Trioculus Trioculus was a three - eyed mutant warlord of the Galactic Empire who declared himself Emperor a year after the Battle of Endor , leading his own Imperial warlord faction . As a figurehead of the Central Committee of Grand Moffs , led by his mentor Bertroff Hissa , Trioculus took control of the remnants of the Empire in opposition to Ysanne Isard . The self - proclaimed son of Palpatine , Trioculus was in actuality an impostor , usurping the role of Palpatine ' s true son , three - eyed mutant Triclops . Spurred on by a prophecy of Rajah Ubooki , the false Kadann , he sought the glove of Darth Vader to establish his legitimacy . Trioculus ' s pursuit of the Jedi Prince Ken and his infatuation with Leia Organa pitted him against rival Zorba Desilijic Tiure , and led to him being taken captive by the Hutt and frozen in carbonite . Trioculus was eventually betrayed by Kadann , who sought the Imperial throne himself , and in the end was assassinated by a New Republic droid . Biography . Early life . Unbeknownst to him , Trioculus was the result of secret scientific experiments that were conducted at the behest of Palpatine , then Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic . Behind his civilized , almost grandfatherly looks , Palpatine was in fact the public persona of Darth Sidious , a Dark Lord of the Sith who was obsessed with piercing the secrets of life and death . Under the watchful eye of Sly Moore , Palpatine ' s advisor , the scientists Mammon Hoole and Borborygmus Gog experimented into the spontaneous generation of life by utilizing Niobi , a woman from Bordal , as their " test subject . " Initial experiments proved very unsuccessful , resulting in deformed , polycephalic homunculi with misshapen limbs . After constantly putting the matter back on the drawing - board , Hoole and Gog ended up eliminating all abnormalities in their sole successful specimen save one : a third eye , located on the forehead . The resulting mutant child was christened " Trioculus . " What seemed like a disability for the child could in fact have been a blessing . Indeed , the Prophets of the Dark Side knew of a legend stating that the will of the Force would produce a perfectly symmetrical three - eyed being once every millennium . More importantly , the legend added that such a being would be gifted with undeniable power and magnetism . In any event , the birth of Trioculus did not please Sarcev Quest , one of Palpatine ' s Force - using protégés . The newborn child and his mother Niobi were spirited away on Quest ' s order , and both were deported to the spice mines of Kessel , which were managed by the brutal Lord Overseer Reskell Twane . When Trioculus was still very young , his mother met an untimely death in the mines . Perhaps because of his keen intelligence , Twane felt compassion for the three - eyed orphan . He took Trioculus under his protection and even sent him to school . The boy ' s third eye , however , made him a target of ridicule from his schoolmates . Trioculus hated this and became obsessed with exacting vengeance on his tormentors , and over time developed a knack for spying on and reporting his classmates . In later years , Trioculus studied military tactics and history and devoted himself to learning the means of manipulation . Trioculus made few friends , but those he had were well placed . He was fully dedicated to the Empire - that and his extensive knowledge of military matters earned him the friendship of several higher - ups in the Imperial Military , including Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa . Hissa oversaw the young man ' s development , and under his tutelage Trioculus rose to become the ruthless Lord Overseer and Supreme Slavelord of the spice mines on his homeworld of Kessel by 0 BBY . Trioculus was infamous for his brutal methods . He worked thousands of slaves to their deaths , had thousands more killed during a revolt , and once destroyed a dam to flood out settlers who were causing problems . He also allowed glitterstim to be leaked to certain populations to keep them under control , by Palpatine ' s command . As an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau , he informed the organization ' s leadership of operations on Kessel . However , Commander Maximillian Seerdon of the ISB did not see greatness in Trioculus ' s future . The new Emperor . In the wake of Palpatine ' s death at Endor , many of the surviving remnants of the Empire sought to take control of the Imperial state . Eventually Ysanne Isard , former Director of Imperial Intelligence , rose above the rest . In 5 ABY the Central Committee of Grand Moffs , wanting to retain their power , raised their own candidate as a rival to Isard — Trioculus . Declaring him to be the Emperor ' s son , they rallied thousands of Imperial leaders to join them on Kessel and hear Trioculus ' s claim to the Imperial throne . Trioculus ' s claim to inheritance of the Imperial throne was strengthened by his resemblance to Triclops , Palpatine ' s three - eyed son who had once been imprisoned on Kessel . As Supreme Slavelord , Trioculus had taken a special interest in tormenting Triclops , promising that in time he would usurp his role as Palpatine ' s son . The Grand Moffs had considered Triclops as an Imperial leader , but believing him to be insane decided that Trioculus would be more trustworthy and more willing to serve as a figurehead while the Central Committee held the real power . Though fully aware that the Central Committee was exercising their own power through his rule , Trioculus consented to this role . For their part , the Moffs showed him great loyalty in return , a fact that did not go unnoticed by the warlord . Though rumors of Palpatine having a son with three eyes had circulated through the Empire , Trioculus was the first to seemingly confirm them . His claim was supported by Grand Moff Hissa , leader of the Central Committee of Grand Moffs who ostensibly served as Trioculus ' second - in - command , but in fact was the true power of the Committee . At a secret meeting of Imperials on Kessel , Trioculus was proclaimed Emperor and named the " new chosen one , " referring to himself as a " Dark Lord " whose third eye granted him secret powers known to " the ancients . " However , his right to rule did not go unquestioned . Many throughout the galaxy had laid claim to the throne , including Grand Admiral Josef Grunger , who had amassed a fleet of thirty Star Destroyers and one " Executor " - class Star Dreadnought at the planet Gargon . Additionally , Rajah Ubooki , an impostor of the Prophet of the Dark Side Kadann had made an equally false " prophecy " that the new Emperor would hold the glove of Darth Vader , worn on the hand that he had lost in his duel with Luke Skywalker , which was said to have survived the destruction of the Death Star II . Two present at the convocation , a Grand Admiral and a Royal Guard , raised this point with Trioculus ; in response , he tortured them , seemingly with Force lightning . This display quickly earned him the loyalty of those present . Though most of the fleet continued to serve Isard , Trioculus had the backing of the Grand Moffs , multiple Grand Admirals and many other military leaders and warlords . He briefly had the allegiance of Grand Admiral Miltin Takel , who had his own reasons for opposing Grunger , but Trioculus had Takel executed when the spice - high admiral expressed doubt at his ability to retain power . The glove of Darth Vader . To quiet any remaining doubts about him , Trioculus determined to find Vader ' s glove before any other contender for the throne did , and in doing so win the support of the false Kadann . He ordered the Moffs to begin a galaxy - wide search for the glove . As faith in Trioculus began to diminish amongst his supporters , the warlord grew desperate . However , he had a stroke of luck when an Imperial agent , Captain Dunwell , discovered several pieces of the Death Star ' s debris in the Valley of the Giant Oysters on Mon Calamari , one of which had revealed the outline of a glove when scanned . Trioculus and Hissa immediately set out for Mon Calamari , where they were greeted by Dunwell at his Whaladon Processing Center , a poaching operation for the native sentient Whaladon species . In his Whaladon - hunting submarine , Dunwell took Trioculus and Hissa to the site of the wreckage . Secretly followed by Luke Skywalker and Admiral Gial Ackbar in a Calamarian minisub , Trioculus retrieved the glove . When Skywalker and Ackbar ' s minisub was accidentally captured by one of Dunwell ' s Whaladon - capturing devices , Luke infiltrated the vessel and triggered its self - destruct . Trioculus and Hissa narrowly escaped , the warlord vowing to have his vengeance on Skywalker . Despite Trioculus ' s announcement that he had retrieved the glove , the independent Imperial forces did not immediately fall in line behind him . Grunger and COMPNOR declared that they would only give their support with the official blessing of Kadann . Trioculus and Hissa traveled