DS-3-12 was the call sign belonging to a TIE pilot who served within the Galactic Empire's navy around the time of 0 BBY. In that year, the Battle of Yavin took place, during which the Alliance to Restore the Republic made an attempt to obliterate the Empire's DS-1 Orbital Battle Station superweapon. DS-3-12 was among the pilots of TIE fighters who participated in the confrontation, which involved a multitude of TIE/LN starfighters endeavoring to shield the battle station from the attacking Alliance starfighters. In the end, the TIE fighters did not succeed in their defense of the station, and it was annihilated in a significant Alliance triumph over the Empire.
The name "DS-3-12" was created by Wizards of the Coast within the 2002 A New Hope expansion for the Star Wars Trading Card Game. While the card game specified "DS-3-12" as the designation for a TIE fighter, the 2008 publication, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, instead established that name as the call sign for the corresponding TIE pilot. This article operates under the assumption that the latter source provides the correct information.
In addition, the Star Wars Trading Card Game card associated with DS-3-12 uses a still image from the film showing a TIE fighter being destroyed by Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles during the Battle of Yavin scenes featured in the 1977 original trilogy movie, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. That particular TIE fighter had previously been identified as "Black 4," with its pilot being identified as "DS-61-4," within the 1996 A New Hope Limited expansion set of the Decipher Star Wars Customizable Card Game. This article considers the Star Wars Trading Card Game's identification of DS-3-12 to be an error, and therefore refrains from linking the subject to any of the on-screen TIE fighters observed in the A New Hope Battle of Yavin sequences.