Kraaken

Kraaken was the Deputy Commander of the Aquaris Freeholders, a notorious smuggling and pirate gang, serving as the right-hand man of Freeholder leader Silver Fyre during the era of the Galactic Civil War. Unbeknownst to Fyre and the rest of the gang, Kraaken was an Imperial asset, and plotted to take control of the Freeholders for the Empire even as Fyre pledged her support to the Rebel Alliance. Kraaken's treachery came to light when he attempted to capture Rebel droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, only to have his plans foiled by Fyre and Rebel leaders Leia Organa and Han Solo.

Biography

Kraaken, during his attempt to betray Silver Fyre and the Rebels.

Kraaken, during his attempt to betray Silver Fyre and the Rebels.

A member of the pirate and smuggling gang called the Aquaris Freeholders, by the era of the Galactic Civil War Kraaken had worked his way to the position of Deputy Commander, serving as the right-hand man of Freeholders leader Silver Fyre. Unbeknownst to Fyre and the rest of the Freeholders, Kraaken was an Imperial asset—this proved to be a source of conflict as the war began to near its height. Kraaken accompanied Fyre to the Conference of Uncommitted Worlds on Kabal, and although he attempted to arrange an Imperial attack to eliminate Fyre and leave him in charge of the Freeholders, he was unsuccessful in preventing Fyre from pledging her support to the Rebel Alliance. Not long afterward, Fyre welcomed Rebel leaders Leia Organa, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker to visit the Freeholders' aquatic base on Aquaris. Assigned to keep tabs on their visitors, Kraaken overheard that two Rebel droids that had accompanied them—C-3PO and R2-D2—held secret data vital to the war effort.

Kraaken passed this news on to Fyre, but secretly plotted to snatch the droids himself and deliver them to the Empire. Knowing that Fyre wanted to earn the Rebels' trust—she had earned Solo's ire in the past during their smuggling days—Kraaken proposed that they take Solo and Skywalker out on a hunting trip, where Kraaken would grab the attention of a dangerous demonsquid and allow Fyre to swoop in and save the day. Fyre agreed to the plan, which was all an elaborate misdirection: Kraaken stunned Skywalker unconscious and left him to the mercy of the devilsquid, while he rushed back to the base to take the droids. However, Organa uncovered and interrupted Kraaken's treachery, while Fyre and Solo rescued Skywalker and rushed back to the Freeholder base, cutting off Kraaken's escape during a firefight with Organa. Although Kraaken attempted to get back at them by destroying the data, Organa had created a duplicate, and his plot amounted to nothing.

Personality and traits

Although he had earned Silver Fyre's trust as a competent right-hand man and a gifted spy, Kraaken's real loyalties lied with the Galactic Empire. And while he didn't arouse many suspicions as Fyre's top lieutenant, Kraaken proved himself to be skilled in deception and possessing a keen mind for plots.

Behind the scenes

Kraaken appeared in Traitor's Gambit, a comic strip story arc written by Archie Goodwin, illustrated by Al Williamson and released in 1982.

Sources

Appearances

Unknown

Unknown

None