Mitth'raw'nuruodo

Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known by his core name Thrawn ˈθɹɑːn, and also called Mitthrawdo, was a male Chiss officer with a long-spanning career. He served the Chiss Ascendancy early in his life and later the naval forces of the Galactic Empire as the only non-human Grand Admiral. Thrawn was regarded as one of the best commanders to serve under and a brilliant military strategist in the starfleet. His skills were appreciated enough by the reigning Sith Lords that he rose to a position of significant power despite the New Order's speciesist policies.

Thrawn hailed from Csilla, and made the first steps to his calling by becoming an officer in the Expansionary Defense Force of the Chiss Ascendancy in the Unknown Regions, where he demonstrated his ruthless commitment to eradicating any and all threats to his people. These early menaces included an advance force of scouts of the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong species, which were known to the Chiss as "Far Outsiders." However, many of Thrawn's ways were contrary to the ones of the Chiss society, which rejected offensive and preventive strikes. In 27 BBY, Thrawn first came into contact with the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, who held a secret double identity as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic, after Thrawn destroyed part of Sidious's private task force; they both agreed on the threat posed by the Unknown Regions, mostly the Yuuzhan Vong or "Far Outsiders." The two sealed their informal agreement when Thrawn destroyed the Republic's exploration ship Outbound Flight, so it didn't draw the Yuuzhan Vong towards the Republic and the Chiss Ascendancy, killing many members of the Jedi Order in the process.

Thrawn's continued preventive strikes led the Chiss to exile him on an uninhabited world far in the fringes of the Chiss Ascendancy. In 19 BBY, soon after the Galactic Republic was reformed into the Galactic Empire, Imperial Navy officer Voss Parck encountered Thrawn in the Unknown Regions and brought him to Emperor Palpatine. Already aware of Thrawn's command skills, knowing that he destroyed Outbound Flight, the prime ruler approved his admission to the starfleet. Over time, Thrawn climbed the ladder of the Imperial Military, thinking that he could better defend against the threat of the oncoming Yuuzhan Vong with the Empire than if he returned to the Chiss, and circa 2 ABY became the secret thirteenth Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy. The Chiss commander fought both the Rebel Alliance and rogue Imperial officers. Grand Admiral Thrawn's service to the Supreme Commander, Darth Vader, and assistance against Black Sun Underlord Xizor also earned him the allegiance of the Noghri Death Commandos. Simultaneously, he pacified the Unknown Regions and established a secret empire of his own in Wild Space, believing that only a strong military government could protect the galaxy's diverse species from annihilating each other and to serve as a bulwark against the Yuuzhan Vong.

After the Battle of Endor in which Emperor Palpatine and Lord Vader perished; with the Empire under rival warlords, collapsing as the Alliance to Restore the Republic was reorganized into the New Republic. Grand Admiral Thrawn returned to the galaxy, taking control of the remaining shattered Imperial forces. With Thrawn's return, he began a campaign against the New Republic, but his unexpected death during the Battle of Bilbringi at the hand of the distraught Noghri assassin, Rukh, his bodyguard and most trusted assassin, ended the campaign. Even though his demise failed to restore the Empire, the Grand Admiral left several clones of himself and an empire still unknown to the Republic in preparation for yet-unknown threats to the galaxy.

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