Slick

Slick, a clone derived from the bounty hunter Jango Fett, was born as part of the first group of clone troopers produced by the Kaminoan cloners for the Grand Army of the Republic. He rose to the rank of Clone Sergeant and was put into service during the Clone Wars, the war between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems for which the clones were created to fight. Slick eventually commanded a group of clones that included the troopers Chopper, Gus, Jester, Punch, and Sketch, whom he considered the best in the Grand Army of the Republic.

Slick participated in the First Battle of Geonosis, which was the opening battle of the war. During the intense fighting, Slick began to think that the Jedi leading the battle were not skilled commanders. Following the battle, the Separatists quickly moved into the Outer Rim Territories and targeted the planet Christophsis. The inhabitants of Christophsis initially tried to defend their world but were compelled to request aid from the Jedi Order and the Grand Army of the Republic. Clone troopers, under the leadership of Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, were sent to Christophsis, where they planned to engage the Separatist Droid Army in one of the planet's cities.

Slick, believing that the defeat of the Jedi would expedite the war's end and liberate his fellow clones from forced service, turned against the Republic's interests on Christophsis. Without being ordered to, Slick began to secretly provide information about Republic operations to Asajj Ventress, the Sith acolyte of Separatist Head of State Count Dooku. Ventress offered him money to join the Separatists, but Slick was primarily motivated by the desire for freedom. Despite his change in loyalty, he still cared for his fellow clones. He believed his actions were a benefit to all of them and sent transmissions to the Separatists every few days.

As the Republic prepared to attack, the Jedi-led clone forces positioned themselves inside two large towers, from where they intended to ambush the approaching battle droid forces. Slick was stationed in the south tower with Kenobi and Clone Commander Cody, while General Skywalker and Clone Captain Rex held the north tower. Using the information Slick had provided, the Separatist droids ambushed Kenobi's forces in the south tower. Skywalker, Rex, and their clones moved from the north tower to support Kenobi's overwhelmed soldiers, and both teams reached the tower's roof to evacuate via a LAAT/i gunship. Due to Slick's actions, the operation was a failure for the Jedi and the Republic.

Following the failed attack, the clone forces returned to the Republic's base. While most of Slick's unit went to the base's barracks and mess hall, Slick separated from his troops and took his comlink to the command center, leaving it on so he could listen to the conversations between the Jedi and clone commanders. While listening, Slick heard Kenobi and Skywalker conclude that there was a spy in the base who had given information to the Separatists. He also learned that the two Jedi planned to infiltrate the Separatist base to investigate, while Cody and Rex would remain behind to find the spy. After the Jedi left, Cody found the comlink, and Rex saw Slick in the hallway, though Rex did not recognize Slick due to the distance. Slick ran from the clone officers and hid in the mess hall, which was full of identical clones. Although Cody and Rex lost Slick, the lack of non-clones in the mess hall made them realize that the spy had to be a clone trooper.

After successfully evading Cody and Rex, Slick informed Ventress of Kenobi and Skywalker's mission, and she planned to confront the two Jedi in the Separatist base. Cody and Rex determined that the computer terminal used to contact the Separatists was in the barracks for Slick's team, so they approached Slick to discuss the possibility of a spy among them. Slick pretended to be surprised and claimed that his forces were the best and could not be helping the Separatists.

However, Cody and Rex called the soldiers into the barracks. Slick asked to speak with his troops first, citing morale concerns, but Cody began to question Chopper, Gus, Jester, Punch, and Sketch. The clones were able to account for their actions immediately after the failed operation until Chopper lied about his whereabouts. He claimed he went to the mess hall, but Sketch said he arrived later than the other clones. Suspicion grew about Chopper, and he admitted that he was hiding so no one would notice that he was creating a necklace of droid fingers he collected as war trophies, violating military rules. Slick tried to shift suspicion to Chopper and promised a full investigation once the Jedi returned, inadvertently revealing himself as the spy because he should not have known the Jedi had left the base unless he was listening to their conversation in the command center.

