Lulad

"I was apprentice to Master Lulad, who…who…"
"Who perished in the crash. She is with the Force now, Yarzion. At peace."

―Yarzion Vell and Elzar Mann^[2]

Lulad was a Force-sensitive human who served as a Jedi Master of the Jedi Order during the High Republic Era and was the Master of Jedi Padawan Yarzion Vell. During a mission to Vell's homeworld, Lulad learned that Vell had himself tattooed with her name in accordance with the planet's tradition of being tattooed with the name of one's greatest teacher. She then had herself tattooed with Vell's name, believing a Jedi Master's greatest lessons came from those they taught.

In 230 BBY, Lulad died when the space station Starlight Beacon was destroyed. Following her passing, Jedi Master Kelnacca became Vell's new Master. Vell later spoke about Lulad with Kelnacca and his own Padawan, Ordea.

Biography

"Lulad walked in halfway through the procedure. I thought she would be angry. I thought she'd be disappointed. That she would make me remove what I'd done."
"But she didn't?"
"No. She had the skin-scribe give her a tattoo of her own, the runes spelling my name! Mine!"

―Yarzion Vell and Ordea^[2]

Lulad had a skin-scribe tattoo her with Vell's name.

Lulad was a human Jedi Master of the Jedi Order during the High Republic Era. She was the Master of Padawan Yarzion Vell. A few months after Vell became a Padawan, he and Lulad went on a mission to Vell's home planet. While there, Vell decided to follow his homeworld's tradition of being tattooed with the name of one's greatest teacher as a sign of respect and had a skin-scribe tattoo his head with runes that spelled Lulad's name in his ancestor's language. When Lulad walked in halfway through the procedure, Vell expected her to be angry or disappointed and thought she would make him remove the tattoos. Instead, she had the skin-scribe give her a tattoo of her own, with runes spelling Vell's name, and explained that a Jedi Master's greatest lessons came from those they taught.^[2]

In 230 BBY,^[1] Lulad died when the Starlight Beacon space station was destroyed^[2] by the Nihil pirates and crashed into the planet Eiram.^[3] On Eiram, Vell approached Jedi Master Elzar Mann and told^[2] him^[3] that he was Lulad's apprentice, but struggled to speak about her death. Mann responded by assuring Vell that Lulad was with the Force and at peace. Vell thanked the Jedi Master and asked about who would complete his training. Mann then introduced him to Jedi Master Kelnacca, who took on Vell as his Padawan.^[2]

In 228 BBY,^[4] while on the Nihil occupied^[5] planet^[6] Naboo, Vell and Kelnacca allied with the bounty hunter Lourna Dee and her crew and infiltrated a Nihil stronghold. There, Sister H'Tar, one of the Nihil's^[5] Jedi hunting^[7] Children of the Storm, caused the group to see hallucinations. Vell saw Dee as^[5] a Force-consuming^[6] Nameless creature killing his master, which reminded him of Lulad's death.^[5] In 227 BBY,^[1] in the Jedi Temple on^[2] the planet^[3] Coruscant, Kelnacca spotted Vell looking at a hologram of Lulad. Vell said he would turn it off, but before he did, Kelnacca saw Lulad's tattoos and noticed that they were similar to Vell's. The Padawan then explained about his decision to be tattooed with Lulad's name and how Lulad had then had herself tattooed with Vell's name.^[2] Later, after knighting Vell, Kelnacca also had himself tattooed with Vell's name, similarly to Lulad.^[2] Around 149 BBY,^[8] when Vell was dying, his own Padawan, Ordea, was unsure about who would complete their training, so he related his own experience with Lulad's death to Ordea's feelings and told his Padawan about her.^[2]

Personality and traits

"Lulad had insisted that a Jedi Master never stops learning. That their greatest lessons come from those they teach."

―Yarzion Vell, to Ordea^[2]

Lulad was a human with light skin. She was bald and had tattoos on her head spelling Vell's name in runes. Lulad believed that a Jedi Master never stopped learning and that their greatest lessons came from those they taught.^[2]

Powers and abilities

As a member of the Jedi Order, Lulad was Force-sensitive and trained to wield the Force.^[2]

Equipment

Lulad wore brown Jedi apparel with white wrappings on her arms.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Lulad first appeared in flashbacks in the one-shot comic The Acolyte - Kelnacca 1, written by Cavan Scott, illustrated by Marika Cresta, and published by Marvel Comics^[2] on September 4, 2024.^[9] Prior to the comic's release, a StarWars.com article published on July 26 of that year pictured Vell's tattoos of her name,^[10] although she was not identified until the issue's publication.^[2]