Biggs Darklighter / Legends Biggs Darklighter was a Human male starfighter pilot who served the Alliance to Restore the Republic and a childhood friend of Luke Skywalker during the time of the Galactic Civil War . Darklighter flew a T - 65 X - wing starfighter with Red Squadron during the Battle of Yavin as Red Three , where he perished . Biography . Early life ( 24 BBY – 0 BBY ) . Darklighter was born on Tatooine to the local agricultural magnate Huff Darklighter and his wife . He was raised a privileged child . The elder Darklighter owned dozens of moisture farms and bought water from other farmers at cut - rate prices . The water he did not use to irrigate his own crops he sold at high prices . As a teenager , Darklighter spent much of his time in the town of Anchorhead , where he met young Luke Skywalker . A strong friendship quickly developed between the two . Together , along with their friends Janek " Tank " Sunber , jealous Laze " Fixer " Loneozner , Camie Loneozner , and tagalongs " Deak " and Windy Starkiller , they would often socialize at Tosche Station , a power distribution center just outside Anchorhead . The strong bond between Darklighter and Skywalker was fueled by an intense undercurrent of competition that kept their lives charged . Together , they raced landspeeders through the streets of Anchorhead and T - 16 skyhoppers through Beggar ' s Canyon in the Jundland Wastes " tagging " womp rats . They constantly pushed one another to the limit , becoming expert pilots . Skywalker was a better shot in his T - 16 , but Darklighter was the better pilot in his newer model . During one run through the canyon , Darklighter " threaded " his way through a small opening in a sixty - meter spindle of rock known as the Stone Needle , giving him near - legendary status among the Anchorhead residents . Skywalker , of course , was soon forced to match the feat . Darklighter and Skywalker also engaged in another semidangerous sport , " invented " by Fixer . Sandsurfing involved a " surfer " wearing repulsor disks on their feet while being dragged behind a sand skiff . Fixer , jealous of the superior piloting skills of his two friends , invented an obstacle course through the Dune Sea to prove himself better than they . During one run over the Great Pit of Carkoon , Fixer was knocked unconscious and fell towards the maw of the Sarlacc . Fortunately , Darklighter and Skywalker were able to save their friend . Not wishing the stunt to be duplicated , the two declared Fixer " king of the sandsurfers . " While young , Darklighter developed a romantic caring for Kandji , a local girl . She was captured by Tusken Raiders ; by the time the rescue party arrived , she was dead , and all they could do was take revenge . He carried a hologram of her for the rest of his life . As Darklighter and Skywalker grew older , the two friends planned to attend the Imperial Academy together . They also planned on buying a starship after graduation and go into business together , though they did not have any specific plans as to what they would do . Darklighter ' s father arranged for his son ' s commission into the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy , where Tank was also accepted . However , Skywalker ' s uncle , Owen Lars , kept his nephew behind on Tatooine for " another season . " A short time before Darklighter departed , the Anchorhead gang had a celebration and race in Beggar ' s Canyon . The adventure ended in battle when a clan of Tusken Raiders attacked . When Darklighter was wounded by a Raider ' s gaderffii stick , Skywalker was forced to pilot him to safety through the treacherous Diablo Cut . Darklighter was a skilled mechanic . He told Skywalker that a true pilot should know every last detail about his ship and how it works . So , just prior to leaving for the Academy , he decided to build a T - 16 from scratch with some small assistance from Skywalker . The finished product , as Darklighter admitted , was a bit rough around the edges , but he was still proud of his work and insisted he could hold his own in his new craft against any pilot . Skywalker simply laughed in his face at the scrap heap . This angered Darklighter to an extent to which Skywalker had never seen him before , and the older man challenged his friend to a race through the canyon . What Skywalker thought would be a simple test run turned out to be a heated race , with Darklighter blasting out of the hangar without a word . His new T - 16 began to shake and sway almost immediately . A lesser pilot would have been forced to slow down to maintain control . Darklighter only increased his speed . The race only lasted for about five minutes before Skywalker finally caught up with him . Just as he was about to commend Darklighter on his performance , pieces began to drop off of the makeshift T - 16 , including the engine . The craft crashed to the ground , rolling end - over - end several times before coming