Tanivos Exantor Divo

Biography

Early life

Tanivos Exantor Divo's birth occurred on Level 3215 of Coruscant, a planet situated within the Core Worlds and serving as the capital of the Galactic Republic. Level 3215 was located far from Coruscant's sunlit surface, yet it was positioned above many of the more perilous levels of the ecumenopolis. Divo belonged to a family with a fourteen-generation history of involvement in law enforcement. During his childhood, he and his family resided in Gavas-Eclat, a district characterized by underutilized industrial zones and lower-income housing complexes. The working-class nature of Gavas-Eclat attracted criminals seeking to exploit the hardworking residents for their meager earnings.

The young Tan Divo witnessed his father and many other workers being coerced into paying protection money to thugs, and observing his family's suffering due to the rampant crime on Level 3215 instilled in him a strong sense of justice and fairness. Divo committed his life to ending the injustice that permeated Coruscant and dedicated himself to his academic pursuits, ultimately securing a scholarship to the Federal District Police Academy at the age of sixteen. His efforts culminated in his graduation as valedictorian. At the graduation ceremony, Divo delivered a valedictory address to his 4,500 fellow newly appointed deputies, emphasizing that their role as law enforcement officers was not to focus on the negative aspects of people but to ensure the safety of the virtuous.

Police inspector

Finding his footing

Following his graduation from the police academy, Divo began his career as a patrolman within the Coruscant Security Force and eventually progressed to the position of Inspector with the rank of lieutenant. Divo advocated for extensive reforms in the police force's investigative procedures, proposing the establishment of a comprehensive network for information sharing and coordination, extending from the upper levels to the beat officers operating in the deepest parts of Coruscant. However, Divo's proposals were consistently blocked by judges, lobbyists, and other politicians who benefited from the systems of crime and disinvestment prevalent in Coruscant's lower levels.

During his early years, Divo's primary adversary was Malastare Senator Aks Moe, who wielded considerable influence over the courts and politicians who impeded his reform efforts. Moe criticized Divo's police methods, alleging that they allowed narcotics from Coruscant's lower levels to infiltrate the Galactic Senate, leading to a deposition hearing where the outraged senator questioned Divo about his work. In contrast to the flamboyant Moe, Divo spoke plainly and directly, asserting that the Republic's complacency was the root cause of the widespread crime throughout the capital. Subsequently, Divo altered his approach to police work, recognizing that he could not achieve justice at the highest levels while facing opposition from powerful and well-connected individuals like Moe. By focusing on minor cases, Divo aimed to build more substantial cases against the crime lords who operated freely on Coruscant and the politicians who collaborated with them.

Divo had significant disagreements with the Jedi Order, a revered religious group that claimed to be the guardians of peace and justice. The Jedi, whose missions were assigned by the Senate, primarily addressed issues such as piracy, interplanetary disputes, and sovereignty, rarely focusing on the crime within Coruscant. Divo felt that Coruscant's law enforcement was alone in its struggle to bring justice to the planet, but he found an ally in Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, the Jedi Order's liaison with the local police. Vos demonstrated respect for the police and empathized with their frustrations regarding the Republic's shortcomings, becoming a valuable source of intelligence and insights from the upper echelons of Coruscant's society. Despite his general reservations about the Jedi, Divo praised Vos in his reports.

The Pykes

Throughout his career, Divo was involved in several cases connected to the Oba Diah-based Pyke Syndicate, a criminal enterprise specializing in the transportation and distribution of the narcotic substance spice. A lack of cooperation between different divisions facilitated the Pyke's expansion across Coruscant, where spice addiction became a widespread problem in the undercity. Divo worked to uncover spice dens and Pyke business operations on the planet but found himself succumbing to suspicion and stereotypes as he investigated legitimate businesses owned by Pykes who were not affiliated with the Oba Diah syndicate.

As part of a CSF crackdown on Pyke Syndicate rackets on Coruscant, Divo investigated several Pyke residences and searched numerous Pyke-owned restaurants and kitchens suspected of being secret spice dens. Despite his reservations about this practice, stemming from the fact that most of the individual Pykes he encountered had no connection to the Syndicate and were reported to the CSF due to discrimination, Divo's searches yielded some results. In 7942 C.R.C., the CSF brought in a spice-addicted holo-star for questioning, and in exchange for keeping her name out of the headlines, she provided the CSF with information about a spice den operating out of a curio shop on Level 3321. Based on her intelligence, the CSF deployed probe droids to monitor the shop. Through their surveillance, the CSF confirmed that the curio shop was a spice den run by spice dealer Tach Drud and linked Drud's operation to a wealthy senatorial lobbyist and a cargo hauler.

The Pyke Syndicate's influence extended beyond the lower levels, reaching the highest echelons of the Republic. Senator Yudrish Sedran of Chalacta was under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes from the Pykes in exchange for overlooking their expansion beyond Pyke space and granting them limited ambassadorial status, which provided Pyke delegates with legitimacy and access to the Senate. Divo and a team of forensic droids sealed off Sedran's offices and apartments and conducted a thorough examination of their contents for evidence of criminal activity. Among the seized items were several Pyke paintings, including a portrait of Pyke Syndicate capo Lom Pyke, which Sedran claimed was a cultural exchange gift from Oba Diah. Sedran's elite legal team successfully cleared the senator of charges, but the portrait did lead to the downfall of some Pyke operations. Divo's forensics team analyzed the paintings and discovered grains of Kessel spice within the canvas' velvet pile, and, using the unique organic cores of the spice grains, CSF sniffer droids and hound teams tracked down contraband at the Level 1313 docks.

Working against cartels

An attempt by Zugga Entertainment to establish a podrace course in the Grand Aratech Gravidrome on Coruscant prompted Divo to conduct extensive research into the sport, whose dubious reputation aroused his suspicions. Podracing was a dangerous Outer Rim sport that was gaining popularity in the Core Worlds. Zugga learned that law enforcement was taking an interest in their project, which ultimately failed. Divo's investigation into podracing revealed the inherent lethality and corruption associated with the sport, with massive corporate sponsors investing heavily in the races and the racers themselves engaging in ruthless and criminal behavior. During his research, Divo encountered the podracer Sebulba, whom some children in the Outer Rim idolized. Reflecting on Sebulba's criminal actions in podracing and the adoration he received, the lieutenant was relieved that the sport would not find a home on Coruscant.

