Hera Syndulla

"If all you do is fight for your own life, then your life is worth nothing!"

- Hera Syndulla

Hera Syndulla was a Twi'lek female rebel who lived during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Syndulla was the daughter of the Twi'lek revolutionary  Cham Syndulla. An adept pilot, Syndulla was the owner of the VCX-100 light freighter Ghost. She kept a secret blaster in her boot and was close with Kanan Jarrus, whom she convinced to become a rebel.

Becoming a rebel
"This thing hasn't flown in years!''" "You've got to talk to it right." "I thought I'' was a good pilot. But you&mdash;you're amazing."

- Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla

Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, Hera became a first rate starship pilot. Hera then met the former Jedi, Kanan Jarrus on the planet Gorse, where she convinced him to fight against the Empire. She was inspired to become a rebel by her father, the Twi'lek revolutionary Cham Syndulla, who had fought against the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Clone Wars and the Galactic Empire after the war's end.

After raiding an Imperial supply convoy on Kanan's suggestion, Hera, Kanan, and C1-10P found themselves under attack by Imperial TIE/LN starfighters. When the attack disabled both the Ghost' s shields and internal communications system, Hera and Kanan began giving Chopper conflicting orders over what to fix first. A comment from Kanan passed on to Hera by Chopper aggravated her enough to go on the offensive and destroy a TIE fighter herself. Chopper wound up destroying the final starfighter, and his efforts were praised by Hera before she took the Ghost into hyperspace.

Another mission required Sabine Wren to create a diversion so the Ghost could take off. After Hera signaled Sabine that they were in position, the Mandalorian detonated an explosive in a TIE fighter landing platform, drawing attention from the departing Ghost. As the she flew away, Hera remarked to Sabine that the explosion was even visible from her position.

Enter Ezra Bridger
Sometime later, Sabine, Zeb and Kanan were tasked with stealing some crates containing blasters from the Empire. As part of the plan, Hera and Chopper would pick up the rebels and their stolen supplies outside the city. During, Hera's rebel companions encountered Ezra Bridger, a fourteen year old orphan who lived on the streets of Lothal's Capital City. Ezra tried to steal several of the crates but reluctantly hitched a ride aboard the Ghost. This proved to be Hera's first encounter with the young Ezra, who later became a valuable crew member of the Ghost and Kanan's Jedi Padawan. After losing their Imperial pursuers in space, Hera and her crew returned to Lothal and sold the stolen blasters to the Devaronian crime lord Cikatro Vizago. The rebels then sold the proceeds to the poor people of Tarkintown, who had been dispossessed by the Empire.

Hera and her companions then embarked on a mission to rescue several Wookiee slaves that were being transported on an Imperial transport ship to the spice mining planet of Kessel. Unknown to the Lothal rebels, the Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus had planned to lure them into a trap. When Zeb and Chopper objected to the presence of the stowaway Ezra, Hera and Sabine argued that they could not dump the human youth since he knew too much. Hera also promised to keep an eye on the young human youth. When they went to rescue the Wookiees from an Imperial transport, their transmissions were blocked. Hera and Ezra noticed a Star Destroyer coming out of hyperspace taking them aboard. Hera told Ezra to warn the other rebels who had gone aboard. When he did, they escaped the imperials except for Ezra himself who was grabbed by Agent Kallus.

Following their escape from the Imperial trap, Hera successfully convinced her rebel comrades to rescue Ezra from the Star Destroyer. After they escaped again, Hera said Ezra's parents must be worried sick and was upset to hear that he had no parents. While Ezra was on board the Lawbringer, he learned that the Wookiees were really being held in the Spice Mines of Kessel so the rebels went there to save them. Hera was forced to flee the scene when the Ghost was ambushed by TIEs. She ran a "22 pickup" to rescue her comrades. Upon returning to Lothal, Ezra returned Kanan's holocron that he had grabbed earlier. After noticing that Ezra had opened the holocron, she realized that the teenager was strong in the Force. However, Ezra also stole Kanan's lightsaber prior to their disembarkation and Kanan followed Ezra to his hideout to retrieve it. In the end, Kanan managed to convince Ezra to return his lightsaber in return for training the boy as his Padawan. As a result, Ezra became a crew member of the Ghost.

