Halagad Ventor (Jedi Renaissance)

Halagad Ventor was a male Human Jedi Knight who was trained at an unusually late age for the era, due to the fact that he was passed over for training initially during his childhood on. Jedi Master eventually agreed to take him as a Padawan after he trained at the academy on Almas. Since the nature of his training was unnatural, Ventor's actions as a Jedi were considered unorthodox during the Clone Wars, and he neglected the more subtle aspects of the Force. After the botched peace talks in the Virgillian Civil War, where he and his team were erroneously reported dead during the Separatist Crisis, Ventor was assigned to complete his studies under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi. A recipient of the Medallion of Honor, Ventor served alongside Anakin Skywalker under the leadership of Kenobi during their investigation into Zeta Magnus on the planet.

On Marat V, the trio of Jedi believed that Ventor had killed Magnus once and for all, but in really he only succeeded in killing a clone. Later in the, Ventor commanded a team which included Sha Koon in assisting to purge the Confederacy of Independent Systems] from the planet . When the war ended, Ventor drew inspiration from the more inclusive policies of [[Grand Master Tomac Moorcé and felt that the Order would finally accept him. Revealing to the High Council that he had impregnated before joining the Order and that their son, Nial Organa, was indeed Forceful too. Returning to Alderaan, Ventor married Organa and introduced their son to the Order where he was accepted into the Acolyte Academy on Ossus.

Early life
"I'll need to know many things to be a Jedi, and cannot confine myself to but one discipline."

- Halagad Ventor, confiding in his friend, Bail Organa.

Born to archivists of the Ean and Zollet Ventor in 12 BrS, Halagad Ventor lived on  as a child. Despite being strong in the Force, Ventor was passed over for Jedi training by the Acquisition Division at an early age due to an oversight by Jedi Watchman. Nevertheless, he aspired to be a scholar, and studied ancient tomes within the Royal Library where he learned the history of the Jedi Knights, and aspired to be one. Inspired by C'baoth's handling of the dispute between House Organa and House Antilles, Ventor began pursuing mastery of a wide range of scholarly and martial skills. Taken under the wing of a young Bail Organa, who would go onto become Senator and Viceroy of Alderaan, Ventor was introduced to a wide range of intellectual stimulation as he passed through adolescence.

While visiting the Okonomo Retreat, Ventor was joined by Bail and Tia Organa in hunting manka cats while his parents enjoyed the vacation at the Retreat in Year 3. While he succeeded in killing a manka, the celebration was cut short when Organa presented him the devastating news of what would come to be known as the Okonomo Tragedy. During the dinner at the Retreat, a madman had infiltrated the party and infected everyone in attendance with a treacherous hive virus which caused anthropophagitism in its victims. Shocked and pained at the thought of his parents devouring each other in a bout of mindlessness, Ventor shut himself away and began to teach himself the ways of the Jedi. Due to the difficulty of self-teaching, Ventor was unable to truly master any area of Jedi or non-Jedi study. He argued that Jedi should focus on all aspects of the Force, rather than specialize in just one discipline. However, these thoughts were likely born of inexperience. Accepting comfort from Tia Organa the two engaged in a brief affair and Organa became pregnant with their son Nial. Unable to bear the responsibility, Ventor abandoned the Organas and found his way to the Cularin system where he was excepted into the experimental Jedi academy on Almas in 30 BBY. At seventeen standard years of age, Ventor was rather old for a Jedi of the era, but trained hard and learned much during his time on the wild planet, confronting such terrors as the Wyrd cultists, dreambeasts, Dark Lizards, and the K'kayeh dragon.

After spending several short years at the Academy, Ventor began searching for a Jedi Master that would train him in the ways of the Jedi. Meeting with Jedi Masters J'Soryn Jerec, Ashka Boda, and Djinn Altis, no Master would accept him, citing that he did not have enough control over his mind, anger, fear, and greed. Discouraged, Ventor sought assistance from his old friend, now Senator Organa. Using his connections from the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention, Organa arranged a meeting with Jedi Knight who saw something of herself in the unorthodox Jedi-in-training. Agreeing to train the boy, she nurtured him and castigated him, loving him as a mother should love a child and attempted to reign in his strong personality. In spite of Ettene's code-adherent teachings, Ventor persisted with his personal beliefs, and failed to reach his full potential. Ventor, as an unusual case in the post-Ruusan Jedi, found it difficult to flourish among his Jedi brethren. He quickly became a great warrior under Ettene, but he failed to grasp the more subtle aspects of Jedi work, such as diplomacy and healing. In some cases, even, he was completely ignorant of these powers.

