Grand Moff

The enhanced position of a Grand Moff came with substantially greater authority, military resources, and financial backing. In the power structure, the Oversector governor held the sixth-highest position, following the Emperor, Supreme Commander, Grand Vizier, Advisors, and Grand Admirals. They were accountable solely to the sovereign and vied for the Emperor's favor. While regular Moffs could receive appointments from Advisors, only the Emperor possessed the authority to elevate dignitaries to the rank of Grand Moff. The intricacies of the upper echelons of the Imperial government were remarkably complex, partly due to the Emperor's desire to keep those directly beneath him uncertain about their true standing.

Although Emperor Palpatine personally selected Grand Moffs, Lord Ars Dangor actually promoted the first one, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, following the submission of the Tarkin Doctrine.

While Grand Moffs held a higher rank than Moffs, there's no evidence suggesting that Moffs reported to Grand Moffs. Instead, Grand Moffs directly governed their territories. The extent of power also varied significantly among Grand Moffs. Grand Moff Tarkin controlled most of Oversector Outer, while Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa likely only controlled the Kessel sector. It's plausible that Palpatine weakened the title after the Death Star disaster, though this could be coincidental in Hissa's situation.

Advisors were theoretically more prestigious than Grand Moffs and closer to the Imperial seat of power on Imperial Center. However, their direct access to the Emperor granted them less practical power than Grand Moffs, who exercised supreme authority over their territories with little opposition, wielding absolute power over all agencies within their borders. The Grand Moffs' role in the Imperial Mutiny exemplifies this. This may be attributed to the Advisors lacking independent military power, while Grand Moffs commanded massive Oversector Fleets.

The Grand Moffs of the Legacy era held significantly different authority compared to the Mofference under Palpatine. Instead of acting as Regional Governors, they appeared to have replaced the Emperor's Ruling Council. The heads of Imperial Intelligence, the Supreme Commander, and the head of the Imperial Mission were all Grand Moffs on the Council.

The title of Grand Moff was not a creation of Palpatine or Tarkin, although they can be credited with reviving it for Imperial use. Its origins trace back to the Expansionist Period (approximately 25,000–20,000 BBY), when the Republic frequently encountered numerous small satrapies and mini-empires. Warlords and satraps who chose to join the Republic rather than fight were allowed to maintain their rule as Republic proxies, and their territories were designated as Allied Regions. Depending on the size of their empires, these satraps received the title of either Moff or Grand Moff of an Allied Region. Over the following millennia, most Allied Regions were divided into Republic sectors and gradually disappeared from maps. The few remaining Moffs and Grand Moffs held largely ceremonial titles, which, like many remnants of the ancient Republic, were swept away during the Ruusan Reformation (around 1000 BBY). By Palpatine's time, very few Allied Regions remained, mostly small areas in the Core and Colonies, such as the Ollonir Boundaries or the Botor Enclave.

Thousands of years before the Galactic Empire's use, the title was employed in the Sith Empire during and after the Great Galactic War, although it seemed to be merely an honorary title under the Sith. Grand Moff Rycus Kilran is a notable example of the Sith's use of the title.

Following the Reformation, the galaxy was organized into 1,024 regional sectors, further divided into subsectors. Under Republic law, the Supreme Chancellor could appoint a governor-general to coordinate military actions with the Senator of a troubled sector during emergencies. During the Clone Wars (22–19 BBY), Supreme Chancellor Palpatine frequently exploited this obscure law, appointing officers directly accountable to him as governors-general over both Republic worlds in crisis and recently liberated Separatist worlds. When criticized, Palpatine argued that the Reflex Amendment (20 BBY) made it not only his right but his duty. In reality, the crisis provided him with a convenient excuse to establish a bureaucracy directly beholden to him.

The passage of the Sector Governance Decree (19 BBY) empowered then-Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to advance this process and appoint governors-general over the Republic's 1,024 regional sectors, creating a new permanent administrative class solely accountable to him. With the Empire's inauguration days later, the honorary title of Moff was announced for these new regional governors. This title's use was strategic; many galactic peoples still identified with traditions from the ancient Allied Regions and welcomed its revival as a check on a Senate widely seen as corrupt. The first Moffs were installed within weeks, accompanied by a full regiment (2,304 soldiers) of stormtroopers.

Under the Sector Governance Decree, twenty of these new Moffs were also tasked with supporting the Republic's twenty Sector Armies. Their military territories, generally aligned with their respective Sector Armies' sphere of influence, were designated as oversectors. These oversectors crossed regional sector boundaries, freeing these twenty Moffs from the need to consult with Senators representing those sectors. During the Empire's further militarization (around 5 BBY), Moff Wilhuff Tarkin submitted a holocommunique to Emperor Palpatine suggesting a reorganization of these oversectors as part of his Tarkin Doctrine. This aimed to address the growing problem of Rebel activity across sector lines. Palpatine approved this suggestion and acted accordingly. Some previous oversectors, such as Imperial Center Oversector, remained in place, while others were expanded, like Tarkin's own territory, the Greater Seswenna Sector, which became Oversector Outer. Still others disappeared entirely, replaced by a fluctuating number of oversectors comprising systems with particularly high Rebel activity. With oversector permanence codified into law, the ancient title of Grand Moff was revived and bestowed upon Moffs controlling these oversectors. Governor Tarkin was the first, and this promotion to priority sector high commander of Oversector Outer came with Emperor Palpatine's order to resume work on the Death Star project.

