Hill Purpura was a male human, who during the Galactic Civil War, served the Rebel Alliance as a commander in their fight against the Galactic Empire. Following the Rebel's defeat at the Battle of Hoth, Purpura's faith wavered, and he brokered a deal with bounty hunter Dengar: he would trade the transponder codes for the rebel armada to the Empire. As the officer in command of the Spirit of Jedha transport, Purpura arranged for the vessel to be sabotaged while traveling through hyperspace, this occurred after the evacuation of the rebel base situated on the planet Lowik. The crippled transport was then marooned in the Terminus region of space, where it fell prey to an assault by pirates from the Ohnaka Gang, led by Captain Skragg. Skragg's crew had previously captured Dengar and extracted Purpura's treacherous scheme from him.
Beilert Valance, a bounty hunter, was dispatched by Lieutenant Kondra with the mission of rescuing the rebels aboard the Spirit of Jedha. However, Purpura, determined to prevent interference, had Valance imprisoned on the transport. Despite secret meetings with Dengar and Captain Skragg, Valance managed to disable the Spirit of Jedha's power, shrouding it in darkness and launching a surprise attack on the pirates. After the pirates restored the transport's power, Valance renewed his assault, compelling Skragg to flee. With his plot to betray the Rebellion exposed, Purpura drew his blaster on Valance, only to be struck unconscious by mechanic Blanch Sproull. Eventually, Lieutenant Kondra and his forces arrived to secure the transport, having received a distress message transmitted by Valance.
During his childhood, Hill Purpura spent his formative years on the planet of Corellia. It was on Corellia that he engaged in swoop racing alongside his friend Dengar. Purpura held the belief that he frequently outperformed Dengar in these races, a claim that Dengar would later dispute.
Eventually, Purpura joined the ranks of the Alliance to Restore the Republic around the time of the Galactic Civil War against the Galactic Empire, achieving the rank of commander within the Alliance Military. Following the Rebel Alliance's defeat at the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, Purpura's faith in the rebel cause diminished, leading him to believe it was futile. He then conspired with Dengar, who had become a bounty hunter, to sell the transponder codes of all starships in the rebel armada to the Empire. Sometime after the battle, Purpura took command of the transport Spirit of Jedha, a vessel stationed at the rebel outpost on the planet Lowik. After the rebel forces on Lowik were compelled to evacuate, Purpura orchestrated the sabotage of the transport's hyperdrive motivator, causing the Spirit of Jedha to drop out of hyperspace at Terminus, located at the intersection of the Corellian Trade Spine and Hydian Way hyperspace routes.
However, while en route to the transport's location, Dengar encountered Skragg, the pirate captain of the Ohnaka Gang. Skragg took Dengar captive because of outstanding debts, forcing him to reveal his agreement with Purpura to the pirates. Captain Skragg, seeking to claim the Empire's reward for the ex-rebel's information, ordered her pirate forces to ambush the Spirit of Jedha as it emerged from hyperspace, destroying its two X-wing escorts.
When the Spirit of Jedha failed to reach its designated rendezvous point, Lieutenant Kondra—unable to contact Rebel Command or allocate ships for a rescue mission—dispatched the bounty hunter Beilert Valance, the one responsible for the evacuation of Lowik, to rescue the transport's crew. Upon Valance's arrival at Terminus and his attempt to contact the Spirit of Jedha, his starship was attacked by the pirates. Valance's ship sustained significant damage, forcing him to land in the transport's hangar, where Purpura and his rebel crew greeted the hunter.
Despite Valance's insistence that Kondra had sent him to rescue the Spirit of Jedha, Purpura expressed skepticism about his intentions, imprisoning him within a cell on the transport. Claiming he wanted to prevent further rebel deaths, Purpura announced his intention to surrender, assigning the mechanic Blanch Sproull to guard Valance's cell. Sproull, viewing Valance as their only chance for survival, freed the bounty hunter, who seized control of a partially functional X-wing to attack the pirates.
