Kent Deezling was a human male who worked as a deck technician in the Imperial Center of Military Research on the planet Scarif. His duties for the Galactic Empire included directing traffic, checking landing platform equipment, guard duty, and conducting routine inspections on newly arrived vessels.
In 1 BBY, Deezling was assigned to Landing Platform Nine on Scarif and accompanied Lieutenant Colin Hakelia and two stormtroopers for an inspection of the Zeta-class Heavy Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 when it landed there. The shuttle carried a group of rebels seeking to steal the plans to the Death Star superweapon, and they captured Deezling and his team once they came aboard.
The rebel Jyn Erso then took Deezling's uniform and used it to infiltrate the Citadel Tower where the plans were kept. Deezling perished during the ensuing battle and destruction of the Imperial complex.
Kent Deezling worked on the Imperial landing pads of Scarif.
Kent Deezling was a human male who served the Galactic Empire as a deck technician in the Imperial Center of Military Research around the Citadel Tower on the planet Scarif. Although support personnel were generally ignored or sneered at by higher ranking Imperial officers, the sterling routine work of individuals like Deezling kept the Imperial war machine going as he played a vital part in the process of coordinating incoming and outgoing flights on Scarif.
Plugged into air traffic control via a headset, Deezling worked in concert with flight-control technicians stationed in the tower, whom he liaised with constantly. At the base, Deezling had a variety of duties, including directing traffic manually on rapidly changing landing fields where automated systems could not react quickly enough and helping pilots to maneuver their ships using illuminated traffic wands when they were landing or taking off. Deezling was also authorized to commandeer certain vessels and pilot them to their proper positions on a landing deck, with deck technicians receiving the training necessary to control a wide number of craft.
Deezling and other technicians also acted as inspectors, ensuring landing pad equipment was functional and priming accompanying ground crew when conducting routine inspection checks on recently landed vessels as part of a team that also included an Imperial officer and a stormtrooper escort. Deezling also acted as a guard.
Kent Deezling was part of the team sent to inspect SW-0608.
In 1 BBY, Deezling was posted to Landing Platform Nine on Scarif, where he and Lieutenant Colin Hakelia were part of an inspection team that Second Lieutenant Frobb, deck officer of the platform, sent to inspect the Zeta-class Heavy Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 after it arrived there. Escorted by two stormtroopers, Deezling and Hakelia left the tram station that connected the landing platform to the Citadel Tower and approached the shuttle. The deck technician then pulled a lever on the vessel's exterior that deployed the entry ramp.
The inspection team boarded with no idea that the routine operation would end in tragedy for them, as SW-0608 had been stolen from the Empire by the Rebel Alliance and carried a group of rebels seeking to steal the plans to the Empire's Death Star superweapon.
In the ship's hold, Deezling and his team were greeted by the defected Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook, who directed them below to find the ship's manifest. At the hatch down into the cargo area, the inspection team was met by the rebel Baze Malbus aiming his weapon at them. When Rook and a number of other rebels also trained their weapons on the Imperials, Deezling and the others surrendered. From the cockpit, the rebel Jyn Erso heard a muffled cry and the sound of several impacts against the deck. The Imperials were then tied up and stripped of their uniforms, and the prisoners were stowed away in the cargo area of the vessel.
Jyn Erso used Kent Deezling's uniform as a disguise.
Erso then donned Deezling's uniform as a disguise. Although it was too big for her, she used it to infiltrate the Citadel Tower, where she succeeded in stealing the Death Star plans. Fighting broke out between the rebels and Imperials, with SW-0608 destroyed in an explosion and the entire Imperial compound eventually destroyed by the Death Star. At some point during these events, Deezling and the rest of the inspection team perished.
Deck technicians such as Deezling generally preferred analog solutions to problems and could eyeball distances without sensors. He had light skin.
Kent Deezling wore a sealed helmet while working in dusty and windy conditions on Scarif.
While on Scarif, Deezling wore a black Imperial flight jumpsuit for instances where he needed to pilot a vessel in order to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the landing platform. The suit also included pockets for tools and equipment needed in his daily tasks and a chest-mounted flight pack that included sensors to aid Deezling in his work. It was worn with black gloves and black boots that provided additional grip and a black utility belt, on which Deezling carried a spare power pack that could be used for the suit's systems or the pair of illuminated traffic wands that he wore on his back.
Deezling's uniform also included a black wraparound helmet that was fully sealed, equipped with an integrated air filtration system, and covered his whole head in order to protect him from the noise and pollution of his dusty and windy work environment and allow him to better concentrate. The helmet's visor provided a constant stream of information to Deezling about his surroundings and allowed him to see through dust and fumes, although in order to let Deezling view some problems with his own eyes, it could be flipped down into the helmet's faceplate, which itself was also removable. The helmet also included a comlink that let him communicate with air traffic control, pilots, and other landing platform crew.
Concept art of Jyn Erso in Kent Deezling's costume
Kent Deezling first appeared in the Anthology Series film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was released on December 16, 2016. Prior to the release of the film, the character was first revealed in a featurette for Rogue One released on November 16, 2016.
According to co-costume designer David Crossman, the character's costume combined three different looks, including the helmet of an Imperial gunner modified to show the character's face. At least three pieces of concept art for Deezling's costume were created by co-costume designer Glyn Dillon.
Actor Scott Stevenson portrayed Kent Deezling, known during production as "HeroTrooper." Over the course of a day, the visual effects team captured pickup shots, promotional stills photography, and "Sprite" shots in which Stevenson performed actions in front of a blue screen that could be edited into the film.
Although none of the pickup shots of Stevenson as Deezling were used in the final film, some "Sprite" shots were used and the promotional stills were used in various other media. This included the reference book Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, which was written by Pablo Hidalgo and released on the same day as the film as the first source to identify Deezling.
- Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Star Wars: Rogue One: Ultimate Sticker Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 49
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 56
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 56
- Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition
- Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy