Characters from the X-Wing Rogue Squadron comics and X-Wing Series novels who play a smaller role, if any, in the rest of the Star Wars Legends. Characters from this series which appear in large roles outside this series can be found on the appropriate character page.

Callsigns only contain titles used in the X-Wing series.

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Rogue Squadron

Wedge Antilles

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xwrs1.jpg

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Callsigns: Rogue Leader, Wraith Leader

Wedge and X-Wings are the one absolute constant to the series. Wedge appears in almost every part of the series. He is a Corellian pilot who defected to the Rebellion after an Imperial officer got his fuel station owning parents killed through sheer carelessness. He survived two Death Star runs and eventually became a New Republic General.

For tropes on his portrayal outside of the X-Wing series, see Star Wars – Classic Era.

For tropes on his portrayal in the reboot canon, see Star Wars – Rebel Alliance & New Republic Starfighter Corps.

Ace Pilot: He's pretty much the best X-Wing pilot in the galaxy. Even Jedi pilots have a hard time against him. He mentions that Luke and Vader were better than him but that's because of the Force. Soontir Fel is also able to match him.
A Father to His Men: Very much so. Wedge cares a lot for his pilots, and hurts a lot with every casualty.
Ascended Extra: From the films to the Star Wars Legends, and from there to here. (Between the three, he may be on more character sheets than any other Star Wars character.)
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He is one of the four best pilots in the galaxy as well as the head of Rogue Squadron.
Badass Normal:
- Though the normality is sometimes questioned. By Starfighters of Adumar, his nearly-inhuman reflexes, situation awareness, and experience add up to a level of skill that some regard as supernatural. In the narration he once mentions precognitive warnings - in the sense of pattern recognition serving that way, but still. At the end of the book he actually ignores his targeting computer and feels his awareness flow from his X-Wing into his opponent, knows what the other will do ahead of time, fires without looking, and disables the enemy craft. Wedge is explicitly not Force-sensitive, though; he was tested in two different ways in the Jedi Academy Trilogy and came up as a normal human both times.
- He survived both Death Stars without Character Shields. He's not Force-sensitive, and was just a Mauve Shirt, but he survived.
- By the time of Mercy Kill, his daughter refers to him, Tycho and Lara Notsil as a full strength extraction force.
- The New Rebellion has this moment, before he makes an impossible shot.
  Wedge shoved aside the targeting computer. He didn't have the Force, as Luke did, but he had something else, something just as important. Faith in his own abilities.
Bash Brothers: With Wes, and to a somewhat lesser extent Tycho and Hobbie.
Benevolent Boss: He won't ask his pilots to do anything he wouldn't be willing to subject himself to and tries to look out for them. Wedge spends years declining promotions as he didn't want to stop being primarily a pilot. What changed his mind was finding that his pilots were taking after him and also refusing promotions that he sincerely believed they deserved.
The Cameo: Nearly in an example of a book version of Stunt Casting, Wedge shows up for one quick scene in Mercy Kill, despite appearing in the dramatis personae, whereas several members of Wraith Squadron didn't get billed.
The Captain: His rank for much of the series.
The Chains of Commanding: Oh, so very much.
Colonel Badass: Of the Commander variety.
- Commanding Coolness: Spent much of his career as Rogue Leader as a Commander, after Luke went off to be a Jedi.
Day in the Limelight: The series itself is one, but specifically the comics arc The Phantom Affair and the entire novel Starfighters Of Adumar.
Declining Promotion: He remains a Commander for much of the series because he doesn't want to be transferred out of Rogue Squadron and is most at home in the cockpit of an X-Wing. He's finally forced into taking a promotion to the rank of General when it's pointed out that this is starting to rub off on the rest of the Rogues, as they've started to refuse promotions themselves.
Deuteragonist: In the Rogue Squadron books the overall lead is Corran, and Wedge is functionally the secondary protagonist (though he's more prominent while Corran's in Lusankya).
Embarrassing Nickname: In The Phantom Affair, we learn that as a child and teenager, he was called "Veggies" by his parents and friend Mirax Terrik.
Expecting Someone Taller: He's about an inch shorter than Luke Skywalker - about five foot six inches - and provokes this from time to time. Pilots tend to be smaller than other Rebel operatives. They're more comfortable in cramped starfighter cockpits.
Four-Star Badass: He's eventually promoted to this, and proves himself to be as good a General as he is a pilot.
The Gadfly: Enjoys giving Blatant Lies to his friends and enemies. Leia's learned to see through him, but Han sometimes believes every word.
Good Is Not Soft: Wedge combines Rogue Squadron with commando activities and is not afraid to Pay Evil unto Evil on occasion. And he will not hesitate to punish his subordinates if they mess up (that being said, if they genuinely tried their best, he'll be forgiving).
The Heart: Is the most emotional and compassionate of Rogue Squadron's leaders.
Hidden Heart of Gold: To new recruits who are rude or overconfident or mess up, he can be incredibly cruel, and to the rest he's generally a bit distant and not particularly friendly. But he cares deeply and honestly about his people, and when they prove themselves trustworthy, he'll back them to the end of the galaxy.
Humble Hero: He doesn't seek fame or adulation, just the chance to create a galaxy where people can live in peace.
It Never Gets Any Easier: Killing, yes, it's become easier though he tries to think of it soberly. People dying under his command hasn't, and he doesn't want it to, as he reflects while spending a night agonizing over how to tell Admiral Ackbar about the death of his niece.
Limited Advancement Opportunities: Subverted. He's promoted multiple times over his career, though he stays at Commander for a long time simply because he doesn't want to be promoted out of Rogue Squadron.
Machine Empathy: Has an amazing facility with just about anything which can fly.
Mauve Shirt: By definition in the original films—a common alternative name for this trope is "Wedge-type character". Of course, this series is his Day in the Limelight and he's either protagonist or Deuteragonist in all but Mercy Kill.
Memetic Badass: In universe, Wedge is said to be so badass that Imperial pilots are known to awaken in a puddle of their own piss after nightmares of trying to outfly him in battle.
Military Maverick: Wedge's tactics and approach can be very unconventional, such as assembling Wraith Squadron from a Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits, or how he was intentionally trying to lose the Siege of Borleias during the Vong War.
Neck Lift: Is subject to a couple of these.
Not So Above It All: Wedge is on the 'military' side of Mildly Military compared to the rambunctious pilots under his command, particularly Wes and the Wraiths. He usually plays the straight man, being baffled by or tolerantly ignoring their antics, or telling them to cut it out. But pushed into pretty much any absurd situation and he holds his own with the best of them. It's hard to see him pretending to be a hick to troll a port official, or staging a minor Screw the War, We're Partying, and think that he's not having fun.
- While he's usually the subject of Wes' pranks, once in a while he's able to turn it around. And boy, does he do it with style.
Platonic Life-Partners: He and Leia Organa, in the one scene they have alone together.
Sergeant Rock: He can be, anyway.
Technically a Smile: He's fond of flashing smiles with no warmth or humor to them, giving them to his enemies and various politicians.
Phrase Catcher: "Yub, yub, Commander!" At least until he turns it around in his epic revenge scheme.
Power Trio: With Wes and Hobbie.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: When you add Tycho.
Reasonable Authority Figure: A highly competent and pragmatic officer who looks after his men as well as the mission.

Tycho Celchu

Species: Human (Alderaanian)

Homeworld: Alderaan

Callsigns: Rogue Null, Rogue Leader

A pilot whose family died when the Empire destroyed his homeworld. He's a very different character in the novels than he was in the comics, with his character going from a Hot-Blooded pilot to one who is endlessly patient and seems to have no temper whatsoever is usually attributed to the time he spent on the Lusankya being tortured by Isard.

The Ace: One of the best pilots in the galaxy, second only to Wedge in the series.
Ascended Extra: one of the very few characters in this franchise who ever appeared in the movies (and even then, his two seconds of screen time were something of a Retcon).
Awesomeness by Analysis: When Corran has to fly against him (see below), he sees Tycho's fighting style through the Force as being like a computerised box of possible actions around Corran's craft, which gets smaller and smaller as Tycho meticulously eliminates all the possibilities and hunts him down.
Being Tortured Makes You Evil: No, but it does change his character. Compare Tycho in the comics to Tycho in the books. In the comics he's a hothead, sometimes flirtatious, and prone to cracking wise. Come the novels - after extensive torture in an attempt to make him a Manchurian Agent - and he's far more reserved, calculating, and never shown displaying any temper.
Berserk Button: Alderaanians are pacifists, Endor never happened.
The Cape: If he resents being under so much suspicion, he never shows it.
Clear My Name: A major part of his story arc in the books. Finally resolved when Corran Horn shows up with evidence he's innocent.
Colonel Badass: Post Thrawn Trilogy, Tycho is promoted to Colonel.
Continuity Snarl: The first arc of the comics had Winter, who'd read up on him, telling another Rogue that he'd lost a fiance, Mia, on Alderaan and that he'd been drafted into the Imperial military, since he was a man of peace at heart. Two problems: it had already been decided that his fiancee's name was Nyestria, and he'd joined willingly and enjoyed his job. This was retconned by means of him correcting her at a party and saying that his records had been scrambled. No other plausible retcon was available, because Winter is incapable of remembering anything incorrectly.
Court-martialed: In The Krytos Trap he is tried for the murder of Corran Horn at the end of Wedge's Gamble. It was partially a covert operation to smoke out The Mole in Rogue Squadron, and charges are summarily dropped when Corran turns up in the courtroom very much alive.
Dark and Troubled Past: What you get when you're from Alderaan and survive its destruction. In this case, he was an Imperial officer when it happened.
Defector from Decadence: A former Imperial TIE pilot who defected when Alderaan was destroyed.
- Actually inverted at first since he was an Alderaanian who enjoyed fighting and became an Imperial to indulge that.
Dogged Nice Guy: His pursuit of Winter Retrac. It eventually works.
Doomed Hometown: He's from Alderaan.
Four-Star Badass: In the later EU.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: One of the most decent and honorable men in the entire Republic.
Improbable Piloting Skills: In I, Jedi Corran Horn, undercover as a pirate, flies against him, and barely survives despite being a Jedi drawing on the Force to stay alive. He later calls it the most difficult thing he's ever done in his life - Corran, who just a few chapters back was beaten physically and emotionally to a pulp by the spirit of Exar Kun. It's actually implied that Tycho may not have been trying to kill him, since Corran got a kind of message off suggesting that he wasn't a pirate—though given that the "message" was rather vague (a vision consisting of a "clutch" starfighter morphing into Corran's green X-Wing), and that Tycho still launched two proton torpedoes at him, it's rather unlikely.
Number Two: Wedge's ever-reliable partner.
Rank Up: Starts out as a Lieutenant in the comics, is a Captain through the novels and for much of his career, then promoted to Colonel, and finally retires as a General.
Troubled, but Cute: Even when he isn't sad, he looks sad. Janson notes that this makes women want to comfort him.

Wes Janson

Species: Human

Homeworld: Taanab

Another long-time Rogue, and a temporary Wraith, Wes is a prankster and an excellent gunner. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, he led his own squadron of volunteers called the Taanab Yellow Aces. He later assisted the Jedi during the Second Galactic Civil War.

For tropes on his portrayal in the reboot canon, see Star Wars – Rebel Alliance & New Republic Starfighter Corps.

Ascended Extra: Wedge's Guy in Back during The Empire Strikes Back.
Ace Pilot: Like Wedge and other members of Rogue Squadron, he is an ace pilot. He's also a superb crack shot with a regular blaster pistol.
Beware the Silly Ones: He is almost a full Bunny-Ears Lawyer and only avoids it by being "normal" on missions. When he gets focused, though, you do not want to be in his sights.
Brutal Honesty: At one point in Iron Fist a depressed Wedge reflects after Castin's death that he's leading children, and getting them killed. Janson nonchalantly tells him that's true, much to Wedge's shock, and reminds him that the Wraiths are a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, would naturally take higher casualties than a normal unit due to their unconventional tactics, and that they're still doing better than they were when they were formed.
Continuity Snarl: One storyline in Star Wars (Marvel 1977) was Wedge's anguished tale, told to Luke, of losing his gunner on Hoth. It's since been retconned to a story Wedge would tell people before Wes would walk in, just to shake them up, and they even fooled Luke.
Friendly/Cold Sniper: Depends on whether or not he's on duty.
Fun Personified: Official Wraith Squadron Prank Master until Wedge gets in on the act.
Improbable Aiming Skills: He's the best shooter with a blaster pistol in the entire series.
Majorly Awesome: He's promoted to Major after the Thrawn Trilogy, and pretty much spends the rest of his career as a Major.
Manchild: Sometimes. He can be mature and serious when he wants, but he also believes that you can't look dignified if you're having fun - and you have to have fun. It helps prove that you're alive.
Naked People Are Funny: As seen in Wedge's epic revenge scheme... yes. Yes, they are.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He's very good with his fists.
Oh, Crap!: Unspoken. Wedge planned to work with Chewbacca on a mission; Wes remembered that Wedge can't speak Wookiee and went to every pilot in or related to Wedge's command, taking bets about what Wedge would do or say when he realized his mistake (Tyria Sarkin won; she said he'd say 'Sithspit' (ie Shit), though she may have cheated using The Force). Wedge realizes, arranges for a protocol droid to come with him and Chewie, and finds out what Wes did.
"You know, you've finally earned my gravest revenge."
"You don't ever take revenge. That's beneath Wedge Antilles, Hero of the New Republic."
Wedge gave him a smile, one full of teeth, and Janson's own grin faltered. "Dismissed."

Derek "Hobbie" Klivian

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/53435281517351690.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Ralltiir

Biggs' friend from the Academy. Hobbie is a long-time member of Rogue Squadron, where he serves as the resident cynic. Crashes a lot.

For tropes on his portrayal in the reboot canon, see Star Wars – Rebel Alliance & New Republic Starfighter Corps.

Artificial Limbs: Both his legs and one of his arms are cybernetic.
Ascended Extra: He piloted a snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back. He's the one who asks, "Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?"
Beware the Nice Ones: It takes a lot to rile him up, but boy, when he gets mad...
Captain Crash: He crashed on Hoth. He crashed on Prefsbelt. Hobbie is always crashing. He's been approached by bacta companies for endorsements because of it.
"Oh, I'm well enough. But the ground and I get along so well we sometimes get together a little too vigorously."
The Chew Toy: If someone not called Skywalker needs to lose a limb, or crash a vehicle or fighter, chances are it'll be Hobbie.
The Comically Serious: Frequently ends up being the straight man to Wes.
Continuity Snarl: In the deleted scenes, he rams an AT-AT when his speeder is damaged, and the EU had some trouble deciding whether it actually happened. Eventually, it was Hand Waved by saying he ejected offscreen.
The Cynic: Is much more serious than his fellows and believes the worst will happen.
The Eeyore: Especially when compared to Wes Janson.
Harmless Lady Disguise: When Red Flight got into a hangar in drag, Hobbie cemented the disguise with a high, panicked scream.
Inconsistent Spelling: His last name is often misspelled as "Klivan", to the point of getting an in-universe LampshadeHanging.
"And I’ll get back to you on my last name. Lots of people get it wrong.”
Only Known by Their Nickname: Nobody calls him "Derek."
Power Trio: With Wedge and Janson.

Plourr Illo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plourr_ilo_swleu_4704.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Eiattu VI

The last surviving member of Eiattu VI's royal family, she didn't tell her squadron of her royal heritage until people from her world came looking for her. Her story was loosely inspired by the myth of Anastasia.

Action Girl: Just look at her! She is a princess and her story is loosely based on that of Anastasia, but she is also a competent mechanic and pilot, a bit of a Tsundere, and both strong and good at hand-to-hand combat.
Amazonian Beauty: Particularly in the Duty and Honor story arc where she spends the entire arc wearing a coat (which quickly comes off) over a very tight-fitting midriff-exposing athletic outfit which brings her closer to Ms. Fanservice territory than the more conventionally beautiful female characters in the series such as Winter, Feylis Ardele and Elscol Loro ever get.^note
Arranged Marriage: Plourr was betrothed to her cousin, Count Rial Pernon, in childhood by her father. On assuming the throne of Eiattu, Plourr accepts this arrangement, partly as he's her strongest supporter.
Bald Head of Toughness: She's a Boisterous Bruiser, Action Girl and The Lad-ette, who's one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Rogues. She initially shaved her head and later grows it out into Boyish Short Hair.
Berserk Button: A former mechanic herself, she can tell if someone's been shirking while maintaining her X-Wing and doesn't appreciate it. She also reacts with great fury when commandos grab at her.
Boisterous Bruiser: Plourr is a rare female example. She's a big, loud, brash, hard-partying woman who just loves a good fight (usually with her bare hands).
Boyish Short Hair: After she grows her hair in, Plourr keeps it cut short in keeping with her very "one of the guys" look.
The Bus Came Back: The arc after she left the Rogues to rule her planet she returned with a squadron of fighters to pull a Big Damn Heroes moment - and the arc after that, she was with them again.
The Chains of Commanding: She muses about how hard it is to have to send people to die with Wedge.
Fiery Redhead: Plourr, who is revealed to have red hair (she initially shaved her head), is quick-tempered and lashes out at people when angered.
Hidden Depths: Far from the simple angry brawler she appears to be, Plourr can be quite astute and even diplomatic and wise. If she wants to be. The great thing about being part of a team is that most of the time, they can make nice instead.
Hidden Heart of Gold: She's mistrustful, has no patience with incompetence, and says insulting things about friends and strangers alike, rarely making the effort to be nice. But looking at the panels where she's drawn, her body language is usually sympathetic to her friends and allies - pulling out a chair, sitting close to someone who's hurt or distressed, treating peoples' injuries. Plourr truly cares about her friends and the "common people" of her world, understands fears about family, and can tone down the snark if she has to.
King Incognito: "The Warrior Princess" starts with the news that one of the Rogues is actually the lost heir of Eiattu IV, most of the rest of her family having been murdered in a revolution. Who is it? Plourr Illo, the butch, tempestuous mechanic-turned-pilot and last person in the galaxy any of the characters expected. Plourr hid herself when the rest of the royal family were murdered by the Priamsta, then made herself into what she wanted to be, far from the self-serving decadence of the court, but is convinced to return and take her rightful place as Eiattu's crown princess.
Kissing Cousins: Plourr Illo was engaged to her cousin since childhood. In the arc where she returns to her homeworld, she's shown resisting the idea of marrying him, but since he shows a number of her traits—lots of courage, love of fighting and freedom, disdain for tradition for tradition's sake and even being a fighter pilot like her—she warms up to him. It's never shown whether they actually get married at some point. And their being cousins never seemed to bother Plourr, it was only the "arranged marriage to an aristocrat she hadn't seen in 20 years" part that was a problem.
The Lad-ette: Plourr Ilo is chaste but otherwise this to the hilt, a hard-drinking big woman with short hair and a muscular build who's more masculine than many male characters, loving a good fight. Even so she can be soft-spoken, nice, and diplomatic — she just generally doesn't see the need. She also turns out to be a princess, and manages to balance what she was raised to be with what she made herself into pretty well.
Modest Royalty: Plourr dresses formally yet simply after taking up her role as the next Empress of Eiattu, wearing fairly masculine clothing to go with her boyish short hair.
Muscles Are Meaningful: Starting in Family Ties she's drawn as an Amazonian Beauty and is more muscular and powerful-looking than anyone else in the cast save for Xarcce. Fittingly, she and Xarcce are the most physically powerful characters in the cast.
Muscles Are Meaningless: However, she was just as strong and capable of throwing grown men around in earlier issues, when she was drawn as thinner.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Plourr is told that if she fights a hulking Weequay warrior she'll get what she wants. She takes him down in a hurry, saying as she does that during her training as a warrior they never sparred with Weequays — they're slow, they wear long hair that's easily taken advantage of, they're stupid, and they're just too fragile. Did she mention they also cheat?
Only Known By Her Nickname: Plourr Ilo it turns out is an alias, based on her full and much longer name of Isplourrdacartha Estillo. After learning this, everyone else still always calls her Plourr Ilo, aside from in formal addresses, as seems to be Plourr's preference.
Overly Long Name: Her full name is Isplourrdacartha Estillo.
Politically-Active Princess: After retaking the throne of her homeworld, Plourr Illo is considered Empress Heir-Apparent and basically the ruler of her world, though she takes time off now and then to fly missions with her old fighter squadron. She is shown here and there handling the difficult nobility.
Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Plourr Illo, a princess who embodies the textbook pop culture image...of a space marine.^note
Princesses Rule: Plourr Illo is revealed to be the last, lost princess of her homeworld, the rest of her family being dead. At the end of the "Warrior Princess" arc she is acclaimed as Empress Apparent-Heir, but in later comics she's called Princess or Princess of the Realm.
Purple Is Powerful: She wears a variety of outfits in different colors, but at court there is always purple on her clothes.
Rags to Royalty: Plourr Illo went into hiding and later became a pilot for the Rebellion after revolutionaries killed her noble family. She wasn't in rags, exactly, but she lived as well as any of the other pilots and kept her heritage a secret.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: She defers to Wedge and one or two others on the squad but steps up in their absence, and of course at court she defies attempts to control her. And she's arguably the best fighter in either place.
Rebellious Princess: Plourr initially rejected her inheritance as heir apparent of Eiattu's monarchy after the rest of her family was murdered, running off to join the Rebel Alliance and becoming a pilot with Rogue Squadron. She's called back by her people later and eventually accepts the role, but on her terms. Plourr makes it clear there will be changes on Eiattu.
Rebel Relaxation: Plourr Ilo lounges in a more spread-legged casual way than her teammates. While they're all Rebels, she's the one with the most confidence.
Rightful Princess/Empress Returns: Eiattu IV went through an Anastasia-esque revolution in which the monarchs and all their children were killed, save a prince and princess who escaped. Plourr takes the throne of Eiattu when she's revealed as the crown princess, after exposing a man claiming that he's her little brother as a fake and driving out the Empire. Her retaking the throne happens quickly enough, her arc from there shows that her time away made her more sensitive and sympathetic to the people, and unimpressed by noble pressure and scheming.
Royal Blood: Plourr was revealed to be the last of the Eiattu royal line, her parents and sisters having been killed by other nobles in a revolution. A noble who she initially believes to have been in on that gets her to head back to her homeworld, Rogue Squadron in tow, to try and take over. Most of the nobility is happy enough with that, especially since there's another revolution going on, this one led by someone who claims to be another survivor. Her brother.
Royally Screwed Up: She's fine, but most of her family qualifies. She believes Royal Inbreeding may have been the cause, ten generations of dipping from the same family pool.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Plourr Ilo it turns out is crown princess of Eiattu. Upon becoming empress, she only does the "pomp and ceremony" as strictly required, striving to improve her planet (as opposed to the Priampsta).
Royalty Superpower: Brought up with Plourr. Her line was genetically tampered with, and she is very strong, able to fight a Tunroth to a draw — a Tunroth who jokes that Wookiees let Tunroth win.
She Cleans Up Nicely: Plourr, on first going back to Eiattu with the squardron, dresses in a flowing, very revealing gown that stuns her male comrades, who compliment her. Before and after Plourr always wears very utilitarian, masculine clothing (though she's hardly unnattractive regardless, this is the only time her outfit got such a reaction).
Shoot the Dog: She killed her brother when they were both children, because the rest of her immediate family was being slaughtered in a revolution and he was trying to call the revolutionaries' attention to where she had escaped.
Sleeves Are for Wimps: Plourr Illo, past a certain point, is usually shown sleeveless. Even during a briefing when the other Rogues are in their dress uniforms, Plourr gets to go without the jacket. May be excused as this was after the arc in which she left the squadron to rule Eiattu VI; she came back, but the squadron is only Mildly Military and she can alter her uniform to suit herself.
Smarter Than You Look: Plourr is generally presented as a Boisterous Bruiser, but shows herself to be pretty intelligent at times. In the one story where they meet, she gives Corran Horn (an actual police investigator) a good match as a detective.
The Squadette: Brash, tomboyish Plourr is the only woman in the squadron at first. Five others join, leaving or dying over the course of the comics. They're all quite distinct and non-stereotyped, but are outnumbered nearly two to one by men in the squadron.
Tank-Top Tomboy: Plourr's standard outfit is a tank top when out of uniform, while also being a consummate action girl, a boisterous bruiser, Lad-ette and tomboy. After assuming her throne, she dresses more formally, but still in a pretty masculine way.
Tomboy Princess: Plourr. She's The Lad-ette, with a love for fighting (whether in battle or simply friendly sparring), looks distinctly butch and doesn't apologize for a bit of it.
Warrior Princess: Plourr. She not only serves in Rogue Squadron, the Rebel Alliance and then New Republic's best starfighter squadron, but is also quite formidable bare-handed. The arc in the comic centered on Plourr is even titled "The Warrior Princess", appropriately enough.

