Unidentified Gran (Rimmer's Rest)

A male Gran individual operated out of the moon Nar Shaddaa sometime after the Battle of Endor working as a bounty hunter and a bodyguard. At some point in his life he had a dangerous encounter with Rebel agent Kyle Katarn. Around 5 ABY, the Gran was hired by the droid information broker 8t88 to serve as backup during a meeting with Katarn at the Rimmer's Rest cantina located on Nar Shaddaa, where 8t88 was going to divulge information regarding the death of Katarn's father. However, the droid double-crossed Katarn and left the Gran and another hireling to kill the agent off. Ultimately, they were unable to prevent Katarn from escaping, and the former agent ended up killing many of 8t88's henchmen while he chased the droid to a landing platform where the droid made his escape.

Biography
"Remember me? It took three months for that blaster burn to heal.''" "''Can't say that I do, but the streets are filled with trash&mdash;and it's hard to tell one piece from another."

- The Gran exchanges words with Katarn pertaining to an old wound

A Gran male worked as a bounty hunter and bodyguard out of the moon Nar Shaddaa sometime after the Battle of Endor. While working as a bodyguard, the Gran went in search of a weapons smuggler. The Gran encountered Rebel agent Kyle Katarn, and after a shootout the Gran sustained a blaster injury in the leg while Katarn took down the smuggling operation by himself. The wound took three months to heal, and during that time the Gran built up a grudge against Katarn. Around 5 ABY, a droid information broker named 8t88 working for a Dark Jedi named Jerec, obtained a datadisc on the moon Sulon from the home of Morgan Katarn, who was the father of Kyle Katarn and was murdered by Jerec sometime prior. Unable to decipher the disc, 88 went to Nar Shaddaa in search of Kyle Katarn, who 8t88 wanted to decipher the disk. In case Katarn would not comply, 8t88 searched for hired guns to provide backup, and first contacted the bounty hunter Boba Fett to serve as a bodyguard. However, Fett declined, which forced 88 to find cheaper backup including the Gran and a number of other mercenaries and bounty hunters.

Arriving at Katarn's table at the Rimmer's Rest cantina, 88 informed Katarn of Jerec's responsibility for Morgan's death as well as the Dark Jedi's plans to create a new Empire. While late to the confrontation, the Gran and a Rodian moved in around Katarn as 88 offered Katarn one last chance to describe what Morgan's datadisc contained, rather than die at the hands of the hirelings. However, Katarn refused to comply, prompting 88 to leave and order his hirelings to kill Katarn. Instead of immediately shooting Katarn, the Gran asked him if he remembered him from their past encounter. While the former agent did not recognize the Gran, the exchange granted Katarn enough time to dispatch the Rodian behind him while unconsciously calling on the Force to retrieve his own blaster to hold it on the Gran. Both of the hirelings were disarmed and were in awe of Kyle's sudden trick as the agent slipped away, mockingly adding that they should go out for lunch sometime. Afterward, Katarn chased 8t88 through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, eventually shooting off one 88's arms on a landing platform as the droid escaped aboard an Imperial Lambda-class shuttle with the help of more hired guns, who were shot by stormtroopers when they tried to board the shuttle.

Personality and traits
"I was a bodyguard looking for a smuggler a few years back. He was running weapons into the Imperial sector, until you dumped his operation into a blackhole and gave me a laser shot in the leg doing it... And my leg still hurts sometimes."

- The Gran explains to Kyle their earlier encounter

The Gran was not above holding a grudge, and appeared to carry one against Kyle Katarn ever since obtaining a long-lasting injury from Katarn during a prior confrontation. The Gran also appeared to be both cocky and somewhat eager during his confrontation with Katarn. He wished to know if Katarn remembered him at all from the previous engagement&mdash;though Katarn didn't recognize the mercenary at all&mdash;claiming that the Gran was just a piece of street trash like numerous others Katarn had dealt with. However, the Gran was distracted by the exchange, which allowed Katarn to disarm the Gran and slip away, leaving the him to seethe in anger. The Gran had salmon colored skin and purple eyes, that at the time of his confrontation at the bar were noticeably bloodshot. He was described as having a voice that sounded like a gravel crusher.

Equipment
The Gran carried an E-11 blaster rifle as his primary weapon during his confrontation with Kyle Katarn. The Gran also wore dark blue fatigues around his torso and wore black pants with brown boots.

Behind the scenes
This Gran first appeared in the 1997 video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and later appeared, unnamed, in the 1998 novella adaption, Dark Forces: Rebel Agent, written by William C. Dietz and illustrated by Ezra Tucker. He also appeared in the radio drama, which expanded briefly on the Gran's back-story. The Gran is one of three cutscene extras portrayed by actors in the game, and the Gran is the only one with a spoken line. The line is then split up into two phrases that are used as taunts for all other Gran enemies in the game, who speak one of the two lines upon sighting the player character. One of the lines translates to a phrase containing Nar Shaddaa, and this phrase is still spoken by Gran during the Barons Hed mission on Sulon, despite them no longer being on Nar Shaddaa. Due to the costume's mask, the Gran's mouth does not move when he speaks. Also, while in many sources Gran have black eyes, this Gran, along with all Gran in Dark Forces II and its expansion, Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, has purple eyes. However, in Star Wars: Dark Forces, all the Gran enemies had glowing green eyes. In the novella, a Gran appears behind Kyle in an illustration that depicts Katarn during his meeting with 8t88. The Gran's eyes are completely red, however.

Between the video game and the novella, the confrontation in the bar is somewhat different. While a Grave Tusken acts as the second thug during the game that gets flipped onto a table, the novella changes the thug to a Rodian. The weapon Kyle uses against the Gran is also different in the translation. In the game, Kyle grabs a DH-17 blaster pistol from the Grave Tusken behind him, but in the novella Kyle uses the Force to grab his Bryar pistol, even though the name of Kyle's weapon is never stated, and the original art for the novella had the Bryar replaced with a DH-17 anyways. Between the game and novella, some dialogue is switched around and out of order. Also in the game, after the cutscene's closure, the Gran makes a run for it and the player may choose to shoot and kill the Gran or evade his attacks and escape. In the novella, Kyle disarms the thugs and simply leaves, though a page break is inserted soon after which leaves the Gran's fate ambiguous. This article was written with the assumption that Rebel Agent is the canonical telling of the events.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
 * Dark Forces: Rebel Agent audio drama