To its critics and detractors, both intrinsic and extrinsic to the authentic history of the Star Wars saga, the Galactic Empire is guilty of a number of
abuses of what might be termed “inalienable sapient rights” of its citizenry. These abuses may generally be defined as belonging to one of two
natures: That of eliminating a liberal democratic government and replacing it with a statist, authoritarian regime characterized by collectivist and
militaristic policies, and that of imposing an unjust social order, characterized by misogyny and xenophobia. Leaving aside those abuses of a political
nature — the Empire is by its own admission an autocratic entity, so the veracity of those accusations is a moot question, leaving only moral
judgment of its deeds for consideration (a matter beyond the scope of this site) — it is instructive to consider the specific nature of the sex- and
species-based discrimination and social injustice which the Empire is charged with having perpetrated systemically at a galactic scale. As hitherto
stated, the charges tend to focus on two rather clearly defined forms of discrimination: misogyny and xenophobia.
To be sure, there is a definite trend toward male dominance in the Imperial State, which is not especially surprising; authoritarian regimes have
traditionally tended toward male domination. In this case, it is not so much a question of whether or not there was an institutional bias — given that
there is no reason to believe otherwise, one may accept the charge as being more or less true — but rather in what way the bias is manifested and
how it affects females’ careers. There are several examples of female service members and officials whose careers and influence in the Imperial State
indicate that the institutional bias against females is not as pervasive and monolithic as one might otherwise be led to believe. It is possible that the
degree to which the bias interferes with females’ careers is increased and decreased by the relative influence of the Imperial State’s competing lines
of influence (viz., political orthodoxy, aristocracy, and meritocracy). A female who demonstrates high merit may not be denied advancement and
success in some areas of the Empire, but the same female may encounter considerable hostility in other parts.
The most prominent example of a female in a high position in the Empire is that of Ysanne Isard, Director of Imperial Intelligence, who first
appeared in Rogue Squadron, who eventually came to rule the Empire as empress in all but name after the Galactic Emperor’s death at the Battle of
Endor; it is noteworthy that Isard’s position makes her the uniformed head of a branch of the Imperial Armed Forces, as the Death Star Technical
Companion confirms that Imperial Intelligence is the military counterpart to the civilian controlled quasi-official Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). In
Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader regards the Galactic Emperor’s courtiers — some of whom are known from The Dark Side Sourcebook to have been
dark side hierarchs in their own right — as “easy, violent men and women, lusting to be tampered with”; here again it is noteworthy that the
Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition indicates that the Privy Council is responsible for the selection of Moff Governors. There is in the Imperial
Government the example of the Lady Chawkroft, who rapidly climbed the political ladder to become Minister of Corrections of the Galactic Empire
in the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook; she is in fact the first of only two members of the Government known by name and office.
Tapani Sector Instant Adventures features “Imperial Economics Advisor” Adana Vermor, whose relative unimportance with respect to other Privy
Counsellors does not diminish her influence and power relative to the rest of the galaxy (indeed, the normally ferocious Imperial Security Bureau
thought-police were forced to search for evidence before they could even bring her to trial when she was suspected of disloyalty, a far cry from the
brutal police state tactics the ISB is known to favor). Additionally, there are known to have been female members of the Imperial Senate. These
include Senator Mon Mothma (Chandrila) in Return of the Jedi, her successor Senator Canna Omonda from The Official Star Wars Adventure
Journal No. 3, Senator the Princess Leia of Alderaan (Alderaan) in A New Hope, and Senator Canny Mandary Bertar (Mrlsst) in Coruscant and the
Core Worlds; Bertar is a particularly interesting case in that she is Mrlssti and is therefore a member of two disadvantaged groups, being both female
and nonhuman. Despite this, Bertar chairs the Senate Dispensation Committee, which oversees government licensing, such as shipping licenses and
bounty hunting permits.
The Imperial State’s other branches also included females in important positions. Tour Aryon was Governor of Tatooine in Galaxy Guide 7: Mos
Eisley and Crela Nen was Director of Administration, Colonial Government of Goroth Prime, in Goroth: Slave of the Empire. The influential media
mogul Mahd Windcaller operated an extensive news network that doubled as an Imperial intelligence apparatus, had been a supporter of the New
Order since its beginning, and was eventually seated on the Imperial Interim Ruling Council, in Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood and the Star
Wars Handbook Volume Two: Crimson Empire; she may have been the chairwoman of the extremely powerful Millennium Entertainments
multistellar corporation. Drayneen achieved the rank of Inquisitor in the Rebellion Era Sourcebook, as did Shynne, who preferred to remain near the
Citadel Inquisitorius, Prakith, in “Byss and the Deep Core, Part 3: Prakith.” More Starships! features Iran, Countess Ryad, an experienced and
influential politician whose precise position in the Imperial State is unclear but is known to have been very wealthy and powerful, especially within
the Imperial Navy.
Other prominently successful females in the Imperial State include Admiral Betl Oxtroe, who was able to negotiate in good faith with the New
Republic regarding a potential merger between that state and the Galactic Empire before her untimely assassination in the Dark Empire Sourcebook,
the unnamed female admiral seen in “Boba Fett: Overkill,” Major General Tessala Corvae, an honors graduate of the Military Academy at Carida
who was Commanding General, 1st Tapani Assault Battlegroup, in Lords of the Expanse: Gamemaster Guide, Captain Plikk, who was commodore
of a squadron of six battlecruisers in “The Dreams of Cody Sunn-Childe!”, Captain Tanda Pryl, who was Commanding Officer, HIMS
Thunderflare, in Planets of the Galaxy Volume Three, Major Shira Elan Colla Brie, a Special Forces honors graduate from the Military Academy at
Carida whose true origin was explained in “The Mind Spider!”, Major (i.e., Lieutenant Commander) Civé Rashon (OS-72-1), who was Commanding
Officer, Obsidian Squadron, an elite fighter squadron embarked aboard HIMS Avenger in the Special Edition Expansion Set, and Lieutenant Kasan
Moor, who was the acting Commanding Officer, 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron, in Rogue Squadron 3-D. Even rebel Alliance officer Huoba Neva,
a female Sullustan, was graduated fourth in her class from the Academy in the Dark Empire Sourcebook.
