Raido

"Out of the Doom Pipes, and coming into the Dust Gaps on the second lap, Maxus holds the lead, but Ahsoka Tano is right on his tail with Raido close behind! It's going to be a tight finish!"

- Droid race commentator

Raido was a Devlikk male Podracer pilot who flew a yellow J930 Dash-8 Podracer around 22 BBY. Raido participated in a qualifying race for the Mon Gazza Maze course located on the Mid Rim planet of Mon Gazza. Before the race began, the Devaronian Podracer San Maxus paid Raido off to knock out a competitor, the Togruta Podracer Ahsoka Tano, who was actually a Jedi Padawan in disguise. Raido was successful in knocking Tano from the race, but wrecked his own Pod in the process.

Biography
"Watch it, Ahsoka... That racer in third has been shadowing you the whole race. He's coming behind you fast."

- Anakin Skywalker warning Ahsoka Tano of Raido's behavior

A Devlikk male, Raido performed as a professional Podracer pilot during the early part of the Clone Wars, a war between the Galactic Republic clone armies and the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems which began by 22 BBY. Piloting a yellow JAK Racing J930 Dash-8 Podracer, a vehicle known for its high traction ratings, he participated in a Podrace on the Mid Rim planet of Mon Gazza&mdash;the second qualifying race for the event known as the Mon Gazza Maze. During the first qualifier, Raido remained in the Podracer hangar, inspecting his vehicle alongside the Toong pilot Ben Quadinaros, though both were momentarily distracted by the arrival of the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, was also preparing to enter a race, going undercover as a pilot in order to uproot spies working for the Confederacy on the behalf of the Republic that the Jedi were working for. One of the Confederate spies was the Devaronian male pilot San Maxus. Maxus caught onto the Jedi, however, and sought out Raido. Maxus ended up hiring the Devlikk podracer to knockout Tano from the race.

As the second qualifying race began, Tano managed to stay up in front with the leaders, shadowing Maxus for most of the race. Raido, in turn, followed closely behind Tano. As pilots crashed as the race course became more and more hazardous, the three leaders remained in their positions&mdash;as eagerly announced by the race's droid commentator when the pilots made it to the final stretch of the course known as the Dust Gaps. Tano suddenly fell behind, ending up in the rear of the pack moments before she reached the finish line. Raido followed suite, remaining behind her as opposed to surging ahead. Skywalker, noting the event, warned Tano through a comlink to watch out for Raido's yellow Dash-8 tailing her. However, as the finish line drew closer, Raido finally made his move against Tano and accelerated to rear-end her cockpit. The move proved to be successful&mdash;at first. Tano's racer was destroyed, crossing the finish line in pieces. Raido, however, was unable to regain control of his Podracer and crashed right behind Tano. The pilots skidded across the finish line, with Tano finishing in tenth and Raido in eleventh. While Maxus was pleased that Tano no longer had a Pod to race in, he was subsequently angered by the action of his friend and crew leader Kidd Kareen, who, having taken a liking to the young Togruta girl, offered Tano one of his spare Podracers to compete with for the Maze.

Personality and traits
Raido was a skilled pilot, with the sharp reflexes one would need to pursue a career like Podracing, and was able to tail Ahsoka Tano at varying speeds for the entirety of their race together. Raido was also not above accepting bribes to demolish the competition, and had been well enough off to accept such a payoff from San Maxus.

A Devlikk, he was covered in short tan fur and had green plumage that topped his head and ringed his neck. When Podracing, he wore a pair of racing goggles.

Behind the scenes
Raido was created by Henry Gilroy and appeared in the 2008 graphic novella Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course, where he was illustrated by Matthew and Shawn Fillbach and colored by Ronda Pattison. The 2012 publication Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side later mentioned a city named New Raido, which according to Daniel Wallace, the writer of Book of Sith, was intended as a reference to the Podracer Raido. In the endnotes to Book of Sith, Wallace suggested that the name "Raido" may have seen common usage among the Devlikk and could be linked back to a famous historical figure from among their species, after whom both the Podracer pilot and the city were named.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course