The only reason I chose totalitarianism over democracy was because I'd seen what the latter did to the Sith Empire. Corruption, extensive political infighting. No, if I needed my empire to succeed I needed to root out any possibility for corruption. One ruler, one people, one Gargan.
—Gargan the Conqueror
The Gargan (Garganese: "Guide"), also known as the Son of Ur or the King-that-never-dies, was the elected, all-powerful, totalitarian monarch of Gargan's Empire. The Gargan was considered to be the son of the Cosmic God, Ur, who was constantly reincarnated through the centuries. The Tyrrhans and the Gargan Imperium at large thusly worshipped the Gargan as a god, and his word was supreme law. Gargan the Conqueror was the first Gargan and founder of the Empire.
There were no female Gargans during the Empire's existence, as women were usually forbidden from entering politics. Likewise, the Gargan was always Force-sensitive. The Gargan was virtually always surrounded by a contingent of Ur-Warriors, Force-sensitive soldiers dedicated to protecting and serving the Gargan.
Etymology[]
The word "Gargan" came from obscure origins. While Gargan the Conqueror, the first person to have coined the term, claimed "Gargan" was in essence a made up word that had no meaning - some historians argued that "Gargan" had Rakatan influences attached to it. Goran, meaning someone who leads by example. Or possibly Garr (inspiration) and An, meaning "light".
"Gargan" may also have come from the word "gargantuan", meaning something that is of gigantic proportions. It is possible that Reuel Ahlcain, the First Gargan, derived "Gargan" from "gargantuan" after first witnessing the colossal fauna, flora, and mountains of Garganath.
Another prevailing theory was that Gargan was derived from the Khulish word for "teacher": Khar'khan.
Powers and functions[]
Governance[]
The Gargan's power and authority derived from their status as a religious icon. The Cult of Ur, the Empire's religious body, maintained the belief that the Gargan was the reincarnation of the Cosmic God Ur's biological son. The Cult spread through propaganda and indoctrination that any who opposed the will of the Gargan would be cursed by Ur himself, and suffer a fate worse than death. In essence, the Gargan was a theocratic absolute monarch.
The Gargan was both the Head of State and Head of Government of the Empire. The Gargan was also the leader of the Order of Gargan, an order of Force-sensitives who regulated the Cult of Ur according to the doctrines established by the Red Sun Scrolls. They were also typically the supreme commander of the military, although they shared that workload with their second-in-command and Commander-in-Chief: the Mordan, the second-most powerful figure in the Empire.
The Order of Gargan functioned as the general ruling body of the Empire and the governing council of the Landsmeet - the Empire's legislative assembly. They typically handled the day-to-day governance of the Empire in name of their emperor. However, while the Order could appoint new members into their Order, only the Gargan and the Mordan had the sole authority to induct or dismiss them. Meanwhile, only the Gargan had the power to approve or reject any laws passed by the Order, and also held veto voting power.
In addition, the Gargan also organized and declared the budget, economy, taxes, and trade, ordered the Order of Gargan into session, dismissed it from meeting at will, declared its agenda and proposed, rejected, and initiated all bills. The Gargan also controlled, supervised, and disbanded any judicial courts and had the final say in all other matters. As such, the Gargan's mere word was enough for the imperial hierarchy to enact his will.
The Gargan held highly-classified access to the public records organized by the Order of Gargan. They could retrieve very specific details and information about any citizen in the Empire, including their date of birth, social class, occupation, sex, species, age, and midi-chlorian count. The Gargan also acted as both judge and executioner in addition to the official judicial courts. The Gargan could, should the charge be serious enough, personally deliver the sentenced punishment to the criminal in question.
Military[]
In addition to his virtually absolute actions within the governance within the Empire, he also had near-total control within the Armada of the Red Sun, the Empire's military. However, despite in theory having complete control, the Gargan rarely involved himself in military matters, but rather relegated most duties over to the Mordan. The Mordan was generally responsible for organizing defences or operations and transmitted any orders from the Gargan through a chain of command.