Theft of disruptors
Running low on fuel and supplies, the crew of the Ghost decided to accept another job from the crime lord Vizago to steal a shipment of weapons from the spaceport on Garel, a planet near Lothal. While Hera traveled to Garel in the Ghost, her comrades took a Star Commuter 2000 transport shuttle. After a fire fight with the Imperial authorities on Garel, Hera and her fellow rebels escaped Garel with the weapons. These weapons turned out to be illegal T-7 ion disruptor rifles, which had been used during the Imperial subjugation of Lasan, Zeb's homeworld. While the Imperial Senate had banned these firearms, the Imperial Minister Maketh Tua had wanted to restart production on Lothal. During their escape, the rebels also picked up the protocol droid C-3PO and his astromech companion R2-D2; who had been sent on a secret mission by Senator Bail Organa to prevent the T-7 disruptors from falling into the hands of the Empire.

The presence of the T-7 disruptors distressed Zeb, who was one of the few Lasat to survive the Fall of Lasan. After Zeb locked Ezra out of his cabin, Hera told the teenager about the role that these weapons had played in the destruction of his species. Upon returning to Lothal, the Ghost rendezvoused at a pre-arranged location with Vizago. Unknown to Hera and the other crew members, C-3PO, who was unaware of his master's true mission and believed that the rebels were "criminals", made an emergency call to Agent Kallus and revealed their whereabouts. Before the rebels could complete their transaction with Vizago, they were attacked by an Imperial force led by Kallus. Vizago fled without paying the crew of the Ghost. However, the rebels were unwilling to allow the disruptors to fall into Imperial hands again and fought against Kallus' forces.

During the fighting, Hera helped Sabine to open the crates containing the disruptors and then used one to shoot down one of Kallus' AT-DP walkers. Meanwhile Sabine and R2-D2 succeeded in overloading the disruptors, causing them to explode and effectively denying them to the Empire. In the midst of the skirmish, Ezra also managed to save Zeb from being killed by Kallus, who had played a role in the genocide of the Lasat species. Kanan asked Hera to get the boy on board while he himself took the Lasat on the ship. Following their skirmish with Imperial forces on Lothal, Hera and her crew headed into space where they rendezvoused with C-3PO's and R2-D2's owner, Senator Organa on the Tantive IV. The grateful Senator paid them generously for returning his droids and destroying the disruptors.

Acquiring supplies
"Enough. This is my ship you're wrecking, and I want you off."

- Hera, to Ezra and Zeb

After Zeb and Ezra made a mess in the cargo hold of the Ghost, Hera sent them off the ship to buy supplies in a local Lothalian town. Among the items Hera requested was a meiloorun fruit, something not commonly found on Lothal. Because of its rarity, Hera hoped Ezra and Zeb would be gone longer, leaving her and Kanan some time to relax. Some time later, Hera received a call from Zeb, who had stolen a TIE fighter. Kanan then instructed them to hurry to the meeting point. When Ezra and Zeb failed to return in time, Hera began to worry. Thankfully, the two eventually returned. After hearing them out, the entire crew boarded the Ghost.

The Stygeon trap
Later, Hera and her fellow rebels received a transmission from the outspoken dissident Senator Gall Trayvis that the Galactic Empire had imprisoned the Jedi Master Luminara Unduli at the Spire, a prison on remote Stygeon Prime. Despite the risks involved in breaching the fortified Imperial prison, the rebels decided to rescue the imprisoned Jedi so that she could assist Ezra's Jedi training. Upon arriving in the Stygeon system, they left the Ghost behind in Chopper's hands while Hera flew the rest of the crew towards the prison on the Phantom, the Ghost auxiliary vessel. While Kanan, Ezra, Zeb, and Sabine infiltrated the prison complex, Hera remained aboard the Phantom to evacuate her comrades once they had freed Luminara.

Unknown to Hera and her comrades, Luminara had already died but the Empire had preserved her remains in order to lure surviving Jedi to their deaths. Upon reaching Luminara's cell at the lower levels of the complex, Kanan and Ezra were ambushed by the Inquisitor, a Force sensitive agent of the Empire tasked with hunting down Jedi Purge survivors. After a brief lightsaber duel, Kanan and his Padawan managed to escape into the vast prison complex. Meanwhile, Hera was waiting aboard the Phantom when the ship's sensors detected something approaching the shuttle. At first, Hera thought that it was a TIE fighter. However, the intruder turned out to be a group of tibidees, winged flying creatures native to the Spire, that mistook the Phantom jamming signal for a mating call. Hera was forced to detach the shuttle from the side of the prison but was followed by the creatures. Through some unknown means, Hera managed to convince the tibidees that she was a friend and that the Imperials were the enemies.

