Who Is the Inquisitor in Disney+’s ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi’?

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is a new anthology series on Disney+ that tracks the lives of two very different Force-wielders. There’s Count Dooku, the Jedi who would become the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus. And then there’s Ahsoka Tano, padawan of Anakin Skywalker who would ultimately become a legend in her own right. This being Star Wars, you better believe that these six episodes are positively packed with surprise appearances and cameos from other Star Wars characters. Tales of the Jedi even goes a step further by introducing new characters to the grand Star Wars mythology — and one of them is the Inquisitor.

Okay, he’s not the Inquisitor. He’s one of many Inquisitors, and he pops up in the finale chapter “Resolve.” In that episode, he squares off against Ahsoka Tano in the middle of a burning village. We don’t learn much about this Inquisitor in the episode, but you know there’s always more going on with every Star Wars character than what’s mentioned onscreen. So, who is this Inquisitor? Have we seen him before? Will we see him again, somehow? Here’s everything we know about the Inquisitor in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.

First of all — what is an Inquisitor?

If Tales of the Jedi is the first time you’ve seen one of these intimidating villains, here’s what you need to know. The Inquisitorius is an Imperial group of Force-sensitive individuals tasked with hunting down and killing any Jedi who survived the slaughter of Order 66 (as seen in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith). In some cases, Inquisitors are former Jedi or Jedi younglings who essentially turned to the dark side and threw in with Darth Vader and the Emperor during the fall of the Republic. It’s important to note that the Inquisitors are not Sith Lords, even if they carry red lightsabers and wear black armor similar to Vader’s.

The Inquisitors have popped up in numerous places across Star Wars canon, spanning animation, comics, and live-action. They first appeared in 2014 with the launch of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Since then, they’ve been heavily featured in numerous Marvel comics, like the 2017 Darth Vader ongoing series. Most recently, the Inquisitors acted as the main adversaries in this year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series on Disney+. This marked their debut in live-action Star Wars canon.

Who is the Inquisitor in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi?

The Inquisitor seen in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is one we haven’t seen before. This Inquisitor is so new that he doesn’t even have a name yet. Inquisitors have numerical and gendered designations like Third Sister or Eighth Brother, so this bad guy’s name is probably something along those lines. He’s notable for his mask, which appears to be made of bone, and the fact that he seems to have been active prior to the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars Rebels.

 

There was speculation based on the trailer that this character could be Darth Revan, based on the shape of the character’s mask. Darth Revan is an ancient Sith Lord who was introduced in 2003’s Knights of the Old Republic video game, which is no longer considered part of the current, active canon. Further speculation posited that this Inquisitor was actually the Sixth Brother. This is because a similar confrontation between Ahsoka and an Inquisitor happened in E. K. Johnston’s 2016 novel Ahsoka. However, the story told in Ahsoka differs greatly from what we see in Tales of the Jedi, so that means this is not the Sixth Brother.

The character was voiced by Clancy Brown, who also provided the voices for Savage Opress in Star Wars: Clone Wars and Ryder Azadi in Star Wars Rebels. Brown also played the horned mercenary Burg in The Mandalorian episode “The Prisoner.”

If you’re bummed that this Inquisitor doesn’t have a name or origin story yet, just wait. As Tales of the Jedi taught us, there are no minor characters in Star Wars.