Bolo Artel

"I found him on one of the moons of Rothus. He was lying in a cave, drowning in sweat, and blood. From the moment I met those bright green eyes, I knew there was something... different about him."

- Cara Vell, on her first meeting with the infant Bolo Artel

 was a Jedi Knight in the years leading up to the Clone Wars. From a young age, Artel was diagnosed with a rare and dangerous disease that made him crave blood, making him unpredictable and dangerous. Jedi Master Cara Vell was impressed, however, by his natural prowess with the Force and took him on as her apprentice.

After graduating to the rank of Jedi Knight months before the Battle of Geonosis, Artel took the young Togrutan Opa Choi as his apprentice. Fighting with her during the Clone Wars, he watched her die at the hands of his most loyal clone troops when Palpatine issued Order 66. He fled to the Vamillion Sector and lived in exile for many years, eventually turning mad, before joining the rising Hutt Cartel in their rebellion against the New Republic and the Empire.

Early life
Twi'lek Jedi Master Cara Vell first encountered Artel on one of the moons of his home planet Rothus after receiving a distress call from a mining colony on the moon's surface. Artel, barely five years old, was hiding in a cave beneath the moon's surface, drenched in the blood of six miners he had brutally killed.

Concerned for the child's health, Vell took Artell to the nearby cruiser and had him seen to by a medical droid, CC-909, who diagnosed him with Dialosis disease, a deadly parasite that caused the host to have an insatiable craving for blood. While being examined in an enclosed chamber, Artel tried to kill the droid with his abnormally large teeth, denting the droid's left arm permanently.

Increasingly concerned for the boy's health, Vell watched in silence as Artel slowly made his recovery from his traumatising ordeal. She was astonished to see him use the Force to grab cups of water and decided to take him to the Jedi Council on Coruscant.

The Jedi Council seemed impressed by Artel's skills as he was brought before them. Vell vowed to take him as her apprentice and sought to train him in the ways of the Jedi.

Jedi Training
Artel's condition made it difficult for him to associate with others, so spent most of his time in training with his master in seclusion, or else on journeys to distant planets in the Vamillion Sector. His Force skills continued to grow until he was given the rank of Jedi Knight in 23 BBY, less than six months before the Battle of Geonosis that started the Clone Wars.

Meeting Opa Choi
Artel first came across his future apprentice, Opa Choi, at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Suddenly overwhelmed by an insatiable bloodlust, he attacked the young Togrutan, attempting to rip out her throat. They were pulled apart by various Jedi onlookers, including his shamed master Vell, and Artel was thrown into a detention cell as Choi was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

Once she was strong enough to be allowed visitors, Artel, with the help of his master, petitioned for his release and came to see Choi in the Temple's hospital. Artel apologised profusely, explaining his condition, and the pair became friends. Eventually, just a week before the Battle of Geonosis, Artel took Choi as his Padawan Learner, training her in the ways of the Jedi.

Clone Wars
Artel was in too bad a condition to take part in the Battle of Geonosis, and Choi stayed with him in the hospital. As soon as Artel was allowed out, he requested that he and his padawan continue their training in seclusion on his home planet of Rothus, but his request was denied by the Council.

Choi's training was cut extremely short, and together the two of them were thrust into battle. Artel attempted to continue Choi's training as they fought on Ord Mantell, Varaxis and Chama, continually pleading with the Council, but was unable to teach his apprentice everything he knew.

Artel's condition seemed to grow worse over the course of the war, and several times he was confined to a medical frigate, writhing in agony as the battle raged around him. One time, Separatist droids overcame the frigate, the Exedor, and Artel, consumed by his bloodlust, fought his way onto their ship in a blind rage using nothing but his teeth, as his apprentice watched on in horror through video recordings on the planet below.

Order 66
Artel and Choi were travelling back to Coruscant aboard the Star Destroyer Negotiator when Palpatine issued Order 66. Separated by three metres of steel, Artel watched through the holofeed as the clones surrounded Choi and summarily executed her.

Trapped in the landing platform and surrounded by clone troopers who were cutting their way through the metal, Artel escaped aboard a small shuttle. Overcome by grief, he journeyed to the far off Vamillion Sector, where he head trained with his master.

As he arrived on the jungle planet of Yavill, Artel was overcome by a dreadful vision. He saw the rise of the Empire and the fall of all the Jedi, save for a meagre handful. Last of all, he saw his former master falling on Felucia, killed by her clone troops like his apprentice had been.

