Jan Dodonna
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Jan Dodonna
Biographical information
Died
Descriptive information
Pronouns
Skin color
Family information
Children
Chronological & political information
- "I think General Dodonna is quite the tactician."
- ―Cesi Eirriss[8]
Jan Dodonna was aCommenor-bornsoldier who served bothGalactic Republic and theGalactic Empire. He was one of the first captains of aStar Destroyer in the last days of theGalactic Republic, having served in both theStark Hyperspace War and theClone Wars. Following his defection in1 BBY, he became one of the firstgenerals in theRebellion'smilitary, overseeing the Rebel victory at theBattle of Yavin. Thought dead in the chaos of theEvacuation of Yavin, he had in fact been captured by the Empire and was imprisoned in the notoriousLusankya facility. Liberated in9 ABY, he resumed service with theNew Republic until his death in24 ABY.
Throughout his long period of service, Dodonna showed a strong grasp of tactics and strategy, and along withAdar Tallon andGial Ackbar, Dodonna was considered the authority on modern space combat.
Biography[]
Serving the Republic (–19 BBY)[]
- "Blind obedience is not good service. I pledged to serve theprinciples of the Republic—not an office."
- ―Jan Dodonna, toJace Dallin[9]
Terrinald Screed and Jan Dodonna receive the Holt Cross on Anaxes.
Jan Dodonna wasborn onCommenor. He began his military career in theJudicial Forces,[5] serving as alieutenant in the crew of thecruiserArdent IV during theStark Hyperspace War.[1] Dodonna held the rank ofcaptain by the time of theClone Wars[10] and first rose to prominence during the conflict,[5] becoming one of the finestStar Destroyer captains in theRepublic Navy.[6] Alongside his fellow captainTerrinald Screed, Dodonna commanded the two task forces that comprised theVictory Fleet.[10]
After theSeparatistBulwark Fleetbroke through the Republic'sblockade ofFoerost in20.1 BBY, Dodonna and Screed clashed with Bulwark Fleet commanderDua Ningo atIxtlar,Basilisk, andAlsakan. In the climacticBattle of Anaxes,[10] Dodonna corneredAdmiral Ningo[5] and came under heavy fire in theatmosphere ofAnaxes.[10] Dodonna fought furiously, engaging Ningo'swarships long enough to allow Screed to emerge fromhyperspace and destroy Ningo'sbattlecruiserUnrepentant.[5] Dodonna and Screed both returned toCoruscant as heroes,[10] and Dodonna was awarded theHolt Cross on Anaxes three weeks after the battle he had fought there. As he traversed theAzure Walk, Dodonna physically supported his fellow honoree Screed, who had suffered nearly-mortal injuries in the battle at Anaxes.[5]
Dodonna, along withPlo Koon, was later a member of the Republic negotiating team during theBattle of Rendili. Several months later he commanded the Republic fleet at theBattle of Cato Neimoidia.[11]
Dodonna's grasp of strategy was particularly keen, and along with his old friend and fellow Republic officerAdar Tallon, Dodonna revolutionized the tactics of space combat. While Tallon's skill was in ship-to-ship warfare, Dodonna's expertise lay in logistics and siege tactics. He proposed a number of siege weapons, proposals later adopted by theGalactic Empire for their use in such operations as theSiege of Dalron Five andProject Asteroid.[12]
Sometime during the war, he served alongsideNejaa Halcyon. He also convinced his old friend,Sagoro Autem, to quit hismercenary ways and join the Navy.[13]
Serving the Empire (19 BBY–1 BBY)[]
- "You are now the hero of Saleucami, just asI am retroactively the hero of Rendili. There are no Jedi heroes.That is the new order of things."
