Ruling Families

The Nine Ruling Families, formerly the First Ruling Family when the Stybla family ruled the Chiss Ascendancy, the Three Ruling Families, the Ten Ruling Families, and at one point having as much as twelve Ruling Families, were an elite group of Chiss families that led the Chiss Ascendancy within the Unknown Regions. The Nine Ruling Families were represented in the Ascendancy's supreme political body, the Chiss Syndicure. Each of the Ruling Families had a family symbol worn on the uniforms of their Ascendancy military officers and cadets.

At least some Great Families, who were lower in the political hierarchy, sought to become part of the higher caste. Tribunals of the Syndicure's Aristocra typically included representatives from the Ruling Families as well as the Great Families. The Xodlak family was formerly one of the Ten Ruling Families, but it was demoted to one of the forty Great Families, leaving only nine.

Notably, the number of Ruling Families was not fixed at nine. The Chiss had historical records of there once being as many as 12 Ruling Families, and legends of there once being only one Ruling Family.

The Ruling Families were allowed to run their own private fleets outside of the Chiss Defense Force to protect family interests on a planet or family stronghold systems. They could even declare a family emergency to summon family officers and warriors inside the Defense Force to help out in their own private fleet.

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