Star Wars: Crimson Empire represents a series of three distinct story arcs within the Star Wars Legends continuity, presented in the form of comic books. These were published by Dark Horse Comics with Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley serving as the writers. The initial mini-series, known as Crimson Empire, debuted in December of 1997 and reached its conclusion in May of 1998. Subsequently, the second series, titled Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood, saw its release in November of the same year, wrapping up in April of 1999. Following the completion of the second story arc, plans were set in motion for a third installment slated for release in 2001, accompanied by a one-shot comic titled Hard Currency intended as a prelude to the forthcoming storyline. However, the project encountered delays and was ultimately shelved for a decade. It was eventually revived and released from October 2011 to April 2012 under the title Star Wars: Crimson Empire III—Empire Lost, marking the definitive conclusion to the overarching narrative of the series. Taking place in the New Republic era immediately after the events of Star Wars: Empire's End, which served as the finale to the Dark Empire comic book trilogy, Crimson Empire centers on the experiences of Kir Kanos. Kanos is a former Imperial royal guard whose primary purpose was to safeguard Emperor Palpatine. With Palpatine's final demise during the Battle of Onderon and the massacre of his fellow guards on Yinchorr, Kir Kanos is driven by a solemn vow to exact vengeance upon the enemies of the Empire, promising death to all who contributed to his former master's downfall. The initial storyline revolves around the conflict between Kanos and Carnor Jax, another former Imperial Royal Guard and aspiring Sith Lord who sought to claim the throne after Palpatine's death. The subsequent series details Kanos' activities as a bounty hunter and his pursuit of members of the Imperial Ruling Council. The concluding series focuses on Kanos' dual objectives: eliminating Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Master who was Palpatine's main rival, and confronting Devian, a former Imperial "thug" leading a splinter group of the Imperial Remnant known as the "Restored Empire."
An audio dramatization of the first Crimson Empire installment was also produced and released in 1999, in addition to the core three story arcs and various standalone comic issues.
In 1983, subsequent to the release of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Randy Stradley, then employed by Marvel Comics, the entity holding the license for Star Wars comics, completed his inaugural script. Following the submission of this script, the editor requested another story concept. The outcome was a narrative centered on four surviving members of the red-clad Imperial Royal Guard, briefly seen in scenes aboard the Death Star II in Return of the Jedi. These guards were intended to "stalk" Luke Skywalker in the aftermath of the film's events. However, a few weeks after the pitch, Stradley was informed that LucasFilm had rejected the story, expressing reservations about developing any extensive lore surrounding the Royal Guards at that time. The idea remained dormant for over a decade. In 1989, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license, and in 1991, they published the Star Wars: Dark Empire series, which explored the recurring rebirth of Emperor Palpatine through cloned bodies.
In 1997, Stradley engaged in a brainstorming session with editor Ryder Windham and publisher Mike Richardson to explore potential new projects. During this session, Stradley revisited his fourteen-year-old concept, making adjustments to align it with the evolving continuity. For instance, the timeline was shifted to occur after the Emperor's final death over Onderon, rather than immediately following the Battle of Endor, and the four Royal Guard characters were condensed into a single character, leading to the creation of Kir Kanos. At Richardson's suggestion, the concept was expanded into a trilogy, where Kanos would initially target a traitorous fellow guardsmen before eventually confronting Luke Skywalker. Lucasfilm approved the pitch, giving the green light to the Crimson Empire saga.
Following the substantial success of the series' initial installment, work on Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood commenced promptly, based on an outline provided by Richardson. The miniseries was launched in November 1998 and concluded in April 1999, just a month before the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Certain narrative elements in the second installment, such as the introduction of the shady character Nom Anor, were intended to foreshadow a future cross-media project by Dark Horse Comics and Bantam Spectra. However, this project, which would have chronicled the invasion by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong race, was ultimately transferred to Del Rey, who published The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime in 1999.
Despite the apparent intent of the one-shot comic Hard Currency to serve as a prelude to the third chapter of the Crimson Empire saga, the release of Vector Prime and its subsequent novels in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to the postponement of plans for Crimson Empire III. This delay was partly attributed to the ever-changing continuity during that period. Randy Stradley himself struggled to devise a satisfactory conclusion to the saga. Years later, in 2010, Mike Richardson announced his intention to revive the project, with the extensive New Jedi Order material now in the past. Although Stradley was initially hesitant to return to the series, he agreed to assist in the writing process, primarily led by Richardson, to provide guidance through the complexities of Star Wars continuity. Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost eventually debuted in October 2011.
Randy Stradley indicated in the May 2012 edition of "Scarlet Letters," included with the final issue of Crimson Empire III, that "the saga of Kir Kanos concludes. Permanently. Well, at least until there's a CE IV. However, there are no promises (or even hints) that such a story will ever be told. So, please refrain from waiting for it and bothering me about it for the next dozen years. Deal?"
The forces of the Imperial Remnant, commanded by Sith Lord and former Imperial Royal Guard Carnor Jax, are in pursuit of a fugitive named Kir Kanos. On the remote Imperial world of Phaeda, a group of off-duty Imperials become embroiled in a drunken brawl with a robed figure wielding a double-bladed vibroblade. This individual, Kanos, is given refuge by a man named Merkon, who serves as a contact for the local New Republic resistance cell. After recounting his training experiences in The Squall on Yinchorr under the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Kanos is introduced to the local New Republic-supporting rebels under the command of Lieutenant Mirith Sinn. Following Merkon's betrayal, who was playing both sides for personal gain, an Imperial assault on the Rebel base prompts Kanos to demonstrate his exceptional combat skills.
After the invasion, Kanos reveals his sworn "blood oath" against Carnor Jax, whom he accuses of accelerating Emperor Palpatine's death and orchestrating the murder of the entire Royal Guard unit. Although Sinn expresses interest in recruiting Kanos to the rebel cause, Kanos asserts that he operates alone, solely to fulfill his oath to kill Jax. Nevertheless, Sinn assists Kanos in leaving the planet, acting as his decoy and being captured in the process. Under torture, she reveals his destination as Yinchorr, the Royal Guard training world. After freeing Sinn, Jax takes his Star Destroyer, the Emperor's Revenge, to Yinchorr, where the ship's crew falls into a trap set by Kanos. Kanos captures his starfighter, which was rigged to explode, destroying the Emperor's Revenge.
Jax manages to survive the destruction of his flagship, landing in The Squall on the planet's surface with a squad of stormtroopers. Kanos engages in an intense duel with his former fellow guardsman and nearly loses. However, the arrival of Mirith Sinn and her right-hand man, Sish Sadeet, provides enough of a distraction for Kanos to regain his composure and overpower Jax. Despite Sinn and Sadeet's desire to capture Jax alive, Kanos executes the usurper emperor and kills Sadeet when the Trandoshan attempts to intervene. Kanos bids farewell to Sinn, vowing to eliminate any remaining enemies of Palpatine. Sinn, in turn, vows to avenge Sadeet's death by killing Kanos.
In the aftermath of Carnor Jax's death, the Imperial Ruling Council, the interim governing body of the Empire in Palpatine's absence, finds itself embroiled in a power struggle. Simultaneously, members of the council are assassinated one by one, with the perpetrator leaving clues that implicate Kir Kanos. Feena D'Asta, the daughter of wealthy baron Ragez D'Asta, proposes a peace treaty with the New Republic. Meanwhile, the criminal organization Black Sun orchestrates Feena's kidnapping by the crime lord Grappa the Hutt, intending to replace her and other council members with clones grown from Spaarti cloning cylinders.
Two years after the events of Council of Blood, Kir Kanos is sought after by Ennix Devian, a threat to the galaxy significant enough for Vima-Da-Boda to warn Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Devian, the leader of the Restored Empire, a splinter faction of the Imperial Remnant, aims to reform the Empire according to Palpatine's ideals, similar to Kanos. To achieve this, Devian hires bounty hunter Boba Fett to locate Kanos, who is operating under the alias "Kenix Kil" in the remote region of Meenka, and bring him to the Restored Empire's homebase on RZ7-6113-23. There, Kanos is introduced to a massive army and fleet comprised of Clone Wars-era equipment, which Devian intends to use to attack the homeworlds of both the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic, establishing a new order. Meanwhile, political unrest erupts on various worlds due to the influence of Nom Anor, a man of unknown origin who arranges the theft of a small supply of the volatile and highly explosive material zinethium from a storehouse on Nyara.
Recognizing Devian as a corrupt "thug" and assassin lacking moral principles, Kanos rejects his political ideals and escapes from the base in a captured shuttle. He travels to Coruscant to reconcile with Mirith Sinn and warn her of Devian's impending attack. Unbeknownst to him, the shuttle has been embedded with the stolen zinethium, which Luke Skywalker abandons in orbit just as it detonates. The blame falls on Kanos, who was accompanying Sinn to a potential peace treaty between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic hosted by the D'Asta family. Soon after the attempted attack on Coruscant, Devian's stormtroopers disrupt the peace summit, and Feena D'Asta is killed in the ensuing firefight. With peace talks derailed by what appears to be a New Republic ambush, Admiral Gilad Pellaeon of the Imperial Remnant swiftly launches a retaliatory fleet toward Coruscant. With the Imperial homeworld of Orinda relatively undefended, Devian mobilizes his fleet to attack.
Amidst this political and military chaos, Kanos and Sinn form an alliance with Feena's father, Ragez, who offers his fleet to ambush Devian's fleet as it enters the Orinda system. They narrowly save Admiral Pellaeon from capture by Devian during the battle, and Kanos challenges Devian to a final duel. Kanos defeats and kills Devian but sustains critical injuries in the process. He seizes this opportunity to fake his death, allowing the New Republic to "posthumously" pardon him for his crimes while he recovers from his wounds in one of Ragez D'Asta's safehouses. D'Asta and his remaining daughter, the clone of Feena created by Black Sun whom he adopted, help Kanos embark on a new life, free from the influence of the Empire.
An audio dramatization of the initial miniseries was released as a two-disc/cassette set in 1999.