Trios

Princess Trios was born into the royal family as the youngest of three children to the king who ruled the planet of Shu-Torun, a mining planet situated in the Mid Rim. She had two older siblings: Prince Monthan, who, as the eldest, was in line to inherit their father's crown after his death, and Princess Hollian, who was destined to become the celebrant warlord of the planet's War-Faith. During the Galactic Empire's reign, the planet provided the Imperials with ore for their numerous construction projects. However, when the ore-dukes of Shu-Torun began to resist the Empire's demands, the king decided to turn against the Empire.

Upon learning that the Sith Lord Darth Vader would be visiting Shu-Torun to ensure the planet's ore quotas were being met, the king devised a plan to eliminate the Imperial representative. Believing he had enough heirs, the king chose Trios to greet Vader and lead him into a trap within the royal palace. The backup plan involved Trios leading Vader to their shared demise in the castle's tunnels. Trios followed her father's orders, awaiting Vader's arrival with two guards after he landed on one of the palace's landing platforms in his TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. The Sith expressed his displeasure at the king's absence, but Trios attributed it to her father's age and began guiding Vader toward the palace's abyssal rooms beneath the planet's surface, where a ball was being held to showcase Shu-Torun's culture. Along the way, she offered to have servants carry a small package he was carrying, but he declined, stating that he needed to personally deliver the gift to Shu-Torun's ruler.

Upon entering the underground hall where the ball was in progress, Trios instructed those present to begin the stately Shu-Torun counter-bore waltz. When Vader questioned the necessity of the dancing, she explained that such customs were vital to Shu-Torun's culture and were necessary to manage the ore-dukes. As she and Vader moved across the room, they were interrupted by Duke Rubix, who insisted that the Sith Lord dance with his daughter Bixene. Trios advised the duke against pursuing the matter, but when he persisted, Vader used the Force to lift Rubix into the air, spin him around, and then drop him. Vader then asked if anyone else desired such a "dance," and the king's plan was initiated as a tunneling vessel broke through the hall's ceiling, causing the guests to scatter.

Posing as rebels against both the Empire and the royal family, several assassins working for the king emerged from the craft and attacked Vader. However, the Sith evaded their attacks and deflected them back at the troops using his lightsaber, killing all of his opponents. With the first part of the plan to kill Vader having failed, Trios began the second phase, claiming that the traitors would be watching the lifts, and led Vader into the palace's tunnels. As they supposedly moved toward the king, Vader complimented Trios and remained impressed with her even when the doors of the tunnel they were in sealed and molten lava began pouring in from the ceiling. He then drew his lightsaber and began cutting a hole through the tunnel's wall, knocking Trios unconscious with a blow to the head when she tried to convince him that there was no escape for either of them.

Instead of abandoning Trios to burn in her father's trap, Vader carried her unconscious body to the doors of her father's throne room, where he killed the guards. As she awoke, the princess realized that her father's plan had failed and attempted to shoot Vader in the back with a blaster pistol. However, the Sith sensed the attack and sliced off Trios' right hand at the wrist before she could pull the trigger. He then turned and cut open the doors to the throne room as Trios protested, revealing that his assassin droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 had infiltrated the palace upon his arrival and killed everyone in the throne room while Trios was unconscious, including her father and siblings.

With her family gone, Trios became the hereditary queen of Shu-Torun. As she mourned at her father's side, Vader handed her the package he had been carrying. Inside was a chunk of rock, which held no meaning to the queen until Vader explained that it was a piece of the planet Alderaan, which had also opposed the Empire, leading to its destruction by the Death Star superweapon. As Vader used the Force to crown Trios, she expressed concerns that the ore-dukes would continue to resist the Empire's tithes. Vader assured her that she would suppress their rebellions with the Empire's help. He then left her alone in the throne room with only the warning that she should remember that she and her people served the Empire.

Despite the Empire's support, the ore barons quickly rebelled against Trios's rule, igniting a civil war on Shu-Torun. Under the orders of Galactic Emperor Palpatine, Vader personally returned to lead Imperial forces in suppressing the insurrection, aided by Grand General Cassio Tagge and Doctor Cylo. As she now held her sister's position as war-minister of her people, Trios chose to position herself on the frontlines alongside Vader, as her people would lose respect for her otherwise. After witnessing the toppling of an Imperial All Terrain Armored Transport in a battle against one of the ore-barons' delving citadels, she declared that their foe was too strong and demanded a retreat. Vader refused, as the attack had been a distraction, allowing Tulon Voidgazer—one of Cylo's agents—to place explosive drones on the ceiling of the cavern above the citadel. The drones detonated, collapsing part of the ceiling and causing molten magma to pour down on the citadel, destroying it.