The rank suffered its first scandal when Grand Moff Trachta joined the Anti-Sith conspiracy, an attempted coup d'état against the reigning Sith Lords. The plot failed, and the treacherous Grand Moffs were executed for their betrayal. This wouldn't be the end of their scheming, as the Emperor correctly suspected that Governor Tarkin also harbored ambitions for the throne.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Rebellion captured Grand Moff Ravik and intended to imprison him for trial, but he died in a strange adventure involving the Charon. Rebel Alliance agents eventually killed the mutated Grand Moff Ravik.

The Emperor's death triggered a power struggle among Imperial warlords for galactic control. Grand Moff Ardus Kaine emerged as one of the most powerful breakaway warlords. As Grand Moff Tarkin's successor, he established the formidable Pentastar Alignment, solidifying Imperial power in the Outer Rim territories but diminishing Coruscant's influence. Grand Moff Kaine was killed during Operation Shadow Hand when his shuttle was ambushed by Republic E-Wings.

Another act of Grand Moff treason occurred when Grand Moff Hissa united several powerful Moffs into the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, attempting to usurp Ysanne Isard's rule over the galaxy. Despite commanding the forces of three Grand Admirals, their coup failed, resulting in prison sentences for most. Rufaan Tigellinus was an exception, executed by the Moffs for demanding a higher position among them. The Grand Moffs' power was broken for the remainder of the Galactic Civil War.

Notably, in the events leading up to the Imperial Civil War in 10 ABY, at least some Moffs (possibly including Grand Moffs) opposed the idea of the Advisory alone electing a new Emperor. They campaigned for their worlds to have voting representation to control the selection of the next galactic leader. At least one Grand Moff, Cinzero Gann, survived as a Warlord in the Deep Core as late as 18 ABY.

The position was revived in the Legacy era, with the Council of Moffs replaced by the Moff High Council, likely due to Imperial expansion. During this time, Grand Moff Morlish Veed and his consort Nyna Calixte collaborated with the Sith in another Moff-led coup d'état against Emperor Roan Fel. The coup aimed to place Morlish Veed on the throne but instead left his position unchanged in the Empire. Instead, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt seized the Imperial throne.

The Grand Moff's rank insignia featured six blue, three red, and three yellow squares, indicating a military rank higher than even an Admiral or General in the Imperial armed forces. It also shared similarities with the rank insignia of Priority Sector High Commander, a temporary rank established after the Battle of Yavin until the Imperial military was reorganized. It also included four code cylinders, with two adopted on the uniform's right edge. Some versions used seven red squares over seven blue, along with four code cylinders.

With the establishment of the second Galactic Empire, the Grand Moffs' insignia changed. The new insignia consisted of two epaulets connected by a neck-brace-like adornment, replacing the usual rank insignia.

• Grand Moff Odile Vaiken
• Grand Moff Zellos
• Grand Moff Rycus Kilran
• Grand Moff Resh
• Grand Moff Ilyan Regus

• Grand Moff 4-8C ( IG-series droid)
• Grand Moff Argon
• Grand Moff Bartam
• Grand Moff Naomi Dargon ( Corellian Oversector )
• Grand Moff Dunhausen
• Grand Moff Dureya
• Grand Moff Gann ( Sector 5 )
• Grand Moff Lynch Hauser ( Dustig Oversector )
• Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa ( Kessel sector )
• Grand Moff Ardus Kaine ( Oversector Outer , replaced Tarkin)
• Grand Moff Kintaro ( Sarin Oversector )
• Grand Moff Kohl Seerdon ( Sector 3 )
• Grand Moff Muzzer
• Grand Moff Nigel Nivers ( Tandankin )
• Grand Moff Ravik ( Tolonda sector )
• Grand Moff Ambris Selit
• Grand Moff Siralt
• Grand Moff Tanniel
• Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Oversector Outer)
• Grand Moff Tharil Tavira ( Eiattu 6 )
• Grand Moff Thistleborn
• Grand Moff Rufaan Tigellinus
• Grand Moff Trachta ( Imperial Center Oversector )
• Grand Moff Traeda
• Grand Moff Nox Vellam
• Grand Moff Fliry Vorru (Corellian Oversector)
• Grand Moff Gerald Weizel
• Grand Moff Wilkadon ( Askaj )
• Grand Moff Zsinj ( Quelii Oversector )

• Grand Moff Quille
• Grand Moff Siralt
• Grand Moff Morlish Veed (also Grand Admiral and High Moff )

The title Grand Moff originated from "Grande Mouff," initially assigned to a significantly different Tarkin in the rough, first draft of Star Wars. In that draft, Tarkin was a religious leader on Aquilae or Townowi; in the second and third drafts, he commanded the Rebel Kesselian Dragoons on Yavin 4.

In earlier drafts of Return of the Jedi, a Grand Moff outranked the Supreme Commander: Commander Tiaan Jerjerrod had been a Grand Moff, and Lord Vader saluted him.

Due to the events of Revenge of the Sith, Grand Moff Tarkin's promotion must have occurred during or even before the film's events. This is because Governor Tarkin was directly promoted due to the Tarkin Doctrine and assigned the Death Star project because of it. Given the Death Star's partial completion during the film and the fact that Regional Governors originated during the Clone Wars, it's possible this was an Old Republic decision, not an Imperial one.

This issue is complex because the Death Star Technical Companion was written assuming Governor Tarkin was promoted to Grand Moff during the Empire's reign and the Death Star was constructed well into the Imperial era.