Jan Dodonna

Born on Commenor in 65 BBY, Jan Dodonna, a male human from the planet, served in the Galactic Republic's navy during the Clone Wars. He was a bridge officer on the Venator-class Star Destroyer Guardian. Following the Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, Dodonna remained in service with the Imperial Navy. His exceptional performance led to him becoming one of the first captains of an Imperial Star Destroyer. However, as time passed, Dodonna grew disenchanted with the Empire and soon defected to the burgeoning rebellion.

In the early years of the Empire, the rebellion consisted of a scattered network of rebel cells secretly managed by Imperial Senator Bail Organa. By 5 BBY, Dodonna had risen to command the Massassi Group, one of these rebel teams, in his struggle against the Empire. Leevan Tenza was a member of this group, but an incident involving his disobedience of orders and premature engagement of an Imperial target resulted in his court-martial and defection to Saw Gerrera's Partisans.

By 2 BBY, Dodonna was in command of one of the largest rebel cells, operating from Yavin 4, the fourth moon of Yavin, located in the Gordian Reach. During this year, elements of Phoenix Cell, also part of the rebel network, successfully stole five outdated BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers from an Imperial salvage yard for delivery to Dodonna's unit. These Y-wings were eventually integrated into the group's starfighter wing, Gold Squadron, under the leadership of Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander.

Gold Squadron was later tasked with escorting the fugitive Senator Mon Mothma, who had been branded a traitor by the Empire and forced to flee Chandrila, to a rendezvous point on Dantooine. Subsequently, General Dodonna, along with Senator Bail Organa and other rebel personnel, listened to a live HoloNet broadcast in which the former Senator denounced the Empire and called for a galaxy-wide rebellion, ultimately leading to the formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Within the newly formed Rebel Alliance, Dodonna and his Massassi Group were paired with Commander Jun Sato's Phoenix Squadron to prepare for an assault on Lothal, the capital world of the Lothal sector. However, before the attack could be launched, the rebels were ambushed by the Seventh Fleet under the command of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, or Thrawn. Thrawn was a formidable tactician responsible for the destruction of several rebel cells and sought to capture Dodonna and the other high-ranking rebels gathered on the planet.

Thrawn, aided by Admiral Kassius Konstantine and his Interdictor vessels, initially devastated both Dodonna's and Sato's forces. Sato was forced to sacrifice himself to allow Ezra Bridger and Chopper to escape on the Nightbrother and seek assistance. After sustaining significant losses, Dodonna and the remaining fleet retreated to Chopper Base, protected by a deflector shield. While the deflector shield withstood Thrawn's orbital bombardment, the Grand Admiral launched a ground assault using AT-DP walkers, AT-AT walkers, and stormtroopers.

While planning the defense of Chopper Base, General Dodonna correctly predicted that Thrawn would deploy his forces through the narrow canyon leading to the base. Captain Rex then suggested ambushing the Imperial forces along this route. Despite destroying several AT-DP walkers, the rebels were unable to prevent Thrawn's AT-ATs and stormtroopers from breaching the base. As the rebel ships departed, Dodonna, Syndulla's Spectres crew, and the RA-7 protocol droid AP-5 attempted to escape aboard the Ghost but were surrounded by Thrawn and his troops. Before Thrawn could capture them, a mysterious Force entity known as the Bendu attacked the base with lightning.

Dodonna and the other rebels managed to flee aboard the Ghost. Despite the thunderstorm, the rebel convoy reached space. By this point, Ezra had arrived with reinforcements from Clan Wren, who destroyed the remaining Interdictor, allowing Dodonna and his remaining forces to escape. The rebel convoy then traveled to Yavin 4.

Around 1 BBY, General Dodonna attended a briefing with the rebel leadership and the Spectres to discuss Jalindi Station, which the Empire was using to disrupt Alliance supply runs. During the meeting, Dodonna acknowledged the accuracy of Partisan leader Saw Gerrera's intelligence, despite disapproving of his ruthless methods. The Alliance leadership approved a plan by the Spectres to travel aboard the Ghost to Jalindi and plant a spike on the relay for intelligence gathering. When Dodonna questioned the Ghost's suitability for the mission, Hera Syndulla assured him that her ship was up to the task.

After Hera and Chopper returned from Lothal with the TIE/D Defender Elite's flight data recorder, Dodonna attended a high-level briefing with Hera, Mothma, Organa, and Erskin Semaj. Analyzing the data, Dodonna concluded that the Alliance's starfighters were no match for the TIE/D Defender Elite. While Dodonna and the others debated the reason for the Empire's activation of Protocol 13 on Lothal, Hera interrupted the meeting and convinced Mothma to authorize a strike against the TIE Defender factories on Lothal.

