Grand Moff Tarkin

Wilhuff Tarkin was a human male from Eriadu who rose to become the first Grand Moff of the Galactic Empire and Governor of the Outer Rim Territories. Descended from a ruthless and ambitious family, he was an early and faithful servant of Sheev Palpatine, the man who was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. A firm believer in rule through fear, Tarkin became the foremost advocate and overseer of the Death Star, the battle station whose power he intended to make the symbol that would hold the galaxy in line.

Rise under Palpatine#

Tarkin was descended from a ruthless and ambitious family on Eriadu, in the Seswenna sector. He first met Sheev Palpatine while still a cadet, at a time when Palpatine was secretly apprenticed to the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis. As Tarkin served in the Republic's Judicial Department, Palpatine cultivated him, supporting bills in the Senate that aided Eriadu and its sector and maintaining a faithful correspondence with the young officer. When Tarkin grew disillusioned with the Judicial force, Palpatine urged him in a rare face-to-face meeting to enter planetary politics as governor of Eriadu, warning of dark forces stirring in their corner of the galaxy and promising the backing of himself and his shadowy allies.

In the years before the Clone Wars, Tarkin also met several times with Count Dooku, who sought to draw the influential Outer Rim official into the Separatist movement. In truth those meetings had been orchestrated by Palpatine to test Tarkin's loyalty, and the governor remained firm in his commitment to the Republic.

Service in the Clone Wars#

During the Clone Wars, Tarkin served the Republic as a military officer. He was among those rescued during the breakout from the Separatist prison known as the Citadel. At the trial of the Padawan Ahsoka Tano, accused of bombing the Jedi Temple, Tarkin acted as prosecutor opposite Senator Padme Amidala for the defense, before the true culprit was revealed and Tano acquitted. His service drew him steadily closer to the center of Palpatine's plans.

Grand Moff of the Empire#

When the Republic was reorganized into the Galactic Empire, Tarkin rose to the newly created rank of Grand Moff and was made Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, a position that gave him sweeping authority over a vast swath of the galaxy. He became the leading proponent of a doctrine that held the Empire should rule through fear of overwhelming force. He argued that the clones were twice as expensive as a conscripted force and less effective as tools of order, helping set the stage for the clone army's replacement by a military of volunteers and conscripts.

Tarkin enforced Imperial rule with brutal resolve, subjugating the population of the moon Antar 4 in an act that became known as the Antar Atrocity, and pursuing the Empire's enemies across the Outer Rim from his flagship. On occasion he worked alongside the Emperor's enforcer, Darth Vader, and he commanded the orbital bombardment that forced the surrender of Mon Cala. Unlike many, Tarkin remained privately skeptical of the official line that the Jedi had been traitors plotting a coup against the Republic.

The Death Star and death#

Tarkin became the architect and overseer of the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, developed under the codename Project Stardust. The Emperor approved his project and oversaw the early stages of its construction himself. Tarkin's vision was for the battle station to become the symbol of fear that would keep the galaxy in line, allowing the Emperor and Vader the freedom to pursue the deeper secrets of the dark side.

Tarkin commanded the completed Death Star at the height of the Galactic Civil War. When the station moved to destroy the hidden Rebel base, the Alliance to Restore the Republic mounted a desperate assault. At the Battle of Yavin the Death Star was destroyed, and Tarkin died aboard it.