Gial Ackbar was a male Mon Calamari who served as an admiral in the Rebel Alliance and New Republic as well as Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Force.
History[]
Early career[]
Gial Ackbar was born on the watery world of Mon Cala in the decades leading up to the Clone Wars. A captain in the Mon Calamari Guard, Ackbar served as the chief military advisor for King Yos Kolina and later for Prince Lee-Char after King Kolina's death. It was thanks to Ackbar's tactical thinking that the Galactic Republic was able to win the Second Battle of Mon Cala, for which the captain received high honors for.[1]
It was not long after the Clone Wars that Ackbar became head of the Calamarian Council, by which point the Republic had been replaced with the Galactic Empire. The Empire was quick to subdue Mon Cala and many Mon Calamari and Quarren ended up as slaves to high-ranking Imperials, with Ackbar himself ending up as the servant of Grand Moff Tarkin. Ackbar eventually made contact with the budding Rebel Alliance and, with their help, was able to free himself and other Calamarians from Imperial service. Pledging loyalty to the Rebel Alliance, Ackbar quickly proved his tactical prowess and was soon promoted to the rank of admiral, giving him command of the Alliance Fleet.
Rebel admiral[]
In 4 ABY, Admiral Ackbar, along with General Lando Calrissian, led the Rebel Fleet in an attack on the second Death Star, which the Empire had built over the Forest Moon of Endor. This turned out to be a trap set up by the Empire and Admiral Ackbar nearly called for a retreat when the Death Star began firing on Rebel ships. However, once the shield around the space station had been brought down and the Super Star Destroyer Executor was destroyed, the Alliance was able to push back against the Imperial forces and destroy the Death Star. With the concurrent death of Emperor Palpatine, the Empire had finally been brought down.[2]
New Republic service[]
However, Ackbar knew that the war was not yet over and proceeded to lead the New Republic's efforts in dealing with the destabilized Empire. Immediately following the Battle of Endor, the Alliance was forced to deal with threats posed by Ssi-ruuvi Imperium[3] and the Tof Kingdom.[4] After addressing these threats, the New Republic focused their attention on retaking Coruscant, with Ackbar leading the charge along with Admirals Firmus Nantz and Voon Massa.[5]
By 11 ABY, Ackbar had his eyes on retirement, though he knew he would not rest until the Empire was well and truly defeated. When the Dark Empire attacked Empress Teta, the admiral led the New Republic Eighth Fleet to defend the system. It was there that the Dark Empire revealed its new superweapon, the Galaxy Gun. Rather than order a retreat like he nearly did at Endor, Ackbar ordered his forces to press ahead against the Galaxy Gun, only for the superweapon to activate and destroy Empress Teta. Devastated with this loss, Ackbar ordered the crew of his flagship the Defender to abandon ship and for the rest of the fleet to retreat. The Galaxy Gun then fired on the Defender and destroyed it, seemingly killing Ackbar in the process.[6]
Appearances[]
- The Clone Wars
- Episode VI Return of the Jedi (First appearance)
- The Truce at Bakura
- The New Republic
- The Emperor's Wrath
- Of Wraiths and Bigger Fish
- The Final Destiny
- Walkers in the Sky
- The Balancing Act