Nils Tenant Nils Tenant was a human male who served as a rear admiral in the naval forces of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars . When the war came to an end and Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Republic anointed himself Emperor , Tenant continued serving in the navy of the new Galactic Empire as an admiral . Through the influence of his friend Wilhuff Tarkin , Tenant was eventually elevated to the Joint Chiefs of the Imperial Military in the sixth year of Palpatine ' s reign . Biography . In his youth , the human male called Nils Tenant attended the Sullust Sector Spacefarers Academy , the graduates of which moved on to positions in local system navies , commercial pilot ing , or the Judicial Department of the Galactic Republic . During his time at the academy , he befriended Wilhuff Tarkin , an Eriadu an who had previously worked with the Outland Regions Security Force . Eventually , Tenant joined the naval forces of the Republic . As a navy officer , he was involved in the Clone Wars , a three - year long conflict that pitted the Republic against the Confederacy of Independent Systems . At some point during the war , Tenant reached the rank of Rear Admiral and was put in command of a " Venator " - class Star Destroyer . While patrolling the Chrelythiumn system , far beyond the Outer Rim of the galaxy , Tenant and his crew intercepted a mysterious transmission . When it transpired that the message contained a distress code abandoned by the Jedi Order more than 2 , 000 years earlier , the admiral transmitted said message to the planet Coruscant , where the Jedi High Council had its headquarters . The Council subsequently sent a party to investigate the source of the transmission . After the Clone Wars ended , Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Republic declared himself Emperor , abolishing the democratic government and replacing it with his Galactic Empire . Nils Tenant continued to serve in the new Imperial starfleet , now with the rank of admiral , and was assigned to pacification missions for a time . In the fifth year of Palpatine ' s reign , Tenant was called back to Coruscant , where he would attend a Joint Chiefs meeting . On that occasion , he was reunited with his friend Wilhuff Tarkin . In the aftermath , the shakeups in the Imperial Military led to Tenant being elevated to the Joint Chiefs due to Tarkin ' s influence . Personality and traits . Nils Tenant was a fair - skinned , brown - hair ed man . He had a prominent nose , blue eye s , and a downturning full - lipped mouth . As a veteran of the Clone Wars , Tenant disliked his pacification missions and yearned to be reintegrated back into active service . Although his friend Wilhuff Tarkin considered him genuinely competent , Tenant would not hesitate to use his connection to gain the Emperor ' s favor . The admiral ' s audacity was ultimately rewarded when he was made Joint Chief . Behind the scenes . Tenant first appeared in the newsreel prelude to " Overlords , " the fifteenth episode in of the , which aired on January 28 , 2011 . Although he went unnamed on screen , the online guide to the episode identified him as " Tenant . " His first name and whereabouts during the Imperial period were revealed in " Tarkin " , a novel by James Luceno , released on November 4 , 2014 .