There are also a handful of minor females seen throughout the Imperial Armed Forces, such as Lieutenant Commander Janna Tammok, the head of
security for Dandamont Pring, Consul General of the Galactic Empire in Drev’starn, Bothawui, in the Shadows of the Empire Planets Guide,
Captain Zeta Traal, a diplomat and Imperial military attaché to Velmor in “The Last Jedi!”, the highly-decorated bomber pilot Lieutenant Zoodia
Tantra (“considered a hero in the Empire”) in “Droids Defiant,” the sub-lieutenant standing watch on the bridge of HIMS Crucible in “Walking the
Path That’s Given,” or the female watch officer in the Krake Data Vault in “The Mind Spider!” Certainly female Naval Aviatrices like Rashon,
Moor, and Tantra cannot have been very uncommon, or else Mara Jade’s masquerade as a Naval Aviatrix aboard HIMS Chimaera in Dark Force
Rising would have been a profoundly useless and stupid disguise. In Wraith Squadron, the Imperial Warlord Zsinj is said to make use of the same
crewing standards as the Imperial Navy, and one of his ships is seen to have included female petty officers in its ship’s company. Brie’s classmate
and roommate Cadet Myrette Davani enjoyed considerable success alongside her roommate during their time at the Military Academy at Carida in
“Carida: Heavy Duty, Part 4: Cadets Gone Wild.” In The Paradise Snare, it is remarked that each ‘cadet candidate’ of the Imperial Space Academy
“was expected to be an officer and a gentleman (or woman).”
These women demonstrate that it is possible for able females to achieve success and advancement in the Galactic Empire (Brie and Davani were
even awarded a two-day liberty pass prior to their graduation in recognition of “consistent high scores,” and Brie notably graduated with the highest
scores and honors in the Military Academy’s history, according to “The Mind Spider!”). Indeed, many of these women achieved command of a
ship or squadron, traditionally considered the pinnacle of a Naval career; Moor’s case is especially noteworthy in that she held command as a
lieutenant (captain), whereas squadron COs are typically lieutenant commanders (majors). This is all of course out of step with the experience of
‘Fleet Admiral’ Daala from Jedi Search, whose story is almost stereotypical in its hazing and discrimination. Daala’s career was marred from her
arrival at the Military Academy at Carida by prejudice, and she bitterly resented the promotion of others whom she felt were less qualified than
herself, including her classmates Moff Governor Getelles and his right hand man Admiral Larm. She only achieved her rank of fleet admiral and
command of a squadron of four Star Destroyers after she became mistress of Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. How does her experience relate to the
experiences of the other, more successful females? To what extent did her illicit sexual relationship with Tarkin (a married man) impact her eventual
rise through the ranks?
In the first place, Daala herself admitted that she did not graduate from the Military Academy in Darksaber and further admitted that she was in
fact a corporal when she first met Tarkin on Carida, demonstrating conclusively that she was not a commissioned officer in the Imperial Navy, nor
even an enlisted sailor (corporal is an army or marine rank, equivalent to the naval petty officer third class or leading rate). The scribe adds in The
New Essential Guide to Characters that her supposed rank of fleet admiral was “an unofficial promotion outside of Coruscant’s naval hierarchy, but
a legitimate one among Tarkin’s forces in the Outer Rim.” It appears, then, that her rank was a sort of local commission valid only within
Oversector Outer, or a commission within a local Security Force — or perhaps even no real commission of any kind in any regular naval force. It is
possible that her experience at the Military Academy took place before females were really accepted in the Imperial forces; alternatively (and
perhaps more likely), in light of her dismal performance as a combat commander — marked as it is by repeated disaster and abysmally stupid
decisions — it is entirely possible that her experiences were simply the result of her profound incompetence, and that her venomous hatred for
classmates like Getelles and Larm was simply a product of embittered jealousy rather than insulted professionalism (one questions the
professionalism and integrity of an adulteress who complains loudly of the graduation and promotion of ‘less qualified’ individuals, without uttering
a word against her own installation as a fleet admiral over the heads of actual Naval officers by the very man she was sleeping with in the first place;
although she has demonstrated considerable ability at pillow warfare, her skills in space warfare leave much to be desired). Certainly the Imperial
Armed Forces are known to be draconian in their intolerance of failure and error.
The cases of Canny Mandary Bertar and Huoba Neva touch on the other victim of discrimination in the Imperial State, nonhumans. According to
the Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition, all sapient inhabitants of the Empire, including nonhumans, are considered to be full Imperial citizens and
are entitled to the same rights and immunities. The Dark Empire Sourcebook indicates that the majority of Imperial citizens — therefore including
nonhumans — live on Mussolinified “clean, orderly police-state planets.” Nevertheless, there are definite instances of unjust discrimination and
abuse by the Imperial State of nonhumans and their rights, many or most of which are probably formally illegal even in the context of the Empire.
This includes the statements of Coruscant and the Core Worlds regarding the imposition of the so-called Alien Protection Zone on Imperial Center
(basically a ghetto for more visibly nonhuman species), the prohibition of nonhumans applying to the University of Coruscant, and the expulsion of
all nonhumans already attending the University. There is also the decision to use Gorothites as “client-workers” (i.e., wage slaves) of the Tagge
Company and the Karflo Corporation on Goroth Prime with the connivance of the Colonial Government in Goroth: Slave of the Empire.
