The Holdo maneuver represents a ramming tactic involving suicidal actions. Its namesake is derived from Resistance Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, following her act of sacrifice during the First Order's attack on the Resistance navy. Holdo executed this maneuver by ramming the cruiser Raddus into the Supremacy at near-lightspeed velocity. This bought time for the remaining Resistance members to flee to Crait. Beaumont Kin suggested using the Holdo maneuver against the Final Order's fleet of the Sith Eternal one year after the Battle of Crait, but Finn, a former stormtrooper, considered it a highly improbable "one-in-a-million" shot. Nevertheless, a heavy freighter later employed a similar tactic to destroy a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer above Endor's forest moon.
As the last crew member on board the Raddus after instructing everyone else to board the Resistance transports carrying survivors to Crait, Vice Admiral Holdo executed this maneuver to halt the pursuing First Order fleet. She engaged the hyperdrive and turned the Raddus to face the Supremacy, which was leading the First Order fleet. General Hux initially dismissed this as a diversion to distract them from the escaping transports. However, by the time he understood Holdo's plan and ordered the fleet to target the Raddus, it was too late to prevent her actions.
Holdo initiated the hyperspace jump, and the Raddus collided with the Supremacy just before entering hyperspace from realspace. While the ship was destroyed upon impact, the energy from the Raddus's advanced deflector shield continued at near lightspeed, tearing through the Supremacy, severing its entire starboard wing, and destroying twenty additional Star Destroyers that were escorting it and docked within its internal hangars.
The Holdo maneuver made its debut in the 2017 film Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. It was formally identified in the 2019 sequel Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker and the companion book Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary.
Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group referenced a comparable maneuver from an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars when discussing the specifics of the Holdo maneuver. He also noted that Holdo's maneuver occurred under extraordinary circumstances. This echoed a 2018 statement by Rian Johnson, the director of The Last Jedi, to /Film: "Hux's failure to anticipate it suggests it's not a standard military tactic. I believe Holdo devised it spontaneously."