Ussej Padric Bac

Ussej Padric Bac was a Jedi Knight during the Great Territorial War who later became the Shaman of the Whills, acting as the spiritual leader of the Order of the Whills. He had a hand in many galactic events, such as the Great Territorial War, the organization of the Ophuchi Clan and the acceptance of Annikin Skywalker into the Jedi Order during the Invasion of Utapau. He was also the lover of Laili Jeyna Rendar; although he had what he sometimes felt was a stressful relationship with Laili due to his personality, he later referred to Laili as the love of his life, and even thought about her during the Invasion of Utapau and the conflict's aftermath.

After the Jedi Civil War, Ussej had been in hiding with his Jedi Master, Brarh Kefle, on Corellia, and after the Jedi Order was reorganized following the Second Sith Civil War he was officially trained and became a Jedi Knight. Ussej, along with fellow Jedi Knight Damien Nightblade, was present during the conflict in the Uvena system that formally launched the Great Territorial War, and he fought throughout the entire war. Events during the conflict nearly turned him to the dark side of the Force, although he was able to stay within the light side of the Force. Years later, after having studied both sides of the Force, he fulfilled his destiny and became the Shaman of the Whills.

Early life
Ussej Padric Bac was born on Alderaan around the time of the end of the Mandalorian Wars. He was taken into the Jedi Order at a young age where he was put under the guidance of Jedi Master Brarh Kefle. In the aftermath of the Jedi Civil War, Ussej and Kefle hid from the Second Sith Empire on Corellia. When Ussej was ten years old, he and Kefle were involved in a speeder accident that took the lives of Corwin Rendar and his seven-months pregnant wife Jeyna Rendar, although doctors at the hospital were able to save their daughter Laili Jeyna Rendar after a local named Stavan Jetzt rushed them all to the hospital.

Great Territorial War


Many years later, after Stavan Jetzt was elected Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and Ussej became a Jedi Knight, Ussej and fellow Jedi Knight Damien Nightblade were called to Jetzt's office and told about his belief that the Sith had returned, evidenced by a flow of weapons in the Uvena system. The Jedi sent Ussej and Damien to investigate, and they found themselves in the middle of a war between Uvena Prime and Uvena III. At the war's end, they followed the trail of weapons to Korriban, where it was revealed to them that the Sith orchestrated the war in order to gain the weapons for themselves. Ussej and Damien nearly did not escape Korriban alive, and when they reported their findings to Coruscant the Republic declared war against the Third Sith Empire.

Some time during the war, events that were traumatic for Ussej took place, causing him to nearly fall to the dark side before he came to believe that he had made a mistake in doing so. During this time, he studied both sides of the Force before realizing the truth path that he needed to take in his life. Around that same time, he also fell in love with a woman named Laili, though little was known about her. This path led him to his eventual death, upon which he became one with the Force and transcended reality to become a celestial spirit within the monastery of the Order of the Whills.

Destiny
At the monastery, Ussej became the Shaman of the Whills, a prophetic figure who was to lead the Whills for eternity beside The Skywalker. The Whills knew who he was upon arrival, as his coming had been prophesied by The Skywalker. Because the Whills were the keepers of galactic history, Ussej also relayed to them a great deal of historical information. He remained at the monastery for many years, closely observing galactic events from his realm. During this time, he also became known as the Guardian of Forever, because one of his tasks was to keep watch on the Journal of the Whills and monitor galactic events in search for prophetic occurrences.

Nearly three thousand years after his death, Ussej was aware that people called the Ophuchi, who were descendants of an ancient and broken order, had become disorganized. He began appearing to them as a spirit and led them to the Dune Sea on Tatooine where they formed the Ophuchi Clan. He watched over them as they began to build their sanctuary, and he also led them to a group of caves where they were able to find spiritual guidance. Once there, he was able to show them the so-called true path they needed to take in order to fulfill their ultimate destines, which included the proclamation of the arrival of the Chosen One.



Shortly after the birth of Annikin Skywalker, the young man believed to be the Chosen One by the Ophuchi, in the Ophuchi Sanctuary, Ussej contacted Sarus, the leader of the Ophuchi, and told him that he had been in contact with many Ophuchi leaders throughout the centuries. Ussej also explained that Sarus had a destiny to help the Chosen One in his journey to leave Tatooine later in life. Sarus agreed to this, though Ussej knew that Sarus felt he had no choice in the matter.

Chosen One
Eighteen years later, after Annikin won his freedom in a swoop race and departed for Coruscant with Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ussej spoke to Sarus once again. Sarus told him that Annikin had left hours earlier so Sarus asked for further instructions, but Ussej told him that his role in Annikin’s destiny was over. Knowing that Sarus would be disappointed by this, Ussej did tell him that he would have future roles to play in the fate of the galaxy.

