Who Is Abeloth? The Terrifying Star Wars Villain, Explained

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The villains of the "Star Wars" universe tend to be Sith Lords, Imperial bureaucrats or Separatist droids. Every so often, though, the galaxy far, far away produces something that defies definition. One of the most powerful villains to grace the "Star Wars" galaxy was a true eldritch horror, boasting such power that the Jedi and Sith were forced to work together to defeat her. A godlike dark side entity born millennia before the events of the Skywalker Saga, who plagued the galaxy after the fall of the Empire in "Star Wars" Legends, this monster was known as Abeloth.

Currently, Abeloth exists only in Legends -– the old "Star Wars" Expanded Universe continuity, which was discontinued and replaced by the new canon when Disney acquired Lucasfilm. However, Abeloth's roots lie in one of the most talked about story arcs featured on the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Given that "The Clone Wars" remains part of the new "Star Wars" canon, it is possible that Abeloth could exist in the current "Star Wars" continuity. Some fans even suspect she could be due to make an appearance in an upcoming Disney+ series.

The Mortis arc on season 3 of "The Clone Wars" –- sometimes called the Mortis trilogy -– consisted of the episodes "Overlords," "Altar of Mortis" and "Ghosts of Mortis." This story took place on the strange world of Mortis, which would later become intrinsically tied to Abeloth, laying the foundations for her introduction. The Jedi Council became aware of Mortis when they received a Jedi distress signal that was over 2000 years old, coming from beyond the galaxy's Outer Rim. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano were sent to investigate, discovering a mysterious floating monolith. Within this structure, they discovered the realm of Mortis.

On Mortis, seasons changed with the time of day, bringing life and warmth in the days, while bitter rains swept the planet and plant life withered at night. The world's terrain was constantly shifting and changing as well. This mysterious realm was revealed to be a conduit through which the entirety of the Force flowed, its shifting seasons reflecting the balance between dark and light. The events that unfolded on Mortis would be reflected in the events unfolding across the galaxy, the Force's will being molded by all that occurred there.

Mortis was disconnected from the rest of the galaxy, removed from the natural flow of time, in order to safely contain its three inhabitants. Known as the Ones, or sometimes the Mortis Gods, these all-powerful beings embodied different aspects of the Force –- and were once the family of Abeloth.

While Abeloth's roots lay in "The Clone Wars," Mortis did not become associated with Abeloth until the release of the "Fate of the Jedi" series of novels, an extensive storyline that saw Luke Skywalker forced to contend with Abeloth. These books were being written around the same time as the Mortis arc on "The Clone Wars" and were also set to feature a Force-wielding god. To maintain continuity across the various "Star Wars" titles, author Troy Denning worked with "The Clone Wars" showrunner Dave Filoni to integrate Abeloth with the Ones.

To maintain the mystery surrounding the Ones, ancient and mysterious entities, "Fate of the Jedi" showed Abeloth's backstory through the hive mind of the Killiks, who could not differentiate fact and fiction. This means the only account we have of Abeloth's origins may be unreliable.

Through the memories of the Killiks, it was revealed that the Ones of Mortis were formed by a geyser on an unidentified world. Abeloth was once a mortal woman who attended them as the Servant. She soon became known as the Mother, mediating the conflicts of the Son and the Daughter. Eventually, hoping to obtain immortality, the Mother drank from the Font of Power and bathed in the Pool of Knowledge. This corrupted her, transforming her into an all-powerful god known as Abeloth. Abeloth had no fixed physical form, instead possessing others or consuming them and stealing their form. Her strength in the dark side was unparalleled and she subsisted on others' fear and pain.

The Ones, or the Mortis Gods, were the three near-immortal inhabitants of Mortis. The Father represented balance in the Force, the Daughter represented the light, and the Son represented the dark side. They appeared to be corporeal beings and, at least in the case of the Son and the Daughter, were not simply embodiments of these aspects of the Force. Rather, they were each drawn to a particular side of the Force. The Son only fell to the dark side within the Mortis arc on "The Clone Wars."

In "Fate of the Jedi," it was revealed that the Son and Daughter became aligned with their respective aspects of the Force after the Son drank from the Font of Power and the Daughter swam in the Pool of Knowledge. These mystical bodies of water existed on the Ones' homeworld. However, it was combining the waters of both, in an effort to live as long as the Ones, that turned Abeloth into a monster.

The strength the Son and Daughter gained forced the Father to imprison them on Mortis for the safety of the galaxy. Abeloth, however, who became an inhuman vessel of pure chaos after consuming powers of the light and dark sides, was imprisoned on the Ones' homeworld. Around this time, the Son and Daughter created the Maw, an impenetrable cluster of black holes. Only after the Ones were killed in the Mortis arc was Abeloth able to escape.

So far, there has been no sign of Abeloth in any canon "Star Wars" series. Inserting such a powerful entity so strongly tied to the Ones, who are practically gods of the "Star Wars" universe, could be difficult to fit into canon without disrupting it. However, the fandom seems to think a canon version of Abeloth could be coming to the franchise's next live-action Disney+ series. The conclusion to Ahsoka season 1 included a tease of a major Abeloth connection.

In the last moments of the season finale, Ray Stevenson's Baylan Skoll –- a fallen Jedi Knight -– was seen looking out across the landscape of the extragalactic planet of Peridea. It was then revealed that Baylan was standing atop a giant stone effigy of the Ones. He was looking towards a distant shining light -– much like the light that had once graced the top of the Father's monastery on Mortis. 

If "Ahsoka" season 2 features a return to Mortis, it is possible it could also see Abeloth unleashed. The Ones were killed off in "The Clone Wars," leaving no other known Mortis inhabitants alive. However, the realm's connection to Abeloth could mean Ahsoka is going to reintroduce the dark god in the current "Star Wars" canon.