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Five Star Wars Eu Villains That Should Be Missed
Introduction
In a previous article, I went over five EU (Expanded Universe) villains from the Star Wars galaxy that I am so glad Disney has rid us of. In this article, I would like to look at five villains that I am sad to see gone. I’m sorry to say that this was a harder article to come up with material for. However, I did come up with five. I have to warn you though that if you are a Kevin J. Anderson fan, you will hate this article. There will be nary a Kevin J. Anderson villain to be found within this list. This is mainly because none of his villains, really none of his characters ever impressed me. If you are really mad about this, I suggest that you create your own list to put forward your own ideas. I personally would love to read them. Now, onto the list.
Yuuzhan Vong
Villain #5: The Yuuzhan Vong (The race that brought the galaxy to its knees)
Alright, I will be the first to admit that the Yuuzhan Vong are not a villain in the strictest sense of the word. But they are in point of fact a villainous race. They come from The New Jedi Order series. After this series, I stopped reading Star Wars books for the most part, and it really seems that the books went majorly downhill afterwards. See the previous article on five bad EU villains to see why I think this. The Yuuzhan Vong were a good conceptual villainous race. They are a horrific looking race that does ritual scarring and genetic implants. That is not what makes them interesting. What makes them interesting is that they have no connection to The Force, which is supposed to you know bind all life together. This leads in the series to some interesting philosophical speculation by the Jedi. However, yet again, I’m missing the main point of interest. Since they have no connection to The Force, they are not Sith. They are also not affiliated with The Empire. They are a new type of villain, which requires creativity. Especially since, the Jedi cannot sense them. The problem the Yuuzhan Vong had was that they were inconsistently written because there were too many authors writing the series.
Grodin Tierce
Villain #4: Grodin Tierce (Well, not really. More of a clone super-commando, that is a failed clone super-commando)
The first thing to know about Grodin Tierce is that he is not Grodin Tierce. Grodin Tierce died shortly after Thrawn died. This Grodin Tierce is Grodin Tierce’s clone with Thrawn’s tactical genius mixed in. He is however ultimately a failed experiment. Thrawn had hoped to create super-commandos with his tactical brilliance, leadership skills, and stormtrooper strength, but all he actually got was a tactically brilliant stormtrooper. Grodin Tierce also becomes mentally unstable. Disra recruits him to help him perpetrate his con. When Pellaeon discovers this though, he reveals it. Grodin Tierce is then killed. He is never the cold calculating Thrawn, and this is what makes him awesome. He isn’t a rehash of a character that was already beaten, but he is a character in his own right.
Yssane Isard
Villain #3: Yssane Isard (It is hard to get more cold blooded than she is)
Yssane Isard is cold blooded. Her father was the head of Imperial Intelligence, and she was a field agent. However, early on in her story, she fails on a mission but turns things to her advantage by pinning the blame on her father, accusing him of treason, having him ousted and arrested, and then taking his job. That is cold blooded, and it is pretty much what you need to know about her character. She does what she needs to survive and win. She also ran a torture prison in a Super-Class Star Destroyer named Lusankya that was buried on Coruscant. After the Emperor’s death, she serves Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, but she is of course planning on overthrowing him. She for a time controls Coruscant, but as she knows that she is going to lose, she creates the deadly Krytos virus to give The New Republic a sick and fragmented world. She also blasts off in the Lusankya, which since it was buried under the city does some damage. She then supports a coup on the planet Thyffera and becomes a warlord. She is finally defeated by Rogue Squadron. Though presumed dead, she does not die in that defeat. She dies later when she is forced to reveal herself to deal with a clone of herself that has betrayed her. Finally, a Republic agent shoots her dead. The main thing about her is that she is a cold blooded methodical schemer. While she does kill a lot of people, she does it for reason. Ysanne Isard does not go on mad pointless murderous rampages like Admiral Daala.
Pellaeon
The Book that introduced him
Villain #2: Admiral Pellaeon (The man who gave the order to retreat at The Second Death Star)
This character suffers from the same problem that many characters of the EU suffer from. It is the same problem that comic book characters also suffer from. This is the problem of too many cooks or in this case writers. He is introduced to us as Grand Admiral Thrawn’s right hand man. Grand Admiral Thrawn chose him for this position because he is the one that ordered the retreat at The Battle of Endor. He learns tactics from Thrawn, one of the best villains that Star Wars ever produced. Pellaeon is also a character of nuance, which is why it is hard to define him as merely a villain. Unlike most of the villains of the EU, who are blood thirsty psychopaths or power hungry psychopaths or both, Pellaeon is a reasonable human being. When he sees that The Empire has no chance of beating the New Republic in The Hand of Thrawn Duology, he seeks to make peace. What is even more telling about his character in these books is his response to one of his officer’s concerns over Thrawn’s return. Thrawn, who should be dead, has supposedly returned as mentioned above in the Grodin Tierce section. One of Pellaeon’s officers says that he hopes it is not the case because Thrawn did not come to Pellaeon. Pellaeon’s response is that he hopes Thrawn has returned because it would be good for the Empire. Unlike many villains in the Star Wars galaxy he is able to put his own ego aside for the good of The Empire. Now, he is still serving the wrong side, but he is not the most vile of men, which makes him an actually excellent nuanced villain.
Grand Admiral Thrawn
The Second Book in The Thrawn Trilogy
Villain #1: Grand Admiral Thrawn (Because tactically brilliant, blue skinned aliens with red eyes are awesome)
Where to even begin with this guy. He is a tactical genius, who launches several attacks against the fledgling New Republic that nearly bring it to its knees. This is the guy, who dropped cloaked asteroids around Coruscant to effectively knock it out of the war. He is the only alien to ever reach the rank of Grand Admiral. He also studies the art of races and planets to understand their culture and how that affects their actions in battles. In other words, he puts thought into his military campaigns; he does not just go on a bloody rampage. He also finds some of Palpatine’s cloning equipment and begins to build his own clone army to help refurbish the empire’s waning resources. Yet again though, this villain is awesome because he is nuanced. He is not just after blood or power. He is after, well, order. He is a character that believes in a well ordered government, which he does not see The New Republic providing. Of course, he is still a horrible individual, who will go to great lengths to bring about his well ordered galaxy. He also makes some critical errors. This is mainly due to the race called the Noghri. He uses them as his bodyguards, but he has also been perpetrating a crime against them by poisoning their world. When Leia shows this to them, they are shocked and angry. Finally, one of Thrawn’s own Noghri bodyguards kills him. This leads to Thrawn’s final awesome statement, which is that the deed of assassination was artistically done.
Conclusion
These are villains from the EU that I will miss. But who knows? Perhaps they will show up in some way in the Star Wars stuff that is yet to come.