- “You may fire when ready.”
- ―Tarkin[src]
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is the main antagonist of Star Wars: A New Hope and the secondary antagonist of Rogue One. He is the high ranking military governor of the Galactic Empire's Outer Rim territories and the commander of the planet destroying space station known as the Death Star. Hoping to ensure Emperor Palpatine's (Darth Sidious') rule over the galaxy through fear of annihilation, Tarkin uses the Death Star's awesome power to destroy the planet Alderann before reading his plans to finish the Rebel Alliance to restore the Republic. Thankfully however, not long after destroying Alderann, Tarkin would meet his end at the Battle of Yavin when the Death Star was destroyed by the young Rebel pilot and Jedi Padawan Luke Skywalker.
During the Clone Wars, Tarkin served as a captain, later admiral in the Grand Army of the Republic.
Background[]
Personality[]
Tarkin was intelligent, cunning, manipulative, ambitious, arrogant, he had a strong sense of duty and dignity, and he was well-known for his sharp memory. He never forgot a favor or a slight and was capable of recalling individuals from meetings that took place over a decade before. He was one of the few people to know Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same person, although this was because he used his strong perception to figure it out on his own rather than being told outright.
Unlike some other imperial officers, who were simply doing their jobs, Tarkin is one of the imperials to be genuinely evil. He took great pleasure in killing innocent people for little or no reason, whether to make examples of them or to assert his authority.
Although Tarkin (seemingly) cared about the welfare of the Galactic Republic, and later the Galactic Empire, he was quite selfish, as everything he did was always for his own ambitions. Even after Palpatine was revealed to be Darth Sidious, the traitor and enemy of the Galactic Republic, he still remained loyal to the latter, whom he had long been a major supporter of. This may have been partly out of spite towards the Jedi, as while Tarkin thought poorly of the Force in general, he hated the Jedi more than the Sith. Tarkin had no intention of overthrowing Palpatine, although he dreamed of some day being in the position to fulfill his ambitions.
Tarkin was the one who ordered the replacement of clones with stormtroopers. In the few days after the Clone Wars ended, Tarkin visited Kamino to assess the clones and was eager to have them decommissioned, having disliked them from the beginning due to them being artificially created and in his eyes not truly human. Thus, in contrast to the Jedi, Tarkin viewed the Clone Troopers as expendable tools rather than comrades in arms. He tried to kill Clone Force 99 (The Bad Batch) during their training session on Kamino by switching the function of the training droids to live fire, hoping that this would prove how "useless" the clones were, despite him deliberately rigging the odds against them. Among the Batch's members was Echo, one of the clones that rescued Tarkin from the Citadel who was also captured doing so after losing most of his body parts in an explosion during the operation. This demonstrated Tarkin's ungrateful nature and how strong his bigotry against the clones truly was. Furthermore, despite witnessing firsthand the effectiveness and skillset of the clones, he cited normal human recruits as more effective, independent, and cheaper than the expensive cloning process, especially because the galaxy was no longer in open warfare.
Tarkin had little respect for the Jedi and the Force, dismissing it as an "ancient religion". During the Clone Wars, Tarkin made no secret of his distrust for the Jedi and his belief that they were ill-suited to lead the Republic's war effort due to their traditional role as peacekeepers, although this view did not apply to all members of the order, as he developed a grudging respect for the hardened warrior Even Piell and admiration for Anakin Skywalker. Even after being saved on no less than half a dozen occasions by the Jedi, he continued to be disdainful towards them and made numerous attempts to diminish their authority in the Republic. When addressing the Jedi Council on the apparent treason of Ahsoka Tano, he disrespectfully dismissed their opinions on the matter as "irrelevant". Despite his distrust of the Force in general, he willingly served the Sith because he believed they did the galaxy a favor by killing nearly all of the Jedi. He also considered the Sith far more effective for the governance of the galaxy, due to their lack of morality and restraint, as opposed to the Jedi who valued the lives of innocents and adhered to the ethics of Jedi Code.
Tarkin dismissed the Order's desire to try Ahsoka in accordance with Jedi tradition and insisted on having her transferred to military custody, claiming that an internal Jedi trial would be seem "biased". During Ahsoka's military tribunal before the Senate, Tarkin served as the prosecutor, and vowed to ensure both her conviction and execution whether or not she was actually guilty, despite the fact that she had once saved his life, further demonstrating his ungrateful nature. Tarkin ultimately failed to achieve his goal due to the confession of Barriss Offee to the bombing. He listened with great interest as the Dark Jedi publicly denounced the corruption of the Jedi and the Republic. While annoyed at having lost the opportunity to kill a Jedi, he did set Ahsoka free, though he refused to apologize to her.
Tarkin's dismissive attitude persisted even after the Jedi Purge, where he believed them all to have died and initially refused to believe that Kanan Jarrus could be one.
