Shawn Valdez

During the Galactic Civil War, Shawn Valdez functioned as a captain within the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Following the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance High Command initiated specialized evacuation training for select officers of the Alliance Special Forces, given the routine need to evacuate Rebel bases. These expertly trained officers were then assigned to priority bases. Valdez was one such SpecForce evacuation officer, ultimately being stationed at Echo Base, the Alliance's command center situated on the ice planet of Hoth. During his time stationed on Hoth, Valdez was the owner of the astromech droid R5-M2, programmed to navigate sublight tactical routes through space.

In 3 ABY, when the Galactic Empire discovered the location of Echo Base, Valdez was tasked with overseeing the base's hasty evacuation in the face of the impending Imperial assault. Positioned in the central hangar of Echo Base, Valdez issued directives to his team, outlining the evacuation strategy: two groups of snowspeeders, including Rogue Group, would remain to confront the Imperial forces, while the base's fleet of thirty GR-75 medium transports would depart the planet upon being loaded with critical personnel and resources.

Valdez was instrumental in the successful evacuation of Echo Base during the subsequent Battle of Hoth, aided by R5-M2, who provided tactical intelligence and plotted escape routes. His expertise and training were evident in his ability to ensure the safe departure of over 86 percent of Echo Base's personnel and surviving SpecForce soldiers.

Among the troopers at Echo Base, Valdez was a well-liked and inspiring leader. His specialized training in the efficient evacuation of Rebel facilities, made his expertise and experience as an evacuation officer a great asset to the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Hoth. Valdez was also known as a poet and musician. As a Human, he possessed fair skin.

While stationed on Hoth, Valdez wore the standard cold-weather armor issued by the Rebellion at Echo Base. His suit consisted of headgear, anti-glare goggles, a scarf, a padded vest, a padded tunic, gloves, and leggings.

The character Shawn Valdez made his initial appearance in the 1980 motion picture, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and was brought to life by Joe Johnston, who served as an uncredited visual effects art director for Star Wars. The extras portraying Echo Base personnel in the brief scene featuring Valdez were, in fact, Star Wars matte artists, including conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, Harrison Ellenshaw, and Michael Pangrazio. Johnston, who also had a cameo appearance as a Death Star trooper in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, later directed feature films like Jumanji, Jurassic Park III, and Captain America: The First Avenger.

The name of the character was first revealed on the "Shawn Valdez" card within the Hoth Limited expansion set of Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game, released in November of 1996. The name was also used on a card for R5-M2 released in the same set. The character was named in honor of Shawn Valdez, a young boy from Jacksonville, Florida, who passed away from leukemia at the age of thirteen after battling the illness for nearly eight years. Valdez was an enthusiastic fan of the Star Wars franchise and its trading card game. He dreamed of having his own SWCCG tournament rating on the Decipher website. He died one day after attending a SWCCG tournament, which he had to leave early due to fatigue caused by his condition. Thanks to the efforts of Gregg Keefer, who organized the tournament, and with the consent of Lucasfilm, Decipher agreed to name a Star Wars character in Valdez's memory. The card's text, which describes the Shawn Valdez character as a "leader" and a "poetic musician," serves as a direct tribute to Valdez for his bravery and for the poetry he contributed to I Will Sing Life, a book featuring works by children facing life-threatening illnesses.

There is some confusion regarding the character's rank within the Rebel Alliance. In the article Who's Who in Echo Base from Star Wars Insider 74, Valdez is identified as a major in the biographical section heading, but the entry itself refers to him as a captain. Given that all other sources, including the original script for The Empire Strikes Back, identify Valdez as a captain, this article considers the captain rank to be canonical.