Personality and traits
At the beginning of the Great Territorial War, Ussej was seen as an optimistic Jedi Knight. However, the war that lasted for many years eventually turned him into what many referred to as a hardened warrior, the opposite of what he had been when he was a newly inducted Jedi Knight. During the war, events that were unforeseen to Ussej caused him to become overcome with paranoia, although it was unknown what he was paranoid about. Nevertheless, it was stated that he was able to recover from this, although there were still aspects of his personality that were noted as having caused stress in his relationship with Laili Jeyna Rendar. By the time he became the Shaman of the Whills, it was believed that he had been able to achieve a desired state of compassion and leadership.

Powers and abilities
When Ussej first became a Jedi Knight, he was noted as having had what was considered average skills with a lightsaber in comparison to other Jedi Knights. However, his skills with the Force and with a lightsaber were said to have grown throughout the Great Territorial War, and the war caused him to have what many referred to as above average skills. He also learned a form called Rizen that was created by Damien Nightblade and known only to a select few in the galaxy.

Development
Ussej Padric Bac was the first role-playing character created and used by author Brandon Rhea on TheStarWarsRP.Com, making Ussej his first role-playing character ever. The reason that Rhea created this character and began to role-play was because it was a condition of being appointed an Administrator, a position he was given because the Jedi faction requested to have an Administrator on their side of the role-play war effort. Therefore, he decided to create the character as a Jedi Padawan, rather than starting off as a Jedi Knight as he did not know how to role-play at the time.

Over the next few days, Rhea worked with Star Wars RP Owner Steven Alldis to flesh out the character more. They decided that the character would be a false Chosen One. The idea was that he would attempt to confront Empress Viea, the Dark Lady of the Sith, towards the end of the war in an effort to destroy the Sith, though he would ultimately fail. It was also decided to have veteran staff member Kelly L. role-play the character Laili Jeyna Rendar, who would be the sister of Darth Ravinos, apprentice to Viea and formerly known as Kit Corwin Rendar.

Originally, Rhea planned to name the character Padric Bac, off of the name of the character that eventually became Ussej Padric Bac LXIV. However, Alldis did not like the name and suggested finding another one. He recommended that, because they were going for a savior theme, the character’s name should somehow reflect that of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they decided to rearrange the name Jesus, and after rejecting possibilities such as Sesuj, Sseuj and Essuj, it was decided to name the character Ussej. However, Rhea still wanted to maintain his original intention for the name, so it was decided to give the character the full name of Ussej Padric Bac.



Once the role-playing began, the false Chosen One storyline was dropped, as the plot began moving more towards a love story between Ussej and Laili and an eventual turn to the dark side of the Force for Ussej. However, the false Chosen One element remained in the back story of his youth. Rhea began role-playing Ussej in June 2005 in a role-play titled “Lost Sibling Looking For Answers”, which introduced Ussej to Laili on Coruscant, and he stopped role-playing him just after Ussej and Laili became married, as the timeline was moving one hundred years into the future.

It was around this time that Rhea also began thinking of potential deaths for the character before the second timeline began. Because he wanted the original Padric Bac, who became Ussej Padric Bac LXIV, to have the name “Ussej Padric Bac” as well, he created a plot element where Ussej would have done something supposedly incredible upon his death which would warrant his name to continue. After deciding on that element, he also decided to make Ussej the Shaman of the Whills in his Alternative Star Wars Saga continuity, as he wanted the character to have a lasting legacy.

Although the timeline shifted, Rhea gained approval from his fellow staff members to use Ussej a few times during role-plays involving the Bendu Order and Ussej Padric Bac III, Ussej’s grandson. These role-plays were intended to move the Bendu storyline further, as Rhea felt that Ussej Padric Bac III would need some pushing and incentive from the Shaman of the Whills to do what he needed to do. He also eventually put the two Ussej’s at odds with one another, as Ussej Padric Bac III favored a holy war against the Jedi whereas the Shaman did not. Ussej was last role-played in the story of TheStarWarsRP.Com on February 25, 2007, though he was brought back for a “non-Star Wars RP canon” role-play in Summer 2007, a role-play which turned into a comedic parody rather than a serious undertaking.

Reception
"Out of everything I have ever created in terms of the Alternative Saga like all of the episodes, the Bendu, the Lettow, Starkiller...Ussej Padric Bac has always been my proudest accomplishment."

- Author Brandon Rhea

On TheStarWarsRP.Com, Rhea has conducted four separate polls over a period of time to judge the reception and reaction to Ussej Padric Bac. In the first poll, conducted in April 2006, Rhea asked who his best character was between Ussej Padric Bac, Ussej Padric Bac III and Carden Mannux. Ussej garnered sixty percent of the vote, compared with thirty percent for Ussej Padric Bac III and ten percent for Carden Mannux. The second poll, conducted in September 2006, showed different results. Ussej was tied with Carden Mannux with thirty-two and one quarter percent of the vote, compared with twenty-five percent for Ussej Padric Bac III and twelve and a half percent for Cos Jonathan Dashin.

The third poll was conducted in February 2007, and it was the first time that Ussej was not first or tied for first in the polls, though it should be noted that this third poll was only between Ussej Padric Bac and Ussej Padric Bac III. Ussej received roughly forty-seven percent of the vote, compared to the roughly fifty-three percent of the vote garnered by Ussej Padric Bac III. However, the difference was only one vote, as the two characters received eight and nine votes, respectively.

