Xizor

Xizor (pronounced /shē'zōr/) was a Falleen Prince of House Sizhran and the Underlord of the powerful criminal syndicate Black Sun during the Galactic Civil War. He was a ruthless competitor and charismatic public figure in high society with his headquarters in the city planet Coruscant. Close to the Imperial Palace, but less splendid, was Xizor's Palace, his home outside Falleen and a testimony of his status.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Hoth, Prince Xizor was considered one of the most influential beings in the galaxy due to his exceptional wealth and influence through his criminal activities. Xizor maintained an amenable business relationship with the Galactic Empire, as well as other notable syndicates such as the Hutt Cartel led by the notorious Jabba the Hutt. During this time Xizor also developed a bitter rivalry with Darth Vader within the shadows of the Empire, seeking to win Emperor Palpatine favor over his apprentice by murdering Luke Skywalker. His fixation on undermining Vader would be his undoing however, as an infiltration of Xizor's palace on Imperial Center by Princess Leia Organa and subsequent battle by his private skyhook in orbit led to the Dark Prince's demise at the command of Vader.

Biography

Early life

Xizor was born the scion of House Sizhran^[6] on Falleen nearing the final centuries of the Galactic Republic. The Falleen were a species of reptilian humanoids, renowned for their physical beauty and cool self-control—as well as for the powerful pheromones they exude at will. As the firstborn son of King Haxim, the ruler of a wealthy province on Falleen, Xizor was willful even by the cold standards of his people. He was educated off-world, and spent most of his life away from his homeworld. He constructed from scratch a vast shipping concern, Xizor Transport Systems, which would remain his principal legitimate front in the corporate business realm.^[7]

As head of Xizor Transport Systems, Xizor led the manufacturing of a number of starships created for large-scale transport and trading operations which were most famously used during the Galactic Civil War. It was this shipping organization that built on top of his vast personal wealth, most of which had originated from House Sizhran. Already a trillionaire during the last years of the Galactic Republic, Prince Xizor's extravagant tastes were evident from an early age. Despite his opulent lifestyle, Xizor remained a shrewd businessman, expanding his influence through ruthless maneuver. He made his presence known on Coruscant by erecting an enormous palace in the heart of the cityscape, east of the Presidential Palace. The massive undertaking required the former Farfalla skyscraper be razed to its sub foundations.

During the advancement of his main enterprise, Prince Xizor very deliberately encountered the Black Sun criminal syndicate. The Falleen had already climbed up the ranks of the organization by the time of the Clone Wars, leveraging his cunning and powerful connections to navigate the turbulent landscape criminal underworld of the galaxy. During the war, the syndicate neared the brink of collapse due to a bota regulation deal with the Hutts falling apart.^[8] He patiently waited out the galactic conflict, biding his time for the opportune moment to assert his power. When the war concluded in 19 BBY, Prince Xizor quickly began to develop a close relationship with the newly proclaimed Galactic Emperor, Palpatine.

Vying for Vigo

Mere months after the Declaration of a New Order, Prince Xizor emerged as a leading competitor to become a Vigo within Black Sun, facing fierce competition from the Nediji assassin Kaird. The two competed for the favor of Underlord Dal Perhi, vying for his approval through successful missions for the syndicate while also sabotaging each other's efforts. Xizor's cooperation with Perhi was instrumental in reorganizing Black Sun and mending the faction in the wake of the bota fiasco, though it was still recovering from the death of Alexi Garyn after thirteen years.^[8] The competition reached its peak when Kaird devised a scheme to trap Xizor into buying a stolen hypergem from the Chagrian executive Gogh Pleetik on Metellos, a move that would have cost Xizor's favor with the Underlord by angering an important Black Sun ally. However, the Prince anticipated Kaird's scheme, and when purchased the hypergem, he took it to Perhi as a sign of his loyalty, and to expose Kaird's plot and turn the Nediji in.^[9]

