Garm Bel Iblis

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Star Wars character
Garm Bel Iblis
Portrayed by N/A
Position Old Republic Senator, General
Homeworld Corellia
Species Human
Gender Male
Affiliation Rebel Alliance

Senator Garm Bel Iblis is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He appears mostly in Expanded Universe literature and video games.

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[edit] Naming

Garm Bel Iblis was named after three different mythological/religious figures. The first one, Garm, is the hellhound, like Cerberus, in Norse mythology. Bel, the second name, (Baal) is the name of a pagan god. Iblis, the third name, is the Islamic name for the Devil.

[edit] Back story

Bel Iblis first appears in Timothy Zahn's novel Dark Force Rising. Originally a senator from Corellia, he was one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance, along with Mon Mothma of Chandrila and Bail Organa from Alderaan. He left the Alliance after Organa's death, however; he strongly disapproved of Mothma's near-absolute power within the organization, and eventually denounced her as being no different from Emperor Palpatine. He then became a recluse, as well as a kind of mythic figure within the Rebellion and throughout the galaxy. He returned to galactic service, however, after the Empire was defeated and replaced by the New Republic.

In an attempt to avoid the coming storm of the Clone Wars (circa Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones), Bel Iblis withdrew his planet from the debate over the Military Creation Act, using an obscure clause in the Corellian constitution known as Contemplanys Hermi, an old Corellisi phrase meaning "meditative solitude." Corellia closed its borders, and tried to stay out of the coming war. His attempt failed, however, and the conquest of nearby Duro by General Grievous forced Corellia into the conflict, whether its people wanted to or not.

Palpatine had stormtroopers round up the Bel Iblis family and executed them for treason. Bel Iblis escaped, but not before he saw his wife and children killed. He contacted Mothma and Organa, and together they drafted the legendary Corellian Treaty, which was the first step of resistance towards the Empire. Bel Iblis was the guiding voice behind the treaty.

Organa acted as mediator between Mothma and Iblis, but he was killed in the destruction of Alderaan (circa Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). Relations between the remaining founders deteriorated, as Bel Iblis thought Mothma wanted to overthrow Palpatine and rule in his place. Mothma cast him out of the Rebellion after he refused a direct order. He then took loyal troops with him and established a secret, mobile base called Peregrine's Nest, from which he conducted hit-and-run campaigns against the Empire. This continued for a number of years.

[edit] Fighting for the Rebellion

Eventually, Bel Iblis saw that he had misjudged Mothma, and that his pride got the better of his judgment. When Han Solo asked for his help in recovering the fabled Katana fleet of Dreadnaught star cruisers, he agreed. Princess Leia Organa Solo tried to convince him to rejoin the New Republic, but it was only when his old nemesis, Mon Mothma, asked that he agreed to. He was given charge of the defenses of Coruscant when Grand Admiral Thrawn attacked the planet and was able to keep Thrawn's success to a minimum.

When Admiral Gilad Pellaeon decided to open negotiations for peace with the New Republic in Specter of the Past, he approached Bel Iblis as a negotiating partner because of the profound respect he had for the general's command abilities. Pellaeon respected Bel Iblis above all other New Republic commanders. The message did not get to Bel Iblis, as the messenger ship was ambushed by rogue Imperial forces. The message was jammed, and, in an attempt to show the New Republic's treachery, the rogue Imperials and a band of pirates ambushed Pellaeon at the meet site. Knowing Bel Iblis' personal honor, Pellaeon used a tactic invented by Bel Iblis himself, called the A-Wing Slash, to destroy the enemy flagship and force the ambushers to flee. (Eventually, one of the New Republic's top slicers broke through the jamming, and Leia Organa was sent to the meeting site.)

Bel Iblis was very active during the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, portrayed in the New Jedi Order series. He was one of three, along with Wedge Antilles and Traest Kre'fey, primary fleet commanders during the Battle for Coruscant, as portrayed in The Final Prophecy. He disobeyed an order and attacked the Vong fleet, even though there were captured civilian ships in between. He knew the civilian ships would simply be driven into the planetary shields, forcing them to fail. His actions caused elements of Kre'fey's fleet to join his due to Kre'fey refusing to join Bel Iblis. He lost most of his fleet when he attempted a direct charge, and was forced to withdraw.

In the Dark Nest series, he established himself at the important shipyards of Fondor where he defended that area of space and conducted his own war against the Yuuzhan Vong, much as he did against the Empire three decades earlier. He refused to obey orders from the New Republic government and only re-joined when Luke Skywalker himself came to him and convinced him to support Cal Omas. Bel Iblis provided most of the ships that defeated the Yuuzhan Vong at the Battle of Ebaq.

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