Alpha - 17 Alpha - 17 , otherwise known as A - 17 or simply Alpha , was an Alpha - class Advanced Recon Commando in the Republic ' s clone army during the Clone Wars . Biography . Alpha , as was the case with the rest of the ARCs , first saw action with the Separatist invasion of Kamino . As the Confederacy ' s droid forces pushed towards the heart of Tipoca City , the Kaminoan Prime Minister , Lama Su , activated the ARCs and authorized their deployment to hot - spots across Kamino in a last - ditch effort to save the planet ' s precious cloning facilities . During the fighting to push the droids from Tipoca ' s central armory , Alpha teamed up with Jedi Master Shaak Ti , Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi , and Kenobi ' s Padawan , Anakin Skywalker . When the city ' s clone stocks became compromised , Alpha rigged the lab to self - destruct , much to the dismay of the Jedi . After remarking , " They grow up loyal to the Republic , or they don ' t grow up at all , " it was clear to the Jedi that they were not dealing with an average clone trooper . Ti wished there was another way , so Alpha made a strategy for Obi - Wan and Anakin to collapse the transparisteel walls linking the facility while Ti held back the ocean before they sealed the place off . When the plan worked and the attack was successfully repelled , Alpha then aborted the detonation sequence . When Naboo lost contact with the Gungan colony moon of Ohma - D ' un , a Separatist attack was suspected , and General Kenobi and Skywalker were sent to investigate . Kenobi , having witnessed his lethal effectiveness on Kamino , took Alpha along for the ride . When the trio arrived on the surface , they found the Gungan colony in ruins and bodies for as far as the eye could see . Before they could complete their investigation into the cause of the genocidal slaughter , however , they fell under attack from the bounty hunter Durge and the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress . Under Kenobi ' s orders , Alpha went with Anakin to find and destroy the bio - weapon responsible for Ohma - D ' un ' s destruction before it could be let loose in Theed . It was then that Anakin , uncomfortable with calling him simply " clone , " named the ARC trooper " Alpha " . Following the mission to Ohma - D ' un , Alpha was once again chosen by Kenobi and Anakin to accompany them on another important mission . This time , the three were to lead the assault on the obscure Outer Rim world of Jabiim , which had recently declared its allegiance to Count Dooku ' s Confederacy . The initial days of the assault saw victory after victory for the Republic , but , as the rain continued to pour , their assault vehicles became bogged down in the mud and became an easy target for the Jabiimi guerrillas . As Republic casualties mounted , the rebels , their forces now bolstered with the addition of Separatist battle droids , stepped up their attacks . The Republic was dealt its greatest blow with the apparent death of Obi - Wan and Alpha while they were clearing out a downed All Terrain Tactical Enforcer . Neither Obi - Wan nor Alpha , however , died in the explosion that supposedly took their lives . In truth , they fell into Separatist custody and were transferred to a secret prison on Rattatak . Once there , Asajj Ventress , the dark Jedi from Ohma - D ' un , tried to beat and torture the two of them into revealing sensitive information regarding Republic troop movements . Before she got the information she wanted , however , the two of them escaped under the guise of a prison break . Having fought their way off Rattatak and away from Ventress with the help of Anakin and Master Ki - Adi - Mundi , the two found their way back to the Republic and to the Grand Army . Following the ordeal , and after several weeks in a bacta tank , Alpha was transferred out of General Kenobi ' s Third Systems Army and was sent back to Kamino , where he was to train current and future generations of clone commanders . He followed Anakin ' s previous suggestion that he give them names , was promoted to the rank of captain , and became lead instructor of the Tipoca City training facility . Commanders Cody of the 212th Attack Battalion , Neyo of the 91st Reconnaissance , Bacara of the 21st Nova Corps , Gree of the 41st Elite Corps , Appo of the 501st Legion , Rex of the 501st Legion , Bly of the 327th Star Corps , Wolffe of the Wolfpack , Salvo , Faie , Fordo , and many more were among the first hundred to be enrolled in and graduate from his experimental training regimen , known as the ARC training program . Of those first hundred , a few were hand - picked by Alpha and assigned to Squad Seven , with Commanders Davijaan and Cody as its leaders . Alpha ' s duties on Kamino , however , did not mean an end to service in the field . Alpha was chosen to accompany Senator Bail Organa on his tour of the Outer Rim Sieges aboard the Star Destroyer " Intervention " . When the " Intervention " was commandeered by General Kenobi in order to lead the assault on Boz Pity , Alpha readied himself for yet another battle . During the fighting , Alpha was critically wounded by General Grievous himself , so much so that it was thought he ' d never walk again . As hostilities wound down , Alpha , along with the supposed corpse of Asajj Ventress , was loaded onto a medical transport and sent back to Coruscant for treatment . En route , however , Ventress proved very much alive when she took control of the transport and ordered its pilots to take her into the unknown . Behind the scenes . According to the " " DVD ' s commentary , the creators at first had decided to put in Alpha as the Clone Wars series ' prime clone character . However , Lucas objected because his inclusion would make too much of an alliteration ( Anakin , Artoo , Ahsoka , and now Alpha ) , so a different clone character , Captain Rex , was created .