Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character in a literary work based on the cult Star Wars films. In the novels of the American science fiction writer Timothy Zahn, he fights on the side of evil and confronts such a classic positive hero as Luke Skywalker.
Continuation of the galactic saga
The epic space trilogy of the outstanding director George Lucas, released forty years ago, has become an integral part of world culture. The saga, which tells about events in a distant galaxy and filmed in accordance with all the canons of fairy tales about brave knights and beautiful princesses, received phenomenal success. The world created by George Lucas' fantasy, in which the heroes of the trilogy live, inspired many other authors to develop the theme of space battles between the forces of good and evil. The extensions and variations they created are difficult to quantify.
Book series
The first official permission to use the plot and characters of the cult cinematic trilogy was received by American writer Timothy Zan. A series of new heroes appeared in his series of books. In particular, there was a replacement for the traditional representative of the dark side, Darth Vader. His place was taken by the last commander of the empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn. The vivid image of the new villain made a deep impression on readers and gained great popularity. The whole cycle of novels began to be called his name. According to fans of George Lucas, the writer managed to breathe new life into Star Wars.
Blue villain
Readers first became acquainted with the colorful leader of the dark forces in the book “The Heir to the Empire,” published in 1991. The biography invented by the author of the novel contains information that Grand Admiral Traun was born on a distant planet and lived for a long time in uncharted regions of the Galaxy. It refers to a race having a blue skin color. Grand Admiral Thrawn unexpectedly comes to the rescue of an empire standing on the brink of destruction and leads the remnants of its space fleet. Gradually, he turns into the most dangerous enemy of the republic. In the course of the struggle, the exceptional intelligence and cunning with which Grand Admiral Thrawn is endowed become apparent. The quotes from the commander of the imperial forces resemble excerpts from the ancient Chinese treatise The Art of War. The leader of the dark side argues that it is necessary to know the enemy in order to defeat him.
The series "Star Wars: Rebels"
The faces of the characters in the space saga of George Lucas have always been associated with the appearance of the actors who performed their roles. However, the literary continuation could offer only illustrations created by the imagination of artists. Fans of the novel cycle first saw the leader of the imperial forces on the screen after the premiere of the three-dimensional animated series Star Wars Rebels.
Admittedly, among the many works based on the George Lucas trilogy, Timothy Zahn's books occupy a special place. Some fans of the galactic saga believe that only the novels of this writer are a worthy continuation of the adventures that captured the imagination of the audience in the movie "Star Wars". Grand Admiral Thrawn, as the brightest character, represents a successful attempt to develop a space epic. It is not surprising that readers were enthusiastic about the appearance of the book hero on the screen.
The secret of popularity
How did the main negative character manage to win the sympathies of space tale lovers? According to the author, the leader of the dark forces has a certain charm. As you know, director George Lucas in the original version of Star Wars intentionally gave the galactic empire some features of Nazi Germany. An example is the soldiers who are called stormtroopers and wear uniforms similar to the uniforms of the Third Reich army. However, Thrawn, a representative of a race with an unusual color, does not fit into the framework of traditional Nazi policies towards various minorities. In addition, his philosophical perception of reality, subtle intuition and a tendency to think provoke the respect of both associates and opponents. In a word, a negative character created to please the public.