The Big Picture
Durge, an unkillable millennia-old Jedi killer, is an underrated
Star Wars
villain from Genndy Tartakovsky’s
Clone Wars
microseries.
Durge, a Gen’Dai, joined the Separatists in the Clone Wars due to his hatred for Mandalorians, survived various near-death encounters.
Durge made a recent comeback in Star Wars canon through comics, now seen creating trouble and could potentially transition to live-action.
There are countless villains in Star Wars, and pretty much every movie and episode of a series introduces a new one. There are human villains, aliens, and droids; some are sensitive to the Force, and some aren’t. However you like your villains, the franchise has one for you. As newer TV shows have come to Disney+, Star Wars has even brought some of its best characters to live-action from animation or other media, but there’s one who still hasn’t made that jump, and he’s one of the best villains in Genndy Tartakovsky’s acclaimed Clone Wars microseries. The bounty hunter, Durge (Daran Norris), was brought into canon some years ago, but seeing him in live-action would be something to behold—and it wouldn’t be that difficult to pull off, either.
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Release Date November 7, 2003
Cast james arnold taylor , Grey Griffin , Tom Kane , Nick Jameson
Seasons 3
Durge Was a Millennia-Old Jedi Killer During the Clone Wars in ‘Legends’
After nearly 20 years, the Clone Wars 2D microseries still holds up pretty well. Some of the best action sequences in Star Wars history are there, like Anakin Skywalker’s (Mat Lucas) fight against Asajj Ventress (Grey DeLisle) on Yavin 4 and the introduction of General Grievous (Matthew Wood) against a band of unlucky Jedi. However, there’s one battle that’s rarely mentioned: Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Durge’s jousting battle in Volume 1. Yes, jousting.
This weird yet epic duel takes place during the Battle of Muunilinst, a planet that is the headquarters of one of the Separatists’ most important factions, the Banking Clan. They finance most of the action, and their home planet is also one of the lead producers of battle droids in the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), making it a top target for the Republic. General Kenobi is sent to take the planet and everything appears to be going rather smoothly, until Durge joins the battle with his jousting squad. The Republic sends its own jousting battalion led by Kenobi himself, dressed in full clone armor and Jedi robes. He pierces Durge many times with his lightsaber and even splits the bounty hunter in two, but it doesn’t kill him. The duel then moves to the Banking Clan war room, and Durge uses his squishy and shapeless body to swallow Kenobi whole. The battle only ends with Kenobi blasting Durge from the inside using the Force—and it still doesn’t kill him.
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This resistance to fatal blows is typical of Durge’s species, the Gen’Dai; their physiology is unique in the Star Wars galaxy, and their entire body is made of thick strands of pure muscle. They have no organs, and their only weak spot seems to be their heads. Besides Durge, the only other time a Gen’Dai appears in Star Wars is in the game, Jedi: Survivor. Protagonist, Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan), has to face a Gen’Dai named Rayvis (D.C. Douglas), and only kills him by dealing a fatal blow to the head with his lightsaber. Otherwise, the Gen’Dai are known to be “un-killable” and can live for millennia. The other known way to destroy a Gen’Dai is what Anakin Skywalker does to Durge in the Star Wars: Obsession comics by Dark Horse. Anakin and Obi-Wan have a tough time fighting him aboard a ship in the Maramere system, and Anakin finally puts an end to the whole skirmish by trapping Durge in an escape pod and sending it straight to the sun. So, complete incineration is another way of killing the un-killable Gen’Dai. Still a pretty difficult job to pull off, though.
Durge Was Recently Introduced to the New ‘Star Wars’ Canon—and He’s Still Alive
As if a killing and un-killable being isn’t difficult enough, Star Wars brought Durge back, though his story is very different now. He is known to have been active during the Clone Wars thanks to an account by the pirate, Hondo Ohnaka (Jim Cummings), in the reference book, The Secrets of the Bounty Hunters. His triumphant return to Star Wars storytelling happened in another story, however, as he was reintroduced in the major War of the Bounty Hunters crossover event in the Marvel comics.
Durge debuted in the Doctor Aphra comics, dealing with the rogue archaeologist, Chelli Lona Aphra, and the bounty hunter, Sana Starros. The whole War of the Bounty Hunters event takes place in the year between Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, with nearly every bounty hunter in the galaxy going after Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison/Jeremy Bulloch) to try and steal Han Solo’s (Harrison Ford) carbonite-frozen body. There are other iconic returns besides Durge’s, like Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), and another bounty hunter from Legends, Beilert Valance. He hasn’t been pushed into any stars this time, so he’s still alive—and likely looking for new jobs.
Durge Can Still Make the Jump to Live-Action in Future ‘Star Wars’ Series
The most exciting stories being told in Star Wars right now are in the so-called “Mando-verse” live-action series on Disney+. Many characters have made the jump from other media to live-action in series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, and now is the perfect time to bring the un-killable Durge to live-action, too.
Durge is the kind of weird character that belongs in live-action, and his physiology would make it an awesome sight. It would definitely be a challenge for VFX artists, since the Gen’Dai have a weird texture and move fairly strangely, even expanding their limbs for attack or defense purposes at times. Despite that, it would be incredible to see Durge meeting yet another end in live-action.
Star Wars: Clone Wars is available to watch on Disney+ in the US.
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