Master Khain and Padawan Ziah

Brace yourselves; Star Wars artwork is coming.

So I've been doing a lot with Star Wars stuff this last week, ever since my little brother lent me his copy of Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. It has, needless to say, reawakened my love of the Clone Wars era of the Star Wars saga; and so I spent the last two days working on these up-to-date reworkings of my Jedi designs from a couple years ago: A Jedi Knight named Khain, and his Padawan learner, Ziah (after more than two years, I finally decided to use the name which DA buddy had suggested on the Padawan's original design).

I've gotta say, comparing this to the original design sheets for these two is quite an experience for me.

Original Khain: [link]

Original Ziah ("The Padawan"): [link]

I'd say that I've since gotten a much better handle on the "Clone Wars" visual style.

As one might guess from his appearance, Khain is a bit of a rebel among the Jedi. His defiant nature and angular features earned him the nickname "The Sith Jedi" among his fellow younglings, and the moniker stuck with him into his later years as a Padawan and a Jedi Knight. His choice to use a red crystal in his lightsaber was a bit risky, but when questioned about it, he typically responds with either "Why should it even matter?" or "It's not even really red. It's vermilion." His lightsaber's distinctive grip, while reminiscent of ancient swords and vibroblades, does in fact serve a purpose. The wide prongs on either side of the emitter plate allow his lightsaber to have drastically variable beam settings. Rather than just being able to fine-tune the blade like most lightsabers, Khain can condense his lightsaber's blade to a thin, blindingly bright white line, or loosen it to the point that it appears as a luminous red mist.
It is thought that were it not for his authority issues and constant questioning of the Council's derectives, he would have been made a Jedi Master years ago.

His Padawan, Ziah, on the other hand, is significantly more reserved in her character. She balances out Khain's eccentricities and prevents him from doing anything too drastic. Upon meeting her for the first time, Khain remarked "don't worry, you're just the next in a long line of problem students. Like me, and my master, and his master, and probably her master too." He was of course, referring to Ziah's weak connection to the Force. Rather than dwelling on her Force deficiency, she has channeled it into a desire to improve in other areas, namely her skills with the lightsaber. Her fighting style relies on performing a continuous stream of lightning-quick attacks, and keeping the enemy guessing by constantly switching between forward and backward wielding, and altering her stance. Her left-handedness can also throw off saber-wielding opponents, as the vast majority of other saber-users are trained to wield right-handed. While her weak connection to the Force may make her less than ideal Jedi material, her combat emphasis is exactly what's needed out on the front lines.

Star Wars, The Clone Wars (c) George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd.

Khain and Ziah (c)

As usual, I'm open for commissions: [link]