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Quarg

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This article details a subject that falls under the Legends continuity.

Quarg

Biographical information

Homeworld

Drexel^[1]

Died

0 ABY, Drexel^[2]

Descriptive information

Species

Human^[1]

Gender

Male^[1]

Pronouns

He/him^[1]

Hair color

Brown^[1]

Eye color

Brown^[1]

Skin color

Light^[1]

Chronological & political information

Affiliation(s)

Ship-dwellers^[1]

"This pudgy madman doesn't have a voice like Darth Vader... but his heart's sure in the same place!"

―Luke Skywalker^[3]

Quarg was aHuman male who served asgovernor of a group ofexiles on thewatery planet Drexel during theGalactic Civil War.Quarg's father was a formerOld Republic official who ran an illegal ship-wrecking operation in theKorteen asteroid belt—after the Republic and theJedi broke up the scheme, he and several followers fled to Drexel, where Quarg was raised. Quarg ascended to the position of governor after his father'sdeath, taking command of theGreat Ship, a massive floating city-ship built around the remains of thestarship that originally bore the exiles to Drexel.

As Governor, Quarg threw himself into two pursuits, a continuation of his father's ship-wrecking scheme, and a bloody war with theDragon Lords, a splinter group descended from people Quarg's father had cast off from the Great Ship. In0 ABY, Quarg'ssonic jammer ensnared aRebel Alliance scout ship containing a young man namedLuke Skywalker, whosedroids impressed Quarg to offer him a place on his ship instead of simply executing him. However, when more of Skywalker's fellow rebels arrived on Drexel, Skywalker turned on Quarg amidst a massive Dragon Lordattack. While defending his friendLeia Organa from Quarg's threats, Skywalker kicked the Governor overboard, leading to Quarg's death.

Biography[]

Governor of the Great Ship[]

"We're at war with the Dragon Lords, Skywalker, if you and these droids can make a worthless skimmer combat-ready... your futures are secure!"

―Quarg, to Luke Skywalker^[3]

AHuman male, Quarg grew up on thewatery^[3]Outer Rim^[4]planet Drexel during the dyingyears of theGalactic Republic.Quarg's father was, for a time, a Republic official, serving asGovernor of theKorteen asteroid belt. Quarg's father leveraged his position into personal profit, using his status as Governor to cover up his citizens' engaging in space-wrecking: the people of the Korteen belt would usesonic jammers to send passingships careening intoasteroids, where they would be stripped of their cargo. Quarg's father got a cut of every wreck, a business that gradually grew in profit.^[3]

Quarg and Luke Skywalker aboard the Great Ship.

Eventually, Quarg's father began bankrolling development of new, more powerful jammers, requiring an influx of special equipment andtechnicians that caught the notice of the Republic and theJedi. When the heat inevitably came down, Quarg's father andseveral followers managed to escape to Drexel, where they built acity-ship around the wreckage of theirlaser-blasted craft. Quarg came of age aboard this "Great Ship," as the descendants of these fugitives contended for supremacy with a group of people known as theDragon Lords: mutineers who had beenexiled by Quarg's father and had discovered how to control Drexel's massive nativesea-dragons. Quarg became the new "Governor" of the Great Ship after his father's death, dedicating his time to waging war on the Dragon Lords, while also continuing his father's business of wrecking passing ships, albeit on a smaller scale.^[3] After the Great Ship's sonic jammer brought down a ship from orbit, Quarg would dispatch men onhydra craft known as "skimmers" to strip them of anything valuable.^[1]

In0 ABY, Quarg's scheme yielded him a new catch: ascout ship that had the misfortune of entering the skies over Drexel. Quarg dispatched three skimmers to the scene—they returned two vehicles down after an encounter with dragon lords, but with some even more valuable prizes in tow. Quarg's men had with them twodroids, so rare on Drexel that most were not aware of their existence, and a young man wielding alightsaber, whom they believed to be a Jedi. Although Quarg immediately called for the survivors to be hanged after finding that they had lost two skimmers, the governor's mood lightened after looking upon the catch.^[1] Quarg brought the prisoners within the ship, where he learned their identities: the "Jedi" was a youngRebel namedLuke Skywalker, while his mechanical companions were theastromech droid R2-D2 andC-3PO.^[3]

Quarg's policy was to immediately execute all offworlders, but decided to waive the rule after Skywalker displayed what his droids could do. Skywalker set R2-D2 to work on the ship's crumbling skimmers, and Quarg was astonished by the droid's repair abilities, which far outpaced hisMaster Machinesmith. After R2-D2 finished his work on a skimmer, Quarg sent Skywalker out to test the craft, threatening him with execution if the skimmer did not work to his expectations. There, Skywalker was attacked by the Master Machinesmith, who felt threatened by Skywalker's droids. Skywalker managed to fight the man off, and his efforts to regain control of the hurtling skimmer after the brawl impressed Quarg enough to offer him a place on the ship. As for the Master Machinesmith, Quarg had the man hanged as a warning to the rest of the crew. As a gesture of his good faith, Quarg revealed to Skywalker that it was his men that were responsible for bringing down his ship.^[3]

The score of a lifetime[]

"It's too big, Governor! The technos say the jammer can't bring it down! We're drawing all the power from the ship's engines just trying—"
"You'll all try harder or hang! It's up there in orbit, Commander... and I want it!"

