('' where he was portrayed by
British Actor Peter Cushing .
Tarkin appeared very briefly at the end of ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''. However, he neither speaks nor is addressed in this role, and is only seen walking away from
Emperor Palpatine to make way for
Darth Vader on the bridge of the command ship. It is known that at this point that Tarkin, aided by his marriage to Lady Tarkin of the Motti family and his close connections with Senator Palpatine, was already a regional governor, a position that, according to a deleted scene from the movie, had not existed for very long.
Tarkin first met then-
Senator Palpatine as an obscure
Sector chief on the planet
Naboo . The two found that they shared a basic
Philosophy on government; namely, that might made right. In 33 BBY, Tarkin helped Palpatine engineer the
Murder of the
Trade Federation Directorate, which were on Tarkin's homeworld,
Eriadu , for a trade summit. The pirate raids on the Trade Federation that had led to the summit had also been orchestrated by Palpatine, as was
Nute Gunray 's rise to power as Trade Federation
Viceroy . From then on, they became close allies, using each other to advance their own careers. When Palpatine took over
The Galaxy and formed the
Galactic Empire in
19 BBY , he rewarded Tarkin for his years of service by appointing him a regional governor, a position of considerable power.
Tarkin had a reputation as a brutal, cold, and ruthless officer dating to the earliest days of the Empire. A large group of
Protester s stood on a landing platform directly underneath his transport, protesting the Imperial
Taxation on the distant planet
Ghorman . Tarkin ordered his ship to land anyway, crushing and killing hundreds of Imperial subjects. This incident became known as the "Ghorman Massacre." Rather than punish Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine made him the sector
Moff for Seswanna, where Eriadu was located. The massacre was the first manifestation of what became known as the Tarkin Doctrine, also known as the "doctrine of fear." Tarkin explained it simply: "Rule through the ''fear'' of force, rather than force itself."
The
Rebel Alliance frequently jumped across Imperial sectors to avoid detection. As a countermeasure, Tarkin proposed dividing the Empire into "priority sectors." These would overlap the existing astrographic and political sectors and be defined by the level of
Treason ous activity. These sectors would be commanded by one official, a "Grand Moff".
Ars Dangor , the Imperial Advisor, acting in the capactiy of the Emperor, granted Tarkin the title and a huge base of operations on the
Outer Rim .
Some had reservations about Tarkin's methods, suspecting them to be only efforts to enlarge his own position, in open opposition of Palpatine's agenda; projects of his, such as his
Maw Installation (the research facility in
The Maw , which developed most of the superweapons the Empire was noted for, such as the
Death Star , the
World Devastators and the
Sun Crusher ) only supported such theories.
One of Tarkin's chief character flaws was an overweening arrogance: even when his s, Tarkin ordered only a few scrambled against the Rebel
X-wing squadrons. This fatal understimation of his enemy allowed
Luke Skywalker to navigate the trench and fire
Proton Torpedo s against the reactor powering the Death Star, destablizing them and causing a catastrophic detonation of the Death Star, killing Tarkin.
Upon the birth of the Empire, the Emperor introduced Tarkin to his new apprentice, named
Anakin Skywalker with an incredible mastery of
The Force . Whereas only the boldest (and most foolish) of Imperial officers would talk down to Vader, Tarkin supported the Emperor's second-in-command wholeheartedly, seeing in the
Sith Lord an important ally in controlling the galaxy and advancing his own career. Tarkin found Vader to be a virtual equal in the eyes of the Emperor. This is supported by Tarkin's understanding that Vader "is all that's left of that religion" as well as Vader's casual reference to his old master,
Obi-Wan Kenobi .
Over their 19 years of dominion over the galaxy, Tarkin and Vader became more and more public icons of the Empire, whereas the Emperor himself would recede out of the limelight. As the public instigator of Palpatine's policies, Tarkin could easily have been confused for Emperor himself, while Vader represented the terrifying iconography for the Empire. Vader's execution of Jedi renegades cleared much room for Tarkin to focus on establishing the Imperial Naval infrastructure. Though Tarkin's was in an officious position as militaristic ruler, Vader was more of a free agent sent by the Emperor to command Imperial Forces in any task asked of him. This bred resentment among the Imperial Superiors, as at any given moment they may have had to resign themselves to a subordinate position beneath Vader. Tarkin respected and understood Vader's responsibilities, as the Sith Lord made for the most aggressive and efficiently assertive taskmaster one could hope for.
