| NOTE: This article is specifically about the Legends version of Grand Moff Tarkin, as the Canon version of this character was voted Pure Evil. Thus, only information about the Legends version of Tarkin should be included, and nothing about the Canon one. |
Grand Moff Tarkin is a major antagonist in the Star Wars franchise, serving as the main antagonist of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the unseen overarching antagonist of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menance, as a cameo antagonist in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and as a recurring anti-hero in the 2008-2020 animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the secondary antagonist of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
He is a xenophobic commander and politician from the planet Eriadu who becomes one of Darth Sidious' closest allies and rising through the ranks of the Galactic Republic and Empire to become one of the most hated villains in the galaxy.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- He was explicitly an accomplice and partner to Palpatine’s conspiracy to assassinate almost all of the board of the Trade Federation to replace them with Nute Gunray and other Neimodians.
- Blocked any investigation into the assassination of the Trade Federation board and stalled it long enough that all of evidence of his and Palpatine’s involvement were lost. This scandal would help weaken Chancellor Finis Valorum and help lead to his ousting and Palpatine becoming Chancellor.
- Inspired the rise of the New Order movement which agreed with his authoritarian, humanocentric (racist against non-humans), and militaristic beliefs. He became one of Palpatine’s closest allies after their initial acquaintance and Palpatine becoming Chancellor.
- He monitored the Jedi to prevent any increase in their power and left a broken secret spy droid for a young Anakin to find, repair, and bring to the Jedi Temple where he would eavesdrop on sensitive Jedi Council meetings. He was also involved in Trade Federation plots to assassinate Jedi.
- 3 years after the invasion of Naboo, while on a mission to discover the legendary planet Zonama Sekot Tarkin discovered and was fascinated by plans for an “Expeditionary Battle Planetoid” from his old “friend” Raith Sienar which could control star systems and was the first precursor to the Death Star.
- Forced Raith to lead a taskforce to Zonama Sekot and purposefully set him up to fail.
- Led an invasion of Zonama Sekot to capture the living planet and secure the living starships so he could rise in status and have a hand in influencing galactic events. In other words, he was planning on using and double crossing Palpatine who sent him on the mission in the first place.
- Captured a 12 year old Anakin Skywalker who was on Zonama Sekot and nearly provoked the boy into attacking him so Tarkin could kill him.
- Once he failed to capture Zonama Sekot, he arrested Raith Sienar and went to Palpatine to present and take sole credit for the Expeditionary Battle Planetoid designs to save himself.
- He was a supporter of Palpatine’s authoritarian consolidation of power and frequently argued in the Senate to give the Chancellor more and more power which had great success in.
- He had no gratitude towards the Jedi for rescuing him from the Citadel during the Clone Wars. Instead, he constantly complained and only followed the Jedi’s plans to save himself and because there was no other option.
- Served as a corrupting influence for Anakin Skywalker and only “respected” him for his ruthlessness as he found that the ethics of the Jedi were limiting. Let’s not forget he captured and attacked Anakin before.
- Despite serving under Jedi general Even Piell, he showed no sadness over the general’s death and instead was angered that he decided to pass on the other half of the Nexus route info to Ahsoka Tano. He also showed no gratitude over Ahsoka Tano saving his life from Osi Sobeck making him appear to be ungreatful.
- It is heavily implied that he was lying when he said he was only supposed to tell the Nexus Route info to Palpatine as Even Piell to Ahsoka only to share it with the Jedi Council.
- He wrote a memorandum requesting that the Jedi be taken out of commanding the Republic Military over an incident where Anakin Skywalker’s droid R2-D2 actually saved him and an entire Republic conference from death by a Separatist trap, once again proving how ungrateful Tarkin is.
- He tried to execute Ahsoka Tano who was still a minor for the Jedi Temple bombings based off incredibly circumstantial evidence.
- When he discovered the long lost and incredibly powerful Omwat species, he kept it as a a secret to himself only as he saw the species as a resource he could exploit in the future.
- As he predicted and wanted, he was promoted as the first Moff or regional governor of the Galactic Republic which rendered the Senate and democracy practically worthless, something Tarkin took pleasure in.