Meanwhile, Kanan and Ezra managed to reunite with Sabine and Zeb. The four rebels then made their way to a hangar bay while dodging the Inquisitor's twin-bladed lightsaber and the prison's automated blast doors. After unlocking the hangar bay's blast doors, the four rebels found themselves trapped by a force of stormtroopers and a blaster fight broke out. Hera and the Phantom returned in the midst of this skirmish with a large fleet of tibidees, which proceeded to attack the stormtroopers. Hera managed to evacuate her rebel comrades and they returned to the Ghost. Despite their failure to rescue Luminara, Kanan's relationship with his Padawan Ezra improved as a result of their experiences in the Spire.

Destroying a kyber crystal
Later, Hera and Kanan sent Ezra on a mission to infiltrate the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal to steal an Imperial decoder containing the location of a powerful Kyber crystal. Ezra infiltrated the Academy disguised as a Cadet named Dev Morgan. He was also assisted by Chopper, Sabine, and Zeb who remained outside the Academy's parameters to help Ezra evacuate once he had completed his mission. Meanwhile, Hera and Kanan remained aboard the Ghost while waiting for Sabine to transmit the coordinates of the Kyber crystal. With the assistance of a disillusion Imperial Cadet named Zare Leonis, Ezra succeeded in stealing the decoder. As a result, Hera and Kanan learnt that the kyber crystal was being transported by a convoy consisting of three Gozanti-class cruisers. However, Ezra decided to delay his exit in order to protect another Cadet named Jai Kell from being abducted by the Inquisitor for Project Harvester, a secret Imperial project to identify Force-sensitive individuals.

Despite this unexpected development, Hera convinced Kanan to focus on their mission to destroy the kyber crystal. Using the decoder's coordinates, the Ghost intercepted the Imperial convoy. While Kanan used the Phantom to harry the convoy's TIE fighter escorts, Hera used the Ghost weapons systems to attack the middle Gozanti cruiser; which Kanan had determined was ferrying the kyber crystal. Hera managed to destroy the cruiser before it could make a jump into hyperspace. This created a massive explosion which consumed the other cruisers and the TIE fighters. Hera and Kanan narrowly managed to escape into hyperspace and returned to Lothal. By that time, Ezra and Jai Kell had managed to escape from the Academy with the assistance of Chopper, Sabine, and Zeb. After reuniting with their comrades in Lothal's wilderness, Hera helped Jai and his mother to hide from the Empire.

Mission to Fort Anaxes
Later, Hera along with Sabine and Ezra participated in a mission provided by Fulcrum, Hera's secret contact and a key leader of the Rebel network. During the course of their mission their shuttle, the Phantom, was attacked by several TIE fighters. This narrow brush with death led Sabine to question Fulcrum's reliability and to ask Hera to reveal her source. Wanting to protect knowledge of the Rebel network from the Empire, Hera refused to disclose this information to Sabine. Dissatisfied with Hera's response, Sabine insisted on accompanying her on their next supply run to Fort Anaxes, an abandoned asteroid base used by the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Wanting to resolve this conflict peacefully, Hera obliged and the two women departed on the Phantom for Fort Anaxes.

Unknown to the two women, Ezra and Zeb had failed to fix a leak in the Phantom fuel line. This would have serious ramifications for Sabine and Hera. Unaware of this problem, Hera and Sabine departed in the Phantom. During their journey, Sabine asked more probing questions which Hera tactfully dodged. However, Sabine was not fooled and persisted with her questioning. At that point, Fulcrum contacted Hera to inform her that their supplies had been unloaded and were waiting for them on Fort Anaxes. When Sabine attempted to talk to Fulcrum, Hera was forced to break off communications. Upon their arrival, they discovered that Fulcrum had already fled their rendezvous point. However, Hera found a small symbol left by Fulcrum on one of the supply crates which she promptly hid from Sabine.

After arriving at Fort Anaxes, Sabine asked Hera to confirm that she and Kanan trusted her. With the fight against the Empire escalating, Sabine explained that she needed to know more about Fulcrum in order to know that her struggle was not in vain. She recalled that during her time at the Imperial Academy on Mandalore, she was a blind follower of the Empire but that it had ended up being a nightmare. Hera understood Sabine's concerns and assured the younger woman that she trusted her. However, she explained to Sabine that could not disclose all that she knew about the wider Rebellion to avoid that information falling into the hands of the Empire. Unlike Sabine, Hera knew that their cell was part of a wider Rebel network. Finally, she asked Sabine to have faith in her and Kanan.

