Join The Infernal Brotherhood of the Scruffy Looking, Nerf Herders as they explore Star Wars lore via their own personal Holocron. This episode will focus on Force Hounds.
Transcript
Cold Open
Long before the Jedi Order, before the Sith, and even before the Republic itself, the galaxy was ruled by terrors now half-buried beneath myth and ash. This was an age when the Force was not a philosophy to be studied, nor a balance to be preserved—but a weapon to be exploited. In that distant era, one empire stood above all others. The Rakatan Infinite Empire. And among its most feared instruments of conquest were beings known as… Force Hounds.
Intro
Greetings, my fellow Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders, and welcome back to The Infernal Brotherhood! Today, we’re exploring one of the first strictly Dark Side using scouts in the galaxy, Force Hounds.
The Infinite Empire and the Age of Darkness
To understand the Force Hounds, one must first understand their masters. The Rakata were not merely conquerors—they were architects of suffering. Their civilization was built entirely upon the dark side of the Force, which powered their technology, their starships, and even their understanding of the galaxy itself. Unlike later empires, the Rakata did not rely on droids or armies alone. They enslaved entire species, harvesting the Force itself as a resource. Force-sensitive slaves were sorted into two brutal fates. The strongest were transformed into living conduits—Force batteries—subjected to constant pain, fear, and rage so that their suffering could fuel Rakatan machines. From among these tormented masses, the Rakata identified individuals with exceptional potential. These were not spared. They were reforged.
The Birth of a Force Hound
Children torn from the Force batteries were stripped of identity, culture, and hope. They were conditioned from the beginning to understand only three truths: Survive. Obey. Hunt. These children became Force Hounds. Training was ruthless. Compassion was forbidden. Rivalry was encouraged, and weakness was punished with death. Force Hounds were raised in broods, forced into gladiatorial combat where only the strongest survived. To the Rakata, this cruelty was not a flaw—it was refinement. Each Force Hound was marked with tattoos of their name, etched across their face and body in Aurebesh. These markings served a grimly practical purpose. If a Hound was dismembered or killed in battle, their remains could be identified, collected… and consumed. Even in death, a Force Hound belonged to the Infinite Empire.
Purpose: Hunters of the Force
The role of the Force Hound was singular and absolute. They were hunters. Through deep and unnatural meditation, Force Hounds could cast their consciousness across the void of space itself. Light-years away, they would observe distant star systems, searching for worlds rich in the Force. Once found, they reported their discoveries to their Rakatan masters. Then came the slaughter. Force Hounds were dispatched to these worlds to capture or exterminate the Force-sensitive population. Those deemed useful were enslaved. The rest were culled without mercy. Entire cultures vanished under the arrival of a single Hound. Where they walked, horror followed.
Weapons and Power
Force Hounds were among the most lethal dark side wielders of their age. They commanded devastating torrents of Force lightning and wielded Forcesabers—early, unstable precursors to lightsabers powered by the dark side itself. Their mastery of combat often surpassed that of the Rakata who owned them. Yet ambition was beaten out of them. Unlike the Sith, Force Hounds did not crave power or dominion. They had no ideology. No grand vision. They existed only to hunt and survive. The very concept of freedom was foreign to them, denied from birth. This made them perfect weapons.
Xesh and the Hounds of Legend
Among the Force Hounds, one name echoes louder than the rest. Xesh. Xesh served the Rakatan Predor Tul’kar and was considered the greatest Force Hound of his time. His skill was so renowned that even rival Rakata sought to claim him. Tul’kar refused—unless they were willing to fight for Xesh’s service. Force Hounds were often forced into duels for the amusement of their masters, and Xesh survived them all. In time, he did the unthinkable. Xesh slew his master. His story would eventually intersect with the events of Dawn of the Jedi, marking one of the earliest cracks in Rakatan dominance and foreshadowing the eventual collapse of the Infinite Empire. Another known Hound, Trill, served Predor Skal’nas, reinforcing that these hunters were not unique anomalies—but an entire class of living weapons.
Not Sith… Something Else Entirely
Despite their fearsome power, Force Hounds were fundamentally different from the Sith who would arise millennia later. The Sith chose the dark side—or fell into it. Force Hounds were never given a choice. They were raised to know only darkness. The light side was not forbidden—it was unknown. Where the Sith sought mastery, Force Hounds embodied submission. Where Sith Lords ruled, Force Hounds obeyed. They were not tyrants. They were executioners.
Legacy of the Force Hounds
With the fall of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, the Force Hounds faded into legend. But their existence reveals a chilling truth about the Force itself. The dark side does not require ideology. It does not require temples or orders. It requires only suffering. In a galaxy where the Sith have risen and fallen, the concept of the Force Hound remains a haunting alternative—a reminder that darkness does not always return as a master seeking a throne… but sometimes as a hunter, unleashed by something far worse.
Outro
In the ancient age before Jedi and Sith, the Force did not ask for balance. It demanded blood.
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