Much like Palpatine, Tarkin was immoral, greedy, power-hungry, cunning, misanthropic, hateful, cruel and sadistic. Like Darth Vader, he had no qualms with killing his own men, coldly ordering the Grand Inquisitor to execute Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint for their constant failures to capture the Lothal rebels. In addition, he was also unafraid of killing off fellow Imperials for the sake of his advancement, as he ordered the Death Star to fire on the Imperial base on Scarif and kill thousands of surviving Imperial soldiers just to eliminate Director Orson Krennic, his rival for control of the Death Star. Tarkin further showed his petty side by refusing to take the blame for his own failures, as he would often shift the blame onto others, as he did with Minister Tua, when he attempted to punish her for the destruction of his personal Star Destroyer by the Lothal Rebels, despite it being because of his own mistakes.
Tarkin was also a humocentrist, believing in the inherent superiority of humans to all other races. He was one of the architects of the Empire's Human High Culture, being responsible for the re-legalization of slavery, as well as the enslavement and genocide of a number of intelligent species he deemed inferior and unfit for the Empire's needs. Despite this racism, Tarkin was capable of showing respect and working alongside certain nonhuman individuals such as Even Piell and the Grand Inquisitor, though he always made sure that humans were in control over them. While he respected the Chiss Imperial Thrawn for his tactical skill and effectiveness, he secretly despised him and disapproved of Thrawn's promotion to the rank of Grand Admiral, since it made Thrawn, a nonhuman, outrank Tarkin. Tarkin also, hypocritically, looked down upon humans who showed compassion or demonstrated cooperation with other species.
Unlike Palpatine, Tarkin always had an ulterior motive in mind with his actions. Whereas Palpatine was psychotic, sadistic, and oppressed people partly for his own enjoyment, Tarkin was more level-headed and always had a reason for his actions. He explained to Leia that he destroyed Alderaan only because it was a more effective demonstration of the Death Star than a remote planet like Dantooine, where she had claimed the Rebel base was.
Tarkin had no regard for innocent lives, as he was perfectly willing to murder innocent individuals just to make example out of what happens to anyone who challenged the Empire. However, he rarely (if ever) directly killed people himself, preferring to hide behind his troops. He lacks any form of honor, as he was perfectly willing to break his word if it suited him, like when he promised that he would not destroy the planet Alderaan, if Leia Organa told him where the rebel base was and after she (apparently) did, he went back on his word and destroyed the planet anyway. He expressed no guilt, shame or even remorse for this vile act of his, seeming to find it almost humorous. Tarkin also held no love nor loyalty towards his homeworld of Eriadu, as he callously stated he was more than willing to destroy it with the Death Star if he had too, showing that he was willing to annihilate his own people for the sake of personal power.
Tarkin's arrogance was almost always to the point of underestimating his allies, enemies and former allies alike, like when he heard the rumors that one of the Lothal rebels is a Jedi, he did not believe it, as he believed they were all killed in the Jedi Purge, including Obi-Wan Kenobi, despite the fact he fought alongside them in the Clone Wars. When his subordinates insisted that Jarrus was indeed a Jedi, Tarkin instead jumped at the opportunity to insult the Lothal Imperial garrison and sarcastically remarked that it was a shame they didn't have someone who specialized in killing Jedi (eyeing the Inquisitor as he said this).
These negative traits of Tarkin's, especially his arrogance, were what eventually led to his death at the hands of Luke Skywalker at the Battle of Yavin. Despite the Death Star's defenses being breached, he refused to abandon the station, being utterly confident in its powers and severely underestimating his Rebel adversaries. This arrogance and overconfidence caused him to ignore the advice and warnings of his subordinates resulting in his death.
History[]
The Clone Wars[]
At the heiht of the Clone Wars, Tarkin was an officer of the Grand Army of the Republic. He demonstrates on numerous occasions that he has contempt for the Jedi, in spite of being on the same side. He is introduced at the end of the third season, where he and Even Piell are captured by the Separatists and put in a prison known as the Citadel due to valuable information they possess. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo, and R2 all spring them from the Citadel, although Piell is killed during the escape. Just before they escape the planet, the warden Osi Sobeck grabs Tarkin and tells him that the information he possesses will die with him. Ahsoka then impales Osi through the heart, killing him and saving Tarkin's life, although Tarkin is only slightly grateful for this.