By 0 BBY, the general was in command of the Great Temple, which served as the main rebel headquarters and was considered their most important base and "hidden fortress" from the Empire. Dodonna had also been promoted to Alliance High Command and was privy to Operation Fracture, a clandestine operation to extract scientist Galen Walton Erso so that he could testify to the Imperial Senate about the existence of the Death Star, a planet-destroying superweapon under construction by the Empire. The Alliance had learned of the Death Star's existence from Bodhi Rook, a defecting Imperial pilot captured by Saw Gerrera's Partisans on Jedha. Operation Fracture involved rescuing Galen's daughter, Jyn Erso, from an Imperial detention center on Wobani to facilitate contact with Gerrera's Partisans and question Rook about the Death Star and Galen's location. Dodonna was present during Erso's interrogation, where she ultimately agreed to the Alliance's demands, and she, Captain Cassian Jeron Andor, and K-2SO departed for Jedha.

Following the return of Andor's team to the Massassi base, Organa convened with other key Alliance members to discuss the mission's findings. Jyn had persuaded Saw to show her her father's message, which detailed the superweapon's destructive capabilities and a weakness deliberately incorporated into the station by Galen. He also revealed that a copy of the weapon's technical readouts was stored in the Citadel Tower on Scarif. However, Jyn was unable to deliver the holographic recording to the Alliance due to the destruction of Jedha City. During the meeting, several Alliance members dismissed Jyn's testimony, prompting Erso to assert that her father had sacrificed his life so that the Alliance could defeat the Empire. Dodonna countered that the Alliance could only rely on her testimony. Despite Jyn's efforts, the Alliance refused to send troops to Scarif.

Despite being denied permission to attack the Imperial base at Scarif, Erso, Andor, and their crew disobeyed the Alliance's orders and formed the Rogue One squad, initiating the Galactic Civil War with the Battle of Scarif. Rogue One's actions prompted the intervention of the Alliance Fleet, enabling the successful theft of the Death Star plans.

After the plans reached headquarters and Galen Erso's installed weakness in the battle station was identified, Dodonna devised an attack strategy. This strategy involved deploying a group of starfighters to engage the Death Star, tasking them with firing proton torpedoes into the station's exhaust port to destroy it. This led to the Battle of Yavin, which Dodonna and other Rebel leaders monitored from Yavin 4. Just as the Death Star was about to destroy Yavin 4, and Dodonna along with it, Luke Skywalker destroyed the station.

The General attended the Royal Award Ceremony celebrating the destruction of the battle station, announcing at the event's conclusion that they would be evacuating Yavin 4, as the Empire was now aware of their base's location. Dodonna immediately started evaluating new planets for establishing a new base of operations, quickly rejecting Insk and Daxan Beta.

Princess Leia spoke with General Dodonna, offering to assist in scouting for a new base. The General declined her offer, citing a 10,000,000 credits bounty placed on her head by the Empire. He also mentioned rumors that the Imperials were searching for surviving Alderaanians for retribution. Dodonna insisted that the Princess not leave the system without a full military escort before dismissing her.

Despite Dodonna's objections, Organa departed the jungle moon in a T-1 shuttle piloted by R2-D2 and Evaan Verlaine, an Alderaanian pilot. Leia left a hologram explaining her actions in Dodonna's private quarters, which featured luxury furniture and a balcony overlooking the jungle canopy. The General dispatched Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles in X-wing starfighters to retrieve the princess; however, the shuttle jumped to hyperspace before Skywalker and Antilles could intercept them.

Following the evacuation of Yavin 4, Dodonna joined the Alliance Fleet and assisted the other Alliance leaders in overseeing the war effort. Shortly after the assault on the Empire's Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1, Dodonna met with Princess Leia, Chancellor Mon Mothma, and Admiral Gial Ackbar to discuss the Alliance's next steps and the need to find a new base of operations.

Several days later, the Rebel fleet received a distress call from R2-D2, Skywalker's astromech droid. The droid reported that Skywalker had been captured by Grakkus the Hutt, a powerful crime lord on Nar Shaddaa. Dodonna met with Mon Mothma and Ackbar to discuss the situation, expressing his confusion as to why Skywalker was on the crime-ridden moon of Nar Shaddaa. Ackbar suggested rescuing the Rebel hero, but Mon Mothma pointed out that they could not act against the powerful Hutt Cartels, and no one would volunteer for a covert rescue mission. The meeting was interrupted by Chewbacca, who Dodonna noted seemed willing to help, along with the protocol droid C-3PO. Chewbacca successfully rescued Skywalker with the assistance of Princess Leia and Han Solo, who had learned of Skywalker's situation and came to his aid.

Alliance High Command soon learned that the Rebel garrison on Vrogas Vas had engaged Darth Vader and shot down his starfighter after suffering heavy losses. Dodonna determined that Darth Vader represented a significant threat and a valuable target, dispatching a battalion to reinforce the Rebels on the planet in their effort to kill the Sith Lord.