While they were loading the supplies onto the Phantom, Hera and Sabine were attacked by a pack of fyrnocks, deadly silicon-based lifeforms which had driven the Republic personnel from the asteroid base. While attempting to flee, they discovered that the Phantom fuel tank was faulty. Hera also contacted their crew mates on the Ghost for help. After discovering that the fyrnocks could not withstand sunlight, Hera and Sabine devised a plan to use Rhydonium explosives to kill the creatures. However, they quickly ran out of explosives. When it seemed that they would be devoured by fyrnocks, the crew of the  Ghost  came and rescued them. Once safely aboard the Ghost, Hera assured Sabine that she trusted her even more as a result of their adventure at Fort Anaxes. In return, Hera asked Sabine if she could trust her and promised the Mandalorian girl that she would eventually understand the cause they were fighting for. Sabine agreed and promised that she would try.

Empire Day
On Empire Day, Hera Syndulla and her rebel companions visited a cantina in Lothal's Capital City. Around that time, the Rodian Tseebo, who worked for the Imperial Information Office had gone missing and the Imperial authorities had launched a manhunt. Zeb was present at the cantina when three TIE fighter pilots visited the building and briefly accosted a Rodian customer, whom they later released after determining that he was not Tseebo. During the Empire Day celebrations that night, the Ghost crew decided to destroy a new TIE Advanced v1 prototype that was displayed to the Lothalian public. While Kanan planted a thermal detonator on the TIE's repulsorlift platform, Zeb and Sabine distracted the Imperials by lighting colorful fireworks.

Prior to the explosion, Hera left early to prepare the Ghost for takeoff and to pick them up at a rendezvous point. The Lothal rebels succeeded in destroying the TIE prototype but the Imperials responded by imposing a citywide lockdown. With air travel prohibited, Hera was unable to bring the Ghost to their rendezvous point. Shortly later, she was joined by Zeb, who had managed to escape the lockdown. However, Kanan promised to transmit a new rendezvous point as soon as they had found one. The other rebels managed to escape the lockdown and also rescued Tseebo, who had been hiding in Ezra's former home. Hijacking an Imperial troop transport, her rebel companions managed to break out of the security cordon and enter the highway but were pursued by Agent Kallus. Hera then flew the Ghost to their new rendezvous point and picked them up.

Hera and her rebel comrades then fled into space but were pursued by several TIE fighters led by the Inquisitor, who piloted his own IE Advanced fighter. During a brief dogfight Chopper, who was manning the rear turret, was hit by laser fire; forcing Zeb to take over. Hera also ordered Sabine to man the Ghost nose gun and Ezra to fix the ship's navicomputer. While Ezra was unable to repair the navicomputer, Tseebo succeeded in eliminating the problem by transmitting hyperspace coordinates directly to the Ghost computer. Thus, the rebels were able to escape into hyperspace. However, the Inquisitor succeeded in planting an XX-23 S-thread tracker on the Phantom, the Ghost auxiliary ship.

After escaping the Imperials, Hera and the other rebels held a meeting to discuss what to do with Tseebo. Ezra was resentful towards the Rodian for not saving his parents Mira and Ephraim Bridger. Tseebo then interrupted the meeting to announce that the Imperials were tracking the Ghost. Under Hera's orders, Chopper scanned the Ghost and detected the tracker's on the hull of the Phantom. When Hera suggested dumping the Phantom in hyperspace, Kanan responded that he and Ezra could use the shuttle as a decoy to keep the Imperials from their true target: Tseebo. While Kanan and Ezra kept the Inquisitor busy, Hera would arrange a rendezvous with the mysterious rebel agent known as Fulcrum, who would then arrange Tseebo's welfare. After agreeing to this plan, the rebels parted company.

While Kanan and Ezra grappled with the Inquisitor on the asteroid Fort Anaxes, Hera and the other Ghost crew arrived at their rendezvous point with Fulcrum's corvette in deep space. Prior to boarding the blockade runner, Tseebo confided in Hera that he had failed Ezra's parents and told her that he had volunteered for a cybernetic implant in order to make up for the wrong he had done. He also told Hera that he knew the fate of Ezra's parents. Before Tseebo left, Hera agreed to share this information with Ezra when he was ready. Later, the Lothal rebels were rejoined by Kanan and Ezra, who had escaped from the Inquisitor on Fort Anaxes. However, Ezra was troubled after inadvertently tapping into the Dark Side during his confrontation with the Inquisitor.

