Daine Jir Daine Jir was a bold and outspoken 501st Legion stormtrooper officer , serving under Darth Vader aboard the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " as a commander during the hunt for the stolen Death Star plans in 0 BBY . Jir — part of a family that had donated a genetic template for the Imperial stormtrooper development program — started out as a combat stormtrooper in the 501st , but later proved himself to be a competent and ruthless officer . However , many suspected he would not last long under Vader ' s command after he called one of the Dark Lord ' s decisions into doubt . Vader was impressed with Jir ' s brutal honesty , and promoted him instead of killing him . In 0 BBY , Jir led a contingent of the 501st in an attack on the CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " , on which Vader believed Senator Leia Organa had received transmissions containing the Death Star plans . The 501st picked off the Rebel forces aboard the ship and captured Organa , but despite a thorough search of the corvette no trace of the plans could be found . Jir was tasked with destroying the ship and alerting the Imperial Senate that it had been lost in a meteor ite strike . Biography . Commander of the 501st . A tall , slim Human male , Daine Jir was a member of the Jir family , who were known to have donated a genetic template for the Imperial stormtrooper development program . Jir himself enlisted in the Imperial Army , proving himself extremely capable ; he served as a stormtrooper in the elite 501st Legion , before becoming a noncombat officer with the rank of lieutenant in the same legion , known for its exploits at Kamino and Polis Massa as well as quelling a prison break on the Death Star . Jir used constant , rigorous training regimens and crisis simulators to ensure that he and the stormtroopers under his command were maintaining high performance levels . By 0 BBY , Jir and the 501st were posted aboard the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " , and served directly under Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader , Emperor Palpatine ' s enforcer . Vader was a fearsome figure who was known to execute his subordinates for the merest of errors , and most who served under him were too afraid to ever defy him . Jir — a bold and outspoken man — was unafraid of Vader , and spoke out against his suggestions numerous times while still a lieutenant . This was practically unheard of , and Jir ' s peers began to count his days amongst the living ; Vader had Force choked men for far less . The Dark Lord , however , found Jir ' s brutal honesty a refreshing contrast to the usual manipulative rhetoric of most Imperial officers , and promoted him to commander . Commander Daine Jir became Vader ' s " aide - de - camp " for the opening year or so of the Galactic Civil War . It was later said that Jir , like Admiral Firmus Piett and Captain Janus Bonn , was one of the select few Imperial officers who had ever earned Vader ' s respect . Attack on the " Tantive IV " . In 0 BBY , members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic on the planet Toprawa stole plans to the Empire ' s secret Death Star project , which were transmitted to Imperial Senator Leia Organa — herself a member of the Rebel Alliance — and her crew on board the CR90 corvette " Tantive IV " . By the time Imperial Intelligence located the leak , Organa had fled in the " Tantive IV " ; vowing to retrieve the stolen information at any cost , Darth Vader took the " Devastator " in pursuit , along with Jir and the 501st . Vader also hoped capturing the ship would provide the Empire with the location of the Rebels ' secret base . The " Devastator " intercepted the " Tantive IV " over the remote world of Tatooine in the Outer Rim Territories ; the Star Destroyer tractor beamed the ship , and Vader ordered the 501st to prepare to board . Jir stayed behind with Vader as the legion ' s contingent of stormtroopers entered the " Tantive IV " to engage what little soldiers the Rebellion had defending the ship . The Imperials killed many of them , allowing Vader — accompanied by Jir — to enter and oversee the search for the Death Star plans ; however , no trace of the plans could be found , and the Imperials were also unable to locate Princess Leia Organa . Jir and Commander Nahdonnis Praji stormed the ship ' s bridge and captured the " Tantive IV " captain , Raymus Antilles , whom Vader killed during an interrogation . Eventually , Organa was located , but they were unable to find the Death Star plans . Jir ' s stormtroopers escorted Organa to him and Vader , who began questioning her . Organa was defiant , reiterating that she was on a diplomatic mission and that the Senate would not stand for Vader ' s actions . Furious , Vader accused her of conspiring with the Rebellion and had her taken aboard his Star Destroyer for interrogation at a later time . When Organa was gone , the Dark Lord of the Sith asked Jir why she had chosen Tatooine , as it appeared to be completely lacking in any military presence ; Jir told him that sensors confirmed Vader ' s suspicion , but could offer no possible reasons for Organa ' s choosing Tatooine . Jir believed that Organa would not buckle under even Vader ' s interrogation , and , if it was up to him , he would have released her or had her killed along with the other crew members of the " Tantive IV " . He bluntly told Vader that holding her in custody could generate sympathy for the Rebel Alliance in the Senate , but the Dark Lord knew she was his only link to the Rebel base , so she could not be released or killed . Jir also had some sympathy for the woman , believing that her death would be a more enjoyable prospect than torture at the hands of Darth Vader . Vader ordered Jir to send a distress signal from the ship claiming that it had been hit by a meteor ite storm , to destroy the ship and ensure there were no survivors , and inform the Imperial Senate — as well as Leia Organa ' s father , Bail Prestor Organa — that all had perished . Vader also had Jir send a detachment of the 501st to Tatooine ' s surface to search for a lone escape pod he believed contained the plans . The " Devastator " transferred Organa to the Death Star , where Jir ' s prediction that Organa would not betray the Alliance proved true . Personality and traits . Daine Jir was a bold and outspoken man , known to question the decisions of his superiors when he saw fault in them . Unlike most , he was not afraid of Darth Vader and his Force powers , and he often called his judgment into question while on missions with the Dark Lord . However , Jir was thought to be a model Imperial officer , as he could follow orders explicitly when he saw the sense in them , and he usually accepted Vader ' s explanation after asking him about his planned course of action . Diligent , ruthless , and efficient , Jir cared about the troopers under his command , and kept them in top fighting condition through constant simulators and training . Behind the scenes . Daine Jir first appeared in the 1976 of , where he was given several lines of dialogue , though he was not identified by name . In 1977 , he appeared in " A New Hope " , where he was given slightly shortened dialogue ; he also appeared in the first issue of Marvel ' s " A New Hope " adaptation , though he was given a different appearance , with black sideburns . The character also filled the same role in the radio dramatization of " A New Hope " , and he may have also appeared in an earlier scene on Ralltiir , where an Imperial voiced by the same actor can be heard . Since then , his only appearances have been in the novels " Death Star " and " The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader " , which both recap his scene in " A New Hope " . Thus , all of his appearances have covered the exact same scene . After " A New Hope " radio dramatization , no source mentioned the Imperial commander and he was never identified , until Decipher ' s " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game identified him as " Daine Jir " in 1997 . " Daine Jir " is likely a play on the word " danger , " inspired by Jir ' s line : " " holding her is dangerous " . " In 2005 , the video game " " established that the stormtroopers seen on board the " Tantive IV " were members of the 501st Legion , making Jir a commander of the prestigious legion . This was later confirmed in " " , an article written by Daniel Wallace and Abel G . Peña appearing in " Star Wars Insider " 96 . The identity of the actor who played Jir in " A New Hope " was not known for many years , but in April 2007 " " established that he was played by Constantin De Goguel . However , less than a month later , the StarWars . com Visual Guides authored by Pablo Hidalgo stated that Jir — listed in the script only as an unnamed " Commander " — was portrayed by Al Lampert , as per the film ' s production notes .