- Once the Galactic Empire had been formed, he gained access to supervising some of the construction of the project and plotted to gain complete oversight over the project.
- Tracked several fugitive Jedi after Order 66 and convinced Darth Vader not to just hunt them down but lead a full scale invasion of Kashyyyk where they were hiding, so Tarkin could enslave the Wookies.
- Enslaved 200,000 Wookies to work on the Death Star project and was one of the few Imperial officers not to be disturbed by Darth Vader’s ruthlessness and instead asked to be partner with Vader more as he saw Vader as an effective asset.
- Besides Darth Sidious himself, he was the driving intellectual force of the Empire, producing works and speeches to rationalize the brutal autocracy.
- He gained a notorious reputation for being brutal and merciless tactics he used to win battles even compared to other Imperial officers.
- He would end Vader’s career if Vader failed to rescue his son as Vader realized.
- He became much more ruthless and consumed by vengeance against rebels after the death of his son Garoche Tarkin (which Vader and the Emperor had actually murdered to accomplish this effect).
- Discovered the unstable Maw cluster and sent a survey team to find other routes to it and established a base within it. He then killed the survey team and erased all evidence of the Maw Cluster to ensure only he knew of its existence.
- Landed his ship on peaceful protestors on the planet Ghorman, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.
- Created the Tarkin Doctrine policy soon adopted by Sidious and the Empire which stated that the Empire should create more superweapons and invest in more military force than required to terrorize planets in display of power to intimidate the galaxy into submission.
- He became the first Grand Moff of the Empire, controlling the largest territory of any Imperial governor and gained total control of the Death Star project as Sidious was very impressed by the Tarkin Doctrine. He would use his power to decimate and pacify the Outer Rim, wiping out nearly all resistance.
- He married Thalassa Motti not out of any love for her but simply for her contacts and money. In fact he soon had an affair with young academy graduate Natasi Daala after getting married to her.
- Tutored Natasi Daala into becoming a skilled and devoted tactician to the Empire.
- When he heard one young officer complain about his and Daala’s relationship, he jetted the officer out the airlock and turned on the comms so the entire crew could hear him scream, plead, and die horribly to deter any other complaints.
- He carried out the Atravis Sector massacres, leading to the deaths of billions.
- Carried out the enslavement and subjugation of the Mon Calamari, personally enslaving Gial Ackbar as his servant and “pet”.
- Showed no sadness over the death of his brother, and once he gained custody of his niece Rivoche, he showed no sympathy to her over the loss of her father and instead sent one of her servant’s and her family to a prison asteroid to intimidate Rivoche and then an elite academy to mold her into an obedient socialite.
- Created the Maw Installation to solve the problems of the Death Star design and make a working prototype, murdering all the workers who built the installation to keep it a secret.
- Kidnapped numerous scientists to force them to work on the Death Star project.
- Promoted Daala to admiral and assigned her to the Maw Installation to destroy any stray ships that come across it.
- Finally exploiting the Omwat discovery, he forced the planet’s children to take an abilities test and kidnapped hundreds of the highest scoring ones. He then forced the top ten into hard labor for two years and if they either slipped up or failed a test, he would destroy their home cities. All the children were killed except one named Qwi Xux who survived the process.
- Ordered the construction of other superweapons like the World Devastators and Sun Crusher.
- Placed the Death Star in the Imperial prison Despayre system and enslaved the prisoners to work on the project. He executed them all when their lack of experience led to delays and malfunctions and brought in Wookie slaves instead.
- Led another invasion of Kashyyyk to force Wookie leaders to give their people up as slaves. When the leaders refused, his forces killed them, took over the planet, enslaved the entire planet, and executed any who resisted. He kept hostages on the planet to force the slaves into compliance along with torturing and drugging them for that purpose.
- Took sadistic pleasure in Vader executing two of the least efficient foreman and hanging their bodies on the Death Star’s mainframe, callously remarking that he was happy to see production speed up.
- Had Vader lead an invasion of Geonosis to wipe out rebel support and resistance along with enslave the planet to work on the Death Star.
