Grand Moff Tarkin

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Wilhuff Tarkin
Star Wars character
A ruthless Imperial officer, Wilhuff Tarkin executed the Emperor's will through the galaxy. Darth Vader is also shown.
Position	Regional Governor of Imperial Oversector Outer Commander of the Death Star
Homeworld	Eriadu
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	1.8 meters
Affiliation	Galactic Empire
Portrayed by	Wayne Pygram (Episode III) Peter Cushing (Episode IV)

Grand Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is a major character 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.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Note: Biographical information in this article is taken both from the Star Wars films and from the Expanded Universe.

1 Overview of Tarkin's career
2 Tarkin and Vader
3 Tarkin Doctrine
4 Tarkin and Daala
5 Name
6 Casting
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Overview of Tarkin's career

Tarkin appeared 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 the command ship. It is known that at this point Tarkin, aided by his marriage to Lady Tarkin of the Motti family and his close connections with Palpatine, was already a regional governor, a position that, according to a deleted scene from the movie, had not existed for very long.

Wilhuff Tarkin was born in 64 BBY ^[1]. He first met then-Senator Palpatine as an obscure sector chief on the planet Naboo. The two found that they shared a basic philosophy on government: namely, that might made right. In 33 BBY, Tarkin helped Palpatine engineer the murder of the Trade Federation Directorate, which were on Tarkin's homeworld, Eriadu, for a trade summit. The pirate raids on the Trade Federation that had led to the summit had also been orchestrated by the Sith Lords, as was Nute Gunray's rise to power as Trade Federation viceroy. From then on, they became close allies, using each other to advance their own careers. When Palpatine took over the galaxy and formed the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, he rewarded Tarkin for his years of service by appointing him a regional governor, a position of considerable power.

Tarkin had a reputation as a brutal, cold, and ruthless officer dating to the earliest days of the Empire. A large group of protesters stood on a landing platform directly underneath his transport, protesting the Imperial taxation on the distant planet Ghorman. Tarkin ordered his ship to land anyway, crushing and killing hundreds of Imperial subjects. This incident became known as the "Ghorman Massacre." Rather than punish Tarkin, Palpatine made him the sector moff for Seswanna, where Eriadu was located. This event was the first manifestation of what became known as the Tarkin Doctrine, also known as the "doctrine of fear." Tarkin explained it simply: "Rule through the fear of force, rather than force itself."

The Rebel Alliance, which Tarkin's niece Rivoche would later join as an intelligence agent, frequently jumped across Imperial sectors to avoid detection. As a countermeasure, Tarkin proposed dividing the Empire into "priority sectors." These would overlap the existing astrographic and political sectors and be defined by the level of treasonous activity. These sectors would be commanded by one official, a "Grand Moff". Ars Dangor, the Imperial Advisor, acting in the capacity of the Emperor, granted Tarkin the title and a huge base of operations on the Outer Rim.

Some had reservations about Tarkin's methods, suspecting them to be only efforts to enlarge his own position, in open opposition of Palpatine's agenda; projects of his, such as his Maw Installation (the research facility in the Maw, which developed most of the superweapons the Empire was known for, such as the Death Star, and the World Devastators) only supported such theories.

One of Tarkin's chief flaws was an overweening arrogance: even after his Mon Calamari slave Ackbar had arranged for an attempt on his life during the Rebel Alliance's theft of the Death Star plans, and explained exactly how he had done it before his escape, Tarkin refused to believe the testimony, convinced only a human could have arranged such a nearly-successful attempt. This flaw would appear later during the Battle of Yavin: while the Death Star carried thousands of TIE fighters, Tarkin ordered only a few scrambled against the Rebel X-wing squadrons. This fatal underestimation of his enemy allowed Luke Skywalker to navigate the trench and fire proton torpedos against the reactor powering the Death Star, destabilizing them and causing a catastrophic detonation of the Death Star and killing everyone aboard, including Tarkin.

[edit] Tarkin and Vader

Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.