Some time after the Zugga plan fell through, Divo received an anonymous tip intended to support his investigation into podracing-related crimes. The evidence, a hologram, purportedly solved the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Neva Kee, a promising podracer who vanished during the Boonta Eve Classic of 7945 C.R.C., held on Tatooine in the city of Mos Espa. Footage of the race did not include the section where Kee disappeared, and later rumors published by Podracing Quarterly suggested that Kee had fled to escape creditors. Divo was unable to verify the authenticity of the image, which depicted Tatooine-based crime lord Jabba the Hutt paying bounty hunter Aurra Sing while two henchmen dragged Kee from a podrace crash. The Mos Espa case officer, who was investigating the case, contacted Divo for assistance. Divo's theory, which he updated years after the incident, was that the original manufacturers of Kee's podracer, Farwan & Glott, orchestrated the hit on Kee to acquire his modification secrets.

Divo and the CSF's surveillance operations were not limited to the Pykes. Divo's agents initiated attempts to infiltrate Ziro's Palace, the nightclub owned by Ziro Desilijic Tiure, a Hutt with connections to the powerful Hutt Cartel in the Outer Rim. Ziro was an anomaly among the Hutt's commercial ventures, having established his criminal empire on Coruscant, far from Hutt Space. Divo found it challenging to implicate Ziro in any illegal activity due to a lack of evidence and his reluctance to subject Ziro to stereotypes, as was often the case with the Pykes. However, Divo did discover that Ziro's clientele often included members of the criminal underworld and that the Hutts had several fronts and operations on Coruscant that contributed to the reelection funds of politicians on Coruscant. Although he was unable to formally charge Ziro with any crime, Divo's undercover agents in his nightclub captured footage of influential political clients, providing the Inspector with additional leads to pursue.

One of the perplexing cases Divo investigated involved the Xrexus Cartel, a group of semi-legitimate droid manufacturing firms from the Mid Rim Territories that colluded to fix prices and distribute unlicensed combat automata from the Outer Rim. Divo first became aware of the Xrexus Cartel when he intercepted a shipment of fake restraining bolts intended for The Glitch, a splinter group of the notorious Droid Gotra, a droid emancipation organization, who were planning a droid uprising on Coruscant. Divo attempted to follow up on the Xrexus Cartel, but all his leads dried up as both the cartel and its founder, Boss-Mistress Xev Xrexus, seemingly disappeared from the galaxy. However, Divo did discover an invitation to an auction hosted by Xrexus and her cartel, offering the prize of a "treasured rarity of extreme import and interest." With no further leads into the strange situation, the Xrexus case went cold.

In 26 BBY, an Utapaun named Zodu Onglo was arrested on Level 1671 for aggravated assault following a failed attempt to sell a cache of stolen weapons. Inspector Divo traveled to the scene of the incident, where he questioned witnesses as Coruscant's underworld officers took Onglo into custody. Divo followed up on Onglo's arrest with further investigation, which revealed a connection between the criminal and the Wandering Star syndicate based out of Level 1313. A few years later, Lieutenant Divo spoke at the Federal District Police Academy class of C.R.C. 7953.4.

Around this time, Divo and the CSF launched investigations into Xomit Transport Systems, a Falleen-based shipping company with a major regional hub on Mustafar. XTS was linked to several incidents of contraband smuggling and was suspected of being controlled by the Black Sun syndicate. Although the CSF had numerous leads that could have exposed the case against XTS and the Black Sun, the shipping company was protected by wealthy trading guilds with senators in their pockets. Attempts to gain access to XTS cargo were blocked by these trade guilds, who issued permits and waivers that rendered the CSF's leads useless.

The Clone Wars

Surveillance and compromise

In 22 BBY, during the escalating tensions between the Republic and its breakaway state, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Divo and the CSF initiated a series of operations to monitor criminals and suspected crime hotspots on Coruscant. One of the establishments under Divo's surveillance was Dex's Diner, a restaurant located in the Collective Commerce District, also known as "Coco Town." The diner was situated near the Federal District and Ziro's Palace. Divo's surveillance revealed a pattern between Ziro's nightclub and Dex's, in which individuals who initially met at the upscale Ziro's would eventually frequent the unpretentious Dex's Diner, which operated around the clock. Despite managing to conceal his own illegal activities and deceive Divo, the owner of Dex's Diner, Dexter Jettster, was not pleased with Divo's interference but was respected by the Inspector for his good nature. Divo's investigations found no connection between Dex and the criminal deals made by his patrons, and his surveillance operation scaled back at Dex's request, as he did not want his business to be associated with privacy violations. Out of respect for Dex, Divo decided to keep the CSF at a distance from the diner, but he continued to monitor the establishment.

As the Senate prepared for a controversial vote on the Military Creation Act, Senator Padmé Amidala of the Chommell sector was the target of two assassination attempts. The first attempt involved the bombing of the senator's ship, resulting in the deaths of seven members of her retinue and the postponement of the vote. Later that night, a second assassination attempt was made using two venomous arthropods. Lieutenant Divo negotiated with the investigating Jedi Knights to secure the creatures for further study, which was granted. The investigation revealed that the would-be assassin, later identified as Zam Wesell, had used an ASN courier droid to introduce the arthropods into Amidala's bedroom while she slept. Divo sent the bisected corpses of the creatures to the Coruscant Zoo for identification. The myriapodologists at the zoo identified the creatures as Indoumodo kouhuns and preserved the specimens in a canister for evidence. The zoo, in collaboration with the CSF, extracted the venom sacks from the kouhuns in an attempt to develop an anti-venom. Divo's official report of the incident credited Amidala's head of security, Captain Gregar Typho, for his swift response to the attempt on her life, but he made little mention of the Jedi who had been present.

One individual who captured Divo's attention was Dannl Faytonni, a small-time con artist with a growing number of incident reports. Faytonni was known to frequent the entertainment establishments of the Uscru District, primarily in the levels ranging from the 4000s to the mid-3000s. Faytonni's most serious offense was impersonating an officer of the Republic Judiciary, which led to the issuance of an arrest warrant. The tensions between the Republic and Confederacy reached a breaking point when the Republic responded militarily to the Confederacy's actions, resulting in the outbreak of war with the First Battle of Geonosis. However, a sudden shift in Republic resources forced Divo and the CSF to make compromises in their work and prioritize certain cases.

The Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, Sheev Palpatine, proposed a measure to heavily regulate coaxium markets, allocating hyperspace fuels to transport agencies that adhered to law enforcement regulations. This measure was opposed by the merchant guilds that protected XTS, leaving Divo and the CSF unable to take action against the shipping company and leaving their fate in the hands of the Senate. In a more disappointing turn, Divo was compelled to reassign personnel to focus on enhancing security on Coruscant, preventing him from continuing to pursue Faytonni. Faytonni, an adaptable and cunning individual, engaged in a game of cat and mouse by providing Divo with hints while remaining elusive. Inspector Divo allowed him to do so in order to gain insights into potentially useful leads and larger targets. Although he had reservations about allowing Faytonni to continue his petty crimes, Divo was confident that he would eventually apprehend him.

Among the individuals Divo had observed at Dex's Diner were the Salenga Ione Marcy and the Terrelian Jango Jumper Cassilyda Cryar. Marcy was the live-in girlfriend of notorious hitman Nack Movers, who had evaded the law due to his connections, which prevented the mounting evidence of dead informants, accountants, and corrupt cops from catching up to him. As a result of this protection, Movers and Marcy lived in a luxurious skyrise apartment on the upper east side of the Jrade District. Despite this, Divo maintained an active case file on Movers' activities, hoping to bring him to justice. Movers' paranoia led him to hire Cryar as a bodyguard. Marcy and Cryar developed a close relationship, and the two conspired to kill Movers after he began making unwanted advances toward the bodyguard. Movers was found dead by the Jedi Tera Sinube and Ahsoka Tano, who traced Tano's stolen lightsaber to Movers. Tano engaged Cryar in a chase as she attempted to escape, while Sinube cornered Marcy and deduced her guilt, only for her to escape. With assistance from the elderly Sinube, Tano apprehended Cryar and Marcy at a tram station before they could flee.

The CSF, in collaboration with Jedi crime scene analysis droid Russo-ISC, conducted an investigation into Movers' death, which revealed that he had died after consuming a drink laced with Sennari. Movers' preferred weapon was poison, as he had apparently been trained as a Malkite poisoner. In his notes, Divo commented that although the CSF had failed to bring Movers to justice, justice had caught up to him through someone he had underestimated, namely Marcy. Examinations of overturned furniture and claw marks on a painting of Movers, Marcy, and Cryar indicated that his death had been almost instantaneous, following a series of convulsions caused by the poison. Divo found it ironic that Movers had made a living poisoning individuals and ultimately suffered the same fate.

The trial of Boba Fett

After Boba Fett was apprehended and brought to Coruscant, Divo initiated a case file on the young boy. Fett was the unaltered clone of renowned bounty hunter Jango Fett, who had served as the original genetic donor for the Republic's clone army. Jango had been killed during the First Battle of Geonosis by Jedi Master Mace Windu in self-defense, an event witnessed by the impressionable Boba. Along with known criminals and bounty hunters Aurra Sing and Bossk, he attempted to exact revenge on Windu by bombing his quarters on the Star Destroyer Endurance, and, after their initial attempt failed, destroying the entire ship by disabling it over Vanqor.

Both attempts to assassinate Windu were unsuccessful, and the bounty hunters subsequently laid a trap for him within the remains of the Endurance. This trap consisted of Jango Fett's helmet, rigged with a shaped baradium explosive. When the bomb detonated during their investigation of the downed vessel, both Windu and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker were trapped under debris for several hours before rescue. Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano later tracked Fett and the other hunters to Florrum, where they apprehended Boba and Bossk, although Sing evaded capture and seemingly died in a starship crash. Divo and the CSF were then entrusted with a portion of Jango Fett's damaged helmet; after Windu provided testimony authenticating the helmet, it was analyzed and entered into evidence.

Fett faced charges for attempting to murder Windu, as well as for bombing the Star Destroyer Endurance above Vanqor. Fett and Bossk were both taken into custody and transported to Coruscant, where their involvement in the conspiracy was processed. Divo kept a close watch on the proceedings, intrigued by how a boy so young could be involved in criminal activities. Defense attorneys claimed that Fett was a minor manipulated by Sing, whom they identified as the true instigator. Conversely, others argued that Fett, as a clone, was property of the Republic and therefore did not have the same rights to due process.

Windu himself advocated for leniency and rehabilitation for Fett, rather than punitive measures. However, the Republic Judiciary rejected this recommendation, citing their strict policy against attacks on military assets during wartime. Divo concurred with Windu's assessment of Fett in his official report. Furthermore, Divo was deeply disturbed by the implications that the Grand Army of the Republic was essentially an army of children, as young as Fett, who resembled how many clones would look without the accelerated aging process implemented by their Kaminoan creators. Ultimately, Boba and Bossk were convicted and incarcerated at the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant.

Mandalorians and Moogans

Some time passed before Divo received contact from Captain Patrok Ru-Saxon of the Mandalorian Guard, the law enforcement agency serving the governing New Mandalorian regime on Mandalore. Ru-Saxon had recently assisted the Mandalorian leader, Duchess Satine Kryze, in exposing a black market ring that had established itself on the planet, leading to a poisoning outbreak in several schools. Zak Zaz, a Mandalorian physician, identified the cause of the outbreak as a Moogan Tea variant known as Ardees Beverage, which had been brewed with slabin to prolong its shelf life. The slabin had become toxic due to its high concentration in the mixture. An investigation led by Kryze and visiting Republic Senator Padmé Amidala uncovered the Moogan smuggling operations at the Sundari dockyards. Following a firefight at the Moogan's base that resulted in Ru-Saxon's injury and the arrest of Tee Va, the head of the smuggling operation, Kryze ordered the warehouse burned as a symbol of the consequences of corruption on Mandalore, despite Ru-Saxon's objections that it contained valuable evidence.

Although Ru-Saxon couldn't extract further information from the smuggler's base, he analyzed the Moogan transport ship's navi-computer logs, which indicated a stop on Coruscant. Ru-Saxon inferred that they were planning to expand their black market operations to Coruscant and informed Lieutenant Divo of his findings. Divo was taken aback by this unprompted alert from Mandalore, a world known for its autonomy and neutrality under Kryze's leadership. Acting on Ru-Saxon's information, Divo located and intercepted a shipment at the Eastport Docks bound for the Coruscant underlevels before it could cause any harm, confiscating several pallets of the tainted Moogan tea. As a gesture of gratitude, Divo sent Ru-Saxon a bottle of artisanal Tarine tea and, in return, received a bottle of Mandalorian kri'gee ale.