In Year 8, Ventor and his master were assigned to investigate the ruinous Outbound Flight Project by the Galactic Senate. Leading an aggressive inquiry into the project's failing, the pair were brought into conflict with Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker; the flight's sole survivors. After a caustic interaction, Ventor eventually met with Padawan Skywalker and the two became close. In Skywalker, Ventor saw himself, sharing the bond of having both entered the Order at a later age then the norm. In Ventor, Skywalker saw the characteristics of both of his lost friends, Padawans Tru Veld and Ferus Olin. The two shared secrets, with Ventor divulging the memories of his tryst with Organa and the birth of his son, while Skywalker confessed his love for Padmé Amidala of Naboo. During the Separatist Crisis, Ventor and Ettene were paired with and Rowan Danyawarra, and dispatched by the Jedi High Council to the Virgillia system, in order to establish peace talks in the Virgillian Civil War. Upon arriving in the system late in the year Year 12, their transport was attacked by dissenters, and destroyed. He, along with his master and the two other Jedi were presumed dead back at Coruscant, and a Jedi funeral was held for the four of them. Forgotten in the wake of the breakout of war, Ventor and Danyawarra were actually alive, hiding out in hopes of rescue. Salvation would come three weeks after the crash, when Senator Organa was joined by Giles Durane and Jedi Ashka Boda in a rescue mission. Extracting the two Padawans, Boda escorted them back to the Coruscant Jedi Temple where the master encouraged Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi to take on the older student and complete his training.

The Clone Wars
As the second apprentice of General Kenobi, Ventor took up the rank of Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic and served alongside Kenobi's first Padawan, Anakin Skywalker. Continuing to share a strong bond of friendship with Kenobi's other student, the two Padawans were permitted to undergo the Jedi ritual known as the Concordance of Fealty, wherein they both committed each others lightsaber to the other. Having received a Medallion of Honor from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine for his efforts on Virgillia 7, Ventor donned full clone trooper armor during the early stages of the war, foregoing only the helmet during his missions. Accompanying his master to the planet Marat V, Ventor and Skywalker were tasked by Jedi Master Mace Windu with arresting the Master Geneticist and madman, Zeta Magnus. Magnus had staged a single-handed takeover of the planet, cajoling the Outland Clans to his cause and naming himself Magister of Skye; all the while releasing a plague upon the other S'kytri who refused to bow down to his rule. Arriving on the planet, the Jedi were led to the City of the Winged People by Patriarch Klarymére where they were brought before the Supreme Council of the Highland Clans. As Kenobi attempted to persuade the Council of their good intentions through a retelling of the Order's Prophecy of the Chosen One, Ventor drew upon his skills with telekinesis to levitate Skywalker through the air and out the window high above the mountain vistas in order to gain their trust.

Proving himself both in skill in the Force and competence with a lightsaber, Ventor fought his way past Oskan blood eaters in the depths of the legendary labyrinths of the Entyrmion as the Jedi trekked to the slopes of the Canaitith Mountain where Magnus had erected his citadel. Losing his Padawan braid during the fighting, Skywalker joked that it was the only way that Ventor would ever receive a promotion to knighthood. Entering the building, the Jedi were deceived by their clones and imprisoned within Magnus' laboratory. The Jedi awoke to look on in horror as clones were being developed from their DNA; Kenobi and Skywalker's clones were already growing in vats while Magnus planned to begin the process with Ventor's recently obtained genetic matter. When Kharys arrived and freed them, Ventor fled the chamber and followed Magnus to the citadel's hangar where he confronted the Arkanian mutant as the droid Blue-Tark began to power up Magnus' starship, the Skyriver Invader. When Magnus attacked, Ventor lost control of his lightsaber, and the mutant managed to pin the Jedi Padawan down, eating off several fingers from Ventor's sword hand. Ventor blacked out as the monster began consuming him, but was saved when Blue-Tark ignited the Invader's engines and fried Magnus in the the ionic fire erupting from the ship as it took off. Lunging into Magnus, Ventor cleaved his opponent clean in half; killing him. Regain his composure, Ventor returned to the laboratory where his fellow Jedi continued their fight with the traitorous clone troopers. Noting the Class-D detonator in the clone's hand, Ventor used the Force to detonate it, wiping the clones, a part of the lab, and the cloned child versions of Skywalker and Kenobi from existence. As the Jedi regrouped outside the citadel, Kenobi noted that Ventor's eye's were bloodshot; recognizing that as a sign of drawing upon the dark side of the Force. Ventor, exhausted from the battle, gave into his frustration as Skywalker turned against him and the pair argued with each other before Ventor tossed the lightsaber he was using back at its rightful owner and telekinetically grabbing his own lightsaber from Skywalker's belt and igniting it. In retaliation, Skywalker ignited his own and Kenobi's to block against Ventor's attack. Before the situation got too far out of hand, Kenobi used the Force to slam Skywalker to the ground, and demanded that the two Padawans hand over their lightsabers. Ventor disengaged and turned over his weapon to the General before storming off to the nearest Republic gunship.

