Grand Admiral Zaarin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Demetrius Zaarin
Star Wars character
Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, aboard the ISD Glory, hears from his commanders about their recent attacks on Imperial facilities.
Position	Grand Admiral
Homeworld	Unknown
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	Unknown
Affiliation	Galactic Empire, Zaarin secessionist movement
Portrayed by	Denny Delk (voice actor)

Demetrius Zaarin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He appears in the computer games Star Wars: TIE Fighter and Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance.

He is one of the 12 original Grand Admirals promoted to that rank after the Battle of Yavin in the New Year's Fete Week celebration by Emperor Palpatine.

Admiral Zaarin occupies the storyline near the end of the original TIE Fighter (where he attempts to capture Palpatine), and is the main focus in the TIE Fighter expansions, Defender of the Empire and Enemies of the Empire. Unlike most traitors to the Empire, Zaarin was never affiliated with the Rebellion; Zaarin had fought against the Rebels in trying to acquire hyperdrive technology for the TIE Avenger (Advanced) and only wanted to depose the Emperor in the coup attempt. After Zaarin betrayed the Emperor, he was cast from the council of Grand Admirals and then-Vice Admiral Thrawn was promoted in his place to maintain the ranks at 12-strong.

As head of starfighter research, Grand Admiral Zaarin oversaw many experimental Imperial Projects, including the TIE Avenger, TIE Defender, and (assumedly) the TIE Experimental projects shown in X-Wing Alliance. Shortly before the Battle of Endor and after the abortive defection of Admiral Harkov to the Rebel Alliance, his driving ambition led him to secede from the Empire, taking his extensive fleet with him. While supposedly still on the side of the Empire by fighting Admiral Harkov, who was defecting to the Rebel Alliance, he implemented his secret plans to kidnap Emperor Palpatine by taking advantage of the turmoil between Harkov's forces and Imperial loyalists. Zaarin's attempt was narrowly thwarted by Vice Admiral Thrawn and Maarek Stele.

Despite the failure of his coup d'état, Zaarin proceeded to attack key Imperial facilities across the Galaxy, particularly advanced starfighter production sites and their crews as told in Tours of Duty Eight and Nine. Although he did not have many capital ships, Zaarin's main strength was his squadrons of TIEs, particularly his shielded and hyperspace-capable TIE Defenders. He successfully destroyed the TIE Avenger production facilities in the Omar system. During that campaign, he almost trapped Admiral Thrawn's flagship VSD Sceltor by using Rebel-developed magnetic pulse warheads as bait, although it backfired when loyalist pilot Stele used the mag pulse warheads to temporarily incapacitate Zaarin's Interdictor Cruiser and Strike Cruiser, allowing Thrawn to escape. Thrawn managed to rescue the TIE Defender prototypes from the research facility in order to develop a new counter, the Missile Gunboat.

Palpatine viewed Zaarin as a threat to him equal to the Rebel Alliance, and appointed Vice Admiral Thrawn to track down and destroy Zaarin shortly before the attempted kidnapping, which Thrawn thwarted. Unfortunately, Zaarin escaped to the Outer Rim. Zaarin intended to set up a rival Empire. Thrawn quickly attacked, but Zaarin and Thrawn were military equals. They fought to a standstill. Thrawn cunningly appealed to Zaarin's technophilia prior to the final showdown between the two military geniuses, allowing him to steal a sabotaged vessel. Maarek Stele, a constant thorn in Zaarin's side, aided Thrawn in demolishing Zaarin's flagship, the ISD Glory. Zaarin attempted to flee in an experimental corvette (CRV Vorknkx) which contained a cloaking device (previously stolen by Zaarin). Unbeknownst to Zaarin (but known to Thrawn), the cloaking device was unstable when used in conjunction with a hyperdrive, making it safe only in real space. As soon as the Vorknkx powered up its hyperdrive, the ship exploded. Everyone on board was killed.

It is suggested that Admiral Apwar Trigit from Rogue Squadron: Wraith Squadon, by Aaron Allston, is based upon Admiral Zaarin. Both had similarities; each had relatively few capital ships but they were masterful starfighter tacticians. Trigit even flew in his customized TIE Interceptor. It was equipped with deflector shields and a hyperdrive, which can be considered a development on Zaarin's TIE prototypes.