Calrissian's job
After Zeb and Kanan lost Chopper in a game of sabacc with the entrepreneur Lando Calrissian, Hera took on a job from the man in order to reclaim her droid. She was also incensed towards Zeb and Kanan for gambling on Chopper. Lando attempted to ingratiate himself with the crew members one at a time while simultaneously turning them against one another, a tactic Hera quickly took notice of.

When they rendezvoused with Lando's contact the crime lord Azmorigan, Hera went aboard with Lando and Kanan. Lando subtly informed Hera of his plan without actually giving her instructions. To everyone's shock Lando offered Hera as payment to the gangster Azmorigan in exchange for his mysterious piece of cargo. Hera chose to play along with Lando's rouse despite the imminent danger it put her in. Using her natural allure she knocked out Azmorigan and one of his guards using a food tray, which she wryly referred to as very useful. Using the escape pod Lando mentioned she managed to escape back to the Ghost. Upon arriving back on the Ghost, she punched Lando in the stomach and reprimanded him for endangering her and her crew. However, she continued his job nonetheless.

Despite Lando's instructions, Ezra and Zeb opened the box containing the mysterious piece of cargo, which turned out to be a puffer pig. The frightened animal wrecked havoc aboard the Ghost and prevented Hera from returning to the Ghost cockpit by inflating itself and blocking the passage. Using the Ghost signature modulation, Kanan piloted the ship past the Imperial blockade on Lothal and managed to evade several pursuing TIE fighters. After breaking past the Imperials, Hera reprimanded Lando for his divide and conquer tactics and asserted herself as the commander of the crew, instructing Lando to follow her command. Calrissian also revealed that his plan was to use the puffer pig for mining; the Empire had banned private entrepreneurs from owning the animal in order to maintain a monopoly on mining.

After escaping the Imperial blockade, Hera along with her crew and Calrissian made their way to Calrissian's farm. There, they were confronted by Azmorigan, who had been angered by Calrissian's theft of his puffer pig and had come to exact revenge on the shady entrepreneur. Hera and her crew became caught up in a shootout between the rebels and Azmorigan. During the fighting, Azmorigan took Zeb hostage and threatened to kill the Lasat if they did not hand Lando over to him. However, Chopper resolved the situation by firing on Azmorigan, allowing Hera and the rebels to regain the upper hand. Hera then demanded that the defeated crime lord leave, a demand that he acquiesced to. With Azmorigan gone, Calrissian returned Chopper to Hera. Since Calrissian did not have the credits to repay them for their "job", Chopper with the approval of Hera and the other crew, stole Calrissian's fuel canisters; which the entrepreneur conceded as fair payment for their risky mission.

Exposing Trayvis
Following the latest transmission from Gall Trayvis, the crew attempted to meet with him personally, after Hera and Ezra managed to decode the senator's hidden message. After sneaking into the senate building and meeting Trayvis they were immediately ambushed by Agent Kallus and his men. Trayvis suggested they surrender, but they managed to escape capture with Sabine's aid. The crew fled into the sewers with Kallus in pursuit, but the senator's curious behavior began to arouse Hera's suspicions. Trayvis lagged behind and began asking her for information on their group and their activities. While Hera had long been inspired by the broadcasts of Trayvis as a voice of resistance against the Empire, but quickly realized the senator was not what he appeared.

Suspicious that his ineptitude during the escape was in fact an attempt to get them captured, she gave him her blaster and requested cover while she and Ezra deactivate a fan. Her theory proved correct as the deceitful Trayvis attempted to prevent them from escaping by holding them at blaster point. Hera turned his tactics against him and coaxed him into revealing his own secrets as an Imperial agent. Fortunately Hera had given Trayvis an uncharged blaster, allowing her to punch him unconscious and escape with the crew. Disheartened by the revelation of the senator's deceit, Ezra expressed his concerns to Hera. She reassured him that things would get better as long as they had hope.

