Chase Wilsorr

Chase Wilsorr was born on the planet Takodana. By the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Wilsorr wanted to join the fight against the Empire. Though Chase suffered from low self-esteem and anxiety, he was inspired by self-help books such as Be Your Best Self by Mirialan author Raysi Anib to leave Takodana and join the Rebel Alliance. Wilsorr was recruited to the rebels at their base on Yavin 4, though he went on to fail basic training six times. In one infamous incident, Wilsorr tripped over his own feet during weapons training and accidentally destroyed three barracks. Although unlucky in his attempts to join the military, Wilsorr made friends in Marinna Reynolds and Oriss Khan. While he still tried to complete training, Wilsorr found work in the kitchens at Yavin 4 and was content with the wide menu, where he was allowed to experiment with Reynolds and Khan and recreate dishes from their homeworlds.

Although he failed basic training, Wilsorr found work after the Battle of Yavin as part of the Rebel Alliance Corps of Engineers. When the Alliance chose the ice planet Hoth as its new base, the Corps of Engineers was deployed to carve the tunnels and winding complex of Echo Base for use by the Alliance. Under Major Kem Monnon's instruction, Wilsorr and the other engineers used heat-tech to carve the base. While in this position, Wilsorr became familiar with and adept at navigating the small corridors around the main halls of the facility. The heat-tech used by the Corps was slow and costly, so Lieutenant Shara Bey came up with the idea of using the powerful A-wing ion cannons instead. When first given the ion technology during the construction of a briefing room, however, Chase was unsure of what setting to use and accidentally created a much larger area than planned. After Wilsorr's mistake, Major Monnon snapped at the young man and demoted him for his subpar efforts.

By the time Alliance forces fully relocated to Hoth in 3 BBY,Chase had found employment working in the kitchens alongside X0-R3 under Lieutenant Harlize Dana. Unlike his kitchen position on Yavin 4, Wilsorr could only work from a small and singular menu at Echo Base, and he mostly spent his time peeling and dicing purple tubers with X0-R3. In addition to his kitchen work, Chase assumed duties as a runner, in which he was tasked with delivering items such as caf, datawork, messages, and supplies across Echo Base. Though he had done poorly as a soldier and engineer, Chase was able to navigate the complex with ease using his knowledge of the rarely-used tunnels built by the Corps during preliminary construction.

Although he hadn't risen through the ranks of the Rebellion as he intended, Wilsorr found some happiness in his time spent with a new tauntaun handler at Echo Base, Jordan Smythe, on whom he developed a crush. Despite his growing feelings for Smythe, Wilsorr's anxiety often got the better of him, and he would become nervous when around Jordan. Chase also grew jealous of his friends Reynolds and Khan, who had moved on to join Rogue Squadron and Rebel Alliance Special Forces, respectively. Chase grew especially jealous of Han Solo, a smuggler who had consistently been assigned critical missions despite never formally joining the Alliance or undertaking any training or preparation. Chase was also annoyed by Solo's constant bickering with General Leia Organa. Hoping to move up, Wilsorr applied for sentry duty three times but was denied the position by Major Bren Derlin. Despite the assurances of Dana and Smythe, Chase continued to feel useless and unimportant.

Wilsorr eventually decided to appeal directly to General Carlist Rieekan about Major Derlin's denial of sentry duty at Echo Station 3-T-8. Early one morning after sending his appeal to Rieekan, Chase woke up to find a message from the general, who reinforced Derlin's decision based on Major Monnon's report about his subpar work in the Corps of Engineers. Waking up others in the barracks, including Rainn Poras, Wilsorr did as Rieekan had ordered and returned to work with Dana in the kitchens. After his shift ended at 0700 hours, Chase went on call as a runner. He saved his favorite run, the tauntaun pens, for last and arrived with supplies for the handlers. Chase handed caf and food to Baesoon and Murell, then looked around for Smythe, who was with his tauntaun Sunshine. When the two found each other, Chase gave Jordan his caf, which he had secretly kept warm in his own insulated thermos.