to a stop . Skywalker raced to the downed craft to check on his friend , but Darklighter was not in the pilot ' s seat . Fearing his friend had been fatally ejected from the craft , Skywalker was soon tackled from behind by a laughing Darklighter . Skywalker never knew exactly how Darklighter had managed to survive the crash . Mutiny on the " Rand Ecliptic " . While at the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy , Darklighter was taught by Soontir Fel along with fellow cadets Derek Klivian and Tycho Celchu . Darklighter and Klivian were wide - eyed youths who began to see the galaxy as more than just the Galactic Empire . When they and several classmates made contact with the Rebel Alliance while on a trip to the planet Bestine IV , their rebellious ideals began to take form . They met secretly with men who shared their ideals and , in their youthful naiveté , planned how they would single - handedly overthrow the Empire . The meetings were more brave talk than anything else . But the Academy Commander thought otherwise . He found out about the meetings from an informer and immediately apprehended the participants . Luckily for Darklighter and Klivian , they had been absent from that particular meeting , so were not on the informer ' s list . Additionally , the others had not revealed the two as members of the group . But their friends were taken and never seen again . At first , the two had thought it was simply a prolonged period of punishment or isolation . Then they thought their friends had been transferred to another unit . But gradually the cold reality of the situation made itself evident to them . They never truly learned what the Empire had done with their friends , but the effect on the two surviving cadets was profound . No longer did they talk childishly of overthrowing the Empire . Now , they talked seriously of deserting to join the Rebellion . He attended several social functions as a cadet , and among the people he met was Rivoche Tarkin , a prep school student at Clær and niece of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . His secret distaste for the Empire became known to her , and influenced her thinking regarding the New Order . Darklighter and Klivian kept biding their time until after graduation , at which point they were both fortuitously assigned to the same ship — the space - freighter " Rand Ecliptic " . It was a relatively small ship , so both of the youthful officers were given important assignments aboard it . Darklighter was made first mate and Klivian ship ' s executive officer . In his new post , Darklighter saw that the Empire endorsed expediency over honesty , and that the deaths of innocents were considered an acceptable price to pay for covering one ' s mistakes . A few short weeks later while on a mission to the newly - established Imperial Naval Yard in the Bestine system , Darklighter and Klivian put their plan of joining the Rebellion into action . The plan was to jump ship , locate Klivian ' s friend Lindy who had friends in the Rebellion , and join them . Their official mission was to make contact with the shipyard personnel to deliver a shipment of rubindum ore . Strangely , the ship ' s captain , Heliesk , sent both Darklighter and Klivian , uncharacteristic of his usual policy of assigning at least one to stay aboard at all times . This made the two men uneasy , fearing that he suspected something . But instead of seeking out the shipyard personnel , Darklighter and Klivian would instead spend their time seeking out Lindy , who soon found them . Lindy ushered the two men into a hangar where a group of friends who smuggled starship parts and raw materials to other Alliance contacts out of the system were waiting . There , Lindy told them he was awaiting the arrival of a new Rebel contact , known to him only as " Starfire . " The group was horrified when the hangar door opened and a squad of Imperial stormtroopers filed into the domed shell led by Captain Heliesk . The Imperials surrounded the group and Heliesk ordered Darklighter and Klivian to be taken back to the ship where they would be held prisoner , but not before dropping a rank cylinder into Klivian ' s hand . Back on the ship , the two discovered that the rank cylinder served as a key to the captain ' s quarters . When they were finally alone , they headed straight for them , where they met Heliesk once more . The captain , it turned out , was a Rebel spy — he was " Starfire . " With such valuable connections in the Empire , he could not afford to be exposed as an Alliance sympathizer . The solution , then , was that Darklighter and Klivian would stage a mutiny . The two were able to force the crew to abandon ship by setting the " Ecliptic " to self - destruct . With the help of Lindy and his friends , they manned the bridge and prepared to depart the planet with their valuable cargo of ore . As the ship left the planet , however , they were soon