Believing he had all but secured the position of Vigo, the Falleen was given one final mission by Underlord Perhi: to find and retrieve the droid 10-4TO. This droid was being hunted by both the Galactic Empire and a budding resistance movement known as the Whiplash. Perhi hoped to use the protocol droid as a bargaining chip to ensure the Imperial government did not interfere with his syndicate's nefarious operations. However, the true objective of the mission was not the droid itself. Instead, Perhi was setting Prince Xizor up to be assassinated by Kaird, who posed less of a threat to the Underlord's grip on Black Sun.^[9]

The assassination attempt failed, and with the help of 10-4TO, Xizor captured Kaird, and headed for the Factory District following a brief encounter with the Jedi Knight Jax Pavan and his band of companions who were hunting for the droid. There, Xizor revealed to Kaird that he planned to kill Underlord Perhi, and replace him with a human replica droid so that he could manipulate Perhi and eventually replace him at the helm of Black Sun. The Falleen planned to brainwash Kaird into murdering the Underlord, but was foiled when his scientists were slaughtered by feral droids.^[9]

Xizor was then found by Nick Rostu, who led the Falleen to the rest of Jax Pavan's group, which had followed Xizor half way around Coruscant in pursuit of 10-4TO. With the help of the droid, Xizor subdued the group and tied them up. He was about to kill Pavan with his own lightsaber, when Rostu and the sentient protocol droid I-5YQ simultaneously attacked Xizor. Rostu's attack was easily beaten back, but I-5 was able to subdue Xizor by training his finger lasers on the Prince. Pavan called the droid off, and began dueling Xizor. Pavan was able to disarm Xizor when he regained his sporadic control of the Force. Xizor was able to escape by stealing a blaster from the unconscious Nick Rostu, and proceeded to steal Kaird's ship and fled the Factory District.^[9]

Years later, Prince Xizor was presented another opportunity to consolidate power, one which he wasted no time in securing. Fliry Vorru, the planetary governor of Corellia, was appointed Moff of the Corellian Oversector under the Empire's reign. His rule was rather relaxed particularly in relation to crime. With his extensive network of political and criminal connections, Vorru wielded considerable influence by 7 BBY, and was considered a possible alternative to Emperor Palpatine by some. Xizor moved on the Emperor's behalf, framing the Moff on numerous charges and having him exiled to Kessel. Black Sun also seized all profitable operations on Corellia.

Family tragedy

Once Corellia fell into place with Xizor's plan, it was a matter of years before the Prince became the undisputed ruler of Black Sun. However, the success of a plan that had taken decades to unfold was overshadowed by a terrible incident that struck on Falleen. In the capital city of King Haxim's kingdom on Falleen, the Imperial Forces' Supreme Commander Darth Vader^[10] established an advanced biological weapons research laboratory as part of his exploration tour of similar weaponry development projects across the Outer Rim Territories. In 7 BBY, an accident released a deadly, flesh-eating contaminant near Xizor's home, prompting the Sith Lord to order the research lab, and the surrounding city, to be flattened. Haxim, his wife, four children and three brothers were wiped out in the orbital bombardment. Xizor was off-planet at the time, cementing his position as a Vigo in Black Sun. Upon his return, he had virtually all knowledge of his position destroyed; he planned to exact his revenge on Vader, but hid knowledge of his personal vendetta from the public.

In the years that followed, Xizor built two concurrent empires: one legitimate, one criminal. Thus, the Dark Prince emerged as the leader of Black Sun and the proprietor of several major galactic corporations. To fund and facilitate his illegal empire, Xizor had his legal firms, such as Xizor Transport Systems, funnel funds, transfer contraband and launder millions of credits. Xizor was driven by his desire to restore his opulent lifestyle and to destroy Darth Vader. To disguise his planned revenge, the Dark Prince used his connections to remove all record of the Sith Lord's involvement in the death of his family. Everyone assumed their rivalry was jockeying for favor from the Emperor, who subtly encouraged the rivalry.

