Zarrak was an Ewok from the moon of Endor and was a member of the tribe that inhabited Bright Tree Village. As a young Ewok, he was discovered to have magical abilities and was taken as the Shaman Logray's first apprentice. During his lessons under Logray, Zarrak was impatient and wished to learn greater magics, including the dark arts. Despite his master's warnings, Zarrak attempted to steal the tribe's powerful totem, the Sunstar. When he was caught, Chief Chirpa was forced to banish Zarrak for his actions. Zarrak took up residence in mountain near Bright Tree Village, and began to delve into evil magic, mastering the arts of telekinesis and . During his exile, Zarrak had designs to conquer Endor, and he accessed a prophecy pool to determine whether anyone could defeat him.
During one of Zarrak's sessions with the prophecy pool, the water showed him the Ewok Teebo, who was a new apprentice of his old master. The pool indicated that Teebo had the power to defeat Zarrak, and intrigued by the young Ewok's power, Zarrak used his hang glider to fly to Bright Tree Village to meet Teebo. Upon his arrival, Zarrak convinced the young Ewok that he could teach him lessons which would make him a powerful wizard. When Teebo agreed, Zarrak took him back to his home to teach him the dark arts. However, Teebo was not as talented as Zarrak had initially believed, and when Teebo failed to master his lessons, Zarrak decided to dispose of him, deciding to drop him into the "Realm of Spirits." However, Zarrak was stopped by Logray, who had come to rescue his apprentice. In the battle that followed, Zarrak used a medallion to defeat his old master, but he had underestimated Teebo. The young Ewok used a basic trick taught to him by Logray to pelt Zarrak with leaves, and blinded by the attack, he fell headlong into the "Realm of Spirits," disappearing into its depths.
Zarrak gazing into the pool of prophecy.
Zarrak was an Ewok from the moon of Endor. He was named for a powerful shaman in Ewok mythology. He was an inhabitant of Bright Tree Village, and a member of the Ewok tribe that dwelled there. As a young Ewok, Zarrak exhibited magical abilities and was taken as an apprentice by the Shaman Logray. The slow pace of Logray's lessons frustrated Zarrak, and although Logray told him that a good wizard needed to master the basics and have patience, Zarrak was not content to learn only the simple skills. Zarrak demanded that Logray teach him greater abilities, including evil magic, but the Shaman refused. Undeterred, Zarrak attempted to steal the Sunstar, a powerful Ewok artifact, to heighten his powers. Zarrak's theft was stopped by the other Ewoks, and with no other option, the chief of the tribe, Chirpa, banished Zarrak from the village.
Exiled from the other Ewoks, Zarrak began to train himself in dark magics, heightening his powers and becoming skilled at telekinesis and metamorphosis. The dark wizard then made his home in a mountain on Endor. From his home, Zarrak planned to conquer Endor and take the Sunstar from the Ewoks. His home contained the prophecy pool, which acted as a window to other places on Endor and could answer questions, as well as a pit that led to the "Realm of Spirits." Zarrak also came into the possession of a medallion which allowed him to blast bolts of energy.
Zarrak teaching Teebo within his mountain.
Around 3 ABY, Zarrak asked his prophecy pool if there was any Ewok who could stop him; it showed him the Ewok Teebo, his old master's new apprentice. Intrigued by Teebo's power, Zarrak set out to take Teebo as his own apprentice. Using his hanglider, Zarrak left his mountain and headed for Bright Tree Village. Upon his arrival, he witnessed Teebo showing his telekinetic skills to his friends, Wicket Wystri Warrick, Latara, and the Ewok Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka. The Ewoks were surprised by Zarrak's appearance, and suspicious of his arrival, but they allowed Zarrak to talk with Teebo. After conjuring fire as evidence of his powers, Zarrak persuaded the young Ewok to join him under the promise that he would teach him the tricks that Logray would not. However, just as Teebo and Zarrak were about to leave, Kneesaa recognized Zarrak's name—her father was the one who had banished Zarrak from the village. To stop Kneesaa from revealing his past to Teebo, Zarrak used a sleeping powder on the Ewok princess, knocking her unconscious. As Wicket and Latara tended to their friend, Zarrak made his way with Teebo back to his mountain.
Once he had Teebo in his cave, Zarrak began to teach the young Ewok the lessons he had promised. However, Teebo's skills were not as developed as Zarrak had initially assumed. In his first lesson, Zarrak telekinetically lifted a boulder and smashed it to the ground, claiming that this technique could be used to smash enemies. When Teebo attempted to replicate the trick, he was only able to lift a small rock, and his poor control caused the hovering boulder to knock several stalactites from the ceiling of Zarrak's cave, injuring himself. Zarrak was still determined to discover Teebo's power, and in his second lesson, he showed Teebo how to transform creatures into larger and more aggressive forms. Using his powers, Zarrak transformed a peaceful shelled creature into a ferocious monster and then back to its original form. However, when Teebo attempted the trick, he inadvertently transformed stranglevines which attacked the young Ewok. Zarrak rescued Teebo from the stranglevines, but he had become fed up with Teebo's failures, no longer believing him to be the prophecied Ewok that would be able to defeat him.
Zarrak trapping the Ewoks in rock prisons.
