Who are the Inquisitors?

The Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius Program employed the rank of inquisitor. Their primary duty as dark side operatives of the Empire was to seek out remaining Jedi in the wake of Order 66 with the intention of either eliminating them or admitting them to the Inquisitorius, where they might be forced to serve Emperor Palpatine.

First appearances

In the 2014 animated television series Star Wars Rebels, the Inquisitors made their first appearance in the canonical Star Wars universe. However, the inquisitorius has already existed in the Star Wars Legends continuity. The inquisitorious was developed for The Star Wars Sourcebook, a 1987 sourcebook for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, authored by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith

The Inquisitors Roles and Powers

Inquisitors, a high-ranking position under the Galactic Empire, were primarily responsible with locating and either arresting or eradicating young  Force-sensitive individuals, including former Jedi, Padawans, and those coming from other Force-wielding traditions. Inquisitors served as enforcers as well, executing political opponents and potential dangers like rebel groups and supporters of the Old Republic. Most other branches of the Empire were kept in the dark about their origin, goal, and membership. 

Inquisitors held a prominent position in the Empire as agents working for the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, and they had the freedom to commandeer and direct whatever Imperial resources necessary to carry out their objectives. Purge Troopers were individually ordered by Inquisitors.  A few chosen Inquisitors also maintained a position of authority among the Inquisitorius. Grand Inquisitors and a few other high-ranking Imperial titles, such as Grand Moff, were superior to Inquisitors. 

How were inquisitors trained

Inquisitors were weak in the dark side of the Force. This is due to them having fighting styles that was reminiscent of their Jedi training. Darth Vader instructed them to go from a defensive to an offensive combat style in order to correct this. Some Inquisitors lost limbs during some of Vader's training sessions as a lesson in loss. The Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious made sure that the Inquisitors didn't have access to all of a Sith Lord's knowledge and abilities because they were the Sith's slaves. Inquisitors eventually rose to prominence as among of the galaxy's best warriors, albeit only to the extent that their Sith masters let them to.

Inquisitor’s attire and weapon

The Inquisitors had red-bladed lightsabers and were dressed in bodysuits of black and gray armor. Inquisitors frequently wielded double-bladed spinning lightsabers, which included a spinning mechanism that enabled the saber to be spun mechanically to increase its capacity to deflect incoming blows.

Storyline

The Inquisitorius was founded not long after the Galactic Empire was established. Emperor Palpatine needed to make sure his position of authority could not be threatened or overthrown by the light side, and thus the Inquisitorius was created even though Order 66 was mainly effective in ridding the galaxy of Jedi. However, through a strange turn of events, these Inquisitors were formerly Jedi. These dark side agents were Jedi kidnapped by the Empire during the Clone Wars, who subsequently corrupted, tormented, and eventually transformed them into warriors of evil, as explored in the critically acclaimed video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order by Lucasfilm Games and Respawn Entertainment. One of these Jedi was Trilla Suduri, the antagonist in Jedi: Fallen Order. She originally escaped the clone-led purge, but following Order 66, the galaxy quickly became dangerous for any Jedi. In the aftermath, Trilla, a Padawan at the time, and her teacher Cere Junda made an effort to flee the Empire but were ultimately apprehended. While Cere watched helplessly, Trilla was rapidly corrupted and pushed to the dark side by the Empire's cruel torture techniques, becoming Second Sister. The Inquisitors, unlike Sidious and Darth Vader, did not adhere to the Sith doctrine despite using the evil side of the Force and wielding crimson lightsabers. Instead, they served effectively as the Empire's specialized warriors. This prevented the internal strife among the Inquisitorius from growing and possibly endangering Sidious's authority.

 

Darth Vader's entrance into the Inquisition is explicitly discussed in Charles Soule's Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith Marvel series. Vader discovered the Pau'an was the Emperor's Grand Inquisitor, the head of an exclusive organization, when he was confronted by the strange Force user in the ancient Jedi Temple. The Inquisitors were then sent to Vader by Palpatine, who assigned them to different missions to find Jedi and any other Force-sensitive individuals, even kids, who would pose a danger to the Emperor's authority. One such Jedi who was killed by the Inquisitors was Eeth Koth. The Inquisition was successful as the years passed and less and fewer Jedi were discovered around the galaxy.