The Gargan also regularly did check-ups on command centers or military installations. Whenever he arrived at such locales, he was met with an air parade of starfighter wings, and also had thousands of massed troops, including technicians and low-ranking officers, standing at attention. The Gargan was escorted by Ur-Warriors who often preceded out before him. In addition, his shuttle was often escorted by some squadrons of starfighters.
Succession[]
Although a monarchy, the position of Gargan was elective, not hereditary. The first Gargan and subsequent founder of the Empire was Gargan the Conqueror, who was widely regarded in the Empire to have been a powerful Force adept. Upon his death, he instructed his Order to elect only the most skilled and wisest Force-sensitive in the Empire. The Cult of Ur maintained the general belief that the Order received telepathic visions of the next Gargan, which they claimed was the continuous reincarnation of the first Gargan.
Elections for a Gargan proceeded almost immediately after their death. Traditionally, the Order of Gargan almost always promoted someone from their own ranks to the position of Gargan, and only once in the Empire's history has a non-Order member ever been elected. The Order required at least a 5-4 majority before a Gargan could be chosen, though there have been instances were elections carried out for weeks or even months because of multiple adequate candidates. If an election carried on for too long, the incumbent Mordan was allowed to handpick a new Gargan himself.
Sometimes the Gargan would also wed and sire children, who were styled as "princes" and "princesses". Despite the presence of the monarchical titles, the children of the Gargan were exempt from being elected, as to prevent the formation of a dynasty. The grandchildren of the Gargan, however - or members of his extended family - were allowed to be elected. Imperial law dictated that no more than three members of an incumbent Gargan's extended family were eligible for election within a century, should the bloodline still be extant. Again, however, this was heavily dependant on whether such a family member was both male, Force-sensitive, and a sitting member of the Order of Gargan.
Style of office[]
The Gargan was formally referred to as "His Immortal Majesty, the Gargan of Our People." (as well as simply "His Majesty") or "His Grace, the Gargan". Both "Your Majesty" and "Your Grace" were accepted forms of oral address. Though colloquially, the Gargan was simply addressed as just "the Gargan" in the context of non-official, everyday conversations, even between military officers. When a Garganese was in the presence of an outsider, they would usually refer to the Gargan as "My/Our Guide".
List of Gargans[]
| Period | Gargan | Birth name |
| 2320 BBY - 2292 BBY | Gargan the Conqueror | Reuel Ahlcain |
| c.1000 BBY | Gargan the Jailor | Devin Osnor |
| 671 BBY - 669 BBY | Gargan the Fang | Kestun Fei |
| 283 BBY - 219 BBY | Gargan of Steel | Yorin Royce |
| 219 BBY - 214 BBY | Gargan the Great | Irsan Gharsan |
| Sometime before 98 BBY | Gargan the Gray | Unknown |
| 98 BBY - 25 BBY | Gargan of Many Shades | Easton Tor |
| 25 BBY - 8 BBY | Gargan the Abominable | Vendrien Relka |
| 4 ABY - 25 ABY | Crimson Gargan | Orabane Tremere |
| 25 ABY - | Spring Gargan | Jhunal Almerian |
Behind the scenes[]
When coming up with the title of the leader of Gargan's Empire, the author initially rejected using the more traditional titles of "emperor", "king", or "dictator". He wanted the title to have an outlandish, alien feel to it. "Gargan" was derived from the surname of Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion from the Spider-Man comics. The functions and powers of the Gargan were influenced directly by the Roman emperors, who also held similar dictatorial powers and typically refused to be acknowledged as a "king" in the traditional sense of the word.
The powers of the Gargan was also partly influenced by the position of Galactic Emperor held by Darth Sidious from the Star Wars series themselves. The idea of the Gargan being elected by the ruling elite of the Empire and its association with religion was also influenced by the position of Holy Roman Emperor and the Prince-electors.