At the highest level of power in the Imperial State, Sate Pestage, the Grand Vizier of the Galactic Empire, incorporated his own xenophobic biases
into Human High Culture, according to the scribe’s biography of him in The New Essential Guide to Characters; Human High Culture is without
question to blame for much of the official and unofficial discrimination faced by nonhumans throughout the galaxy, and was enthusiastically
embraced and promoted by human supremacists like Grand Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus, Grand Admiral Ishin-
Il-Raz (one of the founders and chief ideologues of COMPNOR), and Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta. Human High Culture seems to have played to
existing prejudices and distrust on the part of portions of human society, thus explaining the ease with which it took hold (certainly Tarkin was
already a human supremacist as early as 6 rS in Rogue Planet). That is to say, the prejudice that existed in Imperial society was not a product of the
Empire, but existed even in the late Republic. It was magnified, but not created, by the policies of certain Imperial leaders.
Nevertheless, nonhumans may be able to achieve success and advancement in the Imperial State, subject to the degree of influence of Human High
Culture at certain critical points in their careers. Like females, this is quite possibly affected by the relative dominance of the three lines of influence,
although in the case of nonhumans and especially female nonhumans Human High Culture complicates the matter; an orthodox politico may be
willing to accept an ideologically correct nonhuman as easily or even more so than an aristocrat will accept a noble nonhuman, while a meritocrat’s
prejudice may potentially overwhelm even his or her sense of “fair play.”
The highest rank achieved by any nonhuman is that of the so-called dark side adept, a member of the Galactic Emperor’s dark side hierarchy, his
most trusted cadre of advisors and followers. These adherents of the dark side of the Force, who first appeared in Dark Empire, were explained by
the Dark Empire Sourcebook to have “proven their loyalty to their master” and to have been “indoctrinated into the ways of the Dark Side”;
although none of them were comparable to the Galactic Emperor’s level of mastery, some of them “did become quite powerful indeed,” with some
“taught ways of combat and made into Dark Jedi,” others “joined the elite of Imperial functionaries,” and others “courtiers at the Palace,” in all
capacities acting in the Galactic Emperor’s name “with his total trust and confidence.” Indeed, prior to the Battle of Endor, “many had been
gathered into the Imperial Ruling Council.” Speaking of the membership of this elite order of dark side adherents, the Dark Empire Sourcebook
mentions that “a number of these were aliens” who had “already mastered the unique sorceries of their own species.” One of the Imperial State’s
dark side hierarchs and highest ranking nonhumans was the Lord Hethrir, a male Firrerreo who had become at Darth Vader’s behest the Procurator of
Justice and the Imperial State’s chief executioner; the Lord Hethrir first appeared in The Crystal Star, and was himself responsible for many of the
Imperial State’s xenophobic atrocities, including one incident in which he ordered the destruction of his own species’s homeworld Firrerre in order
to prove his loyalty to his master, the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Nonhumans and humans of nonhuman descent — a concept which seems to defy reason but is nevertheless accepted as valid within the continuity
of Star Wars — have achieved high ranks in the Imperial Armed Forces and other apparatus of the Imperial State, as well. Most prominent among
these is of course Grand Admiral Thrawn, WE, a male Chiss who rose to the highest rank of the Imperial Navy and first appeared in Heir to the
Empire; Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta the rabid human supremacist was ironically himself of nonhuman descent, his pedigree being known to include
“several non-human ancestors, including a Borneck and an Etti,” according to “Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals.” Other high-ranking members
of the Imperial State known or suspected to be of nonhuman descent include Grand Moff Governor Bertroff Hissa, the Chairman of the Central
Committee of Grand Moffs who first appeared in The Glove of Darth Vader and Bin Essada, Governor of Circarpous Major, said to be a possible
nonhuman by Rebellion, his human appearance notwithstanding. Bizarrely, there is one other known nonhuman senior official of the college of
Moffs: Grand Moff 4-8C (“For Atesee”), an IG-88 assassin ‘droid working with COMPNOR’s Redesign division who appeared in Prisoners of the
Nikto Pirates.
A handful of nonhumans have been seen elsewhere in the Imperial State. The Prince Xizor of Falleen, simultaneously head of the enormous shipping
company Xizor Transport Systems (with the largest private navy in the galaxy at the time) and also overlord of the Black Sun criminal syndicate,
was one of the Galactic Emperor’s most privileged courtiers in Shadows of the Empire, after Orman, Baron Tagge’s death. The erudite and
aggressive General Sk’ar, a huge nonhuman biped with purple skin and skull-like features, commanded a large Imperial joint-service strike force
invading Shiva IV in “The Last Gift from Alderaan!” and “Starfire Rising!” Major Rahz, a reptilian Gektl, was charged by Darth Vader with
arresting the dissident teachers on Harix in “Bring Me the Children: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.” There are the aforementioned cases
of Senator Canny Mandary Bertar and Huoba Neva, as well as the Grannan Senator for Malastare, mentioned by Vader himself in The Essential
Guide to Alien Species, and the nonhuman members of the Imperial Interim Ruling Council in Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood: Norym Kim, a
male Myke and former pirate, Spearmaster Ch’unkk, a male Whiphid, the Lord Manos, a male Devaronian and foreman of the galaxy’s largest labor
union, Kooloota-Fyf, a male Givin and head of the Shipbuilders and Astromechs Guild, and the Prince Za, a male Defel. According to Galaxy Guide
4: Alien Races, the intelligent arachnoid Sic-Six species has “become well established in Imperial society.” There is even the example of the Barabels
of Barab I, who were being illegally hunted by the Imperially-chartered corporation Planetary Safaris Inc. in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races; Planetary
Safaris was ignoring and even concealing evidence of sapience on the part of the Barabels, and the Barabels eventually began to band together and
exterminate Planetary Safaris hunting parties. After Sector Governor Paro Lanto received word of the goings-on on Barab I, he ordered a Star
Destroyer to investigate, as per the Dangerous Species Act; upon discovering that the Barabel were in fact sapient, Lanto “saw to it that Barab I
was admitted to the Empire and its sentients given the full protection of Imperial Law.”
