Garris Shrike Garris Shrike was the man who raised Han Solo . As a young man , he was a bounty hunter , but his quick temper kept him from collecting many live bounties . Instead , he turned to crime , collecting a group of orphans whom he used in confidence tricks and thefts , based aboard the decommissioned troopship " Trader ' s Luck " in orbit over Corellia . One of those orphans was Han Solo . Shrike rescued Solo from the streets , raised him , trained him , and beat him profusely when aggravated . In 10 BBY , Solo fled from " Trader ' s Luck " after a showdown with Shrike in which Shrike ' s brother Larrad was injured and Shrike killed Dewlannamapia , the Wookiee who had served as Solo ' s mother figure . After Solo accumulated a large bounty due to his actions as a smuggler for the Hutts , Shrike set out to track him down . He caught up with Solo on Coruscant and captured him , but after a brawl with Solo , Shrike was shot to death by a competing bounty hunter . Biography . Harsh master . A hard - edged young man with a quick draw and a deadly aim , Garris Shrike turned to bounty hunting as a career . Impatient and quick - tempered , he lost many live bounties to an overactive trigger finger , a fact that ultimately convinced him to retire from the profession . Shrike found a new career as the leader of a ring of criminals . He kept a close eye on the streets of Corellia and approached orphans to adopt them into his group of thieves and con artists if they appeared to show promise . He programmed a droid , F8GN , to train the children in pickpocketing techniques . Some , such as Danalis , he strung along with promises of future aid which would never come ; others he simply beat into compliance . With older crew members , he carried out smuggling operations and more complicated con games . Shrike spent as little as possible on his child - thieves , including medical care , in his quest to make a profit , and also kept them from getting anything beyond an elementary education ; nonetheless he saw himself as a beneficent figure to the orphans and street urchins he picked up . He acquired the decommissioned " Liberator " - class troopship " Guardian of the Republic " , renaming it " Trader ' s Luck " and parking it in orbit over Corellia . There he housed his " clan " of traders and criminals , which grew to approximately one hundred individuals by 10 BBY . As their leader , he ruled absolutely and demanded total obedience as well as proper shipboard procedure . Only his officers — among them his brother Larrad , the ship ' s navigator Nooni Dalvo , and the Elomin Brafid — were allowed to carry weapons , in order to preserve Shrike ' s control . While aboard the " Trader ' s Luck " , he wore a military uniform of his own design , patterned after that of a Moff and festooned with elaborate imitation decorations . A ring featuring a Devaronian blood - poison gem allowed him to inflict lingering damage on those he punished , a feature he enjoyed . At times , Shrike took the " Trader ' s Luck " out of Corellian orbit , visiting various worlds . There , he sent the young children to the surface . Most of them picked pockets , while especially deformed ones went begging . All had quotas to meet , with thrashings the result if they failed to perform . Older children and crew members worked aboard the ship , helping move cargo . Intermittently , Shrike would run a major scam on Corellia , setting up several children to pose as families in rented estates . Shrike would pose as the patriarch of the family , gain the confidence of other rich Corellians , and gain investments in false businesses before making off with the credits . In 27 BBY , Shrike learned of a two - year - old orphan begging on the streets of Corellia — Han Solo . He watched Solo and , deciding that he was a valuable prospect , approached him on the street and brought Solo into his group , having him trained along with the many other orphans . He dangled the hope of Solo ' s last name and past before him , promising to tell him those secrets eventually ; he never did . Shrike found much to like in Solo , who grew into a very useful thief and con man . Shrike also found that Solo had talent as a swoop racer , and he trained Solo to fly swoops , making use of the prize money brought in by the young champion . Around 20 BBY , the Wookiee exile Isshaddik joined Shrike ' s crew , only to be killed a year later in the course of a smuggling run to Nar Hekka . Isshaddik ' s widow , Dewlannamapia , had done some cooking aboard " Trader ' s Luck " , and Shrike enjoyed her dishes . He invited her to stay on as the ship ' s cook , despite the fact that she had children on Kashyyyk to whom she could return . As she had become a sort of surrogate mother to Solo and wanted to protect him from Shrike , she agreed to remain . Solo was by far the boldest and hardest to control of the youths under Shrike ' s thumb , and as a result Shrike found himself having to discipline Solo frequently . As a child , Solo attempted to run away several times , leading to intense beatings , as when Solo once went missing for over a month before being turned in by his cousin , Thrackan Sal - Solo . The resultant battering was one of the worst Shrike ever administered to the boy . After Solo won the Jubilar Free - For - All in 12 BBY , he took a swing at Shrike , feeling confident ; Shrike immediately knocked him out of the fight and proceeded to beat him nearly to death before Larrad and the other officers had to pull him away from the boy . Another drubbing in 11 BBY left Solo unable to walk for two days . Showdown with Solo . One night in 10 BBY , Shrike ' s sabacc game with his officers was interrupted by a flicker in power on the weapons locker ' s status board . Shrike determined that the locker had been broken into and immediately suspected Solo . He hurried with Larrad and Brafid to the galley , where he found Solo saying his goodbyes to Dewlannamapia . Infuriated with Solo ' s acting up , he decided to teach the rebellious youth , who had stolen a blaster and was planning to escape , a serious lesson in obedience . Dewlannamapia moved to protect Solo and Shrike drew his blaster ; the terrified Solo lashed out at Shrike , knocking him down . The Wookiee proceeded to snap Larrad ' s arm , and Solo shot Brafid . Shrike was able to draw a bead on Solo and force the surrender of both the insubordinates . Pronouncing a death sentence on Solo , he prepared to fire , but Dewlannamapia leaped in the way of the bolt . Solo tackled Shrike , knocking him unconscious . By the time Shrike awoke , Dewlannamapia was dead , and Solo had escaped . Rematch . After his injury , Larrad never quite recovered , and the crew of the " Trader ' s Luck " began to see harder times . Later that year , Shrike heard that the Besadii Hutt kajidic was offering several bounties for Vykk Draygo , also known as Jenos Idanian and a slew of other aliases . Shrike immediately recognized them as Solo ' s . Seeing a chance for a large payday and revenge against his former ward , Shrike returned to his bounty hunter roots , tracking down Solo . Shrike found him on the rooftops of Coruscant one night , celebrating his acceptance into the Academy of Carida — a long - held dream that Shrike had frequently mocked . Getting the drop on the young cadet , he held Solo at blaster - point and began gloating . Solo was able to knock the blaster out of Shrike ' s hand and flee , forcing Shrike to pursue Solo across the rooftops , finally landing a stun shot that incapacitated the younger man . Shrike dragged his prize back to a turbolift , in which Solo , having recovered from the stun blast , sprang at Shrike . They kicked and gouged at each other before Solo got the better of Shrike and recovered the bounty hunter ' s blaster . With Solo training the gun on him , Shrike tried to talk the younger man down as he moved in closer , confident Solo would not shoot him in cold blood . He held out the promise of telling Solo his background , but as he closed in on the wavering Solo , Shrike was shot to death by another bounty hunter seeking the same target , who had followed Shrike in the knowledge that the older man could find Solo . After his death , the " Trader ' s Luck " crime ring fell apart , and the ship was abandoned . Personality and traits . Garris Shrike was a man accustomed to control . As leader of the " Trader ' s Luck " clan , Shrike tolerated no dissent and enforced his rule absolutely . Hot - tempered and impatient , he was quick to resort to violence when frustrated , resulting in the end of his bounty hunting career and abundant , vicious beatings for those children under his control . He had high expectations of those serving him and ran a tight ship ; those who disappointed him in that regard were quick to feel his anger . He saw himself as a grand benefactor to the children he took in , making his anger all the greater when they let him down . Few things brought Shrike pleasure , among them the suffering of others , good luck gambling , and Alderaanian ale . The last two were frequently combined and could lead to tremendous exuberance . He also liked to have his ego stroked , wearing an elaborate military uniform and insisting that he be given full and proper deference by his subordinates . Behind the scenes . The character of Garris Shrike was created by author Ann C . Crispin for the novel " The Paradise Snare " , as a domineering and abusive authority figure against whom Han Solo revolted . Their conflict was resolved at the climax of the book with Shrike ' s death . Crispin has stated that she was told by Lucasfilm authorities when writing the novel that Solo had been raised by a roving gang of thieves who forced him into crime , and she thus conceived of Shrike as the head of that gang .