Biggs Darklighter

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**Biggs Darklighter** was a Human male starfighter pilot who'd served in the Rebel Alliance during the earliest days of a Civil War against the Galactic Empire. Biggs grew up on an planet Tatooine, where he'd become a close boyhood friend of Luke Skywalker. Darklighter left Tatooine for the Imperial Academy, but Biggs defected from the Galactic Empire after graduation so to join the rebellion Alliance. He and Luke were reunited at the Yavin IV rebels base, and flew together in the T-65 X-wing Starfighters against the Death Star. While Skywalker returned from this mission as an hero, the Red Three Rebel pilot Biggs Darklighter didn't survive the Battle of Yavin and met his end.

## Biography

### Early Life

**Biggs Darklighter** grew up on Tatooine, where he became a close friend of Luke Skywalker. The two both became pilots, and often flew through Beggar's Canyon. In the year that had followed the Great Drought, Biggs and fellow youngsters watched Skywalker fly his T-16 skyhopper through the desert canyons after test flights in Jag Crag Gorge. Keeping in contact with his friend via comlink, Biggs warned Skywalker not to get too cocky after he made it through Mushroom Mesa, warning him of the dangerous Beggar's Canyon ahead.

Although Biggs cautioned Luke to slow down through the tight canyon, Skywalker ignored his advice and ultimately crashed the skyhopper after clipping the edge of the canyon, requiring new tools and repair parts to fix the damage. When they were young, Darklighter and Skywalker both dreamed of leaving their homeworld behind and attending the Imperial Academy.[3] Darklighter eventually left Tatooine for the Academy, but Skywalker was left behind, as his uncle, Owen Lars, would not allow him to leave out of fear that he would follow in the footsteps of his father: the Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Lord Anakin Skywalker.[1] Darklighter's family was wealthy for Tatooine standards, owning twenty moisture farms. Growing up, he had the best of everything, including clothing and a new skyhopper with each new model released, but despite this never made Skywalker feel less for it.[6]

After graduating from the Imperial Academy, Darklighter returned to Tatooine to visit Skywalker and his friends in Tosche Station. When Skywalker arrived at Tosche Station, he claimed to have witnessed a battle in the skies over Tatooine. Darklighter and the others were skeptical, however, and the now-Imperial pilot believed that it was simply two ships sitting in orbit. In actuality, Skywalker had witnessed a battle between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a resistance group that stood in opposition to the Empire. Although Darklighter was uninvolved in the battle, his return did deal with the Rebel Alliance: he told Skywalker that he would be defecting from the Empire and becoming a pilot for the Rebel Alliance. As the two said their goodbyes, Darklighter told his old friend that he would keep an eye out for him, in the event Skywalker ever joined the Rebellion.[3]

### Alliance Service

#### Assault on the Death Star I

Darklighter joined the Rebel Alliance shortly after leaving Tatooine, and was assigned to the Rebel base on Yavin 4. In the meantime, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a leader in the Rebel Alliance, successfully brought stolen plans for the Death Star to the Rebel base; this was done with the help of Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, who aided in Organa's escape after she had been held prisoner by the Empire on the Death Star. Using the plans, the Rebel Alliance put together an attack plan to destroy the planet-destroying space station, which arrived near Yavin 4 with the intention of destroying it—as well as the Rebel Alliance. Darklighter was assigned to be a fighter pilot in the assault.[1]

In the lead-up to the battle, Darklighter encountered Skywalker in the Rebel hangar, as Skywalker had also become a pilot in the Rebellion as a result of his actions aboard the Death Star. The two reminisced about their time flying on Tatooine, and Darklighter vouched for Skywalker as the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim Territories when Garven Dreis, the leader of Red Squadron, questioned whether the rookie pilot would be able to handle an X-wing starfighter.

The Battle of Yavin commenced shortly thereafter, and Darklighter flew with the callsign "Red Three" as part of Red Squadron. The pilots dodged turbolaser fire and fought against TIE/ln space superiority starfighters in an attempt to reach the Death Star's reactor shaft, where they could fire proton torpedoes into the shaft and cause a chain reaction that would destroy the station. As the battle neared its end, Darklighter was one of the few remaining pilots, flying alongside Skywalker and Wedge Antilles as they made their way towards the reactor shaft. Just before reaching the shaft, however, the trio of X-wings was fired upon by Darth Vader, who struck Darklighter's fighter and killed him. Shortly after Darklighter's death, Skywalker destroyed the Death Star and saved the Rebellion that Darklighter fought for and believed in.[1]