intercepted by a considerable number of TIE / LN starfighter s stationed on Bestine IV . The " Rand Ecliptic " feeble weaponry was ill - equipped to handle the attacking TIE fighters , but they only needed time to make the calculations for the jump to hyperspace . However , Darklighter quickly thought of a scheme . He turned the ship ' s starboard side toward the incoming swarm of fighters , and dumped half of the ore consignment directly into their path , creating a small - scale asteroid field . Few of the fighters were able to evade the tumbling and deadly ore . The few that did survive were unable to stop Darklighter , Klivian , and the " Rand Ecliptic " from entering hyperspace en route to a new life with the Rebel Alliance . Service with the Rebellion . After deserting the " Ecliptic " , Darklighter officially joined the Rebel Alliance along with Derek Klivian . They would eventually become two of the Rebellion ' s most talented pilots and valued members . Their first assignment was service together in the Ecliptic Evaders , a squadron of Rebel starfighter pilots stationed in the Sullust system . Although Darklighter and Klivian were inseparable comrades , circumstances eventually parted them . At that time , graduates of the Imperial Academy and valued leaders such as these were extremely rare in the ranks of Rebel pilots , and General Jan Dodonna had little choice but to assign them to outposts where they could be most effective . In his first mission , Darklighter flew jointly with Wedge Antilles in an attack against an Imperial convoy protected by an EF76 Nebulon - B escort frigate , shortly after the new capital ships were assigned to protect convoys against Rebel starfighter attacks . The frigate launched its complement of two dozen TIE fighters at their squadron . Darklighter was able to destroy five enemy fighters , officially earning him the title of starfighter ace . However , another pilot , Amil Karsk , claimed his number - three kill , to make him an ace . Karsk was on his fifteenth mission at the time , and Darklighter allowed him to claim the kill as his own . From thereafter , when Darklighter ever achieved five of something , he would playfully give the third one to Karsk as a constant reminder . Following suit , Karsk later took the third of five scheduled patrols Darklighter was assigned to . The third mission was simple enough : escorting a CR90 corvette on a courier mission to Alderaan . The mission even promised a couple days of rest and recreation , but Darklighter gave it to Karsk regardless and was willing to call it even . Karsk was present on Alderaan when the first Death Star destroyed the planet . Darklighter would go on to develop a reputation as a great pilot with the Rebellion , piloting an X - wing in several space battles . He participated in a mission to steal a large number of X - wings from an Incom Corporation facility . Some time after joining the Rebellion , Biggs attended the debutante ball of Rivoche Tarkin , passing information from her to his Rebel contacts that served to avert a CompForce assault of the Duros Allied Army . Thrilled by the success of this , Tarkin wished to continue her work as a covert agent , and Darklighter put her in touch with the Alliance to continue her work . Shortly after the defeat of Operation Strike Fear , Rebel outpost AX - 235 in the Cron Drift intercepted schematics for the the first Death Star using stolen Imperial communications satellite s . Due to the importance of the information , they decided to send it by courier . Darklighter was sent in an X - wing to retrieve the data . However , after leaving AX - 235 , the power generator on Darklighter ' s X - wing broke down and he came under attack by Imperial forces . The Mon Calamari Star Cruiser " Independence " sent three R - 22 Spearheads to protect him until a rescue team of CR90 corvettes and " Lambda " - class shuttles could arrive and repair his ship . After escaping the attack , he delivered the plans to the " Independence " and became friends with two of the pilots who had assisted in his rescue , Keyan Farlander and Samuel Raider . Darklighter ' s successes earned him an assignment to protect Massassi Station on Yavin 4 . Shortly before the Battle of Yavin , Darklighter made a final trip to his native Tatooine . He visited his father , and tried to convince him of the Empire ' s evil . The elder Darklighter had little to say , noting that his son had already made his mind up . Later , he and Skywalker enjoyed an unexpected reunion at Fixer ' s shop in Tosche Station . Skywalker eagerly told Darklighter and his friends , Camie , Fixer , Deak , and Windy , of a battle he had witnessed in the skies above the planet . Using Skywalker ' s electrobinoculars to check for himself , Darklighter saw nothing but two ships sitting in orbit , and assured his friend it was just two ships refueling . Later in private , Darklighter told Skywalker that he and