Xizor ordered himself a personal craft, the Virago, which was a custom heavily modified StarViper Assault Fighter, made just for him. Upon completion, the Dark Prince purchased all rights to the fighter, ensuring it was unique. As his position necessitated a certain degree of paranoia and much distrust for the life forms around him, Xizor sought out a wholly obedient lieutenant and so he commissioned Simonelle and Massad Thrumble to construct him a Human replica droid modified according to his exact specifications, the end result of the project being Guri, whom Xizor bought for nine million credits. Once the two developers went their separate ways, the Dark Prince decided to ensure his new bodyguard's uniqueness by preventing her creators from producing yet another - while Thrumble's safety was guaranteed due to his association with the Empire, Simonelle enjoyed no such protection and Xizor had Guri track him down and kill him. Unknown to either the Dark Prince or his lieutenant, the dead man was nothing more than a replica, with the real scientist having fled into hiding.^[7]

Hutt politics

The Falleen Prince took a great deal of interest in dealing with the Hutts; knowing that they were the masters of all illegal activities in the Outer Rim, he hoped to ally himself with them and expand his own power to even greater levels.

The occasion for this was presented to him by the conflict between the two largest Hutt clans, Besadii and Desilijic, between 5 and 2 BBY. When Aruk the Hutt, head of Besadii kajidic, was killed by his rivals from Desilijic, Xizor lent his assistance to Aruk's heir, Durga; he offered to kill off the latter's rivals within the clan, ensuring a smooth transition of power, in exchange for his cut of the profits in Besadii's spice operations on Ylesia. Later on, Xizor also provided Durga with security for Ylesia, by granting him the services of a private security company that normally worked in tandem with Black Sun; again, the Hutt gangster agreed, and in exchange offered the Dark Prince an even greater share of the Ylesian enterprise. When a Rebel strike team destroyed Ylesia anyway, Durga was left with little to no resources, and subsequently became one of Xizor's Vigos, one of the latter's many subordinates in the Black Sun syndicate.

Even after the "acquisition" of Besadii, Xizor also had dealings with Jabba, head of Desilijic, with the Hutt crime lord addressing him in Basic, a very rare concession from him. In the end, the Dark Prince had succeeded in extending Black Sun's power far into the Outer Rim, while eliminating the threat of serious competition from the Hutt Cartel. From now on in the galactic underworld, his organization was a power without equal.

Xizor also worked with the Assembler Kud'ar Mub'at to bring about the destruction of the Bounty Hunters' Guild and to replace it with an supply of freelance bounty hunters loyal to the Empire. However, at first he only succeeded in splitting the Guild into two warring factions; posting a huge bounty for rogue special-forces stormtrooper Trhin Voss'on't, Xizor's goal was fully realized when the two warring factions tore themselves apart, though the commando had played his role in the plot, he was nonetheless dispensed with by the Dark Prince's agents.

At one point, the Xizor tried and failed to wrest control of Kuat Drive Yards from Kuat of Kuat, causing the latter to attempt a frame-up against the Black Sun leader for the murders of Owen and Beru Lars, Luke Skywalker's guardians.

Shadows of the Empire

Shortly after the Subjugation of Bespin, Xizor contacted Tyber Zann, head of the rival criminal venture known as the Zann Consortium, and made a deal with him. The latter crime lord agreed to steal tibanna from Cloud City and share 50% of the profit with the Dark Prince who would in turn arrange a meeting with the Emperor or one of his representatives. Xizor was aware of Vader's presence on Bespin and had staged the mission as a trap for Zann. Tyber completed the contract, but correctly suspecting a double cross decided to plant evidence pointing Vader into Xizor's direction during the raid and hired IG-88 to get access to planets on the gangster's hit list; after the theft, he sold the Tibanna Gas on the Black Market and used some to build his fleet.