In the wake of the battle, despite Kenobi's warning of Ventor's run in with the dark side, the High Council decided to elevate Ventor to the rank of Knight during a wave of field promotions. Taking the rank of General within the Grand Army, Ventor served well in the war, leading from the frontlines but never trusting the clone troopers after his experiences on Marat V. As the war reached its waning months, the Confederacy of Independent Systems launched Operation Durge's Lance, affecting worlds from the Outer Rim to the Core. General Ventor, along with several other Jedi Knights including Sha Koon, were sent to the Outer Rim planet to halt the CIS advance. Intercepted CIS transmissions indicated that the Commerce Guild was planning to mine cortosis from the planet. Cortosis, being resistant to lightsabers, was known to be a great asset in anti-Jedi warfare, and it had been used by Wat Tambor in the early stages of the war, so Jedi Master Mace Windu considered Bal'demnic a high priority. What greeted Ventor and Koon's forces on the island planet was an extraordinary sight. The Kon'me natives had risen up against the Commerce Guild's tyranny, and launched their own revolution against the droid armies. The Kon'me utilized weapons smuggled in by war profiteers, allowing them to fight on equal terms with the droids. Unfortunately for Ventor and Koon, it allowed them to also fight on equal terms with the Republic. Soon after Ventor's Republic forces touched down on Bal'demnic, the Kon'me started firing on them, treating all outsiders as hostiles. With no intention of retaliating against the natives, Ventor and Koon were forced to call a retreat. However, the Confederacy forces were also driven away, so the mission was at least a partial success. Ventor ordered a small portion of his fleet to remain in Bal'demnic's orbit, to prevent further CIS intrusions.

Return to Alderaan
When Ventor received the emergency signal to return to Coruscant and not to trust his clones, he immediately found transport to the Jedi Temple to attend the Conclave on Coruscant. Inspired by the new Grand Master's words and the new direction the Order was to take, Ventor gladly laid down his rank of General and returned to his homeworld to find his spurned lover, Tia Organa. Arranging to meet with her and their son at the Aldera Palace, Ventor was relieved to find that Organa had forgave him for abandoning her and their child and was willing to welcome him back into their lives. Inspired by his heroic deeds during the war, Organa agreed to marry Ventor and the two traveled to Coruscant to seek the approval of the Jedi High Council. Agreeing to recognize their marriage, the Council of Judgment demanded that Ventor turn over Nial Organa for training in the ways of the Force after learning of his latent Force-sensitivity. Consenting to the arrangement, Ventor and his wife sent their son to live on Ossus where he entered into training at the Acolyte Academy. Together with his wife, Ventor settled on Alderaan and oversaw the reopening of the Jedi academy that had operated there since the time of the Great galactic War. Having been closed at the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Ventor was appointed the new Watchman of Alderaan and simultaneously served as the Academy's headmaster. Taking up residence within the academy, Ventor convened the Academy's Council and together formed a program for new Jedi Rangers to serve on Alderaan and surrounding systems.

Encouraged to take a Padawan after five successful years of growth at the academy, Ventor traveled to Ossus and attended the

Personality and traits
"Your mind is like the winds of Tatooine, flying in every direction at once. The essence of the Jedi's art is control—control of the body, control of the mind, control of anger, fear, and greed. You must learn to reign in all your passions, even the passion for knowledge, or you will destroy yourself."

- Jedi Master Everen Ettene

Due to his self-taught nature, Halagad Ventor was always out to prove something. Due to the fact that he was passed over for training at an early age, it is probable that he sought to show the Order wrong. However, with a lack of guidance, Ventor did not cover the Force as a Jedi should, and so, in terms of standardized Jedi training, his skills were flawed. Lord Vader described Ventor as a "loud man", who craved accolades and recognition. This was reflected in the fact that Ventor was decorated in the Clone Wars with the Medallion of Honor, an award rarely bestowed.[4] Ventor's insistence on his ways caused him to be knocked back by the Order on several occasions, but it also allowed him to eventually be accepted, despite his unorthodox nature. This nature made him a prime target for Lord Vader in the early stages of the Great Jedi Purge, since Ventor was known to be unstable and "difficult". Ventor's flaws plagued him on Trinta as well, but he was not so far gone that he did not realize the error of his ways.[4]