Tunga Arpagion

Tunga Arpagion

Tunga Arpagion was amaleClawditeshape-shifteragent who was known to be a professionalactor and impersonator. He was recruited by theAlliance to Restore the Republic for amission they undertook onMon Cala. His impersonation ofImperialMoffTan Hubi allowedLeia Organa andher team to locateLee-Char, formerking of Mon Cala, and deliver his last words back to theMon Calamari.

After a brief return to acting, he was once again recruited by Organa, who required his talents for amission toShu-Torun, with their goal to take down theSpike as an economic strike to the Empire. He impersonated theore-dukeLordOr-Tar in order to get Organa a scan ofQueenTrios'eye, which could unlock Shu-Torun's security systems. Arpagion later took the form of Queen Trios to rid theAncestral Retreat of its staff, allowing the rebels to deactivate the security systems of Shu-Torun.

Their plan went astray when thePartisans, a rebel insurgent group recruited for the attack, sabotaged the Spike so that it would destroy Shu-Torun in revenge for the Empire'sdestruction of Jedha. When the rebels became trapped by both anorbital bombardment and a group ofTIE fighters, Arpagion sacrificed himself, using his shapeshifting abilities to trick the Imperials into believing he was Organa, shooting down his ship. However, Arpagion survived, and was rescued by cultists of theCentral Isopter, who initiated him into the cult against his will.

Biography[]

AClawditeshape-shifter, Arpagion gained a reputation for the various acts of impersonation he had achieved, such as playing the role of the lateThespus-V for aweek after shedied before anyone noticed. He also had several connections, including many members of theMeor nobility nearEncrust II.^[2] At some point, he was caught andimprisoned byDex Acquisitions, who planned to hand the Clawdite over to theGalactic Empire in exchange for a reward.^[1]

Assisting the Rebellion[]

Rescued[]

As part of hermission to recruit thefleet of theMon Calamari into theRebel Alliance,Leia Organa planned to kidnap^[1]Tan Hubi,^[2]Moff of theCalamari sector, in order to use his bio-signature to accessthe facility where the Mon Calamariking,Lee-Char, was being held. When bringing the idea before theAlliance High Command,GeneralDavits Draven suggested Arpagion, who was being held at theDex Acquisitions Depot onMeor Ain. Organa ledher team on a mission to rescue Arpagion, tricking her way into the facility by pretending that she had been captured byChewbacca. After theWookiee had knocked the guards unconscious,Luke Skywalker cut the cell door's panel off with hislightsaber, allowing Chewbacca to break the door down. Organa and her team entered the cell to find Arpagion, who was in the form of herfather,Bail Organa, as a joke. An offended Leia saw through the disguise, and punched Arpagion, who reverted back into his regular form. Organastunned Arpagion with herblaster, and Chewbacca carried him out of the prison^[1] and back to theMillennium Falcon.^[2]

Impersonating a Moff[]

Once he was aboard theFalcon, Organa showed Arpagion ahologram of Hubi, asking if he could impersonate the Moff for several hours. Arpagion stated that he could, but would be unable to impersonate him while on duty. Organa told Arpagion that it would not be necessary, due to a performance at theMoncaladrome which Hubi would be attending. Arpagion inquired as to why why Organa needed the Moff, but the details of the mission were confidential until he accepted. After Arpagion accepted the job, the team went toMon Cala, where Arpagion stayed in a cave with Leia, waiting until the Moff had been captured.Han Solo and Chewbacca managed to kidnap the Moff, and brought him to Arpagion, who studied his appearance and voice. As Hubi yelled out, Arpagion transformed into him, repeating his words back to him. Appearing exactly like Moff Hubi, Arpagion headed for the Moncaladrome as Organa's team took the Moff toStrokill Prime.^[2]