his friends in the service had made contact with the rumored Rebel Alliance and that they were going to jump ship and join them . He purposely kept the whole truth from Luke - - that he had already jumped ship and joined the Alliance — to protect him from the full details of his experience with the Rebellion . The two childhood friends shared a bittersweet good - bye . Luke then told Biggs that he would always be the best friend he would ever have . Darklighter left the next morning . After his Tatooine visit , he went with a team to Commenor to escort a shipment of R2 - series astromech droid s carried by smuggler Captain Nera Dantels on her spaceship " Starduster " . Darklighter became romantically involved with Dantels . With the threat of the approaching Death Star , Darklighter was assigned to the X - wing Red Squadron under the call sign Red Three . Just prior to the engagement , he was reunited once again with Skywalker , who was to fly as his wingman as Red Five . The two friends shared a brief conversation , in which they promised to catch up on each other ' s stories when they returned . Darklighter reassured Red Leader Garven Dreis that Skywalker was " the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim Territories . " Just as they had in their youths , the two friends would once more be flying side by side defying death at every turn . This time , they would be flying against the Empire ' s greatest superweapon . During the assault on the battlestation , Darklighter narrowly escaped death when a TIE fighter dropped in on his tail . Unable to elude his attacker , he was saved when the TIE was destroyed by Skywalker ' s X - wing . He would go on to destroy several TIEs himself . It was Darklighter ' s original task , along with Skywalker and Antilles , to provide air cover first for Gold Squadron ' s attack run on the Death Star ' s thermal exhaust port , and then the subsequent approach led by Red Leader . When both attacks failed and all pilots were shot down , it was left up to the triumvirate of Skywalker , Darklighter , and Antilles . The three pilots began their own attack run down the Death Star trench , with Skywalker in the lead and Darklighter and Antilles flanking him for cover . Unfortunately , they were pursued closely by Darth Vader and two other TIE fighters . More than anything , it was the duty of Darklighter and Antilles to simply act as a buffer between the enemy fighters and Skywalker . If that meant they had to intercept attacking laser blasts , then so be it . As they neared the exhaust port , Antilles was first hit and had to abort the run . Darklighter was hit next . His X - wing , along with his astromech R2 - Q2 , was destroyed in a blast from Vader ' s ship . Skywalker choked back remorse , knowing he still had a job to do . His proton torpedoes destroyed the Death Star . Darklighter ' s death effectively bought Skywalker more time to complete the task although it was only thanks to the unexpected aid of Han Solo that Luke succeeded . Legacy . Biggs Darklighter would go down in lore as one of the Heroes of Yavin . His name would forever be associated with bravery and valor among the future ranks of Rebel pilots . After the battle , Princess Leia Organa promised Skywalker that once the fight with the Empire was over , a monument would be erected to the fallen with Darklighter ' s name in a prominent place , to which Skywalker agreed was something he would have enjoyed . A New Republic starfighter base on Coruscant was later named Biggs Field in his memory . He always wanted to be something , to make a difference , to Skywalker and to everyone else . Although deeply saddened by the loss of his friend , Skywalker did not grieve over Darklighter , for he could still feel him through the Force . He simply regarded Darklighter ' s death as another level he had reached , the start of something new to which he had once again beaten Skywalker , only to leave him behind to catch up later . Although he died before the official formation of Rogue Squadron , Darklighter was considered one of its original members . After the squadron ' s reformation in the early years of the New Republic , Commander Antilles would often mention Darklighter ' s name as having died in service to Rogue Squadron in his introductory speech to new recruits as a legend to which they could never surpass . Darklighter ' s legacy paved the way for his younger cousin , Gavin Darklighter , also of Tatooine , to join the Rogues upon their reformation . The younger Darklighter initially approached Antilles asking for a place in the squadron because of the strong friendship Antilles shared with his cousin . Feeling an obligation to the young Darklighter , he allowed him in to the squadron , to say nothing of his impressive training scores . Gavin Darklighter would go on to more than earn his place with Rogue Squadron . Biggs Darklighter did not leave a goodbye message for his family