Nien Nunb

Nien Nunb's homeworld was the planet Sullust. Early on, he developed his piloting abilities while flying a freighter for the local Sullustan SoroSuub Corporation; however, when the company became allied with the Empire, he showed his dissent by stealing from it to aid the Rebellion. Subsequently, he became an independent and skilled pilot, as well as a proficient arms dealer and smuggler, owning and operating the starship Mellcrawler. He formed friendships with both Lando Calrissian, a fellow smuggler, and Evaan Verlaine, a Rebel pilot.

Following the destruction of Alderaan and the Battle of Yavin, Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa embarked on a mission alongside Verlaine to gather the few Alderaanians still alive in the galaxy. Their mission led them to Sullust, where a group of Alderaanians resided in an enclave beneath the planet's volcanic surface. The Galactic Empire, using its military might to pursue the surviving Alderaanians throughout the galaxy, discovered Organa and her united forces on Sullust. Nunb answered Verlaine's call for assistance and smuggled the Alderaanians off of Sullust and into space, avoiding detection by Imperial forces. He also supplied Organa and her people with arms from his ship for use against the Empire. Organa expressed her gratitude to Nunb by gifting him the chalcedony waves necklace, which had belonged to her adoptive mother, Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan, as a token of appreciation.

Later during the mission, Organa surrendered herself to Imperial Commander Dreed on the desert world of Skaradosh in exchange for the release of Tula, an Imperial officer from Alderaan. Tula's sister, Tace, was a member of Organa's group of refugees and had secretly been manipulated by Tula to provide information about Organa's location. Before Organa could be taken into captivity, the Mellcrawler arrived to rescue her, with Nunb having managed to land the ship on the planet without being detected by the orbiting Imperial forces. Verlaine opened fire on Dreed and his Imperial stormtroopers, killing the commander, while Organa and Tula were able to board the ship. Although Organa thanked him for his efforts, Nunb cautioned that the true challenge would be evading the Imperial forces alive.

The Star Destroyer in orbit detected the Mellcrawler after receiving news of Dreed's death. Nunb launched a decoy to mislead the Imperial vessels, causing them to pursue the sensor decoy while the Mellcrawler evaded detection. The strategy proved successful, and the Star Destroyer crew believed the Mellcrawler had been destroyed, along with Organa. At that moment, an fleet of Alderaanians from Espirion arrived to assist Organa and her people. The arrival of the fleet enabled the Alderaanians to destroy the Star Destroyer, and the Alderaanian fleet escaped the Empire's pursuit. Nunb later attended a celebration where Organa, Verlaine, and their people commemorated the success of their mission to unite.

Approximately three years later, Nunb returned to Sullust on a mission for the Rebel Alliance, leading the Sullustan resistance in providing supplies to members of the Cobalt Laborers' Reformation Front at Pinyumb. Shortly thereafter, a battle erupted between Imperial forces and the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry as they seized the factory of Inyusu Tor. As the Sixty-First attempted to depart for their next target in operation, their CR90 corvette, the Thunderstrike, was shot down, and its escort, the Braha'tok-class gunship Apailana's Promise, was forced to retreat. The Sixty-First was stranded and faced imminent attack, prompting its Captain, Hazram Namir, to seek out Nunb and the Sullustan resistance in Pinyumb. Namir and his soldiers were ambushed, and Namir was captured by stormtroopers, but Nunb intervened and brought Namir to the Sullustan resistance safe house to meet the others. He requested support from Nunb, but Nunb and the others were unable to assist. The Imperial-class Star Destroyer Herald soon arrived to eliminate the Sixty-First, but the Apailana's Promise returned to engage it. The battle unfolded both in the sky and on the ground, but the Herald was forced to retreat due to internal sabotage, shifting the tide of the battle. Nunb rallied the Sullustan resistance Cobalt Laborers to seize Pinyumb as ground forces dwindled at Inyusu Tor. This collaborative effort sparked a planet-wide uprising on Sullust, securing it for the alliance.