Smythe complimented Chase on his timely delivery, but Chase downplayed his abilities in response. Undeterred, Jordan told Wilsorr that he was the best runner at Echo Base. Chase told Jordan that he wanted to do something more important, then showed the handler several messages he had received from Derlin. Seeing one where Derlin chastised him for his poor skills with a blaster, Chase exclaimed that he could handle one despite what the major thought. Smythe laughed and tossed Chase his blaster so he could prove it, but Wilsorr fumbled and almost dropped it. Jordan laughed it off and helped Chase hold it properly, purposely touching their hands together. Baesoon interrupted and yelled at Jordan to stop flirting while on duty. Jordan took Chase's hand in his and told him they would have to see each other later, and Chase, excited and embarrassed, turned to leave but bumped into Sunshine on his way out.

Some days later, Wilsorr was assigned to a new run: the command center. His first delivery there was for communications officer Toryn Farr, whom he gave a new holoprojector and blue milk that had been sent to her by her sister Samoc. Though initially terse with Chase, Farr remembered his name and graciously accepted her delivery. After Farr, Chase had to bring General Rieekan his caf and decided that he was going to speak to the general about his message. Rieekan did not know who Wilsorr was in person, but after pleading from Chase, he decided to give the runner a "critical mission." Chase's excitement was crushed when he found that Rieekan's task was nothing more than a delivery to Echo Station 5-4. Chase brought the crate to Rainn Poras, who was a sentry at the outdoor station. Poras sarcastically thanked Wilsorr for the parcel, then told him to carry a box of blasters to the hangar for recharging.

As Chase left Station 5-4, he overheard some rebels gossip about him and his past mistakes, including the infamous incident at the barracks on Yavin 4. Upset, Wilsorr neglected to bring the blasters straight to the hangar and visited Jordan at the tauntaun pens instead. Smythe advised Chase not to listen to what others were saying about him and tried to uplift him by telling him that he was perfect as he was. Chase noticed that Jordan was not wearing a jacket and asked how he wasn't cold. Smythe placed his hands on Wilsorr's shoulders and began rubbing them to warm him, then jokingly called Chase a "Yavin baby." Unnerved, Chase tripped over his words and blurted out that he was from Takodana, not Yavin, then frantically picked up the crate of blasters and left. While bringing the box to the hangar, Wilsorr walked past Solo and Organa having an argument in a hallway. Annoyed by their bickering and angry at himself for his blunders with Jordan, Chase morosely continued to the hangar.

The following day, Chase and Lieutenant Dana were in the kitchen when Toryn Farr announced over Echo Base's central communication system that Rieekan had initiated the evacuation sequence. On his run earlier, Chase had noted that personnel in the command center were tense and that more weapons were delivered to the sentries than usual, but didn't think an evacuation would come so quickly. Wilsorr and Dana immediately left the kitchen and began walking towards the main corridor, but Chase, knowing that it would be crowded, decided to take Dana with him through the less-used tunnels to the hangars. Once they reached the main hangar, Chase looked around and saw the base in chaos as the blast doors opened and crowds were ushered on board the GR-75 medium transports.

In the distant sky, Chase saw the triangular shape of Imperial Star Destroyers and realized that the Empire was launching an attack on Hoth. While he and Dana headed for a transport, he looked around for Jordan but found no sign of him. Major Derlin then yelled out to see if anyone had seen Doctor Tristan Melthabi, and Officer Serenity Meeks replied to him that a cave-in in one of the tunnels had left her and several other medtechs trapped. Overhearing this, Chase jumped off the transport ramp and told Derlin and Meeks that he knew a way to reach them. The two authorized his attempt to rescue the medtechs, and Chase ran back into the makeshift tunnels he had helped build. He soon made his way to the medical facility, where he found Melthabi and three medtechs stranded. Realizing that others could still be trapped because of the cave-in, Wilsorr gave the medtechs directions to get to the main hangar and stayed behind.

Wilsorr ran throughout the areas behind the cave-in, searching storage rooms, barracks, and corridors for stragglers. From his search, he found three foot soldiers, two communications officers, and a group of refugees from Habassa II. He gave them directions to the hangar, but the lights went out, and Toryn Farr alerted the base through the comm system that the last transport, the Bright Hope, would be leaving in ten minutes. As the group he had rescued began panicking, Chase decided to lead them to the main hangar personally and started navigating the tunnels without even seeing them. Once Wilsorr was back, Meeks thanked him for his work, but Chase told her that he had to go back. Chase ran back into the crumbling complex, eventually making his way to the tauntaun pens. There, he found Jordan, who was trying to calm Sunshine. He told Jordan that they had to evacuate the base, but Smythe firmly responded that he would not leave Sunshine behind, to which Chase replied that he wasn't going to leave Jordan either.