Soontir Fel

Baron Soontir Fel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_fel.jpg

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Soontir Fel was a Corellian starfighter pilot of great skill, like Wedge, but he worked for the Empire until he executed a Heel–Face Turn. Married Wedge's sister, Syal.

Ace Pilot: Arguably better than Wedge in terms of being the galaxy's best non-Force sensitive pilot.
The Atoner: Feels his service to the Empire was a mistake despite his ultimate loyalty to it.
Broken Pedestal: Becomes this to his squadron after his (first) defection.
Defector from Decadence: That's him in the image there. It doesn't end up taking.
- Eventually defects from the New Republic to join Grand Admiral Thrawn's forces in the Unknown Regions.
The Dreaded: Often just the mention of his name can cause a room full of hardened pilots to utter an Oh, Crap!.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Turned a complete bunch of washouts into the Empire's greatest collection of pilots, partly through this.
Eye Scream: Lost his eye during one of Thrawn's battles in the Unknown Regions. No details have been provided.
Expy: Is one for Baron Richthofen, complete with Barony and red starfighter.
Fantastic Racism: The Empire's Fantastic Racism is Fel's tipping point-during the battle of Derra IV, he realizes that an alien admiral at Vader's briefing, whose name the pilots are never even told, is the real mastermind of the attack, and when it succeeds beyond anyone's expectations, said Admiral is completely ignored and shipped off to the Unknown Regions, while Fel and other humans are publicly honored, confirming Fel's feelings that the Empire is massively hypocritical. (Since the Admiral is Grand Admiral Thrawn Fel doesn't have the complete picture at the time.)
Farm Boy: Was a farm boy on Corellia, combining Luke and Han's origins.
Founder of the Kingdom: Not quite but close. His son Jagged eventually marries Jaina Solo (after an on-again-off-again relationship that lasts for multiple series before it finally sticks), and together they found a new Imperial monarchy that lasts to Star Wars: Legacy.
Four-Star Badass: In the Hand of Thrawn duology it's revealed that he continued his military career fighting for Thrawn's personal Imperial regiment and later the Chiss Ascendency, where he eventually got promoted to general.
Happily Married: Married to Wynssa Starflare, successful holo actress.
Medal of Dishonor: Receives one of these for a disastrous mission by an officer he considers to be grossly incompetent (and is).
My Country, Right or Wrong: Has this attitude in general about the Empire. It doesn't keep him loyal for long past Endor but eventually lures him to the Hand of Thrawn.
Red-plica Baron: He was based on the real Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofer.
Send in the Clones: Fel proved to be very popular, and in the Hand of Thrawn duology, he was revealed to be the template for a sleeper cell of clones that Thrawn placed.
Universal Driver's License: Subverted. He's not flight-qualified on Y-Wings.
Worthy Opponent: One of the biggest examples thereof in the Star Wars Legends universe.

Nrin Vakil

Species: Quarren

Homeworld: Mon Cala

A Quarren pilot who joined the squadron just before the campaign to restore Plourr as ruler. Initially clashed with Mon Calamari pilot Ibtisam, but the relationship developed into a tragic romance.

Ace Pilot: Comes with being a member of Rogue Squadron.
Fantastic Racism: His relationship with Ibtisam initially begins this way, as the Mon Calamari and Quarren species traditionally detest each other and while arguing they take stances typical of their species - Nrin advocating sticking with what's already there, Ibtisam favoring change.
Took a Level in Badass: Though not known for his ground combat skills during the comics, when he reappears in Isard's Revenge, he wades in with two very large blaster rifles looking like an avenging water monster. As Tycho puts it, "You haven't seen Nrin in a firefight."
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: When the Rogues are trapped on a dark-side-infested moon and ambushed at night by bizarre natives, he runs off, initially seeming cowardly to Ibtisam. However, he had run to the landing zone, where he fights off a large number of natives to bring back his X-wing, which he then proceeds to use in pulverizing the opposition.

Ibtisam

Species: Mon Calamari

Homeworld: Mon Cala

A Mon Calamari pilot who joined the Rogues shortly before the campaign to restore Plourr. Initially hostile to Quarren pilot Nrin Vakil, but their relationships develops into something more romantic.

Amazing Technicolor Population: She's blue and green, when her species is very commonly colored like Admiral Ackbar. To the point where a Guide To Alien Species that talks about her at length still refers to Mon Cals as "salmon-colored".
BFG: Fond of particularly large blasters.
Dreaming of Times Gone By: On Malrev she dreams of watching Nrin pontificate to a crowd about Mon Calamari and Quarren staying put and not going out into the universe, the kind of discussion that finished long before either of them could have a hand in it. Waking she muses on how odd it was.
Fish People: Like all Mon Cals, she's fishlike with crustacean elements.
The Lost Lenore: She becomes this for Nrin after she's killed in battle against the Empire.
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ibtisam wouldn't normally count as a 'girly girl', but being fairly nonviolent and in touch with her emotions she comes off as more feminine than the very butch Plourr and Xarcce, her two closest friends in the squadron.
What Beautiful Eyes!: Not notably herself - she's got huge yellow-orange eyes like all Mon Calamari, and their quality is not remarked upon - but she's more likely than the others to appreciate someone's eyes. In Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, an interest in eyes is a species trait.

Elscol Loro

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913060_250px_elscol.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Cilpar

A human female pilot who was with the squadron briefly during the beginning of the post-Endor campaign. Widowed by the Empire, she later becomes a hazard to her squadron mates when her last friend is killed, and Wedge is forced to fire her. However, he pairs her up with a betrayed Imperial Special Forces soldier, and together they liberate worlds (reappearing in The Bacta War).

Action Girl: A commando on her home world before becoming a pilot.
Crusading Widow: She is out to avenge her dead husband.
Good-Looking Privates: One of the more conventionally attractive members of the Squadron.
Heroic BSoD: occurs in The Phantom Affair, when the mysterious "Jedi" popping up around the city reveals himself as her dead husband. It's not really him, but a mathematician/musician working against the Empire. She also later has one when her Wookie friend Groznick is killed, leading to reckless flying and an ejection from the squadron by Wedge.
Redheads Are Ravishing: One of the more attractive members of the cast and Wedge certainly notices.
Revenge Before Reason: Her primary goal is to make the Empire suffer, which often blinds her to the larger picture.
Ship Tease: With Wedge Antilles but it doesn't really pan out due to Wedge firing her.

Feylis Ardele

Species: Human

Homeworld: Commenor

Human female pilot who joined shortly before the Plourr-restoration campaign. Was originally part of an Imperial-allied militia, and nervous about her standing with the other Rogues as a result. However, as Tycho, Hobbie, and several other Rogues had served with the Empire, her fears were soon allayed.

Action Girl: Feylis particularly distinguishes herself as a very cool fighter, both in the air and on the ground.
Battle Couple: When new pilot Avan Beruss joins during the Brentaal IV campaign, she is immediately attracted to him. Though initially hesitant because of her grief at losing two squad members in the previous campaign, she warms to him, saying she was pleased to save his life.
Defector from Decadence: Was originally part of the Empire's forces but didn't serve it directly.
Hair of Gold: Is a very pretty blonde with strong morals.

Avan Beruss

Species: Human

Homeworld: Illodia

Human male pilot who joined during the Brentaal IV campaign. The nephew of one of the New Republic's Provisional Councilmembers, he is well versed in political maneuvers, but not as experienced in maneuvers in a snubfighter.

Ace Pilot: Averted, actually, as he isn't quite as good as the rest of the team.
Battle Couple: With Feylis Ardele. He is immediately attracted to her upon joining the squadron, and later owes her his life in battle. They eventually become a couple, and he proclaims, "You keep me safe when we fly, I'll keep you safe when we swim."
It's All My Fault: When the Rogues are trapped by an Interdictor cruiser on Ciutric, Avan tells Feylis that because his aunt is on the Provisional Council, she will not send reinforcements to avoid the appearance of Nepotism. She makes a no-dying-pact with him, however, and they both survive.

Dllr Nep

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/17137366356961981108558992929876.jpg

Species: Sullustan

Homeworld: Sullust

A Force-sensitive (unknown to himself) and highly intelligent Sullustan.

Big Guy, Little Guy: Like all Sullustans, he is very short, and he spends part of his introductory arc fighting alongside the hulking Wookie Groznik.
Cultured Warrior: He is a music lover and amateur anthropologist who can keep up with his fellow Rogues in combat.
Cool Old Guy: He has a gray beard and wrinkles as signs of advanced age but is very polite and curious and a formidable warrior.
Heroic Sacrifice: He and fellow Rogue pilot Herian I'ngre sacrifice themselves to trap the corrupted Bothan Girov Dza'tey inside a Sith temple and destroy it.
The Scrounger: He is in charge of procuring old parts to use for repairs.

Koyi Komad

Species: Twi'lek

Homeworld: Ryloth

A university student introduced in The Phantom Affair, this Twi'lek later became a mechanic for Rogue Squadron.

Continuity Nod: Stackpole's novels don't have much to do with her, but she did appear in one of Allston's, angered by a Fantastic Racism policy that was due to the efforts of Warlord Zsinj. Allston later noted that Komad had married Nrin Vakil, further tying into Vakil's interspecies romance pattern.
Fanservice with a Smile: Was once a bar maid on a university planet where she had an outfit which invoked this.
Interspecies Romance: Marries a Quarren, which is quite something.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: It comes with being a Twilek.
Wrench Wench: Is a pretty gear-head for Rogue Squadron.

Corran Horn

The real main character of the Rogue Squadron books, Force-sensitive, and Michael Stackpole's golden boy. See the character sheet for the New Jedi Order and Legacy eras for his full entry.

Gavin Darklighter

Related to Biggs Darklighter, Luke's Mauve Shirt friend from A New Hope. See the character sheet for the New Jedi Order and Legacy eras for his full entry.

Ooryl Qrygg

Species: Gand

Homeworld: Gand

Ace Pilot: Not only is he one of the better pilots in his generation of Rogue Squadron — tied with Corran and Bror for first to become an ace — but he's also insanely competent on ground missions, to the point of actually being scary on Talasea.
A Day in the Spotlight: After being a marginal character in the first three books, he manages to get nearly as much focus as Corran in The Bacta War.
Ambiguous Situation: Ooryl may or may not be Force Sensitive.
Bizarre Alien Biology: Not a lot is widely known about Gands when Ooryl is introduced. When Wedge is asked whether Ooryl can see in the ultraviolet range (he can, as it turns out), his first thought is "I wouldn't be surprised. He doesn't breathe or sleep and can regenerate severed limbs."
Blue-and-Orange Morality: A Downplayed Trope example but a lot of Corran's issues with Ooryl are due to how bizarre his religion is. For example, he offers to help scour the mists for a child so Corran can have one (he briefly misunderstood Corran's reluctance to start a family with Mirax for inability).
Good Thing You Can Heal: He loses an arm in Rogue Squadron. By The Krytos Trap, it's grown back. Downplayed in that the regeneration takes a few weeks, but still.
One Gand Army: Is much much tougher than you'd think.
Spell My Name With An S: There's been a fair amount of debate over whether his last name is "Qyrgg" or "Qrygg".
Third-Person Person: Done for different reasons than human versions of this trope who refer to themselves in this way to be arrogant. Ooryl's doing it out of humility, because he doesn't feel he's important enough to warrant first-person pronouns. Apparently, this is his species' hat. Among Gands, use of personal pronouns confers an assumption that everyone will know who the speaker is without needing an introduction. Also, referring to oneself by surname rather than given name is a form of ritual humiliation to atone for unworthy behavior. Eventually Ooryl's accomplishments in life are deemed by Gand authorities to be significant enough that every Gand should know who he is... though he still slips back into third person when embarrassed.

Bror Jace

Species: Human

Homeworld: Thyferra

An arrogant Thyferran Nobleman who develops a rivalry with Corran Horn.

Ace Pilot: Is the best pilot in Rogue Squadron after Corran Horn, Tycho Celchu, and Wedge Antilles.
Expy/Alternate Company Equivalent: Often considered the Iceman to Corran Horn's Maverick.
Faking the Dead: He is reported dead during an ambush on the way back home to Thyferra at the very end of the first book. It was in fact a set-up arranged by The Mole Erisi Dlarit to eliminate the best pilot in the unit (and her business rival among the bacta cartels), but Jace managed to survive and fake his death so as to show up later to help out during the La Résistance phase of The Bacta War.
- By 'managed to survive', he was already faking his death by completely different means. The initial plan was to make his own death look like an accident (specifically, an accidental torpedo discharge that would destroy his fighter); the destruction of his fighter by an ambush only changed the excuse (either way, he wasn't aboard when it was destroyed).
Improbable Piloting Skills: In the first book of the series, he has three "ace missions" — five or more kills in a single mission — and scores a total of twenty-two kills in only five missions, including NINE in the book's last mission, narrowly beating out Corran, much to the latter's annoyance.
Jerkass: In Rogue Squadron, he's just a puffed-up, arrogant ass with no redeeming qualities other than his piloting skills.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In The Bacta War, he gets better.
La Résistance: Is the founder of one of these on his homeworld.
Pride: His homeworld of Thyferra's hat.
Punny Name: Corran lampshades the fact that his last name rhymes with ace... and suggests that Jace expects the TIE pilots to just line up to be killed by him so he can become an ace immediately. He also has many elements of another trope with "ace" in its name.
The Rival: To Corran, in the first book where they're measuring their piloting abilities against each other. He beats Corran by one kill.

Nawara Ven

Nawara Ven/Nawar'aven

Species: Twi'lek

A Twi'lek lawyer who discovered he was an exceptional pilot once he joined the Rebellion. He joined the Rebellion due to his hatred of the Empire's cruel and arbitrary legal system.

Artificial Limbs: Loses a leg to a micrometeorite after ejecting from his doomed X-Wing in The Bacta War. In Star Wars this normally wouldn't be an issue, but his nervous system has just enough trouble interfacing with the prosthetic to make operating an X-Wing's rudder pedals tricky. And since he considers himself the worst pilot in the squadron (whether it's actually true or not is unclear), that makes him no longer good enough to be a fighter pilot.
Batman Gambit: The way he played Dr. Edda Gast in Solo Command definitely qualifies as one of these, as he agrees to give her half a million credits and a new identity in return for information. He also gives her a choice of Imperial or Republic credits, knowing that as a die-hard Imperial, she'll choose Imperial credits... except she's released on Coruscant, and bringing that much money in Imperial currency onto the New Republic's capital world qualifies as both smuggling and sedition, the latter charge of which gets her immediately arrested and sent to prison.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: An almost literal example given he's one of the most humorous characters in the series — also a fighter pilot as well as lawyer.
Chekhov's Skill: Once he mentioned that he used to be a lawyer in the first book of the series, we all just knew there was going to be a trial of some sort eventually. He has shown up in several other EU works defending main characters.
Crusading Lawyer: Several times, notably for Tycho in the X-Wing books and Tahiri Veila, along with the rest of the Jedi Order, in Fate of the Jedi.
Interspecies Romance: With the human Rhysati Ynr, a Mauve Shirt who manages to go the whole series with about ten lines and yet survives.
Name That Unfolds Like Lotus Blossom: Justified: The Krytos Trap has an extensive explanation that Twi'lek names frequently involve puns. Tal'dira explains that his given name is Nawara and his surname is Ven; however, the Twi'leks pronounce it "Nawar'aven", which sounds like "silver-tongued" in Twi'lek (which fits his first career as an attorney). If pronounced as Basic-speakers do, however, it sounds like "tarnished silver".
Post-Injury Desk Job: After Nawara loses part of a leg to a micro-meteorite, he gets a prosthetic replacement, but it's not quite good enough to let him keep up with Rogue Squadron. Rather than leave, he becomes the squadron's Executive Officer.
Retired Badass: Is forced into retirement by his injuries. While Star Wars cybernetics are able to allow him to live a normal life, he can't quite pilot the way he used to.

Riv Shiel

Species: Shistavanen

Homeworld: Uvenna III

A spacer who had to go on the run for the Empire after committing a Crime of Self-Defense when he was attacked by those mistaking him for a Rebel.

Creepy Good: His sourcebook illustration has a very toothy and eerie smile, and he takes grim satisfaction in his ability to kill enemies at close quarters, but he is very brave and loyal to his friends.
One-Man Army: He killed a whole squad of stormtroopers single-handedly in his backstory and helps kill several more who are attacking the Rogues’ base in the first book.
The Quiet One: He has very few lines of dialogue in any of the four books he appears in.
Satellite Character: He never has any notable page-time or plot importance except while accompanying his wingmate Gavin.
Wolf Man: He's a Shistavanen, the most obvious example in the SW Universe.

Rhysati Ynr

Species: Human

Homeworld: Bespin

A woman from Bespin who is a friend of Corran Horn since before they are accepted into Rogue Squadron.

Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She is a blonde-haired woman who is very easygoing and supportive around her squadron mates.
Out of Focus: She is a decent supporting character for the first couple of books but then quickly starts to play only minor roles for the most part.
Retired Badass: She has been retired from active duty for about thirty years by the time of Fate of the Jedi, but still slkillfully flies a fighter she got on the black market and aids her friends in times of need.
You Can't Go Home Again: She has spent years unable to return to Bespin due to the Imperial occupation and calls herself the squadron's "token refugee."

Lujayne Forge

Species: Human

Homeworld: Kessel

The eldest daughter from a Teacher/Student Romance between a Kessel inmate and a man sent to help rehabilitate the inmates.

Dropped a Bridge on Him: She is murdered offscreen in her sleep by stormtroopers during a raid after spending several chapters as a major presence.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She is a hardworking, socially conscious freedom fighter, while one of her sisters, Inyri, is a gangster's girlfriend before getting some Character Development.
The One Who Made It Out: She worked hard to get off her penal colony homeworld and prove to the Galaxy that there are still decent people there who deserve aid and respect.
Team Mom: She mentors Gavin in astronavigation and looks out for the mental well-being of the others, being viewed as the heart of the squadron.
Wrench Wench: She is an expert mechanic specializing in speeder repair.

Inyri Forge

Species: Human

Homeworld: Kessel

One of Lujayne Forge's sisters, who starts out as a reluctant ally of the squadron before becoming less reluctant and eventually becoming a full member.

Conflicting Loyalties: She spends a while choosing between her Bastard Boyfriend (who is working with the Rogues but plotting against them) and the Rogues who have saved her life and care for her because of her sister.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Lujayne is a hardworking, socially conscious freedom fighter, while Inyri is a gangster's girlfriend and accomplice, although after getting some Character Development, she becomes very similar to Lujayne.
Reformed Criminal: She goes from preparing drugs for her boyfriend to becoming an earnest and dedicated soldier who fights against multiple galactic menaces.

Andoorni Hui

Species: Rodian

Homeworld: Rodia

A Rodian huntress and member of the squadron when it begins clashing with Isard's forces.

Doomed Hurt Guy: She insists on flying on a mission before fully recovering from being nonfatally shot by assassins in an earlier scene and dies on that mission.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: She is a famous land huntress who decided to become a fighter pilot to increase her reputation and took to it Like a Duck Takes to Water. However, she makes a conscious choice to serve the New Republic (making friends in the squadron) when many of her people become Imperial lackeys.
You No Take Candle: She speaks limited Basic and has a hard time forming long sentences, saying "Not do" when she is unable to make a maneuver.

Peshk Vri'syk

Species: Bothan

Homeworld: Bothawui

A Bothan pilot put on the squadron to reward his people for stealing the Death Star plans.

Jerkass: He is arrogant, ignores opportunities to befriend others, and enjoys looking good at their expense.
New Meat: He is an inexperienced but talented pilot who is put in the squadron for political reasons.
We Hardly Knew Ye: His Jerkass attitude keeps him from interacting much with his comrades before his death late in his one appearance.

Tal'dira

Species:' Twi'lek

Homeworld: Ryloth

The commander of a Twi'lek squadron that flies alongside the Rogues. He later briefly becomes a member of the squadron.

Boisterous Bruiser: He is a highly skilled Proud Warrior Race Guy who is also a fun, yet energetic, person to hang out with.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Warlord Zsinj kidnaps and brainwashes him into trying to kill Wedge, and he lets himself be killed in the attempt while Fighting from the Inside

Wraith Squadron

Lara Notsil

Lara Notsil / Gara Petothel / Kirney Slane

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lora_gara_kirney_whatever_ws_9203.png

Homeworld: Coruscant

Lara is an Imperial spy who specializes in creating false identities. She infiltrates the Wraiths, but starts to have doubts about her allegiance.