According to
George Lucas ' audio commentaries, Tarkin and Vader, both being subordinates of the Emperor, were on equal footing. Indeed their dialogue shows a candid openness between the two. Tarkin at one point even addressed Vader as "friend." Technically, Tarkin was in command of the Death Star, as such officers tended to report to him rather than Vader. Vader operated autonomously of Tarkin with neither one truly under the command of the other. Prior to the destruction of the Death Star, a captive Princess Leia seemed to believe that Tarkin was "holding Vader's leash", suggesting that publicly at least Tarkin was a superior rank to the Sith Lord. Tarkin, it seemed, was not intimidated by Vader, not even consulting him in ordering the destruction of
Alderaan , which was intended as a show of military might to cow the Rebellion. Tarkin could technically give Vader orders, such as commanding him to release
Admiral Motti from a
Force Choke , but their professional relationship was largely uncomplicated by formal rank, as they both essentially ran the Empire's day-to-day operations.
It's also possible that Tarkin, as the Executor of Imperial policy, was assigned to make sure that Vader didn't do anything suspicious, and vice-versa. That way, neither could succeed in betraying the Emperor. While
Expanded Universe materials indicate that Palpatine suspected Tarkin might betray him, there is no evidence to indicate whether or not this was in fact the case. In a government built upon a foundation of corruption, the Palpatine-Tarkin-Vader triumvirate appears to have been a generally harmonious collaboration. The fact that no truly significant replacement was appointed in Tarkin's place after his death goes further to prove Tarkin and Vader's hallowed respect and position in the Empire.
An estimated 2 billion people died when Alderaan was destroyed at Tarkin's order, making him the worst
War Criminal in the Empire (in itself an impressive feat). It is interesting to note that, throughout the Sith's 23-year reign of terror and
Murder under the Empire, the largest number of people killed in a single Imperial action, the destruction of Alderaan, was perpetrated by a man who had no knowledge of or ability with the dark side of the Force.
Tarkin himself was killed when the Rebels destroyed the Death Star at the
Battle Of Yavin . Even when alerted to the fact that the Rebels' attack strategy posed a danger to the station, he refused to evacuate, pointing out that the chances of a Rebel victory were slim. "Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances," he snapped back at
Chief Bast .
The is a doctrine of
State Terrorism that its namesake engineered; he was originally responsible for suppressing treasonous activity against the Empire. Rather than spend large amounts of money and resources to bend all the worlds of the Empire to Palpatine's
Will , the Tarkin Doctrine instead centered around the use of massive displays of force that could be used to discourage and prevent any opposition. It also called for the creation of a superweapon to enforce Imperial order, the result of which was the Death Star. It is cold, efficient, and promotes a understanding of fear, proving to be more powerful than military power alone.
Although Tarkin was killed in the destruction of the first Death Star, the Tarkin Doctrine continued to influence the heartless rulers of the Empire. Palpatine was very attracted to its concepts, and it became the standard operating procedure for the
Imperial Navy ; among the many superweapons the Empire would develop can be counted the
Tarkin Battlestation , the
Sun Crusher , the
Galaxy Gun , and the
World Devastator s.
Tarkin was once on a trip to the Imperial Training Center of
Carida , where he wanted to find a brilliant young tactician who was responsible for new training methods and other sorts of things for the Empire. It took Tarkin some time, but he eventually found the young slicer, who turned out to be a woman named
Daala . He whisked her away from Carida and made her part of his staff.
After a while, the two began to fall in love. Soon after, Tarkin made her an
Admiral in secret, and prepared to give her a mission.
Before that could happen, an officer said that Daala only achieved her postition because she was sleeping with Tarkin. Tarkin heard this and flushed him out of the air lock.
He then gave Daala four ''Imperial'' class
Star Destroyers , the ''Gorgon'', the ''Basilisk'', the ''Manticore'' and the ''Hydra''. He then sent her to the secret weapons facility in the
Maw cluster of black holes near
Kessel , where he told her to wait for more orders. After Tarkin's death, Daala returned to plague the
New Republic eleven years later.
There is some debate over where Grand Moff Tarkin's name originated. It is no secret that George Lucas borrowed many names and themes from previous books and visual media sources.
{Link without Title} Lucas, who loved the concept of a classic fairy tale may have used the fictional word "Tarkaan" as a basis for this villain. The word "Tarkaan" is a title bestowed upon high military captains of the villainous Calormenes, the antagonists in several volumes of
The Chronicles Of Narnia . That title was itself probably derived from
Tarkhan , an ancient
Turkic title for high military officers.
Tarkin's name also resembles that of , responsible for the final transformation of the
Roman Republic into the
Roman Empire .
Lucas probably borrowed the term Moff from existing military terminology. It is an abbreviation: Military Officer, ie. M. Off. or Moff.