The arrival of "Hubi" was announced byC-3PO, and Arpagion entered the Moncaladrome, waving to the crowd. He sat betweenQueenTrios andRegentDors Urtya, and watched the Mon Calamariopera. C-3PO informed Arpagion that his entrance was out of character for the Moff, but he disregarded it, asking theprotocol droid to translate the show for him. During an intermission, Arpagion answered several questions under theguise of the Moff. The second half of the show started, and Arpagion returned to his seat. As he pretended to be Hubi, Organa and her team had successfully broken into the Imperial facility on Strokill Prime using the real Moff's bio-signature.^[4]

The mutiny begins[]

When the opera ended before Organa's team had given an all-clear, Arpagion took the stage with C-3PO andR2-D2, performing arecital from the poetMoobian Tax to buy them some time. On Strokill Prime, the real Moff activated an button in Lee-Char's cell, alerting severalstormtroopers to the fact that the Moff on Mon Cala was an impersonator. Stormtroopers burst into the Moncaladrome, announcing that the Hubi on the stage was not real, but a sudden light failure allowed Arpagion to escape with thedroids. Hiding backstage, Arpagion shape-shifted into a Mon Calamari, disguising the droids incolorful costumes. They slipped back into the chaos, escaping the Moncaladrome. Arpagion and the droids, no longer disguised, met back up with the rest of the team, but they were confronted by Regent Urtya, who demanded to take the recording that Organa had made of Lee-Char's last words. With the mission an apparent failure, the team boarded theFalcon and left theplanet. As they left, Urtya broadcasted Lee-Char's message to the Mon Calamariships, causing them to overthrow the Imperials on board. However, Urtya had sent the message too early, and severalImperial-class Star Destroyers entered the system.^[6]

Aboard theFalcon, Arpagion asked whether Organa could contact her rebel friends, but she was unable to, as the Imperials would jam any signals being sent. However, they received a message from Urtya, who had contacted the Rebellion himself. TheFalcon crew watched as a Rebel Alliance fleet arrived above Mon Cala, entering battle against the Imperial forces. Arpagion was shocked when theescape pods from thecruiserAurora Flare were shot down by theTIE fighters. TheAurora Flare itself was damaged byAdmiralTyrus Meori'sStar Destroyer, causing its cargo ofcoaxium to explode, damaging the Star Destroyer and allowing the rebel fleet to escape with the Mon Calamari ships. Arpagion was dropped off at theCosmatanic Steppes, where he thanked Organa, who still had not forgiven him for pretending to be her father. Arpagion told her that he'd make it up to her, before walking away from theFalcon. As theFalcon left, Arpagion excitedly thought of the events at Mon Cala as a story to be told, giving it the name "mutiny on Mon Cala".^[5]

Recruited once more[]

Strike against Shu-Torun[]

After the end of the mutiny, Arpagion returned to his career ofacting. He created a show based on the events of the mutiny, albeit with changes to the characters' names due to a suggestion from hisagent, performing it in a theater onGralack, where he took the role of Luke Skywalker. During the play, several stormtroopers intervened, accusing it of beingtreasonous material. Arpagion shape-shifted back into himself, and along with the other actors, attempted to run backstage. When the stormtroopers followed them, intending to put them under arrest, the real Luke Skywalker stepped in, taking down the stormtroopers with hislightsaber. Leia Organa and Han Solo led Arpagion and the other actors out, requesting the Clawdite's help in anothermission.^[7]

After recruiting both thePartisans fromJedha along with theengineer andslicerMeorti, Organa gathered her team in theMillennium Falcon aboard theHome One. She revealed that their objective was to take down the Imperial world ofShu-Torun as an economic strike to the Empire.^[7] They traveled to the planet, landing close to theSpike, a structure that powered the entire mining operation. Arpagion was eager to hear Organa's plan, and was not optimistic upon hearing that they had to shut the Spike down. In order to access the planet's master security controls, they needed a scan ofQueen Trios of Shu-Torun'seyes. Arpagion was doubtful about successfully kidnapping the queen, but Organa instead planned to impersonate anore-duke and use the disguise to get close enough for ascanner to view her eyes.^[8]