After consulting his prophecy pool, which still claimed that Teebo was the Ewok who would defeat him, Zarrak decided to dispose of his new apprentice. Under the guise of a final lesson, Zarrak placed Teebo on a suspended wooden platform above the "Realm of Spirits." Claiming that only the greatest wizards could return from the depths of the pit, Zarrak ordered Teebo to enter it, believing that the young Ewok would not return. As a frightened Teebo attempted to stay on the platform, Zarrak telekinetically switched a lever, lowering Teebo towards the pit. However, Zarrak's plan was disrupted by the arrival of Logray and the Ewok children, Wicket, Latara, and Kneesaa. Logray used his staff to knock Zarrak to the ground, preventing Zarrak from dropping Teebo into the "Realm of Spirits." Upon confronting his old master, Zarrak threw fire at the group, attacking the Ewoks who had entered his home.
As Latara and Kneesaa rescued Teebo, using Kneesaa's grappling hook, Logray and Zarrak battled one another. Logray was able to disperse Zarrak's fire, but Logray's old apprentice used his medallion to throw boulders at his old master, knocking him to the ground. As Zarrak kicked aside Logray's staff, Kneesaa and Latara attempted to help, but the power of Zarrak's medallion allowed him to confine them in prisons of rock which he conjured from the ground. Zarrak used the same trick to trap Logray and Wicket, claiming that he would ransom the group to Chief Chirpa to obtain the Sunstar. However, Zarrak had forgotten about Teebo during the melee. The young Ewok used his abilities to pelt Zarrak with flying leaves. Startled, Zarrak dropped his medallion, which crumbled into dust and freed the other Ewoks. Blinded by the flying leaves, Zarrak ran from Teebo's attack, but in his desperation to get away, Zarrak ran off a cliff and into the "Realm of Spirits."
Zarrak falling off a cliff into the Realm of Spirits.
Zarrak claimed that only the most powerful wizards could return from the "Realm of Spirits," but the Ewoks who had defeated him believed him to be gone. After Zarrak's disappearance, Teebo remembered his transformation lesson and planned to show it to his friends until they stopped him, not wanting to risk the danger of Zarrak's dark magics. Sometime later, Teebo stopped his apprenticeship to Logray and became a warrior. The Ewok Paploo became Logray's pupil after Teebo abandoned his apprenticeship. The Sunstar that Zarrak had desired was eventually destroyed a short time later. Logray himself eventually adopted the "Dark Rituals," and much like his pupil before him, Logray was banished from the tribe and his name removed from the songs of remembrance as though he never existed.
Zarrak was a talented magic user, and could telekinetically lift boulders from the ground. He could also use these skills to summon his hang glider as well as flick switches placed in his mountain. He also had the powers of metamorphosis, transforming seemingly harmless creatures into aggressive beasts. He was also talented in creating Ewok potions and powders, and used a sleeping powder and potions which could conjure fire. Through the use of his medallion, Zarrak could incapacitate his enemies and summon rocks from the ground to bind his enemies.
Zarrak lifting a boulder with telekinesis.
Zarrak was a cruel individual who desired to conquer the moon of Endor. During his lessons under Master Logray, Zarrak was impatient, wanting to learn feats of powerful magic before learning the basics. He even wished to learn dark magic, despite Logray's warnings, and it was this conflict that caused his exile from the tribe. Upon his banishment, Zarrak claimed that he had chose to leave the village due to Logray's refusal to teach him the tricks he desired. Upon hearing a prophecy from his prophecy pool that the Ewok Teebo could defeat him, Zarrak initially attempted to ally with the young Ewok, hoping to take over his training and use him as an apprentice. However, when Teebo failed to master Zarrak's lessons, he quickly decided to dispose of him, believing that there was no way that Teebo could defeat him. This overconfidence resulted in Zarrak's defeat, as Teebo used the basic skills he had learned from Logray to defeat Zarrak and cause him to fall into the "Realm of Spirits."
Zarrak was created by Paul Dini for the Ewoks episode The First Apprentice. The episode did not indicate Zarrak's voice actor in the credits.
Zarrak was later referenced in the Star Wars Insider 27 article A Star Wars CELibration, which noted his name is spelled "Zarrak." This article also lumped Zarrak in with other enemies of the Ewoks television show who had attempted to steal the Sunstar, such as Morag, the Stranger, Jadru, and Dr. Raygar. Zarrak was also mentioned in Logray's entry in the Star Wars Insider 110 article Warriors of Endor, which mentioned his exile from the tribe.
Zarrak's powers in Star Wars: Ewoks is explained as a type of magic, and the Force is not explicitly mentioned in the cartoon. However, explanations of Ewok magic in reference works, such as the original Databank entry for Charal, refer to these magical powers as projections of the Force. The Hyperspace article Castaways of Endor clarified that all the ritualistic magic shown in Star Wars: Ewoks is, in fact, performed through the use of the Force. Since Zarrak uses his magic for dark purposes, described as "evil magic" in the The First Apprentice, and the "dark arts" in Warriors of Endor, this article implies that he wields the dark side of the Force. Zarrak fits Leland Chee's definition of a Dark Jedi: "anyone who practices the dark side of the Force whether or not they were a former Jedi."