Ganch

A clone trooper cloned from the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett, Commander CC-4572, better known by his chosen name of Ganch, served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. The conflict, in which the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems clashed for galactic dominance, saw Ganch become the only survivor of Skua Squad following an early engagement. He eventually became the commanding officer of the 612th Attack Battalion.

The war prompted the Republic to establish the Temple of Eedit, an outpost on the world Devaron overseen by the Rodian Jedi Master Bolla Ropal. Ganch was assigned to Ropal, and was also subordinate to Ropal's Jedi Padawan, the Zabrak Tyzen Xebec. While building the outpost, Ropal sought to ecologically restore a barren valley on Devaron, and to that end, he had a dam erected. Ganch oversaw the creation of the dam, and was aided by Xebec. When one of the clones raising the dam, Squawk, complained that he would rather be facing action, Ganch quickly reprimanded him.

Xebec, observing the reprimand, discussed Ropal's decisions briefly with Ganch, explaining that the Jedi Master did not think that they should sit idle purely because they were so far from the actual conflict of the Clone Wars. Ganch understood that his purpose was purely to serve, but Xebec advised him to relax. At that moment, the Commander received a priority signal from outpost command—a red alert. A Confederate fleet had entered the system, and was bearing down rapidly on Devaron. Ganch and Xebec came under laser fire from the enemy infiltration force Nashtah Team, from which battle droids destroyed their LAAT gunship, which was parked on top of the dam wall. Xebec was instructed by Ropal via comlink to stay out of the valley proper, and remain where he was. Ganch, while battling the droids, observed that the normally prescient General Ropal had been caught off-guard.

As the LAAT fell off the dam wall and exploded, Ganch and Xebec were thrown to the ground. The Commander was the first to recover, and continued to return fire at the Confederate forces, which had pinned them down, as Xebec regained consciousness. Any rockets the troops had were lost with the destroyed gunship, preventing them from easily dispatching their assailants. As they fought on, Xebec sensed through the Force that Ropal had been captured. As the young Zabrak despaired, Ganch urged him to return his focus to the matter at hand, as Nashtah Team was overrunning their position. Xebec instructed the Commander to have his troops seal their helmets, and target the braces on the dam wall. The wall gave way, and flooded the valley, waylaying both the Republic and Confederate troops. As a result, the outpost, although drenched, was now secure. Ganch and Xebec made it to the shore, and the Commander observed that they had been successful, though the Padawan pointed out that the Separatists had been targeting Ropal all along, which Ganch found to be puzzling. With the water now let into the valley, the General's plans for Devaron had been fulfilled, even if, as the Zabrak pointed out, he had never been around to see it. The clone and the Padawan were then recovered by LAATs, though Ropal later died at the hands of the bounty hunter Cad Bane.

In the wake of his Master's death, Xebec was given a new Master, General Keelyvine Reus. Ganch, too, was assigned to Reus, and was part of a task force dispatched to Ukio, a vital agriworld supplying the Grand Army with food. Aboard Reus's Venator-class Star Destroyer, Xebec spent his time with Ganch, rather than at his new Master's side. He instructed Ganch to turn off his communicator, and the Commander did so. Xebec then set about reassembling a DC-15S, a feat which Ganch taught him. A clone officer approached, and informed the pair that Xebec was wanted by General Reus. The officer queried as to why the communicator was shut off, and Xebec explained that he had not wanted to be disturbed. The order had now been superseded, however, and the Padawan was forced to report to the General. Before he departed, the Commander advised his young superior to stay focused.

Ganch later joined Xebec, Squawk, and a group of other clone troopers on a reconnaissance mission to the surface of Ukio. As they made the trip from the Star Destroyer to the planet in a LAAT gunship, Squawk remarked that they would probably be spending more time reading than fighting, since the world's planetary shield was a particularly effective one. Ganch cautioned his subordinate, but Xebec agreed that their mission would likely be a quiet one. The Commander reminded him that they had been instructed to perform a thorough assessment of Ukio's defensive systems for General Reus, which would likely keep them occupied, but the Zabrak felt that his Master simply wanted him out of the way, and that she could not stand his presence. Ganch reasoned that Jedi Generals were not ones to take matters lightly, and provided a degree of perspective for his young compatriot—they were being placed in charge of planetary security, which was hardly a trifle. Furthermore, he reminded the Padawan that clones were not able to pick their commanding officers, and so they simply adapted.

