Lando Calrissian/Legends

"He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him."

- Han Solo

Lando Calrissian was a professional gambler, entrepreneur, smuggler and long-time associate of Han Solo. Calrissian became Baron Administrator of Cloud City for a time before the Imperial takeover during the Galactic Civil War. He subsequently joined the Rebellion, and led the dangerous mission to enter the second Death Star's core and destroy its reactor.

Early Years
Calrissian's early years were obscured by history and Calrissian's own fabrications. His homeworld was unknown, though some noted a hint of Corellian accent in his voice; however, if he was Corellian, he did not think of himself as such, often mentally referring to Han Solo as "the Corellian." His own memories pointed to his having a stable family life until at least the age of seventeen. A reference to servants indicates he may have come from money, which he gave up in order to live an adventurous life. The earliest reliable accounts of his life date to 4 BBY, when Calrissian was around the age of twenty-seven. Already a professional gambler, Calrissian won a battered YT-1300 freighter called the Millennium Falcon in a high stakes game of sabacc. Calrissian had no piloting experience, and so sought out a tutor by the name of Han Solo.

After Lando saved him from Boba Fett, Solo eagerly taught him the basics of starship piloting, and Calrissian used this knowledge to fly the Falcon to the Centrality. While on Oseon 2795, he won an exuberant droid called Vuffi Raa from Ottdefa Osuno Whett, but had to travel to Rafa IV to acquire it. Before he could depart, Calrissian was arrested on trumped-up charges by Governor Duttes Mer and forced to aid Rokur Gepta, a Sorcerer of Tund, to locate the Mindharp of Sharu.



Provided with a transdimensional key, Calrissian chose to begin his search on Rafa V, location of the largest Sharu pyramid in the Rafa system. He was ambushed by several Toka, who tied him to one of the crystalline lifetrees, hoping he would freeze during the night. However, Lando was resourceful, and even though the lifetree was robbing him of intelligent thought, he was able to free himself, though his feet were severely frostbitten and required light bacta treatment in a portable gel-bath kept on the Falcon. Calrissian and Vuffi Raa investigated the largest pyramid and located the Mindharp, and were promptly teleported back to Rafa IV. Vuffi Raa, who in fact had been programmed to betray Calrissian before he had even been "won," promptly turned Calrissian in to Governor Mer. Mer greedily took the Mindharp and sentenced Calrissian to a lifetime of hard labor, but Vuffi Raa, having fulfilled his imperative to betray Calrissian, rescued the gambler just as Mer activated the Mindharp. As the two fled Rafa IV, the transdimensional artifact's subharmonic emanations restored the Toka into the Sharu that they once were, and the great pyramids of the Rafa system crumbled, leaving alien cities in their wake.

Calrissian and Vuffi Raa entered hyperspace with a full hold of the last Rafa life crystals to leave the Rafa system; this valuable cargo netted Calrissian nearly 250,000 credits. Returning to Nar Shaddaa, he bought a used-starship lot from a Duros, but discovered the business was expensive and difficult to run. He was pondering selling it off when the Empire arrived in the criminal-ridden system. Calrissian donated his inventory to his fellow outlaws, and Vuffi Raa piloted the Millennium Falcon deftly in the resulting Battle of Nar Shaddaa. The attack was diverted, but less than 10% of his stock was still spaceworthy. Calrissian sold 90% ownership in what was left of his lot to Roa at a loss.

Calrissian sought a way to recover his losses, and saw an opportunity in the regional sabacc championships that were soon to be held at Cloud City's Yarith Bespin casino. In order to raise the ten thousand credit buy-in, Calrissian and Vuffi Raa returned to the Centrality and attempted to haul legitimate cargo, but tariffs, fees, and licensing cost him more than he made, leaving him with nothing. Thus, when an opportunity to play sabacc in the Oseon system during the Flamewind arose, Calrissian accepted.

Soon after arriving at Oseon 6845, Calrissian was assaulted and forced to shoot his assailant in self-defense with his stingbeam. The Administrator Senior of the Oseon System, Lob Doluff, was forced to inform Calrissian that the penalty for possessing a deadly weapon was death by exposure, but since the administrator admired Calrissian, arranged for him to instead participate in a drug bust against the lesai-using wealthy industrialist Bohhuah Mutdah. Posing as Mutdah's dealer, Calrissian transported two agents, Bassi Vobah and Waywa Fybot, through the maddening radiation of the Flamewind to Oseon 5792.

