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Mitth'raw'nuruodo, born as Kivu'raw'nuru with the core name Vurawn, recognized in his early military career as Mitth'raw'nuru, and better known by his core name Thrawn, was a Chiss male officer of the Chiss Ascendancy and Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy during the age of the Galactic Empire.
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Grand Admiral Thrawn (full name: Mitth'raw'nuruodo; born: Kivu'raw'nuru [1]) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in what came to be known as the Thrawn trilogy of novels (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn.
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality and traits
- Behind the scenes
- Appearances
- External links
"This one is constantly thinking, analyzing, strategizing. He showed no fear, but was curious, studying me in turn."
―Emperor Palpatine
Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name Thrawn (pronounced /ˈθɹɑːn/), and also called Mitthrawdo, was a male Chiss officer with a long-spanning career. He served the Chiss Ascendancy early in his life and later the naval forces of the Galactic Empire as the only non-human Grand Admiral. Thrawn was regarded as one of the best commanders to serve under and a brilliant military strategist in the starfleet. His skills were appreciated enough by the reigning Sith Lords that he rose to a position of significant power despite the New Order's speciesist policies.
Thrawn hailed from Csilla, and made the first steps to his calling by becoming an officer in the Expansionary Defense Force of the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions, where he demonstrated his ruthless commitment to eradicating any and all threats to his people. These early menaces included an advance force of scouts of the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong species, which were known to the Chiss as "Far Outsiders." However, many of Thrawn's ways were contrary to the ones of the Chiss society, which rejected offensive and preventive strikes. In 27 BBY, Thrawn first came into contact with the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, who held a secret double identity as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic, after Thrawn destroyed part of Sidious's private task force; they both agreed on the threat posed by the Unknown Regions, mostly the Yuuzhan Vong or "Far Outsiders". The two sealed their informal agreement when Thrawn destroyed the Republic's exploration ship Outbound Flight, so it didn't draw the Yuuzhan Vong towards the Republic and the Chiss Ascendancy, killing many members of the Jedi Order in the process.
Thrawn's continued preventive strikes led the Chiss to exile him on an uninhabited world far in the fringes of the Chiss Ascendancy. In 19 BBY, soon after the Galactic Republic was reformed into the Galactic Empire, Imperial Navy officer Voss Parck encountered Thrawn in the Unknown Regions and brought him to Emperor Palpatine. Already aware of Thrawn's command skills, knowing that he destroyed Outbound Flight, the prime ruler approved his admission to the starfleet. Over time, Thrawn climbed the ladder, thinking that he could better defend against the threat of the oncoming Yuuzhan Vong as an Imperial officer than if he returned to the Chiss, and circa 2 ABY became the secret thirteenth Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy. The Chiss commander fought both the Rebel Alliance and rogue Imperial officers. Grand Admiral Thrawn's service to the Supreme Commander, Darth Vader, and assistance against Black Sun Underlord Xizor also earned him the allegiance of the Noghri Death Commandos. Simultaneously, he pacified the Unknown Regions and established a secret empire of his own in Wild Space, believing that only a strong military government could protect the galaxy's diverse species from annihilating each other and to serve as a bulwark against the Yuuzhan Vong.
Admiral Thrawn remained in the Unknown Regions around the time of the Battle of Endor in which Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader perished; he also remained in there in the subsequent breakdown of the Empire under rival warlords. The Grand Admiral returned in 8 ABY to take control of the remaining shattered Imperial Forces and crush the New Republic, the successor state to the Rebel Alliance. Although Thrawn was able to deal his adversaries several major blows in a massive military campaign, defeat became imminent due to his unexpected death during the Battle of Bilbringi at the hand of the distraught Noghri assassin, Rukh, his bodyguard and most trusted assassin. Even though his demise led to further fragmentation of the Empire and the end of his campaign, the Grand Admiral left several clones of himself and an empire still unknown to the Republic in preparation for yet-unknown threats to the galaxy.