With his deceit exposed, Slick attacked Cody and pushed through the other clones who confronted him, fleeing from the barracks while Cody and Rex chased him. Slick ran onto the grounds of the Republic base, where he left his utility belt near a gunship. The belt contained a thermal detonator, and he planned to use it to lure Rex and Cody into a trap by making them think he was trying to escape the base. The two clone officers followed the belt's signal but found that Slick was not there, at which point the belt exploded, causing more explosions across the grounds that destroyed Republic gunships and All Terrain Tactical Enforcer heavy walkers. The officers were unharmed, but the explosions caused a power outage across the base and destroyed the Republic's weapons depot.

While Republic forces rushed to the grounds, Slick entered the base's command center, but other clones spotted him and informed Cody and Rex. Slick hid in the air vents above the command center, watching the two officers as they entered. Cody and Rex, knowing Slick was in the vents, pretended to believe they were unaware of his location. Rex pretended to think Slick was heading for the base's south exit and appeared to leave the command center but hid elsewhere in the room. Cody placed a blaster without ammunition on the table behind him.

Thinking he would sneak up on Cody, Slick quietly jumped down from the ventilation shaft and grabbed the gun, only for Rex to approach from behind and put a blaster rifle to Slick's head. Undeterred, Slick turned and attacked Rex, taking his blaster and running for the door. Cody grabbed him and pulled him to the ground, and the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat before Rex pulled Slick off the commander. Slick grabbed Rex's leg and injured it, while revealing that he helped Ventress not just for money, but for freedom from Republic servitude. The fight ended when Cody punched Slick, knocking him unconscious.

Kenobi and Skywalker soon returned to the base after confronting Ventress in the Separatist headquarters, where they discovered she was gathering an army to invade Christophsis. Slick was brought before the Jedi, who asked why he betrayed his brothers. Slick lashed out, criticizing the Jedi Order for using his fellow clones as slaves. He claimed he acted as a spy because he loved his brothers and wanted to help them, but Cody told him that if he truly loved his brothers, he would not have put them at risk. On Cody's orders, Slick was imprisoned in the Republic base. The Republic troops prepared for the incoming droid forces, but due to the loss of their heavy walkers, they fortified their position instead of attempting a new strategy.

The Republic ultimately won the Battle of Christophsis and concealed Slick's betrayal. His motives were kept secret from all but the Republic High Command and those who were present for his confession. The revelation that clone troopers were not fully obedient was also minimized to prevent similar sentiment from spreading throughout the Republic army. The Jedi had previously viewed commanding clones as more ethical than the Separatists' use of battle droids, but Slick's betrayal introduced the complex idea of free will.

Skywalker's Jedi Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, also learned of the clone's betrayal, mentioning him to fellow Padawan Barriss Offee, Clone Lieutenant Trap, and trooper Havoc during the skirmish aboard TB-73. Later in the war in 19 BBY, after Jedi Master Quinlan Vos fell to the dark side, Cody mentioned that the clones had also dealt with Slick's betrayal to Jedi Knights Kav Bayons and Akar-Deshu. The Clone Commander recalled that Slick had said he loved his clone brothers but had sold information to Ventress and sabotaged supplies, actions that would get clones killed. Cody thought it was a "funny" way of showing love, and he noted he would almost prefer a friend be seduced to the dark side than be a simple traitor.

For Rex, Slick's actions and rejection of his programming challenged his assumptions about his duty to the Republic. In the year after the Battle of Christophsis, Rex's assumptions were further challenged when he met a clone deserter named Cut Lawquane on the planet Saleucami. Rex realized that there could be other options for himself and his brothers if they were brave enough to move past warfare, even arguing that they might need to disobey orders at times. Following Order 66, when the clone troopers were forced to betray the Jedi through their behavioral modification biochips, Rex fled the army but decided to continue to fight for what remained of the Republic.

