is a
Fictional Character in the ''
Star Wars '' movies and novels.
Ackbar is of the aquatic alien race
Mon Calamari . He was perhaps the finest military commander in the service of the
Rebel Alliance and the
New Republic . He led the attack on the second
Death Star at
Endor from the flagship
Mon Calamari Cruiser , ''Home One''. However, unlike many career officers he was unable to properly play the political game, relying on his trusted friend
Mon Mothma to cover him. When Mon Mothma retired from political service, Admiral Ackbar found severe difficulties in facing the political realities of high command (though he did have an ally in
Leia Organa-Solo ).
He was, for a time, enslaved to
Grand Moff Tarkin , where it appeared that he learned much about the art and skill of command. Rebel forces later rescued him and he swiftly rose through the ranks, designing the Alliance
B-Wing starfighter along the way. In terms of tactics, he is most well-known for his audacious, close-range assaults first seen at the
Battle Of Endor . He fought numerous campaigns against the
Galactic Empire , and numerous splinter warlord groups. During
Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign against the
New Republic ,
Borsk Fey'lya accused Ackbar of treason, citing bank account increases prior to the battle of Sluis Van. However, the money was placed in there by Imperial Intelligence, and Ackbar was soon exonerated. He retired some time after peace was signed with the Imperial Remnant, when Leia resigned and Fey'lya was elected
Chief Of State .
In ''
The New Jedi Order '', Admiral Ackbar was described as being frail and of a pale blue complexion, due to his old age. Towards the end of the war, he stayed in his home on
Mon Calamari recuperating, attended to by
Winter . But he was still fully cognizant. When the
Yuuzhan Vong invasion came, he pulled himself out of retirement to plan a trap against those forces in the Deep Core. He did, however, come up with the battle plan that would lead to the
New Republic victory at
Ebaq 9 . That plan was highly successful and did much to restore morale after the many losses in the invasion. However, this exertion proved taxing for the aging Admiral, and would soon be fatal. He died of natural causes only days before the resolution of the conflict.
Admiral Ackbar had several accomplishments that have not been equaled, including the defeat of two Imperial Grand Admirals. The only one to ever best him in combat was
Grand Admiral Thrawn .
The name Ackbar could possibly be derived from the great
Mughal emperor
Akbar or the Arabic word "great" as in "Allahu Ackbar" (God is Great). It should also be noted that the English word admiral has an Arabic etymology, coming from the Arabic 'amìr a 'âlì, "high commander." It also brings to mind the commonly encountered logic signal for acknowledge, #ACK (often written as ACK with bar on top and spelled "ack-bar").
Ackbar is legendary on certain websites (such as
Fark and
4chan ) for his line, "
It's A Trap! ". It has become memorable due to the fact that the rebel supreme commander shows an unusual inclination for retreating in ''
Return Of The Jedi '', though he is later revealed to have a longstanding history of heroism in the rebel alliance in the novelizations and other third-party sources. While some consider his desire to retreat from the battle of Endor to be cowardly and comical, the enormous disparity in size between his forces and the enemy, far more than expected, made the decision tactically sound. Furthermore, when
Lando Calrissian persuaded him to stay in the battle, he participated with valor with the defeat of the Imperial
Flagship , ''
Executor '' being a noted personal coup.
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