their defeat at Dooku's hands in the episode, Ventress irritably remarked that she had warned the other Nightsisters of Dooku's power, ignoring that she had been defeated by her former master as well.

** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E19Massacre "Massacre"]], she claims that Savage "rejected [her] guidance". In reality, Savage lashed out at Ventress for her abusive treatment and for continually berating him for his inability to defeat Dooku.

** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E12Nightsisters "Witches of the Mist"]] after their defeat at Dooku's hands in the episode, Ventress irritably remarked that she had warned the other Nightsisters of Dooku's power, ignoring that she had been defeated by her former master as well.

!!!'''Species:''' Dathomirian

->'''Appears in:''' ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAdventures Adventures]]'' | ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' | ''Literature/KindredSpirits'' | ''Literature/DarkDisciple''

As an infant, Ventress was given over to a slaver from Rattatak to spare the rest of the Nightsister tribe from a similar fate. After the slaver was killed in a pirate attack, Ventress discovered her strength in the Force and was taken under the wing of a Jedi Master named Ky Narec. After Narec was killed, Ventress succumbed to the Dark Side, eventually becoming an acolyte and loyal assassin to Count Dooku and serving him during the Clone Wars. However, late in the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious grew concerned by Ventress' growing strength and ordered Dooku to kill her, to which the Count reluctantly complied. Ventress survived the attack and returned to Dathomir, seeking aid in avenging the Sith Lord's betrayal. After a complex series of events that saw the creation (and rebellion) of the monstrous Savage Opress, Dooku ordered an assault that all but destroyed the Nightsisters, leaving Ventress to fend for herself in the galaxy.

** Averted twice later in the same episode, where she blames herself for not only General Grievous' army coming to Dathomir since it was her quest for vengeance against Dooku that led him to seek retribution, but for the annihilation of the Nightsisters.

* [[WellDoneSonGuy "Well Done, Apprentice" Girl]]: The main reason for her siding with the Separatists seems to have been her desire to prove herself to Dooku as a worthy apprentice.

** In the first episode of the ''The Clone Wars'' ([[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E1Ambush "Ambush"]]), Yoda was able to take her lightsabers using the Force, with no effort.

* SerendipitousSurvival: In the first episode of ''The Clone Wars'', Yoda spares her and lets her go free despite having her cornered. Naturally, she goes on to kill more people, but as the installment goes on, she ultimately finds her own way and becomes a SpannerInTheWorks, as written below.

* DeathByAdaptation: In ''Legends'' (and prior to the retcons made by ''The Clone Wars''), she [[FakingTheDead faked her death]] before [[PutOnABus disappearing from the galactic scene altogether]] near the end of the war. In the Canon (which is presented via ''Dark Disciple'', the conclusion of her storyline in ''The Clone Wars''), she legitimately dies as a result of doing a HeroicSacrifice.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: In the comic books she originally appeared in, she was a member of the planet Rattatak's indigenous people, called Rattataki. In ''The Clone Wars'', this was changed so that she was born a Nightsister of Dathomir, who grew up on Rattatak. Meanwhile, the Siniteen species have become the new indigenous species of Rattatak, with "Rattataki" simply an interchangeable name.
* AffablyEvil: After abandoning the Separatists, what affability she does show (concern for the other Nightsisters, empathy for Ahsoka, and ultimately her love for Quinlan Vos) seems to be genuine.

* TheApprentice: She is Dooku's, although she is not an official Sith apprentice. Sidious suspects Dooku might make her one as she becomes more powerful, and thus orders Dooku to kill her.

* CleavageWindow: Her first and second outfits.
* TheCoatsAreOff: She often removed the skirt of her first outfit, primarily due to the fact that the animators did not want to worry about making it flow properly during fight scenes.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: Savage Opress, whom she used to try to avenge Dooku's betrayal, turned against her after he had enough of her abuse.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: It's shown in a TroubledBackstoryFlashback that Ventress was [[MadeASlave given away to a slaver]] while she was just a toddler. While this alone would be tragic enough, the guy seemed to have been at least decent to her as she seemed quite upset when she found his dead body. Then Jedi Ky Narec, who found her, [[ParentalSubstitute raised her]], and taught her to use the Force, was killed before her eyes.
* DarkMagicalGirl: She fits the description to a "T": she fought for the Separatists to gain Dooku's approval, her greatest fear is being left with nothing, and gradually turned away from the Dark Side after Dooku abandoned her. She even helped Ahsoka in exchange for Ahsoka getting her a full pardon.
* DeadpanSnarker: She has quite a sarcastic streak, which she takes up a few notches in Season 4.
* DeathByAdaptation: In ''Legends'' (and prior to the retcons made by ''The Clone Wars''), she [[FakingTheDead faked her death]] before [[PutOnABus disappearing from the galactic scene altogether]] near the end of the war. In ''Dark Disciple'' (a continuation of her storyline in ''TCW''), she legitimately dies in a HeroicSacrifice.
* DelinquentHair: By ''Dark Disciple'', Ventress has grown a mohawk since her last appearance on ''The Clone Wars''. In contrast to her brown hair in her TroubledBackStoryFlashback in ''The Clone Wars'', it's white-blond in the novel. However, it is unclear which one is her original hair color and which one was dyed.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: She dies in Vos' arms after saving him, physically and spiritually, from Dooku.

* EvilAlbino: Her chalky white skin (which is common to all Dathomiri females) combined with her Separatist allegiances for the first three seasons makes her this trope. After Dooku's betrayal, she's more of a morally ambiguous albino.

* FallenHero: Once she was a Jedi Padawan who fought to free Rattatak from gangs of ruthless criminals. She fell to the Dark Side after her Jedi Master Ky Narec was killed and she sought revenge.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Usually, whenever she acts polite, it's a façade meant to either mock or deceive.

