Gial Ackbar

"Today is a day of celebration. We have triumphed over villainy and oppression and have given our Alliance—and the galaxy beyond it—a chance to breathe and cheer for the progress in reclaiming our freedom from an Empire that robbed us of it. We have reports from Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine is dead, and his enforcer, Darth Vader, with him. But though we may celebrate, we should not consider this our time to rest. We struck a major blow against the Empire, and now will be the time to seize on the opening we have created. The Empire’s weapon may be destroyed, but the Empire itself lives on. Its oppressive hand closes around the throats of good, free-thinking people across the galaxy, from the Coruscant Core to the farthest systems in the Outer Rim. We must remember that our fight continues. Our rebellion is over. But the war … the war is just beginning."

- Gial Ackbar

Gial Ackbar was a Mon Calamari male. During the Clone Wars, he was captain of the Mon Calamari Guard and fought in the battle that secured Prince Lee-Char's way to the throne as King of Mon Cala.

He became the foremost military commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, becoming a symbol of defiance against the Galactic Empire's subjugation of non-Humans and attracting major Mon Calamari support for the Rebels, thereby supplying the Mon Calamari star cruisers that made up the majority of the Rebel fleet.

From his ship Home One, Ackbar acted as fleet commander during the Battle of Endor, evading the Imperial trap of an unexpectedly operational Death Star II. Lando Calrissian led the starfighters, which eventually destroyed the Death Star from within. Ackbar reacted to the Rebels' triumph with a sigh of relief.

Early life
Gial Ackbar was born on the aquatic planet Mon Cala many years before the Battle of Yavin.

Battle of Mon Cala
"Soldiers of Mon Calamari: This is your home! Do not let it fall!"

- Ackbar, to his troops at the start of the battle

About midway through the Clone Wars, between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic&mdash;that Mon Cala was a part of&mdash; the war came to Mon Cala when Kolina was assassinated by Separatist Riff Tamson. However, members of the Quarren Isolation League, led by Nossor Ri, took credit for the crime in order to provoke a civil war on the planet and prevent the rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Lee-Char, from ascending to it. Ackbar, as the captain of the Mon Cal Knights, became Lee-Char's protector.

A meeting was soon held, in the Mon Calamari capital, where Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo attended as representatives of the Republic. However, the Quarren isolationists insured Tamson&mdash;one of Count Dooku's many Separatist enforcers&mdash;was present as well. The Quarren voiced that they did not want Lee-Char as their king because he was too young and inexperienced. And as the debates went on, what the Quarren did want became clear: a Quarren king, not another Mon Calamari ruler. Lee-Char assured the Quarren that he was dedicated to serving both races in a mutually beneficial way, but Tamson ordered him to cease speaking, as he had not "earned the right." Ackbar rushed in and reminded the Karkarodon that he had no say, as he was just an observer for the Confederacy. Ri then said that the Quarren, their argument not agreed to, were done with the negotiations and exited the building.

Ackbar, Skywalker and Amidala reported in to the Jedi Council, specifically Jedi Master Yoda aboard a Republic frigate, where Ackbar informed the council that a civil war on Mon Cala was inevitable. Yoda, therefore, in order to keep Mon Cala aligned with the Republic, dispatched a company of clone troopers, Jedi Kit Fisto and Skywalker's Padawan Ahsoka Tano, to bolster the defenses of the Mon Calamari. Ackbar met with Mon Cala's senator in the Galactic Senate, Meena Tills, who officially assigned Ackbar to protect Lee-Char during the forthcoming battle. Ackbar, however, thought it foolhardy to take the prince onto the battlefront, as he was too inexperienced in combat, though, he gave in, as it was a longstanding tradition for the monarch of Mon Cala to lead the soldiers into battle.

Later, Lee-Char addressed the gather troops, telling them he did not believe the Quarren intended to attack, but before he finished, the Quarren attacked, along with Separatist aqua droids led by Tamson; prompting Ackbar to proclaim "It's an attack." Ackbar and Skywalker quickly rallied their forces to defend the city, and held true to Till's will and took the prince to the front lines. Ackbar then led the charge into the enemy ranks and ordered his troops not to let their homeworld fall to the confederacy. Soon thereafter, Yoda came through: The Republic's reinforcements arrived. Ackbar moved back to the prince's position, handed him a blaster and told him to earn the respect of the people, he has to lead the fight. The battle raged, but soon, the droids and Quarren retreated to their transports, prompting Ackbar to voice to the Jedi that they had won the first assault. Tills, thinking they had completely defeated the Separatists, told Lee-Char to start dictating for the Separatists' surrender. Ackbar halted Till's hasty assumptions and was horrified to see dozens of cyborg Hydroid Medusas descend upon the city. The seemingly invincible jellyfish swept their tentacles through the clones and Mon Calamari; electrocuting many to death. More droids materialized from behind, and as they were outmatched, Ackbar told the prince it was time to retreat. The pair agreed that the caves on the ocean floor were the safest place, so they fled to the caves. Once there, Lee-Char expressed his concern that his father would have been disappointed in him for the failures that he had befallen during the day's events. Ackbar, however, assured the young prince that his father would have been proud of his son.

