Hera Syndulla

"There isn't a pilot in the Imperial fleet that can outrun me."

- Hera

Hera Syndulla is a female Twi'lek in the Disney XD animated series, Star Wars Rebels. She is the captain/pilot of the freight ship the Ghost, and owner of the astromech droid known as Chopper.

Personality
Hera is known to be very strong-minded, but at the same time she is warm and nurturing.

She is more of the mother figure towards the crew of her ship, whenever there is a problem she knows how to talk to them, and keep them together when one of them falls apart, as well as helping them find the goodness in themselves.

Hera has a no-nonsense style of command, she is known for being a very warm, compassionate and diplomatic individual, she is also highly intelligent, thoughtful and observant.

Abilities

 * Expert Markswoman: Hera is extremely skilled in utilizing blaster pistols.
 * Expert Pilot: Hera is extremely skilled in piloting every type of flying crafts.

Weapons and Equipment

 * Blurrg-1120 holdout blaster: Hera utilizing a Blurrg-1120 holdout blaster as her weapon of choice.

Season One
After raiding an Imperial supply depot, Hera, Kanan and Chopper's lives were in jeopardy, with four TIE Fighters attacking their ship. After taking a hit, the ship's comms and shields were fried. Hera sent Chopper to fix the shields until moments later, she sent Chopper to fix the comm instead, leaving the shields still down.

Chopper passed on a message from Kanan to "fly better" which she took to heart and commenced some daring maneuvers. She looped the Ghost behind the pursuing TIEs and using the nose turret took out one of the fighters, reducing Kanan's targets buy half. After Chopper took out the last fighter, the three of them met on the bridge, where they praised each other's shooting.

Hera showed up with the Ghost after her fellow Rebels stole Imperial crates from the Empire and picked up a passenger. Hera was impressed with what Kanan told her about Ezra and suspected that he may be force-sensitive. With four TIE Fighters on their tail, Hera piloted the Ghost out into space and once clear made the jump to lightspeed.

Soon after losing the TIEs, the Rebels returned to Lothal and landed near Tarkintown where Hera and Kanan delivered a crate of blasters to criminal boss Cikatro Vizago, who gave them some Intel on an Imperial Transport carrying Wookiee Prisoners to an unknown slave labor camp. The Rebels arrived at the Imperial Transport Hera brought the Ghost alongside, telling the Imperials they had orders to transfer an additional Wookiee Prisoner. As Kanan, Zeb, Sabine and Chopper went aboard, Hera along with Ezra stayed with the ship where they spotted an incoming Star Destroyer. Hera told Ezra he needed to go and warn the others but did not feel he could and insisted they make a run for it while they could. In the end, he reluctantly went aboard the transport ship to warn them after Hera gave him some encouragement to risk his life for others.

Thanks to Ezra, the Rebels made it back to the ship and escaped. However, when Zeb told the crew he left Ezra behind, Hera said they should rescue him as she knew they were responsible for getting him involved. Zeb and Sabine were not keen on rescuing him, knowing the Empire would be waiting for them but Chopper voted with Hera and with Kanan's deciding vote they went back to rescue him.

Hera piloted the Ghost aboard the Star Destroyer undetected and the Rebels were able to find Ezra and escape to hyperspace with intel on where exactly the Wookiee prisoners were. She set course for Kessel and upon arriving opened fire on the Imperials giving her fellow Rebels a clear path. However they were ambushed by the Imperials and Hera had to retreat with TIE Fighters opening fire on her ship. Hera flew away in order to lose the TIEs and later returned to pick of the others.

After sending the Wookiees on their way, the Rebels returned Ezra to Lothal but the latter chose to join the crew after being given a choice to join their Rebellion and learn the ways of the Jedi.

It was revealed through the second half of the first season that Hera had contacts with a secret Rebel known as "Fulcrum" (aka Ahsoka Tano). At the time, Sabine became curious to know who Fulcrum was but every time she asked her, Hera just answered her questions without really answering them as she was not to reveal the identities of their contacts. That way if captured, they could not reveal anything.

