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#c00
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#000
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Garm Bel Iblis
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Human
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Male
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Unknown
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Unknown
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Old Republic Senator, General
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Unknown
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Corellia
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''Katana''-fleet Dreadnaught ''Peregrine''
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Rebel Alliance
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N/A
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A renowned senator in the ''
Star Wars ''
Expanded Universe from the
Corellia n System, was one of the founders of the
Rebel Alliance , along with
Mon Mothma of
Chandrila and
Bail Organa from
Alderaan . But he and Mothma did not agree on the philosophy of the Alliance, and for most of the war he was a mysterious figure, assumed to be dead.
In an attempt to avoid the coming storm of the
Clone Wars , Senator Bel Iblis withdrew his planet from the debate over the Military Creation Act, using an obscure clause in the Corellian constitution known as ''Contemplanys Hermi'', an old Corellisi phrase meaning "meditative solitude." Corellia closed its borders, and tried to stay out of the coming war. His attempt failed. The conquest of nearby
Duro by
General Grievous forced the world into the Clone Wars, whether its people wanted to or not.
For Bel Iblis, the rise of the
Galactic Empire was very personal. As the main opposition to
Emperor Palpatine 's growing power, he made himself and his family a target for the newly self-appointed Emperor. Palpatine had
Stormtroopers round up the Bel Iblis family and
Execute d them. Bel Iblis escaped, but not before he saw his wife and children
Murder ed. It was then that he contacted Mothma and Organa, and together they drafted the legendary Corellian Treaty, which was the first step of resistance towards the Empire.
Bel Iblis was a brilliant military strategist and tactician, but it was Mothma who was able to inspire and unite people. Organa acted as mediator between the two warring senators, but he was killed in the destruction of
Alderaan . Relations between the remaining founders deteriorated, as Bel Iblis accused Mothma of wanting to overthrow Palpatine and rule as empress in his place. After refusing a direct order from Mothma, she dismissed him, and he took loyal troops with him and established a secret, mobile base called Peregrine's Nest, from which he conducted a hit-and-run campaign against the Empire.
Eventually, he saw that he had misjudged Mothma, and that his pride got the better of his judgment. So when
Han Solo asked for his help in recovering the fabled
''Katana'' Fleet of
Dreadnaughts (Bel Iblis' fleet already consisted of six of the ships), he agreed.
Princess Leia Organa Solo tried to convince him to rejoin the
New Republic , but it was only when his old comrade, Mon Mothma, asked that he agreed to. He helped defend
Coruscant against an invasion launched by
Grand Admiral Thrawn , and has become an admired and respected Republic leader once again.
In fact, when
Admiral Pellaeon decided to open negotiations for peace in 19 ABY with the New Republic, he approached Bel Iblis as a negotiating partner because of the profound respect he had for the general's command abilities. The message did not get to Bel Iblis, as the messenger ship was ambushed by rogue Imperial forces. The message was jammed, and, in an attempt to "show" the New Republic's treachery, the rogue Imperials and a band of pirates ambushed Pellaeon at the meet site. Knowing Bel Iblis' personal honor, Pellaeon used a tactic invented by Bel Iblis himself called the
A-Wing Slash to great success, destroying the enemy flagship and forcing the ambushers to flee, thus proving that Bel Iblis, who would never have fallen to a tactic he himself invented, was not present. (Eventually, one of the New Republic's top
Slicer s broke through the jamming, and
Leia Organa was sent to the meeting site.)
Bel Iblis also
Fought At Coruscant when the
Yuuzhan Vong attacked. He disobeyed an order and attacked the Vong fleet even though there were captured civilian ships in between. He lost most of his fleet when he attempted a direct charge, and was forced to withdraw.
- Bel Iblis first appeared in the Timothy Zahn novel ''Dark Force Rising''. Given Zahn's fondness for hidden references, it has been speculated that he owes his name to the Mythological figures Garm , Bel and Iblis . Given his status as a "fallen" rebel, the Iblis reference seems particularly appropriate.
- The name "Iblis" may derive from the koranic reference to the devil, see early surahs