- Leia Organa

Upon the birth of the Empire, the Emperor introduced Tarkin to his new apprentice, Darth Vader. Though Vader's position of importance beneath the Emperor was sudden and mysterious among the Imperial Elite, it would seem that only Tarkin was privy to exactly who Vader truly was and what his unique responsibilities would be. Being the subject of a plethora of rumors in the hallowed halls of the Empire, Tarkin's friendship with the Emperor gave him access to the truth about Vader: that he was a former Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker with an incredible mastery of The Force. Whereas only the boldest (and most foolish) of Imperial officers would talk down to Vader, Tarkin supported the Emperor's second-in-command wholeheartedly, seeing in the Sith Lord an important ally in controlling the galaxy and advancing his own career. Tarkin found Vader to be a virtual equal in the eyes of the Emperor.

Over the next 19 years, Tarkin and Vader became more and more public icons of the Empire, whereas the Emperor himself became a recluse. As the public instigator of Palpatine's policies, Tarkin could easily have been confused for Emperor himself, while Vader represented the terrifying iconography for the Empire. Vader's execution of Jedi renegades cleared much room for Tarkin to focus on establishing the Imperial Naval infrastructure. Though Tarkin's was an officious position, Vader was more of a free agent, sent by the Emperor to command Imperial Forces in any task asked of him. This bred resentment among the Imperial Superiors, as at any given moment they may have had to resign themselves to a subordinate position beneath Vader. Tarkin respected and understood Vader's responsibilities, as the Sith Lord made for the most aggressive and efficiently assertive taskmaster one could hope for.

According to George Lucas' audio commentaries, Tarkin and Vader, both being subordinates of the Emperor, were on equal footing. Technically, Tarkin was in command of the Death Star, as such officers tended to report to him rather than Vader. Vader operated autonomously of Tarkin, with neither one truly under the command of the other. Prior to the destruction of the Death Star, a captive Princess Leia seemed to believe that Tarkin was "holding Vader's leash", suggesting that publicly at least Tarkin was a superior rank to the Sith Lord. Tarkin could technically give Vader orders, such as commanding him to release Admiral Motti from a Force choke, but their professional relationship was largely uncomplicated by formal rank, as they both essentially ran the Empire's day-to-day policies.

While some materials indicate that Palpatine suspected Tarkin might betray him, there is no evidence to indicate whether or not this was in fact the case. In this government, the Palpatine-Tarkin-Vader triumvirate appears to have been a generally harmonious collaboration.

[edit] Tarkin Doctrine

The "Tarkin Doctrine" is an unofficial policy of state terrorism that its namesake engineered; he was originally responsible for suppressing treasonous activity against the Empire. Rather than spend large amounts of money and resources to bend all the worlds of the Empire to Palpatine's will, the Tarkin Doctrine instead centered around the use of massive displays of force that could be used to discourage and prevent any opposition. It also called for the creation of a superweapon to enforce Imperial order, the result of which was the Death Star.

Although Tarkin was killed in the destruction of the first Death Star, the Tarkin Doctrine continued to influence the rulers of the Empire. Palpatine was very attracted to its concepts, and it became the standard operating procedure for the Imperial Navy; among the many superweapons the Empire would develop included the Tarkin battlestation, and the World Devastators.

[edit] Tarkin and Daala

Tarkin was once on a trip to the Imperial Training Center of Carida, where he wanted to find a brilliant young tactician who was responsible for new training methods and other sorts of things for the Empire. It took Tarkin some time, but he eventually found the young slicer, who turned out to be a woman named Daala. He whisked her away from Carida and made her part of his staff. After a while, the two began to fall in love. Soon after, Tarkin made her an Admiral in secret, and prepared to give her a mission.

Before that could happen, an officer said that Daala only achieved her position because she was sleeping with Tarkin. Tarkin heard this and flushed 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 gave Daala four Imperial class Star Destroyers, the Gorgon, the Basilisk, the Manticore and the Hydra. He then sent her to the secret weapons facility in the Maw cluster of black holes near Kessel, where he told her to wait for more orders. Eleven years after Tarkin's death, Daala returned to destroy the New Republic.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Name

There is some debate over where Grand Moff Tarkin's name originated. It is no secret that George Lucas borrowed many names and themes from previous books and visual media sources. [1]

[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 villainous Count Dooku.