Warlord

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"I'm a one man Empire. Glorious! Eternal! Powerful!"

―Sentinel, in his "Imperial Warlord" armor^[13]

A warlord was a military leader in charge of civilian territory.

History[]

Republic Era[]

Throughout galactic history, the Hutt species controlled a criminal network^[7] known as the Hutt Clan,^[14] otherwise known as the Hutt Cartel,^[7] that stretched across numerous worlds^[14] and outright controlled a segment of the galaxy known as Hutt Space.^[15] At their best, the Hutts were known to act as warlords, while at their worst they were considered gangsters.^[7] Throughout its history, the Galactic Republic fought with warlords and other enemies, such as the Hutts whenever the cartel made moves against the Republic.^[16] At least after they had annexed a whole portion of the galaxy dubbed the Occlusion Zone, the ranks of the Nihil marauders included warlords, such as Melis Shryke. Furthermore, after the Nihil broadcasted the execution of Grand Master Pra-Tre Veter, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh expressed her concerns that the public demonstration of the Republic's inability to protect its citizens would inspire countless minor warlords to begin carving up pieces of the galaxy into their own minor dominions.^[1]

LulaZeenReunion-2023THRA1 — Zeen Mrala confronted the supposed rogue Nihil warlord Tartak Vil, only to discover the individual was really her lost love Lula Talisola

The amnesiac Jedi Padawan Lula Talisola took up the life of a rogue Nihil^[17] warlord named Tartak Vil after the destruction of Starlight Beacon, establishing a mini-fiefdom on the moon Bracront^[18] just outside the Nihil-controlled Occlusion Zone.^[19] Looking to keep herself alive^[19] and finding that people obeyed her without even asking when she wore stolen Nihil garb, even though she had no memory of what the Nihil were, she took up the life of "Tartak Vil" to stay safe.^[17] By keeping a low profile and taking advantage of the Galactic Republic's focus on the wider Nihil organization, "Vil" was able to maintain "his" rule on Bracront with the support of the locals, who "Vil" protected and supported as a noble leader.^[18] The arrival of Talisola's lost love Zeen Mrala^[18] helped Talisola move on from that life^[19] and awaken her old memories.^[17]

Clone Wars[]

Grievous-reveals-himself-Mygeeto — General Grievous, cybernetic warlord of the CIS

The Confederacy of Independent Systems made use of the position of warlord,^[2] with holders of the rank including^[20] its Supreme Commander,^[21] the Kaleesh cyborg General Grievous.^[20] In his past, Grievous had also been a warlord of the Kaleesh at the head of the Izvoshra.^[8] As a Separatist warlord^[20] and the government's Supreme Commander,^[21] Grievous led the Confederacy military alongside Head of State Count Dooku and waged war against the Galactic Republic.^[22] Dooku was also considered a warlord.^[23] Other Confederate warlords were Archduke Poggle the Lesser^[2] of the Stalgasin hive^[24] and Karkarodon Commander Riff Tamson.^[25]

Despite the peaceful ideals of the Jedi Order,^[26] its members would find themselves pressed into the role of Republic battlefield commanders for the war against the Separatists, with Jedi Knights and Masters assigned the rank of Jedi General under the Jedi Military Integration Act.^[27] One Jedi General, Master Pong Krell, would fall to the dark side of the Force^[28] and come to act as a warlord.^[3] Krell hoped to join Dooku and serve as the count's new apprentice, but his dreams were cut short by the clone troopers whose trust he had abused: Clone Captain Rex rallied the 501st Legion and 212th Attack Battalion against the rogue Jedi, and Krell would then be executed by trooper Dogma, who previously had been his most loyal follower.^[28]

Imperial Era[]

"Hollian, my second child. When I am gone, you will be the celebrant warlord, head of our war-faith. You will harvest the blood of those who stand against us."

―The king of Shu-Torn, on Hollian's planned future^[5]

DarthVader-BlackWhiteRed1-virginvariant-Suayan — Darth Vader, warlord of the Empire

Kaplan was a warlord of the Galactic Empire.^[4] The Sith Lord Darth Vader—who, as apprentice to Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine. was allowed power^[29] over the Imperial Military comparable to that of a Commander-in-Chief^[30]—acted as a warlord^[31] for the Empire.^[29] Burnium Ro was a warlord active in the Imperial Era who drew upon the imagery of the Nihil, creating a force^[32] of self-styled Nihil holdouts.^[33]

The position of celebrant warlord existed within the Kingdom of Shu-Torun, where they sat as head of the War-Faith and led conflict against the kingdom's enemies. During the days of one king, he sat as both monarch and celebrant warlord, but he planned to pass down his crown to his eldest son Monthan, while the warlord title would be assigned to his second eldest child^[5] and current Shu-Torun war minister,^[34] his daughter Hollian. The arrival of Vader, however, would result in the execution of the whole family aside from the king's youngest child, Princess Trios,^[5] who found herself inheriting every royal title and, thus, was both warlord and queen.^[35]

After the Empire[]

"The Empire is gone, Mando. All that are left are mercenaries and warlords."

―Greef Karga, to Din Djarin^[9]

AGE-KyloCover — Kylo Ren, warlord of the First Order

Following their major loss in the Battle of Endor, which saw the apparent death of Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine and the destruction of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, the Galactic Empire shattered into factionalism.^[36] After its fall in the Battle of Jakku, the Empire^[37] was reduced to scattered warlords and mercenaries.^[9] While most of them vowed to resurrect the Empire, many were more interested in carving fiefdoms out of the Empire's ashes.^[38]

In the years after the fall of the Empire,^[12] Moff Gideon^[38] and Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" served as warlords who planned to resurrect and lead the Empire themselves during their conflicts with the New Republic.^[12] Gideon was also a member of the Shadow Council, a grouping of Imperial Remnant warlords who worked together in secret and awaited Thrawn's return to make war against the New Republic.^[39] Having survived the action on Jakku, the former Imperial strategist Teza Nasz later united one of the warrior clans of Rattatak behind her as a warlord, having the strength and intelligence to maintain her position.^[40] Three decades after the Battle of Endor, Kylo Ren severed his ties with the Jedi Order and became the new Master of the Knights of Ren, a warlord, and, ultimately, Supreme Leader of the First Order.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

The position of warlord^[31] first appeared in Star Wars media through the character of Darth Vader, who made his canonical debut in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, itself the first Star Wars film.^[41] Canonically speaking, however, Vader was not identified as a warlord until the 2019 reference bookStar Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi.^[31]

The audio description for the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones available on Disney+ incorrectly translates a quote from Poggle to be that he is sending his "warlords" to hide in the Geonosis catacombs.^[42] The film's subtitles instead state Poggle is saying he is sending his Geonosian warriors to the catacombs.^[26]