Overview[]
A longtime friend to Luke Skywalker, Biggs Darklighter was a member of the Rebel Alliance and served as a wingmate to Skywalker on his infamous flight against the Death Star with the callsign of Red Three. He was subsequently shot down and killed by Darth Vader.
First appearing in the 1977 film Star Wars by Garrick Hagon, Darklighter had several additional scenes in the backstory of film which were subsequently cut reducing him to a brief cameo appearance.
Background[]
Despite having only a few brief scenes in the original Star Wars movie, Biggs Darklighter had a much more prominent backstory and additional scenes in the original script of the film which details the tragedy of his death and influence upon Luke Skywalker.
Darklighter and Skywalker were actually best friends growing up on Tatooine with both sharing the dream of escaping the desert planet and having adventures in the stars. They were friendly rivals and became ace pilots in their T-16 skyhoppers, racing through Beggar's Canyon and tagging womp rats, continually daring the other to top them.
Darklighter would eventually join the Imperial Academy and recommended Luke to do the same only for his friend to back out at the last minute, fearing that his Uncle Owen needed him at the moisture farm. Darklighter subsequently graduated and became an ace TIE fighter pilot roughly a year before the events of Star Wars.
While on leave, Darklighter returned to Tatooine and had an encounter with Skywalker who eagerly wanted to know about Biggs' adventures. Biggs confessed that he had grown disillusioned with the Empire and was secretly plotting to defect to the Rebel Alliance. Biggs was worried because he had only tentative contact with the Rebellion and wanted to see his family and Skywalker one last time because he suspected that he would never be able to return home ever again. Biggs however proclaimed that he would rather fight for a cause that he believed in than continue to serve the Empire.
Skywalker vowed to follow him and join the Rebellion too and Biggs assured him that he would look out for him but secretly believed that his friend would never make it off Tatooine.
Afterwards, Darklighter would stage a mutiny aboard his ship and defected to Alliance with a valuable starship and would soon become renowned as a great pilot. He would once more be reunited with his best friend Luke Skywalker who had finally made it to Yavin IV. Darklighter assured his flight commander of Skywalker's piloting skills which led him to being assigned an X-wing for the fight against the Death Star. Despite his seniority, Darklighter would proffer the position of leader to Luke knowing that his friend was the better shot of the two and had the best chance of hitting the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star. In doing so, Darklighter assigned himself to being a flying shield for Luke's trench run and was subsequently shot down by Darth Vader and left Luke to grieve for his friend's abrupt sacrifice.
Biggs Darklighter's background has also been greatly expanded in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comics and novels which has detailed his father, Huff Darklighter who is a somewhat crooked land baron on Tatooine and own many moisture farms and is known for his unscrupulous dealings and associations with the Empire. Biggs' younger cousin Gavin would subsequently join the New Republic several years after the Battle of Endor. Biggs Darklighter is also remembered by Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles for many years even after his death and is recognized as one of the great heroes of the Rebellion and has had a military base named after him.
Major Plots[]
Personality and Traits[]
Trivia[]
- A pair of recurring Final Fantasy characters, Biggs and Wedge are named after Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles who were both Luke Skywalker's wingmates during the Death Star trench run.
Quotes[]
- "It'll be like old times, Luke. They'll never stop us." ―Biggs Darklighter to Luke Skywalker; Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope