Atha Prime Atha Prime , genetics master and ruler of the dark worlds , was an arbiter of the Clone Wars and a co - conspirator of Grand Moff Trachta ' s . He was exiled to the fringes of the galaxy by Palpatine , although the Emperor ' s death in 4 ABY allowed Prime to return to the galaxy and begin a campaign of conquest . With his Clone Warrior s at his side and the double - decker Star Destroyer " Annihilator " at his command , Prime waged war with the Rebel Alliance , doing battle with its heroes , such as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo . Biography . Atha Prime , an egotistical genetics master and ruler of the " dark worlds , " was one of the architects of the Clone Wars , a pan - galactic conflict that raged from 22 BBY to 19 BBY and ended with the collapse of the Galactic Republic and the subsequent rise of the Galactic Empire . During those wars , Prime attacked the mountainous world of Skye , committing terrorist acts that were genetic in nature . He was defeated there by General Obi - Wan Kenobi , along with Commanders Anakin Skywalker and Halagad Ventor . For a short while , he was involved with Grand Moff Trachta , who would later move against Palpatine in an attempted Anti - Sith coup . Exile and return . Prime was exiled from the Empire and forced to reside in a remote fringe of the galaxy . The first death of Emperor Palpatine in 4 ABY at the Battle of Endor freed Prime from his exile and allowed him to begin his intended bloody conquest of the galaxy . He had been able to harness the power of cloning technology , and with it , he created an army of Clone Warrior s that were his to command . With the Empire in disarray , Prime , along with his armies , began his campaign by securing control over the fragments of the Imperial forces . He then began to enslave worlds that had recently been liberated by the Alliance to Restore the Republic and conquered worlds held by his foes along the galactic frontier . It was his intent to completely wipe out the Alliance and take control of the entire galaxy . As a result , Prime and his armies were forced to battle the Alliance , specifically the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and war hero Han Solo . Meanwhile , Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , who had narrowly escaped death at the Battle of Yavin in 0 ABY , emerged from hiding to take control of the shattered remains of the Galactic Empire . For transport during his campaign , Prime used his personal ship , the starfighter " Apex Invader " , which was piloted by the droid Blue - Four . Blue - Four also served as Prime ' s personal attendant . Prime ' s flagship for the campaign was the double - decker Star Destroyer " Annihilator " , the bridge complex of which the " Apex Invader " could connect to . While connected , Prime would have the ultimate vantage point in a battle , and he would be able to command both ships simultaneously . The " Annihilator " was roughly the size of a city , and apart from being the flagship of Prime ' s navy , it served as a mobile command base . Personality and traits . An egotistical man , Atha Prime was also patient , biding his time in exile until the galaxy would be vulnerable . As a leader , he was able to rally the remainder of the Imperial forces in the wake of the Battle of Endor , and put them to effective use , enslaving worlds that had only recently experienced freedom from Palpatine ' s rule . Behind the scenes . Creation . In 1984 , a year after the release of and the third " Star Wars " toy line , Kenner decided to create a new line , dubbed " Power of the Force , " in an attempt to renew interest in the brand . At first , most of the figures in the line were ones from " Return of the Jedi " that had not been produced in 1983 – 84 , but eventually the company began to develop small vehicles that were of original design and had not appeared in the films . The original vehicles were a success , prompting Kenner to take their idea further by creating a set of characters that would populate a new storyline taking place after " Return of the Jedi " , and that would be released in 1986 . Hoping to push the " Star Wars " saga in a new direction , the Kenner designers created Atha Prime , who would serve as the main villain in the new plot line , which involved him battling redesigned versions of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo . In addition to Prime , they also designed the Clone Warriors , which would serve as Prime ' s soldiers and replacements to the stormtroopers featured heavily in the films . Prime was given two vehicles , which would be made into playsets , and a droid attendant . In particular , Prime would be used in conjunction with the " Apex Invader " toy . He was also identified as an architect of the Clone Wars , although in 2002 , when was released , it was shown that Palpatine and Dooku were the true masterminds of that conflict . For visual representation of Prime , the Kenner designers made scant adjustments to a piece of concept art from " Return of the Jedi " pre - production . The art , done in 1981 by Nilo Rodis - Jamero , was originally meant to be a design for the Emperor ' s Royal Guard , although the final version of that design differed significantly from Rodis - Jamero ' s work . In reusing that design , Kenner ' s adjustments included changing the guard ' s axe - like weapon into a staff and slight alterations to the figure ' s headpiece . Attempts at canonization . Kenner ' s ideas were eventually rejected by Lucasfilm Ltd . , who were apparently not ready to undertake a concerted effort to create an Expanded Universe set after " Return of the Jedi " . In 1986 the last issue of Marvel Comics ' " Star Wars " comic run , " " would be published , which would turn out to be the start of a hiatus on post - " Return of the Jedi " content , until 1991 when Timothy Zahn ' s " Heir to the Empire " was released by Bantam Spectra . That year , Tom Veitch ' s " Dark Empire " comic mini - series would introduce the Imperial Sentinel s , which bore great resemblance to Prime . They were in fact based on the same " Return of the Jedi " concept art that Prime had been modeled on . The character of Prime was all but forgotten , until " Official Star Wars Fact File " author Abel G . Peña wrote him into the backstory of the " coup " attempt featured in " " . The reference , however , which was to go in the article published in issue 122 of the " Fact File " , was cut from the released product . Peña was not deterred and made another , more elaborate connection in an article on Imperial Warlords that he wrote with Daniel Wallace . This time , Peña consolidated the character of Prime and the established character of Shadowspawn from the " Dark Empire Sourcebook " , making them one and the same . But the subsequent cancellation of " Polyhedron " magazine , which the article had been written for , left it unpublished and the connection non - canon . For three years , Peña attempted to resell the article , to no avail . He was eventually able to canonize at least an element of Prime ' s character with the 2007 " Aliens in the Empire " article , co - written by Rich Handley . In it , there is a reference to a " genetics terrorist " that Peña intended to be Prime . A blurb of the novel " Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor " , by Matthew Stover , published by StarWars . com on May 22 , 2008 , contained information pertaining to Shadowspawn that matched specific elements of Kenner ' s brief for Atha Prime , particularly the phrase , " The Emperor ' s death has paved the way for Shadowspawn ' s return from exile in the Outer Rim … " This led to speculation on the Jedi Council Forums as to whether or not Stover had retained Peña ' s unpublished backstory of Shadowspawn that consolidated him with Prime . Upon its release , however , the book was revealed to have no mention of Prime whatsoever . In March of 2015 , the " unnamed genetics terrorist " was detailed in " " , a novella written by Abel G . Peña , and given the name " Zeta Magnus " .