Grand Moff Tarkin

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Star Wars character
Grand Moff Tarkin

A ruthless Imperial officer, Wilhuff Tarkin executed the Emperor's will through the galaxy. Darth Vader is also shown behind Tarkin.
Portrayed by Wayne Pygram (Episode III)
Peter Cushing (Episode IV)
Position Regional Governor of Oversector Outer, commander of the Death Star
Homeworld Eriadu
Species Human
Gender Male
Affiliation Galactic Empire

Grand Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe and the primary antagonist in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where he was portrayed by British actor Peter Cushing. A younger Tarkin had a brief cameo in the prequel film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, where he was portrayed by Wayne Pygram.

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[edit] Appearances

[edit] Film

Tarkin appears very briefly at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. However, he neither speaks nor is addressed in this role, and is only seen walking away from Emperor Palpatine to make way for Darth Vader on the bridge of a command ship.

He is a main villain in A New Hope, in which he commands the Death Star. By this time, Tarkin is the Imperial governor of Over Sector Outer (aka the Outer Rim) and one of the Emperor's most powerful servants. He is charged, along with Vader, in pursuing and destroying the Rebel Alliance spies who have stolen the battle station's plans. To that end, he threatens Princess Leia Organa with the destruction of her home planet of Alderaan if she does not reveal the location of the Rebel base. When she reluctantly confesses, he has the planet destroyed anyway. He later orders the Death Star to attack the base, however Leia directed them to Dantooine, when really the base was on the fourth moon of Yavin. He is killed when the Rebels destroy the Death Star in the film's climactic battle scene.

Tarkin is the only person apart from Palpatine who is seen to exert any kind of command over Vader.

[edit] Casting

Prior to his casting in A New Hope, Peter Cushing was known primarily for his roles in Hammer Horror movies. He was also a close friend (and Hammer costar) of Christopher Lee, who would become a part of the Star Wars universe decades later as the Sith Lord Count Dooku.

[edit] Expanded Universe

In the timeline of the Star Wars universe, Wilhuff Tarkin first appears in Darth Maul: Saboteur, in which he meets then-Senator Palpatine as an obscure sector chief on the planet Naboo. The two find that they share a basic philosophy on government: might makes right. Tarkin helps Palpatine engineer the murder of the Trade Federation Directorate, which are on Tarkin's homeworld, Eriadu, for a trade summit. The pirate raids on the Trade Federation that lead to the summit are also been orchestrated by Palpatine in his Sith identity of Darth Sidious, as is Nute Gunray's rise to power as Trade Federation viceroy. From then on, he and Tarkin are close allies, using each other to advance their own careers.

In Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, set just after Revenge of the Sith, Tarkin first forms a partnership with Darth Vader, hoping that an alliance with Palpatine's Sith apprentice will cement his position in the newly-created Empire.

Tarkin earns a reputation as a brutal, cold, and ruthless officer during the earliest days of the Empire. In an incident that became known as the "Ghorman Massacre" (referred to in the story "Betrayal" in Star Wars: Empire) Tarkin orders his ship to land on a platform where a large group of people are protesting the Imperial taxation on the distant planet Ghorman. Hundreds of Imperial subjects are crushed by Tarkin's transport in the landing. This event is the first manifestation of what becomes known as the Tarkin Doctrine, also known as the "doctrine of fear." Tarkin explains it simply in A New Hope: "Rule through the fear of force, rather than force itself."

The Expanded Universe novel Jedi Search reveals that Tarkin takes on a young woman named Daala as a protegé during the height of his Imperial career. He whisks her away from her home planet of Carida and makes her part of his staff. The two eventually become lovers. Soon after, Tarkin makes her an Admiral in secret, and prepares to give her a mission.

One day, an officer is overheard saying that Daala only achieved her position because she was sleeping with Tarkin. Tarkin flushes him out of the air lock, in a spacesuit, with the comm channel locked open so the rest of the crew could listen to the man's screams and cries for mercy. He then gives Daala four Imperial class Star Destroyers, the Gorgon, the Basilisk, the Manticore and the Hydra. He then sends her to the secret weapons facility in the Maw cluster of black holes near Kessel, where he tells her to wait for more orders. Daala remains there for 11 years, eventually resurfacing to threaten the New Republic.

[edit] Media appearances

Tarkin is a playable character in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. First seen in a cutscene from A New Hope, Grand Moff Tarkin is available for purchase at the Mos Eisley Cantina.

In the series "Family Guy", Grand Moff Tarkin is played by Mayor Adam West in the Blue Harvest episode.

[edit] In comics

Wilhuff Tarkin also appears in comics, created by Roy Thomas.

The Grand Moff
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Star Wars Marvel #1 (July 1977)
Created by Roy Thomas
Howard Chaykin
In story information
Alter ego Wilhuff Tarkin
Species Human
Place of origin Eriadu
Team affiliations Galactic Empire
Notable aliases Grand Moff
Governor -->

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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