Conan Antonio Motti

Conan Antonio Motti was a human male who hailed from a wealthy and powerful family in the Outer Rim Territories. A native of the planet Seswenna, Motti was a naval officer in the Galactic Empire, the successor state of the Galactic Republic that was governed by Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine on its capital planet of Coruscant. He became one of the Imperial Navy's most highly decorated starship captains and veteran naval commanders, eventually rising to the rank of rear admiral with his flag on the Star Destroyer Steel Talon.

By 14 BBY, Motti was a prominent member of the Joint Chiefs of the Imperial Military—a collection of generals, admirals, and other senior military officers that advised the Emperor on all martial-related matters—and was considered by the Emperor to be a potential candidate for the newly-created position of Grand Moff, a position which would eventually go to Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. Along with the rest of the Joint Chiefs on Coruscant, Motti helped coordinate the Imperial response to the rebel campaign of Berch Teller, a disaffected intelligence analyst whose cell threatened various Imperial outposts across the Outer Rim. Due to his involvement, as well as the discrediting of the head of the Naval Intelligence Agency, Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit, Motti received a promotion from the Emperor.

By 0 BBY, Motti held the title of Admiral of the Navy and was also Chief of the Imperial Navy. Stationed on the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, the Empire's planet-destroying battle station, Motti served as head of naval operations and assisted Grand Moff Tarkin in testing the superweapon on the planet Rango Tan, home to an indigenous pre-hyperdrive species known as Rangan. After Motti informed the crew of the planet's inhabitants and its lack of involvement in recent conflicts, Tarkin ordered the planet to be destroyed. Before the firing sequence could be completed, however, the simulation failed, and Tarkin demanded it be aborted. When Motti asked what happened, a crew member explained that each gunner needed to execute his protocol at the right time if the simulation was to be successful. Motti proposed to immediately investigate and detect who had failed to complete the protocol, but Tarkin demanded to see the gunners himself.

Having escalated their operations to open warfare, the Alliance to Restore the Republic managed to steal the technical readouts of the Death Star during the Battle of Scarif. Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, captured the rebel flagship that carried the plans, the Tantive IV, but was unable to recover the plans themselves. Not long after, Motti met with General Cassio Tagge of the Imperial Army in his private office onboard the battle station, where the latter was reviewing data from the attack on Scarif. The two then headed to the Joint Chiefs' conference room. After a senior adviser asked if something was wrong, Motti declared that the theft of the station's plans had made Tagge paranoid. In return, Tagge asserted that, until the Death Star was fully operational, the Empire was more vulnerable to the Alliance's attacks. Motti, however, retorted that, while the Alliance posed a threat to Tagge's forces, the battle station was under no such threat. Tagge further argued the Alliance would continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate, but was interrupted by Tarkin, who arrived with Lord Vader and informed the officers present that the Emperor had just dissolved the Senate. He continued to say that fear, in particular fear of the Death Star, would keep star systems in line, prompting Motti to smile.

Tagge brought up the threat of the Alliance, who, due to their possession of the Death Star plans, could discover and exploit a weakness in the battle station, but Vader—who had arrived to interrogate Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan—proclaimed that the Empire would soon have the plans once more. Motti then stated that, regardless of whatever technical data the Alliance had, any attack on the Death Star would be a futile gesture, gloating about the station's power and claiming that it was the ultimate power in the universe. He added that the Empire ought to use it. Vader, however, rebutted this claim, warning Motti not to underestimate the power of the Force. Arrogance clouding his judgment, Motti mocked Vader, insulting his devotion to the Force, alleging that it had not helped him recover the stolen Death Star plans or locate the Rebels' hidden base. In response, Vader began to force choke the admiral while rebuking him for his "lack of faith," relenting only at Tarkin's insistence. Motti slumped across the conference table, gasping for breath and considerably unnerved, exchanging eye contact with Tagge. Nevertheless, he later submitted a sharply worded incident report criticizing what he characterized as Vader's attempt at religious proselytization, further stressing his confidence and his pride in the battle station.