to Space Station Scardia , the headquarters of the false Prophets , to meet with the Supreme Prophet . Once Kadann forced Trioculus to reveal that he was not , in fact , Palpatine ' s son , he promptly named him Emperor and gave him his dark blessing . The Jedi Prince . Kadann had another prophecy for Trioculus ; the Jedi Prince Ken , he said , would destroy Trioculus if Trioculus did not destroy him first . He counseled Trioculus to find Ken in the Lost City of the Jedi on Yavin 4 , though he knew the warlord would never succeed . Trioculus set out in his " Strike " - class cruiser for Yavin 4 . Upon arriving at the moon , he dispatched an explosive - lined probe droid to a meeting of the Senate Planetary Intelligence Network , to whom he issued an ultimatum ; if they did not provide the location of the Lost City , he would detonate the droid . Luke Skywalker , present at the meeting , quickly disabled the probe and its detonator , forcing Trioculus to resort to his backup plan : burning down the forests of Yavin 4 until he found the city ' s entrance . Trioculus had had devices installed in the glove of Darth Vader to simulate the effects of the Force ; they had been taking their toll on his health ever since then , and during the attack Trioculus found himself suddenly struck blind . A Ho ' Din named Baji living on Yavin 4 seemed to be the only solution , and Trioculus had him apprehended . Baji informed him that the rare kibo plant , found only in the rapidly burning forests of the moon , could cure him . While obtaining it , Trioculus was burned and badly scarred . He eventually decided to remove the true glove and replace it with a replica . In the meantime , the Rebels rallied , used the moon ' s weather control system to quench the fires , and destroyed all but one of Trioculus ' s ships . The warlord and his coterie retreated . Trioculus again swore vengeance , this time upon the entire New Republic — with the exception of Leia Organa . His plan foiled , Trioculus placed a large bounty on Ken . Zorba the Hutt . In the middle of the crisis , Ysanne Isard arranged for the release of Jabba the Hutt ' s father Zorba Desilijic Tiure from prison to use as an unwitting agent . Meanwhile , intent on securing his Empire , Trioculus ramped up production of war matériel . One such operation was a massive factory barge located near the core of Bespin , mining the gas giant ' s Rethin Sea to use in the production of weaponry and ammunition . Though the amount of air pollution this facility produced drew complaints from Lando Calrissian , Baron Administrator of Cloud City , the warlord was not fazed , threatening an invasion if Calrissian did not capitulate . While on Bespin visiting Han Solo , Luke Skywalker and his sister Leia Organa accidentally stumbled upon the factory barge . When they approached the huge craft to reconnoiter it , they were shot down , and Leia was taken captive . From the moment Trioculus saw Leia , he had been smitten with her and wanted her to join him in matrimony . Now that he had her as his prisoner , he set about attempting to win her over . Zorba , meanwhile , had taken over Cloud City from Calrissian . Having learned of Leia Organa ' s complicity in the death of his son , Zorba got wind from an Imperial spy that she was being held by Trioculus . By coincidence , Trioculus ' s own target , Ken , had been arrested shortly before by Cloud City ' s police . Seeing an opportunity , Zorba arranged a meeting to negotiate with the warlord . When Trioculus interrogated Ken to assure himself that it was , in fact , the correct boy , he discovered that the danger Ken posed lay in what he had learned from the Jedi library in the Lost City ; Ken was aware that Triclops , and not Trioculus , was the true son of Palpatine . Trioculus demanded that Zorba give him the boy , and Zorba named his price : that Trioculus remove his factory barge from Bespin and hand over custody of Leia Organa so Zorba could take her life in revenge . The latter was unacceptable to Trioculus , and he ordered his stormtroopers to attack . Zorba , however , was prepared , and his greater force of Cloud Police overwhelmed Trioculus ' s troops and seized the Imperial leader . Trioculus was transported to the same carbon - freezing chamber that Han Solo had once been frozen in . Though he made a last - ditch attempt to bribe Zorba , offering him a share of power and the rank of grand admiral , it was to no avail , and the Hutt had Trioculus encased in a slab of carbonite . He placed the warlord ' s