He appears as the main antagonist, alongside Barriss Offee, of the season 5 finale, leading the prosecution of Ahsoka after she is framed for bombing the Jedi Temple. His hatred of the Jedi is on full display here, as he repeatedly calls for Ahsoka to be executed without a fair trial. His attempts are thwarted when Ahsoka is later proven innocent, but leaves the Jedi Order anyway due to the trust being broken between her and the Order.[1]
Age of the Empire[]
Shortly after Palpatine gives the speech that declares the end of the Republic and the birth of the Empire, Tarkin arrives on Kamino to discuss the state of the cloning program with Lama Su. He wants to get rid of the clone troopers and replace them with normal human recruits, and after learning that Clone Force 99 refused to kill their Jedi general, he tests them first with a training simulation and later ordering them to kill Saw Gerrera, which they refuse to do. Crosshair, the squad's sniper, is the only one who obeys the Empire's orders, so Tarkin orders his inhibitor chip to be enhanced so that he becomes obsessively murderous and betrays his squad.
Tarkin later oversees Admiral Rampart and several recruited Elite Squad troopers led by Crosshair. The cloning program on Kamino is eventually shut down, and after a small few of the Kaminoans are captured by the Empire and the rest are killed, Tarkin and Rampart evacuate all stormtroopers from the planet but leave the clones, betraying Crosshair who has killed all of his own troopers. Tarkin then orders Rampart to destroy Kamino.[2]
The Rebellion[]
The Lothal Rebels[]
Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars Rebels.
Tarkin makes a personal visit to Lothal to take over the hunt for the Rebels on Lothal after numerous failed attempts by Agent Kallus, Minister Tua, and The Grand Inquisitor, and upon his arrival immediately reprimanded the trio for their constant failures. When Minister Tua claims that the leader of the Rebels was a Jedi, Tarkin chastised her for this belief as from his point of view, the Jedi were all dead and he intended to seek out this "criminal" and show that he was not what he claimed to be.
To ensure better results, Tarkin had The Grand Inquisitor execute Cumberlayne Aresko and Myles Grint in front of Kallus and Tua, illustrating that the two bumbling officers' weakness could threaten the image of the Empire and encourage further insurrections. His demonstration proved effective as it prompted the Grand Inquisitor and Kallus to successfully capture Kanan Jarrus at an Imperial Communication Tower. Tarkin arrived in person at the tower to bring the Jedi into custody and interrogate him, there he ordered his men to destroy the tower to prevent the Rebels from broadcasting their message to the public.[3]
Upon returning to his ship, Tarkin began Kanan's interrogation by torturing him with help from the Grand Inquisitor and Agent Kallus but all their attempts to make him talk led to no avail. For a further and more effecting alternative to make the Jedi talk, Tarkin took Kanan to Mustafar where he would be tortured even more, even to death. However, Kanan was rescued by his fellow and other Rebel cells which resulted in the loss Tarkin's ship, the Sovereign. Tarkin escaped the destruction of his ship and returned to Lothal where Agent Kallus informed him of some unrest all over the planet. Train informed him that the Emperor had sent an alternative solution, Darth Vader.[4][5]
Grand Admiral Thrawn[]
About two years later, Tarkin then spoke with Governor Arihnda Pryce about securing Lothal. Tarkin listened to her fears about the rebels and how they threaten the Empire. He then asked Pryce what the empire should do. Pryce requested for the Seventh Fleet to deployed to Lothal. Tarkin then granted her request for the Seventh Fleet and its commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Tarkin then attended a briefing between Pryce, Kallus, and Konstantine. Konstantine attempted to convince Tarkin that Pryce was overestimating the rebels and did not pose a larger threat to the Empire. However, Grand Admiral Thrawn entered and believed that the rebels threat should remain that way. Tarkin then introduced Thrawn and told of them of Thrawn's promotion to Grand Admiral following his victory over the Batonn's insurgents. At this briefing, Tarkin asked Thrawn of what he thought of Pryce's theory about the Rebels. After reviewing the information about the rebels' rescue of Hondo Ohnaka from Naraka's prison, Thrawn concluded that the rebels next target would the Y-wing starfighters at Reklam Station.[6]
The Death Star[]
Rogue One[]
Tarkin in Rogue One.
Tarkin watches the last piece to be installed on the Death Star, when director Orson Krennic arrives. Nearing the planet Jedha, Krennic offers to use the Death Star to destroy the entire planet. However, Tarkin tells him to merely use a low-powered blast on the planet's capital Jedha City. After the Death Star used a single ignition blast to annihilate the capital and the nearby area, an impressed Tarkin reveals to Krennic that he will be taking command of the station as of now, using the security breach under Krennic's command as a pretext to remove him from his position. He also spreads the story that Jedha City was destroyed in a mining accident, as Palpatine and Vader do not want the Senate to find out about the Death Star.
When the Scarif base is attacked by the Rebels, Tarkin aboard the Death Star fires on the planet. Out of spite towards Krennic, he orders the superlaser to fire directly at Krennic at the top level of the base. Krennic dies instantly, although the superlaser misses the base as a result. The ensuing shockwave kills all remaining ground forces on both sides, including Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor. But despite his efforts, the Rebels manage to steal the Death Star plans.
