Puck Naeco was a human male ace pilot who served in the Starfighter Corps of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the early Galactic Civil War. Flying with both Green and later Red Squadrons, by the time of the Battle of Yavin he was a veteran pilot and had reached the status of double ace. However, he met his demise as Red Squadron fought to destroy the Death Star at Yavin, shot down by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1.
During the Imperial Era, Puck Naeco joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic in its fight against the Galactic Empire, serving as a pilot in the Alliance Starfighter Corps, and eventually became a double ace and A-wing veteran. In the year 0 BBY, Naeco flew in Green Squadron, under the callsign Green Twelve. Before the Battle of Scarif, Naeco broke his ankle in a rough landing forcing him to vacate his spot in Green Squadron. He was replaced as Green Twelve by Lieutenant Wion Dillems, who flew in this capacity at the Battle of Scarif.
Following his recovery, Naeco became part of Red Squadron, under Red Leader Commander Garven Dreis The veteran pilot grew to enjoy teasing his younger comrades, which led to friction in the squadron — manifesting itself in several confrontations with Col Takbright. During the approach of the Death Star, Naeco, along with his fellow pilots, attended the briefing held by General Jan Dodonna, where the commander of the Massassi Group described their objective: destruction of the battlestation via torpedoing of the thermal exhaust port leading to the station's main reactor. Naeco, along with Red Four John D. Branon, noticed Takbright's outburst criticizing the plan and pressed him on it afterwards.
Naeco, at this point a double ace with 5,879 flight hours and eleven confirmed kills, was selected by Dreis to fly with him and Theron Nett in the Red Squadron's first flight, taking the portside position as Red Twelve. Following the demise of the original flight of Gold Squadron Y-wing bombers intended to fire the torpedoes, Dreis' flight entered the meridian trench of the Death Star and prepared to take the shot. However, despite the warnings of Red Leader, Naeco's X-wing starfighter would be the first destroyed by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, as he pursued the flight in his TIE Advanced x1. His X-Wing exploded, and crashed against the wall of the trench. Both Nett and Dreis were also shot down soon after, though Red Five was able to successfully take the shot and destroy the station.
As part of Red Squadron, this pilot wore the customary Orange jumpsuit, and a helmet. His skin was light.
The character of Puck Naeco was first created by author Rusel DeMaria in the Expanded Universe book X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide, itself based on the Star Wars: X-Wing video game. In The Essential Guide to Warfare, Jason Fry and Paul Urquhart retconned the Legends character into a pilot seen during the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, identified in the script as Red Twelve, and portrayed by Horror film actor Chris Matthews. In the film, the destruction of Theron Nett (Robert O'Mahoney)'s starfighter is accompanied by a shot of a different pilot's death, which Fry and Holocron manager Leland Chee identified as Red Twelve. Naeco's helmet prop from the film — or possibly one of a matching design — was later worn by Wes Janson in The Empire Strikes Back.
Puck was first identified in Canon by the Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide. His most prominent appearance thus far, however, has been in Duty Roster, a part of the From a Certain Point of View short story collection penned by Jason Fry, who originally identified the character.
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 4
- Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
- Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 66