Becoming the Mask: She's a little too good at submerging herself into her false identities... and when she realizes that the New Republic is really a much better place to live than any of the Imperial factions, she decides she wants to become her false identity and let her "real" self vanish, and if she helps take down Zsinj, no one will be left who can give her away. Unfortunately, Face was both smart enough to work out who she was and stupid enough to fail at hiding this.
Communications Officer: She plays this role in her first mission. She spots an ambush placed by Zsinj via transmissions, and warns the Wraiths of it before they get there. It's during the subsequent dogfight that she comes to an important realization that triggers her Heel–Face Turn.
The Cracker: She takes on this role later on, using a mix of her intelligence background and her R2 unit. This eventually reaches a point that she figures out a way to bring down a super star destroyer.
Dark Secret: The reader is every bit as aware of it as she is, but Gara Petothel / Lara Notsil is a Deep Cover Agent who's gone through a private Heel–Face Turn, and is unhappily aware that the badly damaged pilot who she's falling in love with is damaged because of her actions.
Double Consciousness: Imperial intelligence agencies demand results first, with the agent's mental well-being somewhere down the list below their physical well-being and just above properly groomed nose hair. Back when her handler was alive and she returned to them between missions she was not troubled by the job, they helped deprogram her and wipe away any attachments and memories she didn't need. Without them...
Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: It's not easy on her.
Dramatic Irony: The woman who's spent fifteen years training and then acting as The Mole, a role which specifically requires betrayal, realizes within a few months of going without her handlers that she despises treachery and isn't even tempted to backstab Wedge, because it wouldn't be honorable.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Girl goes through a lot of internal strife and nearly as much physical peril, and ends her role in the Wraith books with a note of shaky optimism. In later series there's a company with her name and Donos' combined, suggesting they got together, and then she actually appears for a scene in Mercy Kill, where she reveals she's had multiple children and they're all still alive, and it's strongly suggested that she got to reconnect with her friends in the Wraiths years ago. Considering the turmoil of the decades between the books, after Solo Command she's had one of the happiest lives in Star Wars.
Even Evil Has Standards: While she's still The Mole, she has an internal monologue with herself about how Zsinj is a noble villain and Trigit... not so much. What causes her to first consider switching sides is the realization that Zsinj is actually just like Trigit, and therefore not worthy of her services. The actual decision to make her Heel–Face Turn was made easier by further tropes below, though...
Faking the Dead: As Kirney Slane. Though "Mercy Kill" implies this is an Open Secret among the older Wraiths.
Good Feels Good: Along with The Power of Trust, it's what causes her to become the mask and make a Heel–Face Turn.
Happily Married: Mercy Kill reveals that she and Donos got married and had children. All of whom are alive.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Practically her signature move. She has on numerous occasions turned her target's own tools and tricks against them in astounding ploys. Key highlights include:
- Hijacking a device Anton Repness used to try and hide his secret dealings and using it to record incriminating evidence instead. And because he also activated it whenever he was feeling paranoid, and vocalized many of his passwords while he was typing them, she got much, much more dirt on him than she anticipated.
- The King of the Droids Plan. She has her astromech Tonin hijack a substantial portion of 'Iron Fist's' mouse droid population and through them rewires Zsinj's ship out from underneath him completely undetected. When Zsinj is about to jump, she has Tonin reroute the vessel so its course will take it through a star's gravity well, and then send the mouse droids to sabotage the hyperdrive, stranding it in place while she bypasses door after door to rescue Zsinj's test subjects and make her escape. She even has 'Iron Fist' send real-time damage estimates on Zsinj's fleet to 'Mon Remonda', letting them focus fire whenever and wherever a ship shows weakness.
Honor Before Reason: Not that she has no reason; she takes a lot of time to consider her actions, and thinks everything through once she's come to a decision. But in the end, her honor wins. To put it plainly, after Myn attacked her, nobody would have been surprised if she had deflected or fled the conflict altogether. Instead, she goes to Zsinj and, even under intense scrutiny, passes information about Iron Fist's destination to the New Republic, rewires Zsinj's own flagship out from under his nose, strands him in the middle of nowhere without a significant portion of his fleet, and on her way out she rescues a number of his test subjects from captivity. And what does she do after she fires up her X-wing? She still joins the fight, saving Wedge's life in the process. It takes her getting shot down to finally end her role in the conflict—and she survived.
If Only You Knew: Played for Drama as Myn starts to try to get closer to her.
I Have Many Names: Between the personas she assumes during the series and the ones she adopted off camera that are mentioned at various points in the novels, she has four identities that we know of^note. It's quite possible (indeed, rather likely) that there are others.
In Love with the Mark: She originally joined Wraith Squadron intending to be The Mole, but falls in love with Myn Donos—who happens to be the Sole Survivor of another NRDF fighter squadron she lured into an Imperial trap with disinformation. This becomes part of the reason for her Becoming the Mask.
Kick the Dog: Talon Squadron was wiped out because of information she discovered. When Myn falls in love with her (and she starts reciprocating), this rapidly becomes problematic.
Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: In her first mission with the Wraiths, she’s assigned to be Wedge Antilles’ wingmate, and naturally this leads to a moment where she has a perfect chance to kill him. However, the fact that someone gives her that level of trust for once really gets to her, and it leads to her trying to become the mask.
Loss of Identity: She was trained from an early age to create a personality and a life, fully immerse herself in it, complete objectives including forming and betraying the closest of connections, and shed it without a qualm. To the point where later she can't even remember if her previous identities had friends and interests. At some point the handler who saw her between missions died before she came back into a splinter of Imperial service. There Gara became disgusted with her commanding officer's handling of his crew and arranged for his escape craft to be spotted by New Republic forces, then assumed a new identity and waited to be contacted, getting put into a New Republic fighter squadron. But something was different this time - she was affected by the Power of Trust and genuinely defected. She tried to throw away who she'd been and just be Lara Notsil, pilot, but she couldn't, and eventually her past came crashing in on her.
"All the furniture that made up the way I'd thought and felt about things all my life started coming loose in my head. Nowadays it slides around and breaks into pieces and I have no idea what parts of it are real and what aren't. It hurts, and a lot of the time I don't know who I am anymore."
Mama Bear: During her cameo in Mercy Kill, she makes it very clear to Voort that under no circumstances is he to recruit her children.
Master of Disguise: Is definitely one of these.
The Mole: And then not.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: One of the first times Sanity Slippage gets so big for Gara, is when she is shown holos doctored by Zsinj, that 'prove' she was Lara. Since she didn't make those holos... Lara promptly has a psychotic breakdown. And ends up remembering Kirney, which helps her come to her true identity.
Power of Trust: Sitting in her new X-wing in flight on her first mission with Wraith Squadron, she sees that Wedge Antilles, Ace Pilot and hero of the Rebellion, is flying ahead of her, no shields. For years she'd been going out in false identities and betraying her comrades at the behest of her handlers, but now her handlers were dead, and she discovered that she could not stand treachery. Her resulting train of thought is what first triggers her Loss of Identity, Double Consciousness, and attempts at Becoming the Mask.
Such an odd feeling. Wedge Antilles was under her guns, yet he trusted her with his life.
He had no reason not to, of course. But he did. No one had in-how long? Forever.
She could eliminate him with a twitch of her finger.
It should have been tempting. Yet, somehow, it wasn't.
Such an attack would be treacherous.
Sanity Slippage: She slowly goes through one as she becomes the mask after infiltrating Wraith Squadron. It turns out that Imperial Intelligence was... lax in concerning themselves with what would happen to an agent after having so many different identities swirling around in their head. She manages to never show it, but some of her inner dialogue is downright depressing as she fights between her two /three different identities in order to stay with her Squadron.
Secret-Identity Identity: In this case, rather than being a result of past trauma or a secret superhero identity, her problem stems from a very real conflict between who she wants to be be, and who her Imperial intelligence instructors have trained her to be. The rigorous, cruel methods used by her teachers, the constant assertions to assume her roles flawlessly because nothing else was of consequence, and the dictum to abandon everything, including emotional attachments, that would interfere with her fulfilling her mission is enough to mentally unbalance her for a time. Not only does there come a point when she is (briefly) no longer certain who she is, Lara or Gara Petothel, but she even finds herself missing Kirney Slane, a practice identity from her early days at the Academy, because Kirney's life was so much simpler and more carefree. This same identity is later adopted by her when her identity is exposed and she must take refuge with Zsinj, because she views Lara as having "died".
That Man Is Dead: "Gara Petothel is dead. Lara Notsil is dead. I will answer to those names, but they are no longer mine. I am Kirney Slane. I have no life yet. I will make one, or I will die in the attempt."
Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: A particularly old and addled man at a museum confuses Lara Notsil for someone else he once knew. In typical Star Wars fashion, he actually confused her for her mother, an Imperial Intelligence agent, like Lara/Gara/whatever-her-name-is-today herself. This confusion puts another Wraith on the trail to discovering her identity, no less.
We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future: When Gara Petothel becomes Lara Notsil, she carefully edits all remaining records of the dead woman - there aren't many - to show Gara's fingerprints and genetic structure, Gara's image. When the Big Bad contacts her through Lara's brother, there are family holos in the background, and the Lara in them looks like Gara.
- The latter is justified, as it was done by Zsinj, and considering that the real Lara, her home, and most of her family were blasted from orbit there aren't many records in existence - Lara's brother was not at all upset about someone impersonating his dead sister, so probably wasn't toting happy family holos around - they were likely faked completely.
What You Are in the Dark: In Gara/Lara's first mission with the Wraiths, her X-wing is positioned behind Wedge's and he puts all his shields forward. She realises that she could take him out with one shot, flee and then be feted for the rest of her life by Zsinj or the Imperials as the pilot who shot down Wedge Antilles. But then she starts thinking about just what it means that Wedge trusts her enough to put her in such a position...
Would Not Shoot a Good Guy: Lara Notsil gets discovered to be the woman who caused the deaths of Talon Squadron, and she's well aware that the fact that she became the mask and went through a Heel–Face Turn doesn't change her history. Despite being shot at by her love interest, the only surviving member of Talon Squadron, all she does is flee. She goes to the enemy, Warlord Zsinj, as a Fake Defector, and when she actually has to face the squadron she powers down her lasers (and modulates them to create a Morse Code-like repeating message so that when she repeatedly shoots Wedge's ship, the squadron's translator droid is able to relay the full details of her infiltration and sabotage of Zsinj's flagship, thus allowing a trap to be set). Suspecting the situation, Wedge Antilles orders that she isn't to be fired on.

Myn Donos

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Donos was a hot-blooded Corellian, until the squadron he commanded, Talon, was destroyed in an ambush just after they were fully instated. He was the only survivor through little more than luck. The ordeal has left him with heavy psychological scars.

Ace Pilot: While he was very lucky to survive the ambush of Talon Squadron (anybody short of Wedge or Tycho would've been hard-pressed, given the superior enemy force and the fact that all 11 other members were the greenest of rookies), he was also very good. He managed to shoot down at least 5 TIEs in the engagement. Though it wasn't quite enough to save Eight, the only other other Talon who survived the opening volley.
Angst Coma: After Shiner, his astromech, is destroyed, he cracks and "goes away" into his own head because Shiner was the last Talon - the only thing he had left from his old squad. As long as Shiner survived, he hadn't completely failed them.
Awesomeness by Analysis: During the climax of Wraith Squadron, he's able to anticipate General Crespin's Cool Manoeuvre that takes out two of Admiral Trigit's escorts, and exploits it by timing his torpedo launch to take advantage of Trigit's anticipated vulnerability. The result is impressive: Trigit gets taken out as he's trying to reconsider his previous position of not surrendering. Thus, he killed his hated enemy just before Trigit actually surrendered, which would've required Donos to stand down.
Cold Sniper: Even before the destruction of his squadron. Yes, he has looked down a scope at people completely unaware of his existence and pulled the trigger. Yes, he is very, very good at it. Yes, he will do it if ordered to do so. No, he doesn't much like doing that. It's why he transferred to flying X-wings, and probably why he leaves the Wraiths at the end of Solo Command.
Dating Catwoman: He falls for Lara during the events of the Wraith Squadron series. While he was initially unaware that she was an ex-Imperial spy, his feelings persist even after her cover is blown and she enacts a mole scheme.
Defrosting Ice King: Part of his Character Development, though his initial coldness isn't rude, so much as emotionally shut-down.
Happily Married: Mercy Kill reveals that he and a certain woman named Kirney Slane married and had children, even starting a shipping company together.
Heroic BSoD: He pretty much lives in one after the destruction of Talon Squadron. He gets better.
Improbable Aiming Skills: He pulls off some very impressive sniping tricks in the series, and the only times he seems to miss are for very difficult shots. A particularly notable instance is when he uses his sniper rifle to transmit a vislight detonation signal from ship to ship—he doesn't get it until the third shot, but that he made the shot at all...
Madness Mantra: "Shiner's not responding."
Not So Above It All: He’s the one to coin the Squadron’s catchphrase: “Pretty. What do we blow up first?”
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Twice regarding his Corellian Bloodstripes. Early in Wraith Squadron, his refusal to wear them after the Talon Squadron debacle is the first indication to Wedge that something is terribly wrong with him. By the middle of Iron Fist, Myn has recovered enough from this that it's not really an issue, but then he wears them to a meeting with Wedge while out of uniform, which tells Wedge that something else is up, because Myn isn't the ostentatious type who would wear the Bloodstripes with civilian clothes for no particular reason—turns out Myn has some well-founded concerns about Zsinj trying to recruit another Wraith.
Platonic Life-Partners: Somewhat with Tyria Sarkin; throughout The Wraith's tenure as a Squadron the two have been a permanent wing pair (initially 9 & 10, later 3 & 4) and she (pretending to be Talon 8) is part of the group to bring him out of his Heroic BSoD by pushing him beyond his Rage Breaking Point, saving his career and his sanity.
Survivor Guilt: It's telling that he's more protective of his droid than his own life.
Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Earned the Corellian Bloodstripes, an award for conspicuous gallantry, during his time as a sniper, but refuses to wear them after the Talon debacle. This is the first inkling Wedge gets that something is very wrong with him.

Garik "Face" Loran

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garik_loran_ws_8623.png

Homeworld: Pantolomin

Callsigns: Wraith One

As a former child star of propaganda holodramas, Face inspired many to join the Imperial army. Now, he attempts to atone for his childhood by flying for the New Republic. In 44 ABY he becomes the head of Galactic Alliance Security.

Ace Pilot: He begins the series with a few kills under his belt, and crosses the magic five-kills mark during the first book. He also has the second-highest score of the flight officers during training (only Kell did better).
The Atoner: He thinks he needs to pay back for helping the Empire when he was young. Phanon’s will is partially dedicated to shaking him out of this, stating that mistakes made in youthful ignorance shouldn’t define the rest of his life.
Awesomeness by Analysis: An expert at reading Body Language. He can tell what planet you're from by the way you walk. And is confident enough to kill a man based on one of these deductions. And he was right.
Bald of Evil: Shaven bald by the time of the Yuuzhan Vong war, and naturally bald by the events of Mercy Kill. While not actually evil, he does eventually rise to the head of a galaxy-wide intelligence agency. Allston said that he wanted Face's appearance to be that of a stereotypical evil mastermind.
Beware the Silly Ones: His acting ability is often used for humor, but there's a reason he's the one in charge of the Wraiths once Wedge leaves.
The Face: His role in the squad, which in turn is the source of his nickname.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: A large one over his face, marring his boyish good looks. Phanan actually forces him to fix this in his will. While Face didn't particularly care about the money, Phanan anticipated this and stipulated that if the scar wasn't removed, the money would instead go to Face's hated childhood rival Tetran Cowall. However, afterwards, Face uses stage makeup to simulate having one anyway. It's implied via dialogue that Face didn't actually have the procedure done until immediately after his almost-death at the battle with Razor's Kiss, though; if this is so, he only had the fake scar for one chapter anyway.
- By Mercy Kill, or possibly Solo Command, he has ditched the makeup.
Glurge: The only one of his old roles for which we get a synopsis features Face as a loyal Imperial child who ends the film being shot by his pro-Rebellion father as he runs to meet the Emperor, and begs Palpatine to destroy Rebels like his father as he dies in Palpatine's arms. Imperial holodramas aren't big on subtlety. invoked
Happily Married: To Dia by the time of Mercy Kill, although it appears they broke up at some point and she had a daughter whom Face adopted.
Old Shame: How he feels about being a child star for Imperial propaganda movies.
Only Known by Their Nickname: This is something of a theme with Wraith Squadron members.
Pretty Boy: Noted for his good looks.
Rank Up: He is promoted to Captain after joining Wraith Squadron.
Sherlock Scan: An expert at using body language to deduce facts about people.
The Spymaster: He leads Wraith Squadron once Wedge goes back to the Rogues, and eventually becomes head of Galactic Alliance Intelligence. It's noted multiple times that he believes in compartmentalizing information (which ends up backfiring hilariously in Mercy Kill).

Ton Phanan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/originalwraiths_6.jpg

Homeworld: Rudrig

Ton is a bitter, sarcastic doctor who is allergic to Bacta, and thus ended up half-cybernetic when the medship he was serving on during the Battle of Endor was attacked. He became a pilot after deciding that he'd rather kill people than heal them.

Captain Crash: By his own admission, he's not that great at landing. He also loses three starfighters in the books, though the first time it was due to circumstances beyond his control. He doesn't survive the last one, though he does at least get a chance to talk to Face one last time before he goes.
Casanova Wannabe: He hits on most of Wraith Squadron's female members. If he got shot down by TIE fighters as much as he gets shot down by women, his career would be over. Not always played for laughs, though.
Combat Medic: Being a doctor can come in handy when you're asked to surrender your weapons. He cut a guy's throat with a laser scalpel at one point when everyone had been relieved of their blasters or vibroknives, because their captors hadn't realised his equipment could re-purposed. He's a good guy, but he's a little creepy about it.
"It's a tool of medicine. I wasn't asked to turn over my bandages, bacta treatments, disinfectant sprays, or tranquilizers either, but I can kill a man with any of them, under the right circumstances."
Collector of the Strange: Likes bugs (he was that kid who liked making girls shriek with them) and winds up keeping some as pets. They are bequeathed to Face when Phanan dies, on the grounds that Phanan thought they were cute and "cuteness should be preserved".
Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Face. The first day they met, they were finishing each other's sentences and annoying the hell out of everybody else within hours.
Improvised Weapon: When the Wraiths are captured at the beginning of Iron Fist, the Imps confiscate their weapons... but they don't touch Ton's medical bag. That turned out to be an oversight on their part.
Sad Clown: He's a prankster and cracks a lot of jokes, but under the lighthearted exterior is a depressed man who is increasingly bitter about how he gains more prosthetics every year.
Vitriolic Best Buds: He and Face are constantly trading barbs.
Weapons of Their Trade: In the beginning of Iron Fist the Wraiths get into a fight where Ton Phanan, the squad's medic, winds up killing someone with a scalpel. When it comes up during their debriefing, he's asked if he surrendered this weapon, to which Phanan matter-of-factly explains that it's not a weapon, it's one of his medical tools. So are his bandages and bacta packs, but under the right circumstances he can kill a man with any of them. The debriefing officer can only shoot a bemused look at Wedge, who just shrugs.

Kell Tainer

Species: Human (Alderaanian)

Homeworld: Alderaan

The Wraiths' demolition expert. Kell's father was in the Rebellion during its early days, but panicked and endangered his unit trying to flee during a critical mission, forcing Wes Janson to score his first kill by shooting him down. Kell is attempting to make up for his father's failure but is understandably hostile towards Janson at first, though the two reach an understanding. In later series, he is married to Tyria and has two kids with her, Doran, who became a Jedi Knight, and Jesmin, a lightsaber-wielding Antarian Ranger who joined Wraith Squadron.

He was also in Star Wars: Scoundrels.

Ace Pilot: He's the most skilled pilot in the squadron except for Wedge (and possibly Janson).
Alternate History: He actually uses this as his backstory for one infiltration mission, calling himself Kell Doran (his birth name) and being a civilian shuttle pilot... basically just being an alternate version of himself, if he had decided to pursue a civilian career rather than join the Rebellion.
Badass Normal: In addition to his demolition skills, he also has martial arts training, which he uses to good effect in the field at least Once A Book. See also Ace Pilot.
Bad Liar: Although it may be a double bluff...
Cubber Daine: You play sabacc, son?
Kell: A little. But I'm not very good at it.
Cubber: Do I look stupid? 'I'm not very good at it', indeed. My six-year-old daughter is a better liar.
Kell: Well, I lie a little, but I'm not very good at it.
Battle Couple: With Tyria.
Brick Joke: His last real mission in Wraith Squadron goes much the same way as his first simulator run near the beginning of the same book. Five kills, instant ace. Only this time, Runt doesn't get all his points.
Creepy Blue Eyes: Is mentioned to have very pale blue eyes, very slightly too dark and narrow which can make him look like a bit like a madman.
Cowardly Lion: Constantly deals with a strong performance anxiety that he mistakes for cowardice. It nearly overwhelms him in the final battle against Implacable, but he's eventually able to overcome it. The fear never completely disappears, but it's never more than a nuisance for him after Wraith Squadron.
Good-Looking Privates: Everyone's first impression of him is that he'd look great on a recruitment poster.
Heroic Build: When Wedge first sees him, he's surprised that someone so buff can even fit inside an X-wing cockpit.
Improbable Piloting Skills: In his first simulator mission, he scored "instant ace" (five kills in one mission). He repeats the feat for real in a mission at the end of the book.
Loving a Shadow: Played with. He develops a crush on Tyria early on in Wraith Squadron, but she calls him on it, forcing him to confront and admit that he's really just fantasizing about a woman he barely knows. After flying with her for most of the book and getting to know her, he falls in love with her all over again—and this time she reciprocates immediately, because she actually fell in love with him at first sight but wanted to be sure he was loving the real person and not the fantasy.
Mad Bomber: Not really, but the others often joke about him being this, and his Creepy Blue Eyes mean he looks the part.
Out of Focus: He's the main protagonist of Wraith Squadron, but has barely a scene to himself in the latter two Wraith books. Not a bad thing, as he had finished his Character Development arc and this allowed Allston to look at the other characters in more detail.
Phrase Catcher: Other people, mostly Tyria, tell him "Set Honesty to On".
Stuff Blowing Up: Bound to happen when he's around. Lampshaded by Falynn, who went out of her way to mark some vehicles in case Kell wanted to explode them.
Kell: I don't have to blow up everything I see. I just like to.
You Killed My Father: Wes Janson worries about this early on, considering that Kell is a relatively large man with high proficiency with both unarmed combat and explosives. Subverted, as it turns out that rather than just hating him, Kell is terrified of Janson, seeing him as a deadly and unforgiving taskmaster. When he overhears Janson colluding with Wedge to buy time for another shaken pilot to regain combat efficiency, Kell realises he was mistaken and manages a better working relationship with Janson thereafter.
Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Earned the Kalindor Crescent for bravery and skill in trying to save a fellow pilot from crashing. His reaction? Mild disgust, because despite all his efforts she still crashed and died.

Tyria Sarkin

Species: Human (Toprawan)

Homeworld: Toprawa

A human female pilot from Toprawa, a planet viciously subjugated by the Empire. Blackmailed by a training officer, her career is flaming out in a combination of poor piloting skills and black-market pressure until Wedge picks her for the Wraiths for her dual talents of minor Force-sensitivity and experience as a Toprawa Ranger, an elite anti-Imperial guerrilla force that had once served the Old Jedi Order before it was destroyed. She eventually becomes a Jedi Knight and marries Kell, with whom she had two children: Doran, who became a Jedi Knight after she trained him, and Jesmin, who joined Wraith Squadron.

Action Girl: Even more so than other Wraiths, as her background was one of fight, die, or be viciously humiliated just to survive on Toprawa. Even more so when her Force abilities improve.
Always Second Best: Despite being a Force-sensitive with no small amount of combat experience, her low scores as a pilot are a constant source of insecurity for her. For instance, initially she can't even use her Force Powers consciously; she just gets suspiciously accurate and life-saving hunches every now and then. She points out how frustrating this is to Kell, how would it feel to be the best pilot as long as you aren't in a cockpit. As noted below, she gets better about this.
Berserk Button: Her limitations as a pilot, and Repness' blackmailing her based on them. Grinder hits it by accident, and her furious response shocks her squadmates (and Wedge, when he finds out).
The Empath: She is often highly adept at picking up extremely subtle social cues, understanding Runt's split personality mental state based on his use of the pronoun we, seeing Kell's failure to see the real her in his crush and so shooting him down despite her mutual attraction, and noticing the reasons that Myn is so bothered by the loss of his droid as really being about survivor's guilt. Kell later suggests it is the Force.
Had to Be Sharp: She was a Rebel on Toprawa, a planet subjugated by the Empire for being involved in the theft of the first Death Star plans.
Platonic Life-Partners: A soft example with Myn Donos. They are a permanent wing pair, and she (pretending to be Talon 8) is part of the group to bring him out of his Heroic BSoD by pushing him beyond his Rage Breaking Point, saving his career and his sanity.
Ranger: Tyria is the last member of the Antarian Rangers from her planet, an organization of clans founded to act as auxiliaries to the Jedi Knights; despite her limited Force-sensitivity, her skills make her a natural fit for the squadron:
To be a Ranger meant knowing how to move in any environment. To blend in with the forest or grasslands, to sail, to swim, to dive, to pilot. To be masters of our surroundings. We were good spies, good warriors, very adept at intrusion and escape.
Spider-Sense: While she is Force-sensitive, it mostly comes across as brief flashes of inspiration as opposed to proper feelings as a true Jedi would have.
The Sneaky Gal: She is extremely talented at silent movement, and serves as the Wraith's point man while on the ground.
Took a Level in Badass: Initially the weakest pilot of the group, she obsessively trains, gains confidence, and becomes one of the most solid members of the Wraiths. After some time, her Force powers even develop enough that she leaves the military and becomes a full-fledged Jedi.
Took a Level in Kindness: After the Wraiths help her find her own self-esteem, she becomes less bitter and much nicer.

