Grand Admiral Thrawn

[7] A member of the alien Chiss species, native language Cheunh,[8] Thrawn is described as a tall, solidly built humanoid with blue skin and glowing red eyes who wears the white uniform befitting his rank.

[15] Calling Thrawn and Mara Jade his favorite of the characters he created, Zahn noted in 2006 that writing the Grand Admiral "provides the intellectual challenge of trying to come up with new, clever, and (hopefully) workable tactics and strategies.

"[8] Thrawn is voiced by Tris King in the 1994 computer game Star Wars: TIE Fighter,[17] and by Tim Russell in the 1997 audio drama Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire.

Approximately five years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi,[30] the Rebel Alliance, now known as the New Republic, has driven out the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet to a distant corner of the galaxy and is attempting to set up a functional government.

To this end, Thrawn and his subordinate Gilad Pellaeon, captain of the Star Destroyer Chimaera, enlist the help of smuggler Talon Karrde and his second-in-command Mara Jade to obtain several salamander-like creatures called ysalamiri.

Thrawn uses the ysalamiri, which possess the natural ability to disrupt the Force, to subdue the storehouse's guardian Joruus C'baoth, a twisted clone of a Jedi Master whom the Grand Admiral had killed years before.

Thrawn launches his first offensive, a series of hit-and-run attacks into New Republic territory, and then steals a complement of mole miners from Lando Calrissian's mining operations on Nkllon.

With Ackbar temporarily neutralized as a tactical opponent, Thrawn leads an army of clones to claim the so-called "Katana fleet", outmaneuvering Luke, Lando, and Han Solo.

[10][11] Zahn's Specter of the Past (1997) finds Thrawn seemingly resurrected ten years after his death when he reappears to lead the decimated Imperial forces against the unstable New Republic.

[11] A younger Thrawn, ranked Captain, makes a cameo appearance in the 1998 young reader's book Galaxy of Fear: The Swarm by John Whitman, set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

Darth Sidious, Palpatine's alter-ego, seeks to destroy the Outbound Flight, and he and his agent Kinman Doriana convince Thrawn that the ship and its Jedi pose a threat to the peaceful future of the galaxy.

[10][11] Publishers Weekly called Thrawn the "true star" of the novel, noting that his attack on the ship, secretly influenced by Palpatine's agents, "insures his own eventual exile from his race and sets other sinister wheels in motion".

[16]Set between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Zahn's Choices of One (2011) pits Thrawn against the alien warlord Nuso Esva, his nemesis from the Unknown Regions.

[10][41] Thrawn, exiled by the Chiss to an inhospitable planet, is found by the Imperial Captain Voss Parck in "Mist Encounter" a short story by Zahn that was originally published in Star Wars Adventure Journal #7 (August 1995).

[11] In "Command Decision", a November 1996 short story by Zahn published in Star Wars Adventure Journal #11, Thrawn is an admiral in the Imperial Navy with Parck as his subordinate.

[44] Thrawn orchestrates a plan to locate a Rebel base in "Side Trip" by Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole, published in Star Wars Adventure Journal #12 (February 1997) and #13 (May 1997), and reprinted in the November 1997 anthology Tales from the Empire.

[47] In the "Tour of Duty III" segment of the 1994 space flight simulator/combat computer game Star Wars: TIE Fighter, then-Vice Admiral Thrawn establishes order in a "wild" system at the frontiers of the Empire.

"[29] In "Steps into Shadow", Thrawn is the commander of the Seventh Fleet, recently promoted to Grand Admiral for crushing a rebel insurgency on Batonn without regard for civilian casualties.

He puts an end to rebel acts of sabotage by enforcing a policy of the workers testing their creations and is also shown to be studying pieces of artwork that grant insight into each member of the Ghost crew.

As he rises in rank, Thrawn trains his aide-de-camp Ensign Eli Vanto in the ways of war, and finds himself in an uneasy alliance with ruthless administrator Arihnda Pryce while in search of rebel leader Nightswan.

The main story line follows Grand Admiral Thrawn a "brilliant strategist" and the "ruthless enforcer" Darth Vader on a mission to investigate a threat to the Empire on a planet called Batuu, which resides at the edges of the Unknown Regions.

This is the same planet that many years previously Thrawn, then an officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths with General Anakin Skywalker, flashbacks to this encounter tells of their "uneasy alliance" while facing several dangers.

He is mentioned again in "Chapter 23: The Spies" (2023) during a meeting between Moff Gideon and the Shadow Council, a group of remnant Imperial warlords, who debate his rumored return and the delivery of Project Necromancer.

Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll, his apprentice Shin Hati and a liberated Morgan Elsbeth locate Thrawn to bring him out of his exile to lead the remnants of the Galactic Empire.

Thrawn's Star Destroyer, the Chimaera, is depicted approaching the planet Dathomir, docked to the hyperspace ring ship Eye of Sion, following his escape from Peridea.

[82] Thrawn is mentioned in the 2017 Chuck Wendig novel Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End as the source of the information about the Unknown Regions which Palpatine uses in his Contingency plan.

[89] Eric Goldman wrote for IGN in 2008, "Diabolical, brilliant and ruthless, Thrawn was an excellent Star Wars villain, following in the footsteps of the likes of Grand Moff Tarkin," adding that "his status as the highest ranking non-human in the Empire was a very interesting aspect".

[89] In November 2016, Lars Mikkelsen was nominated for a 2017 Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for his portrayal of Thrawn on Star Wars Rebels.

[101] In 2017, Hasbro released a 6" Thrawn figure as a part of its Black Series line, as well as a San Diego Comic Con version featuring enhanced packaging and accessories.

[104] Footnotes It was a way to confirm for the readers in Heir to the Empire that Joruus C'baoth was indeed a clone and not the original Jorus, as well as to provide another reference to Grand Admiral Thrawn's military skills.

Thrawn as he appears in Star Wars Rebels
Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka , the character's first live-action appearance