Character Name: Major Zod Severus
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Light Side/Dark Side Ratio: 3/10
Description: Slightly above average height, Severus cuts an imposing figure not through impressive height or massive amounts of muscle, but through his armour. Due to a serious accident, Severus must wear his specially designed body armour most of the time. The armous Severus wears is largely red with greys, blacks and whites (rough sketch of armour will be forthcoming). Without the armour, he appears with considerable scarring and cybernetic replacement parts. His cybernetics include both arms, lungs and right knee. His eyes are a very pale blue, bordering on grey. His hair, cut in a very short style, is dark with streaks of gunmetal grey.
Homeworld: Dantooine
History: Zod Severus was born to a prosperous farming family on Dantooine 42 years ago. Though relatively rich, his family fell into ruin when Zod was just a young boy. A feud with a neighbouring family escalated to the point of armed attacks that left the property of both families in ruin. However, the Severus clan bore the brunt of the damage and their fortune was wiped out. Zod’s father and older brother were dead and his mother was left crippled. The refusal of the Jedi at the nearby Jedi Temple to become involved and mediate the dispute was seen by young Zod as a betrayal by the Order, an act for which he never forgave them.
With nothing left for him on Dantooine, Zod left the planet and enrolled in the Republic Military Academy, from which he graduated with honours. He served the majority of his pre-Empire career on Naboo, where he met and married his wife, a jewellery maker named Leetra. Severus led a moderately happy life on Naboo, in charge of coordination of defence forces as well as local law enforcement around Theed. When the Trade Federation began their blockade around Naboo, it was Severus and his forces who helped hold off the attacking droid army long enough for Queen Amidala to escape. That the Jedi accompanying her also escaped was, in Severus’s view, a necessary evil. Despite his low opinion of the Jedi, he was forced to recommend to his superior that they request Jedi intervention in their efforts to defeat the Trade Federation’s droid army. When the Jedi Council refused the request, indicating they were not in a position to fight wars, Severus felt betrayed yet again by these so-called guardians of peace and justice.
The battle with the droid army was not going well. Soldiers and civilians alike were dying in droves and an evacuation of some areas of Theed was ordered. Including the area in which Zod, Leetra and their young daughter were living. In a panic, Zod raced to his home, only to find the advancing droid army already upon it. Firing madly, Zod and the five soldiers he brought with him fought through the druids and into Zod’s home, where Leetra and the child were huddled in fear beneath a table. That is when the droid tanks began their barrage. In the first volley, two of the Naboo soldiers were vapourized. In the second, the front wall of the Severus home was reduced to rubble. The small vats of chemicals his wife used in her craft were beginning to boil and smoke and Severus knew they had to escape from that place immediately, if they were to live. Another soldier went down under a hail of blaster fire and the largest of the chemical vats began to rattle and boil over. Severus reached out for the vat to prevent it from falling on them and yelled for his wife and daughter to run out through the back door and to keep running until the reached Theed palace. He heard his wife scream his name then the whole world turned white, then black and went entirely silent.
Severus woke up twelve hours later in a bacta tank. His lungs were burning from the chemicals he has inhaled. Both arms had been burned and mangled beyond use from chemicals and flames. He would later learn that his wife and daughter had never made it to Theed Palace. In fact, they had never made it out from beneath the table – they had died in the barrage of blaster fire and exploding chemical vats that had so very nearly killed Severus. All because the Jedi were afraid to leave the safety of their council chamber.
Over the subsequent weeks, Severus had his lungs and arms replaced and his skin began to heal in most places. However, the doctors discovered something they were unprepared for – it appeared that whatever combination of chemicals has been absorbed into his skin in the explosion, they had created a form of bacteria that would creep along inside his body, dissolving flesh and bone. The worst part was that they had no idea how to kill this bacteria. The best they could do, the doctors said, was to render it dormant and to do so would require Severus to wear a suit of specially designed armour.
Severus, in his newly armoured form, was back in action in time to fight in the battle over Coruscant to free the captive Chancellor from Count Dooku’s separatist fleet. When the Republic became the Empire and the Jedi Order was revealed to be the traitorous, cowardly group Severus knew it to be, he immediately went directly to Palpatine to volunteer his services. He became one of the first and most dedicated Imperial Inquisitors and while many Jedi were destroyed by the clone army and by Darth Vader himself, Severus was able to ferret out information on several hidden Jedi as well as kill two himself. One of the Jedi he killed was a Padawan, a 15-year-old human female whose eyes, he was disturbed to discover while examining her dead body, reminded him of his wife’s. He kept the dead Padawan’s lightsabre. He claims it is a trophy of the kill, but only he knows for certain why he kept it.
Severus is intent on bringing order to the galaxy and doing away with the “secret societies” that create divisions among people – in particular, the Jedi Order and these new people who have begun launching terrorist attacks against Palpatine’s Empire. His current role is that of a “political officer,” which in reality is not much different from his role as an Inquisitor – now he seeks out anyone who threatens the stability and prosperity of the Empire.
Severus can only spend a few hours outside his suit before the bacteria comes out of its dormancy. As a result, he always travels with two nurses and a bacta tank, in which he is submerged should he need more than a couple hours sleep. Additionally, the field generators in his armour must be recharged every 72 hours or they risk a shutdown.
Politics: Severus is a great supporter of the Imperial ideal, for the most part. He is virulently opposed to the Jedi Order in any form and believes that rule through dictatorship, as established by Palpatine, is a far more efficient political system than the democratic Republic, which had been endlessly mired in bureaucracy. His main departure from the Imperial “company line” is in regards to non-human life forms. The Empire is becoming increasingly more xenophobic, but in Severus’s view, many species offer unique abilities and talents that could be tremendous assets to the Empire. Some would argue that enslavement, such as is the case with the Wookiees and Mon Calamari, allows the Empire to make use of these talents, but in the opinion of Severus, no ability will be fully utilized unless done so willingly. Severus is also not particularly fond of the Sith, though he keeps this opinion to himself for the obvious reasons. He feels that anyone who wields the Force should be closely watched.
Items: Severus has pretty much any piece of Imperial technology at his disposal. Among his personal possessions, several different types of blasters and vibroblades can be found. He also has command of a smallish transport, the Anephedros, that has been adapted to serve not just as a conveyance, but as full-time living quarters for the Major, his entourage and staff. There are also troop quarters that can be used if required, but generally any troops under the command of Severus travel in separate ships. Severus is in possession of one lightsabre – a trophy from his final mission as an Imperial Inquisitor tracking down Jedi – but it remains in a locked security box aboard his vessel. He takes it out to look at from time to time, but never uses it. The lightsabre, he believes, is the weapon of an extinct Order and both they and their technology should remain extinct. One supposes that Zastra Carnifex could also be listed in this section (see NPC profile here) as could the two nurses who always travel with Severus to maintain his bacta tank.
Abilites: Severus, as a former Imperial Inquisitor, has an excellent analytical mind and in another life would have made a fantastic detective. All other abilities aside, this is probably his greatest attribute. His strength is above average, given his cybernetics, but his endurance is below average, given his medical condition. Living with pain every day of his life, Severus has a very high pain threshold and with all that he has seen, done and suffered, he is not easily threatened or intimidated. His military training has made him a good shot with a blaster and an above-average swordsman.
Force Powers: None. If you use the Force, you should die.
Played by: Jeremy Irons
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