The two saddled Sunshine and rode her out of the pens, and Chase decided to take the main corridors out, knowing that the tauntaun was too large to fit in the smaller tunnels. As they made their way to the hangar, Chase noticed that a cave-in had happened in the main hall. Chase grabbed Jordan's blaster, began randomly pressing buttons, then threw it directly at the ice. The blaster exploded, shattering the ice and clearing the way to the hangar. The doors to the Bright Hope were closing as they reached the hangar, and Chase yelled out to Meeks to keep it open. Sunshine clambered up the ramp and onto the ship, where many of the personnel were people Wilsorr had saved. The room cheered for Chase and Jordan. After mustering up the courage, Chase turned to Jordan and told him that he needed "a good kiss," echoing something Solo had said to Organa the day before. Jordan pulled Chase closer, and the two kissed as the Bright Hope departed Echo Base.

Chase Wilsorr was a human male with brown hair, fair skin, and a thin build. Although he had lofty ambitions of joining the Rebel Alliance and fighting against the reign of the Galactic Empire, Wilsorr was hindered by his anxiety and severe lack of confidence in himself, which led him to be reliant on self-help books such as Be Your Best Self to boost his self-esteem and combat indecisiveness. Chase could be awkward and clumsy around others, such as tripping over his own words when talking with his crush, Jordan Smythe, and being nervous when speaking with his superiors on Echo Base, such as Major Derlin and General Rieekan, even briefly or indirectly. Despite the efforts of friends such as Smythe or his overseer Harlize Dana, Wilsorr felt as though he had little value and judged himself harshly when comparing himself to others, even friends such as Marinna Reynolds and Oriss Khan. Chase wanted to be a hero, but with each mistake he made and lack of promotion, he felt unnecessary to the Alliance.

Although his insecurity heightened at Echo Base, Wilsorr found comfort in Jordan Smythe, and the two developed mutual feelings, but Chase's anxiety would kick in whenever the two connected. In spite of this, Chase powered through his nervousness and always looked forward to seeing Jordan on his delivery runs. His ability to work through his apprehension with Smythe foreshadowed his later ability to do so during the Battle of Hoth. Subconsciously realizing that he was an ideal candidate to aid in the rescue of rebels trapped in Echo base, Wilsorr jumped at the chance to help and managed to save several groups from the crumbling complex. By willingly putting his skills and abilities to the test to help, he was able to prove to himself and others that he could be a hero, even if not in the ways he imagined. Once Chase and Smythe successfully reached the Bright Hope, he blurted out that he wanted to kiss his crush. Though he faced a brief rush of anxiety over his bluntness, Jordan reciprocated, and Wilsorr realized that he had it within himself to be confident.

The character that would become Chase Wilsorr first appeared in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back as a background extra who awkwardly steps between Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa during an argument early in the film. This Rebel soldier was portrayed by Chris Parsons, an eighteen-year-old actor who portrayed several other bit characters in the film and was uncredited for his work. Parsons was initially brought to Elstree Studios to audition as a stand-in for C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels, and surmised that he was given his various additional roles, including the unnamed Rebel soldier, because the casting department believed he was reliable and professional.

When author C.B. Lee was first approached by Del Rey Editor Tom Hoeler and her agent to write a short story for the fortieth anniversary anthology book From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, she eagerly accepted the offer and first thought of the unnamed character in The Empire Strike Back as the protagonist of her story, entitled "A Good Kiss." Lee was interested in telling the story of someone who only partially witnessed Solo and Organa's argument in the film, and wanted to explore what job that person would have and how they would feel about walking directly through that moment. Lee wrote Chase as a young person facing various challenges and uncertainty in life, and connected with the character for being an "awkward disaster."

Wanting to use her short story to write about the importance of pursuing dreams and having confidence in oneself, Lee turned Wilsorr into an unsung hero, someone who thinks they have to be more than they are until his "big hero moment," when Chase realizes that he does not have to be someone he is not. Lee felt that Wilsorr helped her challenge the pressure placed on young people at the time of the book's release and comment on the rigid definition of success in society. Lee also wanted to write a character representative of the LGBTQ community, citing Paige and Rose Tico from Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi as examples of how minority representation in Star Wars positively affected her and wrote the story of Chase Wilsorr with that in mind, believing that the character could serve a similar purpose and give readers a character they could see themselves in, especially because, despite his harsh self-judgment, Chase is a hero and his story closes with a happy ending.