Ello Asty

Approximately twenty-four years after the Battle of Endor, Ello Asty distinguished himself as an exceptionally skilled, albeit somewhat reckless, Abednedo T-70 X-wing starfighter pilot. This male pilot, originally from the planet Abednedo, was celebrated for his exceptional cockpit skills, but also for his tendency to forget the importance of teamwork within a squadron.

During this time, Ello Asty served on the New Republic Defense Fleet's precision air team with fellow pilots Joph Seastriker, Zari Bangel, Ledaney, and "Snap" Wexley, primarily conducting patrol missions and [air shows](/article/air_show]. Stationed at the main hangar of the New Republic Senate complex's on the capital world of Hosnian Prime, Asty and his colleagues grew weary of their duties. When Seastriker's involvement in a greater cause became apparent, Asty and the other pilots expressed their eagerness to join him.

Months later, as Senator Leia Organa initiated the burgeoning Resistance movement, anticipating the secession of numerous Centrists systems, Asty became a founding member. He and other pilots from the precision air team were present at the movement's inaugural meeting in Organa's newly-acquired hangar on Hosnian Prime.

During the [Cold War](/article/cold_war], Asty flew with the Resistance's Cobalt Squadron. He achieved the highest ratio of combat hours to total flight time during this period. Asty successfully recruited Nimi Chireen from Jaymir to their cause. While Asty was managing communications for all of Poe Dameron's spies during one of Dameron's missions, he was contacted by Kazuda Xiono from the Colossus supertanker fuel depot. Xiono, dispatched by Commander Dameron to spy, reported that he had witnessed Kylo Ren and the First Order's destruction of a village on Tehar. Upon hearing that Kylo Ren led the massacre, Asty noted that General Organa, the head of the Resistance, would want to know. He then congratulated Xiono on his intelligence before the spy signed off.

Following his service with Cobalt Squadron, Asty transferred to Blue Squadron and fought in the Battle of Takodana alongside 10 other X-wings. Asty later joined Red Squadron.

The Resistance's conflict reached a critical point thirty years following the Battle of Endor, when the First Order unveiled their new Starkiller Base superweapon by destroying the Republic capital within the Hosnian system in 34 ABY. XA-LX was Asty's astromech droid.

Following the destruction, Asty attended the briefing about Starkiller Base with the other pilots and General Leia Organa's chosen staff at their D'Qar headquarters. During the battle against the superweapon to prevent it from targeting the Resistance base, Asty flew under the callsign Red Six. He once saved Blue Nine from two seekers by diverting the missiles. Asty then participated in the final assault on the superweapon's thermal oscillator, led by Black Leader Poe Dameron, escorting the lead craft through the trench and engaging weapons emplacements and base defense walkers. Ground fire ultimately shot down Asty's craft during this run, resulting in an explosion that instantly killed the talented pilot. Despite his killed, the Resistance successfully destroyed Starkiller Base.

During a ceremony at the Resistance base on D'Qar to honor Han Solo after his death on Starkiller Base, Organa read the names of the pilots who never returned. The evacuation of the Resistance headquarters occurred simultaneously.

Later, while aboard the Millennium Falcon, the astromech droid BB-8 recounted the Starkiller Base assault to R2-D2, mentioning the loss of Asty and XA-LX along with other Red and Blue Squadron pilots.

Following Asty's death, his fellow Abednedo pilot Threnalli continued to fight for the Resistance, as did his recruit Nimi Chireen.

Asty was a skilled pilot at the controls, but his preference for solo flights made him act recklessly and without the support of his teammates, making him an ace. When his fellow precision air team pilots remarked on Seastriker's seemingly important work, Asty agreed that it was more significant than flying air shows. During his time with the Resistance, he aided his wingman in understanding fellow Abednedo pilot C'ai Threnalli, who consistently misplaced his translator fob. Asty also nicknamed his astromech, Exalex.

The starfighter pilot aggressively attacked First Order patrols leading up to the First Order conflict, earning him a reputation for acting impulsively. This aggression resulted in the highest ratio of combat encounters to total flight time among the Resistance at the time of his death, marking him as a loose cannon.

