Mar Tuuk

Mar Tuuk

Mar Tuuk was amaleNeimoidian who bore therank ofcaptain in theConfederacy of Independent Systems'naval branch during theClone Wars. A native of theColoniesworld ofNeimoidia, Tuuk was charged with overseeing a Separatistblockade over thebesieged world ofRyloth in thefirst year of the war, following his triumph over theGalactic Republic'srelief supply fleetcommanded byAdmiralDao. Later, in21 BBY, commanding from aLucrehulk-class battleship, the Neimoidian'sfleet ofMunificent-class star frigates were assaulted in an expected attack by a Republictask force led byJedi GeneralAnakin Skywalker—whom Tuuk had held respect for as a militaryofficer—who was dispatched with orders to breach Tuuk'sblockade in order for the Republic to liberate theTwi'lekhomeworld.

Amid the engagements in Ryloth'sorbit, the Neimoidian captain was able to lure Skywalker and his forces into a trap, which led to the loss of a single of the Jedi's threeVenator-class Star Destroyers, following the arrival of Separatist reinforcements. Not long after the Republic was forced to flee, Tuuk learned his adversary helmed theVenator-classStar DestroyerResolute, Skywalker'sflagship, and upon learning his enemy, ordered his fleet to reassume their defensive positions, as he understood Skywalker would return. However, as he expected, Skywalker returned aboard the heavily damagedVenator-class Star DestroyerDefender, offering a false surrender to the Neimoidian. Despite Skywalker's deception, Tuuk fell into the Jedi's trap as theDefender proceeded to crash into and destroy the Neimoidian'sflagship, but not before the captain fled hiscommand ship, allowing for theResolute to return to thestar system and destroy the remainingfrigates.

Biography[]

Claiming Ryloth[]

AmaleNeimoidian^[2] whohailed from theplanetNeimoidia^[1] inthe galaxy'sColonies region,^[4] Mar Tuuk served within theConfederacy of Independent Systems as acaptain of itsnaval branch during the onslaught of theClone Wars against theGalactic Republic. When the Confederacy and itsmilitary forces, led byTechno UnionForemanWat Tambor,^[2]invaded theOuter Rim Territories planetRyloth in thefirst year of the war, Tuuk was placed as thecommanding officer of the Confederacy's planetaryblockade, helming a fleet of sixMunificent-class frigates from asingleLucrehulk-class battleship. In the Confederacy's preliminary stages of their campaign, the Neimoidian captain'sfleet was engaged by a Republic relief supplyfleet led byAdmiralDao, while theSeparatist Droid Army fought against^[5] a small^[6]garrison ofclone troopers commanded byJedi GeneralIma-Gun Di on the planet's surface.^[5]

During the battle, Tuuk's forces managed to engage Dao's fleet inorbit to a critical point, rendering them low on supplies, includingfuel and ammunition, while the forces below fought against thedroidarmy on their final reserves. In spite of Tuuk's successes, the Republic admiral sent a message to theJedi High Council on^[5] the Republiccapital world^[7] ofCoruscant, asking for the dispatchment of immediate assistance to Ryloth. However, as Dao preached his message, the Neimoidian's forces destroyed the first of hisVenator-class Star Destroyers, with hisflagship following shortly after as the Separatist blockade disabled their defensiveshielding and mainreactor.^[5]

As a result of Tuuk's triumph over Dao's fleet, the Neimoidian returned his fleet to a blockade formation as the droid army eliminated the remaining Republic forces on the surface. However, shortly after their victory and resulting occupation of Ryloth, a small group of three RepublicPelta-class frigatessent from the nearby planetToydaria arrived in the planet'satmosphere and successfully breached Tuuk's blockade. From there, they deliveredfood and medical supplies to the starving population ofTwi'leks on the surface.^[5]

A worthy opponent[]

Following the Confederacy's occupation of Ryloth,^[2] in21 BBY,^[8] the Republic dispatched atask force of threeVenator-classStar Destroyers, namely theResolute,Defender andRedeemer, under the command ofJediGeneralAnakin Skywalker. The fleet was tasked with breaking through Tuuk's blockade to allow the safe landing of a Republicinvasion fleet led by Jedi GeneralsMace Windu andObi-Wan Kenobi. As the Republic planned their attack, Tuuk, in anticipation of an assault upon his blockade, set a trap, positioning four of hisMunificent-class starfrigates away from theRyloth system so as to surprise any attacking forces. Before the arrival of Skywalker's fleet, Tuuk consulted withEmir Tambor, who pondered on the preparedness of both the captain and his fleet for the approaching conflict. Certain in his forces' strength, the Neimoidian expressed confidence in the blockade, adding that the Republic forces would be caught off guard by the trap he had set. Prepared for battle, Skywalker's fleet arrived in thestar system and deployed theV-19 Torrent starfighters ofBlue Squadron, led by Skywalker'sPadawan,Jedi CommanderAhsoka Tano, against the blockade. In response, Tuuk orderedsquadrons ofVulture-class droid starfighters to fend off the attackingstarfighters.^[2]