During this time, the Falleen kingpin's interests would also collude with those of the Empire, assisting in the construction of the second Death Star. Prince Xizor offered Lord Vader 300 ships for the construction project, and though the latter distrusted the seemingly amenable collaborator, he could not refuse without suffering Emperor Palpatine's wrath. Vader had good reason to distrust Xizor, however. The Falleen planned to destroy the cyborg, the man who had condemned his entire family to death, by executing a masterstroke of vengeance. Learning of his adversary's quest for Luke Skywalker, Xizor attempted to frustrate it and simultaneously lower Vader in Palpatine's esteem by having the young Jedi killed. Therefore he had Guri contact several guns-for-hire through intermediaries, and posted a bounty on Luke Skywalker's life. The Dark Prince also managed to convince the Emperor allow the Rebel Alliance to get a hold of the plans for the second Death Star. He could profit from this in one of two ways: he could deliver the insurgents to the Dark Lord of the Sith, therefore entering his good graces if the Empire won—or if the Alliance did win the war, he would make sure they didn't forget the Black Sun's invaluable contribution to their victory.

Upon learning that a smuggler named Dash Rendar was moving supplies for the Rebel Alliance while providing transport for a swoop racer Kimmi Chyler, Prince Xizor ordered his agents to investigate the activities, so that he could reveal them to Emperor Palpatine. He even dispatched Guri to confront Rendar directly in Kor Vella, though the smuggler managed to escape the Human replica droid.^[12]

For the final swoop race of the season at the Mos Espa Race on Tatooine Xizor Transport Company had provided several large luxury sand barges from which spectators could watch the race. The Dark Prince himself had come to witness the event from his personal barge, with his human replica droid henchman at his side. By doing so, Xizor hoped to lure Luke Skywalker onto his barge, where Skahtul could lay a trap for him. However, the Barabel mercenary failed to subdue the young Jedi and so his quarry escaped.^[13]

Xizor Transport Systems was also looking to sponsor a swoop racing team and following the race Xizor held a party, to which Kimmi Chyler was invited. Guri was also in attendance with her master but refrained from confronting Rendar at the party. During the party she chatted with the Falleen and became influenced by his pheromones, which caused her to develop a short-lived attraction to him. After the party, Xizor and Guri followed Chyler, Rendar and their bodyguard to a nearby cantina where the smuggler was delivering a datapad with Important information to Luke Skywalker. Xizor ordered Guri to kill the group and to take the datapad, but Skywalker and the others put up a strong defense. Finally, the Dark Prince gave up and ordered his enforcer to leave, promising to expose all information about the smuggler - and more importantly the Jedi trainee - to the Emperor.^[12]

The fall of Xizor's Palace

Meanwhile, Princess Leia Organa sought the help of Prince Xizor in her plan both to liberate the carbon-frozen Captain Han Solo from the clutches of the gangster Jabba to get to the bottom of the attempts on Luke Skywalker's life. Disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh, the Rebel leader accompanied by "Snoova" (Chewbacca) was welcomed into the Underlord's Palace on Imperial Center. Enticed by Organa's beauty, Xizor tried to seduce her using his pheromones to cloud her mind and make her susceptible to his flirting. However, his efforts were thwarted by Chewbacca's intervention, the latter who revealed Xizor's ploy to Leia. The Princess returned in the Underlord's presence to stall for time, but kneed him in the groin to rebuke his advances, leading the frustrated crime boss to imprison her. Soon after Luke's escape from the Barabel mercenaries, Skywalker, Dash Rendar, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian infiltrated Xizor's abode in order to rescue Leia.^[4]

Xizor confronted the group during their escape, attempting to kill Skywalker himself. A standoff ensued when the Jedi trainee pulled a thermal detonator rigged to a dead man's switch; if Skywalker died, Xizor would die too. Calrissian threw another thermal detonator down a garbage chute, set on a five-minute delay, and the Rebels escaped to the palace's roof where the Millennium Falcon was waiting for them. The Dark Prince escaped in the Virago and fled to his orbiting skyhook, seething as his expensive palace collapsed to the ground under the thermal detonator's blast.^[4]

Death

Xizor wasn't finished, however and ordered his StarViper fighters to fire on the Millennium Falcon. Dash Rendar's droid, LE-BO2D9 had gotten a message to Rogue Squadron who arrived to help the fleeing Rebels out, but the true turning point came from an unlikely source, the Empire.

