The Persecutor, an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer serving the Galactic Empire, met its end during the Battle of Scarif in 1 BBY. During the battle, it was rendered inoperable due to an assault initiated by Blue Squadron. Blue Four, piloting an X-wing, specifically Barion Raner, obliterated its starboard-side bridge-mounted deflector shield generator. Following this, Gold Squadron Y-wings executed a bombing run using ion torpedoes. Subsequently, the Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette Lightmaker rammed the disabled Star Destroyer into the Star Destroyer Intimidator, bisecting it. The wreckage of all three vessels then collided with the Shield Gate, destroying it and enabling Rogue One to transmit the Death Star plans to the Rebel flagship [Profundity].
The Persecutor's debut occurred in the 2016 motion picture Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Joe Fordham's article, "Sacred Ground," published in the February 2017 issue 151 of Cinefex magazine, officially named the vessel. However, John Knoll had previously verified on Reddit that the ships involved in the collision were "the Persecutor and the Intimidator," affectionately nicknamed "Timmy and Percy" by the ILM crew. The reference book Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z, released on November 15, 2017, formally confirmed the names initially revealed in the Cinefex article.