Undercover at a party[]

Using aspeeder, Arpagion, along with Organa, Solo, Meorti and C-3PO, located the ship ofLordOr-Tar in theAbyssal Approach, boarding it and stunned both Or-Tar and hispilot. Arpagion shape-shifted into the form of Or-Tar, and the team took the ship to theAbyssal Rooms, where Trios was holding a gathering. Arpagion and C-3PO, who wore the scanner around his head, walked towards the party, pleased to be working with each other for a second time.^[8]

Inside the Abyssal Rooms, Arpagion spotted Trios, and went to greet her. While C-3PO's scanner recorded her eyes, Arpagion distracted the queen, showing off theearring that held hiscomlink. Trios was suspicious of his display of wealth and the apparently new protocol droid, as Or-Tar had previously complained about the Empire's high quotas. Once the scan was successful, Leia spoke to Arpagion through the comlink, telling him to find an excuse to leave. Arpagion claimed that the earring was merely made oftin, and that the droid was useless, bidding farewell to the queen. Before leaving, Arpagion gave Trios a subtle message under orders from Organa, repeating a phrase that she had used previously.^[8]

Taking down the planet[]

Arpagion left the Abyssal Rooms, calming a nervous C-3PO on the way to Or-Tar's ship. He reverted into his regular form, and the team headed for theAncestral Retreat, leaving Or-Tar and his pilot safely on an isolated island. Arpagion returned theclothing he had taken from the ore-duke, before putting on a royal dress that he would wear to impersonate Queen Trios. They landed at the Retreat, where Arpagion, who disembarked from the ship in disguise as Trios, was welcomed by the queen's staff. Arpagion gathered the staff and took their weapons under the pretense of an inspection, before locking them in a room, leaving free roam of the retreat to Organa's team.^[9]

The Clawdite returned to his normal form, meeting the other rebels in the retreat's throne room, where he was congratulated by C-3PO. Arpagion enjoyed the chance to sit on the throne while Meorti sliced into the security systems. She was able to deactivate the systems, giving Organa's team full control of the planet. However, Trios discovered that she had lost control, finding herself trapped inside the Abyssal Rooms.^[9] While the team waited for Skywalker and the Partisans to take down the Spike, Arpagion suggested passing the time with conversational improvisation games. Unknown to Organa and the rest of her team, the Partisans planned to sabotage the plan, causing the Spike to destroy Shu-Torun as revenge for what the Empire had done to Jedha.^[10]

The plan goes awry[]

Inside the Abyssal Rooms, Trios and herGrand Marshal devised a plan to break out of the Abyssal Approach usingmining equipment, heading for the retreat. At the same time, ImperialcommanderKanchar was alerted of the rebel attack. As Trios' ship approached, Arpagion and the rest of the team prepared to defend the Ancestral Retreat. Trios crashed her ship into the retreat, forcing the rebels to dive aside to avoid it. While the rebels fought back the Shu-Torun soldiers, Commander Kanchar arrived above the planet, choosing tobombard the retreat.^[10]

The rebels retreated from the bombardment, returning to the throne room. Arpagion was concerned with the increasing danger of the situation, asking whether they planned to leave before it was too late. Trios managed to enter the throne room with several soldiers, dueling Organa. Trios was fatally injured, leading her soldiers to rush to attack the rebels while Arpagion looked on in shock. Before dying, Trios accused the rebels of attempting to destroy the planet, and Organa realized that their plan had gone wrong.^[11]

Final act[]

Unable to leave in their ship due to theTIEfighters attacking the retreat, and with Trios' forces attempting to cut their way into the throne room, the rebels saw no way to escape alive. Upon hearing that the TIEs prevented any hope of being retrieved by Chewbacca in theFalcon, Arpagion ran towards their ship. Organa and Solo believed that the Clawdite was attempting to steal the ship and escape on his own, but Arpagion intended to distract the TIE fighters away from the retreat.^[3]