The Papanoida kidnappings

During the Clone Wars, a crisis emerged on the moon of Pantora when the Trade Federation imposed a blockade on the system. While the Trade Federation claimed the blockade was to collect overdue debts, its true aim was to pressure the moon into joining the Confederacy. When Baron Notluwiski Papanoida, the Supreme Chairman of Pantora, arrived on Coruscant to communicate with Pantoran Senator Riyo Chuchi, his two daughters, Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe, disappeared. Divo was assigned to the case and, with a team of police droids, conducted a search of the Papanoida's apartments as part of the investigation. However, the search yielded no evidence of any crime. Divo and his team encountered Baron Papanoida and his son, Ion, as they were leaving the apartment. Divo informed Papanoida that his search revealed nothing suspicious, and the impatient baron responded that his daughters' lives were in Divo's hands. Divo assured the baron that the CSF had the situation under control, and then departed the apartment complex to continue the investigation.

Unfortunately, Divo had overlooked a crucial detail during his search of the Papanoida's apartment. During the investigation, he and his team had inadvertently displaced the Icon of the Moon Goddess, mistaking its new position as its intended location. Upon returning to the apartment, Papanoida noticed the statuette's incorrect placement, and while returning it to its shrine, discovered blood underneath. Dismissing Divo's investigation, Papanoida and his son analyzed the blood themselves, learning that Chi Eekway and Che Amanwe had been abducted by a bounty hunter named Greedo. With the assistance of Senator Chuchi and Jedi Ahsoka Tano, Papanoida launched an unsanctioned effort to track down and rescue his daughters, effectively ending the Trade Federation blockade in the process.

Stifled investigations

In the early years of the Clone Wars, the Republic established a treaty with the Hutt Clan to secure access to the Hutts' Outer Rim hyperspace routes and trade networks. This agreement, negotiated between Republic representatives and Jabba the Hutt, followed the arrest of Ziro for plotting to overthrow Jabba and for siding with the Confederacy. Divo and other law enforcement officials initially believed that the treaty would extend Republic jurisdiction into Hutt Space, but they soon found their authority restricted in legal and political matters. Hutt lawyers amended the treaty in such a way that they could scrutinize Republic affairs, but the Republic could not do the same to them. This limited scope rendered much of Divo's collected intelligence on the Hutt cartels, which would have been inadmissible in court anyway, ultimately useless, as there was no way to use it against the clans.

Despite this setback, Divo and other Republic agencies persevered in gathering information. To gain access to the Grand Hutt Council chambers on Nal Hutta, a translator droid was gifted to the cartel leaders through a third party. The droid captured an image of Ziro the Hutt appearing before the Hutt Council, after he was freed from Republic custody following a Hutt-orchestrated hostage crisis in the Senate. Bounty hunters had taken several senators hostage, and Ziro's release was the condition for their safety. While the image, like Divo's other evidence against the Hutts, was legally unusable, it provided him and the CSF with valuable insights into the Hutt Clan's illicit activities. Ziro was later found mysteriously murdered on Teth shortly after his release. The Hutt Council had ordered his assassination to prevent him from leaking damaging information about their crimes, a fact that remained unknown to the Republic.

When Divo received reports of young people being abducted from Coruscant and trafficked to the Outer Rim, he used his network of contacts to determine their final destination. His contacts identified Zygerria, the homeworld of the Zygerrians and the ancient, pre-Republic Zygerrian Slave Empire. The Zygerrians, emboldened by the Republic's instability, had revived their underground slave trade, preying on those displaced by the war to fuel their growing empire. Unfortunately, Divo was unable to take action due to Zygerria's sovereign status, which limited the Republic's ability to intervene against the slavers.

It wasn't until the Zygerrians became allies with the Separatists after raiding and kidnapping a Togruta colony on Kiros that the Republic launched a military operation to liberate the planet. During a raid against the Zygerrian's kidnapping operations in the Core Worlds, a shipping container containing twenty-seven young people from Coruscant, Corellia, and Denon was seized. One of the Zygerrians' weapons, an electro-whip, was given to Divo as evidence. Analysis of the weapon's design and construction provided Divo and other law enforcement agencies with further insight into the Zygerrians' methods of torturing their slaves.

Murders in the Senate

As opposing factions in the Senate debated the Republic's military spending, Lieutenant Divo was assigned to investigate the sudden death of Senator Onaconda Farr of Rodia. Farr had seemingly suffered a heart attack while celebrating his success in overturning legislation that would have increased military funding, alongside his allies. Divo requested a thorough autopsy of Farr's body by forensic science commander V2A DAZ, who discovered traces of poison in the Rodian's bloodstream. The autopsy revealed that the poison was of Kaminoan origin and only affected Rodians. This report prompted the CSF to launch an investigation led by Divo, who began by gathering Farr's allies in Chancellor Palpatine's office. Shortly after Farr's funeral, Divo assembled the Supreme Chancellor, Vice Chair Mas Amedda, Senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Padmé Amidala, and Rodia's junior representative Lolo Purs for questioning.

After Amidala and Purs arrived at the Chancellor's office, Palpatine introduced Divo, who inquired if Amidala and Purs knew of anyone who disliked Farr enough to murder him. Purs insisted that no one would want him dead, but Divo countered that if that were true, Farr would still be alive. Organa interjected that even Farr's political adversaries respected him. When Organa requested more time for his allies to process the situation, Divo asserted that there was no time to spare; he needed to apprehend a murderer who was still at large. Amidala asked why the inspector suspected murder, and he explained that poison had been found in Farr's bloodstream. Divo elaborated that poison was the preferred method of assassination for politicians, who always had something to hide, before realizing he was speaking in a room full of politicians. He theorized that Farr's murder was politically motivated, possibly triggered by a secret of Farr's being revealed. Amidala countered that Farr had no secrets and suggested that the murderer may have been motivated by Onaconda's anti-war bill on the Senate floor instead. Annoyed by Amidala's interruption, Divo asked her to leave the investigation to him, then left the Chancellor's office to continue his work.

Despite Divo's request that Farr's allies not interfere, Amidala and Organa decided to pursue their own theories about Farr's death. After questioning Senators Halle Burtoni of Kamino and Mee Deechi of Umbara, some of Farr's political opponents, they learned that Farr had been followed by one of Deechi's operatives, who had observed him in a secret meeting with someone at the docks under the derrick major the night before he died. With this new information, Amidala insisted that she and Organa investigate the dockyard themselves. While they were there, they were attacked by an unknown assailant. After their attacker fled, they contacted the CSF, and Divo arrived with a contingent of police droids.