On the transport's bridge, Purpura commanded the starfighter to stand down, but Valance refused. Valance instructed his astromech droid to escape to hyperspace and relay a message to Kondra, ejecting from the vessel before it jumped and clinging to the transport's exterior. Purpura was relieved by Valance's apparent jump to hyperspace, although another rebel on the bridge pointed out that the pirates could now board freely. Acknowledging this, Purpura aimed his blaster at the back of his fellow crewmember, killing the rebel as the pirates began to board the Spirit of Jedha.
As the Ohnaka Gang pirates seized control of the transport, Skragg and Dengar met Purpura on the bridge, where the bounty hunter introduced the commander as his contact. Purpura greeted Dengar, remarking on how his old friend's appearance had changed since their time on Corellia. Skragg interrupted, demanding that Purpura provide the rebel transponder codes, but Purpura revealed that he had memorized the database. At that moment, Valance—who had reboarded the Spirit of Jedha and rescued the remaining crew—cut the transport's power, plunging the ship into darkness.
As Valance stalked the darkened corridors, eliminating the pirates, Purpura accompanied Dengar and Skragg to the engine room, where Valance had previously freed the rebel crew. A rebel attacked the group, only to be swiftly killed by Skragg. Speaking discreetly to Purpura, Dengar emphasized the need to eliminate Skragg, aware that she would do the same to them, and Purpura agreed, content with sharing less of the Imperial reward.
Purpura, Dengar, and Skragg watched as two pirates reactivated the transport's power, bringing its systems back online. Valance emerged from behind to attack the pirates, while Dengar seized the opportunity to defeat Skragg, although the pirate captain managed to escape. Enraged that Valance had thwarted his chance to escape the Rebellion, Purpura aimed his blaster at the bounty hunter, accusing him of not understanding the feeling of losing hope in a cause he had once believed in. Sproull struck Purpura in the back of the head with a metal rod, incapacitating the ex-rebel.
Following the failure of Purpura's plan, Valance commandeered the pirates' frigate, departing with Dengar as his captive. After receiving Valance's message, Kondra and a squadron of rebel ships arrived at the Spirit of Jedha's location, and the lieutenant was surprised when Sproull answered his hail instead of Valance or Commander Purpura.
As a self-proclaimed survivor, Hill Purpura lost faith in the Rebel Alliance following their defeat at the Battle of Hoth, convinced that he had been manipulated into supporting a lost cause. Purpura attributed the rebel loss during the battle to trust and idealism, qualities he believed he was too shrewd to possess. His disillusionment with the Rebellion led him to attempt to betray his former comrades, selling them out to the Empire.
When he initially confronted Valance, Purpura accused the bounty hunter of knowing nothing about duty or sacrifice for a greater cause, contradicting his true feelings toward the Rebellion. Despite claiming responsibility for the lives of his rebel crew, he showed no concern for their deaths at the hands of the pirates, even turning his blaster on a fellow rebel. Purpura also did not object to Dengar's suggestion of killing Captain Skragg, content with avoiding the need to share his reward with the pirate captain. The commander expressed disdain for Valance, commenting on the bounty hunter's nature as a cyborg. Skragg characterized Purpura as an "arrogant fool."
Hill Purpura, a male human, had brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin.
Hill Purpura wore a long gray coat over a light tan shirt, a red undershirt, and brown pants. He also sported a belt with an attached pack, as well as gray gloves and boots. Purpura carried a blaster in a holster on his hip. After the Battle of Hoth, Purpura commanded the Spirit of Jedha, a transport carrying mining supplies, sabotaging his ship to betray the Rebellion. After Valance disabled the transport's power, Purpura used a light to navigate the darkened ship.
Hill Purpura made his debut in the comic Bounty Hunters 9, authored by Ethan Sacks, illustrated by Paolo Villanelli, and published by Marvel Comics on January 27, 2021.