before his death , leaving his father feeling uneasy . This would prompt Gavin Darklighter to make sure he recorded a message early in his career as a Rogue in the case of his death . He also improvised a maneuver shortly after joining the Alliance . By spinning his starfighter while firing all four cannons , he was able to destroy multiple incoming targets . It was called a Darklighter spin . Personality and traits . An intense competitor since his youth , Darklighter was a man incredibly proud of his often superior skill as a pilot , but he was not arrogant . Instead , he would often use his own accolades to push others to be their best . His abilities and natural good looks lent him an air of supreme confidence in whatever he was involved in . In his days prior to witnessing the true tyranny of the Empire , he was overly - enthusiastic , much akin to his young , fellow pilots . He was recognized for his shaggy black hair and mustache . When he was in the Imperial Academy , he was forced to shave his hair and face . Even after the sobering effect Imperial cruelty had on him , he did not totally shed his attitude of blissful sanguinity . What slight egotism he did have would show itself as a trademark grin or telling facial expression that would adorn his face , aimed at those whom he had bested , in moments of personal victory . The look would often be the subject of playful derision among his comrades , as testified by Antilles , Klivian , and his cousin Gavin . In the rare occasion he was bested , Darklighter , given his competitive nature , would not allow the other to revel in their glory for very long . He especially would not allow someone to be satisfied or content if they had shortcomings he felt could be corrected . He would constantly get after that person until they did something about it , or until his badgering no longer had an effect on them . He could not abide someone letting their talents go to waste when they could be doing so much more , which is why Darklighter would push Skywalker so hard about going to the Academy . Behind the scenes . Biggs Darklighter was played by Garrick Hagon in the 1977 release of " Star Wars " . He first appeared in the various script drafts of " Star Wars " as King Kayos ' s son and the brother of the princess who would become Leia Organa . He was Luke Skywalker ' s younger brother and the brother of Windy Marstrap in the second draft . He was changed to Skywalker ' s friend in the third draft . " The Essential Guide to Characters " gives a birthdate of 24 BBY for Darklighter . Additionally , the revised fourth draft of " Star Wars " describes him as " a burly , handsome boy a few years older than the rest . " However , in the book " " , his cousin Gavin Darklighter , born in 10 BBY , claims to be only " eight years younger " than Darklighter , which would give him a birthdate of 18 BBY , making him a year younger than Skywalker . Although Darklighter only appears briefly in the film , the movie originally included several scenes , later deleted in the final release , in which he figured much more prominently in the story . The deleted scenes did appear in the and the radio adaptation , where he was voiced by Kale Brown . The scene in which Darklighter and Skywalker are reunited on Yavin 4 was reintroduced in the 1997 re - release of the film . Only a small amount of dialogue was kept out for reasons that can only be speculated as having to do with the release of the Prequel Trilogy , since a small portion of the dialogue deals with Luke ' s father , Anakin Skywalker . While these scenes were cut from " A New Hope " , they were later used in the " A New Hope " radio dramatization , , and Marvel " Star Wars # 1 " , thus establishing that Biggs joined the Rebellion after the events on Tatooine at the beginning of " Episode IV " . However , in , it is stated that Biggs participated in the stealing of the Death Star plans , which happened before the events on Tatooine . Years later , in a retcon that helped explain these inconsistencies , the comic story " " revealed through Biggs ' narration that he had already joined the Rebellion , and kept the whole truth from Luke in that deleted scene to protect him . TIE pilot flight gear . The TIE pilot gear depicted in " Darklighter " uses artistic license , and is shown with a feature the editors point out is not canon . The artists of the comic wanted to show Biggs ' face , so the character was drawn with a clear face plate sealing the helmet in addition to the recognizable black TIE pilot helmet visor . This was added only so that the artist could give the characters identity and allow them to express facial emotions . In 2008 , Hasbro released an Evolutions - series Legacy Collection action figure set that depicted Biggs Darklighter in the TIE pilot gear from the " Empire " comic with removable open - faced helmet , removable life support pack , and Biggs ' SE - 14r light repeating blaster .