- ―Jan Dodonna, toSagoro Autem[13]
As the Republic became the Galactic Empire, Dodonna served loyally for a time, even advising Autem to keep quiet about his feelings on the alleged "Jedi Rebellion."[14] When theSy Myrthian Insurrection began in19 BBY, after theSeparatistSenatorToonbuck Toora managed to reactivate a droid army in theFoundry of the Confederacy. Dodonna and his future fellow defector AdmiralAdar Tallon were given command of the force to suppress it.[5]
Deployed fromCharros IV, Tallon and Dodonna led the12th Sector Army in several months ofattritional fighting on the world ofDiado. After reducing Toora's forces there, they subsequently won anothervictory atMetalorn, beforebesiegingSy Myrth itself. Under Dodonna's expert guidance, the Empire eventually defeated the Separatists there. Tallon and Dodonna then chased down Toora'sflagship,Defiance's Banner, with a task force led by thePraetor-class Star BattlecruiserBattalion. The end of the campaign came in theTrasemene system, after the Imperial task force cornered Toora'sfleet there. In theensuing battle, theBattalion ripped apart Toora's fleet with itsturbolaser batteries,killing Toora and ending the insurrection.[5]
Dodonna and Tallon's victories were celebrated in the Core Worlds, but Dodonna's loyalty to the Empire gradually became tested as it resorted to ever-more brutal acts of reprisal against purported sedition. Though he disliked what the Imperial regime was becoming, Dodonna's loyalty as a soldier led him to refuse to speak ill of it. Furthermore, he regarded the fledgling Rebel Alliance as a foolish provocation that would only cause chaos and misery.[5] Disillusioned and unhappy, Dodonna eventually retired from the service on ideological grounds. The Empire, in turn, gave the famous war hero Commenor's moonBrelor, where he spent many years raising his sonVrad.[1]
Rebel (1 BBY–0 BBY)[]
- "The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station."
- ―Jan Dodonna instructing Rebel pilots, prior to the Battle of Yavin[15]
Dodonna refusedMon Mothma's many offers for him to join her fledgling resistance movement, an act he consideredtreasonous.[1] However,COMPNOR officials deemed him a poor candidate for "retraining" for theEmperor's use, and around 1 BBY, deciding he was less potentially dangerous dead, ordered his assassination.[12][1][16]
TheRebellion learned of the assassination order, and sent a messenger team led byRoons Sewell to warn Dodonna. Dodonna scoffed at first, having lost much of his fighting spirit after years of retirement, and the team set up to leave. However, the arrival of the assassins re-awakened that spirit, and Dodonna fled. The Imperial troopers fired upon him, but the large target of his billowing nightclothes obscured the small, frail body hidden inside, and none of the shots found its mark. He arrived at the Rebels' ship and boarded just as it was preparing to leave.[12][5][1]
In space, the messengers' slowfreighter was pursued by an Imperial warship. Dodonna suggested a course of action to General Sewell, but in the heat of the moment, Sewell froze, and Dodonna took the controls of the vessel, executing his tactic and destroying the opposing vessel.[16]
Jan Dodonna
Dodonna joined the Rebellion and, after Sewell provided a glowing report of Dodonna's quick thinking, was immediately commissioned toGeneral by Mon Mothma and placed under Sewell's command.[16] He spent several months exercising and acquainting himself with the latest in technology and politics.[12] His first major victory was at theSilken Asteroids, where he successfully coordinated the defense of a small Rebel base against Imperial incursion.[17]
After the untimely death of General Sewell, Dodonna was placed in command of theLogistics and Supply Corps and theAlliance Starfighter Corps byMon Mothma,[5][1] becoming the most important military commander and advisor in the Alliance, second only to Mon Mothma herself.[12] He also had responsibility for the Alliance'sground headquarters, and kept the ground HQ in motion so as to avoid Imperial detection; planets that held the base under his command includedChrellis,Brigia,Orion IV,Dantooine, andYavin 4.[1]
Dodonna's multiple commands came about owing to the need for a respected military commander who could broker the three-way tensions between Mon Mothma,Garm Bel Iblis, andBail Organa. A proponent of the largely-unfashionable view that theStarfighter Corps should be a separate branch of the military, Dodonna believed thathyperspace-capablestarfighters could undermine the Empire's control of space. He demonstrated this withY-wing raids that destroyedStar Destroyer fleets atDenab andTarawa. Thereafter, finding suitable targets for starfighters became the priority forAlliance Intelligence, while Dodonna gearedOrdnance and Supply and theSupport Services to providing the materiel and men for raiding.[5]
During his time in the Alliance High Command on Dantooine, Dodonna performed different field missions with tactics prodigyRisiev Credal, who was his protégée alongsideColonelBeryl Chiffonage.[18] With the help ofWalex Blissex, designer of theVictory-class Star Destroyer, Dodonna modified theR-22 Spearhead into the fast, nimbleA-wing starfighter; the first prototypes saw action before theBattle of Yavin, though the final version would include lessons about the value of raw speed learned during that battle.[1][19] He began work on theBattle Analysis Computer, which became so identified with him that it was often called "Dodonna's Battle Analysis Computer"; it would go uncompleted until just after theBattle of Endor, seeing its first use at theInvasion of Bakura.[1][20] His son Vrad also joined the Alliance, and become a starfighter pilot.[1]
Dodonna at theMedal of Bravery presentation ceremony
With plans brought to him byPrincessLeia Organa which were downloaded fromR2-D2, Dodonna helped plan the attack on theDeath Star.[15] At first, the situation seemed hopeless, as the station's defenses exceeded Dodonna's worst fears; the only strategy he could conceive that stood any chance was crashing wave after wave of the Alliance's heaviest vessels into the station, on the slim chance there would be sufficient damage to neutralize it; this would effectively destroy the Rebellion, but would allow a new one to grow without the Death Star threatening them. Dodonna prepared to go to sleep, but instead wandered the halls for fresh air. While doing so, he encountered a small child, weeping over a nightmare about a dragon coming to burn her village. Dodonna comforted her with an old tale of aJedi Knight finding a hole in the dragon's scaly armor, killing it. Inspired, Dodonna ran back to his quarters and scoured the plans for a similar hole, eventually finding one in the form of a small exposedthermal exhaust port that led directly to the main reactor.[12] The data showed that the defenses of the Death Star were built around large-scale attacks, allowing a small starfighter to attack the vulnerable exhaust port. Dodonna designed the starfighter attack that was successful in destroying the battle station, and briefed the Rebel pilots prior to the assault on the battlestation.[15] Shortly afterwards, he was called in to deal with the short-livedsuper-vaporator project onTatooine, though this soon fell through, and he returned to Yavin.[21]
Captive (0.5 ABY–9 ABY)[]
Dodonna is captured by Darth Vader following the Battle of Yavin.