* HeroicSacrifice: She chooses a path that she knows will likely lead to her death in order to redeem Vos.
* HighVoltageDeath: Ventress gets blasted to death with Dooku's Force lightning meant for Vos.

* KickTheDog: Her treatment of Savage during the Nightsisters trilogy. Having him transformed and brainwashed, forcing him to kill his own brother (who Savage had given himself up to protect), handing him over to Dooku for [[TrainingFromHell Sith training]], and constantly berating him when he proves to be no match for Dooku. After all this, it's really no surprise that Savage wants to kill her.

* LastOfHerKind: In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E19Massacre "Massacre"]] Grievous's army decimated the Nightsisters, leaving -- ironically -- Ventress and Talzin, the primary targets of the attack, the sole survivors. After ''Dark Disciple'', both her and Talzin are dead, leaving only Shelish from ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsUprising Uprising]]''.

* NotSoDifferent: In the Season 5 finale, she pursues and captures Ahsoka, who's been framed for sedition, to claim the bounty on her head. However, she comes to sympathize with Ahsoka's plight, knowing all-too-well what it feels like to have those you trust turn their backs on you. When she reveals this to Anakin, he even has to admit, albeit silently, that she's completely right.

* SoftSpokenSadist: She often speaks in a gentle, almost purring tone, although it can become harsh and snarling at the drop of a hat, and she later drops the "sadist" part ([[AntiHero mostly]]).

* CharacterDevelopment: Over the course of Seasons 3-5, she went from being Dooku's somewhat underdeveloped and psychotic [[TheDragon dragon]] into a tragic and complex character who can relate to the plight of others. She even delivered a WhatTheHellHero to Anakin on Ahsoka's behalf when the Jedi Order abandoned her.

* TheCoatsAreOff: She often removed the skirt of her first outfit, primarily due to the animators did not want to worry about making it flow properly during fight scenes.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Ventress' voice is much lower and more gravelly than most of the other women on ''The Clone Wars''.

* SerendipitousSurvival: In the first episode of ''The Clone Wars'', despite having her cornered, Yoda spares her and lets her go free. Naturally, she goes on to kill more people, but as the show goes on, she ultimately finds her own way and becomes a SpannerInTheWorks, as written below.

* CanonImmigrant: She originated in the early 2000s ''Clone Wars'' multimedia project before becoming a canon character in ''The Clone Wars''. She wasn't written to be a Dathomirian back then.

* TheCoatsAreOff: She often removed the skirt of her first outfit, primarily so the animators didn't have to worry about making it flow properly during fight scenes.

** To Anakin. They both used to be slaves on a remote CrapsackWorld, have been rescued by a Jedi who were considered somewhat "rogues" by others, and became the apprentices of a Sith Lord. While Anakin started slipping closer and closer to the Dark Side in Season 4, Asajj seems to have started to work on a HeelFaceTurn at the end of the same season. They also both die in a similar manner: they're killed by Force lightning in order to save someone they love from their former master.
** To a lesser extent, she's a counterpart to Ahsoka as well: both of their Masters were Jedi who fell to Dark Side, they both started by using a single green-bladed lightsaber and picked up DualWielding later, and finally the way the Jedi Council abandoned Ahsoka under pressure from the Senate eerily resembles how Dooku betrayed Ventress on Sidous' orders. They even came to realise that they had rather similar experiences during the fifth season.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Usually, when she acts polite, it's a façade meant to either mock or deceive.

As an infant, Ventress was given over to a slaver from Rattatak to spare the rest of the Nightsister tribe from a similar fate. After the slaver was killed in a pirate attack, Ventress discovered her strength in the Force and was taken under the wing of Jedi Knight Ky Narec. After Narec was killed, Ventress succumbed to the Dark Side, eventually becoming an acolyte and loyal assassin to Count Dooku. However, late in the Clone Wars, Darth Sidious, grew concerned by Ventress' growing strength, ordered Dooku to kill her, to which the Count reluctantly complied. Ventress survived the attack, and returned to Dathomir, seeking aid in avenging the Sith Lord's betrayal. After a complex series of events that saw the creation (and rebellion) of the monstrous Savage Opress, Dooku ordered an assault that all but destroyed the Nightsisters, leaving Ventress to fend for herself in the galaxy.

** To a lesser extent, she's a counterpart to Ahsoka as well: both of their Masters were Jedi who fell to Dark Side, they both started by using a single green-bladed lightsaber and picked up DualWielding later, and finally the way the Jedi Council abandoned Ahsoka under pressure from the Senate eerily resembles how Dooku betrayed Ventress on Sidous' orders. They even came to realise that they had rather similar experiences in Season 5.

* HeelFaceTurn: In Season 4, although it's less of a change in morality and more a choice to stop actively opposing the heroes.

[[folder:R-Y]]

[[folder:Tropes from the Clone Wars Era]]

* StatuesqueStunner: According to the current Official Database, Ventress is 179 cm/5'10" tall [[note]]however, an earlier version of the Database listed her height as over 6 feet, and her model in ''The Clone Wars'' is roughly the same height as Anakin, who's 185 cm/6'2"[[/note]], she is considered rather attractive by multiple characters, and she's one of the female characters that are [[MsFanservice fan service]] on ''The Clone Wars''.

* TookALevelInBadass: In Season 1, Ahsoka and Luminara together were able to match her and Sidious had no trust in her abilities at all. By Season 3, she's become strong enough to match Obi-Wan and Anakin despite being injured and for Sidious to consider her a threat.

* VillainProtagonist: Starting from Season 3 and played up in Season 4, her character was given a lot of focus.