"Piggy"

Voort "Piggy" saBinring

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/VoortSaBinring_5446.png

Species: Gamorrean

Piggy is a Gamorrean who was a result of Imperial experimentation. As a result, his intelligence surpasses by far that of his species, and even most humans. After being forced to Mercy Kill Runt during the Yuuzhan Vong War, Piggy retired and became a professor before Face managed to recruit him again fifteen years later to investigate a rogue Galactic Alliance General.

Alone in a Crowd: He doesn't make a huge deal of it, but the point is poignantly made that he is unique - and therefore alone, as only a totally unique being can be. To him, other Gamorreans are brutish and dull. To humans and most alien races, he is physically repulsive (and suffers from the stigma associated with his species). His washing out into Wraith Squadron had nothing to do with his competence as a pilot or any bad choices on his part.
Beware the Nice Ones: One of the most mild mannered and polite Wraiths, he can and will pick up a desk and beat you to death with it if you shoot him.
BFG: The two-meter long guts of an X-wing's wing cannon jury-rigged to be portable.
Codename: "Math Boy"
Do Not Call Me "Paul": After the incident with Runt in the Yuuzhan Vong War, he refuses to use the nickname "Piggy" again throughout Mercy Kill until the end.
Fantastic Racism: He suffers from this a lot, but he also has it towards Yuuzhan Vong. When he is forced to work with one in Mercy Kill, he is constantly expecting to be betrayed, even though Scut was a Shamed One and raised by a human couple after being liberated when he was five.
Fatherly Scientist: Indeed, Piggy knew him as "father". He loved his creations like children. Unfortunately, most of them weren't psychologically equipped to handle their new intelligence and took their own lives; stricken with guilt, their creator followed them into death. Of all his "children", only Piggy chose to live.
- Piggy mentions that he doesn't quite understand why they died... if he did, presumably he would join them.
Genius Bruiser: How much of a genius? He's considered a living tactical computer, able to increase the efficiency of pilots he flies with thanks to his mental calculations allowing him to call shots and maneuvers for them. How much of a bruiser? He picks up a desk and slams a ship bulkhead (and an assassin) with it so thoroughly he nearly knocks someone out in the next hallway over from the resulting dent. All while being gutshot from a blaster.
- And at one point, he single-handedly captures a Corellian corvette using an X-Wing's blaster cannon. That he fires like a rifle. He kind of, uh, melted the ship's captain.
- His defense against the false charge that got him in the Wraith selection pool—striking a superior officer—is that none of the people he did hit (during well-moderated challenge matches) were able to speak coherently within a half hour, the time it was filed.
Good with Numbers: This is often useful. He has a habit of trying to control all aspects of a skirmish by transmitting recommendations to his squadmates. He also makes an excellent spotter for snipers since he can calculate numerous variables and give them the information. He's often called upon to plot hyperspace courses; it's implied he can mentally do the complex calculations necessary to plot one without a navigational computer (though he might only be using this capability to check the computer results).
Intelligence Equals Isolation: Among his own kind, who are more inclined to violence than cognition. (He was one of several Gamorreans whose intelligence was improved in an Imperial experiment; all the rest have committed suicide because of this.)
Jerkass Realization: Realizes just how much his racism was hurting Viull, a fellow Wraith (Viull is a Yuuzhan Vong adopted and raised by humans; Piggy blames the Vong for Runt's death) and how much the other had looked up to him. From then on, he's more respectful to Viull.
The Leader: Takes over command of Wraith Squadron halfway through Mercy Kill following Bhindi's death.
Mission Control: He can serve as this for other pilots while flying and shooting down other fighters himself. When the Wraiths were undercover as a pirate gang, Wedge had to specifically order Piggy to stop doing so, because demonstrating such an unusual skill could blow their cover.
Only Known by Their Nickname: He was originally given the nickname as an insult and tolerated it dispassionately, but Wedge tells him that Jek Porkins, a friend of his and Wes' who died in the Death Star trench run, was also called Piggy, and the name carries no stigma to him and is in fact considered an honorable moniker in their group.
Retired Badass: Becomes this at the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War. It takes a personal appeal from Face to get him back in the game.

"Runt"

Hohass "Runt" Ekwesh

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hohass_ekwesh.jpg

Species: Thakwaash

Homeworld: Thakwaa

Runt is a Thakwaash pilot who was on the verge of washing out due to his species multiple personalities. As a member of Wraith Squadron, he learned to control his personalities and created new ones that helped him develop more skills.

Beware the Nice Ones: When sufficiently aggravated, he's able to pick up an enemy hand-to-hand combat specialist like a rag doll and smash him repeatedly against a wall until he dies.
Ironic Nickname: Justified. Piggy excepted, he is easily the physically largest Wraith. He goes by "Runt" because he actually is the runt of the litter: most Thakwaash wouldn't even fit in an X-Wing cockpit.
Leeroy Jenkins: "The Pilot", one of his personalities. Kell helps train the pilot mind out of this tendency... or, perhaps, trains Runt to use a different mind in these situations.
Split Personality: Par for the course for the Thakwaash. His Character Development mostly consists of learning to switch between the personalities better.
Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Piggy is shown having to Mercy Kill him during the Yuuzhan Vong war in Mercy Kill.
Super-Strength: Immensely powerful, which comes in handy often.

Jesmin Ackbar

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/originalwraiths.jpg

Species: Mon Calamari

Jesmin is the niece of Admiral Ackbar. This caused her to constantly be placed by her commanding officers onto safe assignments for fear of her dying under their command and suffering Ackbar's wrath. She joined Wraith Squadron because she knew this would not happen under Wedge. She is the first casualty of the squadron.

Anti-Nepotism: She's been stuck in a desk job for most of her career because nobody wants to be responsible for getting Admiral Ackbar's niece killed, which caused her some Survivor's Guilt-like issues. When she volunteers for the Wraiths, she makes her uncle promise her he won't hold it against Wedge should the worst happen.
Fantastic Racism: Subjected to it. Before the unit was named or the roster finalized, one of the prospective Wraiths, a Quarren - a species that does not traditionally get along well with Mon Calamari - slapped her. Wedge promptly washed him out of the unit and selected Jesmin for the slot that was up for grabs.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Not in Wraith Squadron, but in Iron Fist she is mentioned, once, with her name misspelled as "Jasmin". Solo Command doesn't mention her at all, even though Falynn and Grinder get namedropped as among the squadron's losses. In Mercy Kill, one of Tyria and Kell's children is named after her, though.
- One possible explanation is that the main character that was most affected by her death was Kell as he failed to save her. Iron Fist and Solo Command mainly focus on Face and Myn/Lara respectively and Kell is rarely a viewpoint character in those books. Falynn was a much more important loss to Myn who is the one that mentions her in his segment.
Nephewism: Her parents are never mentioned and when she dies Wedge writes a letter to her uncle suggesting that he's her closest living relative.
Not What It Looks Like: Upon learning that his niece has been assigned to a unit of misfits, screwups, and hard luck cases, Admiral Ackbar demands she clarify since she belongs to none of those groups. She has to explain that she volunteered because she knew that Wedge wouldn't play favorites and she would finally be treated as a proper fighter pilot.

Falynn Sandskimmer

Species: Human

Homeworld: Tatooine

Ace Pilot: Even before joining Wraith Squadron, she was an ace as a Y-Wing pilot. Given the sluggish nature of Y-Wings, that's actually more difficult than becoming an ace in an X-Wing.
Always Second Best: She feels this way about her position in the unit: she has a lot of skills, but at least one person in the unit is better than her at each of them. There's also the fact that she comes from Tatooine, which has produced more than its share of great pilots... but that means she gets compared unfavorably to other Tatooine aces. Her desire to prove herself and do things that no one else has done causes her to take a lot of risks, and eventually gets her killed.
- The best way to describe this flaw is that while she is an extremely useful Jack of All Stats, able to take on a variety of different roles as needed, she still sees herself as a Master of None in a squadron of talented specialists.
Florence Nightingale Effect: Some of the other Wraiths speculate that her interest in Donos comes from romantic attraction to him, others feel she wants to fix him, Grinder thinks it'll start with the latter and she will fall for him while helping.
Sour Supporter: Like Luke Skywalker, she's from Tatooine - and she's never met Luke, she wishes she's never heard of him. Falynn is often charged with insubordination because she just doesn't respect most superior officers, or famous Rebels, just because she's supposed to. She does come to respect Wedge... eventually. Wedge points out that she has voiced her low opinion of Luke to one of Luke's best friends, but he won't hold that against her and judges her solely on her merit as a pilot.
Underestimating Badassery: She thinks Wedge is too old to be a good pilot. He proves her wrong. Decisively.
With Due Respect: Falynn would probably like Ashley's quote about the phrase, it is how she likes to use it.
Wretched Hive: As revealed in her anecdote about Bunkard Sewer Disorder, the Trope Namer is her hometown.

Eurrsk "Grinder" Thri'ag

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/originalwraiths_0.jpg

Species: Bothan

Homeworld: Bothawui

Insufferable Genius: He's a very good slicer, with pride to match.
- Too Clever by Half: He's caught out as a prankster because he executed one prank too perfectly. Nobody else in the squadron or among its support staff had the code-slicing skills to pull it off.
Hoist by His Own Petard: The Glass Prowler from Storinal.
Killed Off for Real: Dies at the end of Wraith Squadron when a turbolaser completely destroys his fighter.
Pet the Dog: Arrogant prankster or not, Grinder is willing to share skills of his trade and important knowledge he learns while slicing with some of his teammates, such as Myn and Tyria.
The Prankster: Although some of his pranks were ill-timed and potentially harmful, causing Face, Kell, and Phanan to pull one over on him and then blackmail him into stopping.

Shalla Nelprin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shalla.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Ingo

Action Girl: She's a better hand-to-hand fighter than Kell Tainer, which really says something. Zsinj's best hand-to-hand combat instructor, when asked about a claim that she could kill a Wookiee hand-to-hand, stated that while he didn't think it was possible for a human to pull it off, she came closer than anyone else he'd seen. He gave this assessment with his nose broken, after Shalla nearly kicked his face in as a demonstration. Her one "quirk" is that she has trouble keeping still.
The Big Girl
Deadpan Snarker: Like everyone else in Wraith Squadron, she's willing and ready to hand out the snark wherever.
The Smart Girl: Not only is she an effective combatant, she is also skilled at sifting intelligence reports. Which makes sense, once you learn that her father was likely an Imperial Intelligence officer who went into hiding. As a result, she also does quite a bit of the analysis of the group.

Dia Passik

Dia Passik/Diap'assik

Species: Twi'lek

Homeworld: Ryloth

Ambiguous Situation: In Mercy Kill, Adra is explicitly described as Dia's daughter whom Face later adopted. This implies that Dia and Face separated before she met someone else, married, had a daughter, and later lost or left her husband before returning to Face (or else that they broke up and she adopted a daughter on her own). None of this is ever completely explained.
Anti-Hero
Broken Bird: Sold into slavery as child to be a dancer, she harbored a polite hatred for others of her species for doing this, and is generally ruthless and sort of hostile to her teammates. She is then forced into Shoot Your Mate with Castin Donn (he seems dead, she tells us she thinks he was dead, but it's ambiguous) while undercover and has a Heroic BSOD in which she tries to commit suicide. Face stops her, and eventually ends up in a relationship with her, and she defrosts.
Compressed Lekku: When Dia and some of the other Wraiths are disguised as Stormtroopers, another member of the squad guesses that Dia is extremely uncomfortable with her sensitive Lekku scrunched up.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Once Face helps her get over some of her issues.
Double Consciousness: Borders on Split Personality due to her trauma. This comes to the forefront after being forced to (maybe) kill Castin: she refers to herself as Diap'assik (a Continuity Nod to the discussion of Twi'lek names in The Krytos Trap).
Happily Married: To Face by the time of Mercy Kill, although it appears they broke up at some point and she had a daughter whom Face adopted.

Castin Donn

Species: Human

Homeworld: Coruscant

The Cracker: He is too serious to be a Playful Hacker, but he is still at least semi-heroic as a member of the Rebel Alliance.
Fantastic Racism: It's not so much that he believes other species inferior; it's more that he's had no experience and didn't empathize with them, so picked fights and just generally does not get along.
Insufferable Genius: Takes over from Grinder as the squadron's new slicer and has the same kind of ego, though he's less playful and prone to grandiose statements. His squadmates wonder if he's as good.
"It'll work. My codes and patches always work."
[the others look at him]
"Well, mostly."
- Too Clever by Half: He lacks Grinder's caution, especially when it comes to slicing. This comes back to bite him when he opens an access panel without scanning it for traps first, triggering a silent alarm. In a similar situation in the previous novel, Grinder had scanned a seemingly-standard security panel before attempting to open it and found it contained a false layer; this foresight allowed him to bypass both without tripping an alarm.
It's All My Fault: He was a slicer who, at the end of Return of the Jedi, broadcast images of the second Death Star's destruction on Imperial Center/Coruscant. Citizens went wild and some tried tearing down a statue of the Emperor. Then stormtroopers came to "restore order" and fired on the crowd. Their blasters were not set to stun. Castin was there and rescued a small child before it could be trampled, but felt some responsibility for the deaths anyway.
Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold
Mildly Military: The Wraiths are known for not always following protocol, but Wedge insists on a measure of professionalism which Castin just isn't up to. He has bad posture when asking to meet with Wedge - which Wedge would allow from someone who's served with him for a while, but not the New Meat - he's always slouching in general, he tries to question Wedge's authority while the other Wraiths are present, and he flagrantly disobeys orders - not in the ignoring-a-new-order-in-combat sense, which other Wraiths have done, but in a much riskier and ultimately catastrophic way.
Smug Snake: Talks a big game about his abilities as "the best" slicer, and while his technical skills are certainly impressive enough, his impatience and reckless approach just get him killed for his trouble, and he also nearly blows the cover of his fellow wraiths onboard the 'Iron Fist'. He never does learn that someone in his own squadron is just as good as he is or possibly even better, as the reader by this point has been treated to scenes of Lara Notsil casually hacking New Republic flight simulators, and turning one of Repness's own devices against him. And with time, patience, and a loyal astromech, Lara not only succeeds where Castinn fails, but is able to sabotage 'Iron Fist' altogether.
The Greatest Story Never Told: Near the end of his life, he starts to get over his racist disdain for nonhumans when he finds, to his surprise, a sudden deep sympathy for the ones held captive on Iron Fist. To the point where he cuts his own chance for escape short by freeing one.
Too Dumb to Live: He was warned, repeatedly, not to try to infiltrate the Iron Fist until they had more intelligence from the initial meeting between Zsinj and the Hawk-Bats. He not only disobeys these orders, but goes to extreme lengths to do so. This results in him getting in over his head and killed.

Elassar Targon

Species: Devaronian

Homeworld: Devaron

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He is very eccentric, but is also a very good medic.
Large Ham: "Elassar Targon, Master of the Universe!" This first comes up after the Wraiths question whether Elassar is sufficiently crazy to be part of the squadron.
The Medic: When he first joins up, he's a fresh graduate who's also trained as a medical corpsman in the Academy, and thus gets immediately assigned as the new official unit medic, replacing temporary fill-in Lara Notsil (who'd previously been assigned the role after Phanan's death).
Token Religious Teammate: He's strongly superstitious, and when Runt sneezes during a meeting, he takes it as a sign they'd forgotten an important detail in the planning.^note Just before the mission, Wedge spots Targon putting charms all over Runt's fighter, to the latter's annoyance.

Bhindi Drayson

Species: Human

A Mother to Her Men: A negative example: she views all the new young members of Wraith Squadron as "kids" and constructs her plans around what she thinks will give them the best chance to survive. Unfortunately, this impairs her judgment and limits Wraith Squadron's options in several cases, and leads to her death when she takes the whole team on what should be a two person scouting operation, which causes them to be detected and her getting shot while trying to hold off reinforcements chasing them.
Deadpan Snarker
Dies Wide Open
The Leader: During Mercy Kill.
This Is Gonna Suck: Her shrieking reaction to everything going wrong on the infiltration of a secret Pop-Dog base and encountering a second team of Wraiths:
Bhindi: This is not going to end well, this is not going to end well, this is not going to end well.

Baljos Arnjak

Species: Human

Homeworld: Coruscant

Sharr Latt

Species: Human

Sharr is a human male who was a member of Wraith Squadron during the Yuuzhan Vong War, and led a team of Wraiths fifteen years after the war that investigated General Stavin Thaal. He specializes in psychological warfare.

Codename: "Mind Boy".
Deadpan Snarker
Guile Hero
The Leader: Of the second team of Wraiths in Mercy Kill.
Manipulative Bastard
Out of Focus: Sharr is the leader of the second Wraith team, but after the teams merge, he gets very little development.
Noodle Incident: "I've only ever strangled a man to death once, but I was very, very successful at it."

Myri Antilles

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swinsiderart_drabbitte01_72.jpg

Species: Human

Second daughter of Wedge and Iella, she followed in her mom's footsteps and became a spy. She is an expert in disguises and gambling.

Action Girl: She certainly takes after her parents in this aspect.
Codename: "Gamble Girl".
Daddy's Girl: Implied in Mercy Kill. She refers to Wedge as "Daddy" while referring to her mother as "Mom," takes after him to some degree with many of her skills and participation in Wraith Squadron, and when she calls him for an evac when the Wraiths are in trouble, he comes as soon as is physically possible.
I Am Not My Father: Averted: She's perfectly happy with being well known because of the accomplishments of the rest of her family, but she also wants to make a name for herself so that when people hear her name they'll stop telling her that she "must be proud" of her father/mother/sister.
"Near and Dear" Baby Naming: She was named after her father's close friend Mirax Terrik-Horn, whose nickname in her youth was Myra.
Professional Gambler: As a young teenager during the Vong War, she grew up in the Errant Venture's casino, and her first job was a dealer.
Technical Pacifist: She always has her blaster set on stun, and dislikes it when another Wraith kills when they don't absolutely have to. However, she is still willing to kill if necessary.
- In fact, her Character Development is learning when to drop the 'Pacifist' part entirely.

Turman Durra

Species: Clawdite

Turman is a Clawdite actor who joins Wraith Squadron to bring down rogue General Stavin Thaal.

Butt-Monkey: Throughout Mercy Kill he is subjected to various discomforting situations, all Played for Laughs. These include being accidentally drugged (and gagged so the others don't have to hear his non sequitur theatrical soliloquies) as well as being stuck in a artificial (and living!) sea creature suit for days, which left him screaming for a shower.
Codename: "Stage Boy".
Large Ham: Over-acts in almost every chapter he's in.
Master of Disguise
Voluntary Shapeshifting: As a Clawdite, he can impersonate several species, though he notes that his human features are rather bland, so he uses neoglith masques a few times instead.

Trey Courser

Species: Human

The Big Guy: Trey dwarfs the majority of the reformed Wraiths.
Chivalrous Pervert: He is always flirting with Jesmin.
Codename: "Muscle Boy", but unwillingly. He argued that it didn't cover all of his talents and did not show him in a comprehensive light when assigned it, but accepted it after Myri offered the suggestion of "Pretty Boy" instead.
Deadpan Snarker
Demolitions Expert
Genius Bruiser: He's used as the units enforcer, but he is also their mechanic, demolitions, and technology guy.
Grease Monkey

Jesmin Tainer

Species: Human

Jesmin is the force-sensitive daughter of Kell and Tyria, and chose to become an Antarian Ranger instead of a Jedi.

Action Girl: Just like her parents.
Codename: "Ranger Girl": she had wanted "Tree Girl", but Huhunna took it.
Dead Guy Junior: Named after her parents' squadmate Jesmin Ackbar.
Nice Girl: Generally, she's pretty sweet.
Omniglot: She speaks several languages, including at least one Wookiee dialect.
Ranger: Her official position.
The Sneaky Guy
Spider-Sense: Thanks to her Force sensitivity.
Star-Crossed Lovers: Her fiancé and fellow Ranger was killed investigating a black market bacta scheme. Which General Thaal and the Pop-Dogs turn out to be behind.
Stealth Expert

Viull "Scut" Gorsat

Species: Yuuzhan Vong.

A Yuuzhan Vong Shamed One who was rescued by Galactic Alliance Intelligence when he was just five years old. He was raised by a human couple alongside human siblings, and his father told him stories of Wraith Squadron, who had rescued him from an Imperial Admiral. He jumped at the chance to join the legendary unit, and uses his bio-fabrication skills to create neoglith masques for them.

Berserk Button: Being harassed for being a Yuuzhan Vong. The one time he yells is when Piggy claims that Yuuzhan Vong have no idea what logic is.
Brutal Honesty: Always lets Piggy know exactly what he thinks of him.
Codename: "Lab Boy".
Happily Adopted: He was quite happy with his human adoptive family.
Headbutting Heroes: With Piggy: he thinks that Piggy is too traumatized by the Yuuzhan Vong war to work as a spy, while Piggy is convinced that Yuuzhan Vong are Always Chaotic Evil and Scut will turn on them any moment. Fortunately, they later get over it and work together well.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Although he can sometimes be blunt, particularly when the target of Fantastic Racism, Scut is very civil and sometimes even jovial. Not bad, considering he's a Yuuzhan Vong.
Orc Raised by Elves: More like Vong raised by humans.
The Smart Guy: For the science side of things.

Wran Narcassan

Species: Human

Shalla Nelprin's nephew, who took on his maternal grandfather's surname because for unspecified reasons he considered his father a poor role model.

Codename: "Gun Boy".
Friendly Sniper

Thaymes Fodrick

Species: Human

Codename: "Comm Boy".
Communications Officer
Deadpan Snarker
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: His aim is leagues worse than any other member of the squad.
Playful Hacker: Got recommended for the Wraiths after Face caught him slicing into secure systems.
Those Two Guys: With Drikall.

Huhunna

Species: Wookiee

"Let's finish this operation and get off this world of spindly little trees."

A female Wookiee member of Sharr's team. Quickly forms a close partnership with Jesmin.

Action Girl: Unsurprisingly for a wookie and a pilot.
Berserk Button: Corrupt military officers, which is why Sharr recruited her.
Codename: "Tree Girl".
Starfish Language: Although Sharr understands her Wookiee dialect, and Jesmin can speak it.

Drikall Bessarah

Species: Devaronian

Appears in: X-Wing Series

"Don't call me Doctor. You only get that honorific if you're licensed to practice medicine."

The medic (not a doctor) of Sharr's team.

Codename: "Drug Boy".
The Medic: But not a doctor, only a field medic.
Those Two Guys: With Thaymes.
When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Utterly convinced that drugging someone is the best solution for any problem.

New Republic / Galactic Alliance

Iella Wesseri Antilles

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iella.jpg

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Appears in: X-Wing Series | I, Jedi | Union | The New Jedi Order | Legacy of the Force.

Corran's former partner during their time at C-Sec and later romantic interest/wife of Wedge.

