Grand Admiral Thrawn

"To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art."

- Thrawn "But... it was so artistically done."

- Thrawn's last words "I rule the Empire now. Not some long dead Emperor."

- Thrawn to Mara Jade "Do you know the difference between an error and a mistake, Ensign? Anyone can make an error, Ensign. But that error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."

- Thrawn to Ensign, the Imperial officer.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name Thrawn, is a villain from the Star Wars universe. A Chiss male, Thrawn was eventually promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine. In the Legends continuity he is the main antagonist of Heir to the Empire and Dark Force Rising and the secondary antagonist of The Last Command. In the new Canon continuity he appears as the main antagonist in the third season of Star Wars Rebels.

Personality
Thrawn was a master strategist who could compose very complex plans. He also maintained a high level of interest in artwork, and his study of artwork gave him an understanding of both species and individuals. Thrawn was able to use this ability to adapt plans to the species he was engaged in battle against, and often able to defeat these species by picking up obscure clues that were represented in their artwork.

Thrawn was also noted for his command abilities. He was noted as not being a proponent of the "Vader Style" of leadership that many in the Empire's military practiced where subordinates would be killed for the most minor of mistakes and ideas were ignored because they had not come from the correct persons. Thrawn was quite willing to accept ideas from his subordinates and put them in to practice if they were good enough ideas. And if a subordinate showed creative thinking in dealing with problems, even if they still failed, Thrawn would not punish them but would at times reward them. This was the case with Ensign Mitthel, who used creative thinking while trying to use a tractor beam to apprehend Luke Skywalker. The attempt failed because Skywalker used a covert shroud to escape, but Thrawn was pleased with how fast Mitthel thought on his feet and promoted the man to Lieutenant. He would however, not tolerate those who would not accept responsibility for their actions and who would try to shift the blame on to others. Thrawn had a tractor beam operator who failed at an earlier attempt to capture Skywalker killed after the man tried to blame another person for the attack and showed an inability to deal with unexpected situations.

Additionally, Thrawn was not a mere soldier, but a true warrior who was unconcerned with personal glory. On the few occasions were Thrawn was defeated, he would not waste men, ships, or material in a display of false and futile heroics, but would simply decide to retreat and adjust his plans.

Legends Continuity
For several years Thrawn was posted to the Unknown Regions of the known galaxy. As a result the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic that followed it were unaware of Grand Admiral Thrawn (with the possible exception of Mara Jade). The other Grand Admirals were eventually all accounted for - some were captured, others died in battle, and one was convinced to surrender to the New Republic.

Approximately four years after the death of Palpatine, Thrawn returned to known space. Taking command of the remaining Imperial forces from the Star Destroyer Chimaera, Thrawn launched a campaign against the New Republic which nearly brought about the downfall of that state and reestablishment of the Galactic Empire.

Thrawn was ultimately defeated when the Noghri realized that Thrawn and the Empire had been manipulating them into serving them for over a quarter of a century. Thrawn was assassinated by his Noghri bodyguard Rukh. Without a strong leader, the Empire quickly fragmented once again until Emperor Palpatine returned in a clone body to assault the New Republic.

Canon Continuity
The commander of the 7th Fleet, Thrawn was promoted to Grand Admiral by Emperor Palpatine after the Imperial victory at the Battle of Batton. In the years prior to the Battle of Yavin a rebel cell on Lothal Governor Arihnda Pryce requested the services of Thrawn and the 7th Fleet to deal with a rebel cell on Lothal.