Following the Battle of Hoth, Nunb was entrusted with transporting Organa to a meeting on Zastiga. On Zastiga, Nunb convened with Wedge Antilles and Luke Skywalker to discuss reconnaissance strategies. Once Operation Yellow Moon received approval, Nunb transported the team to the Corva sector. Upon reaching Basteel, Nunb piloted his ship to Eladro City. His relaxed piloting style through the turbulent atmosphere made Kidi Aleri uneasy, but he successfully landed the ship. Once on the ground, Organa provided Nunb with some credits, and he proceeded to a bar to acquire a drink and gather local information. En route to the bar, Nunb, Aleri, and Antrot made a stop at a bazaar. While the rest of the team ascended the mountain through tunnels above the city, Nunb returned to his ship to collect them once they emerged. He was detained when the Empire arrived on Basteel and scrutinized the credentials of all ships present. After being cleared, he flew to the mountain's summit and picked up the team. Once everyone was safely aboard and away from Basteel, Nunb provided them with hot beverages and blankets to help them warm up from the exposure to Basteel's harsh environment.

Nunb then flew the team to Sesid. Upon landing at Thrinaka, he suggested purchasing tourist clothes to better blend in. After completing their mission to place a beacon, he cautioned them against returning to Thrinaka, as stormtroopers were stationed in the city. He met up with the team above the planet and transported them to their next destination.

After arriving at Jaresh, Nunb sought to strike a deal with local merchants for a shipment of the planet's primary export, fertilizer. As they were departing the planet, Nunb was ambushed by the Shieldmaiden, which approached his ship from the dark side of the planet undetected. He managed to avoid being ensnared by a tractor beam by skimming beneath a massive commercial freighter passing through the system. Once clear of the tractor beams, he initiated the jump to hyperspace. Once safely in hyperspace, Organa convened a meeting with the team and allowed them to decide whether to continue the operation. Nunb found it amusing that if he quit, they would lack a ship to complete the mission but agreed to stay until the end.

Nunb flew the team to the rendezvous point at Galaan, and when other starships arrived, he ensured his ship was positioned to transmit the tightbeam encryption code directly to them, enabling Organa to contact them. During Organa's address to the assembled ships, Nunb detected the Shieldmaiden approaching. He attempted to escape but was unable to evade the Star Destroyer's tractor beams and was forced to shut down his engines to prevent damage to the Mellcrawler. As the yacht was pulled into the Star Destroyer's belly, Organa prepared to destroy the Mellcrawler using the volatile fertilizer Nunb had acquired on Jaresh, intending to sell it elsewhere for profit. However, when Lokmarcha intervened, Nunb instead purged his ship's logs to prevent any data from falling into Imperial hands. Nunb was captured and imprisoned aboard the Shieldmaiden. He managed to free himself when Lokmarcha triggered an electromagnetic pulse that disabled a portion of the Star Destroyer.

He provided Organa with directions so she could guide the surviving team members from the detention center to the docking bay. Once in the bay, they were discovered by a squad of stormtroopers, and Nunb quickly entered the Tydirium, an Imperial shuttle. He powered it up and successfully escaped the Shieldmaiden with the surviving team members.

Nunb and Shriv Suurgav, a Duros, tracked a pair of TIE fighters to a dangerous planet, but they lost sight of the TIEs upon entering the atmosphere. After landing, Suurgav insisted that they should have conducted a thorough scan for dangerous life forms first. Shortly thereafter, the ground shifted, sucking them and the Mellcrawler II into a cave covered in green goo that clogged the starship. They discovered one of the TIE fighters being consumed by blue worm creatures. Suurgav managed to unclog the starship, and they later escaped.

Soon after, Nunb became a part of the Alliance Fleet and was selected to serve as co-pilot alongside General Lando Calrissian aboard the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor, where he piloted the Falcon and spearheaded the fighter assault to destroy the second Death Star. Before the battle, as the Alliance Fleet gathered near Sullust, Nunb expressed reservations about the attack plan and whether General Han Solo, Organa, and their team would succeed in destroying the Death Star's shield generator on the moon of Endor before the fleet arrived. Lando's familiarity with the Sullustan language led him to personally choose Nunb for the mission, impressed by his exploits aboard the Mellcrawler. Sensing Nunb's apprehension, Calrissian assured him that Solo would have the shield deactivated on schedule.

