Teemank

"Oh, please. Dr. Kisma Uttersond has a wife and a whole brood of fanlings back on Chad who he'd do anything for. Whose lives I guarantee can become miserable just like mine did when the Nihil murdered my beloved wife, Teemank!"

―Beesar Tal-Apurna, to Emerick Caphtor and Sian Holt^[3]

Teemank was a Chadra-Fan female who married the Chadra-Fan Beesar Tal-Apurna. After the Great Disaster in 232 BBY, she trained as a pilot with the Republic Defense Coalition to fight against the Nihil pirate organization. However, during the Battle of Kur later that year, she died when shot down by the marauders. Following this, Tal-Apurna grieved her death and began spying on the Nihil collaborator and doctor—Kisma Uttersond—for the Jedi to avenge her wife.

Biography[]

"Can you pilot a ship?"
"I…Teemank taught me a few things, yes. But I was never… I'll do whatever it takes!"

―Emerick Caphtor and Beesar Tal-Apurna^[2]

The Chadra-Fan^[2] female Teemank was married^[3] to the Chadra-Fan Beesar Tal-Apurna for many years during the High Republic Era. Following the Great Hyperspace Disaster^[2] in 232 BBY,^[4] she joined the Republic Defense Coalition to fight the Nihil pirate organization plaguing the galaxy, despite her wife begging her not to. Although the coalition told Teemank she was too old and that Chadra-Fan did not need the Republic, the woman persevered through her fear of heights to train as a pilot.^[2] Teemank then taught Tal-Apurna some of her piloting knowledge, though the latter remained relatively inexperienced.^[3]

BeesarTalApurna-TrailofShadows5 — Beesar Tal-Apurna threatened Kisma Uttersond into revealing information about the Nihil, mentioning Teemank's death to the marauders.

During her first deployment^[2] to the Kur Nebula^[1] against the Nihil in the Battle of Kur^[2] the same year,^[1] the marauders shot Teemank's ship down, killing her. Her wife deeply grieved the pilot's passing,^[2] becoming miserable after her death.^[3] Not long after, the Jedi Master Emerick Caphtor contacted Tal-Apurna and asked^[2] her^[5] to spy on the Chadra-Fan Nihil collaborator and doctor—Kisma Uttersond on^[2] the Outer Rim planet^[6] Chad. She agreed, finding the strength to do so in Teemank's memory, and eventually came to understand that her wife had initially joined the conflict to fight for her family. While attempting to place a tracking device on a Nihil freighter^[2] in 230 BBY,^[7] the vessel began to take off before she could stick the technology into place. Tal-Apurna instead boarded the vessel, expounding that she was doing this for Teemank, and reported the ship's coordinates to the Jedi.^[2]

Caphtor led a group of starfighters to the location, engaging in a skirmish with the Nihil convoy present. Caphtor then boarded the vessel the spy was on but was eventually forced to flee from the freighter with Tal-Apurna with the assistance of the private investigator Sian Holt, as the Jedi's encounter with one of the Nihil's Force-draining Nameless creature had left him incoherent.^[2] While aboard Holt's ship, Tal-Apurna told those present of Teemank's death to the Nihil while threatening Uttersond to reveal information about the pirates, insinuating that they could go after the doctor's family if he was uncooperative.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

"For Teemank!"

―Beesar Tal-Apurna, as she boarded a Nihil freighter^[2]

Teemank and Tal-Apurna were in a committed relationship for a number of years, caring deeply for each other. However, the former felt deeply compelled to join the fight against the Nihil despite the protests of her wife. The pilot was afraid of heights but nevertheless trained as a Republic pilot, which Tal-Apurna respected. After Teemank's death, her wife deeply grieved her partner and helped spy on a Nihil collaborator to avenge her death, often inspired by the pilot's courage to carry on.^[2]

Equipment[]

While operating with the Republic Defense Coalition, Teemank flew a ship.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

"We get a lot of Uttersond who I think is a fascinating character, and I wanted to build up his family life and his backstory some. But I also wanted a counterpoint to him and to get someone who's really invested in stopping the Nihil and helping the Republic for her own personal family reasons because her wife was killed in the Battle of Kur."

―Daniel José Older, on how Teemank was created for Beesar Tal-Apurna's backstory^[5]

Teemank was first mentioned in the fourth issue of the Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows comic-book miniseries. The issue was written by Daniel José Older, published by Marvel Comics,^[2] and released on January 26, 2022^[8] as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia series'^[2] Phase I.^[9] While being interviewed on Star Wars: The High Republic Show, Older explained that Tal-Apurna's strong motivations for defeating the Nihil were family-motivated due to Teemank's death, serving as a contrast to Uttersond's character arc.^[5]