Overview[]
Admiral Ackbar is a member of the amphibious race known as the Mon Calamari. He is the Leader of the Rebel Fleet against the second Death Star, above the moon of Endor.
Admiral Ackbar first appeared in the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and was created by George Lucas. Ackbar was intended to be a background character to racially diversify the Rebel Alliance via a half-body alien puppet used by Timothy M. Rose and was voiced by Erik Bauersfeld. However, he was an instant hit with fans with his striking appearance and his famous line, "It's a trap!" has become an Internet meme.
His popularity was so great that he has become a significant and major persona in the Star Wars Expanded Universe as well.
Background[]
A Mon Calamari born on the watery world of Dac during the final days of the Old Republic; Gial Ackbar joined the Mon Calamari Guard where he rose to the rank of Captain, personally protecting the Royal Family and became an influential military advisor the young Prince by the era of The Clone Wars. He was also one of the few Mon Calamari who was a strong proponent of space exploration.
Ackbar was also a supporter of Palpatine's rise to Emperor, hopeful that it would prove to be a return of peace and stability after the chaos of the Clone Wars. He grew increasingly disenchanted with the changes instituted by the New Order but it wasn't until Mon Calamari was occupied by the Imperial Navy that he took up arms against the Empire.
He helped organize the first resistance movement on Mon Calamari only to captured by the Empire and "gifted" to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin as his personal slave. The arrogant Tarkin delighted in discussing his personal ideas and military strategy to his numerous guests and dictating his political correspondence to his regional governors; unaware that his "slave" was silently absorbing every scrap of information and data. Ackbar subsequently became a powerful and priceless espionage asset, leaking top secret Imperial information to the Rebellion.
When the Rebels learned that Tarkin was undertaking a secret meeting with famed weapons designer Bevel Lemelisk for their Death Star Project; they decided to try and capture the pair. They ultimately failed but they did inadvertently rescue Gial Ackbar. Their 'failure' would go on to be one of the greatest assets in the history of the Rebel Alliance.
Ackbar would become the Alliance's finest military strategists and leaders; and ironically enough, one of Wilhuff Tarkin's greatest if unacknowledged students. Ackbar also provided detailed information about the Death Star Project and would be granted the rank of Commander in the Alliance.
With Senator Bail Organa, he returned to Dac where he helped advise the Senator in helping repair the rift between the Mon Calamari and the Quarren races. Ackbar played a critical role in negotiations and his expertise in Imperial doctrine and tactics were desperately needed by the Mon Calamari and Quarren who begged him to return to lead them in overthrowing the Imperial rule of their homeworld. Despite feeling a debt of honor to the Alliance, Ackbar reluctantly agreed. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Ackbar successfully pushed the Empire off Mon Calamari and seized control of the sizable Imperial shipyards in orbit but until the Battle of Yavin, was unable to sway a sizable portion of the population to support the Rebel Alliance and potentially weaken their own defenses.
The destruction of the first Death Star galvanized the Mon Calamari and Ackbar successfully pledged his people's support towards backing the Alliance. His people would begin to churn out capital warships transforming the Rebel Alliance which had once consisted primarily of converted freighters and ragtag civilian transports into an actual fleet that could engage the Imperial Star Destroyers one-on-one with Ackbar becoming the unofficial "Father of the Rebel Fleet".
Ackbar was swiftly promoted to Supreme Commander of the Alliance Fleet Operations and helped shape military strategic operations against the Empire even though he continued to lead his fleet aboard his personal flagship. Ackbar and his fleets roamed the Galaxy much like the oceanic predators of his homeworld, hiding in the depths to emerge to ravage the Empire's detached forces. His fleet became a fiendish psychological threat against the Empire's admirals and military strategists who rightly understood that these ships significantly undermined the Empire's authority and pushed more and more into rebelling against them.
Ackbar's growing successes resulted in the Emperor deciding to bait a trap that Ackbar would have no choice but to gather all of his naval assets and forces together in an attempt to destroy the Death Star II. In doing so, the Emperor intended to make a decisive blow and crush any and all rebel resistance for all time.
Major Plots[]
Personality and Traits[]
Appearances[]
Films[]
TV Series[]
- Star Wars: Clone Wars (2008)
- Season 3
- Water War
- Gungan Attack
- Prisoners
Trivia[]
Quotes[]
- "It's a trap!" ―Admiral Ackbar; Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi