Tahiri Veila

First Appearance: Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe by Nancy RichardsonWhen has anyone of consequence been born on Tatooine? Not including the Skywalkers, Tahiri Veila of the Legends timeline fulfills that qualification and shares some backstory with Luke: she’s the child of moisture farmers and is orphaned. But rather than running off with a Jedi Master, Tahiri is adopted by Tusken Raiders ... read more

Character from Star Wars Legends.
Tahiri Veila was a female Human Jedi Knight in the New Jedi Order and later the Sith apprentice of Darth Caedus. The descendant of a Jedi of the Old Order, Veila was born on the planet Tatooine to a pair of moisture farmers, Tryst and Cassa Veila. After the deaths of her parents, an orphaned Veila was adopted by the leader of a Tusken Raider tribe, and thus she was raised as one of the Sand People. Around 22 ABY, Jedi Master Tionne Solusar discovered Veila's Force-sensitivity and brought her to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. She then formed a friendship with a fellow Jedi Initiate named Anakin Solo, a grandson of the Jedi Chosen One Anakin Skywalker, also remembered as the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

In the second year of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Veila was captured by the invaders during the attack on the Jedi Praxeum. She was then "shaped" by Mezhan Kwaad and Nen Yim to be a Jedi/Yuuzhan Vong hybrid. After her rescue, Veila became an asset to the Jedi as the procedure gave her the ability to speak and understand the enemy's language. In 27 ABY, Veila participated in the ill-fated Mission to Myrkr to remove the threat of the Jedi-hunting voxyn and witnessed the death of Anakin Solo, whom she had begun to think of as more than a friend. Due to the emotional pain caused by his death, her Vong-implanted personality Riina Kwaad resurfaced and attempted to control Veila's mind.

After successfully unifying both personalities, Veila traveled to Zonama Sekot with Corran Horn and the Yuuzhan Vong Nen Yim, Harrar and a disguised Nom Anor. She aided Nen Yim in discovering the relation between the Yuuzhan Vong and Zonama Sekot, which proved vital in ending the war and forging a peace with the Yuuzhan Vong. Veila fought in the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar and by the war's end, she stayed on Zonama Sekot with Danni Quee and Tekli to assist the Yuuzhan Vong with adjusting to peace.

During the Dark Nest Crisis, Veila was banished to Dagobah for revealing Jedi confidential information, but later became an active member of the Jedi Order again by 40 ABY. Ultimately, she severed her ties to the Jedi during the Second Galactic Civil War and joined Darth Caedus—formerly known as the Jedi Jacen Solo—the older brother of Anakin Solo. Veila was seduced by the dark side of the Force through Caedus's promises of revisiting the late Solo from the past via an ancient technique called Flow-walking. After assassinating Imperial Head of State Gilad Pellaeon—by order of Darth Caedus—at the Second Battle of Fondor, Veila became the official apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith. She later renounced the Sith Order as well, shortly before Caedus's death during the Battle of Shedu Maad in 41 ABY.

Over the next three years, Veila lived as a virtual outcast, having renounced her allegiance to the Jedi, the Sith and the Galactic Alliance. During her time as a bounty hunter in 43 ABY, she assisted the Jedi Order against the machinations of Chief of State Natasi Daala, the Alliance's anti-Jedi leader who plotted against the Order by taking advantage of a Force psychosis phenomenon that plagued some of the Jedi such as Seff Hellin. Veila was later placed on trial for the assassination of Gilad Pellaeon, but then escaped in 44 ABY and became the Imperial Hand of Pellaeon's successor, Jagged Fel. Her service to the Empire was brief, ultimately leading to her return to the ranks of the Jedi Order during their conflict with the Lost Tribe of Sith and the Force entity known as Abeloth.