Commanding from theResolute, his flagship, Skywalker remained back with alongside theDefender and theRedeemer to provide support fire for their starfighters. Tuuk, examining the Republicwarships, learned that theResolute was Skywalker's flagship and realized who his opponent was. As a result, upon being alerted by aB1-series battle droid to the quickly closing Blue Squadron, the Neimoidian instructed hisbridge crew to remain patient, awaiting Skywalker to reveal his attack strategy before employing countermeasures. Soon thereafter, though, with the Republic's starfighters on a clear approach to hiscommand ship, Tuuk ordered the four away frigates, includingBattlecruisers 17 and19, to reinforce the blockade and assume their attack positions. The ships emerged fromhyperspace, which caught the Republic forces off guard.^[2]

With the Republic lured into his trap, Tuuk began to apply pressure onto Skywalker's fleet, as theJedi Knight's Star Destroyers suffered a series ofsuicidal attacks against theirhulls from the Neimoidian's droid starfighters. In response to their broken battle lines, AdmiralWullf Yularen ordered the withdrawal of the attacking Blue Squadron, which had maintained its pursuit of Tuuk's battleship as they became surrounded by the vulture droids, much to the Neimoidian's pleasure. Despite Tano's continued pursuit, Tuuk's unrelenting assault on the heavily damaged Star Destroyers forced the Padawan to return to the Republic fleet, but not before losing several of herclone pilots in the process. Upon Blue Squadron's return, Skywalker ordered the immediate withdrawal of his fleet from the star system, but before it could escape, the damagedRedeemer tore apart in space amid their retreat. Informed of the Republic's retreat, Tuuk's bridge crew pondered on their potential pursuit of their fleeing adversaries, but instructed the blockade to retain their defensive positions and allow the Republic to flee.^[2]

Defeated by Skywalker[]

When theDefender entered the system all alone, Tuuk was contacted by Skywalker, who offered his surrender in exchange for safe passage of food and medical supplies to theTwi'leks. Tuuk was all to happy to accept and gain the glory of defeating Skywalker, but he soon realized that Skywalker was tricking him when abattle droid told him that there was only one life-form aboard and that all power was being directed to the forward shields. Tuuk watched in horror as theDefender barreled towards hiscommandship, and after ordering all batteries to target the crippled Republic cruiser, realized it was no use and abandoned ship. Once his ship was destroyed by theDefender crashing into it, Ahsoka arrived with the rest of Skywalker's fleet to destroy Tuuk's blockade, allowing for Republic troops led by Jedi GeneralsMace Windu andObi-Wan Kenobi to land on the planet.^[2]

Personality and traits[]

Mar Tuuk was Neimoidian male^[2] who stood at 2.09meters (6feet, 10 inches),^[3] and had green skin.^[2]

Tuuk was a capable tactician and a prepared leader on the battlefield.^[3] As he helmed the Separatist's blockade at Ryloth, he was very familiar with his opponent, the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. He had a respect for the general but was confident that he would prevail. However, despite his patient tactics initially succeeding to thwart the Republic attack, Tuuk was ultimately tricked by Skywalker and abandoned ship when Skywalker rammed one of his damagedVenator-class Star Destroyers, theDefender, into his command ship.^[2]

Equipment[]

During the blockade of Ryloth, Tuuk wore ablue and grayrobe with a bluehat featuring theSeparatist hex icon. He used a pair ofdata goggles to interface with his ship.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Mar Tuuk first appeared in "Storm Over Ryloth," the nineteenth episode of thefirst season of theStar Wars: The Clone Wars television series,^[2]which was released onFebruary 27,2009.^[9]

Mar Tuuk wasnamed afterDave Filoni's deceased cat Tuuk.^[10] The spinning scope device on Tuuk'sdata goggles was partly inspired by the mechanical monocle worn by aKo-Danfleetofficer in the1984 filmThe Last Starfighter.^[11]

Tuuk was originally going todie aboard his ship, butGeorge Lucas and the show's crew found the character too interesting, so Tuuk was spared. A new scene of him leaving thebridge was added late in the making of the episode "Storm Over Ryloth," and a battle droid stating that Tuuk fled in anescape pod was also added.^[11] Also in the original scene, before he was chosen to be spared by the writers, had a panicked battle droid tell the Neimoidian what they should do next, in which Tuuk replied that "we die."

Appearances[]

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Storm Over Ryloth"(First appearance)

Sources[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia's media for this article subject:
Audio · Images

• The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Storm Over Ryloth onStarWars.com(original site is defunct)
• "Storm Over Ryloth" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "Innocents of Ryloth" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)
• "To Catch a Jedi" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars onStarWars.com(backup link)
• Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing 23Starfighter Aces: Ahsoka Tano — Eager Padawan
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
• Star Wars: Armada —Recusant-class Destroyer Expansion PackCard:Mar Tuuk
• "The Clone Wars Begin" —Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
• Mar Tuuk in theDatabank(backup link)
• Wat Tambor in theDatabank(backup link)

Notes and references[]