Wedge Antilles

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Wedge Antilles is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is a supporting character in the original Star Wars trilogy, in which he was portrayed by Denis Lawson, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games. He is the lead character in most of the X-wing novels.

[edit] Background

Wedge's early life was split between attending school on Corellia and working aboard the Gus Treta space station with his older sister Syal, where his parents, Jagged and Zena, operated a starship-refueling depot. Syal eventually left the family to pursue an acting career, marrying an Imperial fighter pilot, future defector and friend of Wedge, Soontir Fel. Many years later Fel and Syal went missing, presumed dead, but Wedge maintained hope that they would resurface. During the campaign against warlord Zsinj, Wedge came into contact with Baron Soontir Fel flying for the Warlord with elements of the Elite Imperial 181st Squadron. Upon shooting down Fel over the former Selaggis colony, Wedge learns that the man he thought was Fel was actually an actor named Tetran Cowall (Nemesis of Wraith Squadron Leader Captain Garik "Face" Loran) who was hired by the Warlord to distract Antilles so that the droid-ships of the mock 181st could detonate near Antilles's fighter and kill him. ^[1]

When Wedge was 17, the pirate Loka Hask pulled away from the station his family owned while the fuel lines were still attached to his craft, Buzzzer. The resulting fireball would have killed all aboard had the Antilles family not sacrificed themselves to save the station. Wedge was devastated and set out in a dilapidated Z-95 Headhunter borrowed from family friend and Corellian smuggler Booster Terrik to seek vengeance. Numb with shock and determination, Wedge, with help, tracked the pirates to the Jumus system and coldly obliterated Buzzer, though Hask escaped.

Insurance money allowed Wedge to buy a freighter, and he spent several years running supplies for Terrik to the nascent Rebellion. He only joined its starfighter division during an open call for pilots. He was one of four pilots (along with Biggs Darklighter, Jek Porkins and Cesi Eirriss) who assisted Captain Nera Dantels in bringing badly needed R2 units to Yavin 4.

He flew against the Death Star in Red Squadron at the Battle of Yavin, where he played a key role, destroying a TIE fighter that was shadowing Luke Skywalker. He was also (along with Biggs Darklighter) one of Skywalker's wingmen on the run that resulted in the destruction of the Death Star. Shortly afterwards Antilles and Skywalker co-founded Rogue Squadron, with Antilles eventually taking command after Luke left the unit. In the Empire Strikes Back during the Battle of Hoth, he and his partner (Wes Janson) were the first to complete a snowspeeder cable attack against an AT-AT, which tripped it so that it may be destroyed with a shot to the neck. Later, he led an assault group in the Battle of Endor against the second Death Star, and destroyed the Death Star's power regulators, allowing Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon to fire the shots that destroyed the battle station. He is the only pilot to participate in the destruction of both Death Stars. Six years later, at age 31, he grudgingly accepted promotion to the rank of general.^[2] Previously, he had turned down a promotion numerous times out of fear that he would not be able to continue as a pilot with Rogue Squadron. It was only when Ackbar promoted him and allowed him to retain his position in the squadron that he accepted.

[edit] Film role

Wedge Antilles appears in the Star Wars films A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The character also appears in most of the books set after these events. Fans of the Star Wars series explain his popularity by describing him as a survivor. He is the one minor character to survive all three movies without the blessings of "fate" or character shields that allow the major protagonists to survive constant peril and certain death. He is also the only known pilot to have survived each Death Star attack; it is possible that the anonymous pilot of the Y-wing seen returning to Yavin with the Millennium Falcon and Wedge and Luke's X-wings may have survived until the Battle of Endor. Some suggestions for the identity of this pilot are as follows:

• Keyan Farlander
• Horton Salm, or
• The late "Commander" Narra (according to the video game Star Wars: Rebellion)

If it was Salm who survived, he would have participated in both Death Star attacks. In the novel Wraith Squadron, Lieutenant Wes Janson denies the rumor by telling a young pilot that Wedge was the only (non Force-sensitive) survivor of both battles.

During the A New Hope pre-battle briefing Luke briefly chats with a character seated next to him who scoffs at the idea of successfully hitting the Death Star's extremely small exhaust port. In the shooting script and novelization of the film, this character is identified as Wedge, but in this scene he is played by Colin Higgins, not Denis Lawson. For this reason, some fans choose to believe that this is not Wedge. The character is meant to be Wedge, however. In truth, Colin Higgins was the initial choice for the role but was unfortunately let go due to several issues, including, according to him, the flubbing of the aforementioned line about hitting the exhaust port. After he left, the role was taken over by Lawson, who then played Wedge in the remaining films.

During the resolution of Revenge of the Sith, Senator Bail Organa gives C-3P0 and R2-D2 to a "Captain Antilles", the captain of Organa's ship, the Tantive IV. This character, however, was not related to Wedge Antilles, according to the X-Wing series of novels; Wedge is Corellian and Captain Antilles is from Alderaan. Things could have been different: according to an interview, Lucas offered the role to Lawson, who declined.