OriginsEarly Imperial serviceCounter-insurgencyHeir to the EmpireFinal effortsAttempted rebirthCommand style
"Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake, Ensign?" "No, sir." "Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." ―Thrawn and Colclazure Appalled by the punishing "Vader style" of command that so many of his contemporaries supported, Thrawn preferred to promote creativity in his crew rather than merely punish their failures, and did not often kill off personnel for minor failures, as that could easily strain the resources of the Empire, which was unaffordable at the time. This was perhaps best exemplified in a pair of incidents surrounding the tractor beam control pit. During his campaign against the New Republic, a tractor beam operator, Cris Pieterson, aboard the Chimaera was responsible for allowing Luke Skywalker to escape capture. Thrawn investigated the incident and found a defiant Pieterson disrespectfully refusing to claim responsibility for the incident, referring Thrawn to his commanding ensign. Thrawn summarily had the man executed at his post in a rather brutal fashion by Rukh, and informed the ensign that he was free to train the next replacement. On the other hand, when Skywalker escaped a similar trap again, he rewarded the new tractor beam operator, Rejlii Mithel, with a promotion to Lieutenant because the man had employed creative thinking in his attempt to capture Skywalker and took responsibility for his failure to do so. In addition, Thrawn encouraged his senior officers to express their own ideas and gave them reasoned consideration rather than ignore any outside ideas, as many an Imperial commander had done during the height of the Empire. The sharp contrast between Thrawn's style and that of megalomaniac and sadistic Imperial heads heightened Thrawn's ability to lead. Thrawn boosted the morale of his crew not only through victories, but also through his clear dedication to the Empire. Officers and crewmen serving under Thrawn admired his lack of concern for personal glory, wanting only the defeat of the Empire's enemies and the establishment of order. Indeed, Thrawn was able to unify the Empire's feuding Moffs prior to his final campaign in no small part owing to his single-minded determination to destroy the "Rebellion". Finally, Thrawn was willing to admit defeat. Rather than stand proud and fight a losing battle, Thrawn knew when it was time to retreat, although those instances were few and far between. One such time was after the Battle of Sluis Van, when his attempt to capture a number of capital ships docked at the shipyards failed. Rather than cover his failure and waste lives and equipment in a vain attack, Thrawn decided to withdraw instead, and in those instances would adjust his plans in later attempts. Thrawn believed intelligence was a key factor in warfare, and thus he maintained a vast network of spies that were scattered across the galaxy. These agents would often report what they found to Thrawn, which helped him gain more intelligence on his enemies. Thrawn also relied on Imperial Intelligence or later on, Delta Source. Thrawn was an excellent starship engineer, designing the Missile Boat, which proved to be a dangerous starfighter that could even dwarf the TIE/D Defender, designed by Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin. Many years after Thrawn's death, Sinister Triumvirate Major Grodin Tierce found a datacard named "The Hand of Thrawn." Imperial Moff Vilim Disra believed that Thrawn had hidden a superweapon, such as a Sun Crusher or a another Death Star. However, Major Tierce theorized that superweapons were not part of Thrawn's tactical style in warfare. Thrawn had shown a keen interest in cloning science. An example was when Thrawn attempted to make a super commando as a next generation of soldier. Major Grodin Tierce was selected as the template. With Tierce's battle training and Thrawn's tactical abilities, Thrawn expected the project to be a success, but the results didn't satisfy him. Thrawn also took the liberty of having sleeper cells of clones established throughout the galaxy. This was a contingency plan; if the New Republic or Imperial Remnant were to fall, these cells would be activated to act as resistance forces to the Yuuzhan Vong. Another example was when Thrawn attempted to create a group of Force-users. However, these cloned Force wielders went rogue after his death.
Technique
"I have no qualms about accepting a useful idea merely because it wasn't my own." ―Thrawn While a master of military tactics, Thrawn was more than an adept commander. His use of knowledge and intelligence in conjunction with stunning tactics proved Thrawn to be one of the galaxy's most remarkable military commanders. Thrawn often also relied on a network of spies that fed him intelligence and data. The precise application of intelligence allowed Thrawn to win countless victories over numerically superior forces. Thrawn believed that one could understand the psychological and tactical limitations of one's adversaries through the examination of their art, and thus exploit their weaknesses. This conviction was often proven correct since his vast knowledge and obsession with the analytical study of art resulted in almost infallible strategic victories over nearly every opponent Thrawn engaged. Thrawn had a large holographic collection of art, although he also possessed a few real artifacts, including Killik Twilight, a set of Mandalorian armor which he wore on his mission to Corellia, and, according to rumor, General Grievous's mask. He also had a statue made by a certain species, which were totally wiped out by his forces—it was the only case when Thrawn had knowledge of a particular species' art and was not able to create a proper tactic to defeat them without total annihilation. An attention to small details also played a major role in Thrawn's technique. By scouring large collections of data and intelligence, Thrawn was able to piece together small details that alone were merely trivial, but together formed a powerful variable. Additionally, his collection of information and near-encyclopedic knowledge of topics gave Thrawn an eerie aura of omniscience. At least once, however, he made mistakes as a result of over-predicting his enemies, assuming they knew information that they did not, and Thrawn's final defeat came about because of his complete ignorance of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo's relationship to his old superior Vader, which earned them the loyalty of the Noghri that superseded the Noghri's existing ties to Thrawn and allowed them to convince the Noghri to aid the Republic. Finally, Thrawn laid out complex campaigns in advance of his attacks. By following a carefully planned campaign, Thrawn was able to keep his enemies guessing. In the time it took his enemies to understand one phase of his plan, Thrawn had already moved on to the next. In this, Thrawn was always a step ahead of his foes.