Awesomeness by Analysis: Her greatest strength, which made her a first-rate detective for the Corellian Security Force, and later an elite intelligence and counterintelligence officer in New Republic Intelligence.
Corran: If she can't find a spy, there isn't a spy.
Beware the Nice Ones: She's a shoulder to cry on for any friend who needs it, she doesn't hold a grudge against the outlaws she pursued in her former career, and she has a strong moral code that can help prevent her colleagues or even her service from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. But after brainwashing and killing her first husband, Ysanne Isard finds out that she does have a nasty side to her after all. When she finally catches up to her, Isard gloats that she has too many blackmail files on too many New Republic leaders to ever let her come to trial. Iella agrees... which is why Isard won't be judged in a public court of law. Having tried to seize control of a New Republic ship, she's guilty of piracy and thus eligible to be judged behind closed doors by a military court. After which she'll be imprisoned for the rest of her natural life on the Lusankya, cared for by droids, never seeing another sentient being again, and with only a few select members of the New Republic military even knowing that she's still alive.
Enemy Mine: Sort of. Half the people she works with as a New Republic Intelligence agent are smugglers that she used to chase when working for CorSec. It's downplayed in that she hasn't actually been a cop in a while.
Foil: To Ysanne Isard. They're both intelligence professionals, among the best their side has to offer. Being one of the good guys, however, Iella lacks the raw ambition and Chronic Backstabbing Disorder that led Isard to plot her way onto the Imperial throne after Palpatine's death. More importantly, she lacks the Hobbes Was Right view of human nature that motivates Isard to treat everyone around her as a disposable chess piece to be used before it has a chance to use her. Because of that, Iella has enough people she can trust and count on in her life to recover from even the worst blows the universe deals her. Whereas for Isard, the equivalent experiences simply make her more and more unhinged, ultimately driving even her most senior advisers and underlings to fear for their safety and abandon her. It also makes Iella a much better spy, since Isard is basically incapable of dealing with even her agents, her allies, and her sources, except through coercion and deceit.
Guile Hero: She can and does shoot people. She'd just rather outsmart them instead.
Happily Married: To Wedge Antilles. To Diric Wessiri before that.
Honor Before Reason: Or pride before reason, at any rate. Cuts herself off from Wedge after he starts dating Qwi Xux to spare herself the pain of being reminded that she missed her chance, and even after that relationship is over, initially refuses to consider dating him because she won't be second place to someone like Qwi. She gets better. With some boosting from Wedge.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Her skill with a blaster pistol impresses freedom fighter Elscol Loro. One wonders what Wes Janson would think.
Elscol: A head shot at this range?
Iella: Shoots high.
Lawman Gone Bad: A straight-laced detective in her homeworld's police force, who deserts it to join a violent revolutionary organization bent on overthrowing the government and taking over the galaxy. Thankfully, this being Star Wars, that organization is the Rebel Alliance, where she's able to return to the kind of values and moral code that Imperial pressure had been steadily driving out of her previous employers.
Like Brother and Sister: With Corran, from their time as partners in Cor Sec to their many missions together in the Rebellion and later the New Republic. It also doesn't hurt that the woman Corran eventually marries, Mirax Terrik, is a sister in all but name to the man Iella eventually marries, Wedge Antilles.
May–December Romance: Exact ages are never given, but her first husband, Diric, was at least twenty years older than she was.
Morality Pet: To Elscol Loro. She manages to guide her away from some of her more cold blooded inclinations as an insurgent.
Mundane Utility: Her analytical skills can be put to great use tracking down criminals, identifying moles, locating the weak spots in an organization she's trying to infiltrate, or figuring out how to lure her enemies into a trap. They can also determine with a very small margin of error how long it'll take for Corran's various relationships to go down in flames. The fact that she declines to put an end date on Corran and Mirax's relationship is her way of hinting "she's the one, what are you waiting for?"
Reasonable Authority Figure: In direct contrast to Corran, she's not at all upset to find out that Mirax is an infamous smuggler and daughter of same. On the contrary, it's something of a relief to know she has someone that good watching her back.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The more cold, analytical, dispassionate Blue Oni to her former partner Corran Horn's more impulsive Red Oni. Interestingly, she mostly shares the Blue Oni traits with Wedge Antilles (and, from what we see of him, with her previous husband Diric).
Relationship-Salvaging Disaster: With Wedge. She's heartbroken by his relationship with Qwi Xux, realizing that she waited too long to signal her interest, and effectively cuts him off to avoid having her mistake constantly shoved in her face. Thankfully, Wedge's relationship with Qwi doesn't last, and the crisis on Adumar pushes him back into her life, ultimately leading to them getting together and marrying.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Initially averted during the Adumar mission, where she won't break her orders or betray her superior even when he's at odds with Wedge. Then subverted when she's shown proof that her superior is actively plotting to kill Wedge and his fellow pilots as part of a broader conspiracy, at which point she immediately abandons him.
Space Police: A former detective in Cor Sec.
Take a Third Option: At the end of "The Bacta War", has the option of either taking a surrendering Fliry Vorru into custody and letting him use the info he has on the New Republic's corruption to weasel out of it, or gun him down and hand him a final victory by becoming as bad as he is. Her solution is to let Elscol shoot him - but only after sneakily setting her blaster to stun. And to avoid him taking advantage of the corrupt courts, Iella proposes he simply be dumped back on Kessel, where the squadron got him from in the first place.
Would Not Shoot a Civilian: There are a lot of habits from her former life as a cop that she's perfectly comfortable discarding, more so than Corran is. This isn't one of them. Occasionally leads her to butt heads with other Rebels, especially Elscol Loro.
You Can't Go Home Again: Her home system of Corellia is closed to her by the pro-Imperial Diktat's regime, doubly so because she's a former public servant who not only joined the Rebellion, but abandoned the Corellian police to do so. There are a lot of Corellian Rebels for her to share the black mark with, however. Probably even a contributing factor in her relationship with Wedge, as Corran points out to him that you "can't beat a homeworld girl."

Diric Wessiri

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Appears in: X-Wing Series

Iella's first husband. He was captured and tortured by Director Isard to be used as one of her agents to infiltrate the rebels. Iella mortally shot him when he ambushed, assaulted, and killed a witness (for Tycho Celchu's trial) that she was protecting—which he believed to be General Evir Derricote (the witness was actually Kirtan Loor; defense attorney Nawara Ven was also wounded in Diric's attack). He revealed that he was brainwashed by Isard before he passed away.

Died in Your Arms Tonight: He dies in Iella's arms.
Manchurian Agent: The one actual case of a Lusankya agent that readers actually see in the X-Wing Series.
May–December Romance: Was over 20 years older than Iella.
Nice Guy: He's a genuinely kind and considerate man, who does what he can to help Tycho (despite being a Lusanka agent), helps Wedge evade reporters after his testimony to help Tycho goes horribly and shows amazing understanding of Wedge's nascent feelings towards Iella when he immediately tells him he bears no grudges for anything that might have happened between the two while he was a prisoner.

Winter Celchu

See her entry on the Star Wars – Classic Era character page.

Horton Salm

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salm_headshot.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Norval II

Ace Pilot: Widely acknowledged as one of the best Y-Wing pilots at the time of his appearances. Tellingly, it's his ship's ion cannons that bring down Baron Fel, something even Wedge couldn't do.
Ascended Extra: He was one of the Y-Wing pilots in "Return of the Jedi".
Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Not Wedge's immediate superior, but otherwise resembles the trope pretty well.
Elites Are More Glamorous: A lot of his issues with Wedge in the first book stem from this. He gets annoyed with Rogue Squadron being turned into a propaganda symbol, as it means the more average-skilled squadrons he trains are trying to compete with them and will get themselves killed.
Four-Star Badass: Even though he's a general, still commands a full wing of Y-Wing bombers, and can mix it up in a dogfight with the best of them.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Officious and antagonistic, especially towards Tycho, it's nevertheless shown his by-the-bookness is his attempt to drill his units to obey orders and work as a team to keep them from getting needlessly killed - as opposed to the maverick Rogues who suffer huge casualties. He charges Corran with disobeying orders to save his unit, but when the chips are down does the same thing to save the Rogues. Later, he's sincerely appalled he treated Tycho so poorly when the truth about Cracken knowing he was innocent all along comes out.
Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After complaining for several chapters about the Rogues ignoring the rules whenever they feel like it, he goes against orders and brings his own squadrons back to a battle in order to rescue the Rogues. He insists afterward, however, that Wedge not merely gloss over the fact that Salm had disobeyed a direct order. Salm considers it especially problematic that he did so just because he had a personal feud with the officer giving the orders, but the most important thing is that he wants to avoid setting an example to his subordinates that following orders is optional.

Edor Crespin

Species: Human

Homeworld: Corulag

Ace Pilot: It's heavily implied that he earned his General rank through merit. Further, he's not at all afraid of mixing it up in a proper battle.
Cool Manoeuvre: Creates one in the climax of "Wraith Squadron" to take out both of Admiral Trigit's escorts at once with his A-wing.
Eyepatch of Power: The result of losing an eye to a bombardment by Warlord Zsinj. Wedge suspects he has a mechanical eye replacement that can see through the patch.
Heel–Face Turn: It's mentioned as part of his backstory that he was a defector from Imperial service.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: General Crespin plays a very similar role in the Allston books to that which General Salm does in the Stackpole ones.

Atton Repness

Species: Human

Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Inverted. He first appears as an officer investigating an attack on the Wraiths and is actually a Reasonable Authority Figure who accepts Face's rather odd explanation for how he knew who the attackers were after seeing some evidence. It's only afterwards that Face discovers he's the same guy who ruined Tyria's career.
Blackmail: How he got Tyria to keep quiet - he'd been falsifying her grades to help get her to go along with his scheme. When she threatened to expose him, he countered with this, threatening to reveal his tampering and let her crash out of flight school if he fell.
Fell Off the Back of a Truck: He has a clever money-making scheme—claim to be an ace teacher of remedial pilots while actually fiddling their test scores to make them better, then only let the pilots keep the new scores if they will go on smuggling runs for him that involve selling 'lost' military equipment to the black market.
Graying Morality: He's one of the few people from EU books from this era who is both a bad guy and a loyal member of the New Republic military, not simply working undercover for the Empire or anything.
Jerkass: Sleazy, corrupt and takes advantage of young female pilots under his command. After falsifying charges against Tyria, even had the gall to say she'd come on to him.
Would Hit a Girl: His response to Lara threatening to expose him is to beat her unconscious, then keep her drugged in his ship's infirmary.

Laryn Kre'fey

Species: Bothan

Dropped a Bridge on Him: Abruptly Killed Off for Real in the first attack on Borleias.
Fake Ultimate Hero: He's presented as the general with the best plan to take Borleias - but he's unaware Derricote's stringing him along, and is killed during the assault's failure - forcing the Rogues to take a very risky alternate step to get things done.
A Father to His Men: Attempted, but doesn't really succeed. He does at least lead his troops from the front, though.
Frontline General: He makes a point of being aboard the first dropship invading Borleias, and telling everyone who'll listen that he plans to do so, expecting his personal courage to silence any doubts about his strategic judgment. It gets him and most of his assault force killed.
General Failure: Rushes his forces into an assault on Borleias with little preparation and inadequate intelligence - getting himself and a lot of others killed.
Interservice Rivalry: Lest anyone forget, the Rebel Alliance has a Navy and an Army, and relations between the two are not always smooth, as shown by the quiet head-butting between Kre'fey and Ackbar.
Kick the Dog: When Wedge questions his plan, he responds with a barb about Rogue Squadron's high casualty rates that sends him reeling - making a very angry Ackbar threaten to cancel the entire operation if Kre'fey doesn't get his intel together fast.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: He and his grandchildren are both somewhat sore about how, after the events mentioned in Return of the Jedi, Bothans are now thought of mainly as spies and the contributions of their warriors are ignored. This leads to him acting recklessly to prove himself.
Redeeming Replacement: He's not a villain, but gets his own in his grandson Traest. Because of Laryn's failure, Traest ended up getting sent to a less prominent satellite of the main Bothan military academy - where he met a teacher who not only turned him into a highly effective (if unorthodox) tactician and strategist, but opened his eyes to the failures of Bothan society. He went on to become one of the great military figures of the Yuuzhan Vong War.
Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Whenever Wedge or Ackbar questions the soundness of Kre'fey's attack plan, he archly reminds them that the Provisional Council has already approved it. This only highlights that he sold the plan to the Council based on whatever information he chose to reveal, and makes Wedge's bad feeling worse.

Tomer Darpen

Species: Human

Homeworld: Commenor

"Ass" in Ambassador: And how. After all, it's not often an ambassador directly arranges for the death of the pilots in his diplomatic mission.
Captain Crash: His reputation, complete with the nickname 'Ejector Darpen' (referring to his ejection seat accidentally triggering after a crash-landing, at which point it was no longer needed), though as he insists, this only happened once.
Friend in the Black Market: Janson remembers him as being this way, or at least very close to it, when he was in the military service, which is why he's surprised to now find Darpen as a diplomat. It makes a lot more sense when Darpen turns out to be a spy, not a diplomat.
Full-Circle Revolution: What Wedge fears that he represents. Wedge argues that there's no point in having overthrown the Empire if people like Darpen are simply going to play by Imperial rules and give the New Republic's blessings to Imperial-style aggressive, violent, autocratic regimes like the one on Cartann.
In-Series Nickname: Ejector Darpen.
Jerkass: There is nothing remotely pleasant about the way Tomer conducts himself.
Rogue Agent: As the book goes by it becomes clear that his superiors have little idea what he's planning on Adumar, and he imposes strict communications blackouts to prevent them from finding out.
Smug Snake: Smug, condescending and totally fine with Red Flight killing young Cartaan hopefuls if it gets Adumar into the Republic. Even after he's revealed, he's so confident he'll get out of it he doesn't drop the act for a second - unaware one of his own subordinates has recorded him getting Wedge and the others sent to their deaths.
The Spymaster: What he's revealed to be, though he pretends to be a diplomat.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Is so determined to ensure that Adumar joins the New Republic that he starts undermining New Republic principles, creates a war of conquest, and tries to get Wedge killed when the latter starts getting in his way.

Sair Yonka

Species: Human

Homeworld: Commenor

Defector from Decadence: Despite initially leaving Imperial service due to a combination of his disdain for Isard personally and the hefty bribe Wedge paid out to him, he became a loyal officer of the New Republic Navy afterward.
Four-Star Badass
Punch-Clock Villain: Introduced as such. He was disturbed by some of the Empire's more extreme measures, but served dutifully protecting Rim worlds from pirate attacks, something he knows would be necessary under any government. This position likely made him more amenable than Isard's other captains might have been when Wedge came to talk him into a Heel–Face Turn.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers a excellent one to Isard upon defecting from her forces, which is so good her closest advisor barely stops himself from applauding during it:
"Madam Director Ysanne Isard, I regret not being able to bring you this message personally, but not that much. In the time I have been associated with you I have found you to be sociopathically self-centered, prone to irrational and impulsive reactions to situations, and prey to a preference for appearance over substance. I have no doubt these affectations were seen as skills by the late Emperor, and indeed may have enhanced your ability to comply with his orders, but by no means are these traits that make for great, or even adequate leadership."

Hallis Saper

Species: Human

Homeworld: Bonadan

Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Regularly does her work while wearing a 3PO protocol droid head (named Whitecap) on her shoulder.
Intrepid Reporter: Her sense of ethics puts her solidly here, even if she uses some "sludgenews" techniques at times (see Paparazzi below).
Obfuscating Stupidity / Clark Kenting: She uses Whitecap to divert people's attention from her own features, so that she can record more discreetly by taking Whitecap off.
Paparazzi: She knows all the techniques of this type of journalism (called "sludgenews" in-story). She got out of sludgenews because she decided it didn't really make the universe a better place, but she's kept some of the techniques handy.
Stop Copying Me: When Whitecap malfunctions partway through the novel, it does this.

Stavin Thaal

Species: Human

Homeworld: Carida

Big Bad: Of Mercy Kill.
Born in the Wrong Century: Or at least the wrong decade. His plan to desert his employer and reappear as a CEO/crime kingpin, commanding a fleet of resources he quietly misappropriated over the course of his service, is similar to what many senior Imperial officers and politicians did after the Emperor's death when they struck out on their own - much the same way Thaal's corruption mirrors the way many Imperial officers would behave even when nominally working for the Empire. (Which only makes sense when you remember that he himself used to be an Imperial, a Carida Academy graduate no less). Had he been a senior officer at the time of Endor, he almost certainly would have been one of the warlords: as it is, he's doing the next best thing.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: What he aspires to be, faking his death and reappearing under a new identity as a tycoon. It doesn't work out.
Fallen Hero: He used to be a New Republic war hero, but since then has devolved into a corrupt criminal who uses his men as his personal criminal syndicate.
Four-Star Badass: Is the leader of the "Pop Dogs", a New Republic unit that after the fall of Coruscant during the Yuuzhan Vong War waged very effective guerrilla tactics against them.
From Camouflage to Criminal: A senior general with extensive black market ties who's planning to fake his death and become a full-time criminal.
Kick the Dog: The fate of his second Mistress, Keura
Not in This for Your Revolution: A villainous example. The Wraiths are initially investigating him because of his rumored ties to the Lecersen Conspiracy, a plot by various senior figures in the Galactic Alliance to overthrow the government and restore Imperial rule. The rumors are true, but the Wraiths discover that he's been corrupt since long before he was involved with the conspiracy, and much of the criminal infrastructure they discover is there purely for his own interest.

The Galactic Empire

Ysanne Isard

Director Ysanne Isard

Species: Human (Coruscanti)

Homeworld: Coruscant

The director of Imperial Intelligence and the commander of the Lusankya, and effectively the leader of the Empire for a brief time.

