Darth Exemplar

Darth Exemplar (born Malik Lanmaw), was a human male born on Lehon into slavery of the ruthless Rakata. His family was one of the many to work on the immense Star Forge. Through his anger at the Rakata, and of his own family, he grew immensly strong in the Force, especially the Dark Side. He is an ancestor of Epin Lanmaw.

Biography
Born as a slave, Malik was constantly beaten by the Rakata, who felt they had to prove their dominance over their slaves. Even as a young child, he was forced to do back breaking labor until he could no longer continue. This caused him to harbor extreme hatred toward the Rakata, but also at his family, who seemingly did nothing to help him. Though if it was out of fear of repurcussions from the Rakata, or just hatred of Malik himself is unknown. Malik's dark side grew and grew each day, until he snapped, lashing out at his enslavers. After witnessing such a display of power, the Rakata were hesitant to cross him again. However, Malik had tasted the dark side, tasted power, something he loved, possibly too much...

Early Life
Malik spent almost every day of his childhood working for the Rakata, having rest periods only to eat and to sleep. However, they did rotate the slaves, allowing time off occasionally to rest, so as to be able to work longer hours when they were rotated in. During his rest periods, he spent time with his older sister, Shizu.

The two were very close, and Shizu would often take the blame for things that Malik had done, causing her to receive the beating. However, at one point when the Rakata attempted to whip Shizu, Malik's anger got the better of him.

Loss Of Innocence
"What are you gonna do little boy!?!? Kick me in the shins!?"

- Tiro Broxtin to Malik

When Shizu began to see one of the boys from their camp, Tiro Broxtin, romantically, Malik became somewhat weary of him. Seeing as how she usually came in late, and had numerous bruises on her body at different times, and even returned with a broken arm once. She told Malik it was the Rakata's punishment, but he knew better. This Tiro thought he was a tough guy. Malik decided to follow them one night, and it was here that he lost control for the first time.

An argument between Shizu and Tiro escalated and when he began to beat her, Malik went mad... Stepping out of his hiding spot, he challenged Tiro, who responded by making jokes and then spat on Malik. In a flash of anger, Malik's hair stood straight up and his pupils went blank. Not lifting a finger, Malik flung Tiro away from him, sending him to the ground hard. After getting back up, Tiro brushed himself off and laughed, proclaiming that he too had special abilities. Malik stood, a blank star on his face. Tiro made a shoving motion with his fingers and lightning flowed from it. It hit Malik, but was ineffective against him. Still staring blankly, an eye shape flashed on Malik's head, and Tiro dropped to the ground, convulsing.

Malik, who loved his sister very much, was hurt to see her crying when she thought of how she let herself get into that situation. Attempting to cheer her up, he made her a necklace of flowers from the gardens of the Rakata.

The Rakata, who were making their nightly rounds discovered Malik and Shizu with the necklace, and since she was in possession of it, Shizu was responsible. They then brought Shizu to the detention block, which was just a fancy word for their torture chambers. Malik, who had followed, made his way over to Shizu. As soon as he stepped pushed her aside and snatched the whip just as it was about to strike. Try as he might, the Rakata could not get the whip from Malik's grasp. Pulling violently, Malik swung the whip to the side, sending the Rakata into the wall. Backup arrived, but was no match for the invigorated Malik, who cut down the Rakatan warriors with seemingly thoughts alone. After the last Rakata had fallen, Malik stood among their broken and dismembered corpses with a blank stare on his face, seemingly unaffected either positively or negatively.

Shizu grabbed her brother and the two made an escape through the underground tunnels that ran the length of the slave camp, a way for the Rakata to quickly travel the facility without wading through hordes of slaves. Somehow they managed to escape detection and make it back home.

A Tempting Offer
Malik appeared before the Rakatan chieftain shortly after the ordeal. Impressed with a child's ability to overcome warriors in combat, Malik was offered a spot as a watcher, someone who spied on the slaves and reported them to the Rakata.

Descent
Malik's early teen years were somewhat easier, as he was now part of the Rakata tribe, though to maintain deception, he wasn't given any special treatment in front of the other workers. It was during this time that his sister Shizu began to start dating, something that made Malik insanely jealous. His time as a watcher was also something of a revelation for him. It was during this time that he learned of a tomb hidden somewhere on the planet, that supposedly contained treasures that granted a worthy finder untold power. Malik had to be the one to discover it.

Behind the scenes

 * Exemplar means Original or Model.
 * Exemplar is portrayed by Marik Ishtar
 * Marik, is sometimes spelled Malik, which is where the character's name derives from.