Following the destruction of the first Death Star, General Dodonna was stationed at the Mako-Ta Space Docks along with the rest of Alliance High Command. In 1 ABY, the Alliance orchestrated the Mutiny of Mon Cala from this station. The newly strengthened Rebel fleet gathered at Mako-Ta, and Dodonna was given command of the MC80A Home One Type Heavy Star Cruiser Republic.

The Alliance's safety at Mako-Ta was short-lived. Queen Trios, a double agent, revealed the location of the Rebel's hidden base to Darth Vader. The Empire arrived with three Imperial-class Star Destroyers and the Super Star Destroyer Executor, led by Vader himself. As the Rebels attempted to flee, they discovered that Shu-Torun technologies installed in the Mon Calamari cruisers rendered nearly all systems inoperable, including the hangar bays and hyperdrive generators. Without power or the ability to deploy fighters, the Imperial forces, superior in numbers and firepower, quickly gained the advantage.

Leia Organa theorized that a failsafe in the hangar bay doors would detect a transponder operating on rebel frequencies flying at high speed. This was confirmed when Skywalker, also stationed aboard Dodonna's cruiser, flew close to the Republic's hangar doors, despite General Dodonna's direct order to remain grounded. The doors opened, allowing the ship's X-wing fighters to deploy.

During the battle, rebel operatives, led by General Davits Draven, secured access codes to override the Shu-Torun technologies. These codes were delivered to General Dodonna, who promptly ordered the Republic to jump into hyperspace. However, concerned about the lives lost, General Dodonna initially ordered the Republic to remain hidden and wait for survivors to regroup. Skywalker and Organa convinced him to return to Mako-Ta to rescue the stranded.

Accompanied by a few small transports escorted by Rogue Squadron, the Republic returned to Mako-Ta station and engaged the Executor. Dodonna's forces held off the Empire long enough to distribute the access codes to the other stranded Mon Calamari cruisers while the space station's inhabitants evacuated onto the transports. The Republic was soon destroyed by turbolaser fire from the Executor, and Jan Dodonna, General of the Rebel Alliance, was lost with his ship.

Dodonna's actions, though costing him his life, were crucial in securing the Alliance's future. Mothma, Ackbar, Syndulla, and many other members of Alliance High Command were among those saved by the Republic's return to the battle. His leadership during the early stages of the Rebellion, at the Battle of Yavin, and in his final stand at Mako-Ta allowed the Alliance to prosper and eventually defeat the Emperor at the Battle of Endor years after his death.

Jan Dodonna was a human man with white hair, blue eyes, and light skin. Before becoming a General in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Dodonna served in the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars. Initially one of the first captains in the Imperial Navy and a Clone Wars veteran, Dodonna became disillusioned with the Galactic Empire and joined the growing rebellion, becoming a firm believer in the rebel cause.

An astute and insightful strategist, known for his composed nature, Dodonna devised the pivotal strategy that ultimately enabled Luke Skywalker to obliterate the Death Star, thereby rescuing countless lives. Following the Battle of Yavin, Dodonna's concern for Princess Leia Organa's well-being escalated to the point where he forbade her from participating in the search for a new base, given the Empire's bounty on her head; this even prompted him to dispatch Skywalker and Wedge Antilles to retrieve her. By the time the Battle of Vrogas Vas occurred, Dodonna had come to fully appreciate the threat Darth Vader posed to the Alliance, leading him to advocate for more drastic measures.

During his final engagement, Dodonna demonstrated his deep concern for the lives of his fellow soldiers. He commanded his flagship, the Republic, to remain concealed in order to minimize further casualties and to simply regroup with any survivors of the devastating attack at the Mako-Ta Space Docks. However, after a conversation with Luke Skywalker, Dodonna chose to return and provide assistance to those who were stranded, ultimately sacrificing his own life to secure the Alliance's continued existence and allow his fellow rebels to live to fight another day.

The character Jan Dodonna was portrayed by Alex McCrindle in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope from 1977, which was the inaugural film of the Star Wars original trilogy. Dodonna later made an appearance in the 2016 Star Wars Anthology movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, where Ian McElhinney took on the role. Michael Bell provided the voice for him in four episodes of Star Wars Rebels.

In George Lucas' initial script, or first draft, for A New Hope, a Sith knight character initially called "Valorum" was renamed "Dodona" because Lucas was considering, solely in that draft, changing the name of the Starkiller family to the "Valor" family, thus the names were in conflict. "Dodona" was one of the few names from that draft that reappeared in the second draft, when it was definitively assigned to a Rebel general on Yavin 4, thereby establishing the character of Jan Dodonna.

Originally, it was established by Star Wars: The Rebel Files that Dodonna survived past the events of Hoth. However, due to a communication breakdown, Dodonna was killed off in the climax of Star Wars (2015) 55. As with the situation involving Davits Draven, the comic book's timeline takes precedence, and plans are in place to rectify the inconsistency in future editions of Star Wars: The Rebel Files. The decision to eliminate Dodonna was made by Kieron Gillen, the lead writer for Star Wars, who considered the rapid ascent of the heroes through the ranks.