Savage Opress is one of Darth Maul's last kind and his long-lost brother, born the planet Dathomir. He serves as a major antagonist for his three season appearences . of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He serves as the septenary antagonist in Season 3 the quaternary antagonist in Season 4 and the tertiary antagonist in Season 5 before his death .
History
Savage Opress was a Dathomirian Zabrak Nightbrother who became a Sith Lord alongside his younger brother, Darth Maul, during the Clone Wars. Originally a tribal leader on Dathomir, Opress was handpicked by Asajj Ventress to become her 'mate' and servant following her grueling tests of Selection, as part of her bid for revenge on her former Master, the Sith Lord Count Dooku. In accordance with their plot against Dooku, Mother Talzin and her Nightsister witches employed their dark magic to grant Opress fearsome abilities, placing him under their control. After murdering his beloved brother Feral in a display of loyalty to Ventress, Opress entered the Clone Wars as a Dark Acolyte, serving as an enforcer in Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems. He executed missions against the Galactic Republic at Devaron's Temple of Eedit and on Affa, slaying his first Jedi, Halsey and Knox, in the former campaign. Opress soon became a Sith apprentice to Dooku, who intended to use his new acolyte to overthrow his own Master, Darth Sidious, and claim control of the galaxy.
Early Life
Savage Opress was from the tribal men of Dathomir, the Nightbrothers, who were subservient to the Nightsisters. He was an unpredictable warrior he made a formidable opponent because of his reckless, impulsive nature and sheer brute force. Personally selected by Asajj Ventress, in a grueling process that pitted nine of the mightiest warriors against each other to see who would survive three challenges and would help her in her plot of revenge against her former master, Count Dooku. Savage and his brother, Feral, survived the tests, and Savage was deemed worthy.
Opress was brought to Mother Talzin, who served as the leader and shaman of the coven of witches. After examining Opress and sensing the hate and power coursing through his veins, Talzin put him into an enchanted sleep and had him brought to the altar known as the Font. In an ancient ceremony heavily rooted in the dark side, Talzin and a full coven of her spellcasters bound together, channeling spirit ichor and the rawest hatred to make Opress an avatar of primal anger for Ventress's plot for vengeance. Subjected to the dark magicks of the Fanged God, Opress was granted greater height and size, a full crown of vestigial horns, and fearsome power: he gained even more brutality, an unmatched ferocity, and heightened physical potential and Force abilities. In addition, the Nightsisters placed him under their control so that Ventress could dictate his actions via a spell of loyalty. Talzin, being an expert shaman of Nightsister magic, secretly ensured that he would remain loyal only to her. As darkness enters his mind, he gives his life over to the Sisters. Their sorcery changes him in size, strength, and ferocity as he abandons his loyalty to his clan, loses all traces of compassion, and gains Force powers.
Bigger and stronger than before, he killed Feral, his own brother, as part of his final test, and later became Count Dooku's apprentice. But in reality, Opress was only pretending to serve him, as he still assists Asajj. He proved himself to be a worthy warrior by killing clones and two Jedi on Devaron. Later on, Dooku trained Savage in the ways of the dark side, making his connection with his hatred stronger.
With Savage's first stages of his training completed, Dooku sends him to Toydaria to bring back King Katuunko alive, and to kill all who would intefere, Jedi included. The trainee arrived on Toydaria in Dooku's solar sailer, and murdered the Toydarian guards who got in his way. After rendering the Toydarian King unconscious, he turned to leave, but Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the throne room and fought the mutated Zabrak.
As Katuunko woke up and tried to escape, Savage force choked him and crushed the King's throat, killing him. Opress managed to get away from the two Jedi with the dead king in his hands, destroyed their Jedi shuttle with the Force, and return to his master. However, the Count was furiously angry with Opress for not brining him back alive. The Count tortured his Sith apprentice with Lightning, but Asajj enters the scene, making Dooku give Savage an opportunity to make amends for his grave mistake: by killing Asajj. But Ventress reminded Savage of his true loyalties, and he sided with Ventress to kill Dooku.
Savage and Asajj fought the Count with all their might, but as Savage kept on getting struck by Dooku's lightning attacks, Ventress rebuked him as she fought Dooku. Angered at his skills being rejected by both of his "masters," Savage betrayed both Tyranus and Ventress by force choking them into a brief submission, broken when the two fled through escape hatches in the floor to persist in their battle elsewhere.
Abruptly, Savage was now confronted by Anakin and Obi-Wan once more, as the two had managed to follow him to the dreadnought. However, Tyranus, after defeating Ventress and forcing her retreat, commanded his battle droids to kill Savage Opress, deeming him a "traitor." However, Opress barely managed to escape the two Jedi and Dooku's battle droids, making his way to Dathomir in Dooku's stolen solar sailer.
After Opress's attempt to kill Tyranus, he headed back to Mother Talzin wounded and exhausted, claiming that Ventress had betrayed him. Needing a new teacher, Mother Talzin claimed that Savage had a surviving brother, Darth Maul, in the Outer Rim who was capable of training Savage. Mother Talzin gave Opress an artifact before he left, allowing him to search for his brother, whom Talzin claimed was somewhere in the Outer Rim.
Death
Eventually, Opress and Maul ended up at Sundari having already forged an alliance with the Mandalorian terrorist group Death Watch. At the Sundari Royal Palace, shortly after Obi-Wan's escape, the two Sith brothers were personally confronted by Maul's former master, Darth Sidious. Initially Maul tried to curry favor with his former master, but Sidious proved unreceptive and, in a mighty display of power, force pushed the two brothers against the throne room wall.
The brothers quickly recovered and attacked Sidious in unison, instigating a fierce duel. Despite the combined efforts of Maul and Savage, Sidious ultimately proved to be the stronger of the three and proceeded to fatally impale Opress through his chest. Maul went to his brother's side, as the Nightsister magic started to leave his body. With his dying breath, Opress expressed his regret that he could never be Maul's equal. Savage's death prompted Maul to turn against his former master and fight him, although it was ultimately in vain.