Upset that such a valuable and ancient asset as the citadel had been destroyed, Trios returned with the others to the royal palace. There, Vader informed her that they would continue to destroy citadels until the barons surrendered. Trios objected, as without the citadels, her planet would never meet Imperial quotas after the war. However, Vader ignored her objection and reminded her in front of her subjects and Cylo that her role was to obey the Empire's will. The Sith then prepared to leave, but Trios followed him into an empty room and asked that he treat her with respect in front of her subordinates, as she would have little power after the Imperials left otherwise. Vader stated that he would be respectful in front of her subjects as long as she never questioned him in public, to which she agreed and left.

Trios and Vader then sent a holographic message to the ore-barons, showing them the fate of the delving citadel the Imperials had destroyed and demanding their surrender before moving to the ancestral retreat of the Shu-Torun royalty to plan their next move. Morit Astarte, another agent of Cylo, questioned the choice to spend time at such a militarily insignificant location, but Trios countered that she wanted to remind herself of what she was fighting for, as the retreat was considered a sacred site and one of the world's greatest wonders. Despite its status as a place of peace, the retreat was attacked by the Lava Leviathan, a vessel owned by Rubix's family and sent to kill Trios.

Horrified at the blasphemous desecration of the retreat, Trios made to flee in a shuttle, but was surprised when Vader also boarded with Morit and his sister Aiolin Astarte. Instead of fleeing, the trio positioned the shuttle above the Leviathan and dropped down onto it, using their lightsabers to cut through the hull and enter the vessel. They then fought through Rubix's men onboard and cut holes in either end of the vessel, leaving it to sink into the magma from which it had emerged as Trios picked them up in the shuttle. Upon arriving back at the retreat, Trios was reprimanded by her chamberlain Jooli, who claimed she should not be putting herself in such danger. Vader then threatened the chamberlain, but Trios apologized for Jooli and explained to her subject that she had the Imperials protecting her and so need not worry. She then requested that Rubix's delving citadel be the next that Vader destroyed, as punishment for the attack on the retreat.

Trios and Jooli traveled to Rubix's citadel in the palatial drill in the second wave of the Shu-Torun Loyalist/Imperial Delving Fleet so that she could observe the final victory without the risk of being on the front lines. En route to the citadel, the combat drill carrying Vader and his men veered off course due to sabotage by Cylo and plunged into a seam of lithoporoite. Unaware of Cylo's betrayal and knowing that the ore would never support the weight of Vader's craft, Trios assumed the Sith was lost. The doctor then contacted her via hologram and recommended that the attack be called off until they received word from Vader, as he had secretly been working with the barons, and promised them the battle would be prevented.

Trios declared that as queen it was her job to finish the war with or without Vader, even when Cylo informed her that she would no longer have control of the Imperial forces. Jooli then informed her that he retained the power to veto her commands due to her young age as ruler and stated he would not allow her to advance without the Imperials. She argued with the chamberlain, but when he would not change his mind she offered him one last chance at blaster point. Jooli then warned her that she should know her place, believing that she would never be able to shoot him. Agreeing that she would never shoot him herself, the queen lowered her weapon and gave the order for the soldiers present to execute Jooli, which several of them swiftly did.

With no one left to hold her back, Trios then led her troops from the frontlines in battle against Rubix's forces at his citadel. Despite the fact that the baron had sent his elite guard to deal with Vader below, the battle still began to look grim for the loyalists. During the battle she was knocked to the ground by an explosion, but as one of her troops helped her up she witnessed the arrival of Vader's combat drill through the ceiling above. With the return of her Imperial allies, Trios knew that she had won the day and was proven correct when Vader forced Rubix to surrender immediately upon Vader's arrival on board the citadel. The baron ordered his men to allow Trios and her troops on board and declared he would recognize her rule. When she reached the traitor, he began to give a speech about his failure, but tired of hearing the baron speak Trios ordered his immediate execution for the thousands of deaths he had caused. After the loyalist soldiers gunned Rubix down, Trios declared that Bixene would take over his holdings despite the fact that the line of inheritance would normally pass control to the eldest son.

With the war won, Vader and most of his troops left Shu-Torun, and Trios walked him to his shuttle to say goodbye. She promised Vader that none of the barons involved in the war would survive her wrath, but that their family lines would continue to keep things in order. To aid her in this, Vader assigned a stormtrooper captain to remain with her and offer advice. As Vader mounted the ramp to his ship, she asked one final question, wanting to know if Vader thought he had chosen well when he made her queen. The Sith simply replied that she had been the only choice before entering his vessel, but 0-0-0 remained and pointed out that there were multiple possible meanings to Vader's response. As he began to explain what he meant, the queen ordered that he leave, reminding the droid that while she could not destroy Vader, she did possess the power to destroy him. When 0-0-0 told her that she would go far, Trios corrected him, saying she had no intention of going anywhere.

