7 Imperials That Deserve Their Own Comic Book

Hitting shelves this week was a comic book adaptation of the novel Thrawn, which chronicled the Star Wars villain’s rise through the ranks of the Galactic Empire. It’s hard to underestimate the terrifying ways of the Chiss and the complexity of the character, but there are many more members of the Empire that deserve to have their fascinating journey’s chronicled.

Audiences have often connected more strongly with the journeys of the Sith, as their mystical powers make them capable of far more destruction, yet the Sith are often closely tied to the Empire, the First Order or the Separatists, the organizations which make the Sith’s crusades possible. Many of these officers may only appear in a few scenes, but we think they’ve demonstrated an interesting enough presence to warrant an exploration of their history.

See who we think deserves their own comic book origin story!

Grand Moff Tarkin

In the original Star Wars, Darth Vader had a much more commanding visage, yet Leia hinted at Tarkin being the true threat aboard the Death Star. Furthermore, Tarkin demonstrated that not only was he an integral component in developing the Death Star’s creation, but that he was also willing to throw his fellow Imperials under the bus if there was an opportunity to further his career.

Tarkin earned himself his own novel in 2014, which explored many of the character’s important milestones in his rise to power. Whether we were to get a graphic interpretation of that story, or were we to get a new series of adventures that fill in gaps on his journey, we’ll take as much Tarkin as we can get.

Director Krennic

Much like Tarkin’s villainy was on display in Rogue One, so was Director Krennic’s persistence to track down anyone who had turned their backs on the Empire.

Clearly the true mastermind behind the development of the Death Star, were Krennic’s career not cut short in a display of the weapon he created’s power, we could have discovered the extent of his ambition and life-shattering innovations that he offered to the Empire. Diving into the character’s history could reveal a number of different technological advancements he uncovered that would allow the Empire to rise to power.

Also, hopefully any comic featuring Krennic would show off his lovely capes.

General Hux

The Force Awakens introduced audiences to the successors to the Galactic Empire with the First Order, with General Hux taking center stage to lead the military organization. Hux appears younger than most other military leaders we’ve seen, hinting that he proved to be an advanced tactician for his age.

Supreme Leader Snoke treated both Hux and Kylo Ren as they were peers, and while audiences saw Kylo’s Sith abilities on full display in the film’s opening moments, we were left to wonder just how ruthless Hux must have been to command the respect of Snoke.

The general took a backseat to Kylo in The Last Jedi, yet given his younger age, we can only assume Hux achieved his rank with his fair share of deceit, making us wonder what his bigger plans might be for Kylo in Episode IX.

Kallus

As soon as fans saw Kallus in Star Wars Rebels, we knew there was something different about him, as he appeared to look and act much more like a bounty hunter than a traditional Imperial. There were implications that possibly it was his ruthless nature that prevented him from advancing in the ranks of the Empire, or possibly that he was too driven by vendettas against Rebels to be able to focus on larger missions.

While the series went on to reveal that Kallus had actually been working as a spy for the Rebellion, this only served to make his backstory more interesting, even if it means he’s no longer technically an Imperial. 

General Greivous

Another character who was introduced in an animated series, audiences first met General Grievous in a series of shorts released prior to Revenge of the Sith hitting theaters.

Armed with four arms, four lightsabers and having a metallic skull for a face made Grievous appear as a formidable foe. Similar to Kallus, Grievous wasn’t technically an Imperial, but served as a ranking officer in the Separatist Droid Army under Count Dooku. However, following the events of Revenge of the Sith and Palpatine’s orders to eradicate the Jedi, the lines start to get blurry between who is fighting for which side.

Grievous’ death at the hands of Obi-Wan prevents us from seeing his adventures late in life, but we’d love to see the stories that depict his voluntary surgical replacement of the organic tissue that made him that much stronger in combat.

General Veers

One of the biggest trends for the Empire is failure. Whether it be the Death Star, the Executor or the Death Star II, the Empire is regularly depicted as having their plans thwarted. One of the few successes seen in the films, however, was made possible by General Veers and his AT-AT Blizzard 1.

The Empire Strikes Back only briefly featured Veers, but having managed to not be punished by Vader was a rare feat, instead managing to track down the Rebel base on Hoth and lead an assault on the location, forcing the Rebels to scatter across the galaxy.

As compared to the deceitful nature of characters like Thrawn or Hux, Veers is clearly a loyal Imperial that other members of the Empire would strive to emulate, making us wonder where he ended up after the Battle of Hoth.

Admiral Motti

Admiral Motti stands out in audiences’ minds for two major reasons: not only was he the first victim of Vader’s Force-choke abilities, but he is also one of the few Imperials to survive the punishment.

Most audiences wouldn’t want to mess with Darth Vader upon our first glimpse at the villain, yet Motti had no problem standing up to the Sith Lord while also mocking his devotion to the Sith, dismissing his abilities as “sorcerer’s ways.”

With Motti having been on the Death Star when it exploded, fans would only be able to see the earlier stages of the character’s career, which could potentially highlight the volatile relationship he had with Vader.