Slavery and genocide are the worst and most egregious abuses perpetrated by the Imperial State. Much as the partially nonhuman Pitta was
responsible for some of the Empire’s worst atrocities, the Suprema, a vaguely canine biped who described himself as “chieftain of the entire
Mandalorian slave colony,” was said by his stormtroopers to have been chosen personally by the Galactic Emperor to head an enormous and secret
slaver ring on Mandalore in “Death in the City of Bone!”; “The History of the Mandalorians” specifically calls the Suprema an “Imperial Adviser,”
which indicates that he would enjoy the privilege of helping to select the Imperial State’s Moff Governors, amongst other rights, privileges, and
immunities. It is notable that the Suprema’s slave colony procured humans as slaves as well, demonstrating that the Imperial State’s disregard for its
citizens’ rights was not strictly on a basis of species. Aside from the Suprema’s operation on Mandalore, which was specifically said to provide
labor for the Imperial war machine, a number of other species are known to have been enslaved for technical ability or simply cheap labor. This
includes the enslavement of the Mon Calamari, the Wookiees, and the Talz, mentioned in various sources like Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
and Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, although technically the Wookiees and Mon Calamari were classified as non-sapient, and were therefore not
“enslaved” but rather “domesticated”; it seems likely that, like the classification of Ranats as “semi-intelligent,” this bit of legal legerdemain was
probably not sustainable under Imperial law and may have been concealed from the Imperial Senate, taking place as it did in the distant Outer Rim
Territories Region, far from the Senate and the Core Worlds Region.
The existence of slavery is peculiar in the galactic economy, were manual labor by ‘droids and automata is substantially cheaper, more reliable, and
more economically sound than slavery could possibly be. Indeed, artificially-intelligent automata perform far more than simple manual labor tasks,
performing complicated tasks such as the manufacture of other ‘droids on Mechis III in “Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88” and on Telti in The
New Rebellion, or advanced feats of urban renewal on Imperial Center in Wedge’s Gamble. Perhaps an explanation is given by the fact that the Dark
Empire Sourcebook describes slaves in the Veers household as being domestic servants and tutors, in a sort of permanent indentured servitude. In
this case, slaves are substituted for ‘droids not to perform mechanical labor, but to serve in a more specialized role which social norms may hold as
being more appropriate for a sapient being than for a machine. Alternatively, it could be that possession of a slave is regarded as a status symbol, a
sapient being being a rather more precious commodity than a machine; it is even possible that the possession of a slave is prized for no better reason
than enjoyment of the degradation of an “inferior” being. Certainly, there is a limit to the economic soundness of the use of slave labor where
untiring machines would be more efficient and more effective. At least one instance of slavery is known to have a motive other than economics; the
exploitative “One and All” religion on Ylesia was revealed in The Paradise Snare to pimp out devotees in “pleasure-houses” for Imperial soldiers (it
being simultaneously revealed that Imperial soldiers preferred humanoid — not strictly limited to human — ‘comfort-women,’ demonstrating that
Imperial disregard for sapient rights was not exclusively a characteristic of its treatment of nonhuman species).
Possibly the worst atrocities committed against any group in the Empire were perpetrated by Pitta’s three dungeon ships Apocahk, Angrix, and
Azgoghk, which are said by “Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals” to have “roared through the Outer Rim, depopulating alien homeworlds and
dooming their inhabitants to slavery or vivisection.” It is notable that this operation, like many of the Imperial State’s most notorious excesses, took
place in the Outer Rim and were probably concealed from the Imperial Senate and the member states. Indeed, according to the Princess Leia of
Alderaan, a former Imperial Senator, the use of energy weapons on primitive sentients was a violation of the Imperial Charter, and it is quite
possible — and indeed probable — that operations like Pitta’s Human High Culture-inspired reign of terror in the Outer Rim were quite illegal under
Imperial law. It is noteworthy that Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker reveals that the Princess Leia, a dissident leader with ties to
the best-organized rebel group in the galaxy, had not believed the rumors that the IT-O interrogator even existed in the first place, let alone that the
Empire actually used it (her experience aboard the first Death Star dissuaded her from this belief).
The size and complexity of the Imperial State in particular and of the Galactic Empire as a whole are in large part responsible for the varying
treatment of females and nonhumans. It is possible for prejudiced individuals to rise to power and use their positions and authority to put their
prejudices into practice, putting them into official policy or else simply disregarding law and accepted practice. It is also possible for individuals of
sufficient power and political know-how to conceal the true nature and extent of their activities, perpetrating gross violations of sapient rights —
nominally enjoyed by all Imperial citizens, which is the same thing as all sapient inhabitants of the Galactic Empire — and thereby discriminate
against and oppress others, quite apart from the Imperial State’s penchant for autocracy and draconian measures. It is therefore clear that although
the rebel Alliance may at times exaggerate or confuse the specific scale or nature of the Empire’s atrocities and crimes (many appear rather to be
unofficial than official and formal state policies), and although the Imperial State does provide examples of successful members of “disadvantaged”
groups, the Imperial State and its members nevertheless also provide examples of gross violations and abuses of sapient rights. It is perhaps a
reflection of the axiom that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
References:
abuses of what might be termed “inalienable sapient rights” of its citizenry. These abuses may generally be defined as belonging to one of two
natures: That of eliminating a liberal democratic government and replacing it with a statist, authoritarian regime characterized by collectivist and
militaristic policies, and that of imposing an unjust social order, characterized by misogyny and xenophobia. Leaving aside those abuses of a political
nature — the Empire is by its own admission an autocratic entity, so the veracity of those accusations is a moot question, leaving only moral
judgment of its deeds for consideration (a matter beyond the scope of this site) — it is instructive to consider the specific nature of the sex- and
species-based discrimination and social injustice which the Empire is charged with having perpetrated systemically at a galactic scale. As hitherto
stated, the charges tend to focus on two rather clearly defined forms of discrimination: misogyny and xenophobia.
