Prince Xizor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Xizor | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Position | Prince, Overlord of Black Sun, Crime Lord |
| Homeworld | Falleen |
| Species | Falleen |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6.3 (1.91) |
| Affiliation | Black Sun, Galactic Empire |
| Portrayed by | N/A |
Prince Xizor (Shee-zor) is a major villain and antagonist in the novel and comic book Shadows of the Empire. He is a Falleen, and leader of the powerful criminal organization Black Sun around the time between Star Wars—Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars—Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
[edit] Biography
The novel Shadows of the Empire portrays Xizor as a rival of Darth Vader, largely the result of a mixture of ambition and hatred. The latter arose when Vader obliterated much of Xizor's homeworld to halt the spread of a plague accidentally released from an Imperial biological weapons facility, killing most of the Falleen's family in the process. After learning from Emperor Palpatine of Vader's quest for Luke Skywalker, Prince Xizor saw an opportunity to lower Vader in the Emperor's esteem by having the young Skywalker killed. It was also at Xizor's persuasion that the Emperor decided to let the plans for the second Death Star fall into Rebel hands. The Prince was described as the third most powerful being in the galaxy, in terms of influence, (behind only Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader).
Prince Xizor was portrayed as a cold and ruthless risk-taker—indeed, his species has a reptilian semblance. Unlike the grotesque Jabba the Hutt, Xizor had a refined and charismatic appearance, with a taste for "the finer things in life" that was strikingly juxtaposed with his merciless ambition. Similarly, while he was certainly "cold" in some respects, he behaved quite irrationally at times, most dramatically in choosing to pursue his dangerous machinations against Vader. He was assisted by Guri, an enigmatic and brutal human replica droid assassin.
The Overlord of the Black Sun space station was a valuable ally in Emperor Palpatine's eyes. Once, while en route to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, the Falleen was attacked by a young assassin named Hoff. Of course, the Crime Lord eliminated such a threat easily, proving his own personal prowess. In addition to his massive shipping empire (and criminal syndicate) he was also co-owner of the most prestigious restaurant on all of Coruscant, the Manarai.
Prince Xizor commanded a vast organization, of which Jabba the Hutt was one of the main allies, and Durga the Hutt was a lieutenant. In one of their discussions, the Falleen learned from the Hutt that Luke Skywalker was on Tatooine residing there as a hermit. The Crime Lord dispatched a group of assassins to hunt down Vader's son but a mercenary named Dash Rendar saved the young rebel from certain death.
Later, Princess Leia Organa who was searching some contact in the Black Sun Organization, got herself eventually lured into the darkness veil of the dark prince.
Xizor also became enamored of Leia Organa, and attempted to seduce her. The Overlord of the Black Sun stated that in hundreds of years no woman could even match Leia as a woman of charms and beauty. The Falleen had enjoyed some of the most beautiful women in the Galaxy, and to him Leia was obviously the greatest.
As with his other schemes, this backfired dramatically. This example of startling risk-taking coincided with the disintegration of Xizor's bold attempts on Luke's life. The Dark Prince became so attracted to the young woman that he used his pheromones to charm her. The former senator succumbed to the pheromones and both shared passionate kisses. However Leia made her feelings clear when she kneed the Falleen prince in the groin. Enraged, Xizor locked her up.
After some troubles around with bounty hunters and mercenaries alike, Luke, Lando, Dash, and Chewie attempted to rescue Leia from Xizor's palace on Coruscant. They went down into Coruscant's dark, seedy underworld and infiltrated the palace through the sewers. Luke fought Guri in hand-to-hand combat and beat her. Faced with Black Sun guards, the group ended up destroying Xizor's palace with thermal detonators, but the Falleen escaped. The Rebels and the Imperials both fought Xizor and his forces (as well as each other) at his skyhook in orbit of Coruscant. A slip of the tongue in this high-pressure situation revealed his plots against Luke. Vader, onboard a Star Destroyer, ordered an assault on the skyhook, destroying it, and killing Xizor. With the loss of Xizor and the invaluable data and artifacts in his castle, the Black Sun empire was dealt a crippling blow; worse, the Empire ended its detente under Vader's urging, and began persecuting and prosecuting the various criminal syndicates that comprised it.
[edit] Theme
Like Darth Vader, Xizor had a leitmotif written for his character. The piece, known as simply "Xizor's Theme," was composed by Joel McNeely and is track #6 on the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack.