Appropriated Appelation: The nickname "Iceheart" is one she's taken to using herself.
Arc Villainess: She's the primary antagonist of all five Stackpole-authored X-Wing books, though she's around in several others.
Badass Boast: In Wedge's Gamble:
Kirtan Loor: I warn you that playing with Corran Horn is playing with fire.
Isard: I am Iceheart, I do not burn.
Bad Boss: Very, very much so. One of the Wraith Squadron novels has this from a former underling.
Trigit: Ysanne Isard kept all her officers and minions in a state of fear. And when they failed her, or proved in any way to be a liability, she did eliminate them. So they knew there were no happy endings in their futures, no rosy retirements. They literally had nothing to look forward to to but death or escape.
The Baroness: Of the sexpot variant, though she herself isn't shown indulging in relationships in the series. It's mentioned that due to her looks and immense political power her underlings often fantasize about her.
Batman Gambit: Her plan with the Krytos virus: she engineers a plague that targets only aliens, one that can be cured by bacta, then deliberately loses Coruscant to the New Republic - leaving them with a sick world. Knowing that the Rebels will try to save everyone they can or risk alienating their alien member species, she gambles they'll have to buy massive quantities of bacta, bankrupting their government and ending the New Republic with a minimum of Imperial effort.
Benevolent Boss: It's very much not her default state, but shockingly enough, even she has her moments. Most notable in Rogue Squadron, where she convokes Kirtan Loor to her office and takes the time to make him aware of the flaws and blind spots that hindered him during his previous assignment before giving him a new one. By The Emperor's Hand also involves a running gag where she constantly promotes her IT technician to the next rank up, then the next one, then the next one, every time he successfully hacks something.
Better to Die than Be Killed: After Iella Wessiri threatens to place her in solitary confinement and be forgotten for the rest of her life, Isard panics and attempts to shoot Wessiri, who shoots her in the stomach.
Big Bad: She's originally part of the comic series' Big Bad Ensemble, alongside other Imperial foes such as Sate Pestage, the Cabal, Tavira and others. But by the series' end she's killed off her rivals and emerged as the sole example of this, a role she retains through the first four of Stackpole's novels. She's part of a Big Bad Ensemble with Krennel and her own clone in Isard's Revenge.
Can't Take Criticism: After hearing a holo-message from Captain Sair Yonka conveying his defection to the New Republic and listing her personal faults, an enraged Isard immediately orders the execution of the families of Yonka and his crew.
The Chessmaster: Thoroughly deconstructed.
- Her skills at manipulation aren't universally applicable. She's at her best when navigating the Decadent Court that is post-Palpatine Imperial politics. She's completely out of her depth, however, when running an actual war against the Rebel Alliance/New Republic. Though she has her successes, she's not even that good a spymaster, despite it allegedly being her job.
- Her best-laid plans can be derailed by factors beyond her control. Most notably, her plan to infect Coruscant with the Krytos Virus and leave the Rebels overwhelmed by the resulting humanitarian crisis fails because the virus isn't yet at peak deadliness when Coruscant is conquered. The crisis is therefore still manageable for the Rebels, not the death blow she intended it to be.
- Because she treats everybody around her as a chess piece, even her own subordinates and allies, there is literally no one who actually trusts her. This leads to virtually everybody on her side progressively abandoning her or beginning to plot against her over the course of the series, some out of sheer disgust (Soontir Fel, Sair Yonka), some out of self-preservation (Kirtan Loor, Sate Pestage), and some because they see her as more trouble than she's worth (Fliry Vorru, Erisi Dlarit).
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
- Unless you're Palpatine himself, she won't hesitate to use and get rid of you if it enhances her own power — as her father, Sate Pestage and the Cabal all found out. In Isard's Revenge the Rogues are absolutely certain she'll betray them somehow and plan accordingly — even if they don't know what her actual plan is. Even Krennel, who's working with a clone of her, expects her to try overthrowing him the moment the Rogues are dead.
- Probably best illustrated by the fact that in Isard's Revenge, she finds herself pitted against herself (technically, a clone that had outlived its usefulness to her).
Conspicuous Consumption: Her office on Coruscant manages to look the height of opulence despite being very spartan, as despite being a large, high-ceilinged room it only contains carpeting and a simple but elegant desk and chair. On the extremely densely populated city-planet, space is at a considerable premium and wasting that much room is the height of decadent luxury.
Defector from Decadence: She abandons what's left of the Empire when she takes over Thyferra. Various Legends sources indicate that the Imperials, particularly the remnants of the Ruling Council, were glad to be rid of her and took control in her absence, explaining why only three other Star Destroyers join her at Thyferra.
Duality Motif: One eye is red and one is blue, evoking fire and ice to suggest her tendency towards both cold intellect and raging fury.
Evil Is Petty: After receiving a damning critique from Captain Sair Yonka when he defects to the New Republic, she orders his mistress killed in retaliation. And her family. She freely admits the whole thing is just to cause the captain pain for his insults. It's left unclear whether the Rogues are able to extract them in time, though Fliry Vorru internally promises to make sure the mistress at least escapes Isard's grip, purely because it will annoy her.
Faking the Dead: Fakes her own death at the end of The Bacta War (though it takes until Isard's Revenge for this to be revealed). She admits to being surprised Wedge and the others never puzzled out her ruse. Her clone later tries the same trick, but this time Wedge is ready and kills her with a well-placed missile.
Fate Worse than Death: When she walks into the Rebels' trap at the end of Isard's Revenge, Iella tells her that the New Republic is planning to try her for piracy behind closed doors, then imprison her for the rest of her natural life in a secure and classified compartment aboard the Lusankya, with only droids to care for her and almost no one knowing she's still alive. Isard panics at the prospect and tries to shoot Iella, who in turn shoots her in the stomach. The narration is ambiguous, however, on whether Isard is actually killed or whether she survives her injuries and goes on to be entombed as Iella promised. In the latter case, she may potentially have lived eighteen more years in solitary confinement, before finally dying when the Lusankya was used in a suicide run against a Yuuzhan Vong worldship at Fourth Borleias. To make things even more ironic, that suicide run was ordered by her old nemesis Wedge Antilles, who would have been totally unaware of her survival, and therefore would have signed her death warrant without even knowing it, and happened in the same system where Rogue Squadron secured its first major strategic victory against her almost two decades earlier.
Faux Action Girl: One X-Wing Rogue Squadron issue shows her on a training course, dressed in a commando outfit and shooting holographic representations of enemies in a simulated live fire drill, but she tends to avoid getting her hands dirty in actual struggles. The one exception is at the end of Isard's Revenge when she tries to get outshoot Iella, but is quickly killed.
Foreshadowing:
- In the Wraith Squadron books, Face has a theory that the Rogues didn't kill her when they destroyed her shuttle in The Bacta War, laying out all the holes in the scenario and how she could have survived. In Isard's Revenge he turns out to have been exactly right.
- A shorter version in Isard's Revenge, where Corran Horn notes that he expects her to be true to her nature, and that nature is what will get her in the end. Sure enough, Iella Wessiri and Booster and Mirax Terrik know her well enough at this point that they're able to predict her actions, including her inevitable betrayal, and set a trap that she obligingly walks right into.
General Failure: Isard's a talented spymaster, but she's out of her depth when it comes to warfare. One of her subordinates in The Bacta War lampshades that while she's brilliant at destroying enemies through political scheming, when she has actual military power to use she does so rather clumsily and without subtlety.
Hate Sink: Regularly regarded in-universe as representing everything wrong with the Empire, compared with a Noble Demon like Thrawn. "I, Jedi" has Corran list her as right up there with the Emperor, Vader and Prince Xizor as the absolute worst of the worst.
Ignored Enamored Underling: To Palpatine, insanely enough. She admits to Corran she loved the Emperor for his power and charisma - but the Mara Jade comics co-written by Stackpole make clear he never loved her back and in fact always saw her as a potential The Starscream.
Jurisdiction Friction:
- In the short story Interlude at Darkknell, she quickly ruffles the feathers of both Colonel Nyroska, the chief of the local police, and Inspector Hal Horn of Cor Sec who's there on unrelated business. She leans hard into this trope, invoking Imperial authority and threatening death for anyone who doesn't cooperate with her. In direct contrast, Inspector Horn does everything he can to avert it and reassure the local police that he respects their authority and has no intention of overstepping his own. This is helpful to Horn in outmaneuvering her.
- A more personal version in the short story By The Emperor's Hand. Isard viscerally loathes Mara Jade from the moment she learns of her because she's a covert ops agent outside Intelligence control and reporting directly to the Emperor. She has her arrested and jailed almost immediately after Palpatine's death. Naturally, Mara escapes anyway, covering Isard with ridicule on her way out.
- It's also implied that this is one of her problems in keeping control of the Empire, as the career military professionals resent taking orders from an Intelligence chief.
Karmic Death: Technically, it's not clear whether she's killed, or merely badly injured before being dragged before a military tribunal that then entombs her for the rest of her natural life. In either case, however, the person responsible is Iella Wessiri, the Rebel whose husband she tortured, brainwashed, and tried to use to kill her.
Klingon Promotion: After arranging for her father Armand, her predecessor as Director of Imperial Intelligence, to be falsely fingered as a Rebel sympathiser. The Emperor being who and what he was surely wasn't fooled for a second, but apparently was impressed enough with Isard's scheme to let her play it out.
Know When to Fold 'Em: In Isard's Revenge, she claims to Rogue Squadron to have largely given up on trying to defeat the New Republic and restore the Empire, especially after even Grand Admiral Thrawn couldn't manage it. Actually, she's still plotting it, and tries to steal the Lusankya back from the New Republic in the finale. Fortunately, New Republic Intelligence anticipated this, and she's shot by Iella Wessiri.
Loophole Abuse: Gets herself appointed as Thyferran head of state after fleeing Coruscant, knowing that the Republic flatly refuses to depose elected planetary leaders in fear of looking like the Empire, so she'll have free rein.
Loose Lips: The second arc of Agent of the Empire might have gone very differently if not for Ysanne flippantly telling Agent Cross that her father lied to him about an assassination objective.
Motive Decay: Towards the end of her career, she had a habit of prioritizing "kill Rogue Squadron" over "actually make meaningful gains against the Rebellion or consolidate my power."
Parental Abandonment: It is unknown what happened to her mother. Given Armand seemed to be Married to the Job and Ysanne was a Daddy's Girl, it can be assumed that she was gone before Ysanne was old enough to consider her a prominent figure in her life. Her mother is never once named or even mentioned. Armand, on the other hand, was framed for supposed treason by Ysanne, resulting in his death (some say that she shot him personally to carry out his death sentence).
The Peter Principle: A great Head of Intelligence, especially under the direction of the Emperor, and very good at small-scale manipulation and political operation. But once she's in command of a massive chunk of the surviving Imperial military, she's impulsive, obsessed with getting one over on Rogue Squadron, and wrapped up in her grandiose schemes, and as a result, she pretty much runs what's left of the Empire into the ground.
The Plan: All her activities in the Stackpole books serve her overall plan; infecting Coruscant with the manmade Krytos Plague (affecting aliens only) and then ceding it to the New Republic, so they would conquer a poisoned chalice and either be forced to spend enormous amounts of money they didn't have to save as many as possible or be open to accusations of not doing enough to live up to its alien-friendly reputation. However numerous factors - the Republic attacking earlier than expected, the Rogues inadvertently vaporizing a reservoir full of Krytos-ifected water, Mirax smuggling in Rylca - lead to this not being as effective as hoped, so she takes over the Bacta-producing planet Thyferra to deny it to the Republic, forcing the Rogues to resign to take her out.
Playing Both Sides: During her efforts to get rid of Pestage and the Cabal, she poses as a neutral intermediary between the two parties. In reality she continually gives both bad advice on how to handle the military situation, then blames the other party for forcing her to do it.
Pragmatic Villainy:
- In a way; where Pestage, the Cabal and the Warlords are all obsessed with increasing their own power at any cost while the Rebels run rampant, Isard favours eliminating the Rebellion first, then restoring the Empire.
- Also averted, however, in that Isard also proves wiling to let the Rebels run rampant if it helps her eliminate her rivals. In fact, a stupendous amount of her plotting throughout the series consists of conceding ground to the Rebels as part of some convoluted scheme or other - allowing them to conquer planets closer to Coruscant in order to blame Pestage or the Cabal for their loss, allowing them to conquer Coruscant in the hope that the plague she left there will be too much to handle, helping them to overthrow Warlord Krennel and conquer his territory while planning to backstab them later. Ultimately, she's one of the best things that ever happened to the Rebel Alliance.
Pride: During the Bacta War, when her grudge against Rogue Squadron gets out of control, she very much lets this rule her. Vorru points out that the cost of the Rogues' attacks are far outweighed by the profits they make from running bacta, but her pride can't let these attacks go unanswered, leading to actions like the slaughter of the colony at Halanit. As Vorru observes to Erisi, not only do these attacks make Wedge even more determined to bring her down, but they'll eventually cause someone in the New Republic to realise how much of a threat she actually is with her Star Destroyer fleet.
Punny Name: She's known as "Iceheart", similar to how 'Isard' is pronounced.
Sanity Slippage: Goes through a bad case of this in The Bacta War, due to Wedge and the Rogues' continued defiance of her. Lampshaded in Isard's Revenge, where she herself observes how she hadn't been thinking clearly in this time period.
Self-Made Orphan: Arranged her father's death when she discovered evidence he was plotting against the Emperor - evidence she may very well have manufactured to get rid of him for her own ambitions.
Stupid Evil:
- A variant, in that while she proves an incredibly adept political operator in getting rid of her rivals for ruling the Empire, The Bacta War lampshades numerous times she's way out of her depth commanding a military force. Most forcefully illustrated when Joak Drysso—captain of her flagship Lusankya—observes privately that she both has command of one of the few remaining Executor-class ships AND is the sole controller of bacta - something she could use to force the disparate Imperial warlords to accept her leadership (if only briefly) to combine and destroy the Rebellion - yet is too consumed by her vendetta against the Rogues to really take advantage of either.
- It's telling that while she has good reasons - infected with the Krytos virus, she hope it'll bankrupt the Rebels in dealing with the epidemic as their alien member races die off - her ceding Coruscant to the New Republic is the point where the Empire's war position starts looking increasingly hopeless. Expanded universe materials note the loss of the galactic capital only sees the Core and Colony Worlds - the economic powerhouses of the galaxy - joining the New Republic or declaring neutrality, as well as increasing numbers of the Imperial military defecting to the Warlords.
The Starscream: Betrays both Sate Pestage and the Cabal after a long period of playing them off against each other, essentially becoming Empress in all but name.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Her brief appearance in Evasive Action shows an eleven-year-old Ysanne sporting a shy smile and talking about how great her dad is as he brings her to work with him. Twenty years later, she is a hardened sadist who has her father executed.
Villainous Breakdown: Her hatred of Rogue Squadron, and their continued survival despite all her attempts to kill them provokes this. She starts out trying to destroy the Rebellion with ruthless but effective tactics such as the Krytos Virus. Then, as her grudge against the Rogues grew, her tactics escalate rapidly, to the point that by the time of The Bacta War she's trying to destroy Rogue Squadron with what amounts to random acts of genocide that alienate her supporters more than they actually achieve anything. Justified in-universe after her plan was less effective than expected, and then after she resurfaced only a few ships joined her, with the Empire no longer recognizing her authority. Lampshaded in Isard's Revenge, where she herself notes her Sanity Slippage in that story and vows not to make the same mistakes again.
Workout Fanservice: One X-Wing Rogue Squadron issue shows her in a skintight commando outfit while shooting at holograms in a training exercise.
Xanatos Gambit: A failed version in The Bacta War. She orders the gathering of a certain number of Vratix per day, with the understanding that at the end of thirty days they would all be executed, at which point she starts gathering twice that per day. If Wedge reacts to it, he's forced into the open; if Wedge doesn't, she rids herself of a labor surplus. She doesn't realize that Wedge has quietly been assembling an attack force to travel to Thyferra, and by the time she even comes up with the idea, he's nearly ready. All her threat does is set his timetable.

Sate Pestage

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sate_prestage_swleu_2992.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Ciutric IV

Hailing from Ciutric IV, Sate Pestage is one of Emperor Palpatine's oldest and most ruthless advisors, aiding in his rise to power during the days of the Old Republic. Following the Emperor's demise, Pestage made a bid for power, only to be outmaneuvered by Ysanne Isard and killed by Dalak Krennel. However, another Pestage made his way Byss, where he aided the reborn Emperor in his bid to reclaim power, only to be killed when the planet was destroyed by the Galaxy Gun.

Action Politician: While Pestage is a Non-Action Guy in his old age and role as grand vizier, In Darth Plagueis, as a young senatorial aide to Palpatine, he accompanied Palpatine in fighting off a group of assassins out to kill Palpatine's mentor Hego Damask and killed several of them with a blaster. Despite not having much idea of what was going on, he proves to be a deadly blaster shot.
Asshole Victim: Few were sorry when Krennel killed him. Years later, Wedge admits at one point that he was there and tempted to kill Pestage himself.
Big Bad Wannabe: Since he used to be Palpatine's Grand Vizier, Pestage can't shake the delusion that he's the man in control, despite several humiliating lessons to the contrary. He assumes the Imperial throne just after Palpatine's death, but is easily manipulated by Ysanne Isard (at one point, he petulantly screams at her, "I am in command here, not you!"), and eventually has to go underground and negotiate a separate peace with the Rebel Alliance; to escape Coruscant, he hitches a ride with renegade warlord Leonia Tavira, who dumps him at his destination, shrugs off his threats and instantly reports his location to Isard. When Rogue Squadron is tasked to rescue him, he abandons them and instead goes to Imperial Admiral Krennel, offering him a position as Pestage's warlord in his new private kingdom. Krennel accepts the offer... by snapping Pestage's neck and taking his holdings and forces for himself.
Continuity Snarl: Which Pestage was the clone: the one killed by Krennel, or the one who died on Byss? Multiple sources contradict each other on the issue.
Deadpan Snarker: Gets steadily more sardonic as his relations with Isard worsen.
Isard: I have ever been loyal to the throne.
Pestage: I have never heard loyal used as a synonym for covet before.
Defector from Decadence: In the wake of his failed attempt to hand over the Empire to the Rebels, he's forced to flee the Empire he once ruled when Isard gets wind of it.
Fantastic Racism: When being rescued by the Rogues, he refuses to ride a shuttle carrying Ibtisam's body, something especially stupid since it almost blows their rescue op. His going on for a bit about how, being a human, he is inherently superior to other species (like Ibtisam's, the Mon Calamari) seriously pisses Wedge off to the point he mandhandles him.
Honest Advisor: He knows his place is beneath Palpatine, never feels tempted to betray him, and (as shown throughout the second half of Darth Plagueis) he is frank and at ease while giving the best Machiavellian insight at his disposal.
Horrible Judge of Character: Believes Isard is on his side until it's far too late. Also seemed to think his offers of (now nonexistent) power would sway Krennel, who soon proved him fatally wrong.
Inadequate Inheritor: He takes over as Emperor in the wake of Palpatine's death - but without Palpatine's charisma and command of the Dark Side, the Imperial remnants are tripping over themselves to either defect or overthrow him.
Mouth of Sauron: As Grand Vizier of the Empire, he was the head of the Imperial Ruling Council and often appeared in the stead of the Emperor at public events.
Neck Snap: Krennel snaps his neck with his prosthetic arm when he deems he has no more use for him.
Pragmatic Villainy: In Mara Jade-By the Emperor's Hand, while he agrees that killing Mara Jade would be quick and safe way to keep anyone else from learning the secrets she knows, he favors sparing her life and recruiting her as an ally due to her past usefulness and loyalty.
Retired Badass: Was one of Palpatine's assassins during his rise to power, and is still among his main hangers-on decades after his last known kill.
Secret-Keeper: He was the first person to learn the truth about Palpatine's true identity as a Sith Lord, and aided him in his rise to power and overthrow of the Republic. Background materials also indicate he was one of the first to discover Palpatine's spirit had survived Endor.

Kirtan Loor

Species: Human

Homeworld: Churba

An old enemy of Corran Horn from when he was an Imperial Intelligence overseer on Corellia, who ensured the killer of Corran's father got Off on a Technicality. Serves under Isard and is tasked with leading the pro-Imperial resistance after the New Republic takes Coruscant.

Awesomeness by Analysis: Generally not capable of this, but after Isard criticises him in the first book for being overly reliant on his memory and not performing sufficient analysis of data, he does manage to figure out where Rogue Squadron's secret base is based on not much information. Too bad for him that this success leads him to slip back into his old bad habits without even realizing it.
Celebrity Resemblance: In-universe — Loor believes he looks like a "taller, handsomer Grand Moff Tarkin" (and, as other characters indicate, he's not far wrong) and plays up the resemblance. In actuality he is neither as intelligent and masterfully manipulative, nor as evil, as Tarkin was.
Distaff Counterpart: In one short story, Corran Horn helped a Rebel sympathiser infiltrate a facility by using his knowledge of Loor's backstory to create the identity of "Kirtana Loor" for her. The real Loor showed up soon afterwards and it's implied he did not find it as funny as Corran.
Evil Is Petty: He spends years tracking down Corran, Iella and Gil Bastra, solely because they had the nerve to try and escape him.
Good Counterpart: In I, Jedi Corran meets a kid called Keevy Spart who reminds him of Loor if he had a better nature, but still with the same awkwardness.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: None of his plans to kill Corran ever work out. He's routinely belittled and ignored by Isard, and is usually portrayed as A Lighter Shade of Black compared to her monstrous schemes. He eventually defects to the Republic after one of his schemes ruins one of hers - where he's killed by one of her assassins (who thinks he's Derricote) before he can reveal anything of worth. While he sits there dying he even realises how empty his life was.
Insane Troll Logic: In his brief appearance in the X-Wing comics, a joke from Corran about the Fel security being so ineffectual the kidnappers went through it like "Rebels through a Death Star" instantly leads him to the conclusion the Rebellion was involved, based on nothing more than his view of them as scummy criminals. His page entry image is even taken from this incident.
It's All About Me: His inability to see things outside of his grudge against Corran is one of the main faults Isard throws in his face when they meet.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Thinks he's much cleverer than he is, and the reader knows it. He realizes it too... seconds before bleeding out.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- He made a mistake when editing the criminal Zekka Thyne's arrest file which prevented Black Sun from getting him off Kessel where he'd been imprisoned; Corran calls it the only good thing Loor ever did.
- He unknowingly saves Aril Nunb from the Krytos virus when he tells Derricote to use her as a test subject to see if bacta cures the Krytos virus she was infected with.
Photographic Memory: Which he relies on too much at the expense of developing other skills, ultimately resulting in his doom.
Revenge: Loor only gets up to really nasty stuff when plotting against his old enemies from the Corellian Security Force, such as Corran Horn and Gil Bastra. The rest of the time he's a more sympathetic character who is repulsed by a lot of Isard and Derricote's plans.
The Starscream: To Isard, and later Vorru as well.
Surrounded by Idiots: Likes to think this. While he's certainly not as clever as he thinks himself, it does sometimes happen—in Rogue Squadron Loor figures out where the Rogues are based and, had the Imperials sent a full assault force as he asked, the squadron would have been completely wiped out, but Admiral Devlia only sent a few stormtroopers with the result that only a handful of pilots and guards were killed or injured.
Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Repeatedly noted for his resemblance to a young Grand Moff Tarkin - which, if you see pictures of a young Peter Cushing, fulfils all parts of this trope.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Balks when Fliry Vorru orders him to bomb a school. He does do it eventually, but seems rather repelled by the idea.

Evir Derricote

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/derricotejpg.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Kalla VII

An Imperial general and antagonist of the Rogues in the first few books.

Brilliant, but Lazy: An amazing geneticist specializing in plagues, he gets bored easily when he's not doing something he loves, leading to the dilapidated state of the 181st Fighter Wing when Baron Fel takes over.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: How he funds his Borleias operation; he uncovered a derelict company that specialized in goods from Alderaan - which had shot up tremendously in value since the Death Star destroyed it. Using siphoned-off Imperial funding to cover overheads, he's earning millions of credits in no time.
Fat Bastard: Hugely unlikeable, and descriptions almost always bring up how overweight he is.
For Science!: Horribly so - while the other researchers and even Loor are horror-struck by the effects of the Krytos virus on various alien species, he regards it all with scientific detachment.
Four-Star Badass: Played with; the Battle of Derra IV shows he is a capable fighter pilot when necessary. However, he's not any sort of ground combatant, and his appearance in "The Force Unleashed II" novelisation has him cowering in a corner as a shootout rages around him.
Horrible Judge of Character: Is absolutely sure Isard will reward him greatly for creating the Krytos virus, and is sure she'll drop her more unreasonable demands for it to be airborne eventually. He's wrong, and he's stuck in Lusankya come "The Krytos Trap".
Mad Scientist: A brilliant creator of bioweapons, he was the main creator of the Krytos virus that ravages Coruscant's alien population after the Republic takes over.
Obfuscating Stupidity:
- Plays up being fat and stupid in order to deceive his enemies, something that works like a charm with Kirtan Loor.
- He also keeps the information coming out of Borleias tightly controlled to give the appearance of normalcy, though he's smart enough to realise it can't last forever. It's how the Battle of Borleias goes so badly for the Republic - their spies don't find any record of the extra TIE squadrons, ion cannons or shield generator because as far as his Imperial superiors are concerned, they don't exist.
Odd Friendship:
- Friendship is pushing it, but he has a surprisingly good working relationship with Rebel hero Jan Dodonna in Lusankya, co-operating to help their respective factions of Imperial and Rebel prisoners.
- Derricote is a bigoted, Brilliant, but Lazy Mad Scientist and (during his fight Corps days) The Alleged Boss who enjoys killing Rebels, while Baron Fel is a dedicated, hard-working officer and Benevolent Boss who has few if any human-centric prejudices, disapproves of mass murder, and gets along well with various Rebel figures. However, the relationship between Fel and Derricote is friendly enough, with Derricote granting Fel's requests to improve the unit without much fuss and Fel eventually adapting his lazy boss's passion for gardening.
Spotting the Thread: Observes Corran throwing a rock and it not falling, and quickly works out the gravity is inverted, and the prisoners are actually upside down relative to the surface.
Villains Out Shopping: In the comic series, between conducting his military duties and inventing bio-weapons, Derricote spends most of his time gardening in his undershirt.
Villainous Legacy: The plagues he created are sought after by the anti-human Diversity League in the Young Jedi Knights books, set well over a decade after his death.

Delak Krennel

Admiral Delak Krennel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/perso_krennel_delak.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Corulag

Delak Krennel was an admiral in the Imperial Navy. He had a prosthetic hand which glowed red whenever he flexed it, which he did frequently in order to freak out his subordinates. After the death of Emperor Palpatine, he went rogue and became a warlord, eventually allying with a clone of Ysanne Isard.

Ambition Is Evil: Virtually all of his conflicts with the Rogues stem from him trying to acquire more power, be it subtly (the original Isard offering to make him Emperor instead of Pestage) or directly (killing Pestage to seize the Ciutric Hegemony). The only reason he's working with the clone Isard in Isard's Revenge is her offering to help make him the new Emperor.
Bad Boss: Hugely; as an Imperial officer he'd immediately start working up insubordination charges for any officer that didn't kiss his ass when he appeared on the bridge of his warship. As a Warlord, he soon graduated to You Have Failed Me tactics.
Blade Below the Shoulder: As seen in the above image, his prosthetic hand houses a number of hidden weapons.
The Brute: His first response to any obstacle was to crush it. Needless to say, as Thrawn's subordinate the two didn't exactly get on, while the political intrigues of both the original and clone Isards were often lost on him.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: As mentioned above, the political subtleties of the clone Isard evaporated his patience rapidly as he preferred crushing his foes in battle. One scene in Isard's Revenge had him promising himself he'd he'd learn all her talents at being The Chessmaster, then kill her before she could launch her own betrayal.
A Day in the Limelight: He's a fairly minor villain in the "Masquerade" and "Mandatory Retirement" arcs of the comics series. "Isard's Revenge" explored much more of his backstory and worldview, as well as his previously unknown history with Thrawn.
Defector from Decadence: Struck out on his own as a Warlord when he got the chance to increase his own power at the expense of Sate Pestage.
Detachment Combat: Can remove his hand and control it remotely, though he rarely does.
Four-Star Badass: Was an Admiral before going rogue, and still an impressive fleet commander and hand-to-hand combatant.
Irony: He disdains Thrawn's subtle and creative tactics in favour of overwhelming force. In his final battle, he's killed when Ackbar uses one of Thrawn's tricks against him, using Krennel's own Interdictor to drop Republic Star Destroyers out of hyperspace right on top of him when it powers up its gravity wells.
The Magnificent: His self-appointed warlord title is Prince-Admiral. The latter part is at least his actual Imperial rank, but the former seems to have been tacked on just to make him sound more impressive.
Mortal Wound Reveal: During his final battle with the Republic, an impact against his ship's bridge shatters the viewport and sends a shower of transparisteel shards flying at Krennel's command post. He stands upright, apparently unharmed, then looks down at himself and wonders where those dozens of holes in his chest came from.
My Greatest Failure: Views the lack of any reaction for Thrawn's dismissing him from the Unknown Regions as this; he firmly believed he'd have been vindicated by the Emperor, and thought he had a black mark on his record due to it not being resolved.
Neck Snap: His preferred form of killing.
Not Me This Time: For all his acts of cruelty, he's genuinely bewildered by the Republic's claims he's working on the Death Star-esque Pulsar Station - because it's actually a ploy of the real Ysanne Isard, not the clone he's working with.
The Purge: Wedge's briefing on him after Thrawn's death indicated he'd kept power by killing every member of Sate Pestage's family he could find after seizing the Hegemony (over a hundred people), and Ackbar speculates there had to have been other events like this to keep him in power.
Red Right Hand: His prosthetic right arm, which he chooses not to cover up because it freaks other people out.