The Jedi Council was soon contacted to arrange the deployment of more Republic soldiers, but before an agreement could be reached, the Council's signal was jammed; leaving Ackbar and the others unsure if Yoda was sending reinforcements. Skywalker and Ackbar both agreed that more troops would be sent, but Lee-Char believed it would take too long for them to arrive, so he devised a way to escape the planet: Take the Republic frigate on the water's surface to Coruscant, the Republic's capital. The group began the ascent to the surface, but many enemy troops stood in their path, therefore, Fisto diverted the enemy forces and sent down several OMS Devilfish submersibles to expedite the ascent. However, as they neared the ship, it exploded and the debris rained down over Ackbar and the others. Skywalker told the others to grab onto the debreis so it could pull them back down to the ocean floor. Ackbar did so, and as they fell, he voiced that they should split-up into two teams to better protect the true location of the prince. Lee-Char agreed, and Ackbar told him to be careful, as he was Mon Calamari's last hope. The prince then went with Tano, Fisto and the clone, while Ackbar's group, Amidala, Skywalker and Tills, discussed how to disrupt the city's communications; to prevent the Separatists from knowing that Republic reinforcements were incoming until it was too late.

Ackbar, Skywalker and Tills headed to the central planetary scanner mast, which Skywalker used the Force to cause to collapse while Ackbar defended him from aqua droids. The building collapsed and the group retreated, however, Tamson correctly conflated that the building was only a target because Republic reinforcements were forthcoming. Therefore, he launched another attack. Ackbar and the others fought the Separatist soldiers in order to keep their attention on them, rather than searching for the prince. However, Ackbar, and the others were soon surrounded by Hydroid Medusas, but were saved when the Republic reinforcements arrived: A Venator-class Star Destroyer deployed members of the Gungan Grand Army from Naboo&mdash;and, like the Mon Calamari and Quarren, were amphibians.

The Gungans attacked using their boomas, that disabled the Hydroid Medusas; freeing Ackbar, Tills and Skywalker, who joined the fray. Ackbar killed many of the enemy, until a Separatist Trident-class assault ship arrived and began spinning; creating a vortex that confused the battlefront. Ackbar grabbed on to Skywalker, swam him to the gunship, and threw him up to it. Skywalker severed one of its legs with his lightsaber, causing the craft to spin out of control and crash. However, the Republic-aligned troops were outnumbered and taken prisoner&mdash;including Ackbar&mdash;by the Separatists.

Ackbar, his troops and the clones were taken to a prison camp on the ocean floor, while Skywalker, Amidala and Fisto were interrogated by Tamson. Tano and the prince, however, managed to elude capture again, but the Lee-Char thought to rally the forces&mdash;Mon Calamari, Gungan, clone, Jedi and even Quarren&mdash;to all together overwhelm Tamson and his droids. Therefore, he infiltrated the prison camp Ackbar was detained in to ask his guidance. Ackbar and Tills rejoiced when they saw the prince alive, but were confounded when Lee-Char explained his daring plan to reunify the citizens of Mon Cala against the Separatist invaders. Ackbar was shocked that the prince would ally himself with the people who had killed his father, but Lee-Char told Ackbar that he knew for fact that Tamson had done so. Tano added that she had seen similar occurrences of Dooku manipulating a planet's people to start a civil war, so the prince said that he would find and show Ri the truth. Ackbar agreed to the prince's noble plan and said he would marshal the Mon Calamari troops for battle. Lee-Char told the captain that when a Quarren attacked a Separatist, Ackbar would begin his attack. Just then, a legion of aqua droids appeared and put the prince under arrest. Lee-Char willingly went with his captors, in order to talk with Tamson and confront Ri with the truth.

Later, Lee-Char was sentenced to death by Tamson, and ordered that all the prisoners be taken to the capital to witness the execution. Tamson's Karkarodon enforcers surrounded the prince while Tamson read aloud the prince's crimes against the Separatist state. Meanwhile, Ackbar and the other prisoners watched from the side. One of Ri's aides materialized and handed Ackbar his baton and informed him that Lee-Char's boldness had worked: Ri was on their side. Ackbar looked across the plaza and nodded to Ri. The Quarren distibuted arms to the clones and troops, while Ri swam across the plaza, created an ink cloud, and grabbed the prince. Ackbar's troops opened fire on the Separatists and the battle raged once more. Ackbar charged the aqua droids and personally slew many while Lee-Char proved himself by leading much of the forces and killing Tamson, a fearsome warrior&mdash;thereby freeing Mon Cala. Ackbar, the Jedi and Ri, rushed to the young prince to congratulate him.

Some time later, Ackbar attended Lee-Char's coronation as the king of Mon Cala, like his father once was. Ackbar stood on the right of the throne while Ri pledged the loyalty of the Quarren people to King Lee-Char, and Lee-Char pledged his loyalty to all the people of Mon Cala.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars: Battle Pod
 * Star Wars Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Princess Leia, Part I
 * Heir to the Jedi
 * Star Wars 4: Skywalker Strikes, Part IV
 * Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Return of the Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * Aftermath
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Return of the Jedi Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * Aftermath
 * Aftermath