Sometime after the Shu-Torun war ended, Trios was in the royal retreat with her advisors and a large guard, overseeing several matters, when Vader returned to task Trios with having her specialists mine the remains of Jedha. He also told her to leak info to the rebels and act as a mole for the Empire to infiltrate the Rebellion. Vader planned to use the battle for Jedha as a false flag operation where Trios helped the rebels build their armada, which the Empire could easily destroy once the Alliance gathered.

The mineral extraction stalled because of resistance from members of the rebellious Partisan movement. The queen joined Imperial Commander Kanchar as an advisor on an inspection of the Imperial forces of Commander Befa, who was in charge of the Jedha mining operation, but hadn't delivered a single shipment of crystals. Befa acted surprised when they arrived on his Star Destroyer, and tried to flatter Trios and kiss her hand, but Kanchar slapped him.

After the queen introduced herself, Befa showed Kanchar a small box of successfully harvested kyber crystals, who was happy until he learned that the box held all of the mining operation's crystal output so far. Annoyed by his colleague's incompetence, Kanchar relieved Befa of his post and killed him in front of Trios, who wasn't impressed by the violence. Kanchar then tried to intimidate Trios, who instead talked about her suitability for the role and looked out of the Star Destroyer's viewport at the remains of Jedha, whose mantle had been ruptured by the Death Star's superlaser in 1 BBY.

Trios' forces and the Imperials dropped crystal resonators onto Jedha that detected a large concentration of kyber crystals in what had been the Catacombs of Cadera. Curious about why there were so many crystals there, Trios asked what Kanchar wasn't telling her. The commander revealed that the former leader of the Partisans, Saw Gerrera, had stolen a lot of crystals from the Empire and stored them there before he died when the Death Star fired on Jedha. After Kanchar said he respected Gerrera, Trios said she would prepare an exploratory mission to the catacombs.

The pair then viewed a Shu-Torun mining team preparing to travel to Jedha, and after discussing the environmental suits that the miners were wearing, Trios wondered how civilians were still surviving on Jedha's dangerous surface. Kanchar then declared a new Imperial edict that Jedha was prohibited, meaning anyone the Imperials found there should be treated as a rebel and killed. Trios later approached Kanchar to tell him that her drill citadel was ready to drop to the surface, letting him give the command since she had done it many times and knew he would enjoy it.

The drill citadel was quickly destroyed by the partisans, causing Kanchar to call Trios' people weak; however, he changed his mind when the queen revealed the Continent-class crawler Leviathan. She admitted that they probably wouldn't be able to bring the crawler back into orbit once it was deployed, but claimed this was a sacrifice her people were willing to make to show their devotion to the Empire.

Trios and Kanchar transferred to the command bridge of the Leviathan once it was on Jedha, and after the Imperials tracked a cruiser aiding the Partisans to a rough location on the moon, Trios had her people use resonators to find the exact location of the Partisans' base. After hearing that the base had been located and that the Partisans were preparing a raid, Kanchar and Trios ordered that preparations be made to kill all of the rebels.

The Partisans launched their assault in two coordinated phases: a small team was tasked with infiltrating the crawler to disable its anti-aircraft systems and isolate the command center, which would then allow a larger force to board the Leviathan using their cruiser. The ultimate goal was to seize control of the bridge, steer the massive vehicle into a chasm, and thus destroy it.

The infiltration team consisted of Princess Leia Organa, Jedi trainee Luke Skywalker, and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, who successfully penetrated the crawler's central control nexus. Upon arrival, Skywalker separated from the group to proceed to the bridge, leaving Organa with the droids. It was then that Trios confronted the princess, pistol drawn, and to maintain her deception, Trios subtly requested that Organa strike her.

Organa deduced that Trios had been the one who divulged the plans of the Leviathan. The queen revealed that she had been pretending to be loyal to the Empire while secretly sabotaging their efforts. Her aim was to become an informant for the Alliance and to provide them with the vast resources that Sho-torun had secretly accumulated. Skywalker arrived shortly thereafter, urging them to leave, a suggestion Trios agreed with, staying behind to maintain her facade.

Subsequently, Trios deliberately opened the passages for the guards with just enough delay to allow the rebels to escape. Trios then fled via shuttle with Kanchar, assuring the commander that they would ultimately prevail.