During a communication with his skyhook, Prince Xizor made the grave error of muttering Skywalker's name in his instructions to destroy a YT-1300 light freighter despite being warned by Lord Vader not to go after him. Instead of being able to claim he was after a group of renegades flying a YT-1300 freighter, he had made things personal. As Palpatine was away inspecting the second Death Star, Vader, as Supreme Commander,^[10] was left in charge of Coruscant. He was aboard his flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor when the fateful message was intercepted and ordered his TIE Fighters to attack Black Sun's StarVipers. Vader sent a holo-message to Falleen's Fist demanding that Xizor cease his attack immediately and surrender into his custody. As the seconds ticked away, Vader listened to communications from the skyhook and the chief of the Xizor fleet who was begging to be allowed to surrender until his ship was destroyed. There was no answer from Xizor and when time was up, Vader gave the order to destroy the skyhook.^[4]

With the destruction of the skyhook, Xizor was presumed dead and his niece Savan took control of Black Sun, which consequently underwent a civil war and spawned at least one offshoot, the Black Nebula.

By 43 ABY, there were still rumors among the New Jedi Order that Prince Xizor was somehow alive. One theory concerning his possible survival involved cloning by Black Sun cultists. However, these rumors were not given much credence.^[14]

Personality and traits

Prince Xizor, according to Moff Fliry Vorru, relied too much on his ability to read others. Whereas it was true that he was an excellent judge of character, he did believe himself to be inherently superior to everyone. The Falleen ability to produce intoxicating pheromones together with his formidable brain and resourcefulness backed up his claim somewhat. He did underestimate the power of the Force which was why Sith and Jedi were able to get the better of him. He knew the Force existed and respected it but never truly understood it. Lord Vader once Force Gripped Prince Xizor during a three-way conversation with Emperor Palpatine, but the sovereign told his apprentice to put him down, knowing the strength of Black Sun would prove to be a valuable asset to the Empire.

He also considered himself a cultured man. Xizor did appreciate High Coruscanti living, dining at exclusive restaurants, eating Moonglow three or four times a month (at the most exclusive restaurant on Coruscant, the Manarai, where he was a part-owner), sponsoring museums and galleries. He once forgave a rival after the rival presented him an extremely rare miniature Firethorn tree. Such a gift, the Dark Prince mused, was enough to show him that the man was civilized and therefore his mistake could be forgiven.

The Falleen also prided himself on his emotional control, which he attributed to his cold-blooded, reptilian ancestry. He felt that mammalian races such as Humans were too easily ruled by their emotions, and that in particular they were susceptible to uncontrolled rage. His own "cold" anger was more controllable, and thus, he felt, superior. While a Human might seek immediate vengeance, Xizor was content to plan his revenge carefully, so as to ensure success, even if it required waiting for years to implement the plan. However, while the Dark Prince's anger built up slowly, in the end it was the very uncontrolled rage he believed himself immune to that doomed him. He was able to find entertainment in even the most hum-drum tasks and felt that boredom was for those who lacked imagination.

Xizor kept himself in top physical condition. He disliked tedious exercise and so preferred to use myostim units that exercised individual muscles. Xizor was dangerous even when confronted alone. His excellent marksmanship and martial arts training made him a deadly opponent whether he was armed or not.

