Prince Xizor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Xizor | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Position | Prince, Overlord of Black Sun, Crime Lord |
| Homeworld | Falleen |
| Species | Falleen |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6'3" (191 cm) |
| Affiliation | Black Sun, Galactic Empire |
| Portrayed by | N/A |
Prince Xizor (Shee-zor) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is a major villain in the novel and comic book Shadows of the Empire. He is a Falleen, and leader of the powerful criminal organization Black Sun around the time between Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He also has smaller roles in The Han Solo Trilogy and The Bounty Hunter Wars.
[edit] Biography
The novel Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry portrays Prince Xizor as a rival of Darth Vader, who obliterated much of Xizor's homeworld to halt the spread of a plague accidentally released from an Imperial biological weapons facility.
After learning from Emperor Palpatine of Vader's quest for Luke Skywalker, Prince Xizor saw an opportunity to lower Vader in the Emperor's esteem by having the young Skywalker killed. It was also at Xizor's persuasion that the Emperor decided to let the plans for the second Death Star fall into Rebel hands. The Prince was described as the third most powerful being in the galaxy, in terms of influence, behind only Palpatine and Vader.
Prince Xizor was portrayed as a cold and ruthless risk-taker. Unlike the grotesque Jabba the Hutt, Xizor had a refined and charismatic appearance, with a taste for "the finer things in life" that was strikingly juxtaposed with his merciless ambition. He was assisted by Guri, an enigmatic and brutal human replica droid assassin.
The Overlord of the Black Sun space station was a valuable ally in Emperor Palpatine's eyes. Once, while en route to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, Xizor was attacked by a young assassin named Hoff. Of course, the crime lord eliminated such a threat easily, proving his own personal prowess. In addition to his massive shipping empire (and criminal syndicate) he was also co-owner of the most prestigious restaurant on all of Coruscant, the Manarai.
Prince Xizor commanded a vast organization, of which Jabba the Hutt was one of the main allies, and Durga the Hutt was a lieutenant. In one of their discussions, Xizor learned from the Hutt that Luke Skywalker was on Tatooine, residing there as a hermit. He dispatched a group of assassins to hunt down Vader's son, but a mercenary named Dash Rendar saved the young rebel from certain death.
Later, Princess Leia Organa, who was searching for some contact with the Black Sun Organization, was lured into the dark veil of the Prince. Xizor became enamored of Leia Organa, and attempted to seduce her. The Overlord of the Black Sun stated that, in hundreds of years, no woman could even match Leia as a woman of charms and beauty. Xizor enjoyed some of the most beautiful women in the galaxy, and to him Leia was obviously the greatest.
Xizor used his pheromones to charm Leia; she succumbed, and both shared passionate kisses. Fortunately, Chewbacca interrupted them and shook Leia out of the trance. Chewbacca reasoned with her, so she decided that he should escape to warn Luke. In the meantime, she bought Chewbacca time by pretending to be still under the trance. After entering the room again, Princess Leia made her feelings clear when she refused to remove her clothing in front of him. Enraged, Xizor locked her up.
After some troubles around with bounty hunters and mercenaries alike, Luke, Dash, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian rescued Leia from Xizor's Palace on Coruscant. Luke and Lando hid the Millennium Falcon in a warehouse and went to the Southern Underground to get information from Spero, an old Ho'Din. Instead, they met up with Chewbacca, but then faced an attack. Fortunately Dash arrived and helped them. They made a plan and decided to infltrate Xizor's Palace through the sewers. So, they hired an engineer, Vidkun, as a guide and through the sewers and arrived at the recycler of Xizor's Palace. Vidkun, turned on them, but was killed by Dash. Then, they faced six guards, ran up a number of levels up while cutting video security feed lines, and ran into Leia—who escaped on her own. Unfortunately, they ran into Prince Xizor and his personal assassin Guri on level twenty. They were in a standoff, but they carried with them the threat of Class-A thermal deternators. Facing the Xizor and his guards, they deployed one and ran off, but Guri disappeared before that. In escaping, they met up with Guri, and she and Luke had a small duel, then narrowly escaped in the Millennium Falcon. Xizor's Palace was destroyed, but Xizor himself escaped in his personal ship, the Virago, to his skyhook, the Falleen's Fist.
While escaping, he vowed to himself that he would take revenge on Skywalker. Vader heard this and, onboard his Super-class Star Destroyer, the Executor, ordered an assault on the Falleen's Fist. The Millennium Falcon, Outrider and Rogue Squadron fought in a three way battle between Xizor's fleet and the Imperial Navy. The Rebels escaped, and Xizor was executed as punishment.
With Xizor's death and the loss of invaluable data and artifacts in his palace, the Black Sun was dealt a crippling blow; worse, the Empire ended its detente under Vader's orders, and began persecuting and prosecuting the various criminal syndicates that comprised it.
It is uncertain that Xizor died. During the last minute before the destruction of his skyhook one of his commanders asked him several times to surrender. Xizor never answered. That would have given him enough time to escape from the skyhook.
[edit] Theme music
Like Darth Vader's Imperial March by John Williams, Prince Xizor had a leitmotif written for his character. The piece, known as simply "Xizor's Theme," was composed by Joel McNeely and is track #6 on the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack.