Approaching Amidala and Organa, Divo reprimanded the former for interfering with his investigation. Amidala attempted to justify her actions, telling the Inspector what she had learned from Deechi. Divo, however, retorted that she should have brought the information to him, but she had not. He reminded Amidala that there were rules, to which she declared that she did not care about rules. Dumbfounded, Divo explained that everyone must care about rules because, without them, there would be chaos. Despite this, Organa dismissed him. Divo then pointed out that they could have alerted the killer to the fact that his investigation was closing in. Although Divo again warned them not to interfere, Amidala and Organa began theorizing that Deechi was responsible for Farr's death and left to confront him. Divo yelled at the two not to leave an active crime scene but relented and followed them with a trio of police droids. When Divo and the senators arrived at Deechi's office, however, they found the Umbaran dead in his chair, stabbed to death with a knife still lodged in his chest. Upon seeing the corpse, Divo commented on how their findings would require another report.

With the confirmed murders of two sitting senators, Divo placed the Senate Building on lockdown and ordered Organa, Amidala, Mothma, and Purs to remain in Amidala's office under his protection for the duration of his investigation. Purs protested that Divo's lockdown was making them easy targets, and, although Divo reasoned that even if the killer breached his security, not all of them would be killed, she stormed out of the room. One of Divo's police droids moved to stop her, but the Inspector ordered it to let her go. Divo questioned Amidala on whether anyone else knew that she and Organa had gone to the docks, and she revealed that Senator Burtoni had been present when she and Organa learned of Farr's visit to the docks from Deechi. With this new lead, Divo sent a team of droids to search Burtoni's office, but when he arrived he learned that Burtoni had seemingly fled. Divo then returned to Amidala's office and interrogated Mothma.

Just then, Purs returned in a panic, claiming that Burtoni had attacked her, and Divo sent his droids to apprehend the Kaminoan. With the alleged culprit in custody, Divo had her brought to the Chancellor's office, where he confronted her alongside Mothma, Organa, Amidala, and the Chancellor himself the following morning. Divo began questioning Burtoni, who was informally charged with the assassinations of both Farr and Deechi, in addition to attacking Purs. Burtoni plainly told Divo that she would not attack someone as insignificant as Purs and, likewise, only saw Farr as a "harmless bug" and considered Deechi an ally. Divo pointed out how Burtoni had coincidentally been in Amidala's office right before Farr died and had been in Deechi's office to hear about Farr's meeting at the dockyards. Burtoni maintained her innocence, but Divo presented the evidence against her, including the Kaminoan poison used on Farr. Believing that he had found the motive, means, and opportunity, Divo had his guards take Burtoni away.

As the CSF droids took Burtoni into custody, Amidala realized that Purs would have been killed had she drunk the poisoned wine as Farr had. With suspicion now focused on her, Purs exposed herself and pointed her blaster at Amidala, inadvertently confessing to everything Divo had accused Burtoni of committing. Purs revealed that she had killed Farr because of his previous, but later retracted, support for the Confederacy during a planetary crisis earlier in the war, believing that he was too weak to represent the Rodian people. While she was distracted, Divo activated two police droids stationed outside with his datapad. The droids prevented Purs from leaving the room, and Amidala, still enraged by Farr's death, knocked the blaster out of her hand and then knocked her unconscious with a punch. With the murders of Farr and Deechi solved, Divo had his droids take Purs into custody, and the Senate resumed its business.

Plot to kidnap the Supreme Chancellor

During the middle years of the Clone Wars, a number of prominent criminals were apprehended and incarcerated at Coruscant's Central Detention Center, several of whom had been under Divo's close surveillance for years. Among those captured was Moralo Eval, a sociopathic and violent serial killer renowned for his twisted genius and remarkable ability to evade capture. Eval was apprehended by a police detachment on Denon, but a lapse in the Judiciary's oversight allowed him to interact with other inmates while confined in the Central Detention Center.

Shortly after Eval's imprisonment, the renowned and infamous bounty hunter Cad Bane, who had risen to prominence as the "best bounty hunter in the galaxy" during the Clone Wars, was also arrested. Divo had been monitoring Bane for years, despite Bane's supposed legal status as a licensed bounty hunter. However, during the Clone Wars, Bane launched several large-scale attacks against the Republic and the Jedi, including the Senate hostage crisis to free Ziro the Hutt. Following these incidents, the Republic Judiciary apprehended him and took him into custody. Upon reviewing his intake holo, Divo merely remarked that Bane seemed confident he would escape from prison.

The third high-profile criminal taken into custody was Rako Hardeen, whom Divo had been pursuing for years. Hardeen, also known as the Marksman of Concord Dawn, was a bounty hunter known for accepting extralegal assignments. Divo was frequently able to update his profile on Hardeen due to the hunter's frequent visits to Coruscant, but he was never able to build a case against him. One morning, however, Divo was surprised to receive an alert that the Jedi had arrested him and were holding him prisoner at the Jedi Temple. Divo immediately requested access to Hardeen but was denied any contact with him.

Even after Hardeen was transferred to the Central Detention Center, Divo's requests to interview him or review the Jedi's arrest reports were denied. Eventually, Divo received a heavily redacted copy of the arrest report, which only revealed that Hardeen had accepted a bounty on a Jedi Council member and assassinated Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on behalf of a redacted employer. Divo immediately recognized that even this redacted information was enough to expose whoever was supporting Hardeen, but the Jedi again denied Divo access to their intelligence on the matter.

Within a week of Hardeen's arrest, Divo learned that Kenobi was still alive, having impersonated Hardeen to infiltrate the prison community and uncover a supposed assassination plot against Chancellor Palpatine. Kenobi, posing as "Hardeen," conspired with Bane and Eval and orchestrated a prison break that released dozens of dangerous criminals onto the streets of Coruscant. Divo was incredulous at this revelation, especially after discovering that the Supreme Chancellor's office had no record of the plot against him. Divo contacted Chancellor Palpatine to obtain further information. The Chancellor informed him that the entire operation was an elaborate Jedi scheme to prevent an assassination attempt orchestrated by Moralo Eval from behind bars. The Chancellor expressed sympathy for Divo's anger and shared his concern that the Jedi had not included him in their plans. Divo was struck by the Chancellor's admission of unease with the Jedi's growing autonomy during the war.

Despite what he learned from his conversation with Palpatine, Divo doubted he would ever gain a complete understanding of the Jedi's risky plot. Further attempts at investigation revealed that the mercenary plot heavily relied on criminal inventor Sinrich's holographic disguise matrix but yielded little else. All the mercenaries involved in the assassination attempt, including Bane and Eval, were apprehended after their plan was thwarted by Kenobi. Despite having Bane and Eval back in custody, the fate of the real Rako Hardeen remained a secret, one that the Jedi would keep hidden.