Mutdah turned out to be Rokur Gepta in disguise, who promptly killed the two agents and planned to kill Calrissian after forcing him to endure a machine that made him relive all the painful moments of his life, but the latter was saved by the timely intervention of Renatasian starfighters, whose goal was to kill Vuffi Raa. During the chaos surrounding his escape, Calrissian grabbed Mutdah's drug payment—twenty million credits. He deposited small sums in banks on several worlds, including fifty thousand credits into the Bank of Aargau, which he planned to use for covering the entry fee for the Bespin sabacc tournament. Unfortunately, his attempt to deposit the bulk of the money on the Centrality's primary financial planet, Dela III, interrupted a pirate attack being committed by the "pirate queen" Drea Renthal. Despite Calrissian's charm, Renthal kept the remainder of Mutdah's money.

Soon after, Calrissian encountered Lehesu, a young member of the space-dwelling, hyperjump-capable Oswaft species, whose curiosity had carried it from its home in the ThonBoka Nebula to a desolate part of the Centrality. After halting attempts at communication, Lehesu finally communicated to the crew of the Millennium Falcon his need for sustenance. Calrissian emptied the contents of the ship's recyclers into space, which Lehesu eagerly gobbled up. Some months later, the Empire blockaded the entrance to the sack-shaped ThonBoka with five hundred capital ships (mostly Carrack cruisers modified to contaminate the "interstellar plankton" drifting into the nebula), intending to starve the entire Oswaft race into extinction. Lehesu used a transceiver provided to him by Vuffi Raa to contact the Millennium Falcon and plead for help.

Calrissian penetrated the blockade, using a ruse that he was a trader plying his wares to the very ships that were his obstacle. Though the Falcon was inspected, no one below the rank of Admiral was informed of the reason for the blockade, so no one suspected that the ship's real cargo was the ordinary waste carried in its trash and toilet recyclers. After working his way to the front of the blockade, Lando made a break for the mouth of the ThonBoka. Inside, he contacted Lehesu and the Oswaft Elders, and they began making plans while other Oswaft went to negotiate with the picket fleet. However, as the Empire's goals were complete extermination, the Empire merely exterminated the negotiators; in the process, one of them "shouted" at the unshielded cruiser Courteous, destroying it with its maser voice-stream. The fleet, seeking retribution, raised their shields and entered the Nebula, but were called back by Gepta, who sought to destroy Calrissian.

When Gepta arrived, the fleet remobilized and entered the nebula. Fortunately, their pause had given Calrissian time to suggest a battle plan. The Oswaft excreted heavy metals from their pores and then hyperjumped, leaving decoys placed between the enemy cruisers and resulting in massive friendly fire casualties among the fleet; meanwhile, they "shouted" at the starfighters, destroying them with their powerful masers. After the fleet's forces had been reduced by 11%, the battle ceased, and Gepta offered Calrissian an ultimatum: engage Gepta in personal combat, or he would fire an electromagnetic torpedo into the nebula, killing all life therein.

Calrissian and Vuffi Raa (who was allowed to participate because Gepta believed he could reprogram the droid to betray his master) faced off against the Sorcerer of Tund in the vacuum of space. After much maneuvering and several ploys, Calrissian landed a stray shot in Gepta's ankle. The Sorcerer's form whithered as he cried out and by pure chance hit Vuffi Raa. Calrissian searched the space suit and found an injured Croke where his shot had landed - Rokur Gepta had not been a human, but a small, nasty alien from a planet in the Unknown Regions that Lando had once visited. Calrissian squeezed the alien until the last Sorcerer of Tund was little more than a stain on his gloves.

At that, the battle renewed, but for only a moment; out of nowhere, a multitude of fifty-kilometer self-aware droids appeared, demanding on all channels "Cease fire immediately or be destroyed!" They were the creators of Vuffi Raa, who had come for their offspring. The Imperial fleet, faced with thousands of gigantic ships, retreated from their genocidal mission. Vuffi Raa's progenitors repaired the little droid and departed with him into the Unknown Regions, and Lando departed the ThonBoka with a hold filled with valuable Oswaft-synthesized gemstones.

Unfortunately, his turn of good luck was once again countered with bad luck, as his investment in a berubium mine in the Borgo asteroid belt turned out to be worthless, and he was left with nothing but the fifty thousand credits in his Aargau account and the Nar Shaddaa starship lot. He also struck up a brief relationship with Drea Renthal, the very pirate who had stolen millions from him before.

