Obscure Characters of the Galaxy: Charal

We all know the Nighsisters, the fearsome witches of Dathomir. From the Clone Wars all the way into the New Republic, they serve an important part in galactic history and Star Wars lore. Today we'll be looking at the first Nightsister introduced in the Star Wars universe, the mighty Charal, Nightsister of Endor!

Charal would be born many decades before the Battle of Yavin on the planet Dathomir. At one point in her life there, she would betray and abandon the sisterhood, even going as far as stealing the Talisman of the Raven from Mother Talzin, and leaving the planet. The Talisman, a small ring, would allow her to transform into a Raven, which she would use many times in her life. She soon found the Sanyassan Marauders and joined their crew, and would work closely with their leader Terak. The day would come through when their ship would crash land on the Forest Moon of Endor, stranding them there until they could repair their starship.

The pirates would establish a base at an old primitive castle in the desert plains of Endor, and begin to settle into life on the moon. Charal would dub herself the Witch-Queen and butt heads with Terak over leadership. They would soon become enemies of the Ewoks, and Charal would become rivals with the force-sensitive shaman Logray. Later they would meet a man named Salak Weet who had also crash landed, who told them what supplies and tools needed to repair their ship. Even though what Weet spoke of was normal starship

technology, Charal and Terak would call it "the power" after being forced to live a primitive lifestyle for many years.

Between 0 and 3 ABY, much would begin to happen on Endor, as the Galactic Empire would begin construction of the second Death Star over the moon. In this period Charal would come face to face with Imperials, lone spacers exploring the moon, and battle it out with her Ewok enemies. Some months later Charal would lead an attack on an Ewok village, bent on retrieving “the power” (a starship's crystal oscillator) from the Towani family’s wrecked ship. She and her forces would kill the defending Ewoks, and the Towani family, save for the youngest child Cindel. With the oscillator in hand, the Marauders were eager to escape, however there was one small problem. None of the pirates knew how to use the device.

Charal would then track down and capture Cindel, hoping to learn how to use it. Cindel was brought before Terak but she refused to answer him. Enraged, Terak had both Cindel and Charal locked away in the castle's dungeons.

Luckily for Cindel though, her friend Wicket the Ewok would arrive with their new ally and fellow crash-lander Noa to break her out. Charal was soon freed to help hunt for the girl, but as the witch transformed into a Raven, Terak stole the magic ring from her, keeping her from shapeshifting back. Later, as Cindel and her friends raced through the woods to fix Noah's crashed ship Charal the Raven and Terak would catch up, and in their final battle the Talisman of the Ring would be destroyed in Terak's possession, leaving Charal stuck as a Raven for the rest of her days...

Charal was originally introduced as one of the main antagonists of the 1985 TV movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Originally Charal was meant to be an ordinary sorcerer, adding something new for the Ewoks to go up against. Later on though her story was expanded and she was revealed to be a Nightsister of Dathomir, adding additional depths of lore to both the film and to other Nightsister tales.