Confronting Tarkin
The Lothal rebels' activities eventually attracted the attention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who decided to implement a final solution to the rebel problem there. Unhappy that Imperial propaganda was casting them in a negative light, Hera and her rebel comrades participated in a mission to hijack the Imperial communications tower on Lothal. While her rebel comrades assaulted the compound, Hera remained aboard the Ghost auxiliary ship, the Phantom, to evacuate the team after they finished inserting a data spike onto the communication tower's main computer. However, Tarkin along with Agent Kallus and the Inquisitor had planned to trap the rebels and quickly surrounded the complex. Following a brief struggle, the Imperials succeeded in capturing Kanan.

Hera was unwilling to abandon Kanan but she reluctantly complied and escaped with the other rebels. Despite losing Kanan to the Empire, Ezra succeeded in making a heartfelt broadcast that was heard by many on Lothal and the neighboring system. In response, Tarkin ordered his police gunships to destroy the Imperial communications tower, which disrupted communications throughout Lothal. Following Kanan's capture, Hera reassured Ezra that their efforts had not been for nothing. She also assured her fellow rebels that their fight against the Empire was not over yet.

Mission to Mustafar
Following Kanan's capture by the Empire, Hera received orders from Fulcrum not to rescue Kanan and take her crew into hiding. She reluctantly complied but later changed her mind after Ezra and his companions disobeyed her orders. Using the lead that Ezrahad obtained from the Devaronian crime lord Cikatro Vizago, they learned that the Empire had begun using courier droids to deliver data in the wake of the communication tower's destruction. To ascertain Kanan's whereabouts, Sabine Wren disguised Chopper as an Imperial courier droid. Then, the disguised droid boarded an Imperial communications cruiser in orbit and then transmitted the coordinates to Hera. After completing his work, he contacted Hera who brought the Ghost into space and attacked the cruiser, buy enough time for Chopper to return to the Ghost. After returning to Lothal, Hera and the other rebels learnt that Kanan was being transported to the Mustafar system, which Kanan had earlier described as a place where Jedi went to die.

Later, Ezra and Zeb revealed to Hera and Sabine that the TIE fighter they had stolen had not been destroyed but was in fact hidden. Hera then decided to use the TIE fighter to infiltrate Tarkin's Star Destroyer Sovereign and rescue Kanan. The rebels then traveled to Mustafar in a stolen Imperial freighter. When approaching the Imperial fleet, Hera asked Ezra if Kanan was alive. Seeing through the Force, Ezra told her that he could sense Kanan's presence aboard the Sovereign. Under the pretext of delivering a TIE fighter, Sabine flew the stolen starfighter, which she had repainted, into the Sovereign hangar bay. Sabine then used several inbuilt EMP devices to knock out the ship's power and stormtroopers.

Hera and her rebel companions with the exception of Chopper then boarded the Star Destroyer; Chopper stayed behind to look after their stolen Imperial freighter. While Ezra went to find Kanan, Hera along with Sabine and Zeb fought the ship's stormtroopers. After learning from Ezra that Kanan had escaped and defeated the Inquisitor, the rebels fled the ship. The Sovereign reactor core had been damaged during a duel between Kanan and the Inquisitor; forcing Grand Moff Tarkin to order a general evacuation of the Star Destroyer. Hera and her rebel comrades escaped in two stolen TIE fighters but were pursued by a swarm of TIE fighters. Fortunately for Hera, the rebels were rescued by a fleet of rebel starships, which included the Ghost, Chopper's stolen freighter, and two blockade runners. After linking up with Chopper's freighter, the rebels escaped into hyperspace.

Upon boarding Chopper's stolen Imperial freighter, they were greeted by two rebel soldiers and a hologram projection of Senator Bail Organa, the man who had earlier rewarded them for destroying the T-7 ion rifles. After the Senator introduced himself, Hera revealed to her rebel comrades that their cell group had been part of a wider rebel network that was dedicated to overthrowing the Galactic Empire. Shortly later, they were joined by the enigmatic Fulcrum, who revealed herself as Ahsoka Tano, an ex-Jedi Padawan who had survived Order 66. In response to the rebel's successes, the Emperor sent his apprentice Darth Vader to deal with them.

A larger rebellion
Following the events in the Mustafar system, Hera and the crew of the Ghost learned that they were part of a larger rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Hera and her crew mates joined the Phoenix rebel cell fleet and took part in a mission to steal shield generators from the Empire to help defend the fleet. During the mission, Hera flew the Ghost in support of Phoenix Squadron, a squadron of A-wings, and a fleet of rebel blockade runners led by Commander Jun Sato. The fleet attacked a group of Imperial freighters and knocked supplies loose from one of the vessels. After the Ghost secured the cargo, Hera and the rest of the fleet fled into hyperspace. While the rebels failed to capture shield generators, they succeeded in securing more fuel supplies.