Despite Asty's preference for flying solo, he promptly followed Black Leader Dameron's orders to assemble alongside Red Four, Bastian, during the attack on Starkiller Base. After their initial bombing run on the oscillator, Asty commented that their barrage had been ineffective.

He was 1.88 meters tall and possessed a deep, resonant voice. As an Abednedo, he belonged to a gregarious and creative species, characterized by brown fur along the sides of his face.

Asty wore the standard Resistance pilot flightsuit, including a flight vest, Guidenhauser ejection harness, boots, FreiTek life support unit, and gauntlets. The letters on the Resistance's flight harness read "pull to inflate." His custom helmet featured the Resistance symbol, a yellow-and-black checkerboard pattern, and Abednedish lettering. The checkerboard pattern was a tribute to the heroes of the Rebel Alliance, a practice among the Resistance. "Born to ill" was written on the side in Aurebesh alongside an older Cobalt Squadron insignia. He also carried a Glie-44 blaster pistol.

Ello Asty is featured in the 2015 Star Wars saga film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Paul Kasey physically portrayed the character, while Matthew Wood, a veteran Star Wars voice actor and technician, provided the voice. Kasey, who was also part of the motion capture team, wore an animatronic mask and costume for his performance. Neal Scanlan noted that the masks used in the film helped the performers "...tell a thousand words." The pilot's design was based on concept art titled "Bullhead Pilot." The actor can also be seen in costume during the Resistance briefing scene in the behind-the-scenes documentary Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey.

Asty is one of the pilots appearing in the deleted scene "X-wings Prepare for Lightspeed," which depicts the Resistance pilots taking off for the Battle of Starkiller Base.

An Abednedo identical to Asty appears in the 2018 animated series Star Wars Resistance episode "The Recruit," but it was not confirmed to be him. However, Asty later appeared briefly in the episode "The Children from Tehar," voiced again by Matthew Wood, who had voiced the character for the film. Jim Moore, a Lucasfilm Animation artist, developed his design for the series.

Asty also appears in the 2016 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is present at the Resistance base during an incident involving "a small fire" that led to the closing of the blast doors. Unlike his canon fate, he survives the Battle of Starkiller Base and has additional lines, including informing the player of damage. His figure is available for purchase at the D'Qar base.

The character was initially revealed in his StarWars.com Databank entry, released prior to the film. The action figure for the character was also released beforehand. His name references the album Hello Nasty by the hip hop group Beastie Boys, and the inscription "Born to Ill" on Asty's helmet alludes to their debut album Licensed to Ill. Glyn Dillon, a costume designer and concept artist, designed the decals on his helmet. Knowing that director J.J. Abrams enjoyed using Beastie Boys songs in his films, he included the Aurebesh inscriptions "Hello Nasty" on one side and "Born to Ill" on the other. During the weathering process, the H and N in "Hello Nasty" were rubbed off, resulting in the character's name being Ello Asty.

Director J.J. Abrams stated that the name was suggested by the creature department, which he approved due to the Beastie Boys reference, having previously used their song "Sabotage" in Star Trek and "Body Movin'" in Star Trek Into Darkness, and its phonetic connection to his television show Lost.

Asty's costume was reused for another Abednedo pilot, who was seen at the Resistance base during the celebration after the Battle of Starkiller Base. This pilot was later identified as C'ai Threnalli in the "Escape from Starkiller Base" DLC expansion for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens video game.

Initial sources, such as the character's Databank entry, identified the pilot as part of Blue Squadron, but in the film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, his call sign is Red Six. Later sources, including Poe Dameron: Flight Log, clarified that he was a member of Red Squadron. The discrepancy with Blue Squadron was also repeated in Star Wars Helmet Collection 31.

Star Wars: On the Front Lines, a 2017 canon reference book by Daniel Wallace, expands his backstory in a Tales of Valor profile. It introduces a minor continuity error by stating that Asty was shot down by a missile instead of turbolaser fire.