Beilert Valance

Beilert Valance, also known as Valance the Hunter, was a former Human male Imperial stormtrooper non-commissioned officer who, after a crippling injury in combat, was rebuilt as a cyborg and, after leaving the Stormtrooper Corps, went into business for himself as a bounty hunter. His hatred of droids, and his own half-mechanical nature, was incensed when he chanced upon information of an unidentified Human who befriended droids. In his search for this boy, his path crossed with that of the former Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3, until finally locating Luke Skywalker and his droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Rather than ending in a fatal firefight, their confrontation actually caused a change of heart in Valance, driving him to protect Skywalker from the Empire in hopes that one day the Rebels might create a society that had room for cyborgs like himself. His new mission brought him into conflict with Darth Vader, and he was ready to sacrifice himself on Centares, falling into the corrosive waters of Rubyflame Lake while trying to prevent Vader from learning Skywalker's identity.

Years later, Valance's robotic body was extracted from Rubyflame lake by a group of scavengers. Reactivated, the cyborg hunter embarked on a search for the fabled Great Life Jewels, which were rumored to have the ability to make him fully Human again. His hatred for droids gone after his meeting with Skywalker and C-3PO, Valance was accompanied in his quest by a droid companion named FR-D 8T-KA. Valance's search led him to a drifting Imperial Star Destroyer in the Unknown Regions. There, he once again encountered Skywalker and his allies, who were trying to stop Domina Tagge from using the power of the Jewels to unleash a devastating pandemic upon the galaxy. During the skirmish aboard the Star Destroyer, FR-D 8T-KA sacrificed his life to resuscitate the dying Valance. Moved by that sacrifice and now fully believing in Skywalker's vision of the galaxy where droids and organics could co-exist peacefully, Valance sacrificed his own life, taking the stones away from Domina Tagge and jumping into open space, into the gravity pull of a nearby sun. In his final moments, the power of the Jewels restored his body to its original Human form, as he died smiling in the vacuum of space.

Text and facts from the “Beilert Valance/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.