Xandel Carivus was a Human male from Ord Cantrell. He came from a wealthy family which had the long ties to the Galactic Empire—so when Xandel was old enough he became a bureaucrat to serve the Imperial cause.
He was one of the several high ranking Imperials to help fund the work of Carnor Jax, therefore guaranteeing that the clone bodies of Emperor Palpatine would die prematurely. Jax would assume the throne of the Emperor, but would eventually be killed by Kir Kanos. It was following this that Nom Anor manipulated events so that Xandel Carivus would be elected by the Interim Ruling Council to become the Empire's new ruler. Carivus was eventually caught by Kanos and was quickly executed for his part in the death of Palpatine's clones.
Xandel was the last Imperial ruler to claim the title of Emperor until Jagged Fel.
Nom Anor surprises Carivus.
Xandel Carivus was a pompous bureaucrat who was part of a wealthy family from the planet Ord Cantrell, located deep within Imperial territory. When Nom Anor came from Yuuzhan Vong space, he recognized Carivus as the perfect person to complete his aims of weakening the galaxy at large. Frightening Carivus into servitude, Anor advised Xandel to invest a large portion of his wealth into Carnor Jax's cause. With the money of Carivus and several other Imperial higher-ups, Jax bribed Emperor Palpatine's personal physician into sabotaging Palpatine's clones, thus leading to an early death for the Emperor.
With Palpatine out of the way, Jax was quick to move in on the throne—Jax placed everyone that had financed his plan into the Interim Ruling Council with himself at the head. Now serving as a part of the head of the Empire, Xandel decided to relax, earning the disgust of many people on the council. During this time, presumably under the advice of Anor, he formed his own private guard for his personal protection. However, mere months after Jax had established himself as the new Emperor, he was killed by Kir Kanos in a duel on Yinchorr. From reports by Imperials at the time, the council knew that Kanos had killed Jax for his role in the death of the Emperor, and that he had vowed to kill everyone that had supported Jax's plan. This threw the Council into an uproar; few on the council believed that one man would be able to do such a feat, but many members believed that they would not be able to hold power after the death of Jax. The council established Burr Nolyds as their head and looked for a place to temporarily convene. At the behest of Nom Anor, Carivus offered his estate as an acting place for the council to meet.
Nom Anor knew that the rest of the council despised Carivus as an idiot and a coward. If he could make them believe that the position of head of the council was a dangerous one, they would most likely place the most hated person there. Using an explosive that carried the crest of Kanos from his days as a Royal Guardsmen, Anor killed Nolyds. Anor's plan went perfectly—knowing that the head of the council was now a target, Carivus was voted resoundingly as the Empire's new leader.
Carivus converses with Nom Anor in his private quarters.
Carivus believed that Anor wanted to rule the Empire with his people replacing the council as the new leaders. However, Anor's plan was far more sinister—He hoped to cause a civil war between Human and alien species within the Empire. To this end Nom Anor killed two more Human members on the council, Admiral Banjeer and General Immodet, to increase tension between the Human and alien members of the council. One of the Human members of the council, Feena D'Asta, who feared for her own safety, called for a vote of no-confidence in Carivus after these assassinations. Although the vote failed miserably (no one else wanted to put themselves in any more danger than they already were), Carivus held a lasting grudge against Feena.
Following these assassinations, and on the orders of Anor, Carivus arrested every nonhuman member on the council. However, Carivus also had Feena D'Asta arrested on his own initiative for her role in trying to remove him from power. Days after expelling the nonhuman members from the council, there was an assassination attempt on Carivus. The attempt was put down, however Imperial troops discovered that a clone of Carivus had been with the assassins. Unbeknownst to Carivus, the Feena D'Asta that he had arrested had been a clone under the power of the criminal organization Black Sun. When he arrested her, Black Sun was blind to the council's dealings and had planned to replace Carivus with a clone which they could then control.
After the assassination attempt, Carivus began to believe that he was more important than Anor had initially made him believe. Under his own initiative, Carivus disbanded the rest of the council and declared himself Emperor.
Carivus's death at the hands of Kir Kanos.
The abolition of the Interim Council did not fit in with Anor's plan at all. Instead of the aliens holding a grudge against the Humans, they blamed Carivus exclusively for the problems that had persisted. Carivus had inadvertently made himself the scapegoat for the misdealings of the Empire and had actually united the rest of the Empire against him.
Confronting Carivus, Anor showed his outrage at Carivus's actions by telling him that his masters had made new plans—ones that no longer included him. In his final statement, Anor warned Carivus that Kir Kanos was in the building and was coming to kill him. Secretly, Anor had also poisoned Carivus as a back-up plan should Kanos fail in his mission.
Imprisoning Feena proved to be Carivus's biggest mistake. Baron Ragez D'Asta, who was enraged by Carivus appointing himself Emperor and imprisoning his daughter, arrived at Ord Cantrell to rescue Feena. Using his entire fleet, Ragez broke through Carivus's defenses and demanded an immediate audience with Carivus. Secretly Kanos was within the Baron's landing party with the intention of killing Carivus, but with Nom Anor's warning, Carivus knew that Kanos was probably in the Baron's entourage. He ordered his personal Guards to kill everyone in the Baron's landing party. Trying to make a hasty retreat out of a back entrance, Carivus was caught by Kanos and quickly executed for his part in the death of Emperor Palpatine.
- Star Wars Handbook 2: Crimson Empire
- The Essential Chronology
- The New Essential Guide to Characters
- "Novel Approach" — Star Wars Insider 66
- The New Essential Chronology
- Star Wars: The Comics Companion
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Essential Atlas