Vader's involvement in the Inquisition decreased as the number of Jedi declined; he now mostly intervened to maintain the dark side warriors' blind obedience. Vader did not hesitate to purge the group of the virus if he noticed any disorderly conduct.

Cannon Inquisitors

1. The Grand Inquisitor

He simply goes by his title since his real name is unknown. He made his debut early in Star Wars Rebels' first season and chases both potential Jedi Ezra Bridger and former Padawan Kanan Jarrus throughout the episode. The Grand Inquisitor may be the most powerful member of the dark side inside the Empire, only surpassed by Vader and Sidious, but in the end, he depends more on instilling fear than on making overt demonstrations of might.

2. Reva the Third Sister

Reva the Third Sister, who was portrayed by Moses Ingram in Obi-Wan Kenobi, was first introduced as an ambitious Inquisitor who was clamoring for Jedi blood. Obi-Wan Kenobi revealed Reva's background, which was chock-full of surprising turns and crucial canon-defining details. Reva, a youngling, managed to escape Order 66, but not before she saw Anakin Skywalker massacre the Jedi. She became an Inquisitor and embraced the Dark Side in an effort to become closer to Darth Vader. Her goal was to capture Obi-Wan and be at Vader's side. Reva would then exact her revenge when the Sith Lord's defenses were weak. But it turned out that Vader had known Reva's identity all along and had been toying her during her stint as an Inquisitor, thus this backfired. In a cruel twist of fate, Reva became into the monster she had pledged to destroy, perpetrating several crimes on her quest.

3. Fifth Brother

The Grand Inquisitor's passing causes a power vacuum among the other Inquisitors of the Empire. The Fifth Brother, who makes his debut early in Star Wars Rebels season 2, seeks out the two potential Jedi him in an effort to become the Grand Inquisitor. The Fifth Brother was almost wholly disinterested in elegance, preferring to employ raw strength almost solely in his fights against Kanan and Ezra.  He collaborates closely with the Seventh Sister, another Inquisitor, during Rebels season 2.

4. Seventh Sister

Along with her partner, the Fifth Brother, this Mirialan Inquisitor was one of the season 2 of Rebels' most tenacious foes. The Fifth Brother's use of power was complemented by the Seventh Sister's strategic tactics and deft employment of ID9 Parrot Droids as she competed to become the next Grand Inquisitor. Throughout the season, the two were quite close to beating Kanan and Ezra multiple times.

5. Second Sister

The Second Sister, a tragic villain, serves as the primary antagonist in the 2019 video game Jedi: Fallen Order. She, who was once the Padawan Trilla Suduri, and her teacher Cere Junda managed to survive Order 66 and spent some time hiding from the Empire. The Imperials ultimately managed to catch Junda and torture her until she finally gave in and revealed where Trilla was. Trilla, who felt betrayed by her lord and through the same suffering, joined the evil side and rose to become one of the most ruthless and powerful Inquisitors. The former Padawan Cal Kestis was often on the verge of death thanks to the Second Sister, who was as cunning as she was strong.

6. Ninth Sister

 

The Ninth Sister, a minor antagonist in Jedi: Fallen Order, shares sad antecedents with the Second Sister. She admits that, despite her inherent Dowutin strength, her true power derived from her ability to precisely read people in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith. When she was the Jedi Masana Tide, this was a natural skill for her, but like Trilla Suduri, she was tormented by the Empire to the point of breaking, turning to the dark side and exploiting her empathic abilities for evil.

Masana also developed a terrifying callousness to pain and even dismemberment as a result of the torment that transformed her into the Ninth Sister. In a cruel act of betrayal, the Sixth Brother stole a leg from the Ninth Sister, who also lost an eye to Darth Vader during a training session.

 

Written By:
Shahqil