Following the destruction of the Death Star, the EmpireblockadedYavin 4 whileDarth Vader waited for theSuper Star DestroyerExecutor to be completed. When it was, Vader brought it to finish the Rebels, but was stopped by a suicide strike delivered by Vrad. Heartbroken, Jan set up the Yavin base to explode, taking out a number ofTIE Fighters and buying more time for the evacuation. He was believed to be killed in the blast, but in reality he had been captured by Imperial forces.[22]
He was eventually sent toLusankya. The Imperials were unable to turn him into asleeper agent. Dodonna spent several years atLusankya, becoming the leader of the prisoners there. Dodonna later encounteredCorran Horn, a member ofRogue Squadron, and aided in Horn's escape, saving him from thegeneralEvir Derricote. When offered to join him in freedom, he declined, sayingYsanne Isard would take it out on the other prisoners. He stayed atLusankya until he was moved by Isard. Eventually, Rogue Squadron found the survivingLusankya prisoners, and Dodonna was finally freed.[23]
Elder Statesman (9 ABY–24 ABY)[]
After being freed, Dodonna served on theNew Republic council, and gathered together an ad-hoc advisory body consisting of himself and other such aged luminaries asVanden Willard,Pashna Starkiller, and his old friendAdar Tallon. Calling themselves the "Gray Cadre," they advised theNew Republic during the resurgence of the Empire under the clone of Palpatine.[24]
After the defeat of the cloned Emperor, Dodonna was given a special appointment to theInner Council'sHigh Command as "Executive Advisor", where he adopted the issue of re-integratingCoruscant's feralHumans into society.[25] Shortly afterward, Dodonna returned to retirement, settling onNew Alderaan, where he peacefully passed away prior to the start of theYuuzhan Vong War.[1]
Legacy[]
The CR90 corvetteDodonna's Pride
Dodonna's strategic acumen was sorely missed by New Republic leaders during the Yuuzhan Vong War, though many of them were relieved that he had died knowing a galaxy at peace.[5] The Rebellion named aCR90 corvetteDodonna's Pride in his honor.[26] It was used to disrupt Imperial supply lines during the Galactic Civil War.[27] TheGalactic Alliance Defense Fleet later named aGalactic-class battle carrierDodonna in his memory.[28]
Behind the scenes[]
General Jan Dodonna
Jan Dodonna's only film appearance was inA New Hope, where he was played byAlex McCrindle. He was voiced byJames Blendick in theStar Wars radio drama,Clive Revill in the special edition of the gameStar Wars: X-Wing,Jarion Monroe in the gameStar Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, andWayne Grace inStar Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike. Dodonna is mentioned inStar Wars: Empire at War during the Rebel campaign and was intended to be a playable character, but was cut.
InThe Star Wars: First Draft,George Lucas renamed aSith knight character "Dodona" fromValorum, as he considered, in that draft alone, renaming the Starkiller family the "Valor" family, and the names conflicted. "Dodona" was one of the few names from that draft that reappeared in theAdventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars (the second draft), when it was definitively assigned to a Rebel general on Yavin 4.[29]
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
- Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope 1
- Tag & Bink Are Dead 1
- Tag & Bink Are Dead 2
- "Perfect Evil"
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy(Appears in cutscene(s))
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga(Appears in cutscene(s))
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