Impersonating Organa's appearance and voice, Arpagion allowed Commander Kanchar to intercept a transmission that tricked the Imperials into thinking the rebels were escaping. Kanchar ordered the TIEs at the retreat to pursue the supposed escape vessel, while Arpagion contacted Organa, informing the rebels of his distraction. Arpagion was successful in distracting the TIE fighters, but his ship was shot down, exploding in midair.^[3]

Arpagion's supposed sacrifice allowed the rebels to make their way to the Spike, convincing the Partisans that destroying Shu-Torun was unnessecary. The Spike was destroyed as according to Organa's plan, and the rest of the rebel team managed to escape the planet and return to theHome One. While they presumed that Arpagion had died, he had survived the explosion of the ship, the wreckage of which had crashed onto solid ground, where Arpagion was later discovered by members of theCentral Isopter cult,^[3] who had migrated to Shu-Torun to witness the impending destruction.^[7] The cultists rescued Arpagion, and despite his protest, welcomed him to the cult.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

As an actor, Arpagion enjoyed using his shape-shifting abilities, and the fame he gained from it. He was proud of this, and, according to Han Solo, often liked to talk about himself.^[2] When being rescued by Leia Organa, he impersonated her father, Bail Organa, as a joke.^[1] He eventually apologized for doing so, claiming he'd make up for it.^[5] Ultimately, he chose to sacrifice his life on Shu-Torun for the safety of the rebels, though he managed to survive.^[3]

He saw the impersonation jobs he carried out for the Rebel Alliance as no different from his regular acting roles.^[7] Witnessing the battle above Mon Cala during the Mon Calamari mutiny, he reacted as if it were a play, applauding the heroism and skill of the rebels. Once the mutiny was successful, Arpagion saw its potential,^[5] proceeding to actually make a play out of the events.^[7]

While performing a recital in the disguise of Moff Tan Hubi, he was disappointed, feeling that the audience at the Moncaladrome missed the subtleties of his performance.^[6] During the impersonation, he put on a vain and dramatic personality, so much so that C-3PO advised him that it wasn't in character for the Moff. Arpagion disregarded this, choosing to perform the role the way he liked.^[4] He later acted in a similar fashion while impersonating Queen Trios of Shu-Torun.^[9] While having to answer questions in disguise as the Moff, Arpagion claimed the Empire was increasing grants towards the arts, even though it was untrue.^[4]

Arpagion opposed the Galactic Empire, knowing they were against him and his actions,^[2] and was shocked at the sight of them destroying fleeing escape pods above Mon Cala.^[5] Creating a play from the events of the mutiny, he was eventually wanted by the Empire for performing what they claimed was treasonous material.^[7]

A male^[2] Clawdite, Arpagion possessedgreen skin and yelloweyes when in his regular form.^[1]

Skills and abilities[]

Arpagion was known for his talents in acting and impersonation, and was able to perform the role of the late Thespus-V for a week after she had died until anyone discovered the truth.^[2] He also used his acting abilities to perform plays,^[6] in which he could shape-shift to fit his roles.^[7]

He claimed to be trained to improvise, and used his skills to pass as Moff Tan Hubi during conversations at the Moncaladrome.^[4] Arpagion also had skills in costuming, which he used to disguise the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 after his impersonation was discovered.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

Tunga Arpagion first appeared inStar Wars (2015) 45, acanoncomic written byKieron Gillen, illustrated bySalvador Larroca,^[5] and published onMarch 21,2018.^[12]

Appearances[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia'simages for this article subject.

• Star Wars (2015) 45(First appearance)
• Star Wars (2015) 46(First identified as Arpagion)
• Star Wars (2015) 47
• Star Wars (2015) 48
• Star Wars (2015) 49
• Star Wars (2015) 62
• Star Wars (2015) 63
• Star Wars (2015) 64
• Star Wars (2015) 65
• Star Wars (2015) 66
• Star Wars (2015) 67

Sources[]

• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy

Notes and references[]