In "Vision of Hope", Hera showed the Ghost team a message revealing that Senator Gall Trayvis was coming to Lothal. Ezra later came back and told them Kallus was planning an operation to capture the Senator. The next day, Hera noticed that the Stormtroopers were stationed everywhere but have not moved in yet which made them realize it was a trap with Trayvis as the bait. They got inside and warned the Senator when they were surrounded by Kallus and his task force. Trayvis urged them to surrender but Zeb and Sabine, who came in through the roof, helped them escape. Upon getting outside, they quickly headed into the sewer where Trayvis claimed to be tired just before Kallus showed up. The Rebels split up with Hera and Ezra going with Trayvis. Acting upon recent suspicions, Hera handed Trayvis a blaster and told him to watch their backs. Suddenly, Trayvis turned the blaster on them and revealed that he was an Imperial agent and that his voice of truth speeches were just an act to trick real dissenters into coming out of hiding so they could be identified by the ISB. These unfortunate Rebels were then watched or killed by the Imperial Government after meeting with him. After Trayvis mocked Ezra's parents, Hera defended the Bridgers and told him they were not gone. Trayvis tried to shoot her for this only to discover that the blaster was not charged. Hera knocked him out stating "A true Rebel would know if he's holding a charged blaster." She then told a shocked Ezra she gave Trayvis the blaster to trick him into revealing his true colors. The others later showed up and they all escaped thanks to Kanan.

When Kanan was captured by the Empire, Hera was ordered by Fulcrum to withdraw from their attempts to rescue him after reminding her that Kanan understood the risks and Ezra, the crew's remaining Jedi, was too important to risk losing. When Hera told the crew they could no longer continue their search for Kanan, her fellow Rebels refused to give up on him and hide. They disobeyed her orders and went to Vizago for some intel on how they could find Kanan. Despite being very disappointed with the three of them, she went ahead with Ezra's leadership and thanks to Chopper they were able to hack into the Empire's communications ship and discover where the Empire was keeping Kanan.

After stealing an Imperial Freighter, Hera and the Rebels journeyed to Mustafar, where the Imperials had Kanan. They deployed a TIE Fighter and landed it aboard Tarkin's Star Destroyer which released and electromagnetic pulse, disabling the entire ship. With the ship down, Hera and the Rebels went aboard, but when their only way to Kanan was sealed up, Hera, along with Zeb and Sabine went a separate way while Ezra took a short cut through the ventilation shafts. After learning that Kanan was safe, Hera, Zeb and Sabine boarded their Rebel TIE Fighter and escaped with the other Rebels, led by Ahsoka Tano.

Season Two
Following Kanan's rescue, the Ghost crew became part of a larger rebellion. After a mission, Chopper came in with a message from Minister Tua, who offered to defect to the Rebellion in exchange for them helping her get off Lothal which they accepted at Ezra's urging. Afterwards, Hera confronted Kanan for his behavior and he admitted that he did not like being part of the Rebel Network's army because of the Clone Wars and how it led to the Rise of the Galactic Empire. Their mission to help Tua ultimately failed when she got killed by Kallus. After realizing the whole thing was a trap to turn Lothal against them, Hera stated they must leave immediately and Kanan decided they must steal a shuttle from the Imperial Complex. On the way to the shuttle, they were ambushed by Darth Vader and his task force, who had predicted what they would do and had been lying in wait for them. After escaping, Hera, to the chagrin of Kanan and Ezra, made a deal with Lando Calrissian to get them off Lothal, unaware that the shuttle they stole had a homing device on it, which was why Vader let them go. Upon arriving back at the fleet, Chopper told them of the device's activation which made the Ghost crew realize they led the Empire right back to the fleet. Darth Vader soon arrived and caused severe damage to the fleet, forcing a retreat. To buy the other Rebels time to escape, the Ghost crew kept Vader busy before escaping as well.