- Successfully defeated ex-Imperial officer Han Solo to stop him from freeing Wookie slaves on Kashyyyk.
- Led an attack on Jabiim to wipe out the rebel base there.
- Gave Vader an interdictor cruiser so he could capture the Imperial defector Kalast.
- Planned to commit a full genocide to wipe out the population of the planet Delrakki, but was thankfully stopped by the Rebel Alliance.
- Ordered Vader to pursue the stolen Death Star plans.
- Destroyed the Confederate turned Rebel ship Fortessa using only 4% of the Death Star superlaser power in its first test, killing millions.
- Tested the full power of the superlaser on Despayre once he had no more use of the prison planet, destroying all life on the planet and the planet itself.
- He signed an execution order for Princess Leia once Vader captured her, fully planning to kill her once her usefulness was over.
- Tortured Princess Leia and threatened to destroy her homeworld Alderaan unless she gives up the location of the rebel base.
- Once Leia told him that the rebel base was on Dantooine, he notoriously commits his famous MEH crossing by destroying Alderaan, killing 2 billion people including one of the three founders/leaders of the Rebel Alliance Bail Organa (who is Pure Good), ironically leading to dozens of worlds turning against the Empire and almost all Alderaan Imperial officers to defect.
- Once he discovered that Leia lied to him about Dantooine being the rebel base, he ordered her death immediately but he later agreed with Vader to let her escape so she could lead them to the actual rebel base through the tracking beacon Vader placed on the Millenium Falcon.
- Insisted to Vader that Obi-Wan Kenobi could not leave the Death Star alive and watched remotely as Darth Vader killed his former master.
- He dispatched Admiral Termo to commit a genocide on Delrakkin while he destroyed Yavin 4.
- Ordered the Death Star to fire on Yavin 4 and refused to escape even when pointed out possible weaknesses before his infamous and karmic death.
- It's strongly implied he was planning to use the Death Star to overthrown Palpatine. While Palpatine was even more evil, he didn't want to overthrow him for any moral reasons, but rather so HE could be the Emperor.
- Even after his death, his legacy would carry on through Tarkin doctrine where Sidious announced the Empire would launch even greater terror and oppression to destroy the rebellion along with his lover/protegee Natasi Daala who would continue on his legacy and successfully unify the remnants of the empire after the Emperor's death.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He genuinely loved his son and had Vader try to rescue him when he thought his son was captured by rebels. When he learned from Vader that the rebels killed him (which was a lie as Vader killed him in a conspiracy with the Emperor), Tarkin became consumed with hatred and this was part of the reason he became the cruel and merciless figure we know now just as Darth Sidious wanted.
- He genuinely loved Natasi Daala as he felt their relationship had the passion and love that his marriage lacked. He helped Daala break past the sexist barriers of the Imperial military and promoted her to the first female admiral of the Imperial military as he recognized her skills and talent. He trusted Daala with secrets that he trusted no one else like the existence and location of the Maw Installation and he missed her when she was stationed at the Maw. When she returned but got injured, he rushed her to the med bay and checked on her, reluctantly assigning her back to the Maw when it became clear that she was in danger as his love for her could be used as a weakness by his enemies. She was also the only person who could make him laugh and call him Wilhuff even in professional settings.
External Links[]
- Grand Moff Tarkin on the Villains Wiki
- Grand Moff Tarkin on the Star Wars Wiki
- The Canon version of Grand Moff Tarkin on the Pure Evil Wiki
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 Near Pure Evils
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Live-Action Features Live-Action Television Animated Television Video Games See Also | ||
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TV Shows Over the Garden Wall Codename: Kids Next Door Infinity Train Robotboy Samurai Jack Green Lantern: The Animated Series Batman: The Brave and the Bold The Powerpuff Girls (1998) Star Wars: The Clone Wars Ninjago Steven Universe The Powerpuff Girls (2016) Courage the Cowardly Dog Dodo DC Super Hero Girls (2019) Adult Swim/Toonami Final Space Rick & Morty Fanon The Legend of Team Brunette Ben 10 See Also | ||