- “I will not fail.”
- ―Orson Krennic[src]
Director Orson Callan Krennic is the main antagonist of the Star Wars film Rogue One. He is the Imperial Director of Advanced Weapons Research, who is obsessed with completing the long delayed Death Star project and delivering the control over the functional battle station to Palpatine.
Background[]
Personality[]
Like most of the Galactic Empire’s leading officials, Krennic is exceedingly ruthless and power-hungry, and will resort to whatever method he sees fit in order to acquire the power he both craves and believes he deserves. He seeks nothing more than earning the favor of Emperor Palpatine, believing that doing so will ensure him a higher position in the Empire. This causes Krennic to be obsessed with the completion of the Death Star, believing that the terrible will both ensure the Empire’s control over the galaxy and Palpatine’s recognition. His hunger for power is so great that he is more than willing to betray those close to him, namely his former best friend Galen Erso, and even fellow imperials, who he he will sacrifice without hesitation should it prove beneficial to him.
Unpredictable and volatile, Krennic is highly intelligent, but possess an extremely fragile temper, and will quickly fly into rage whenever things do not go his way. His temper causes him to make snap decisions and will often vent his frustrations out on his subordinates, causing them to despise them. He also very audacious, as he was willing to directly pester Darth Vader himself for Palpatine’s attention, despite his great fear of the menacing Sith Lord. He was also held strong grudges towards other Imperials that hindered his opposition to power. He possessed a heated rivalry with his superior Grand Moff Tarkin, with both of them competing over command of the Death Star. Despite this, Krennic was not overly cowardly, as he was unafraid to get his hands dirty and march into battle himself should he have felt the need to.
A classical sociopath, Krennic’s desire for power made him totally devoid of noble virtues such as compassion and empathy. He cared for no one other than himself and was remorselessly willing to commit any manner of atrocity and destroy an infinite number of lives to achieve his goals. He cared nothing for the lives of innocents, as seen when he ordered the Death Star’s laser to be tested on the city of Jedha, killing thousands of innocent people. Even more so, Krennic referred to the sight of the explosion as “beautiful”, further showing his callous disregard for any other life than his own. In addition, Krennic would also kill simply out of spite, as seen when he executed Galen’s fellow scientists, despite his promise to spare them if Galen confessed to his espionage. This shows that in addition to his pettiness and lack of morality, Krennic possessed no sense of honor.
Krennic was also a deeply prejudiced individual, who supported the Empire’s rampant xenophobia towards. Just like his rival Tarkin, Krennic was a firm believer in Humanocentrism, the belief that humans were inherently superior to all other intelligent species. This caused him to resent even aliens in the empire’s service, such as Grand Vizier Mas Ameda and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Also like Tarkin, Krennic was dismissive of the Force and those who used it, namely the Jedi. Like many Imperials, he regarded the Force as nothing more than an “ancient religion” and viewed it as both strange and weak.
Physical appearance[]
Orson is a human male with short gray hair, blue eyes, and light skin. As a member of the Imperial Security Bureau, He wears a white Imperial military uniform with an additional cape not commonly seen on other Imperial officers.
Role in the film[]
Orson Krennic arrives on Lah'mu and discovers that his old friend Galen Erso is living a simple farming life. Krennic persuades a reluctant Galen to join the Empire, but orders his Death Troopers to fire on Lyra after she attempts to stop him.
Years later, Krennic meets with Governor Tarkin after the completion of the Death Star project, and is test-fired on Jedha to destroy Saw Gerrera's base of operations. Tarkin announces his command of the Death Star, angering Krennic who is informed of a defection from Galen Erso's division.
Krennic arranges a meeting with Galen Erso and his scientists on Eadu, asking the traitor to step forward. When nobody reacts, he orders the execution of all of them, upon which Galen intervenes. Nonetheless his Death Troopers kill the rest of the scientists and he knocks Galen to the ground, upon which the base is ambushed by Rebel fighters, killing Galen amongst them and forcing Krennic to flee.
Krennic seeks to reclaim control of the Death Star project, seeking a personal audience with the Emperor, and is summoned by Lord Vader on Mustafar. Traveling to Mustafar, Krennic was greeted by Vader on a platform overlooking the volcanic landscape of the planet. The Dark Lord expressed his concern that the Death Star had become more of a problem than the solution it was meant to be, citing Krennic's inability to keep the project as quiet as it should be. The Director defended himself and the project, claiming that he had delivered the weapon the Emperor had requested. He requested from the Dark Lord an opportunity to personally meet with Palpatine to insist that the Death Star was ready and had the power needed to destroy any resistance to the Empire. Vader was far more concerned with the awareness that was growing around the battle station's existence. Rumors had reached the higher levels of the Empire of the destruction of Jedha City and the attack on the Eadu facility by the Rebellion. While Krennic tried to shift blame onto Tarkin for ordering the demonstration on Jedha, the Dark Lord was not impressed by this futile effort and reminded the Director that the secrecy behind the Death Star project was paramount, so as to prevent open defiance from the Senate. While Imperial authorities had managed to pass off the incident on Jedha as a mining incident, Galen Erso's betrayal could have been a bitter blow. Vader instructed Krennic to ensure that no other leaks had occurred, so that he could satisfy the Emperor that the project had not been compromised.
As the Dark Lord made to leave, Krennic made a last plea for his continued control of the project, asking whether this meant he was still in charge. However, Vader's patience had run thin. While Krennic asked him to speak to the Emperor on his behalf, the Dark Lord used the Force to start choking the Director. Krennic fell to his knees as Vader warned him to temper his ambitions, lest they cause his downfall.
Learning that the Death Star plans on Scarif could be vulnerable to attack, Krennic went to talk to the General stationed there, and ordered that he have access to all of Galen Erso's communications. As he looked out onto Scarif, he suddenly saw explosions in the distance; he was now in the middle of a Rebellion attack. After troopers had failed to stop the rebels, Krennic went directly to the data vault himself, he shot Rebel Captain Cassian Andor, and chased after Jyn Erso, who had captured the Death Star plans which detailed a weak spot her father had created in the superweapon. He found Jyn as she transmitted the Death Star plans from the top of the Imperial installation, which was received by Admiral Raddus. Poised on killing her, Krennic was suddenly shot by Andor, who had, unbeknownst to Krennic, survived his previous encounter. Krennic was left heavily injured—he looked into the sky and saw the Death Star looming over him. He watched as the weapon he had spent so many years building charge up and fire at him, destroying Krennic and those who had survived the battle on the surface of Scarif.
Video Games[]
Star Wars: Force Arena[]
Director Krennic is a playable character in Star Wars: Force Arena as a Legendary squad leader card.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- While Krennic does not appear in Star Wars Rebels, he is mentioned twice in two episodes of season four, "In the Name of the Rebellion" and "Jedi Night".
External links[]
Orson Krennic on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
Director Orson Krennic on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