To be sure, there is a definite trend toward male dominance in the Imperial State, which is not especially surprising; authoritarian regimes have
traditionally tended toward male domination. In this case, it is not so much a question of whether or not there was an institutional bias — given that
there is no reason to believe otherwise, one may accept the charge as being more or less true — but rather in what way the bias is manifested and
how it affects females’ careers. There are several examples of female service members and officials whose careers and influence in the Imperial State
indicate that the institutional bias against females is not as pervasive and monolithic as one might otherwise be led to believe. It is possible that the
degree to which the bias interferes with females’ careers is increased and decreased by the relative influence of the Imperial State’s competing lines
of influence (viz., political orthodoxy, aristocracy, and meritocracy). A female who demonstrates high merit may not be denied advancement and
success in some areas of the Empire, but the same female may encounter considerable hostility in other parts.
The most prominent example of a female in a high position in the Empire is that of Ysanne Isard, Director of Imperial Intelligence, who first
appeared in Rogue Squadron, who eventually came to rule the Empire as empress in all but name after the Galactic Emperor’s death at the Battle of
Endor; it is noteworthy that Isard’s position makes her the uniformed head of a branch of the Imperial Armed Forces, as the Death Star Technical
Companion confirms that Imperial Intelligence is the military counterpart to the civilian controlled quasi-official Imperial Security Bureau (ISB). In
Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader regards the Galactic Emperor’s courtiers — some of whom are known from The Dark Side Sourcebook to have been
dark side hierarchs in their own right — as “easy, violent men and women, lusting to be tampered with”; here again it is noteworthy that the
Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition indicates that the Privy Council is responsible for the selection of Moff Governors. There is in the Imperial
Government the example of the Lady Chawkroft, who rapidly climbed the political ladder to become Minister of Corrections of the Galactic Empire
in the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook; she is in fact the first of only two members of the Government known by name and office.
Tapani Sector Instant Adventures features “Imperial Economics Advisor” Adana Vermor, whose relative unimportance with respect to other Privy
Counsellors does not diminish her influence and power relative to the rest of the galaxy (indeed, the normally ferocious Imperial Security Bureau
thought-police were forced to search for evidence before they could even bring her to trial when she was suspected of disloyalty, a far cry from the
brutal police state tactics the ISB is known to favor). Additionally, there are known to have been female members of the Imperial Senate. These
include Senator Mon Mothma (Chandrila) in Return of the Jedi, her successor Senator Canna Omonda from The Official Star Wars Adventure
Journal No. 3, Senator the Princess Leia of Alderaan (Alderaan) in A New Hope, and Senator Canny Mandary Bertar (Mrlsst) in Coruscant and the
Core Worlds; Bertar is a particularly interesting case in that she is Mrlssti and is therefore a member of two disadvantaged groups, being both female
and nonhuman. Despite this, Bertar chairs the Senate Dispensation Committee, which oversees government licensing, such as shipping licenses and
bounty hunting permits.
The Imperial State’s other branches also included females in important positions. Tour Aryon was Governor of Tatooine in Galaxy Guide 7: Mos
Eisley and Crela Nen was Director of Administration, Colonial Government of Goroth Prime, in Goroth: Slave of the Empire. The influential media
mogul Mahd Windcaller operated an extensive news network that doubled as an Imperial intelligence apparatus, had been a supporter of the New
Order since its beginning, and was eventually seated on the Imperial Interim Ruling Council, in Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood and the Star
Wars Handbook Volume Two: Crimson Empire; she may have been the chairwoman of the extremely powerful Millennium Entertainments
multistellar corporation. Drayneen achieved the rank of Inquisitor in the Rebellion Era Sourcebook, as did Shynne, who preferred to remain near the
Citadel Inquisitorius, Prakith, in “Byss and the Deep Core, Part 3: Prakith.” More Starships! features Iran, Countess Ryad, an experienced and
influential politician whose precise position in the Imperial State is unclear but is known to have been very wealthy and powerful, especially within
the Imperial Navy.
Other prominently successful females in the Imperial State include Admiral Betl Oxtroe, who was able to negotiate in good faith with the New
Republic regarding a potential merger between that state and the Galactic Empire before her untimely assassination in the Dark Empire Sourcebook,
the unnamed female admiral seen in “Boba Fett: Overkill,” Major General Tessala Corvae, an honors graduate of the Military Academy at Carida
who was Commanding General, 1st Tapani Assault Battlegroup, in Lords of the Expanse: Gamemaster Guide, Captain Plikk, who was commodore
of a squadron of six battlecruisers in “The Dreams of Cody Sunn-Childe!”, Captain Tanda Pryl, who was Commanding Officer, HIMS
Thunderflare, in Planets of the Galaxy Volume Three, Major Shira Elan Colla Brie, a Special Forces honors graduate from the Military Academy at
Carida whose true origin was explained in “The Mind Spider!”, Major (i.e., Lieutenant Commander) Civé Rashon (OS-72-1), who was Commanding
Officer, Obsidian Squadron, an elite fighter squadron embarked aboard HIMS Avenger in the Special Edition Expansion Set, and Lieutenant Kasan
Moor, who was the acting Commanding Officer, 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron, in Rogue Squadron 3-D. Even rebel Alliance officer Huoba Neva,
a female Sullustan, was graduated fourth in her class from the Academy in the Dark Empire Sourcebook.