Hunting the Rebellion[]
Tarkin was placed in full charge of the Death Star and determined to use its destructive power to destroy the Rebellion. However, in order to find their secret base, he would need Princess Leia Organa to give up the location of the Rebel base, but she refused to speak, despite numerous attempts to torture her into confession after she was captured and imprisoned in the Death Star's Detention Block. He decided to use some persuasion by threatening to use the Death Star to destroy Leia's home planet, Alderaan. When he reveals his intent to her later when she is brought to the bridge by Darth Vader, she tried to talk Tarkin down, begging him to spare her home planet, but he would have none of it. Making it clear he was on his last good nerve with her, he asked for a final time for the location of the Rebel base. This made her give away the location of the Rebel base to be on Dantooine (apparently she was lying since the Rebel base on Dantooine was deserted, having been abandoned by the Rebellion for some time). Even though she gave in, Tarkin still went ahead in destroying her home world and gave the order to fire, killing millions of lives, including that of her adoptive father and one of the founders of the Rebellion, Bail Organa, while Leia watches helplessly as she is held back by Vader.
Tarkin with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star.
When the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon were captured and attempted to rescue the princess, Tarkin ordered all sections on the alert and have Darth Vader to assure they do not escape, especially when Vader tells him that he senses Obi-Wan Kenobi is on-board, even when Tarkin casts doubt that could be true, reminding Vader that the Jedi are dead and he is all that remains of their former Order. However, they did escape, except Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was killed by his former apprentice. Little did they know, the Imperials placed a homing beacon on their ship. Tarkin felt uneasy about letting them go because they were taking an extreme risk, but knew it was the only way they could find the Rebel base, situated on the moon Yavin 4, having discovered Leia had lied to them about Dantooine.
Battle of Yavin[]
As the Rebels opened an attack on the Death Star as it began to orbit Yavin to get into firing position on Yavin 4, Tarkin had the station prepared for firing. Despite being warned of a dangerous chance that the Rebels may succeed, he denied any arrangements for evacuations and proceeded with the mission in hand. Unfortunately for him, his overconfidence would be the death of him, when Luke Skywalker fired two proton torpedoes down one of the Death Star's ventilation shafts which led to the reactor system. Then just moments before firing, he was killed along with the Death Star's destruction. Tarkin was unaware that the main gunner in charge of the superlaser, Master Chief Gunnery Officer Tenn Graneet, guilty over destroying Alderaan and slaughtering so many innocent lives, had tried to stall for time in the hopes the Death Star would be destroyed first before he had to destroy Yavin 4 and wipe out the Rebellion, which was long enough for Luke to complete his mission and end the Death Star's threat for the time being. With Tarkin dead and the Death Star destroyed, Alderaan was avenged.
In Printed Media[]
Tarkin plays a prominent role in the Star Wars Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comics series by Marvel Comics. His appearances were predominantly in "The Chosen One", "Burning Seas" and "Bad Ground" story arcs. During these subsequent arcs, Tarkin's relationship with Vader is established, with the Imperial commander aiding Darth Vader in an attack on the water world of Mon Cala to kill Jedi Knight Faren Barr and subjugate the Mon Calamari and the Quarren people. In "Bad Ground", after the success of their mission, Vader commissions Tarkin to a challenge: to hunt the Sith Lord. Tarkin accepts, and assembles a team to do so, but finds that every time he gains an advantage over the Sith, Vader manages to overcome it, eventually culminating in Vader eventually subduing Tarkin even as he is struck by lightning and his life support systems are temporarily shut down, leading the Grand Moff to realize Vader is ultimately unstoppable by any means Tarkin can create thanks to his abilities with the dark side of the Force.
Relationships[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- During filming, Peter Cushing wore slippers during the scenes where his feet were not visible. The reason for this was because the boots he was provided to wear were far too small to accommodate the actor's size twelve feet. This caused a great deal of pain for him during shooting sessions, and the costume designers did not have enough time to get him another pair.
- Some of the actors who appeared in scenes with Cushing had trouble not laughing because of the slippers.
- Grand Moff Tarkin bears a striking resemblance to Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame: They both have high cheekbones, a similar hairstyle, gray hair, and a face as long and thin as their noses. Additionally, in terms of personality, they are very similar. They are ruthless, cunning, power-hungry, self-righteous, and lawfully evil.
- In Rogue One, Tarkin is represented by CGI due to Peter Cushing's passing in 1994; Cushing's likeness was superimposed in place of Guy Henry's, who provided Tarkin's body and voice performance.
- The role of Tarkin was originally offered to and turned down by Christopher Lee who would later play Count Dooku. As a result the part was given to Lee's close friend Cushing. Coincidentally both work together on numerous Dracula films.
References[]
External links[]
Wilhuff Tarkin on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki- Grand Wilhuff Tarkin on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