Romances

Generally a fan of the short-term relationship, Xizor naturally was quick to terminate his intimate relations, usually with large compensation to the female, other times with a green diamond pendant (which would deliver a lethal dose of radioactive emissions).^[5] He followed a strict no post-relationship contact policy, which on at least one noted occasion, he deemed he had to terminate the woman when she attempted to contact him again. When he was between relationships, Xizor was known to occasionally sleep with Guri as she was fully female even in that respect.^[4]

Xizor also became enamored of Leia Organa and attempted to seduce her. As with his other schemes, this backfired dramatically. He used his pheromones upon her and for a while, the woman submitted to the scent. However, after Chewbacca brought Leia back to her senses, she quickly rebuffed his advances by kneeing him in the groin, leaving an enraged Xizor to lock her up.^[4]

Behind the scenes

Xizor was created as the main villain for the Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire multimedia project with the aim to be an equal of Palpatine and Darth Vader in evil and viciousness. Initially this vague archvilain was known as "leader of the syndicate"; in the first stages of the comic adaptation Ryder Windham even envisioned him as "Jabba's boss". His role and background, along with the Falleen species, were created during the brainstorm session at Skywalker Ranch in November 1994. Steve Perry came up with the idea of the Falleen pheromones, and the skin color change according to mood. In notes from 5 December 1994, Xizor was given a name and was described as the only one who could defeat Vader in a power struggle; he is compared to a "corrupt Aristotle Onassis" or the sneaky Virgil Sollozzo from The Godfather.^[15]

Artists aimed for a reptilian, exotic and having a regal stature. Xizor was first depicted in sketches by Michael Butkus — reportedly while listening the Batman soundtrack. Kilian Plunkett contributed with four pages of Xizor experimentations in January 1995; aware of Star Wars drawing inspiration from "samurai epics", he attempted to give Xizor an oriental look, consulting illustrations of Mongol warriors, even experimenting with a Ushanka-hat or a cowl; he also elongated his face to make him more unhuman. Concept art included storyboards of the video game. Around February 1995 the team settled with a figure that was more monstrous than the final one, with a large skull, and topknotted ponytail that fell on his shoulders; until Jon Knoles noted that he was lacking the charm supposed to have. Around April 1995 Knoles provided a printout with Xizor's face smirking, capturing the character's appearance and personality; the image (which made it to the cover of the video game), garnered praise, and helped define and finalize the character. Butkus made the drawing with Xizor's iconic pose, itself inspired from a concept art of Bib Fortuna for Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Susumu Sugita sculpted a twelve-inch statue of Xizor based on Butkus, which was used as a visual reference for illustrators and painters throughout the multimedia project.^[15]

While Drew Struzan was working on the cover for the novel in April 1995, Lucy Autrey Wilson instructed him about Xizor to "make his costume the color of gun-metal and his skin a faintly greenish/beige. His eyes are violet."^[15]

For the comic, Plunkett was instructed to make loose pencils for Xizor until his visuals were finalized. Knoles credits Plunkett for giving a sleeker quality to his face by adding "a lot of nice lines".^[15]

"Xizor's Theme" was composed by Joel McNeely for the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack, and can be heard in the Shadows of the Empire video game and the audiobook. Xizor's voice in the video game was provided by Nick Tate.

Xizor makes many cameo appearances during the podrace scene in The Phantom Menace, as the micro-machine toy figurine of Xizor was used as a stand-in for members of the podrace crowd. However, as this cameo is used only as background fill-ins, it may not be considered an actual appearance of the character proper.^[16]

In the game Star Wars: Empire at War, Xizor had a finished 3D model, but was excluded from the final game. He would make an appearance in holographic form in the expansion pack, Forces of Corruption. The name of Xizor's model is: "NI_PRINCEXIZOR.ALO"

Pronunciation

The character's name came from Lucy Autrey Wilson, who combined the Portuguese pronunciation of the letter X (sh-) with the second syllable of the English word "razor."^[15] Xizor's official pronunciation was established in the Shadows of the Empire novel & Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption as "shē'zōr".

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• "An Apology" (Mentioned only)

Sources

Leader of Black Sun
Dal Perhi ← circa 19 BBY–3 ABY Savan →

Notes and references