Despite the Republic's cover-up, Slick's treason became known to the renowned Ithorian artist Gammit Chond. Chond's drawings were eventually placed in the Shadow Stacks of the Graf Archive, and were found by a student during a final exam many years after the First Order-Resistance War. The Graf Archive restored the artist's drawings and published them to the wider galaxy. Slick's betrayal was described in its section on Christophsis.

Slick was a human male created as a clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett. Like his genetic template, he had black hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and was 1.83 meters (6 feet) tall. His hair was trimmed in a crewcut, and his eyebrows were dark red.

Before the Battle of Christophsis, Slick developed resentment toward the Jedi Order, believing that the Grand Army's Jedi commanders were exploiting the clones as slaves to fight the war with the Separatists. Unlike clones like Commander Cody and Captain Rex, who believed in loyalty to the Republic and saw service during the Clone Wars as something honorable, Slick longed to be free from Republic service, even working for Asajj Ventress to achieve his idea of freedom. He convinced himself that his actions were for his brothers, whom he claimed to love, but he did not see that his actions would endanger his fellow clones, increasing their risk of injury and even death.

Once his role as Ventress's spy was discovered, Slick used his knowledge of the military and his fellow brothers to trick Cody and Rex into believing he wanted to escape, luring them into the trap on the Republic base grounds. However, Cody and Rex outwitted him by tricking him into leaving the ventilation shaft in the command center. His fight with both clones showed his skill in close-quarters combat, but he was ultimately defeated and arrested.

Slick was both a soldier and a spy. He could wield a blaster and engage in physical combat, as seen when he fought Commander Cody and Captain Rex. Slick was known for his leadership, commanding his own squad during the Battle of Christophsis. He was also skilled at infiltration, leaving a comlink on in the command room to spy on Rex, Cody, and the Jedi and provide intelligence to Asajj Ventress.

Slick wore phase I clone trooper armor.

Slick was created for "The Hidden Enemy," the sixteenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which aired on February 6, 2009. Dee Bradley Baker voiced him, providing the voice for all clone troopers in the show. An episode advertisement aired as a promotion on Cartoon Network teased Slick's role in the episode. The commercial shows Rex reflecting on a traitor hiding among the clones, promising to discover why one of his brothers betrayed the Republic and declaring he will make the traitor pay. The teaser claims that Rex and Cody had yet to discover Slick's identity when he destroyed their hangar deck and that Kenobi and Skywalker's duel with Ventress occurred before the investigation. However, in the episode, the Clone Officers have uncovered Slick's identity by the time of the bombing, and the Jedi Generals duel Ventress concurrent to Cody and Rex's investigation.

Slick was originally intended to have red hair. However, the production team used the standard dark clone hair when rendering the character. This change allowed the character to blend in with his fellow clones rather than stand out as a suspect. As a clone who worked as a Separatist spy, Slick allowed The Clone Wars to explore two key ideas. The first was that a clone could turn against his brothers, which Dave Filoni, the show's supervising director, called a clone having "gone Jango," referencing Jango Fett, the clones' genetic template. Filoni said that some clones, who were not all bred with the same personalities, could have some of Fett's traits, such as the bounty hunter's willingness to do anything for money. The second key idea was how the Jedi Order used clones as their military force, knowing that the clones were bred specifically for combat.

For Filoni, the Jedi's use of clone soldiers is one of the inherent issues in the Republic's conflict with the Separatists. He elaborated on Slick's motives, saying that Slick would not see serving the Republic as honorable, as Cody and Rex would, but as willingly becoming cannon fodder. The episode's director, Steward Lee, and writer, Drew Z. Greenberg, both enjoyed exploring the idea of a clone turning against the Republic out of a sense of being a slave. Lee felt that Slick's "logic is understandable," and Greenberg said that the story of Slick's actions is "all about the brotherhood, and how far those boundaries stretch." Greenberg said that the story strikes at "what it means to be a clone and what it means to be part of that brotherhood." Lee also characterized it as a sign of potential betrayals to follow, saying that if one clone could break away from the Republic, then more could do the same.