―Quarg orders his men to continue using the sonic jammer^[5]

Luke Skywalker kicks Quarg overboard, sending him to his death.

But as fate would have it, a much bigger catch soon appeared in the skies over Drexel: a massivepirate battlecruiser that Quarg believed would provide them with enough metal salvage to last a lifetime. Although Quarg's technicians expressed doubt that the Great Ship's sonic jammer was powerful enough to bring down such a monstrous ship, Quarg ordered them to proceed. Despite their warning, Quarg quickly lost his patience when the jammer struggled to bring down the cruiser, accusing the technicians of being in league with the Dragon Lords. His fury was interrupted by a report from his lookouts: a massive Dragon Lord army had been sighted on the horizon, ready to attack. Believing that the Dragon Lords were after the cruiser, Quarg launched every skimmer he had and dispatched Skywalker to command agunship, promising to dismantle his droids if he failed him.^[3] The ensuing battle was shocking in its brutality—the sea-dragons seemed frenzied, rampaging forward with abandon and tearing through Quarg's skimmers. Although Quarg'slieutenants advised that he flee the battle, Quarg's sights were still firmly set on the cruiser above, and the governor refused to shut down the sonic jammer in order to set sail.^[5]

In the midst of the battle, however, Quarg saw opportunity. Another ship, afreighter known as theMillennium Falcon—which had been conveyed to Drexel by the battlecruiser in orbit—crashed into the Drexel ocean during the fighting, and the grounded vessel was brought back to the Great Ship. As chance would have it, several of Skywalker's Rebel friends had been aboard, and Quarg learned that Skywalker had abandoned the attack to attempt to save them—despite this betrayal, Quarg still had use for the young man. With the sonic jammer still lacking the power to bring the orbiting cruiser down, Quarg immediately ordered Skywalker to link theMillennium Falcon'sengines with those of the Great Ship, expecting that to provide the extra boost the jammer needed. This time, Quarg had something he was sure would ensure his compliance: Skywalker's friendLeia Organa, whom had been discovered aboard theFalcon and taken as a hostage. Another captive, the imposingWookiee Chewbacca, was rendered unconscious and kept prisoner in the ship's hold.^[5]

Quarg's captivity of the feisty Organa didn't last long. At her first opportunity, Organa attacked Quarg and attempted to escape, aided by Chewbacca, who suddenly awoke and burst through the wall to attack Quarg and his guards. Quarg managed to evade Chewbacca's attacks and chased Organa up to the ship's yardarm, cornering her high above the Drexel waves. Quarg planned to hang Organa for her insolence, but was interrupted by Skywalker, who swung in from the ship's mast on a rope. Quarg's hasty shot at the youth missed, and Skywalker caught Quarg square in the chest with a kick,^[5] sending the Governor to a watery grave.^[2]

Personality and traits[]

"Men are expendable, skimmers definitely are not!"

―Governor Quarg^[1]

Quarg strikes one of his underlings during the Battle of Drexel.

A ruthless man,^[6] the corpulent and truculent Governor Quarg had no care for the men who served below him, caring only about the health of his skimmers, his war with the Dragon Lords, and his wrecking scheme.^[1] According to Luke Skywalker, the malice in Quarg's heart was similar to what he found in theSith Lord Darth Vader.^[3] Quarg believed that the quickest and most effective way to send a message was with a hanging, and was apt to call for executions at the slightest provocations. However, Quarg could always be counted on to act in his own self-interest, and could be convinced to change his mind and go against his rules if it could benefit him.^[1] For instance, although Quarg originally intended to immediately put Luke Skywalker to death, he was legitimately impressed by the young man's droids—seeing that Skywalker could help him win the war with the Dragon Lords, Quarg decided instead to bring Skywalker into the fold, going so far as to hang the previous Master Machinesmith after he attacked his new crewman.^[3]

Quarg's direction in life was set by his father, the previous leader of the ship-dwellers, who brought the family to Drexel and passed on leadership of the group to his son.^[3] Although Quarg thought his father a fool,^[1] he pursued his ship-wrecking scheme with great enthusiasm, while continuing his father's war against the Dragon Lords with single-minded fury. When Quarg had his eyes on a ship to wreck, it became his only priority: he accepted no excuses for failure, and even went so far as accusing subordinates of treason when his sonic jammer did not work fast enough. And if the prize was big enough, Quarg was more than willing to sacrifice the lives of his men to ensure he got his hands on it.^[5] Quarg hadbrown hair, browneyes and light skin.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The character of Governor Quarg first appeared inStar Wars (1977) 12, written byArchie Goodwin and released in1978.^[1] Quarg appeared as a primary antagonist in the next two issues of theMarvel Star Wars series, before meeting his end inStar Wars (1977) 14.^[5] Although Quarg is thrown overboard at the end ofStar Wars 14, his death was not explicitly confirmed until2008, in his entry inThe Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.^[2] During his appearances in theMarvel comics, Quarg was illustrated byCarmine Infantino.^[1]^[3]^[5]