Unidentified language (Yarzion Vell)

The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

A language was used by the ancestors of the alien Jedi Yarzion Vell. When Vell was a Padawan, he and his Jedi Master, Lulad, went on a mission to Vell's home planet, where he received tattoos of Lulad's name in the language in accordance with the planet's tradition. When Lulad learned this, she had Vell's name tattooed on her head in the language.

In 229 BBY, following Lulad's death, Vell claimed to a group of children speaking with him that his tattoos had no meaning. Later, in 227 BBY, Vell spoke to Kelnacca and told him about the language and his tattoos. After Vell was knighted, Kelnacca got tattoos of Vell's name in the language. Around 149 BBY, Vell mentioned the language to his own Padawan, Ordea.

Description

A language was used by the ancestors of the Jedi Yarzion Vell, a member of an alien species. The language could be written using runes consisting of curved lines, circles, dots, and other markings.^[1]

History

During the High Republic Era, when Vell was a Jedi Padawan, he and his Jedi Master, Lulad, went on a mission to Vell's home planet. In accordance with the planet's tradition of being tattooed with the name of one's greatest teacher as a sign of respect, Vell had a skin-scribe tattoo Lulad's name on his head. When Lulad learned what Vell had done, he expected her to be upset, but she instead had the skin-scribe tatto Vell's name on her head in the language.^[1] In 230 BBY,^[2] Lulad was killed and Jedi Master Kelnacca took on Vell's training.^[1] In 229 BBY,^[2] when Vell and Kelnacca were making repairs in a settlement on the astronomical object Vianax, a group of children asked Vell about the meaning of his tattoos. However, Vell claimed they had no meaning.^[1]

In 227 BBY,^[2] in the Jedi Archives in the Jedi Temple on^[1] the planet^[3] Coruscant, Kelnacca saw Vell looking at a hologram of Lulad and noticed their similar tattoos. Vell told Kelnacca about the language while explaining to him the meaning of his tattoos and why he had received them. In the final year of Vell's training, he rescued the droid Zeekay from a fire on the astronomical object Veek and returned it to the child Yesula. Kelnacca knighted Vell for his actions and then asked to be tattooed with Vell's name in the language. Vell complied with the request and tattooed his name on Kelnacca's head.^[1]

Vell eventually took on his own Padawan, Ordea.^[1] Around 149 BBY,^[4] when Vell was dying on the planet Tozil, he told Ordea stories of his training and mentioned his ancestor's language and the tattoos written in it.^[1] Kelnacca's tattoos written in the language remained visible until his death^[5] in 132 BBY^[6] on the planet Khofar.^[5]

Behind the scenes

The language first appeared in Revenge / Justice,"^[7] the second episode of the live-action series Star Wars: The Acolyte, which aired on June 4, 2024.^[8] Before the release of the episode, it was first depicted in a trailer shown exclusively at Celebration Europe^[9] during the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase on April 7, 2023.^[10] It was established to be a language in the one-shot comic The Acolyte - Kelnacca 1, written by Cavan Scott, illustrated by Marika Cresta, and published by Marvel Comics^[1] on September 4, 2024.^[11] A piece of concept art created by Louis Wiltshire depicted Kelnacca with his tattoos in the language.^[12]

The covers of the first and second issues of the 2025 comic series Star Wars: The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi both depict Kelnacca with his tattoos in the language.^[13][14] However, Kelnacca did not receive his tattoos until after Yarzion Vell was knighted,^[1] and Vell is still Kelnacca's Padawan during the events of the comics. The issues had covers illustrated by Phil Noto, were written by Cavan Scott, and were published by Marvel Comics as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project's^[13][14] Phase III on February 19, 2025,^[15] and March 26, 2025, respectively.^[16]

Appearances

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• The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi 1
• The High Republic – Fear of the Jedi 2
• The High Republic – The Finale 1
• The Acolyte - Kelnacca 1 (First described)
• Star Wars: The Acolyte — "Choice"
• Star Wars: The Acolyte — "Destiny"
• Star Wars: The Acolyte — "Revenge / Justice" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: The Acolyte — "Day"
• Star Wars: The Acolyte — "Night"

Sources

Notes and references