Fliry Vorru

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vorru.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Corellia

Action Politician: Vorru (who holds various governing or militia positions for both sides between periods as a convict) shoots at least six enemies during the climax of the fourth book.
Affably Evil: He's ruthless and will seize any opportunity to enhance his own power, but he's never less than courteous and polite. His internal monologues show this isn't an act.
Boring, but Practical: He looks at the Bacta War as a battle of economics. Where Isard favours Star Destroyer assaults on those that displease them, Vorru favours driving down the price of bacta, to both cripple the Rogues' ability to finance themselves and cut them off from the people they're delivering bacta to. As he predicts, Isard and Erisi reject it immediately due to the former's bloodlust and the latter's pride in her homeworld.
Co-Dragons: He and Erisi serve as Isard's principle lieutenants during their time on Thyferra.
Corrupt Corporate Executive:
- As Moff of Corellia, he was responsible for turning it into a Wretched Hive—though according to Corran's father, the criminals at least stuck to a certain code, not committing collateral damage against civilians etc., which went out of the window when Prince Xizor overthrew Vorru and sent him to Kessel.
- As Thyferra's Minister of Trade, is this in spades, storing info on who in the New Republic is hoarding bacta and who's buying it from him under the table. Towards the book's end he starts embezzling from Isard in order to ensure he can flee and live out his life in comfort.
Even Evil Has Standards: As mentioned in Pragmatic Villainy, he may do some terrible things, but he has a clear reason for carrying them out (in his mind, anyway). Isard's penchant for bloodthirsty acts to satiate her pride and sadism, on the other hand, clearly disturbs him - when she orders the murder of Sair Yonka's mistress to cause him maximum pain, he internally makes clear he'll have the woman rescued just to spite her.
I Coulda Been a Contender!: He was a political rival of the Emperor himself in his youth (yet managed to not be murdered by Palpatine's agents), and thus doesn't take people like Isard as seriously as others.
I Surrender, Suckers: A variant, in that he tries to goad Elscol and Iella into gunning him down in cold blood, to make them murderers like him. Iella manages to think her way out of it though.
A Lighter Shade of Black: According to Corran's grandfather in the "Side Trip" short story, under Vorru the Corellian branch of Black Sun at least stuck to certain principles, such as not killing or otherwise involving civilians. Then Prince Xizor had him sent to Kessel, and brutal thugs like Zekka Thyne became the norm.
Only Sane Man: Level-headed, a believer in Pragmatic Villainy and approaching the Bacta War like the Corrupt Corporate Executive he is, he spends much of his time on Thyferra trying to rein in Isard's sadism and bloodlust. He opposes her sending her Star Destroyers to slaughter targets helping the Rogues because he recognises the PR disasters they are, proposes economic ways of winning the war and fully recognizes that Isard's obsession with killing Wedge is leading her into poor decision after poor decision.
Pragmatic Villainy: Even his most evil acts (such as ordering the school bombing) have a practical purpose behind them. In The Bacta War, he repeatedly shows himself to be more level-headed than Isard, which highlights the latter's ongoing Villainous Breakdown.
- Probably the shining example is when he objects to her slaughter of Halanit not on moral grounds but because it's both terrible PR with the planets they're shipping bacta to and will eventually get the Republic to notice the level of firepower she has at her command.
Retired Badass: Imprisoned would be more accurate - but he definitely shows he was head of Black Sun for a reason back in the day, kicking the shit out of Zekka Thyne in seconds after he mouths off once too often, and later guns down four members of Elscol's resistance group
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When he realises Isard's unstable obsession with killing Rogue Squadron can only end in defeat, he starts embezzling funds from her and makes plans to escape with Erisi Dlarit. Unluckily for him, events overtake him before he can flee.
Small Name, Big Ego: Vorru constantly reflects that his opponents and cohorts are underestimating him, because the Emperor himself saw Vorru as a political rival and had him sent to Kessel to get him out of the way. No one else seems to share this remarkable assessment of his stature in the Empire. Vorru may have been an Imperial Moff, and a Vigo in Black Sun, but it never occurs to him that: 1) the only persons the Emperor saw as legitimate rivals were other Force-sensitives, including the Jedi Knights and his own apprentices; 2) if the Emperor had seen Vorru as a threat, he'd be dead, not exiled; and 3) for all that Vorru flatters himself that he's working "with" Isard, the Provisional Council, or Kirtan Loor, his actions look very much like working for all of them. At no time is he even close to accumulating the power necessary to be a legitimate rival to any of them; when Isard's reign on Thyferra collapses, Vorru has no scheme to replace it, all he can do is grab whatever funds he's hoarded to himself, escape the planet, and retire in peaceful anonymity. He fails to manage even that.
The Starscream: Betrays the New Republic during the events of "The Krytos Trap". He plans to be this to Isard in The Bacta War (and even wonders at one point if he can claim to the New Republic he was working against her from the inside all along), but instead decides to abandon her due to her growing instability.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's mentioned as having been sent back to Kessel in "I, Jedi", but the Jedi Academy Trilogy (set in the same timeframe) has Kessel devastated by Admiral Daala's fleet then liberated by the Republic, so it's anyone's guess as to his fate.
Zen Survivor: Though he seems to have been pretty cynical even before Kessel.

Zekka Thyne

Species: Near-Human

Homeworld: Corellia

A gangster who once ran the Corellian branch of Black Sun. Arrested and sent to Kessel by Corran Horn and his father when they were in the Corellian Security Force, then released along with other Black Sun criminals to help the Rebellion in their liberation of Coruscant in exchange for a pardon. Unfortunately, he proves difficult to control.

Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: It may not be as bad as the murders, extortion, and drug dealing, but when breaking into Thyne's Corellian fortress, Corran notes that his taste in art runs hideously towards the worst stereotypes about the Nouveau Riche.
The Brute: Most of the other Black Sun leaders we've seen in the franchise are at least somewhat more subtle, preferring to be Villains With Good Publicity while exercising their power behind the scenes, through proxies, and with cloak-and-dagger methods rather than direct confrontation. Thyne, by contrast, is a street thug who fought his way to the top of the scrap pile. In fairness, it's stated that Prince Xizor uses Corellia as a training ground for his lieutenants, so it's possible he was still being taught the subtler ways of exercising power.
The Corrupter: Downplayed version, but he does manage to get Inyri (a daughter of social workers living on the prison planet Kessel) to be his partner-in-crime and even girlfriend for a while. Given the poverty and lack of respect she spent her whole life enduring on Kessel, the power that came from running with a gang was fairly appealing.
The Dreaded: Even as a prisoner on Kessel, he causes so much trouble that when the Rogues come to take a certain number of convicts off the planet, the prison administrator demands that they take him with them (not knowing that they wanted him anyway).
Hair-Trigger Temper: Flirry Vorru describes him as "aggressive and intelligent, though aggression is his default setting." Corran more cynically states that "what he lacks in brains, he makes up for in feral viciousness."
Half-Human Hybrid: We don't know what the other half is, though.
Stealing the Credit: Probably. He claims credit for the death of Corran's father (the man who arrested him). Corran can't be sure, but seriously doubts it, firstly because he's not the first person to try to claim this, secondly because far too much time had passed between the arrest and the murder (Black Sun, for obvious reasons, prefers to retaliate as quickly as possible).
Unwitting Pawn: The story of his life. In the short story Side Trip, his Corellian empire is brought down through a complicated gambit by Grand Admiral Thrawn, who's doing it as a favor to Darth Vader, who doesn't even care about Thyne but is just trying to weaken his boss, Xizor. He's at least more of a witting pawn in Wedge's Gamble, but he's still constantly under someone else's thumb, first being freed by the Rebels so he can use his Black Sun connections to weaken the Empire's grip on Coruscant, then being flipped by Ysanne Isard and her spies to work against them for the Empire.
Villainous Ethics Decay: What he represents. Black Sun was always a nasty organization, but in the past, there were lines it wouldn't cross. In the modern day, it's become increasingly violent, indiscriminate, and uninhibited. Assassination of public officials has gone from being the exception to being the norm. Murdering traitors and informants now extends to murdering their entire families. Assassinations are less and less surgical and more and more prone to taking an entire building's worth of innocent bystanders along with the target. And the narcotics being peddled have become increasingly addictive and harmful. As the head of Black Sun on Corellia, Thyne embodies the new generation in all its grim glory.
Wrong Genre Savvy: He so badly wants to be the Joker to Corran's Batman, and remains painfully unaware of his real role to the very end. To begin with, all his former CorSec adversaries are now soldiers (insurgents to be exact), which means they've all accepted that they have much bigger priorities, namely the Empire, than the criminals they used to hunt. Furthermore, Thyne was just never a powerful enough man or an effective enough adversary for any of them to see him as a Big Bad. Even in his prime as a Black Sun kingpin, he was still just a flunky to Prince Xizor. After his release from Kessel, he spends most of his time being pushed around by either Flirry Vorru or Kirtan Loor (the man Corran actually views as his personal enemy). His feud with Corran doesn't end with either of them killing the other; instead, he's gunned down by his own girlfriend who's become sick of him and what he's turned her into. When he's finally about to die, he warns Corran that there's another traitor in his unit. This is intended to haunt him, but Corran, unimpressed, simply thanks him for warning him about a previously unknown enemy.

Erisi Dlarit

Homeworld: Thyferra

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Until The Bacta War. In that one, she's just a bitch.
Hate Sink: Once she's revealed to be the traitor? She has NO redeeming qualities, except perhaps acknowledging that Isard is insane.
The Mole: Is this for Isard in Rogue Squadron.
Rich Bitch: She comes from one of the wealthiest Thyferran bacta-producing families, and she's not adverse to use this, as she entices Mirax with lucrative benefits of her family power to leave Corran alone - then threatening to use that power to make Mirax's life hell if she doesn't.
Yandere: For Corran. To such an extent that it could be argued her actions at the end of the second book — which led to his capture and attempted brainwashing — were designed with the ultimate goal of "Evil Corran" winding up with her after what she assumed would be successful brainwashing.

Teren Rogriss

Admiral Teren Rogriss

An Imperial Admiral. He was Han Solo's Imperial opposite during the Zsinj campaign and worked closely with Han in trying to take down the warlord - despite the fact that it was technically treason for both of them. He was later in charge of the Imperial expedition to Adumar but switched sides when he was ordered to attack Adumar after having personally promised Adumar that he would honor a decision to not do so.

Anti-Villain: He's an honorable man who happens to work for the other side.
Drowning My Sorrows: Throughout the first half of Starfighters of Adumar. Rogriss is wrestling with a question of honor, and does not see a possible solution (outside of winning Adumar fairly) until Wedge gives him one.
Enemy Mine: In the Wraith Squadron trilogy, he unofficially aligns with the Wraiths and the rest of Han Solo's task force, since both of them are pursuing Warlord Zsinj.
Four-Star Badass: An Admiral and exceptional leader. Even Zsinj notes him as an excellent capital ship pilot.
Hero of Another Story: What he sees himself as. He vents to Wedge that he's spent his entire life bringing literacy, medicine, sanitation and order to the planets the Empire conquered, and trying to prevent chaos from tearing the galaxy apart again.
Honor Before Reason: Despite the fact that Adumar is a huge strategic advantage to whichever side wins their loyalty, he refuses to attack Adumar and defects from the Empire when ordered to attack it as it would be breaking his word to the Adumarians. He even goes so far as ordering his Star Destroyer to return to the Empire under a total communications blackout, maximizing the delay in the Empire discovering his actions and giving Adumar time to prepare its defense. He could've done far less and still made the case that he kept his word, but his personal sense of honor required him to do everything possible to prevent an Imperial attack.
I Gave My Word: The sticking point for his Honor Before Reason above.
Pragmatic Villain: Despite technically being at war with the New Republic, is willing to risk treason and work with them to deal with the bigger threat of Zsinj.

Turr Phennir

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/conspiringpilots_1.jpg

Leader of the 181st Fighter Wing. Was present on Adumar as the head of the Empire's pilot representatives on Adumar. He later became the military leader of the Confederation during the Second Galactic Civil War.

Ace Pilot: After Fel's defection, was widely regarded as the Empire's best pilot, something he backs up repeatedly against Red Flight on Adumar.
Ambition Is Evil: Downplayed. In the comics he repeatedly pushed for Fel to strike out on his own as a warlord, promising the 181st's full backing - but after his leader's defection, took over the group and remained loyal to the Empire until at least the Adumar battles.
Cool Starship: At the end of "Starfighters of Adumar", he pilots a TIE Defender - the most advanced and powerful variant of the TIE line in the EU.
Evil Counterpart: To Wedge. And also to Tycho, given that he was previously Soontir Fel's Number Two.
Four-Star Badass: He eventually reached the rank of General in the Empire, and later became the military head of the Confederation in the "Legacy of the Force" series.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Definitely evil when working for the Empire. More ambiguous with the Confederation due to the larger problem of Darth Caedus.
The Lancer: The hot shot to Fel's cool calmness.
Number Two: Was Baron Fel's second in command, and took over the 181st after Fel defected.

Leonia Tavira

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tavirahs.jpg

Species: Human

Homeworld: Eiattu 6

Leonia Tavira was a young but ambitious woman, in love with power and wealth. Seducing the local governor of her planet, she became it's de facto leader by cosying up to the right people, and against everyones protests, was made the youngest Moff in Imperial history despite having never spent a day in the academy. At first seen as little more than a nuisance by the Rogues, she proved herself to be as petty and ruthless as any Imperial, and a serious threat when she needs to be. This captures the attention of Isard, who positions the girl to help her in ways that are beneficial to both their interests.

Attention Whore: She hates not being the center of attention.
The Baroness: Styles herself after one, complete with whip and gloves. It seems to be more for show, however. When they first meet, Isard calls her out on how childishly over the top she is acting. Leonia doesn't seem to mind being reprimanded.
Coincidence Magnet: No matter how unlikely it seems, she always manages to get what she wants in the end. Isard isn't buying it.
Didn't Think This Through: Why did she think kidnapping the wife of Corran Horn, Jedi, ace pilot and hero of the New Republic, wouldn't lead to him coming after her on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge? Considering she had faced him before, you'd think she's know better. Subverted at the end of I, Jedi; turns out she was keen on having Mirax killed straightaway, but her Jensaari minions wanted her alive so they could lure Corran to them.
Fille Fatale: While just 16, Tavira seduced a Moff and then took his position later after usurping him. after murdering him (she'd also murdered his wife to clear her path).
Gold Digger: Isn't above whoring herself out to get what she wants. She became the mistress of her planet's governor at the age of sixteen, and after his wife died under mysterious circumstances, she married him and took over as de facto ruler of the planet after he suffered a stroke, then supposedly shot himself after he had recovered enough to fire a blaster.
Good-Looking Privates: She fills out her uniform in all the right places.
King of Thieves Fashions herself as a Pirate Queen one amongst her pirate crew.
Not So Harmless: May act like a spoiled trophy wife, but she is as cold blooded as they come. She also has a fondness for torture, which she is all too happy to indulge her prisoners in.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Whether or not she is, and if so, how much, is a big part of her mystery. The Rogues can't seem to decide upon whether she's crazy or brilliant; they just settle upon annoying, but dangerous. Isard is aware of her act, but plays to her love of money and attention in order to control her. Whether or not this too is an act, however...
Opportunistic Bastard: Never stays in one place for to long, but wherever she ends up, she finds a way to put herself on top before running off again.
Pirate Girl: Becomes one after ditching the Empire.
Putting on the Reich: In typical Star Wars fashion, her Imperial uniform looks very nazi-esque. The way she wears it and carries herself, however, is a little more indicative of another type of Nazi.
The Remnant: She's an ex-Imperial commander who turned herself and her crew into Space Pirates after the Empire fell.
Small Name, Big Ego: She's just an opportunistic woman who happened into her position by luck. The Rogues find her to be more of a nuisance than anything. At first.
Space Pirates: Leads a crew of them after realizing the Empire was a sinking ship.
Whip of Dominance: Her Iconic Item is a quirt whip that she's always carrying with her, and despite her petite appearance, her confident demeanor and the way she wields the whip are often intimidating enough to make her the scariest thing even in a room full of imperial soldiers who tower over her. It's also very fitting of her domineering and dangerously seductive personality. She's fond of using the quirt as a prod to invade the personal space of the people she's talking down to, using it to poke them or make them turn their heads. If someone ends up displeasing her, she will use it to lash them right in the face.

Ait Convarion

Captain Ait Convarion

A naval captain who serves Isard in the Bacta War.

The Captain: Of the Star Destroyer Corrupter.
Even Evil Has Standards: Ruthless murderer or not, he is deeply shaken when Isard challenges him to personally execute the families of several deserters before reluctantly agreeing to comply, only to learn that it was a Secret Test of Character and the families have already been killed.
Laser-Guided Karma: After helping Isard slaughter everyone on a colony world, he meets his death in a battle near the remains of Alderaan, another planet the Empire wiped out, and his ship and most of its remaining crewmembers (Convarion himself is already dead) are smashed into pieces by the asteroid field that used to be Alderaan.
Trigger-Happy: He tends to open fire before assessing a situation and Wedge calls him Isard's most aggressive follower.

Joak Drysso

Captain Joak Drysso

Isard's flag captain.

Bad Boss: He shoots people who disagree with him and casually abandons other ships in the middle of harsh fights to focus on gaining victory and glory for himself.
Disconnected by Death: After he vows to fight to the last man, his Beleaguered Assistant shoots him as he rants at Wedge through a comm unit.
Miles Gloriosus: He isn't particularly competent but promotes himself to Grand Admiral on a whim and views himself as a peerless leader.
Tactical Withdrawal: He fled from the Battle of Endor, but only because he wanted to fight the Rebel Alliance later on from a non-hopeless position.

Vict Darron

Captain Vict Darron

A calculating captain serving under Krennel.

Affably Evil: He is bigoted against aliens and is determined to stand against the New Republic for letting them live alongside humans so freely, but he is a loving father, works to protect both his subordinates and innocent civilians from Krennel's cruelty, and ultimately surrenders his command after being outmatched in battle.
Benevolent Boss: He is a patient and caring boss to his subordinates and convinces Krennel to transfer insubordinate crew members to Darron's ship rather than executing them.
Bothering by the Book: He obeys orders to raze a village but first explains to the villagers what he is about to do and why, and then drags out planning his attack and testing the weapons needed for the massacre to give the villagers time to escape. He also manages to justify his actions by arguing it was a larger than normal Spare a Messenger act when really it was a moral decision.
Necessarily Evil: After the Empire built two Death Stars and destroyed Alderaan, Darron has admitted to himself that he serves a fundamentally evil regime that will continue threatening innocents the longer that people like him serve it. Nonetheless, he remains loyal to the Empire (albeit while taking pains to save lives and avoid his orders when tasked with carrying out atrocities himself) due to feeling that it can provide peace to systems willing to accept its governance, which will be thrown into anarchy if the New Republic takes over.
Only Sane Man: He is one of the only members of Krennel's regime who doesn't seem like either a Professional Butt-Kisser or a General Ripper, and also has enough tactical sense to tell that the system he's garrisoning will likely be attacked by the Rebels (a warning Krennel ignores).
You Are in Command Now: He was given command of his ship after the last captain was executed for refusing to raze a village. Darron followed through with the order, but, through Bothering by the Book tactics, made sure to give the inhabitants warning and ample time to escape.

Lorrir

A fighter commander serving under Krennel.

Conspiracy Theorist: He is convinced that the Rogues keep dying and being replaced by clones.
Hypocrite: He makes a toast to destroying the lies of the New Republic right after claiming that Baron Fel was an incompetent who lost the battle of Brentaal IV (when really he was the Imperial's Only Sane Man there but got scapegoated for defecting later on) and that his General Failure boss was the real hero of the battle.
Miles Gloriosus: He brags about his combat abilities and contempt for the Rogues, but is frozen with fear when Wedge confronts him. Furthermore, he is a lousy and predictable pilot who is easily shot down and killed.
Professional Butt-Kisser: He is infamous for being fawning to his bosses but nasty to his subordinates.

Admiral Kosh Teradoc

Kosh Teradoc

Species: Human

Homeworld: Er'Kit

An Imperial admiral turned warlord and target of the Wraiths. He is the younger brother of another warlord previously featured in The Callista Trilogy.

All There in the Manual: His origins, Frontline General and Miles Gloriosus moments, Sibling Rivalry with his brother, and the Retirony nature of his fate are all only mentioned in a few blog entries by sourcebook and magazine article authors Daniel Wallace and Abel G. Pena.
Amazon Chaser: He describes the "fitness" of Action Girl Shalla as being "very much to [his] taste."
Politically Incorrect Villain: He is a venal warlord with little respect for any alien.
Retirony: The death of his brother during a Board to Death meeting makes him see how empty his life is and contemplate retirement, but the Wraiths kill him before he can make a final decision.
Sibling Rivalry: Every significant step of his career is designed to one-up his older brother or retaliate against an act of one-upmanship.
Wicked Cultured: He is just as passionate about collecting art as he is about ruling over conquered territory. However, the Rogues insinuate that he's just trying to imitate Grand Admiral Thrawn.
We Hardly Knew Ye: He is the POV character of much of the first chapter of Mercy Kill but is tricked into taking a bomb home with him and is blown up by it.

Zsinj's Forces

Zsinj

Warlord Zsinj

Species: Human

Homeworld: Fondor

Appears in: X-Wing Series | The Courtship of Princess Leia

Admiral Zsinj was once one of the Empire's most dangerous soldiers, and when the Emperor died he became one of the galaxy's greatest warlords. Introduced in The Courtship of Princess Leia, Zsinj was conceived as a buffoonish Harmless Villain who only presented a threat because he possessed a Super Star Destroyer and had access to an experimental superweapon called a Nightcloak. He then died unceremoniously at the end of the book. He and his forces were reimagined via Cerebus Retcon in the X-Wing Series as a master of misdirection with enough firepower and resources to fight the New Republic and the Empire at the same time.