The Alliance Fleet arrived over Endor to discover that the shield generator was still active, realizing that the battle was a trap orchestrated by Darth Sidious to annihilate the Rebel Alliance once and for all. The fleet maintained its position over Endor, engaging Imperial forces in the hope that Solo and his team could destroy the generator. The fleet focused on battling TIE/ln space superiority starfighters and Star Destroyers, particularly after learning that the Death Star was operational, having previously believed that it lacked the use of its primary, planet-destroying superlaser. Once Solo's team destroyed the shield generator, the Millennium Falcon entered the Death Star's superstructure and fired the shot that initiated a chain reaction, leading to the battle station's destruction. Calrissian and Nunb raced against time as they outran the fireball created by their attack, escaping the Death Star just before it was consumed in a massive explosion. The Alliance emerged victorious, the Emperor was dead, and the Empire was shattered. On Endor's surface, the Rebels celebrated alongside the native Ewoks, who had assisted Solo's team in destroying the shield.

Following the battle, Nunb was awarded the Kalidor Crescent, a medal by the Alliance, in recognition of his bravery.

Twenty days after the Battle of Endor, Imperial Captain Lerr Duvat initiated Operation: Cinder, a contingency plan issued posthumously by the late Emperor. Operation: Cinder called for the scouring of Sidious' homeworld, Naboo, through the use of a climate disruption array. The Rebel Alliance, which was currently transitioning into the New Republic, promptly deployed a portion of its fleet to defend the planet. Nunb accompanied the fleet aboard his new yacht, the Mellcrawler II. The fleet soon destroyed the Imperial forces, successfully defending the planet.

Following the revelations of Senator Organa's parentage as the biological daughter of Darth Vader in the New Republic's Galactic Senate, Nunb sent a message expressing his support for his former rebel colleague. Later, he, along with several former rebel veterans and New Republic personnel, attended a meeting in the New Republic senatorial complex's hangar bay, where Leia established the Resistance, a paramilitary organization to protect the Republic. Nunb was among the first Rebel Alliance veterans to join the Resistance, inspired by Organa's words.

After joining the Resistance, Nunb offered his support and skills by piloting a T-70 X-wing starfighter in the Resistance Starfighter Corps, holding the naval rank of Lieutenant Commander. He wore flight gauntlets, a pressurized interstellar orange g-suit, and a gear harness, along with a specialized flight helmet designed to accommodate his unique head. His helmet also featured older Coalstreak Squadron stripes on the upper right-hand side, appearing as two parallel black lines.

Nunb piloted a mission led by Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo to steal the head of Admiral Mathieson's protocol droid, which contained recordings of every conversation the New Republic Admiral had for the past five years, from the space station Brooksdion as proof of New Republic High Command's inaction against the growing threat of the First Order. Following the theft, Nunb evaded the New Republic Defense Force's Rapier Squadron, led by Commander Poe Dameron.

Nunb attended the funeral of L'ulo L'ampar, a fellow Resistance pilot, at the Resistance base on D'Qar after the Duros was killed during a battle with the First Order over a desert planet.

When the First Order destroyed the Hosnian system using the Starkiller, the Resistance base became the next target. Quickly devising a plan to destroy Starkiller Base, Nunb, along with the rest of the Starfighter Corps, flew to the planet in an attempt to destroy its thermal oscillator and disable the weapon. During the assault, numerous Resistance pilots were lost before Dameron destroyed the oscillator. Nunb was among the seven surviving X-wing pilots, and he celebrated with the rest of the Resistance upon returning to D'Qar.

Following the victory at Starkiller Base, Nunb attended the funeral of Han Solo, who died at Starkiller at the hands of his and Organa's son, Kylo Ren.

With the First Order discovering the location of the Resistance base, the Resistance initiated an evacuation, leading to a battle over D'Qar where Nunb served on the flagship, the Raddus. Following General Organa's injury, he attended a briefing where Commander Larma D'Acy introduced Admiral Amilyn Holdo as the new leader of the fleet.

During the Battle of Crait, Nunb was a member of "Reb" Squadron, piloting V-4X-D ski speeders across the salt flats of Crait. He, along with Rose Tico, Finn, C'ai Threnalli, and squadron commander Poe Dameron, were the only survivors of Reb Squadron's assault on the First Order's superlaser siege cannon. With their lines broken, the Resistance began an evacuation of all personnel. After suffering significant losses, Nunb was among the few Resistance members who managed to escape on the Millennium Falcon.