Krayt's Claw

Divo's long-standing fascination with Boba Fett, which began earlier in the Clone Wars, persisted even after the boy's escape from incarceration. As a fugitive evading Republic justice, Fett largely avoided Republic-controlled space, preferring the unregulated territories of the Outer Rim. Despite limited information, Divo meticulously updated his file on Fett, diligently tracking rumors of the boy's location in hopes of uncovering more details. Occasionally, Divo would hear whispers of Fett's return to Coruscant, sparking intense interest. It wasn't until the final year of the war that Divo finally learned the truth of Fett's activities, thanks to Sedra Hoxin, a constable from the Mos Eisley precinct, a Tatooine spaceport. Hoxin sent Divo a promotional holographic message advertising the services of the "Krayt's Claw," a bounty hunter group based on Tatooine, which included Fett among its members.

Within his records, Divo documented Fett's developing career as a bounty hunter, noting his exploitation of his father's reputation to cultivate notoriety. Despite Fett's growing involvement in criminal activities, Divo remained concerned for the boy's well-being and was wary of the bounty hunters associated with Krayt's Claw, later identified as Bossk, Aurra Sing, C-21 Highsinger, Dengar, Embo, and Latts Razzi. Consistent with his practice of creating individual entries for bounty hunters, Divo established separate dossiers for each within his case files. Later that year, Divo received a Life Day greeting from Constable Hoxin, a holo-image of the Krayt's Claw. From this image, Divo inferred that Fett was not only a member but also the leader of the gang. In the last entry of Fett's file, Divo speculated that Fett was likely attempting to fill the void left by his father's death. While he regretted the boy's turn to bounty hunting, he also believed it wasn't the worst possible path for him.

Approaching the Conclusion

A fresh complication arose for Divo and the CSF's protracted investigation into the leadership of Xomit Transport Systems during the Clone Wars: the death of XTS chairman, Xomit Grunseit. His passing led to a restructuring of the XTS board, leaving the identity of his successor shrouded in mystery.

Sometime prior to the war's final year, a surge of violence and questionable fund transfers exposed a brief but extensive criminal organization known as the Shadow Collective. Investigations revealed that this syndicate was a collaborative effort involving the Hutt Cartel, the Pyke Syndicate, Black Sun, and the Mandalorian terrorist group Death Watch. Divo and the CSF formulated a hypothetical list of the Collective's leaders: Jabba Desilijic Tiure of the Hutt Cartels, Pre Vizsla, former governor of the Mandalorian moon Concordia and leader of Death Watch, Lom Pyke, former capo and current head of the Pyke Syndicate, and Ziton Moj, leader of Black Sun and successor to Xomit Grunseit. Two additional figures, believed to be the primary architects of the organization, were known to Divo but remained unidentified. The Shadow Collective was suspected of financing the overthrow of Satine Kryze's government on Mandalore in 19 BBY, a long-held ambition of Vizsla's. During Mandalore's collapse, Kryze was deposed and killed, plunging the planet into chaos.

A series of pirate attacks along the Metellos Trade Route, a hyperspace lane leading to Coruscant, prompted Divo to issue an interdivisional request for information regarding Weequay raiders, based on limited evidence from the attacks. The resulting flood of reports yielded a single consistent name: Hondo Ohnaka. Ohnaka led the Ohnaka Gang, a Florrum-based group notorious for kidnapping Confederate Head of State Dooku early in the war. Divo's investigation into the gang revealed no clear political affiliations, as the group had clashed with both the Republic and the Confederacy, proving to be a nuisance to both. While reviewing the information, Divo discovered a "letter" sent to a raided ship by Ohnaka, along with a surveillance image of the infamous pirate captain. Despite his request generating a seemingly endless stream of requests, warrants, and rewards for Ohnaka's capture from various agencies, Divo ignored them all. For the duration of the war, Ohnaka remained confined to the Outer Rim frontier.

Near the end of the Clone Wars, a devastating terrorist attack at the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant highlighted the growing unpopularity of the war. The bombing appeared linked to a series of protests near the temple demanding an end to the conflict. A nano-droid-triggered carbon bomb detonated within the temple's launch facilities, resulting in the deaths of twelve crew members, eight clones, six Jedi, and injuries to dozens more. Jedi crime scene analyst Russo-ISC led a thorough investigation, assisted by Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Through holographic surveillance footage, the trio confirmed that the bomb originated within the body of a compromised crew member, Jackar Bowmani, a munitions expert with temple access. The initially internal Jedi investigation was eventually taken over by the Republic military due to the deaths of civilians and clone troopers. Divo and the police were largely excluded from the proceedings, although some intelligence was shared with the inspector.

In a surprising twist, Ahsoka Tano became the prime suspect in the attack after allegedly killing Letta Turmond, the protestor who had provided Bowmani with the nano-droids. Underworld CSF officers assisted in the search for the fugitive Jedi, who was captured by the Coruscant Guard and brought before a high court. Her innocence was ultimately proven when Jedi Knight Barriss Offee confessed to the crime and was arrested in Tano's place. Divo was denied information until after Offee's verdict was delivered. Following the trial, Divo received a heavily redacted report of the incident but was granted access to a neutralized sample of NM-K nanodroids and a compressed baryon canister used to smuggle them, which were entered as evidence and analyzed.

Imperial Age

Rise of the Empire

The Clone Wars ended dramatically in 19 BBY, when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared the Republic would be transformed into the first Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor Palpatine. This transition was facilitated by the Confederacy's loss of leadership, with the deaths of Head of State Dooku, General Grievous, and the Separatist Council in rapid succession, as well as the genocide of the Jedi following accusations of a rebellion attempt. Despite the Imperial government's revision of the Republic's penal code and the creation of the Imperial Security Bureau as its primary law enforcement and intelligence agency, Lieutenant Divo retained his position within the Coruscant Security Force.

Divo harbored skepticism regarding the notion of a "Jedi rebellion," despite his complex relationship with the Order. Quinlan Vos, with whom Divo had worked years prior, was among those presumed killed in the Jedi Purge. Despite Vos's alleged involvement in the Jedi insurrection, Divo remained silent on matters concerning him or other Jedi. Vos was later included on a list of potential Purge survivors and priority targets for the Jedi-hunting Inquisitorius.