[edit] Expanded Universe role

During the Galactic Civil War, Wedge participated in small battles spanning across the galaxy. He was also responsible for helping stop the Storm Commando Project. These minor events are depicted in the "Rogue Squadron" videogame series. In the Expanded Universe, Wedge is widely considered the greatest starfighter pilot in the Rebellion and later the New Republic, second only to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

After Endor, Wedge revived Rogue Squadron as its sole commander, replacing Luke Skywalker, with an eye towards forming an elite, highly flexible fighter group. The Rogues had traditionally been called upon to do the impossible, but too many pilots had gone in without the necessary training; most of those pilots hadn't come out. Wedge's new Rogue Squadron, though deprived of Commander Skywalker's talents, was all he could have asked for and more: it included such distinguished pilots as Tycho Celchu, Corran Horn, Gavin Darklighter, Pash Cracken and, later, Klivian and Janson. The squadron was instrumental in capturing Borleias, a staging point for the liberation of Coruscant. After the capture of Coruscant, Ysanne Isard established a death grip on the bacta-producing world of Thyferra, which nearly fiscally destroyed the New Republic. Rogue Squadron went rogue, and without any official support from the Republic, defeated Isard in the Bacta War. This led to the capture of the Super Star Destroyer-prison Lusankya, and the eventual freeing of her prisoners. Soon afterwards, they were crucial to the harrying and eventual defeat of Warlord Zsinj (though they would not deliver the final blow themselves), the partial capture of the Katana Fleet, and the Battle of Bilbringi. Wedge also started a commando/fighter unit called Wraith Squadron. Wraith Squadron helped in the fight against Zsinj, and later joined the New Republic Intelligance. Wedge led a number of missions aboard Imperial-class Star Destroyers into the resurgent Empire's territory, on one of which was the disastrous excursion to the recently-lost throneworld, in which Wedge, Luke and Lando Calrissian were shot down aboard their Star Destroyer Liberator. Luke was captured and taken to the Reborn Emperor. Wedge and his squadron would be instrumental in defeating the World Devastators at the Battle of Mon Calamari, among many other feats.

Wedge's personal life has been somewhat rocky. His parents were killed by pirates who tried to depart from the Gus Treta fueling station, which his family owned, before all the fuel mechanisms were disengaged. Without support from Corellian Security, Wedge turned to connections on the other side of the law: his father's friend Booster Terrik, a smuggler, and his daughter Mirax helped him hunt the murderers down, and he borrowed a starfighter from a family friend and killed them. After that he turned unsuccessfully to smuggling before joining the Rebellion. For a long time the Terriks were his only friends outside the Rebellion military. The conquest of Coruscant, however, brought him into contact with Iella Wessiri, former CorSec partner of Corran Horn. He was all set to ask her out when her husband Diric showed up, just released from Imperial captivity. Unfortunately, Diric turned out to be an Imperial spy from Lusankya, and Iella was forced to kill him in self-defense. At this time the unworldly scientist Qwi Xux, primary designer of the Death Star, appeared in Wedge's life, and the two were involved romantically for several years, during which Kyp Durron's Force-mindwipe changed her life for better or for worse. Barely hours after the break-up, Wedge found himself en-route to Adumar as a pilot/diplomat for the New Republic; there he met Iella Wessiri again, and after a few false starts, the two became officially engaged. By the time of the events of The New Jedi Order series, Wedge had retired from Rogue Squadron, and he and Iella had two daughters.

After his retirement, Wedge was pulled into the Yuuzhan Vong war. He assumed the rank of General once more and served as an advisor to Admiral Kre'fey at the Battle of Ithor. He went on to become one of the greatest fleet commanders of the war. He performed very well in the defeat at Coruscant and then led his fleet against the Yuuzhan Vong at Borleias. He was able to hold on to the planet for months, giving the Republican forces time to recover, regroup, and rest. It was here that he formed the Insiders, a secret Rebel Alliance like group designed to ensure the war against the Yuuzghan Vong continued no matter what happened to the New Republic. He scored numerous victories at Borleias and in the end directed a perfect tactical retreat from the planet and used the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya to destroy the entire Domain Hul Worldship, a disaster for the Yuuzhan Vong. It resulted in the death of Warmaster Tsavong Lah's father, Czulkang Lah.

After Borleias, Antilles continued to serve the newly formed GFFA, defending the shipyards at Kuat, and then later participating in the Second Battle of Coruscant. He performed admirably yet again and was instrumental in the victory. After the battle Antilles resigned his commission yet again, moving back to Corellia with his family.

By the Legacy of the Force series, Wedge reassumes the rank of General again, serving as a liaison between Corellia's Prime Minister and Minister of War. However, he disagrees with Corellia's tactics and methods of ending the war, and resigns his commission. His daughter Syal is an Ensign in the Galactic Alliance fleet under the name Lysa Dunter. She flies an Eta-5 Interceptor in VibroSword Squadron. Wedge's younger daughter Myri has not been employed yet, but she expresses an interest in working in Intelligence like her mother.

[edit] Appearances

• Films:
  • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  • Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Novels:
  • The Truce at Bakura
  • X-wing book series
  • The New Jedi Order book series
  • Galaxy of Fear: Planet Plague
  • The Thrawn Trilogy
  • Betrayal
  • Exile
  • Fury
• Comic books:
  • Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
  • Star Wars Empire: Allies and Adversaries
  • Star Wars Empire: In the Shadows of Their Fathers
  • Star Wars Empire: The Wrong Side of the War
  • Star Wars Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
  • X-wing: Rogue Squadron comic series
  • Dark Empire
  • Crimson Empire
  • Union
• Video games:
  • Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
  • Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
  • Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
  • Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Wedge Antilles in the Star Wars Databank
• Wedge Antilles on Wookieepedia, a Wikia wiki