Later, Hera was present on the bridge of the rebel command ship Phoenix Home when Chopper received a holographic transmission from the disillusioned Imperial Minister Maketh Tua, who wanted to defect from the Empire in exchange for providing vital Imperial intelligence. Against fleet protocol, Kanan had ordered Chopper to play the message. In response, Hera instructed the astromech droid to mask their signal by only using one-way visual communication. After some discussion, Hera and her rebel colleagues agreed to rescue Minister Tua. Following their meeting, Hera confronted Kanan and scolded him for breaching fleet protocol. When Kanan expressed his discomfort about the rebels being involved in a military operation, Hera reminded the Jedi that they were part of a larger struggle against the Empire. However, Kanan was reluctant to join the rebellion due to his traumatic experience with the Clone Wars and the Jedi Purge.

For the mission, the rebels traveled to Lothal in a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle. After further discussions and passing through the Imperial blockade above Lothal, Hera and the other crew headed to their pre-arranged rendezvous point while Chopper and Zeb stayed aboard the shuttle. As part of the plan, the rebels would rescue Minister Tua while she was boarding a shuttle for a scheduled meeting with Grand Moff Tarkin. During the rescue operation, Hera along with Ezra and Sabine Wren attacked Tua's Imperial escorts from the rooftop while Kanan infiltrated the Imperial escorts disguised as a Stormtrooper commander. However, Agent Kallus had learnt about Minister Tua's planned defection and had set a trap for the rebels. Tua was killed during a shuttle explosion that was subsequently blamed on the rebels. With their plan in tatters, Hera and her rebel comrades were forced to flee into hiding.

Fleeing from Imperial forces, Hera and her fellow rebels boarded the Star Commuter 2000 after Chopper and Orrelios arrived. However, the shuttle was shot down by an AT-DP walker and the rebels were forced to flee to Ezra Bridger's former home, which served as one of their safe houses. However, they were pursued by stormtroopers. Deducing that the forces in the Imperial complex would be stretched thin since the garrison was hunting for them, the rebels hatched a plan to sneak in and steal a shuttle in order to escape Lothal. While Kanan retained his stormtrooper disguise and Bridger impersonated an Imperial cadet, Hera and the other rebels hid in several crates. This ruse allowed them to infiltrate the Imperial complex where they managed to steal several Imperial shield generators. Before they could make their escape, Hera and her rebel comrades were confronted by the Sith Lord Darth Vader. The Sith Lord proved more than a match for Kanan and Ezra with the rebels barely managing to escape the complex in a stolen shuttle.

Knowing that Darth Vader had imposed a blockade around Lothal, the rebels decided they had to smuggle themselves off Lothal. Hera suggested turning to their old friend, Lando Calrissian for help. Hera and Kanan contacted Calrissian who was offworld at the time. Calrissian reluctantly agreed to assist their escape in return for the rebels giving him three of their stolen shield generators. Following the events on Lothal and the destruction of Tarkintown, Hera and her comrades decided not to return to the plant in order to avoid endangering the planet's people. With the help of Calrissian's droid W1-LE, Sabine created sensor buoys that could replicate the signal of the shuttle and throw of the Imperial forces hunting for them. This ploy allowed the Ghost crew to evade the Imperial blockade. Unknown to the Hera and the rebels, Darth Vader had planted a tracking device on the shuttle in order to track the rebels to his true objective: the Phoenix rebel fleet.

While traveling back to the Phoenix rebel fleet, the rebels voted to continue fighting alongside Phoenix Squadron. Shortly after arriving back at the fleet, the Phoenix rebels were attacked by a lone TIE Advanced x1 starfighter piloted by Darth Vader, the Sith Lord they had encountered on Lothal. During the space battle, Vader inflicted significant damage on the fleet's A-wing starfighters and the rebel flagship Phoenix Home, which had to be abandoned. Hera and her crew flew the Ghost during the fighting but were forced to retreat with the arrival of Imperial Star Destroyers.Towards the end of the space battle, Hera devised a plan to trap Darth Vader's TIE fighter by flying the Ghost between two Star Destroyers and tricking them into activating their tractor beam projectors. This plan work and the Ghost managed to jump into hyperspace; leaving Vader's starfighter behind to be trapped in their place.