frozen body in the Figg & Associates Art Museum under heavy guard , keeping him as a hostage to prevent any Imperial retaliation . Kadann ' s coup . Trioculus having failed in his mission , the false Kadann now seized the opportunity . From Scardia Station he revoked his blessing of Trioculus , declaring himself the new Emperor . The Central Committee , in the meantime , were working to get Trioculus back . When Zorba left Cloud City for Tatooine , chief of police Muskov alerted the Imperial forces in orbit of Bespin . Bribing the museum guards , they retrieved Trioculus ' s body , but before they could thaw it , a vessel of the Prophets arrived , the false High Prophet Jedgar on board . Jedgar demanded that the moffs relinquish Trioculus ; as leverage , he blackmailed Hissa with damaging information the Prophets ' agents had collected . Trioculus was handed over and taken to Scardia Station . When Trioculus ' s slab arrived at Scardia Station , Kadann and the Prophets had it taken to the station ' s neutron furnace and exposed it to the furnace ' s deadly rays . Their heat was such that the block was entirely vaporized , leaving no trace of it or Trioculus . To the Prophets and Moffs , it appeared as though Trioculus were dead . As it turned out , both parties had been deceived . The block Zorba had displayed in the Cloud City Museum had been a replica . The real body of Trioculus was kept in a hidden compartment on Zorba ' s ship , the " Zorba Express " . It was not until the Grand Moffs ' Moffship intercepted the " Express " over Tatooine , intending on avenging themselves upon Zorba for capturing Trioculus , that they found it . Having obtained it , they quickly set about reviving their Emperor . Once free from the carbonite , Trioculus learned that the Prophets had betrayed him , cursed them , then prepared to have his revenge on Zorba . Zorba stalled Trioculus , however , when he informed him that he had Leia imprisoned . Trioculus promised to free him if he gave her location . When Trioculus found Leia , her feelings towards him had not changed . However , after Trioculus threatened to return her to Zorba , she decided that the warlord was preferable . Taking this as a sign , Trioculus told Hissa to make preparations for a wedding . Then , breaking his vow with Zorba , he had the Hutt thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon . Trioculus had Leia watch , believing this would make her grateful to him and make her accept her own darkness when she saw how much pleasure she took in Zorba ' s death . This did not seem to be the case , but he nonetheless assigned a detail of stormtroopers to Leia and left to prepare for the wedding . Project Decoy . For some time , the New Republic had had a project in the works at the Defense Research and Planetary Assistance Center on Dagobah : Project Decoy . Its goal , per its name , was to create a decoy for Leia , and the product was a Human replica droid in her image . In addition to being able to distract enemies from the true Leia , the droid was also armed with lasers in its eyes . A New Republic party , including Han Solo , Luke Skywalker , and the Leia droid , made their way onto the ship while the rest of the crew was distracted by Zorba ' s execution . They ambushed Leia ' s stormtrooper escort and took their armor , then , replacing the real Leia with the droid Leia , escaped from the Moffship . When Trioculus summoned Leia for his wedding , it was in fact her droid double . Death . Though Trioculus noted that Leia ' s escort was gone , he was simply pleased that she had apparently acquiesced . Trioculus and Leia approached the altar , Grand Moff Hissa behind it . As Hissa began to read from the Dark Book of Imperial Justice , the Leia droid suddenly opened fire from its eyes , shooting Trioculus in the chest . Hissa pulled a blaster and destroyed the droid , and MD - 5 and several medical droids quickly tended to the fallen Trioculus . His wounds were too great , however . The door into the room was locked , and rumors immediately began to spread throughout the vessel of Trioculus ' s fate . In his last minutes , the dying Trioculus warned Hissa of Kadann ' s ambition , and made him vow to destroy Luke Skywalker . Hissa promised , and in that moment the Imperial leader died . Trioculus was cremated and his ashes launched into space in four containers , each sent out in a different direction . Personality and traits . Trioculus considered himself an expert at deception . Though he admitted to a certain amount of inhumanity , Trioculus believed the use of evil was necessary , and did not think this side of him diminished his positive aspects . Trioculus ' s third eye had a large effect on his perception of himself . Teased as a child for it , even as an adult he was displeased when others found it repulsive . He personally considered having three eyes to be a mark of perfection , and in his speech on Kessel declared that a three - eyed being had a hidden strength , believing it granted him above - ordinary insight . In his mind , his eye elevated him above Palpatine . During Trioculus ' s time as Supreme Slavelord of Kessel , Maximillian Seerdon of the Imperial Security Bureau noted his cynical attitude , present even in his reports to his superiors in the Empire . Powers and abilities . Trioculus ' s third eye possessed hypnotic powers , allowing him to force the truth out of other beings . Triclops shared this ability , and as his third eye was also able to emit powerful magnetic forces , it is possible that Trioculus had that ability as well . Though Trioculus had no Force - sensitivity , he had cybernetic implants in his fingertips that allowed him to simulate Force lightning . In this way he furthered the ruse that he was the son of Palpatine . This ability came with a price , however , as using it would inflict some level of electric damage on his own body . Trioculus believed that wearing the glove of Darth Vader would grant him the Dark Lord ' s telekinetic powers . When this proved not to be the case , his droid MD - 5 installed a set of sonic devices in the glove that could emit a high - pitched sound capable of killing a target . These too would enhance the illusion that he could master the Force . Like the lightning devices , they also afflicted his body , eventually forcing him to discard the glove . Personal relationships . Trioculus had few friends in his life , though of those he had , most of them were highly positioned in the Imperial hierarchy . His desire to control others extended even to them . In addition , he had a handful of close confidants , and one known romantic interest : Leia Organa . Bertroff Hissa . Bertroff Hissa was Trioculus ' s mentor , and was responsible for the man ' s rise to power . Even as Trioculus took the throne of the Empire , Hissa remained the true power behind him . Trioculus trusted Hissa more than any other moff , and for his part Hissa returned the trust ; even as Kadann took power , Hissa remained loyal to Trioculus to his death , an act for which the warlord commended him on his deathbed . MD - 5 . Trioculus ' s droid MD - 5 , or Emdee , was a constant companion of the warlord , and a loyal and trusted servant . Emdee was known to arrange meals for Trioculus , attend to his medical needs , and build the special devices Trioculus used in his pretense at being the son of Palpatine . He was present even at Trioculus ' s most confidential conversations . The two shared much the same relationship as Luke Skywalker did with C - 3PO and R2 - D2 . Leia Organa . During his campaign against the New Republic , Trioculus became infatuated with Leia Organa . Though the feeling was not mutual , Trioculus believed he could convince her to betray the New Republic and turn to the dark side of the Force . His attempts to do so included telling her to accept her own darker aspects , and explaining that evil acts and murder were sometimes necessary , and did not diminish his own capacity to love . Trioculus ' s obsession with Leia would ultimately lead to his downfall : first when he tried to kill Zorba the Hutt for wanting her dead , which led to his capture and the rise of Kadann , and finally when he married Project Decoy ' s Human replica droid , believing it to be Leia , which killed him . Behind the scenes . Trioculus ' s name , broken down into its roots , literally means " three eyes " . Interestingly , though , Triclops , the true son of Palpatine , is named after the word for " Three Eyes " . According to " Mission from Mount Yoda " , it holds this meaning in - universe as well . The " Star Wars Insider " article " 20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe " labeled " The Villainy of Emperor Trioculus and Grand Moff Hissa " as the fourth " goofiest moment " of the Expanded Universe . The " Jedi Prince " series , in which Trioculus first appears , implies that he was the sole leader of the Empire during this time period . " The Essential Chronology " introduced the retcon that Trioculus and Ysanne Isard were rivals for the Empire ' s leadership .