There are also a handful of minor females seen throughout the Imperial Armed Forces, such as Lieutenant Commander Janna Tammok, the head of
security for Dandamont Pring, Consul General of the Galactic Empire in Drev’starn, Bothawui, in the Shadows of the Empire Planets Guide,
Captain Zeta Traal, a diplomat and Imperial military attaché to Velmor in “The Last Jedi!”, the highly-decorated bomber pilot Lieutenant Zoodia
Tantra (“considered a hero in the Empire”) in “Droids Defiant,” the sub-lieutenant standing watch on the bridge of HIMS Crucible in “Walking the
Path That’s Given,” or the female watch officer in the Krake Data Vault in “The Mind Spider!” Certainly female Naval Aviatrices like Rashon,
Moor, and Tantra cannot have been very uncommon, or else Mara Jade’s masquerade as a Naval Aviatrix aboard HIMS Chimaera in Dark Force
Rising would have been a profoundly useless and stupid disguise. In Wraith Squadron, the Imperial Warlord Zsinj is said to make use of the same
crewing standards as the Imperial Navy, and one of his ships is seen to have included female petty officers in its ship’s company. Brie’s classmate
and roommate Cadet Myrette Davani enjoyed considerable success alongside her roommate during their time at the Military Academy at Carida in
“Carida: Heavy Duty, Part 4: Cadets Gone Wild.” In The Paradise Snare, it is remarked that each ‘cadet candidate’ of the Imperial Space Academy
“was expected to be an officer and a gentleman (or woman).”
These women demonstrate that it is possible for able females to achieve success and advancement in the Galactic Empire (Brie and Davani were
even awarded a two-day liberty pass prior to their graduation in recognition of “consistent high scores,” and Brie notably graduated with the highest
scores and honors in the Military Academy’s history, according to “The Mind Spider!”). Indeed, many of these women achieved command of a
ship or squadron, traditionally considered the pinnacle of a Naval career; Moor’s case is especially noteworthy in that she held command as a
lieutenant (captain), whereas squadron COs are typically lieutenant commanders (majors). This is all of course out of step with the experience of
‘Fleet Admiral’ Daala from Jedi Search, whose story is almost stereotypical in its hazing and discrimination. Daala’s career was marred from her
arrival at the Military Academy at Carida by prejudice, and she bitterly resented the promotion of others whom she felt were less qualified than
herself, including her classmates Moff Governor Getelles and his right hand man Admiral Larm. She only achieved her rank of fleet admiral and
command of a squadron of four Star Destroyers after she became mistress of Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. How does her experience relate to the
experiences of the other, more successful females? To what extent did her illicit sexual relationship with Tarkin (a married man) impact her eventual
rise through the ranks?
In the first place, Daala herself admitted that she did not graduate from the Military Academy in Darksaber and further admitted that she was in
fact a corporal when she first met Tarkin on Carida, demonstrating conclusively that she was not a commissioned officer in the Imperial Navy, nor
even an enlisted sailor (corporal is an army or marine rank, equivalent to the naval petty officer third class or leading rate). The scribe adds in The
New Essential Guide to Characters that her supposed rank of fleet admiral was “an unofficial promotion outside of Coruscant’s naval hierarchy, but
a legitimate one among Tarkin’s forces in the Outer Rim.” It appears, then, that her rank was a sort of local commission valid only within
Oversector Outer, or a commission within a local Security Force — or perhaps even no real commission of any kind in any regular naval force. It is
possible that her experience at the Military Academy took place before females were really accepted in the Imperial forces; alternatively (and
perhaps more likely), in light of her dismal performance as a combat commander — marked as it is by repeated disaster and abysmally stupid
decisions — it is entirely possible that her experiences were simply the result of her profound incompetence, and that her venomous hatred for
classmates like Getelles and Larm was simply a product of embittered jealousy rather than insulted professionalism (one questions the
professionalism and integrity of an adulteress who complains loudly of the graduation and promotion of ‘less qualified’ individuals, without uttering
a word against her own installation as a fleet admiral over the heads of actual Naval officers by the very man she was sleeping with in the first place;
although she has demonstrated considerable ability at pillow warfare, her skills in space warfare leave much to be desired). Certainly the Imperial
Armed Forces are known to be draconian in their intolerance of failure and error.
The cases of Canny Mandary Bertar and Huoba Neva touch on the other victim of discrimination in the Imperial State, nonhumans. According to
the Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition, all sapient inhabitants of the Empire, including nonhumans, are considered to be full Imperial citizens and
are entitled to the same rights and immunities. The Dark Empire Sourcebook indicates that the majority of Imperial citizens — therefore including
nonhumans — live on Mussolinified “clean, orderly police-state planets.” Nevertheless, there are definite instances of unjust discrimination and
abuse by the Imperial State of nonhumans and their rights, many or most of which are probably formally illegal even in the context of the Empire.
This includes the statements of Coruscant and the Core Worlds regarding the imposition of the so-called Alien Protection Zone on Imperial Center
(basically a ghetto for more visibly nonhuman species), the prohibition of nonhumans applying to the University of Coruscant, and the expulsion of
all nonhumans already attending the University. There is also the decision to use Gorothites as “client-workers” (i.e., wage slaves) of the Tagge
Company and the Karflo Corporation on Goroth Prime with the connivance of the Colonial Government in Goroth: Slave of the Empire.
At the highest level of power in the Imperial State, Sate Pestage, the Grand Vizier of the Galactic Empire, incorporated his own xenophobic biases
into Human High Culture, according to the scribe’s biography of him in The New Essential Guide to Characters; Human High Culture is without
question to blame for much of the official and unofficial discrimination faced by nonhumans throughout the galaxy, and was enthusiastically
embraced and promoted by human supremacists like Grand Moff Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus, Grand Admiral Ishin-
Il-Raz (one of the founders and chief ideologues of COMPNOR), and Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta. Human High Culture seems to have played to
existing prejudices and distrust on the part of portions of human society, thus explaining the ease with which it took hold (certainly Tarkin was
already a human supremacist as early as 6 rS in Rogue Planet). That is to say, the prejudice that existed in Imperial society was not a product of the
Empire, but existed even in the late Republic. It was magnified, but not created, by the policies of certain Imperial leaders.
Nevertheless, nonhumans may be able to achieve success and advancement in the Imperial State, subject to the degree of influence of Human High
Culture at certain critical points in their careers. Like females, this is quite possibly affected by the relative dominance of the three lines of influence,
although in the case of nonhumans and especially female nonhumans Human High Culture complicates the matter; an orthodox politico may be
willing to accept an ideologically correct nonhuman as easily or even more so than an aristocrat will accept a noble nonhuman, while a meritocrat’s
prejudice may potentially overwhelm even his or her sense of “fair play.”
The highest rank achieved by any nonhuman is that of the so-called dark side adept, a member of the Galactic Emperor’s dark side hierarchy, his
most trusted cadre of advisors and followers. These adherents of the dark side of the Force, who first appeared in Dark Empire, were explained by
the Dark Empire Sourcebook to have “proven their loyalty to their master” and to have been “indoctrinated into the ways of the Dark Side”;
although none of them were comparable to the Galactic Emperor’s level of mastery, some of them “did become quite powerful indeed,” with some
“taught ways of combat and made into Dark Jedi,” others “joined the elite of Imperial functionaries,” and others “courtiers at the Palace,” in all
capacities acting in the Galactic Emperor’s name “with his total trust and confidence.” Indeed, prior to the Battle of Endor, “many had been
gathered into the Imperial Ruling Council.” Speaking of the membership of this elite order of dark side adherents, the Dark Empire Sourcebook
mentions that “a number of these were aliens” who had “already mastered the unique sorceries of their own species.” One of the Imperial State’s
dark side hierarchs and highest ranking nonhumans was the Lord Hethrir, a male Firrerreo who had become at Darth Vader’s behest the Procurator of
Justice and the Imperial State’s chief executioner; the Lord Hethrir first appeared in The Crystal Star, and was himself responsible for many of the
Imperial State’s xenophobic atrocities, including one incident in which he ordered the destruction of his own species’s homeworld Firrerre in order
to prove his loyalty to his master, the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Nonhumans and humans of nonhuman descent — a concept which seems to defy reason but is nevertheless accepted as valid within the continuity
of Star Wars — have achieved high ranks in the Imperial Armed Forces and other apparatus of the Imperial State, as well. Most prominent among
these is of course Grand Admiral Thrawn, WE, a male Chiss who rose to the highest rank of the Imperial Navy and first appeared in Heir to the
Empire; Grand Admiral Danetta Pitta the rabid human supremacist was ironically himself of nonhuman descent, his pedigree being known to include
“several non-human ancestors, including a Borneck and an Etti,” according to “Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals.” Other high-ranking members
of the Imperial State known or suspected to be of nonhuman descent include Grand Moff Governor Bertroff Hissa, the Chairman of the Central
Committee of Grand Moffs who first appeared in The Glove of Darth Vader and Bin Essada, Governor of Circarpous Major, said to be a possible
nonhuman by Rebellion, his human appearance notwithstanding. Bizarrely, there is one other known nonhuman senior official of the college of
Moffs: Grand Moff 4-8C (“For Atesee”), an IG-88 assassin ‘droid working with COMPNOR’s Redesign division who appeared in Prisoners of the
Nikto Pirates.
A handful of nonhumans have been seen elsewhere in the Imperial State. The Prince Xizor of Falleen, simultaneously head of the enormous shipping
company Xizor Transport Systems (with the largest private navy in the galaxy at the time) and also overlord of the Black Sun criminal syndicate,
was one of the Galactic Emperor’s most privileged courtiers in Shadows of the Empire, after Orman, Baron Tagge’s death. The erudite and
aggressive General Sk’ar, a huge nonhuman biped with purple skin and skull-like features, commanded a large Imperial joint-service strike force
invading Shiva IV in “The Last Gift from Alderaan!” and “Starfire Rising!” Major Rahz, a reptilian Gektl, was charged by Darth Vader with
arresting the dissident teachers on Harix in “Bring Me the Children: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.” There are the aforementioned cases
of Senator Canny Mandary Bertar and Huoba Neva, as well as the Grannan Senator for Malastare, mentioned by Vader himself in The Essential
Guide to Alien Species, and the nonhuman members of the Imperial Interim Ruling Council in Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood: Norym Kim, a
male Myke and former pirate, Spearmaster Ch’unkk, a male Whiphid, the Lord Manos, a male Devaronian and foreman of the galaxy’s largest labor
union, Kooloota-Fyf, a male Givin and head of the Shipbuilders and Astromechs Guild, and the Prince Za, a male Defel. According to Galaxy Guide
4: Alien Races, the intelligent arachnoid Sic-Six species has “become well established in Imperial society.” There is even the example of the Barabels
of Barab I, who were being illegally hunted by the Imperially-chartered corporation Planetary Safaris Inc. in Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races; Planetary
Safaris was ignoring and even concealing evidence of sapience on the part of the Barabels, and the Barabels eventually began to band together and
exterminate Planetary Safaris hunting parties. After Sector Governor Paro Lanto received word of the goings-on on Barab I, he ordered a Star
Destroyer to investigate, as per the Dangerous Species Act; upon discovering that the Barabel were in fact sapient, Lanto “saw to it that Barab I
was admitted to the Empire and its sentients given the full protection of Imperial Law.”
