Burr Nolyds Burr Nolyds was a wealthy and arrogant Human male aristocrat who briefly ruled the Galactic Empire in 11 ABY as head of the Imperial Interim Ruling Council . He originally ascended the Empire ' s political ladder after supplying the organization with important resources , and his desire for power led him to support former Imperial Royal Guard Carnor Jax ' s plot to kill Galactic Emperor Palpatine and seize the Imperial throne . Following Palpatine ' s death , Nolyds sat on the Ruling Council of Jax ' s Crimson Empire , and when Jax was later killed by his fellow former Royal Guard Kir Kanos , Nolyds took over as acting head of the council and ruler of the Empire . Ruling from a villa in the planet Ord Cantrell ' s city of De - Purteen , Nolyds held tightly to his power and opposed Councilor Feena D ' Asta ' s suggestion that the crumbling Empire make peace with the New Republic , their opponents in the Galactic Civil War . His rule proved to be short - lived when he was assassinated by Nom Anor , an ally of the scheming Councilor Xandel Carivus ; Nolyds ' s death came in the form of a self - destructing message disk that Anor had left in his chambers . The shaken council responded by electing the seemingly - incompetent Carivus to succeed him so they could pull Carivus ' s strings and investigate Nolyds ' s murder from behind the scenes . Biography . Ascent . Burr Nolyds was a Human male aristocrat who lived during the reign of the Galactic Empire . He used his wealth to supply the Empire with important resources , which helped him rise in the organization ' s political ranks and join the Imperial Ruling Council by the year 10 ABY . The council had gained considerable power within the Empire following the death of Galactic Emperor Palpatine in 4 ABY ; by 10 ABY , they had allied with Carnor Jax , an ambitious member of the Emperor ' s Royal Guard . When Palpatine returned in a clone body and resumed control of the Empire in that year , Jax plotted to kill him and seize power . Nolyds , unhappy with the tight control that the Emperor kept on his supporters , supported the coup . The rest of the council was similarly determined to maintain their hard - won authority , and together the councilors bribed the Emperor ' s physician to sabotage Palpatine ' s various clone bodies . Palpatine was in the midst of leading the forces of his Dark Empire in their Galactic Civil War with the New Republic , and when his final body was destroyed by his enemies in 11 ABY , Jax seized the Imperial throne . Nolyds served on his Interim Ruling Council , a thirteen - member committee that ruled Jax ' s Crimson Empire with the former Royal Guard at its head . However , the Imperial fleet was left confused without orders from their Emperor , and their retreat from the galaxy ' s Core Worlds caused the Empire to quickly crumble . Many fleet commanders refused to follow the dictates of the Interim Ruling Council and broke away , forming various warlord holdings . The Crimson Empire ' s territory was thus limited to a narrow band of space that stretched from the Outer Rim to the Colonies — the only territory still answerable to centralized Imperial control . Based on the world of Ord Cantrell , Nolyds and the rest of the council governed from a villa in the city of De - Purteen . They passed many decisions down to the Empire ' s remaining Moffs , however . Jax had some councilors who had planned to expose his coup killed , and Councilor Sarcev Quest , one of Jax ' s closest allies , exercised several abuses of power and had any dissenters incarcerated . Later in 11 ABY , Jax sought out fellow former Royal Guard Kir Kanos , believing him to be a threat to the Empire . Kanos murdered Jax on the planet Yinchorr in a bout of revenge for Palpatine ' s death , and the council was thrown into chaos . They immediately moved against Quest , and had him tortured for a week before dumping him onto the moon Nar Shaddaa . Nolyds took over as acting head of the council and ruler of the Empire . Death and fallout . When Nolyds came into power , the New Republic had recently been striking at the western flanks of the Empire ' s territory and had captured the planet Phaeda . On Ord Cantrell , Nolyds hosted a meeting of the council in a courtyard of their villa , where Councilor Feena D ' Asta suggested that the only way to rebuild the Empire in the face of New Republic pressure was to sue for peace . Nolyds in turn accused her of trying to split the council and increase her own power ; he then reminded her that every present councilor already had considerable power due to having followed Jax , and adjourned the meeting to retire to his chambers . However , a bomb secured inside of a message disk had been placed on Nolyds ' s chamber floor by Nom Anor , an ally of Councilor Xandel Carivus who was aiding Carivus ' s plans to become the new head of the council . Unknown to even Carivus was the fact that Anor was an advance agent of the extra - galactic Yuuzhan Vong species , and was targeting the council to hasten the Empire ' s collapse in advance of a massive Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy . The message disk self - destructed when Nolyds activated it , and he was killed in the ensuing explosion . Shaken by the death , Councilors Mahd Windcaller and Norym Kim nominated Carivus to succeed Nolyds , figuring him to be a spineless bureaucrat who could become the next target of their unknown assassin . Meanwwhile , they would control events and investigate Nolyds ' s murder from behind the scenes . When they swayed other councilors to their side , Carivus was elected by a majority vote . Nolyds ' s death was investigated by the Empire ' s Lieutenant Ganner , who found Kir Kanos ' s Royal Guard crest on the message disk , evidence that had been planted by Anor . When Ganner found the same crest on the knife that Anor used to kill his next victim , Admiral Llon Banjeer , the Lieutenant suggested to the council that they were being targeted by Kanos , whom Jax had predicted would come after them . The Humanocentric General Immodet formed his own conclusion , accusing the council ' s non - Human members of exacting a vendetta against their Human peers . A power - hungry Carivus took advantage of the discord and used the murders as justification to establish his own private guard , whom he promptly had arrest every non - Human councilor . With the council severely depleted , Carivus disbanded it and declared himself the new Emperor . Personality and traits . Burr Nolyds was an arrogant aristocrat who used his wealth to push himself into Imperial power . Although a staunch Imperial loyalist , he disliked being kept on a short leash by Palpatine and supported Carnor Jax ' s plot to kill the Emperor . To Nolyds , Kir Kanos ' s continued loyalty to Palpatine after the Emperor ' s death was misguided patriotism . Nevertheless , he thought Jax foolish for personally seeking out Kanos rather than dispatching stormtroopers against him . Following Jax ' s death , Nolyds looked after his own interests and sought to gain control over his fellow councilors . As the ruler of the Empire , Nolyds desired to hold on to his power . He opposed Feena D ' Asta ' s suggestion that peace be sought with the New Republic , asserting that it would be tantamount to giving the Empire away to their foes . By the time of his death , Nolyds had made many enemies . He publicly accused D ' Asta of trying to increase her own power and dismissed the Whiphid Councilor Ch ' Unkk ' s translator droid as a " metal toady . " During his brief rule over the Empire , Nolyds was a gaunt , white - haired man with light skin and green eyes . He wore a set of blue and green robes and talked to himself while alone , muttering that whoever had left the message disk in his chambers was uncivilized due to having left it on the floor rather than the table . Behind the scenes . Burr Nolyds was created by authors Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley , who introduced and killed off the character in the of their 1998 – 1999 comic series " " . He was mentioned by his fellow councilors in the next of the series , and more details about his life were revealed in 1999 ' s " " and 2008 ' s " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " .