Nak-il Tano

"She's here! She's here."

―Nak-il Tano pronounces the birth of his daughter, Ahsoka^[1]

Nak-il Tano was a Togruta male who was the partner of Pav-ti Tano and the father of Ahsoka Tano.

Biography[]

"Are you sure she's ready?"
"Nak-il, it is custom."
"In old days. Old ways for the old."

―Nak-il and Pav-ti Tano discuss the prospect of Ahsoka's ritual hunt^[1]

LifeAndDeath — Nak-il with his partner Pav-ti and their infant daughter, Ahsoka.

Nak-il Tano was a Togruta male who lived on the planet Shili.^[1] One evening in 36 BBY,^[3] his^[2] partner Pav-ti Tano gave birth to their daughter, Ahsoka Tano. Nak-il ran through the streets to alert the other Togrutas in their village, shouting for joy and telling them to come see. Many of the villagers rose despite it being in the evening to see the new baby.^[1]

One year later,^[4] Nak-il was working on their house when Pav-ti prepared to take Ahsoka on the ritual hunt in the surrounding forest. Nak-il noticed Pav-ti and asked if she really thought Ahsoka was ready for such an adventure. Pav-ti reminded him that it was a traditional custom, but Nak-il responded that they were the old ways for the olden days. Pav-ti showed insistence, so Nak-il decided not to argue and wished her good luck.^[1]

Nak-il continued working on the house until he heard several blaster shots. He grew concerned, and he grabbed his rifle and pursued the sounds along with several other armed Togrutas. Arriving on the scene, he discovered Pav-ti fighting a raxshir and fired several shots at it. As the creature fled, it grabbed Ahsoka in its mouth and took off into the woods. Pav-ti shouted and attempted to pursue the raxshir, but Nak-il grabbed her arm and stopped her and consoled her as several of the other Togrutas chased after it.^[1]

Ahsoka is Jedi — Nak-il and Pav-ti discover that Ahsoka is a Jedi.

After returning to the village, Nak-il vowed to not stop until they found Ahsoka, and was once again joined by a large number of other villagers. However, just then, the raxshir approached the village, with Ahsoka riding on its back. Nak-il watched as the animal bowed and allowed Pav-ti to grab Ahsoka off its back. The raxshir then stood and retreated into the forest. The village elder Gantika then pronounced that Ahsoka was a Jedi.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

"We will go out in force. We will not stop until we find her."

―Nak-il^[1]

Nak-il Tano was a Togruta male with red skin, white and blue lekku, and brown eyes. He also had white markings on his face. He did not cherish the old traditions and practices as much as his partner Pav-ti, but respected that she still wanted to adhere to the old ways. He was a caring father, affectionately calling his daughter Soka for short.^[1]

Nak-il was able to speak both Togruti and Galactic Basic Standard. He was confident with a rifle. He also possessed carpentry skills, at one point working on the house's roof with a hammer and a droid assistant.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Nak-il Tano appears on the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi episode "Life and Death," voiced by Sunil Malhotra.^[1] A reference to Ahsoka Tano's father was first thought by Dave Filoni back in the fourth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with the script for "Escape from Kadavo" initially having Gupat Roshti telling Ahsoka that he knows or knew her parents to imply that Ahsoka's instinct to save people is thanks to them, but the idea was dropped because the writers didn't want to flesh out Ahsoka's backstory and Filoni felt that Roshti saying that felt like a "mean" thing to do.^[5]