Landing, Ganch and Xebec met with the planet's Ukian Liege, who was taken aback by Xebec's young age. He inquired as to whether the clone troopers were comfortable in being subordinate to someone so youthful, but Ganch pointed out that he was technically younger than the Zabrak. Xebec wished to meet with the Ukian workers, while the Commander would join the the Liege in inspecting the defensive capabilities of the planet. The Padawan demanded that his troops be given full access to the shield generator complex. As the Zabrak departed, Ganch beckoned the Liege, in order to start his tour. At the Ukian shield generator, the Liege illustrated the various levels of protection that ensured that the planetary shield would continuously be in effect. Ganch was impressed by the Liege's equipment, and was then distracted by the charging mammoth gigauns outside the complex. The Liege explained that the largely harmless creatures were essential to produce on Ukio, as their subsonic calls caused germination within the seeds.

While Ganch was still at the shield generator complex, an orbital alert was received. Soon, the sky was suddenly blacked out, causing the Liege to panic. Furthermore, all signals were jammed. A weak signal got through to the generator complex—Generals Reus and Kit Fisto, as well as Admiral Dron, were in conference. They informed the Liege that the Confederacy had introduced an electro-magnetic photosensitive substance into the atmosphere, which was clinging to the planetary shield and obscuring the sun. The Liege was outraged—without the sun's rays, the sensitive Ukian crops would soon perish. The Liege suggested dropping the shields in order to disperse the obscuring cloud, but Ganch and Reus advised against such an action. The Liege rounded on the Commander, pointing out that if the crops died, the Republic would have nothing to protect, and they would have failed in their mission. Reus relented, and instructed the Liege to drop a small area of his shields within fifteen minutes, to allow the cloud to disperse.

The plan worked as expected, although as soon as the Liege was informed that the cloud had dispersed, a new problem arose. The gigauns were apparently stampeding off their usual tracks, which was uncharacteristic of them. What caused the Liege considerable anger, however, was that they were now trampling the crops, inflicting severe amounts of damage. The Liege demanded visual verification, and ordered the Commander to inspect. Ganch immediately departed the complex to investigate. Outside, he found Squawk firing on the gigauns, which were rapidly approaching the shield complex. Outraged, Ganch demanded to know what was going on, and ordered Squawk to hold his fire. The trooper was insubordinate, and quipped that Ganch had a "soft spot for dumb animals." This angered the Commander greatly, and he drew one of his blasters on Squawk. The trooper dropped his weapon and asked that Ganch do likewise, but the Commander found the request unreasonable.

Suddenly, Xebec returned, slicing Ganch's pistol in two with his lightsaber and demanding an immediate explanation. Both Ganch and Squawk began to advance toward Xebec, and Ganch found that he was struggling against his own actions. He managed to remove his helmet, but could not stop himself from striking the young Zabrak with it. Inexplicably driven into a violent stupor, he urged the Padawan to run away, before the Commander could catch him. Although Xebec's new companion, Sanya, retreated into the fields, the Zabrak chose to confront Ganch as the gigauns charged around them. Xebec angrily lashed out at Ganch, and the two grappled briefly, until the Commander drew blood. The young Zabrak, terrified, retreated, prompting the Commander to give chase. He eventually caught the Padawan, and throttled him, but Xebec pleaded with him to stop, as they were clearly not acting in accordance to their true nature for unknown reasons. The Padawan was able to get through to Ganch by officially pulling rank. With considerable effort, Ganch realized that he was no longer fit for duty, pulled out his med-shot, and jabbed himself in the neck, knocking himself out cold. Xebec then moved the unconscious clone to a nearby shelter, ensuring that he would not be trampled by the gigauns.

The battle was eventually won, when Xebec and Reus were able to destroy neurological scramblers installed by Confederate mastermind, the "Doctor," as part of enemy initiative Project Instinction. During the aftermath of the battle, Ganch recovered, and observed as the Ukian Liege ordered the Jedi to leave the planet, as he had been ousted from the government due to the tumultuous series of events. Ganch noted that there was no helping some people, but the Republic victory was later overturned when the Confederate agent Passel Argente was able to purchase a controlling interest in the Ukian stock, effectively placing Ukio under enemy control.

After departing Ukio, Xebec and the rest of the Republic fleet returned to Coruscant aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer, Selfless. Xebex debarked alongside Master Reus, Commander Ganch, and Sanya, and he asked Sanya if she would miss the AgriCorps and the work she did on Ukio. She replied that she'd miss the good the AgriCorps does, but not the dirty work, and in fact, she preferred planets like Coruscant. She revealed that she was also born on the planet, and Xebec welcomed her home. Reus thanked Sanya for her help on Ukio and expressed her hope that the Agricorps would reward her in her next assignment. Ganch then made sure Reus was aware that he had fully recovered from the effects of Project Instinction and was ready for duty, but Reus insisted that Ganch was due for leave.