Organa then contacted Trios, requesting information and access to rescue Mon Cala's King Lee-Char. Trios proceeded to Mon Cala's Moncaladrome, where she encountered Moff Tan Hubi and shared several drinks with him. Secretly, Trios drugged the Moff's beverage, leading him to a refresher where Han Solo and Chewbacca apprehended him. Following this, she attended the Moncaladrome's opera with Grand Admiral Dors Urtya and Tunga Arpagion, posing as Hubi.

Several months after the rebels successfully inspired the Mon Cala to join their cause, Trios met with Organa at the Mako-Ta Base. After conversing with the princess, Trios accessed a highly secure channel and contacted Darth Vader, informing him of the base's location and the burgeoning rebel fleet. She attended a gathering where she discussed the fleet with Organa and was thanked for providing numerous systems for the Mon Calarami ships. However, Trios vanished during Mothma's speech. Organa and General Draven then realized it was a setup. While walking down a corridor, Trios dropped her drink, understanding the implications of her actions.

Trios returned to her ship and attempted to depart from the base. However, Organa and a group of rebel troops attempted to board the vessel. As the rebels bypassed her guards, Trios decided to escape, covered by her men. She headed for an escape pod, where Organa confronted her. Trios declared that she would not allow Shu-Torun to suffer the same fate as Alderaan.

Trios made her way back to the Ancestral Retreat on Shu-Torun. There, she discussed the Empire's increased quota with Commander Kanchar, apologizing for using him as a diversion during the Empire's mission to retrieve more Kyber crystals from Jedha. Trios then met with Lord Or-Tar, who was actually rebel agent Tunga Arpagion assisting the Partisans and General Leia Organa's team.

Arpagion impersonated Trios while she was meeting Lady Comali. She was informed that all rooms from the abyssal rooms had been sealed. Trios asked her Grand Marshal what was happening and was informed that outside communications were out and remembered what Or-Tar said; "You did this." She realized that Leia and the rebels were here. Unfortunately, Trios did not know what to do about the Rebels except to take back control. She engaged Organa in battle and was killed.

Trios, a human female, possessed fair skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. She was utterly devoted to her father and actively participated in his scheme, even when she believed it would lead to her death. Her father's willingness to sacrifice her led her to question whether he was truly proud of her. She also firmly believed in the significance of Shu-Torun's courtly culture and its role in maintaining control over the ore-dukes, defending the practice even when Vader questioned the dancing in the abyssal rooms.

Following the deaths of her family, she remained aligned with the Empire for the sake of her people, but she insisted that Vader show her respect in public, as she believed she would not be taken seriously as queen otherwise. She understood that maintaining the illusion of power was more important than possessing actual power in order to maintain stability. She also accompanied Vader to the front lines of the civil war to retain the respect of her people, feeling obligated to fulfill both the role of Hollian and queen. Her presence on the frontlines frightened some of her subjects, but she reassured them that her Imperial allies would ensure her safety. Trios was deeply disturbed by Rubix's attack on her family's ancestral retreat, considering it a blasphemous act deserving of death.

Even after believing she had lost Vader, Trios remained steadfast in her determination to defeat the rebellious barons, with or without Imperial support, and was prepared to execute Jooli when he attempted to dissuade her. She then led her troops from the front, rather than simply observing from a distance as others had suggested. Instead of adhering to the standard rules of succession for Rubix's children, she chose to grant power to his daughter Bixene, having learned from her own experiences with Vader that inexperienced youths who did not expect power were the easiest to manipulate once they had it. Before Vader's departure, she sought his approval on her handling of the war, and after he left, she asked the stormtrooper assigned to her if he danced, reminding him that everyone on Shu-Torun was required to dance due to the courtly culture.

The sight of the ruined remains of Jedha reminded Trios of the conditions on her homeworld, and she was confident that she and her people were the most suitable choice for harvesting the remaining kyber crystals on Jedha. When Kanchar killed Befa for his incompetence, Trios sarcastically commented on Kanchar's lack of charm and remained unfazed when the large man attempted to intimidate her, stating that after being personally intimidated by Darth Vader, all other threats seemed rather underwhelming.

During her time with Vader, Trios wore a white gown adorned with golden trim and a blue cloak. She carried a concealed blaster pistol while escorting Vader and later wielded a blaster rifle during the civil war. She styled her hair with a piece of golden headwear. After losing her hand to Vader, she had a cybernetic replacement installed. While aboard the Leviathan, Trios wore a suit of golden armor and carried a golden blaster pistol.

Trios made her initial appearance in the comic book Darth Vader Annual 1, authored by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, which was published on December 16, 2015. Subsequently, she became a prominent protagonist in the third arc of the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series, also penned by Gillen but featuring illustrations by Salvador Larroca.

Trios later reappeared as a central character, once again written by Gillen and illustrated by Larroca, in the ninth, tenth and eleventh arcs of the Marvel Comics' Star Wars.