Slavery and genocide are the worst and most egregious abuses perpetrated by the Imperial State. Much as the partially nonhuman Pitta was
responsible for some of the Empire’s worst atrocities, the Suprema, a vaguely canine biped who described himself as “chieftain of the entire
Mandalorian slave colony,” was said by his stormtroopers to have been chosen personally by the Galactic Emperor to head an enormous and secret
slaver ring on Mandalore in “Death in the City of Bone!”; “The History of the Mandalorians” specifically calls the Suprema an “Imperial Adviser,”
which indicates that he would enjoy the privilege of helping to select the Imperial State’s Moff Governors, amongst other rights, privileges, and
immunities. It is notable that the Suprema’s slave colony procured humans as slaves as well, demonstrating that the Imperial State’s disregard for its
citizens’ rights was not strictly on a basis of species. Aside from the Suprema’s operation on Mandalore, which was specifically said to provide
labor for the Imperial war machine, a number of other species are known to have been enslaved for technical ability or simply cheap labor. This
includes the enslavement of the Mon Calamari, the Wookiees, and the Talz, mentioned in various sources like Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
and Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, although technically the Wookiees and Mon Calamari were classified as non-sapient, and were therefore not
“enslaved” but rather “domesticated”; it seems likely that, like the classification of Ranats as “semi-intelligent,” this bit of legal legerdemain was
probably not sustainable under Imperial law and may have been concealed from the Imperial Senate, taking place as it did in the distant Outer Rim
Territories Region, far from the Senate and the Core Worlds Region.
The existence of slavery is peculiar in the galactic economy, were manual labor by ‘droids and automata is substantially cheaper, more reliable, and
more economically sound than slavery could possibly be. Indeed, artificially-intelligent automata perform far more than simple manual labor tasks,
performing complicated tasks such as the manufacture of other ‘droids on Mechis III in “Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88” and on Telti in The
New Rebellion, or advanced feats of urban renewal on Imperial Center in Wedge’s Gamble. Perhaps an explanation is given by the fact that the Dark
Empire Sourcebook describes slaves in the Veers household as being domestic servants and tutors, in a sort of permanent indentured servitude. In
this case, slaves are substituted for ‘droids not to perform mechanical labor, but to serve in a more specialized role which social norms may hold as
being more appropriate for a sapient being than for a machine. Alternatively, it could be that possession of a slave is regarded as a status symbol, a
sapient being being a rather more precious commodity than a machine; it is even possible that the possession of a slave is prized for no better reason
than enjoyment of the degradation of an “inferior” being. Certainly, there is a limit to the economic soundness of the use of slave labor where
untiring machines would be more efficient and more effective. At least one instance of slavery is known to have a motive other than economics; the
exploitative “One and All” religion on Ylesia was revealed in The Paradise Snare to pimp out devotees in “pleasure-houses” for Imperial soldiers (it
being simultaneously revealed that Imperial soldiers preferred humanoid — not strictly limited to human — ‘comfort-women,’ demonstrating that
Imperial disregard for sapient rights was not exclusively a characteristic of its treatment of nonhuman species).
Possibly the worst atrocities committed against any group in the Empire were perpetrated by Pitta’s three dungeon ships Apocahk, Angrix, and
Azgoghk, which are said by “Who’s Who: Imperial Grand Admirals” to have “roared through the Outer Rim, depopulating alien homeworlds and
dooming their inhabitants to slavery or vivisection.” It is notable that this operation, like many of the Imperial State’s most notorious excesses, took
place in the Outer Rim and were probably concealed from the Imperial Senate and the member states. Indeed, according to the Princess Leia of
Alderaan, a former Imperial Senator, the use of energy weapons on primitive sentients was a violation of the Imperial Charter, and it is quite
possible — and indeed probable — that operations like Pitta’s Human High Culture-inspired reign of terror in the Outer Rim were quite illegal under
Imperial law. It is noteworthy that Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker reveals that the Princess Leia, a dissident leader with ties to
the best-organized rebel group in the galaxy, had not believed the rumors that the IT-O interrogator even existed in the first place, let alone that the
Empire actually used it (her experience aboard the first Death Star dissuaded her from this belief).
The size and complexity of the Imperial State in particular and of the Galactic Empire as a whole are in large part responsible for the varying
treatment of females and nonhumans. It is possible for prejudiced individuals to rise to power and use their positions and authority to put their
prejudices into practice, putting them into official policy or else simply disregarding law and accepted practice. It is also possible for individuals of
sufficient power and political know-how to conceal the true nature and extent of their activities, perpetrating gross violations of sapient rights —
nominally enjoyed by all Imperial citizens, which is the same thing as all sapient inhabitants of the Galactic Empire — and thereby discriminate
against and oppress others, quite apart from the Imperial State’s penchant for autocracy and draconian measures. It is therefore clear that although
the rebel Alliance may at times exaggerate or confuse the specific scale or nature of the Empire’s atrocities and crimes (many appear rather to be
unofficial than official and formal state policies), and although the Imperial State does provide examples of successful members of “disadvantaged”
groups, the Imperial State and its members nevertheless also provide examples of gross violations and abuses of sapient rights. It is perhaps a
reflection of the axiom that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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Domus Publica
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| Peculiar Institutions Discrimination and Slavery in the Galactic Empire |
| This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement of any kind is intended. Star Wars and related materials are © Lucasfilm Ltd., which reserves all rights thereto. All original material is © Julius Sykes. Please do not use without permission. |
This article was first published on 8 January 2005. It was republished on 23 February 2007.
Special thanks are due to Mr. Adam Gehrls, who suggested the article and provided invaluable resources and feedback,
without which the article would have been impossible.
The title comes from the 19th century practice (prominently used by Vice President John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina) of
euphemistically referring to the slavery of blacks in the American South as being the region’s “peculiar institution.”
Special thanks are due to Mr. Adam Gehrls, who suggested the article and provided invaluable resources and feedback,
without which the article would have been impossible.
The title comes from the 19th century practice (prominently used by Vice President John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina) of
euphemistically referring to the slavery of blacks in the American South as being the region’s “peculiar institution.”