Exile
Artel spent many years in exile, thinking over his life and his purpose while gradually turning mad. In 4 ABY, shortly after the death of notorious crime lord Jabba the Hutt, Artel received a second vision that he imagined was his calling to help the Five Hutt Families, the ruling power over the Hutts and in control of the nearby Yemillion Sector. His own ship had not been used for years and was incapable of flying, so Artel brought down a small smuggler's ship in orbit and used that to fly to Terexis, the capital world of the Hutt's newly-forged empire.

Joining the Hutt Rebellion
Artel was at first treated with caution as he pledged his allegiance to the Tarajis clan, one of the Five Hutt Families, or Dynasties, but began to be trusted by the Dynasty's leader, Atara the Hutt. He further proved his allegiance after killing the head of a rival crime gang in his base on Dantooine.

It was after all criminal competition had been removed that the Hutts began to strike. The Five Families worked independently of one another, Artel serving the Fourth Family and, accordingly, the Fourth Army, of the Hutts.

Balla Prime
The Fourth Army's first target was Balla Prime, a small Imperial foundry world used for the construction of All Terrain Scout Transports. Artel served as a lowly gunner aboard the star cruiser Queen Jamilla, personally taking out one of the command towers as the ship descended through the planet's thick atmosphere.

With the Hutts desperately needing more troops, Artel volunteered himself as Queen Jamilla landed just south of Jar Jar's Fist, a huge, rocky outcrop that held the last remaining Imperial outpost. Artel ascended the steep slopes and was the second to reach the top, gunning down Imperial stormtroopers with a hired blaster. He made his way to the command centre, taking charge of his squad once their captain had been killed by automated defence turrets, and took the Fist almost single-handedly.

Promotion
Although this was only a small victory for the Hutts, Artel was rewarded greatly and promoted to the rank of Commander. Shortly afterwards, Artel's forces took out an Imperial listening post, and Artel was given a position on the Military Council of the Fourth Army. Out of the seventeen respected leaders, he was the only non-Hutt.

Artel's time on the Military Council was brief, but memorable. He was part of the massive Coruscant Treaty, a move to get the New Republic to side with the Hutts, before turning on them and bombing the capital, taking it before Republic Special Forces drove them to a devastating defeat.

Bogden
Once again called by Force visions, Artel left the Council and the Hutts for one of the moons of Bogden. There, he encountered a lost Jedi Temple and fought an anonymous Dark Jedi armed with a double-bladed lightsaber. Artell was beheaded by the Dark Jedi, but not after delivering a fatal wound to his opponent's chest. It is believed the Dark Jedi died shortly after Artel.

Legacy
Artel's body was eventually recovered decades later by a group of Human explorers and archeologists who were studying the temple. Artel's head had been perfectly preserved in a cube of ice after the Great Freeze of Bogden, a massive climatic event orchestrated by the Hutt Cartel in an attempt to subdue the planet's inhabitants.

Artel's head was mounted in the Callois Ancient History Museum on B'von, to be admired for a thousand years. DNA testing on his frozen head identified him as a Jedi, and he was placed in the museum's "Jedi Cabinet", alongside Bith Meera Vale and Nautolan Kit Fisto.

Personality and traits
Bolo Artel was determined and strong-willed, resistant to torture and, to some extent, pain itself. He was kind but solitary, looking after his apprentice closely and having a protective, fatherly air over her. He was mistrusted by many other Jedi so was quick to mistrust himself, but was fiercely loyal to those he called his friends.

Powers and abilities
Bolo Artel displayed particular prowess in lightsaber combat, disarming even Mace Windu in a tournament on Coruscant, though he was defeated by Yoda. He briefly engaged in single combat with General Grievous while on Chama and managed to disarm the General before being knocked out by the Kaleesh warlord. He supposedly kept the hand as a trophy.

Artel relied little on his Force powers, using them for mundane, everyday tasks rather than on the battlefield. As a result of this, his Force skills became weaker, though he was skilled at mind tricks, as displayed when convincing the New Republic to accept the Hutt Empire as an ally.

Artel also possessed the gift of seeing into the future, which was one of the factors contributing to his madness on Yavill. His sight was so clouded that Artel failed to sense the Jedi Knight Barballa Barav, a female Rodian, who briefly crash-landed on the planet less than a kilometre away.