Raygar

Doctor Raygar was an Argazdan archaeologist. After participating in the successful retrieval of Sith artifacts in the Wolhanian expedition to Yavin 4 prior to the rise of the Galactic Empire, Raygar became obsessed with finding more such arcana and gradually lost any legitimate backing from public institutions. Eventually he gained the support of Emperor Palpatine, who was secretly a Sith Lord and had taken possession of some of the Wolhanian expedition's finds when he was Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Raygar took control of a Lorrdian archaeological dig which had uncovered the ancient Slave Pits of Lorrd, as ancient Lorrdian legend told of a powerful Argazdan superweapon hidden in the Slave Pits. Despite being unable to determine the true nature of the weapon, the discovery that it would require a human sacrifice to activate it, and learning that it was provided by an alien who was portrayed as a demonic figure in Argazdan fiction, Raygar charged ahead with his plan to uncover the weapon. When Raygar killed his Imperial contact, a monster emerged from the pit. Unable to control it, Raygar was forced to use a thermal detonator to obliterate his discovery, and he fell out of favor with Palpatine.

In 3 ABY, Raygar gained Palpatine's approval to travel on an Imperial-class Star Destroyer commanded by Admiral Kazz to the Endor system. There, Raygar hoped to obtain the fabled Sunstar, a powerful gem. Taking his Imperial Reconnaissance droids to the Forest Moon of Endor, he was able to find and attack Bright Tree Village. While doing so, he was attacked by the Ewok shaman Logray, who used the Sunstar to destroy Raygar's droids. The doctor retaliated by swiftly stealing the Sunstar, before returning to Kazz's Star Destroyer.

Back in his lab, Raygar began studying the Sunstar and came to the realization that by harnessing its power, he could remove Palpatine and install himself as the Galactic Emperor. He began creating a powerful cannon with the Sunstar's powers, speculating that it would be the most devastating weapon the universe had ever seen. He planned to test his weapon on the captive Ewoks Latara and Teebo but was thwarted by their friend, Wicket Warrick. Inadvertently, he fired upon the Emperor's personal shuttle instead, but the hit was only glancing. Palpatine survived, and Kazz subsequently arrested Raygar, charged with high treason. The Emperor then oversaw the doctor's punishment personally.

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