Political views
"Multiple species, with multiple viewpoints and racial philosophies, simply cannot hold power together for long. The dominant voice must certainly be wise enough to adopt ideas and methods from its allies and member peoples. But there must be a dominant voice, or there is only chaos. In this part of the galaxy, that voice is the Empire." ―Thrawn articulates a defense of the Empire The true extent of Thrawn's loyalty to the Empire is unclear: indeed, it was later postulated that Thrawn did not support the Empire per se, but rather wanted to establish order in the known galaxy in preparation to combat as-yet-unknown threats he had discovered during his time in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. In the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Lenang O'Pali suggested that Thrawn saw a militarized, orderly society as being the galaxy's only hope of defeating the Yuuzhan Vong, and that the New Republic would only succumb to the same division and inefficiency that had destroyed the Old Republic, hence his decision to attack the Republic rather than warn it of the Vong. For whatever reason, Thrawn did express loathing of the New Republic: he insisted on still referring to it as the "Rebellion", and considered its "complete, total, and utter destruction" to be "the only puzzle worth solving". Thrawn did believe that a society of multiple species, with different viewpoints and philosophies, was inherently unstable. In this case, he believed in the necessity of a strong central government that was capable of listening to its people, but remained the "dominant voice". He felt that the only alternative was anarchy.
"He's a clever villain. People like reading about clever, interesting opponents to our heroes. People who are able to outthink, outmaneuver as well as outfight. Ultimately the heroism of the hero is measured by the villainy or power of the villain and with Thrawn I wanted something different than Force using Vader or Palpatine. Somebody who doesn't have Luke's Force Powers, but can run him around in a maze whenever he really wants to."
―Timothy Zahn
Grand Admiral Thrawn first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the first book of The Thrawn Trilogy named for the Grand Admiral. The trilogy marked the dawn of a new era in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and Thrawn's character is considered a contributing factor. Author Timothy Zahn has stated that Thrawn's character is a composite of various historical and fictional personalities, including Erwin Rommel, Robert E. Lee, Hannibal Barca, Alexander the Great and Sherlock Holmes, to name a few. Another loose inspiration for Thrawn was the character of General Maximilian Veers from the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, who had the distinction of being one of the few highly competent Imperial officers from the original trilogy.
In a 2007 interview, Timothy Zahn explained that he could bring another clone of Thrawn to life if the Grand Admiral's ability is an absolute necessity to solve future galactic crisis. However, to escape the traditional archetypes of clones, Zahn stated that that clone would be aware that he was not Thrawn, and would be aware of immense pressure to live up to the original. Thrawn's possible return was hinted at in Zahn's novel Survivor's Quest, where great changes in the behavior of Chaf'orm'bintrano lead Mara Jade Skywalker to suspect that another clone of Thrawn existed and may be behind the events of the novel.
Occasionally, Thrawn's Grand Admiral uniform is depicted without the gold epaulets, such as in the The Last Command comic series, Reflections II, The Essential Guide to Characters, The New Essential Guide to Characters, Imperial Entanglements or The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide.
Thrawn was portrayed by various actors in audio-visual Star Wars materials. A CGI-based Thrawn was made using Timothy Zahn's likeness for Thrawn's depiction in the Reflections II: Expanding the Galaxy expansion for the CCG by Decipher. Thrawn is voiced by Tim Russell in the audio drama of Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire and Tris King in Star Wars: TIE Fighter. Cutscenes of him in the bridge of the Star Destroyer show him wearing the Grand Admiral's white uniform before he publicly attained that rank. A mustached man to his left resembles Gilad Pellaeon, likely as a tribute to Zahn's novels.
•Grand Admiral Thrawn on Wikipedia
•Grand Admiral Thrawn at the Internet Movie Database (backup link)
•Decipher Expands the Galaxy on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
•Timothy Zahn: Pledge of Allegiance on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
•Timothy Zahn Returns with a New Novel on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
•Star Wars Celebration VI interview with Timothy Zahn on roqoodepot.wordpress.com (September 4, 2012) (archived from the original on March 29, 2023)
Born Mitth'raw'nuruodo in the Chiss Ascendancy, but known as Thrawn on the Core Worlds controlled by the Empire, the brilliant tactician used his natural abilities for strategy and warfare to excel at the Imperial Academy and climb the rank to become a Grand Admiral during Emperor Palpatine’s reign.
Who Is Grand Admiral Thrawn? Grand Admiral Thrawn's Origin; Grand Admiral Thrawn's Powers and Abilities; Thrawn's Story So Far; Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Expanded Universe; Where Is...
Jul 30, 2019 · Thrawn is the Sherlock Holmes of the Star Wars universe, but his role is pure Moriarty: he’s a villain who uses his powers of observation to control and manipulate his enemies. He uses his interest in the art and culture of varied species to his own advantage, pinpointing weaknesses based on his deductions.
Oct 23, 2023 · One of the most notorious villains in the "Star Wars" canon, Grand Admiral Thrawn has a long and complex history. Here's Thrawn's entire timeline explained.