Later, Motti supervised the final checkout of the battle station, which revealed that all systems were operational. The admiral then went to Overbridge to inform Tarkin, who, along with General Tagge, was being briefed by Lord Vader. The Sith Lord had tortured the captive Leia with an IT-O Interrogator droid, though he was having great difficulty extracting the location of the rebel's hidden base from her, given her formidable resistance to the mind probe. Motti asked Tarkin what course the Death Star would take, and he ordered it to head to Alderaan as a means for "alternate persuasion." Motti replied that he would do it with pleasure. Shortly thereafter, Motti approached the Grand Moff in private, once again expressing the extraordinary capabilities of the Death Star. This time, he noted that the ultimate power in the universe now rested with Tarkin, as he was in command of the battle station. Motti pointed out that the Grand Moff could, if willing, assume a position of authority in the Empire second only to the Emperor, subtly suggesting that he himself could serve with Tarkin. For his part, Tarkin regarded Motti's words as near treasonous and rejected the overture, though the ambitious Motti was not deterred from the idea.

When the Death Star arrived in the Alderaan system, Motti approached Tarkin and told him as such. Just then, Vader arrived at the Overbridge with Princess Leia, and, as Motti looked on, Tarkin openly threatened to destroy Alderaan if she did not reveal to him the location of the Rebel's hidden base. In response to the threat of her home planet's destruction, Leia lied and informed the Grand Moff that the rebels were headquartered at the defunct base on Dantooine. Despite this, Tarkin ordered Motti to have the Death Star's superlaser fire when ready, which shocked the princess. Motti did as ordered, and the Death Star fired on Alderaan, destroying it within moments.

Following the failed attempt at destroying Rango Tan, Tarkin had ordered Motti to install bio-trackers in the helmets of every Death Star gunner. This allowed the Grand Moff to discover that several gunners, such as Chief Gunner Endo Frant, had hesitated at key points during the destruction of Alderaan, which resulted in their immediate shutting in an airlock and jettisoning into space.

Shortly after Alderaan's destruction, which was later dubbed "the Disaster," General Tagge led a search on Dantooine, finding only an abandoned base. Though Tarkin issued an order to have Leia executed, it was not carried out. A YT-1300 light freighter, the Millennium Falcon, managed to make it aboard the Death Star from Tatooine, and its crew succeeded in freeing Organa from her cell. After Vader had earlier captured the Tantive IV, Leia gave the Death Star plans to the astromech droid R2-D2, who, along with C-3PO, escaped the Tantive in an escape pod onto Tatooine's surface. There, they met Luke Skywalker, a moisture farmer; Han Solo, the Millennium Falcons captain; Chewbacca, Solo's first mate; and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a former Jedi Master. As custodians of the Death Star plans, their original plan was to meet with Leia's father, Imperial Senator Bail Organa, on Alderaan and give him the plans, but the planet's destruction altered their plans. The team managed to escape the battle station with Leia, but not before Imperial stormtroopers had placed a tracking device aboard the starship. The Empire managed to track the freighter to the Rebel base on the fourth moon of the planet Yavin, and, as the Death Star prepared to destroy Yavin 4, a battle began between the Imperial and Rebel forces above the Death Star.

When several T-65 X-wing starfighters proved adept at evading the station's defenses, Vader manned his personal TIE Advanced x1 and attacked them. He began picking off the surviving fighters one by one, but some officers became worried that the rebel attack posed a danger. Meanwhile, the battle station closed in on the rebel base, and Motti stood beside the gunner on the Overbridge as it did so. However, the Alliance was aware of a flaw in the Death Star–a small, uncovered thermal exhaust port leading directly to the station's main reactor. Against all odds, a Rebel X-wing piloted by Luke Skywalker succeeded in flying through the trench where the exhaust port was located, and successfully fired a pair of proton torpedoes into the shaft, causing the Death Star to explode, instantly killing all those on board, Motti included.

Three years after Motti's death, Vader recalled the moment he Force choked Motti after Palpatine punished him with the same method due to Vader's failures in turning Luke Skywalker, his son, to the dark side of the Force and for letting the Amidalans escape.

Loyal to Grand Moff Tarkin, Motti held a rivalry against Darth Vader. His ambition at times overrode his loyalty to the Empire, as evidenced in his approaching Tarkin to use the Death Star in a bid for power—where Motti himself would be at Tarkin's right hand. This ambition was partially borne out of his faith in the Death Star as an instrument of ultimate power; he believed the battle station to be invulnerable and considered that any rebel attack against would be a useless gesture doomed to fail. In this sense, he was vocally critical of views such as those of General Tagge concerning a credible rebel threat, colorfully stating that "the dog nipping at [Tagge's] heels is no threat to my locked and guarded house"—referring to the Death Star. More generally, Motti was dismissive of the rebellion as a whole, viewing the Alliance's military capabilities as nothing more than a "patchwork of X- and Y-wing fighters".