The Xrexus Cold Case

During the first year of the Galactic Empire, Imperial forces apprehended KRONOS-841, a member of the Droid Gotra, who was subsequently interrogated by Divo. In exchange for leniency, KRONOS offered Divo a data dump of old memories, some dating back over a decade. While examining this data, Divo unexpectedly uncovered a new lead in the long-dormant Xrexus Cartel case. By piecing together KRONOS's memories, Divo and his agents reconstructed an image of Xev Xrexus, the founder of the cartel, at her mysterious auction in 32 BBY.

Using the reconstructed image and KRONOS's other memories, Divo gained insight into the fate of Xev Xrexus and her cartel. The auctioned item was a Jedi Padawan, Eldra Kaitis, for whom KRONOS and his associates were bidding through proxies. The auction was won by industrialist Jee Kra, who bid 2.5 million credits for the Padawan. KRONOS's evidence ended there, but further investigation by Divo revealed that Kra was found dead in a shuttle crash beyond Republic borders. Divo also uncovered an old order from the Office of the Supreme Chancellor, which closed investigations into Kra's death and classified related information. Both the Jedi Order's records and those of other Republic law enforcement agencies yielded nothing, and the Xrexus Cartel case went cold once more. In his files, Divo suspected that Kaitis had been killed at the auction or shortly thereafter, and that Xev Xrexus's disappearance was somehow connected to "Jedi business," explaining the lack of reports from other agencies.

Retirement and Final Years

During the early years of the Empire, Lieutenant Divo retired from the CSF with honors. Upon his retirement, many of his files, including extensive records on tattoo symbology, were transferred to the Imperial Office of Criminal Investigations. At Divo's recommendation, the Imperial Security Bureau implemented a tattoo identification system, deploying protocol droids specializing in the field to crowded spaceports and transit areas, where they could distinguish personal and cultural markings from criminal ones.

Divo's daughter, Andressa Divo, eager to continue the family's tradition of service, enrolled in the Federal District Police Academy, the same institution her father had attended. After graduating, Andressa chose to join the ISB as an agent. Having witnessed the Clone Wars' devastating impact on the galaxy, particularly on her father, Andressa embraced the Galactic Empire's rhetoric and ideology. However, the now-retired Inspector Divo was less enthusiastic about the New Order's totalitarian nature. He and Andressa maintained communication after she joined the ISB, where she was frequently deployed off-world to handle various incidents and investigations.

Following the Clone Wars, the Empire pardoned and expunged the criminal records of several bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, to utilize them as extensions of Imperial law enforcement. While taking custody of fugitive Isquik Tors from Fett, Andressa briefly spoke with the bounty hunter and later wrote to her father about their interaction, knowing his interest in Fett. In subsequent correspondence, Andressa informed Divo about his efforts to keep podracing off Coruscant, as she was investigating race circuits on Corellia based on CSF reports. She also utilized one of Divo's reports from the attempted kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine during the Clone Wars to further investigate the evolution of Sinrich's holographic disguise matrix.

Within the ISB, Andressa attempted to uncover more information about the leadership and operations of Xomit Transport Systems, with limited success. Tan and Andressa's differing views on the Empire's governance led to disagreements over Andressa's case involving the assassin droid IG-88B. Divo was appalled to learn that the Empire was employing the murderous droid and that Andressa treated it like any other bounty hunter. In Divo's view, IG-88 represented the Empire's extreme approach to law enforcement.

As rebellious movements emerged across the galaxy, Andressa's work focused on suppressing dissent and opposition to the Empire. She particularly focused on Senators Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, who had become increasingly critical of the Empire and secretive in their activities. In an act of treason, Mothma publicly defected from the Senate and declared the formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, while Organa became a part-time delegate, and his daughter, Leia Organa, became Senator of Alderaan. Both Organas were closely monitored by Andressa and the ISB.

Evidence of Alderaan's connection to the rebellion prompted Imperial Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to take decisive action against the planet. In 0 BBY, Tarkin used the newly unveiled superweapon, the Death Star, to destroy Alderaan. Tan Divo was on Alderaan at the time and was killed in the disaster, along with Organa and nearly two billion other life forms. That day marked the last time he and his daughter spoke. Following his death, all of Andressa's files on Bail Organa disappeared.

Legacy

In the years following Tan Divo's death and the destruction of Alderaan, the Galactic Civil War erupted between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, engulfing the galaxy. Andressa continued her service to the ISB, investigating Imperial defectors and smuggling operations. However, in 4 ABY, Emperor Palpatine was killed during the Battle of Endor, leading to the Empire's fragmentation. The Rebel Alliance reformed as the New Republic and, in 5 ABY, defeated the Empire at the Battle of Jakku, after which the Galactic Concordance formally ended the Empire's rule.

Andressa, remaining loyal to the Empire, fled with her young son, Exantor Divo, fearing execution by the New Republic as an enemy of the state. It took significant persuasion for her to emerge from hiding, after which the Republic assured her that her record did not warrant arrest or punishment, a conclusion reached after meticulous research by the new law enforcement chiefs. She was invited to assist the New Republic with her expertise, but she refused and retired, deeming the new government illegitimate.

Exantor Divo, meanwhile, followed in his family's footsteps and enrolled in the Hosnian Prime Academy of Law Enforcement, much to his mother's dismay. Although she did not prevent his enrollment, their subsequent communication became strained, and a divide grew between them over her support for the Empire, mirroring her relationship with her late father. Exantor graduated as part of the Class of 7996 C.R.C., with his mother absent from the ceremony. Years later, however, he discovered a holo from the event that was not part of the standard set released by the Academy. Contacting Andressa about it, she revealed that she had been present. In their conversation, she added that their family's tradition of law enforcement did not allow them the luxury of choosing the laws they enforce. In a significant departure from her beliefs during the early New Republic, she admitted to harboring misgivings about the Empire but lacking an outlet to express them, which damaged her relationship with her father. To prevent Exantor from experiencing the same isolation, she promised that he could always confide in her if he had doubts about New Republic law.

Despite initially aspiring to become a Sector Ranger, Exantor became the Police Commissioner on Hosnian Prime and received the New Republic Medal of Distinguished Public Service three times. He resided on Hosnian Prime with his partner and two children, the great-grandchildren of Tan Divo. Four years after becoming Commissioner, Exantor received Tanivos Divo's personal case files, which had been presumed lost during the Clone Wars. Exantor also gained access to Andressa's ISB files, and, along with his own, he compiled the three generations' worth of information and history into a collection titled Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious. In addition to his annotations and writings about his grandfather and mother's cases, Exantor included excerpts from their files and his reflections on the meaning and purpose of law enforcement. In the compilation's afterword, Exantor reflected on the enlightening realizations he had about law enforcement while reviewing his grandfather and mother's files, which he believed provided a valuable key to understanding the evolution of both crime and the law.