They were met by Captain Rex, who asked that Reus and Xebec meet Grand Master Yoda immediately, and offered to accompany Ganch to the RSO Center for relaxation. Ganch was hesitant, but when Reus insisted, he invited Sanya to join him and they departed. When the group arrived in the RSO Center they were greeted by Commander Cody who offered for them to join him at his table. While the clones conversed Sanya dropped her fork and while retrieving it she noticed that there was something blinking on the underside of their table. Ganch immediately ordered for and asked for any standing RSO members to see if they could identify it. Two nearby RSO members responded and identified it as a remote triggered Detonite charge. Another RSO member informed the commanders that they all had undergone training in case they were ever rotated into the field. After surveying the rest of the room Sanya noticed that all of the tables and chairs were rigged with charges. The RSO members then worked together to simultaneously defuse the charges with the guidance of Cody.

Ganch chose to keep his head shaved, and maintained a thick mustache and goatee. Along his left temple were three large scars. He referred to his troops as his "boys," and proved to be an effective motivator when overseeing the construction of the dam on Devaron. He did not tolerate insubordination, even when it was in good humor—his reprimanding of Squawk earned the attention of Padawan Xebec, despite the disciplining being only minor. He would continually reprimand Squawk, as the subordinate clone often proved distracting with his lightly humorous comments. Ganch noted the prescient Jedi skills possessed by General Ropal, and was surprised when they proved fruitless in predicting a Confederate strike against Devaron. When faced with combat, Ganch acted swiftly, although he would instantly defer to his superiors and consult them before taking action. The Commander also had a fondness for animals, which was noted by his compatriots.

Ganch was unswervingly loyal to the Republic and his superiors, and did not question his orders, doing only as he was bidden. Whenever he was off-duty, he would still do as he was told. When in the heat of combat, he felt the need to remind his superior, Padawan Xebec, of their dire situation during the Separatist attack on Devaron. The Zabrak was preoccupied over the fate of his Master, Bolla Ropal, and as such, he was distracted from the battle at hand. In the wake of Ropal's death, Xebec spent more time with Ganch than he did his new Master, Keelyvine Reus. The Commander instructed Xebec as to how he should reassemble a blaster, despite reservations as to just how it would aid a Jedi. Ganch entered the habit of referring to Xebec as "kid," which he attempted to correct.

Xebec would often confide in Ganch, as he felt marginalized by his Master, Reus. Ganch reasoned that being left in charge of a planet was hardly marginalizing, and since Jedi Generals usually went about their business with the utmost importance, he suspected that the Zabrak's Master trusted and had faith in him. Furthermore, the Commander clung fiercely to the concept of duty, and believed that his loyalty to his superiors was absolute. He agreed with General Reus when she advised the Liege against lowering the shields of Ukio to disperse the obscuring cloud, although he incurred the Ukian's anger by doing so. While under the influence of the Doctor's Project Instinction, Ganch became overly aggressive, and took his anger out on Squawk. He uncharacteristically drew his gun on his fellow clone, who was also influenced by the Confederate devices. The event brought his issues with Squawk to the fore, but the conflict between the two was alleviated by the arrival of Xebec. Instead, Ganch's crazed violence was directed at his friend; however, he still had the wherewithal to urge the Zabrak to run away from him. Although Ganch struggled against his own madness during the incident, he was unable to conquer it, and tried to kill his superior officer. The Commander was in such a haze of fury during Project Instinction that the only way Xebec could get through to him was to officially pull rank. With that, the Commander was able to briefly combat the neural scrambling, and knock himself out, as he was no longer mentally fit to serve.

Ganch wielded dual DC-17 hand blasters, which he had holstered across his chest. He also sported Phase I clone trooper armor—with a pauldron that entirely encircled his neck—decorated with distinctive red markings. The Commander was equipped with a set of macrobinoculars. He also carried an emergency med-shot syringe. Following the transition to phase II clone trooper armor, Ganch switched to the new armor, but kept his signature red markings and pauldron.

Artist Tom Hodges modeled Ganch's front, chest-mounted holsters in the same style as those worn by famous gunfighter Doc Holliday. By giving him a larger pauldron and a different pattern on the helmet, he made Ganch look different from other clone commanders. Pablo Hidalgo came up with Ganch's name. The character was introduced in the first installment of the webcomic The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct, published in 2009.