Having escaped the First Order's grasp, Nunb encountered Organa and Chewbacca in the Falcon's cockpit as the ship jumped to hyperspace. Organa offered Nunb the co-pilot's seat, assuring him he deserved it as much as anyone, before leaving the cockpit to him and Chewie. Chewie and Nunb exchanged a look of mutual respect before bumping fists.

Later, Nunb was stationed at the Resistance base located on Batuu. While stationed on Batuu, his responsibilities included piloting the Intersystem Transport Ship, which transported Lieutenant Bek and his recruits to General Organa's hidden location. However, their mission was compromised when the ship was intercepted by the First Order. Nunb and the rest of the Resistance crew were captured and taken aboard the Finalizer for interrogation. However, Poe Dameron's arrival with reinforcements triggered a space battle between Resistance starfighters and First Order TIE fighters. This conflict allowed Nunb and his crew to reach the Star Destroyer's escape pods and return safely to the Resistance base on Batuu.

One year later, Nien Nunb remained committed to the Resistance, joining them in their move to Ajan Kloss. Nunb was selected to pilot General Organa's command ship, the recovered blockade runner Tantive IV, her former consular vessel, an honor he greatly appreciated. Upon learning from a spy within the First Order that Darth Sidious had returned, the Resistance began planning their decisive offensive against the Sith Eternal. Following Organa's death, Nunb participated in and spoke at a briefing held beneath the Tantive IV. Nunb, along with his co-pilot, Urcos Furdam, departed Ajan Kloss in the Tantive IV with a group of fighters heading towards Exegol. As the massive Xyston-class Star Destroyers immediately engaged the smaller Resistance fleet, Nunb and Furdam skillfully navigated their ship, holding their own against enemies much larger in size, while many of their comrades were lost to enemy fire. Shortly after the arrival of reinforcements led by Nunb's old friend and former co-pilot, Calrissian, as well as Solo's partner Chewbacca on the Falcon, the massive Force lightning unleashed by Sidious disabled most of the Resistance forces, including the Tantive IV. The lightning caused explosions on the ship, leading to its destruction and Nunb's death. His sacrifice, however, was crucial in the Emperor's final defeat and the Sith, preventing the First Order from joining forces with the Sith Eternal's fleet, the Final Order, to establish a new Sith Empire and quell a massive uprising across the galaxy.

Nien Nunb was a Sullustan male, characterized by his large black eyes, prominent ears, and jowls, along with his light skin. He communicated primarily in the flowing tongue of the Sullustan language, but he could also speak Galactic Basic Standard, albeit with some difficulty. He was known for his upbeat and optimistic nature, often making sarcastic, yet anticlimactic jokes. He was known for celebrating even the smallest victories, his comrades were always put in a good mood by Nunb's laugh and jokes. Despite his jovial exterior, he was deeply committed to any mission or cause he served, displaying loyalty and courage that his closest friends admired. He cared deeply for others and would go out of his way to help those less fortunate, assisting his people as a resistance fighter during the Imperial occupation of his planet.

Nunb excelled as both a pilot and a smuggler, possessing the skills needed to frequently evade Imperial detection. His exceptional piloting skills led to Calrissian's personal choice of him as co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor.

Nien Nunb debuted in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. He was brought to life using both a puppet and a costumed actor in the film. Mike Quinn operated Nunb as a puppet for scenes inside the Millennium Falcon. The decision to articulate Nien Nunb's mask came after Quinn suggested using him as a puppet. During the Millennium Falcon scenes, Quinn was positioned beneath the puppet, lying on his back with only a small TV monitor to view the camera's perspective. Richard Bonehill portrayed Nunb in wide shots. Nunb's name originated from his designation as "Number Nine" on creature packaging.

Kipsang Rotich, a Kenyan student who spoke the Kikuyu dialect of Kenya's majority tribe, provided the character's voice. However, according to Ben Burtt, Rotich spoke in his native language called "Hyah", and some of Nunb's phrases are direct translations from that language. Rotich did not receive credit in Return of the Jedi.

Quinn and Rotich reprised their roles for the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. The character later appeared as an animatronic figure on the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge ride, Rise of the Resistance.