Personality and traits
Hera's personality was somewhat two-sided; while she exuded a no-nonsense style of command, she was also known for being a very warm and compassionate individual. As a highly capable pilot and captain, Hera took good care of her ship, as well as her crew. Upon meeting Ezra, Hera developed a sort of motherly bond with the boy as she had with the other crewmembers. She was a true believer in the rebel cause and inspired hope in the rest of the crew. She was also the only other crew member aware of Kanan's test after Ezra stole the latter's holocron. Hera was very close to Kanan, referring to him as "love" and usually confided in him. She was more than capable of putting her foot down when she saw conflict within the crew, such as sending Ezra and Zeb out on an errand together when the two had been fighting. While an adept fighter Hera was also very diplomatic and knew how to unite others to a common goal, often within her own crew.

A smart, tactful and highly observant individual, Hera could quickly detect a threat. As Lando Calrissian successfully played her crew members off one another to his own ends, Hera caught on to his trickery and put the con-man in his place. Her skills of deduction proved invaluable when her suspicions of Gall Trayvis allowed her to expose the man as an imperial agent.

Many considered her attractive, particularly Kanan but also less savory characters as well, including Azmorigan, Lando Calrissian, and even Agent Kallus. She knew how to use her natural charm and beauty to her advantage when necessary, as seen when she manipulated the gangster Azmorigan in order to escape his ship.

Behind the scenes
Hera Syndulla was first revealed as a character from the forthcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels at the January 2014 Nuremberg International Toy Fair, where the character was included on the packaging of a LEGO Star Wars Rebels set. A video introducing the character, who would be voiced by Vanessa Marshall, was released on February 20, 2014. Hera shares a surname with Cham Syndulla, a Twi'lek character from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. Cham Syndulla was revealed to be her father on February 23, 2015.

According to the Star Wars.com blogger James Burns, Hera Syndulla was named after the ancient Greek goddess Hera, whose name means "protector." Hera was the wife and the sister of the Greek god Zeus and was the goddess of women, childbirth, and marriage. Simon Kinberg and Dave Filoni also confirmed that Hera and several other characters in the television series were named after historical and Biblical characters in order to give their names a sense of purpose and meaning that would reflect their characters.

Non-canon history
Hera Syndulla appears in Angry Birds Star Wars II. At one point, she and Sabine rescued the street orphan Ezra Bridger from stormtroopers. They escaped from Agent Kallus, and Hera let Ezra join her crew aboard the Ghost.

In the LEGO Star Wars Rebels Movie Shorts, Hera, Kanan, and Zeb were drinking in the Mos Eisley Cantina when Ezra called for a rescue. The three left aboard the Ghost and managed to rescue him. Ezra then suggested they charge the Star Destroyer's bridge and hide behind it, and eventually the warship jumped to hyperspace. At another time, the Ghost was damaged by a Star Destroyer, forcing it to go to a space station for repairs. The rest of the crew was separated, and Hera went to a space station to make repairs. She avoided Imperials while she and Chopper collected parts. The rest of the crew arrived in time to finish repairs to their starship.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Kanan 1: The Last Padawan, Part I: Fight
 * Star Wars: Kanan 5: The Last Padawan, Part V: Release
 * Lords of the Sith
 * A New Dawn
 * Star Wars Rebels: Ghost Raid
 * Chopper Saves the Day
 * Sabine's Art Attack
 * Zeb to the Rescue
 * Ezra and the Pilot
 * Rise of the Rebels
 * Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
 * The Rebellion Begins
 * The Secret Jedi: The Adventures of Kanan Jarrus: Rebel Leader
 * A New Hero
 * Hera's Phantom Flight
 * Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions
 * Ezra's Duel with Danger
 * Star Wars: Kanan 6
 * Kanan's Jedi Training
 * Always Bet on Chopper
 * Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Strike
 * Battle to the End
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
 * Ezra's Duel with Danger
 * Star Wars: Kanan 6
 * Kanan's Jedi Training
 * Always Bet on Chopper
 * Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Strike
 * Battle to the End
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
 * Kanan's Jedi Training
 * Always Bet on Chopper
 * Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Strike
 * Battle to the End
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
 * Star Wars Rebels: Rebel Strike
 * Battle to the End
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
 * Battle to the End
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal
 * Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal

Non-canon appearances

 * Angry Birds Star Wars II
 * LEGO Star Wars Movie Short
 * LEGO Star Wars Movie Short