Grand Moff / Legends Grand Moff was the title given to the Regional Governors of Oversectors . These sectors , also called " Priority Sectors " , were locations that were of special interest to the Emperor . These included the Imperial capital of Coruscant and the Death Star . The system was used by a number of governments : Odile Vaiken was the first Grand Moff of the Sith Empire , while Wilhuff Tarkin was the first Grand Moff of the Galactic Empire , and held authority over multiple Priority Sectors . Powers and functions . Grand Moffs received drastically increased authority , military forces , and funding as fitting their enhanced position . The position of Oversector governor was the sixth highest in the Empire after the Emperor , Lord Darth Vader , Grand Vizier , Imperial Ruling Council , and Grand Admirals . Technically , this made them comparable to Imperial Advisor s as they both answered directly to the Emperor . While Imperial Advisors could appoint Moffs , only the Emperor himself could appoint Grand Moffs . The actual nature of the upper levels of the Imperial government was extraordinarily complicated , partially because the Emperor wanted those below him to be uncertain where their position truly stood . Grand Moffs were personally appointed by the Emperor ' s will but the first of their number , Grand Moff Tarkin , was actually promoted by Ars Dangor after the submission of the Tarkin Doctrine . The Grand Moffs reported directly to the Emperor and competed for his favor . The Grand Moffs were higher in authority than the Moffs but there is no indication that Moffs actually reported to the Grand Moffs . Instead , the Grand Moffs held direct control over their territories . Grand Moffs also had drastically different levels of power with Grand Moff Tarkin , having control over most of Oversector Outer , while Grand Moff Hissa likely only had control over the Kessel sector . It is possible the Emperor weakened the title of Grand Moff after the disaster with the Death Star , though this may merely be circumstantial in Hissa ' s case . In theory , the Imperial Advisors were more prestigious than the Grand Moffs and closer to the Imperial seat of power on Imperial Center . Their direct access to the Emperor gave them less practical power than Grand Moffs , who often wielded supreme authority over their territories in a manner that brooked little opposition . This is demonstrated by the Grand Moffs ' role in the Imperial Mutiny . Part of this may be because the Imperial Advisors had no military power by themselves while the Grand Moffs had their massive Oversector Fleets . The Grand Moffs of the Legacy era wielded quite different authority than the Mofference under Palpatine . The Grand Moffs of this era did not seem to act as Regional Governors but instead have seemingly replaced the Ruling Council of the Emperor . The heads of Imperial Intelligence , Supreme Commander , and head of the Imperial Mission were all Grand Moffs on the Council . History . Galactic Republic . The title of Grand Moff was neither Palpatine ’ s nor Tarkin ' s invention , though both can be credited with resurrecting the title for Imperial use . In fact , the title dates back to the Expansionist Period ( ca . 25 , 000 – 20 , 000 BBY ) , when the Republic frequently encountered many small satrapies and mini - empires . The warlords and satraps who joined the Republic instead of fighting it were permitted to keep their rule as proxies of the Republic , and their realms were granted the status of Allied Regions . Depending on the size of their empires , these satraps were given the title of either Moff or Grand Moff of an Allied Region . Over the ensuing millennia , most of the Allied Regions were divided into Republic sectors and gradually faded from the maps . The few Moffs and Grand Moffs that remained held largely ceremonial titles , and ultimately those titles , like so many of the remnants of the ancient Republic , were swept away during the Ruusan Reformation ( ca . 1000 BBY ) . By the time of Palpatine , there were very few Allied Regions remaining , and most of those were small areas of space in the Core and Colonies , such the Ollonir Boundaries or the Botor Enclave . Thousands of years before its use by the Galactic Empire , the title found in use in the Sith Empire in the years during and following the Great Galactic War , although it seemed that under the Sith it was only an honorary title . One notable example of the Sith ' s use of the title was Grand Moff Rycus Kilran . From the time of the Reformation on , the galaxy was organized into 1 , 024 regional sectors , which were themselves divided into their constituent subsectors . Under Republic law , the Supreme Chancellor could appoint a governor - general to coordinate military actions with the Senator of a troubled sector in a time of emergency . During the Clone Wars ( 22 – 19 BBY ) , Supreme Chancellor Palpatine frequently took advantage of this once - obscure law , appointing officers answerable directly to him as governors - general over both Republic worlds in crisis and Separatist worlds that had recently been liberated . When such actions met with criticism , Palpatine replied that with the passage of the Reflex Amendment ( 20 BBY ) , it was not just his right but his duty . In fact , the crisis gave him a good excuse to begin establishing a bureaucracy that was directly beholden to him . Galactic Empire . The passage of the Sector Governance Decree ( 19 BBY ) gave Palpatine the power to carry this process forward and appoint governors - general over the Republic ’ s 1 , 024 regional sectors , establishing a new permanent administrative class answerable to him only . With the inauguration of the Empire days later , the honorary title of Moff was announced for these new regional governors . The use of this title was calculated ; many peoples of the galaxy still retained a sense of identity that had been derived from the traditions of the ancient Allied Regions , and they cheered the revival of this title in a new capacity as a check to a Senate most derided as corrupt . The first of these Moffs were installed within weeks , accompanied by a full regiment ( 2 , 304 soldiers ) of stormtroopers . Under the Sector Governance Decree , twenty of these new Moffs were also given responsibility for supporting the Republic ' s twenty Sector Armies , and their military territories , generally matching the sphere of influence of their respective Sector Armies , were dubbed oversectors . These oversectors straddled the boundaries of regional sectors and freed these twenty Moffs from the need to consult with the Senators representing these regional sectors . In the course of the Empire ' s further militarization ( ca . 5 BBY ) , Moff Wilhuff Tarkin submitted a special holocommunique to Palpatine suggesting a reorganization of these oversectors as part of his Tarkin Doctrine . This was an attempt to cope with the problems of increasing Rebel activity across sector lines . Palpatine evidently approved of this suggestion , and acted accordingly ; some of the previous oversectors — such as Imperial Center Oversector — were left in place , but others were expanded — Tarkin ' s own territory , the Greater Seswenna Sector , was enlarged into Oversector Outer . Others still disappeared entirely , replaced by a shifting number of oversectors comprising systems in which Rebel activity was particularly pronounced . With the permanence of oversectors codified into law , the ancient title of Grand Moff was revived and awarded to those Moffs who controlled these oversectors . Tarkin was the first of these , and with this promotion to priority sector high commander of Oversector Outer came Palpatine ' s command to restart work on the Death Star project . The rank suffered the first in a series of scandals when Grand Moff Trachta joined with others in the Anti - Sith conspiracy , an attempted " coup d ' état " against the Emperor . The plot failed and the treacherous Grand Moffs were executed for their betrayal . This would not be the end of their plotting since the Emperor suspected correctly that Grand Moff Tarkin also held ambitions towards the throne . During the Galactic Civil War , the Rebellion captured Grand Moff Ravik and intended to imprison him for trial when he was killed in a strange adventure involving the Charon . The mutated Grand Moff Ravik was eventually killed by Rebel Alliance agents . Post - Endor . The death of the Emperor resulted in a free for all amongst Imperial warlords for rule of the galaxy . One of the most powerful of breakaway warlords was Grand Moff Ardus Kaine . The successor of Grand Moff Tarkin created the powerful Pentastar Alignment that solidified Imperial power in the Outer Rim territories but removed a substantial portion of Coruscant ' s influence . Grand Moff Kaine would be killed during Operation Shadow Hand when his shuttle was ambushed by Republic E - Wings . . Another act of Grand Moff treason occurred when Grand Moff Hissa united several powerful Moffs together into the Central Committee of Grand Moffs that attempted to usurp Ysanne Isard ' s rule over the galaxy . Despite having the forces of three Grand Admirals at their service , their coup failed with most sentenced with prison sentences . The exception to this was Rufaan Tigellinus , whom was executed by the Moffs for demanding a higher position amongst their ranks . The power of the Grand Moffs would be broken for the remainder of the Galactic Civil War . It is noteworthy that in the events immediately preceding the Imperial Civil War in 10 ABY at least some Moffs ( which might include Grand Moffs ) rebelled against the thought of a new Emperor being elected by the Advisory alone . These campaigned for their worlds to be given vote representation to allow them to control the process of selecting the next leader of the galaxy . At least one Grand Moff , Cinzero Gann , survived as a Warlord in the Deep Core as late as 18 ABY . The position would be revived in the Legacy era with the Council of Moffs replaced by the Moff High Council . Presumably , this is the result of Imperial expansion . It is during this time that Grand Moff Morlish Veed and his consort Nyna Calixte collaborated with the Sith in yet another Moff born " coup d ' état " against Emperor Roan Fel . The coup was supposed to place Morlish Veed on the throne but instead ends with his position unchanged in the Empire . Instead , Darth Krayt assumed the Imperial throne . Rank insignia . The Grand Moff ' s rank insignia was composed of six blue , three red , and three yellow squares . This indicated that the Grand Moff possessed a rank in the military higher than even that of an Admiral or General in the Imperial armed forces . It also bore some similarities to the rank insignia of Priority Sector High Commander established post - Battle of Yavin as a temporary rank until the Imperial military was reorganized . It also possessed four code cylinders , two of which are adopted on the right edge of the uniform . Some versions , however , utilized seven red squares over seven blue , along with four code cylinders . With the establishment of the second Galactic Empire , the insignia of Grand Moffs changed . The new insignia comprised two epaulets joined by a neck - brace - like adornment worn instead of the usual rank insignia . Behind the scenes . The title of Grand Moff came from the title , " Grande Mouff " , that was originally given to a ( much changed ) Tarkin from the , , and draft drafts of Star Wars . In the former two drafts , Tarkin was a religious leader on Aquilae or Townowi ; in the second and third drafts he was the Rebel commander of the Kesselian Dragoon s on Yavin 4 . At least in earlier drafts of " " , a Grand Moff is superior to the Shadow Hand / Supreme Commander : Jerjerrod had been a Grand Moff and Vader saluted him . The Grand Moff creation timeline controversy . Due to events of " " , Grand Moff Tarkin ' s promotion must have taken place during or perhaps even before the events of the film . This is due to the fact that Grand Moff Tarkin received a promotion directly as a result of the Tarkin Doctrine and was only assigned the Death Star project because of it . Given that the Death Star is partially completed during the film , and that Regional Governors are a product of the Clone Wars , it is entirely possible that this was an Old Republic decision rather than an Imperial one . This is a complex problem given that the " Death Star Technical Companion " was written with the idea of Grand Moff Tarkin being elevated during the Empire and the Death Star being constructed well into the Empire ' s reign .