Darth Zannah

Born: 1010 BBY

Master: Darth Bane

Apprentice: Darth Cognus

Appeared: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, 2006

Behind the Scenes:

The character of Darth Bane and his first apprentice was first established by George Lucas in his backstory for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and was given to author Terry Brooks to detail in his novelization of the film. As the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novelization was written before the identity of Zannah was established, it refers to Darth Bane's apprentice as "him." Zannah's first actual appearance as a character was in Darko Macan's Star Wars: Jedi vs. Sith comic series, in which she was penciled by artist Ramón F. Bachs. Author Abel G. Peña, who takes credit for the establishment of Zannah's Sith identity, explained in his blog the various factors he considered prior to deciding on what he felt would be an appropriate name for the last of the Darths with which he was intimately involved. After giving a thorough explanation on the revival of the antiquated "Darth" title, Peña stated that "Darth Zannah" mirrored the simplicity of the names chosen by Sith who had preceded her, most notably Darths Revan and Malak. He further alluded to the negative connotations of the name Zannah which, when translated from Hebrew (spelled "Zanah"), was synonymous with adultery, fornication, and prostitution. Peña also voiced his suspicion that Macan, who is of Eastern-European descent, intended Zannah to be a reference to "Zânã," a Romanian goddess and equivalent to the Charites of Greek mythology.

Zannah was absent in the short story Bane of the Sith, which detailed Darth Bane's time on Dxun. The The New Essential Chronology explained that she had found her own way to Onderon. Both The New Essential Chronology and part 6 of The Dark Forces Saga mistakenly identified Zannah and Darovit as siblings, when in fact they were cousins, as expressed in Jedi vs. Sith. She subsequently appeared in a cameo role in the epilogue of Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and was featured fully in the novel's sequels, Darth Bane: Rule of Two and Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil. Zannah received fleeting and indirect mentions in the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook; The Dark Side Sourcebook; The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War, an online supplement to Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous, which appeared in Star Wars Insider 86; as well as Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties, the online supplement for Insider 88. Zannah also received her own entry in 2008's Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.