After the destruction of Phoenix Home, the Rebellion is in need of a base. Ahsoka told them where they could find an old friend of hers. When her friend turned out to be a Clone Trooper, Hera urged Kanan to trust him. Later she was horrified to learn that there were more Inquisitors. More of Hera's past is revealed during the Blockade of Ibaar: When she was a little girl, The Clone Wars broke out over Ryloth and she was inspired to become a pilot by the Jedi and Clones who fought to help liberate her world. Hearing her story, Quarrie decided to let her fly his ship: The B-Wing, which she later used to break the blockade.

Much later even more of her past is revealed on Ryloth: Hera's father is Cham Syndulla, the Liberator of Ryloth. Her father led her people against the CIS to liberate their world. When the Republic became the Empire, the Elder Syndulla began a revolt against the Empire. After her mother was killed, Hera left Ryloth and joined the Rebel Network. It is also revealed by her father and Chopper that during this time she became Chopper's mistress after she rescued him from the wreckage of a crashed Y-Wing during the Clone Wars.

Season 3
Six month after the events on Malacor, Hera is seen getting the wider rebellion to grow. Her love for Chopper is made clear after it's discovered he's been hacked by Imperial intelligence agents trying to get the location of the headquarters for Phoenix Squadron, and furious at them messing with her droid, she turns the tables on them and destroys their cruiser with the crew still aboard via a massive data feedback. Hera is also shown to be becoming concerned by Ezra's growing aggresive strek and his growing obcession with try to learn how to destroy the Sith.

Her efforts are challenged by the new leader of the hunt for her cell: Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Star Wars: Forces of Destiny
Hera is set to appear in the animated miniseries, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, with Vanessa Marshall reprising her role.

A short set on the Ewok moon of Endor from Return of the Jedi will feature Hera and Princess Leia teaming up for an adventure with Han Solo and the Ewoks.

Disney INFINITY
Hera appears as a non-playable character in the Toy Box of Disney INFINITY 3.0. To unlock her, the player has to log in to their Disney account in the game. Hera was originally going to be a playable character in the third game, but after Disney INFINITY was confirmed to have been discontinued in May 2016, it was implied that Hera was canceled.

Cham Syndulla
Cham is Hera's father. They had a close relationship as her father's actions during the Clone Wars inspired her to become a freedom fighter. After Palpatine declared himself Emperor, their relationship became strained due to Cham being rarely at home. After Hera's mother was killed, Hera saw that the freedom of her people required the overthrow of the Emperor and left Ryloth to join the Rebel Network.

C1-10P
Hera became Chopper's mistress after she rescued him from a crashed Y-Wing and repaired him. Cham later complained that she cares more about Chopper, who he calls a "second-rate junkpile", than him. When Hera left Ryloth to join the Rebel Network, Chopper went with her.

Ahsoka Tano
Hera first met Ahsoka when the Jedi arrived on Ryloth during the Clone Wars and greatly respected the Togruta for her bravry. They reunited after Hera left Ryloth. Ahsoka supplied intel to the Ghost cell under the contact Fulcrum. Hera was greatly saddened when she learned of Ahsoka's supposed death on Malacor.

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Hera was the goddess of family, marriage, and in some cases matriarchy. Ironically, the goddess' nature was vengeful and cruel towards illegitimate or unfavorable children. Hera Syndulla's attitude and nurturing towards the team retains the former part of the goddess' personality.
 * She is the daughter of Cham Syndulla, a Twi'lek from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, who was her inspiration to become a Rebel.
 * By the time of the series, Hera is twenty-four years old.
 * Hera is voiced by Vanessa Marshall, who is also known for voicing Mouse on fellow Disney series Fish Hooks, as well as many female characters in DC Comics cartoons and Irwin on the Cartoon Network series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.
 * Vanessa Marshall had sparked much hype over portraying Hera, as she is a Star Wars fan and self-proclaimed nerd.
 * Although not physically present in Rogue One, Hera was on Yavin 4. She obtained the rank of general.