The fourth, conducted in September 2007, showed very different results. The poll was between ten characters, though the five that did not receive any votes have been omitted from the final results. Because of that, Ussej was tied with The Consort for last place, receiving only one vote which gave him roughly seven and three quarters percent of the votes. Carden Mannux was the winner, having nearly thirty-eight and a half percent, while Ussej Padric Bac III received thirty-one and three quarters percent and Cos Jonathan Dashin received just over fifteen percent of the vote. Rhea attributes this to the amount of time since the end of the first timeline and the influx of newer members on TheStarWarsRP.Com, as many of the people on the website then were not familiar with Ussej or the role-plays he was in.

After compiling the research for the Ussej Padric Bac article on Star Wars Fanon, Rhea conducted a fifth and, currently, final poll to determine the popularity of the character in comparison to his other characters. Ussej was tied with Ussej Padric Bac III, each garnering four votes out of a total nineteen, or 21.05%. However, they were not the highest ranked. Banik Kelrada, one of Rhea's current role-playing characters, received a total of five votes, or 26.32%. Behind these three characters was Alcor Bac with three votes (15.79%), Carden Mannux with two votes (10.53%) and Cos Jonathan Dashin with one vote (5.26%). Receiving zero votes were Josiah Rendar and Jonas Matchek. Rhea has attributed Kelrada's higher ranking to the character's current popularity, as the vote was conducted shortly after role-playing events that were integral to the creation of the rogue Jedi faction called the Ospion Guardians, which Kelrada was a part of. Rhea also cites that many role-players on TheStarWarsRP.Com are unfamiliar with Ussej Padric Bac due to the character not having been used outside of novels in three years. However, many veterans who were members when Ussej was being role-played did state that they voted for him as their favorite.

The Ussej Padric Bac article on Star Wars Fanon garnered two awards in the Third Star Wars Fanon Wiki Awards. The first was the "Best Ashla Character Award", which was for the best light sided character. Facing competition from Krad Erron by Xepeyon, Norris Raddek by Dexington, Roviik Antrell by Victor Dorantes, Cerras Ki by Jasca Ducato, and The Skywalker, also by Rhea, Ussej Padric Bac gained seven of the twelve votes cast in that category. The second award was the "Best Overall Character Award", in which Ussej Padric Bac tied with Narod Antrell by Victor Dorantes. Both received four of the nine votes cast in that category. Other nominees in the category were Filose Naj by Dexington, Tulak Hord by Solus, Norris Raddek by Dexington, as well as Jonathan Bac and Androc Montra which were also written by Rhea and Dorantes, respectively.

Parodies


Ussej was parodied on Darthipedia, the Star Wars Humor Wiki by Rhea and other users such as Darth 83.81.43, Victor Dorantes and supergeeky1. In the parody, the character is named “Jesus Patrick Bach”, reflective of the fact that the names of the character came from Jesus Christ, “Patrick” and famed composer Johan Sebastian Bach. Bach is portrayed as a Mary Sue, one who is proven to be a true hero based on the fact that he takes his shirt off. After becoming a Jedi Knight, Bach becomes paranoid after destroying a planet. Before that, he was good friends with Kit Carbon-emissions Rendar and Damien Morningwood. After Rendar became known as Darth Ravenclaw, Bach snapped and became Darth Praying Mantis, which was based on the name Darth Mantus used in the original Star Wars RP role-plays. Praying Mantis was said to have been “one of the fiercest but also dumbest Sith Lords to ever live”, as well as being the person to find the Medallion of the Superman-Khan. This gave Bach superhuman abilities, other than the ability to see through lead.

Bach later “came to his senses and became a good guy again, thanks to his hot blonde apprentice and occasional lover Laili”. The two traveled to the Unknown Regions to run away from the Sith, “because they were bitches like that”, and located the Bendy Bendu Acrobats, a parody of the Bendu Order. The Bendy Bendu told them about a God called Yahweh, also known as Kyle Katarn, and Bach became a hero to them, “just like everywhere else he went”. He became the Shaman of the Free Willys and lived in another dimension “until God said he could go to Heaven and bang his hot blonde apprentice some more”.

In certain instances, the number system in regards to names that was started because of Ussej Padric Bac has been parodied on TheStarWarsRP.Com. There have been times throughout the three years since the creation of the character where users would change their names to "Ussej Padric Bac" and add in a random set of Roman numerals on the end. This is a parody of having multiple characters with the same name, such as Ussej Padric Bac III or Ussej Padric Bac LXIV, as well as the other characters sharing the same name.

Appearances

 * Chronicles of the Great War: Aftermath
 * Chronicles of the Great War: The Chancellor's Bidding
 * Nativity: The Birth of Annikin Skywalker
 * Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One
 * Star Wars: Genesis
 * Star Wars: Trials of War - Stranger in a Strange Land
 * Star Wars: Episode II - Dawn of an Empire