Feyn Vann

Feyn Vann, a male human and a scientist, originated from Tri-Barr Station. He served as a principal researcher for Nordoxicon Unlimited during the era of the Galactic Republic. Following the establishment of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, he was compelled to join the Imperial forces, working on the kyber crystal research team, a department within the Tarkin Initiative overseen by Director Orson Krennic. Subsequently, he achieved expertise in the field of kyber crystal research. Records identifying Krennic's scientists, including Vann, were removed from public databases upon their entry into Imperial service.

Hidden within the mountainous landscape of the Outer Rim planet Eadu, Vann and his colleagues operated within the Energy Conversion Laboratory, isolated from the broader galaxy. The kyber crystal research team, with Vann as a member, dedicated themselves to a project focused on utilizing kyber crystals as an energy source for the superlaser of the Death Star, a battle station designed by the Geonosian that, equipped with the superlaser, would possess the capacity to destroy entire planets. While working in Eadu's laboratories, Vann contributed to the creation of a beam at the conclusion of the Death Star's energy bombardment of kyber crystals.

Sirro Argonne, the operations manager, oversaw the daily needs of the kyber crystal research team on Eadu. By 13 BBY, progress on the superlaser and Vann's annihilation reactor had stagnated, setting the project back by years. As a result, Krennic tracked down his former associate, the crystallographer Galen Erso, and forced him to resume Imperial service. With Erso's guidance and his extraordinary intellect in crystallography, Vann and his team successfully completed the Death Star's superlaser after several years. Vann's expertise in shield technology enabled him to develop a series of deflector arrays that redirected hypermatter streams from the superweapon's core reactor towards a crystalline firing array.

In 1 BBY, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin informed Krennic that a sympathizer with the rebel cause within Erso's research team had collaborated with a cargo pilot to transmit information about the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. Enraged, Krennic traveled to Eadu with his squadron of death troopers to investigate, informing the laboratory's personnel, including Vann, about the imminent arrival of his shuttle. Vann was deeply concerned by Krennic's visit, knowing that Krennic never made unscheduled visits to their laboratory. Stormtroopers escorted the scientists from the laboratories to the vicinity of Krennic's shuttle entrance. The director then considered each scientist individually before instructing his death trooper unit to assemble near them.

Krennic announced his awareness of the conspiracy against the Empire and demanded that the traitor reveal themselves. As the director scrutinized Erso's team for indications of guilt, he observed that none, including Vann, displayed remorse. After a pause and no response, Krennic concluded that the scientists had collectively turned traitor. As Krennic's death troopers prepared to execute the scientists, Erso intervened and confessed to being the traitor in an attempt to spare Vann and his colleagues. However, as soon as Erso stepped toward the director, his scientists were shot and killed by the death troopers under Krennic's command.

Vann's hypermatter reactors and deflectors contributed to the completion of the Death Star project and were utilized by the space station during its subsequent operations. However, the Rebel Alliance ultimately destroyed the Death Star shortly after the scientist's death by targeting a vulnerable thermal exhaust port that Erso had intentionally placed inside. In 35 ABY, the historian Beaumont Kin negatively contrasted Vann's team with Erso in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire.

Feyn Vann possessed hair that had turned [gray](/article/color], brown [eyes](/article/eye], and fair skin. His time spent in the kyber crystal research team's laboratories on Eadu left him weakened and unaccustomed to the outdoors by the time of his death. In his book, Kin expressed his opinion that neither Vann nor any of Krennic's other captive scientists possessed Erso's "raw intellect."

Vann was a skilled scientific expert who worked as one of Nordoxicon Unlimited's lead researchers. While working in the kyber crystal research field, he became exceptionally skilled at working with hypermatter reactors and deflectors.

While on Eadu, Vann wore a long-sleeved, blue-and-white engineering jumpsuit. The scientist's attire featured antiseptic coveralls that sported the dark-gray insignia of the Empire on the left sleeve and a chest pocket that held two code cylinders programmed with access to restricted areas. The fractured kyber crystal–inspired logo of the Tarkin Initiative was present on the chest of Vann's coveralls. The scientist's uniform included shoes that were grounded against potential static charges present within laboratories. He also donned a tunic that would change colors when in the presence of harmful radiation.

Feyn Vann was initially mentioned indirectly in Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, a prequel novel to the Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was published on November 15, 2016, and written by James Luceno. On December 16, 2016, he made his first full appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as well as in its adult and junior novelizations, which were released on the same day. He was first depicted in a trailer for the film released on the official Star Wars YouTube channel on October 13 of the same year. For Rogue One, concept artwork of the scientists' death scene was created by artist Jon McCoy.

Vann was played by Paul Weston, an actor who had previously played the Skiff Guard Vedain in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Vann's name was revealed in both Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide, an accompanying reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo, and in Star Wars: Rogue One: Secret Mission, a DK Readers title authored by Jason Fry, which were both released alongside the film on December 16, 2016. In Marvel Comics' third issue of the six-part comic book miniseries adaptation of Rogue One, Vann was mistakenly portrayed as having blue eyes. The issue was written by Jody Houser, illustrated by Emilio Laiso, and released on April 5, 2017. Hidalgo conceived several of the scientists' names by combining elements from the names of the real-world scientists associated with the Los Alamos National Laboratory.