Personality and Characteristics

Tanivos Divo's impoverished and challenging upbringing instilled in him a strong sense of justice and fairness, which he utilized to address the widespread crime issues plaguing Coruscant. Divo firmly believed in rules and their strict enforcement. In his view, the absence of the rule of law inevitably led to chaos. Divo took immense pride in his abilities and adherence to established procedures. He could be arrogant and self-important, particularly towards authority figures he distrusted, such as Republic politicians. While he often carried himself with an air of arrogance, sometimes manifesting in actual arrogance, Divo deeply cared for his homeworld and his work. However, Divo's unwavering sense of duty was not without room for growth, and he sought knowledge from other worlds to learn about their legal systems and operations. This allowed him to understand how to prevent similar errors and pitfalls from occurring on Coruscant.

As a direct and by-the-book officer, Inspector Divo believed that a police officer's role was to protect the public from harm rather than to target criminals for revenge. However, Divo struggled to balance stereotyping with upholding the law. Early in his career, he and the CSF would search Pyke homes and businesses for connections to the Pyke Syndicate, often based solely on the occupants' species. Divo later regretted this practice and, throughout his career, ensured he avoided stereotyping and advised Imperial law enforcement to do the same. Divo did not hold criminals accountable for their past actions if they demonstrated a commitment to reform, and he welcomed their efforts to make amends. He also felt uncomfortable with corporal punishment, especially for minors. During Boba Fett's trial during the Clone Wars, Divo advocated for leniency in his sentence and emphasized rehabilitation over retribution. He believed that Boba was not fully responsible for his behavior, attributing it to his troubled early life and clone engineering.

While Divo primarily worked to bring justice to the lower echelons of the criminal world, his ultimate goal remained focused on the corrupt upper classes of Coruscant society. Throughout his career, Divo harbored a deep distrust of the Coruscant elite, including politicians and trade and industry magnates. Divo regarded the Republic's politicians as greedy and deceitful, blaming them for fostering the rampant crime in the Coruscant underworld. In his opinion, they either intentionally allowed crime to flourish or were completely oblivious to the issues plaguing the planet's lower levels. His early struggles against Senators Aks Moe and Yudrish Sedran taught him that it was nearly impossible to bring down corrupt politicians who possessed the resources to shield themselves from justice, regardless of his efforts. Instead, Divo developed a strategy of building large cases from smaller ones, allowing him to curb crime in the lower levels and expose their connections to the upper classes.

Lieutenant Divo harbored a longstanding and thoroughly documented skepticism towards the Jedi Order. His initial reservations about the Order stemmed from what he perceived as their detachment from the problems plaguing Coruscant, but as time progressed, he identified further issues with the group. He was of the opinion that they wielded unchecked and illegitimate authority, necessitating oversight of their actions, some of which, in his view, were clearly unlawful yet went unchallenged. Despite occasionally omitting Jedi contributions from official reports, Divo held a degree of respect for the unconventional Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, who frequently collaborated with the CSF. Divo's discontent with the Jedi reached its zenith during their clandestine preparations to thwart the abduction of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The Order's capacity to make wanted criminals, like Rako Hardeen, vanish without any investigation from Republic authorities deeply offended Divo's sense of moral obligation, leading him to voice his concerns directly to the Chancellor.

As the Clone Wars neared their conclusion, Divo's faith in the Republic waned, and he began to question his belief in the rule of law as the government suppressed his cases and inquiries. He remained with the Coruscant Security Force in the early years of the Galactic Empire following the war, but resigned shortly thereafter. After retiring, Divo started to openly express his views on the Empire's approach to law enforcement, becoming increasingly critical of the New Order's fascist policies. He was troubled by the Empire's deployment of assassin droids like IG-88, believing that the government's willingness to utilize it as a police droid contradicted its fundamental nature as a killing machine. Divo condemned IG-88 and the Empire for their apparent disregard for life and order, which he considered essential components of justice.

Skills and abilities

Despite facing criticism for his demeanor and a relatively modest success rate in resolving cases, Tan Divo possessed exceptional investigative talent, excelling not in solving cases outright, but in constructing them. Throughout his tenure with the Coruscant Security Force, Divo meticulously connected seemingly disparate crimes to reveal larger and more intricate conspiracies. However, external pressures, such as interference from the Galactic Senate or the Jedi Order, often prevented him from acting on his discoveries, forcing him to abandon or curtail his meticulously developed cases. In addition to his investigative skills, Divo was adept at writing reports and maintained his own comprehensive collection of case files. His surveillance of major criminal syndicates played a role in preventing their expansion on Coruscant.

Behind the scenes

Tan Divo was conceived for the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, making his debut in the season two episode "Senate Murders," which was helmed by Brian Kalin O'Connell and initially broadcast on March 19, 2010, in the US. Unlike the majority of characters in the series, Divo was intentionally designed with asymmetrical facial features. Divo's complete name, Tanivos Exantor Divo, was first revealed in the 2018 canon reference book titled Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious, which significantly expanded upon the character's backstory. Scum and Villainy also hinted that Divo perished in the destruction of the planet Alderaan, a detail that was later explicitly confirmed by the Star Wars Insider article "Crime and Punishment." In both "Senate Murders" and a subsequent episode of The Clone Wars featuring Divo, "Sphere of Influence," Divo was voiced by voice actor and comedian Tom Kenny, who had previously lent his voice to numerous characters in the show. Given the murder-mystery nature of "Senate Murders," Kenny approached the script as if it were a police procedural rather than a typical episode of The Clone Wars. Kenny drew inspiration from characters like Joe Friday from Dragnet and Frank Columbo from Columbo for his portrayal of Divo's voice. Kenny deliberately incorporated elements of Columbo into his performance, such as making Divo intentionally abrasive as part of what he perceived to be the character's modus operandi.

Kenny further emphasized Divo's role as a beat cop through a "colloquial" speaking style, which stood in stark contrast to the lofty pronouncements of the Jedi Knights and politicians who frequently appeared in The Clone Wars. Kenny's mindset when embodying Divo was that, despite the character's potential arrogance and haughtiness, he was a skilled detective who took pride in his abilities, describing him as "part Joe Friday, part egotistical Sherlock Holmes-wannabe."