Affably Evil: He's as ruthless and power-hungry as any other Imperial villain, but sequences such as the Hawk-Bat dinner in Iron Fist and his conversations with Melvar reveal that he's genuinely quite jolly and friendly at times.
Alternate Company Equivalent: His official art makes him look much like Star Trek`s Harry Mudd.
Arch-Enemy: Regards Han Solo as this after Solo's fleet (supposedly) blew up his flagship, then told him to "kiss my Wookiee" afterwards. His determination to capture Solo to avenge this insult drives much of the plot of The Courtship of Princess Leia.
Bad Boss: Zigzagged; he's capable of considerable brutality and cruelty stemming from emotion, but is actually one of the better Imperial examples we see.
- His first scene in Iron Fist has him order a subordinate executed - but only after said subordinate has disobeyed orders not to waste time trying to be a pilot multiple times. Zsinj himself points out that he can't have someone not willing to obey orders directly from a Warlord as a pilot.
- When the Imperial Stormtrooper Gatterweld offers to help him regain control of Razor's Kiss, we see in the next book that Zsinj rewarded him with an officer's commission, even though the attempt failed.
- At the other end of the scale, he willingly sacrifices the entire starfighter complement of Iron Fist when the Super Star Destroyer escapes so that the wreckage will help convince Solo that she was destroyed - essentially killing hundreds of his own pilots so he and the ship could get away.
Batman Gambit:
- On a large scale: he's aware that the Rebels want his flagship Iron Fist destroyed at any cost so, using the wreckage of a Super Star Destroyer destroyed in one of his previous schemes, he constructs a ship designed to blow up and give the illusion that Iron Fist has been destroyed, gambling that once Iron Fist is deemed destroyed, the Rebels will withdraw to regroup and give him breathing space. It works like a charm.
- It's also mentioned that he sent emissaries to the New Republic early on, causing them to initially leave them alone in hopes of swaying him to their side. As his main appearances confirm his hatred for the Rebellion, it's likely he was intentionally stringing them along for just such an outcome.
Big Bad: Of the Allston books.
Book Ends: Apparently, "Mama" was both his very first and his very last word in life.
Combat Pragmatist: His strategy is this on a grand scale. In the Stackpole books he hopes that the Rebels and Isard will exhaust each other and allow him to come out on top. When the New Republic plans their conquest of Coruscant, they decide they have to come up with a plan that lets them take it with its defences intact, as otherwise Zsinj will just come in and easily take the defenceless planet from them in turn.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: His warlord empire is funded and supplied by a slew of shadow companies across many worlds, owned by Zsinj under assumed names.
- In fact, this is the root of Zsinj's power: while he's far from a General Failure, he's no top-level tactical genius like Thrawn, either—overall, he's competent, but not spectacular. What distinguishes him is the corporate empire that he's constructed; it finances his military might and the expansion of his empire, making him a major threat - unlike other warlords, who have to take new resources by force. When the Republic and Empire team up to bring down his corporate interests, his power becomes greatly reduced, ultimately leading to his downfall.
Cunning Linguist: Can swear fluently in 60 languages, to Han Solo's greatest delight - though "Solo Command" shows Wookiee isn't one of them.
Defector from Decadence: A former Imperial Grand Moff, he leaves the Empire in the aftermath of Palpatine's death and starts building up his forces, eventually becoming the most prominent Warlord. Downplayed early on, as even while securing his territory he didn't overtly break from the main Empire until he was too powerful to control.
Early-Bird Cameo: He's the main villain of the Allston books, but also appears as something of an Outside-Context Problem in the Stackpole books, intruding as a third party into the New Republic/Isard fight and being manipulated by Isard.
Fatal Flaw: His pride. He can't let a challenge go unanswered, even when it'll cost him in the long run.
- Rogue Squadron defeating his ships probing Borleias leads to his mounting several attacks on them in Wedge's Gamble and The Krytos Trap - which backfires when it leads to the New Republic switching their focus to him instead of the Empire.
- It also leads to his seeing the ongoing battles between his forces and Han Solo's as a personal duel, something which leads to an escalating series of disasters in Solo Command when he starts responding to this with emotional decisions instead of his tactical skill.
Kick the Dog: The execution mentioned in the Bad Boss entry. While his reasons actually make sense, he puts the unlucky ensign through pilot training, making him think he's achieving his dream of being a pilot - THEN Zsinj has him executed.
Know When to Fold 'Em: He's smart enough not to "throw good money after bad", as he puts it. Part of his Villainous Breakdown near the end of Solo Command is realising he can't do this (as Iron Fist can't get away due to hyperdrive sabotage), leading him to sacrifice a decent chunk of his fleet and all his starfighters to ensure his flagship's survival.
The Magnificent: Subverted, surprisingly. He's always known by the title of Warlord in the novels he appears in, with the implication it's a title he gave himself (Wedge's Gamble outright says he declared himself a Warlord after Endor). However, later background books revealed it was actually a legitimate title given to only Imperial officers who had accomplished tremendous feats in battle, with Thrawn being another recipient.
Matricide: He initially made a name for himself by tracking down his mother, a former Republic Admiral who'd gone rogue after seeing what the Empire was becoming, and blowing her out of space. The Imperial hierarchy were so impressed it earned him the title he was known by for the rest of his career - Warlord.
Meaningful Rename: He always renames his current flagship after his first command, an old Victory Star Destroyer where he made his name battling pirates: Iron Fist.
Never My Fault: Inverted. After an ambush of Solo's fleet fails due to his own miscalculation, he willingly admits to his subordinates it wasn't their mistake but his.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: He's introduced as a harmless oaf, but it's actually a facade. In reality, he's clever, pragmatic and ambitious, with enough firepower and resources to be a serious threat to both the New Republic and the Empire.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Cleverly used to excuse the cardboard villainy of Zsinj and Melvar in The Courtship of Princess Leia. He enjoys putting on a show, even though he's aware some of his enemies can see through it. He puts on the same show for his own subordinates, and seemingly likes to recruit current or former Imperial Intelligence agents specifically because they're the kind of people who can see through his act and thus will appreciate that it is an act.
Oh, Crap!:
- Just prior to the final battle in Solo Command, when he realises that Iron Fist not only lacks hyperdrive due to Lara's sabotage, but is actively broadcasting its own location to Solo's forces.
- Again in Courtship when Han calls him in the middle of the battle with the Hapans to tell him to look out his viewscreen and kiss his Wookiee. Zsinj realises what's about to happen just before Han obliterates Iron Fist's bridge with the Falcon.
Only One Name: According to supplementary material, it's in the tradition of his father's home planet Fondor.
Pragmatic Villainy: For the most part, though he's not above kicking dogs, and he does have a bad temper at times.
Pride: His greatest flaw - his ego seems to increase with his power, to the point he regards any insult or defeat as something that has to be avenged no matter the cost.
- His initial conflict with Rogue Squadron comes about because they destroy one of his ships - a challenge he can't leave unanswered despite one transport being relatively minor to him at that point.
- Later, the whole Millennium Falsehood ploy only succeeds because it plays on his determination to avenge his defeats at Solo's hands - allowing both the Wraiths and later Lara Notsil (after she leaves them) to string him along into traps of their choosing.
- Finally, he goes to ludicrous lengths to capture Han alive in "The Courtship of Princess Leia", presumably to kill him personally in retaliation for his earlier defeats. He wants him badly enough he's prepared to let the Nightsisters off-planet, despite knowing full-well how dangerous they are.
Retcon: His sole previous appearance in The Courtship of Princess Leia had him be a standard Imperial bad guy - petty, cruel and not especially bright (one of the witches even points out what a transparent liar he is). In order to turn him into a Worthy Opponent for the Wraiths, Aaron Allston turned these earlier aspects of his character into Obfuscating Stupidity, with it being noted in-universe that he deliberately exaggerates or downplays aspects of his own character when he's trying to fool someone.
Revenge: He spends the entirety of The Courtship of Princess Leia hunting down Han to kill as gruesomely as possible in order to get this. Amusingly, while Solo thinks it's largely because of destroying his Super Star Destroyer, the X-Wing books show Iron Fist survived, giving the impression Zsinj was just really ticked off about being told to kiss Han's Wookiee...
The Spymaster: He inherits much of Isard's former Imperial Intelligence operatives and surrounds himself with them: when studying Zsinj's psychology, the Wraiths speculate that he likes testing his Obfuscating Stupidity image against their skills.
Take a Third Option: During the Stackpole books he was the third main faction of the galaxy besides the New Republic and the Isard-led remnant of the Empire, and both sides attempted unsuccessfully to court him, while he played both off against the other.
Villainous Breakdown: At least twice during Solo Command. An epic one after Dr. Gast is captured by the Wraiths (specifically, the fact that Gast has been taken alive has the potential to expose his so far highly effective scheme to turn the member races of the New Republic against each other), and a more subdued one later when measures by both the New Republic and the Empire prove effective at chipping away bits of his economic empire, giving him the realization that the two mortal enemies are cooperating to bring him down.
We Have Reserves: He's not shy about sacrificing his own troops' lives, but he hires pirates as a Redshirt Army of escorts to reduce his losses.

Melvar

General Melvar

Homeworld: Kuat

The right-hand man of Warlord Zsinj.

Deadpan Snarker: Always has some cutting remark on hand for when Zsinj questions him.
The Dragon: To Zsinj.
The Nondescript: Described as having incredibly bland features. People find it even harder to recognise him because they usually see him in makeup pulling a stereotypical villainous expression as part of his Obfuscating Stupidity.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Like Zsinj himself. Zsinj even describes him as a kindred spirit in this regard.
Only One Name: His first name was never revealed, even in the supplementary material.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Loves to pull this on others, especially Zsinj. In Solo Command, we even see how he pulls it off.

Apwar Trigit

Admiral Apwar Trigit

Homeworld: Coruscant

Bad Boss: Unlike most Imperial villains, this is far from obvious at first—he seems to have genuine respect for much of his crew, but still abandons them to die at the end, trying to justify it by saying the New Republic would interrogate them and use that information to kill others.
- This is a particularly shocking change for the reader because Trigit's Establishing Character Moment was him thinking about how Isard's excessive Bad Boss tendencies meant people abandoned her in her hour of need (including himself) and that he therefore considers such an attitude to be stupid. When his own life is in danger, he'll sacrifice anyone and everyone else to increase his odds of survival, even if they're people he likes and respects.
Dirty Coward: Aside from abandoning his ship to save his own skin, he's shown to be this more subtly during the events leading up to the Morobe battle; when Gara puzzles out that it's a trap, he instantly drops Implacable out of hyperspace and leaves the other ships to get shot to pieces in a New Republic trap. As Face later points out, he could have sent them a warning, or came in to use the Star Destroyer's firepower to help lead them out of the trap, but does neither.
It's All About Me: We first get a glimpse of this when he learns about a New Republic ambush; rather than follow the task force in and help escort them out of trouble (as Face later suggested, as Darillian, Trigit "should" have done), he chooses to pull out of hyperspace prematurely and leave a hypercomm message to the ships that actually made it to the destination. It becomes far more obvious at the end of the story, when he learns he's about to lose his ship.
The Starscream: He doesn't really have ambitions to overthrow Zsinj, but views himself as an independent who just happens to be aligned with Zsinj rather than his subordinate, and clashes with him over this. When he realizes that he has rather decisively failed Zsinj, Trigit decides he'll have to actually go through with the contemplated betrayal... but then things get much, much worse for the admiral.
Villainous Breakdown: He snaps and starts doing many of the same things he abandoned Isard over when he realizes that the Implacable is doomed.
He was about to lose his ship. His true love.

Darillian

Captain Zurel Darillian

Homeworld: Coruscant

It's All About Me: About all we learn about him is that his ego was enormous.
Miles Gloriosus: He had a captain's log recorded in full holo (in real-world terms, like using high-definition film for your private video blog) and boasted to it about fighting "the Rebels" like a cartoon villain - which makes his ignoble end before ever seeing any combat (or page-time) that much more morbidly hilarious.
Out-of-Character Alert: Face's impression of him almost cracks when he fails to recognise an Imperial Intelligence expression used by Trigit that the real Darillian would have, as both men had Intelligence backgrounds. Fortunately, Face is able to fool him with a persuasively personal knowledge of his former boss Ysanne Isard.
Posthumous Character: He only physically appears in the story as a mess of fried flesh splattered across the ceiling after Piggy blasted his way up to the bridge of the Night Caller with his laser cannon. All we see of him are holographic recordings.

Edda Gast

Homeworld: Saffalore

An arrogant biologist at Binring Biotech on Saffalore. Worked on Zsinj's Project Chubar.

Evilutionary Biologist: Gast was a biologist working at Project Chubar "humanizing" alien species so Zsing could make use of them as minions. This involves tortuously altering them to "improve" them against their will. While the uncle, who originally led the project, had eventually killed himself in guilt along with his favorite subjects after coming to love them, Gast feels absolutely no remorse. Indeed, she never displays any caring for anyone else at all.
Smug Snake: When we first see her, she displays a remarkable arrogance, and proves herself to be a ruthless bitch when she almost immediately complies with a Shoot Your Mate situation (the "mate" in question being her superior at Binring), and doesn't shed one tear over her superior's death. She's not as brilliant as Zsinj, though: Her attempt to kill Wraith Squadron fails, forcing her to switch sides to save her own skin, and after we've had to deal with her arrogance for most of the book, she proceeds to get played like a puppet by Nawara Ven.

Gatterweld

Ensign Gatterweld

A stormtrooper stationed at Kuat Drive Yards who becomes an officer in Zsinj's forces.

Affably Evil: Despite being a fierce Rebel hater, he has a strong sense of duty and humility and occasionally chats with Gara while being assigned to act as her monitor.
Fire-Forged Friends: He is initially a soldier for a rival Imperial faction that opposes Zsinj, but when both Zsinj and the New Republic try to seize the same ship, Gatterweld decides that he'd rather see another Imperial have the ship and volunteers to help Zsinj, who is deeply touched and makes Gatterweld one of his most trusted men.
Keep the Reward: He refuses an offer of riches after agreeing to help Zsinj try to take a super star destroyer, saying he is only doing his duty.
Mildly Military: He wears an ill-fitting uniform and grows his hair longer than regulation, and gets away with it.
Mighty Glacier: He is a burly unarmed combat expert but says he has slow reflexes that kept him from piloting any ships lighter than freighters.
Up Through the Ranks: He goes from stormtrooper to naval ensign after impressing Zsinj during an op.

Adumar

Cheriss ke Hanadi

The Ground Champion of Adumar (meaning she's the best duelist) at the time of Starfighters of Adumar. She's assigned as an escort to Red Flight during their stay on the planet. She later becomes a pilot after the chemical imbalance that caused her to suffer from vertigo was corrected.

Action Girl: You don't become Ground Champion of Adumar any other way. Fought three consecutive fights and won the first two before losing the third... after not sleeping the entire previous night.
Combat Pragmatist: Her fighting style is specifically noted to be less elegant and stylistic than the way the nobility fights. It didn't get her many fans at first, but her ability to win her fights gradually overcame that. She's impressed by the fighting style of the four New Republic pilots for the same reason.
Honor Before Reason: Several instances but most clear when she, completely exhausted from being up the previous night and having just completed two duels, and being convinced to cease her Suicide By Duelist, continues the duel anyways because she had already accepted it and would lose honor if she backed out of it now.
- Justified Trope: It's her planet's hat, but in the last instance, if she backed out, she would be committing career suicide.
Proud Warrior Race Gal
Spurned into Suicide: When she learns that Wedge loves Iella, she tries to commit suicide-by-dueling. Wedge manages to convince her not to continue on that path.

Pekaelic ke Teldan

The Perator (Chief of State/Government) of Cartann during Red Flight's mission to Adumar.

Honor Before Reason: Knows he's been beaten but refuses to surrender due to this. A suggestion from Wedge allows him to Take a Third Option by abdicating in favor of his son.
Proud Warrior Race Guy

Balass ke Teldan

Pekaelic's son, and his successor after he resigned following Cartann's defeat.

Fanboy: To Wedge. Unfortunately for him, he cannot show this due to the restrictions of his office.
Hidden Backup Prince: The prince was brought up as a commoner under an assumed name. It's implied that this is done with all Cartannese princes; no word on whether this is the case in other Adumari nations.

Others

Mirax Terrik

See her entry on the Star Wars – New Jedi Order and Legacy Eras: Jedi Order character page.

Booster Terrik

Species: Human

Everyone Has Standards: After the shock of realising his daughter is friends with his enemy's son, he offers his condolences to Corran for his father's death; he may not have liked Hal putting him away, but respected him as a Worthy Opponent.
- Booster admits that he has his price just like any others of his kind, but people like Fey'lya can't buy him at any price.
Freudian Excuse: Frames his dislike of Corran as a continuation of his feud with Corran's father. Wedge, naturally, sees right through it and points out he's basically got the same problem with someone dating his daughter as every father ever.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The "jerk" part can be seen in his general behavior, especially toward Corran Horn. The "heart of gold" comes into play where his daughter Mirax and adopted son Wedge are concerned.
Papa Wolf: Very protective of his daughter Mirax, and also cares a great deal for his adopted son Wedge Antilles. He does not like Corran one bit at first, but eventually grows to respect and grudgingly like him.
- And in later series, don't you dare go anywhere near his grandchildren. Unless you want 500 of the top officials, business moguls, and stars held at ransom while he blows up military hardware demanding you let them go.
- It extends to pretty much all of Rogue Squadron. He beats the crap out of Borrsk Fey'lya with his bare hands (Bothans are descended from lion-like predators, and have the teeth and claws capable of tearing a human to shreds to prove it) when the latter tried to manipulate one of the Rogues (a Bothan war hero whose death Booster had just helped fake specifically so she could escape the manipulations of corrupt politicians like Fey'lya) for his own political gain in Isard's Revenge. This wasn't just a sucker punch, either. It was an all-out Curb-Stomp Battle.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: While he'll sell his services to a number of individuals for the right price, there are certain people he will never work for, at any price. Borsk Fey'lya found this out the hard way, as did Ysanne Isard.
Booster: "I won't say I can't be bought, but I certainly can't be bought by the likes of you."
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Wedge has to break up a few spats between Booster and Corran in The Bacta War. And even in later novels, Booster and Corran still don't get on all that well, though they'll work with each other when they have a common goal (as they very often do).
Worthy Opponent: Strongly regarded Corran's father Hal as this, respecting his tenacity in never stopping tracking him down. In "I, Jedi", Booster specifically notes his regard for Hal as the only reason he didn't beat Corran to a pulp for playing Jedi after Mirax's kidnap.

Syal Antilles Fel

Syal Antilles Fel, "Wynssa Starflare"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starflare.jpg

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Appears in: X-Wing Rogue Squadron

Wedge's long-lost sister and Soontir's wife. As a teenager, she ran away from home to become an actress, finding success in the Imperial holodrama business.

Famed In-Story: A famously beautiful actress.
Long-Lost Relative: She left home when Wedge was young and their parents hardly ever brought her up, so he barely knew anything about her. She did come to regret her estrangement from her family, though by then it was too late, as they had died when their fuel depot blew up.
Outliving One's Offspring: Had to outlive three of her children.
What Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out if she ever got to meet her brother again.

Loka Hask

A former pirate turned Imperial captain. During his criminal days, he was directly responsible for the deaths of Wedge's parents, Jagged and Zena Antilles.

Body Horror: When a young Wedge Antilles blew up his pirate vessel in revenge for the deaths of his parents, Hask survived via spacesuit. However, a Corellian limpet had stowed away in his suit, and permanently grafted itself to the side of his face, leading to Hask's distinctly horrifying appearance.
Jerkass: While he didn't INTENTIONALLY cause the death of Wedge's parents he's utterly unrepentant when confronted, even saying he did Wedge a favor.
Kick the Dog: See Jerkass
Red Right Hand: Anyone see the limpet?

Rorax Falken

A renowned faculty member working at the renowned Mrlsst Trade and Science Academy, which both the Rogues and the Empire visit while seeking new technology in the comic storyline The Phantom Affair.

Cool Teacher: He is a Living Legend in the physics world, is also a famous songwriter, and is polite and proud around his main students, besides a couple of Anger Born of Worry snaps.
Crazy-Prepared: He has surveillance cameras and hologram projectors hidden across the university to spy on politically-connected visitors and also has some of the asteroids around his orbital lab hollowed out and filled with mines.
Everyone Has Standards: He can be rude and has Mad Scientist tendencies, but he refuses to let the Empire ever have anything he invented after his proposals for building artificial moons were incorporated into the Death Star.
Expy: Of Stephen Hawking, as both are famous paraplegic physicists, and his last name sounds similar to "falcon" while Hawking also has a name reminiscent of a bird of prey.
Mad Scientist: He freely admits that he temporarily lost his sanity (although Mirax is dubious about whether he found it again) after some of his work was corrupted into the Death Star design, and he has made some dangerous-sounding devices since then.
Super Wheelchair: He can't walk and travels around in a hovering repulsorchair with enough horsepower to yank a Wookie off his feet.
Xanatos Speed Chess: He originally plans to con the Empire out of a fortune for a nonexistent cloaking device and then pretend it was lost in a testing accident. When an oblivious colleague tries to sell the technology before he is ready to "lose" it, he allows its theft, then steals the files back before anyone can check them and realize the truth, while also taking people investigating him prisoner and trying to use a "Scooby-Doo" Hoax to both keep other Rogues safe and warn them away from the academy.

Cartariun

Species: Devaronian

A Force-sensitive Devoranian who harvests the magic of an ancient Sith temple for a megalomaniacal campaign of conquest in the comic arc Requiem for a Rogue.

Bad Boss: He has the local tribes engage in lethal war games just to test the strength of his Force persuasion on them.
Big Bad Wannabe: He views himself as a successor to Palpatine, but his Force skills, while powerful, are tempered by a lack of training, and he has a comparatively small arsenal of TIEs and blasters for his planned conquest. Furthermore, a more powerful Force-user after the temple's power quickly has Catariun on his knees, vainly promising to comply with being Demoted to Dragon if his opponent will let him live.
From Nobody to Nightmare: He was a "lowly technician" among the Imperial party sent to inspect the Temple. However, being Force-sensitive let him gain power from the temple, conquer the local tribes, and set his sights on intergalactic power.
Satanic Archetype: He is an ambitious, self-absorbed user of dark magic, is constantly trying to tempt his enemies into following him, wears a red cloak, and comes from a species with Devilish Hair Horns, making for a very devil-like vibe.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: He can use the Force to control hundreds if not thousands of subjects, bring people back from the brink of death, and launch offensive attacks, but a combination of the malignant dark side energy and months of loneliness after the other Imperials left have made him into a wild-eyed megalomaniac.

Characters / X-Wing Series

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Rogue Squadron

Wedge Antilles

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Callsigns: Rogue Leader, Wraith Leader

Tycho Celchu

Species: Human (Alderaanian)

Homeworld: Alderaan

Callsigns: Rogue Null, Rogue Leader

Wes Janson

Species: Human

Homeworld: Taanab

Derek "Hobbie" Klivian

Species: Human

Homeworld: Ralltiir

Plourr Illo

Species: Human

Homeworld: Eiattu VI

Baron Soontir Fel

Species: Human (Corellian)

Homeworld: Corellia

Nrin Vakil

Species: Quarren

Homeworld: Mon Cala

Ibtisam

Species: Mon Calamari

Homeworld: Mon Cala

Elscol Loro

Species: Human

Homeworld: Cilpar

Feylis Ardele

Species: Human

Homeworld: Commenor

Avan Beruss

Species: Human

Homeworld: Illodia

Dllr Nep

Species: Sullustan

Homeworld: Sullust

Koyi Komad

Species: Twi'lek

Homeworld: Ryloth

Corran Horn

Gavin Darklighter

Ooryl Qrygg

Species: Gand

Homeworld: Gand

Bror Jace

Species: Human

Homeworld: Thyferra

Nawara Ven/Nawar'aven

Species: Twi'lek

Riv Shiel

Species: Shistavanen

Homeworld: Uvenna III

Rhysati Ynr

Species: Human

Homeworld: Bespin

Lujayne Forge

Species: Human

Homeworld: Kessel

Inyri Forge

Species: Human

Homeworld: Kessel

Andoorni Hui

Species: Rodian

Homeworld: Rodia

Peshk Vri'syk

Species: Bothan

Homeworld: Bothawui

Tal'dira

Species:' Twi'lek

Homeworld: Ryloth

Wraith Squadron

Lara Notsil / Gara Petothel / Kirney Slane

Homeworld: Coruscant

Myn Donos

Species: Human (Corellian)