According to Leia Organa, Motti enjoyed one of the largest egos in the galaxy. His arrogance was visible in his condescension towards other high-ranking officers, and in his submission of a lengthy and strongly-worded report on the strangulation incident between him and Darth Vader. Despite having been on the receiving end of the Sith Lord's displeasure, Motti remained unrepentant, insisting that Vader was the one at fault for using violence—a fact Motti interpreted as meaning he had won the argument. He further insinuated that Vader and Tagge were disloyal to the Empire, the former for putting his faith in the Force over the Death Star and the latter for being overly-concerned with the strength of the Rebellion.

Although Motti himself was personally religious, he was also dismissive of the Force and doubted its very existence. He publicly regarded Darth Vader as a mere sorcerer with a "sad devotion" to an "ancient religion," later justifying his attitude as a response to alleged "workplace proselytization." This nearly resulted in his death when Vader Force-choked him for his insolence.

Motti first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the first installment of the Star Wars original trilogy. He was played by Richard LeParmentier, who was credited as "General Motti." Motti was originally intended to be an admiral, but as LeParmentier proved to be too tall for the uniform that he was to wear, he was fitted in the uniform of a general and Motti's rank was changed.

LeParmentier originally auditioned for the role of Han Solo, but lost out to Harrison Ford. He was then offered the role of a customs officer who would try to stop Solo from leaving Mos Eisley. A friend of LeParmentier took the part, but the role was ultimately cut from the film, yet LeParmentier was invited back one month later to read for Motti's part. An American actor, LeParmentier was one of the few non-English actors cast as Imperial officers who spoke without an English accent. During filming, LeParmentier proposed director George Lucas to do his Mid-Atlantic accent for Motti and Lucas accepted. To shoot the scene where Motti gets Force-choked by Darth Vader, LeParmentier spent days practicing choking in his dressing room to make it look convincing until he was able to control and induce spasms in his neck. While filming the scene, LeParmentier had his pants rolled up to his knees and took his boots off along with Don Henderson as it was really hot.

In retrospective, Richard LeParmentier liked to be remembered as Motti, considering that it was an honor to have been part of the Star Wars saga. In his opinion, A New Hope helped him to be offered more roles in some other big movies because it was the most memorable film he had been. LeParmentier was proud of the fact that Motti's Force choke was the first point in the saga that fans saw working the power of the Force, although back at that time, he had no idea if the film was to be as successful as it ultimately turned out. He greatly enjoyed his experience and cited the only inconvenience he faced on set was Motti's boots, as they caused him a considerable amount of foot perspiration. As such, the film's crewmembers would take the boots of the Imperials off and air-dry their feet between shots.

While portraying the character, Richard LeParmentier saw Motti as a trigger-happy military type who was aching to demonstrate the Death Star's power and was resentful to the people who disagreed with him. He played Motti as a sanctimonious and smug character, believing that it was necessary in the contrast with the calm and reasonable Cassio Tagge played by Don Henderson to prompt Darth Vader to use the Force on Motti. By the time of his death in 2013, LeParmentier was producing an animated fan film called Motti Now, in which Motti survives the Battle of Yavin and abandons the Empire. However, it is likely that he had not completed it prior to his death, as it has not been released as of yet.

Motti was originally meant to appear, along with Generals Cassio Tagge and Trech Molock, as one of the Imperials present at Tarkin's summit on Eriadu in "The Summit," the fifteenth episode of the second season of the Disney+ animated television series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. However, it was eventually decided that the character would not have been high-ranking enough that early in the Empire's existence.

Motti's full name was revealed by Star Wars creator George Lucas on an episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien on May 1, 2007. When Lucas was challenged to a trivia question by a fan—Late Night Associate Producer Jordan Schlansky—as to the name of the officer who Darth Vader Force chokes in A New Hope, Lucas jokingly replied "Conan Antonio Motti," a tuckerization of Conan O'Brien's name. The next day after the episode's airing, Late Night posted a blog entry on the NBC website about their surprise at the quick response of Wookieepedia in adopting the new full name for Motti as well as their appreciation for Lucas' decision to name the character after O'Brien. The name was then confirmed in-universe by Star Wars Legends novels and eventually in the canon novel Tarkin.

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