Calrissian stole a treasure cache from the Glottalphib criminal Nandreeson to ease his desperate need for cash. Soon after, he entered the Cloud City tournament, but wound up in second place, and gave his old friend Han Solo the choice of any ship on his used starship lot. Han, unexpectedly to Lando, chose the Millennium Falcon, the ugliest but most efficient ship in the lot.

Some time later, Lando assisted Han in an attack on the Hutt spice and slavery operations on Ylesia, which Han was involved in due to being in love with Rebel agent Bria Tharen, the mastermind of the operation. Han recruited several smugglers for the strike, including Lando. In the end, they were successful, but Bria decided to keep the spoils for the Rebellion, leaving Han with nothing to pay Lando and the smugglers, and creating a large rift between Solo and Calrissian.



Five months after the Battle of Yavin, after shipping a cargo of denta beans to Taanab, he was caught up in a Norulac pirate raid. After boasting he could defeat the pirates in a Pandath cantina, he accepted a wager from a drunken cantina patron named Gathal Danager of a Clendorian brewery to see it done. Calrissian hid in the ice rings of Taanab's moon. When the pirates approached their marks, he dumped his cargo of Conner nets into the midst of their fleet, temporarily disabling their ships. While they attempted to extricate themselves from the nets, he tractored ice chunks from the rings into their cockpits. He then led Taanab's orbital defense fleet in a mopping up operation, in which Calrissian was responsible for single-handedly destroying nineteen of the remaining vessels and crippling the pirate's two supporting corvettes; the ships were captured with all hands, thanks to Calrissian using yet more Conner nets to secure the escape pods. After TriNebulon News carried the story, Calrissian became a minor celebrity.

While on Cloud City, Lando played a game of sabacc against the Baron Administrator Dominic Raynor, losing his ship, the Cobra, in the process. An anonymous benefactor advanced Calrissian five million credits. He bet 4 million and his lot on Nar Shaddaa against Raynor's administratorship, and won not only his ship back, but the whole game, becoming the new Baron Administrator of Cloud City. The benefactor turned out to be Cloud City's cyborg liaison, Lobot, and the pooled funds of thousands of Ugnaught workers who wanted to ensure Raynor's departure.

Calrissian took his job as Baron Administrator seriously, working closely with Lobot for over two years. He deflected both the Mining Guild and the eyes of the Empire from the city, hired pilots to protect the city from raids, enacted new security procedures after the rogue droid EV-9D9 dismantled a quarter of the city's droid population, repealed restrictive anti-alien immigration laws put in place by Raynor, and increased Tibanna gas profits by over 35%.

Entering the Galactic Civil War, 3-4 ABY
As a key source of Tibanna gas, Cloud City was a lucrative target for Imperial nationalization. When Darth Vader and Boba Fett arrived in the Bespin system, Calrissian sought to retain its independence by making a covert agreement with Vader to assist in the capture of Luke Skywalker, Lando's longtime associate Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa, who were to be detained until Luke arrived.



Calrissian fulfilled his part of the agreement, which was altered to include testing the carbonite-freezing process (normally used to prepare Tibanna gas for shipment) on Han Solo. Darth Vader intended to use this method, if it was found feasible, to transport Skywalker to the Emperor. However, as the terms of the deal worsened and it became clear the Empire intended to take control of the floating city regardless, Calrissian ordered the evacuation of the city and assisted the Rebels in their escape.

Feeling guilty for what had happened to his old friend, Calrissian joined the Rebellion, allying with Chewbacca and using the Millennium Falcon to strike at Imperial targets like the Tarkin battlestation, to continue the search for Solo on remote worlds like Stenos, and to aid the other Heroes of Yavin in other pursuits (such as tracking down the undercover Rebel Alliance operative Tay Vanis). Calrissian made a return visit to Cloud City, now Imperialized, where he was nearly killed by Lobot, who had gone out of control. He was also instrumental in the infiltration of Prince Xizor's fortress on Coruscant to rescue Leia, destroying the castle with a thermal detonator placed in a garbage chute.

Upon learning that Solo had been delivered to Jabba the Hutt, Calrissian put into motion plans to infiltrate the crimelord's base. On a moon of Blimph, Calrissian obtained a recommendation from Quaffug the Hutt to become a member of the Hutt Guardsman's Guild after a harrowing ordeal, adopting the pseudonym Tamtel Skreej. He infiltrated Jabba the Hutt's organization and helped Skywalker rescue Solo from the crimelord's clutches.

In preparation for the attack on the second Death Star, Calrissian was promoted by the Alliance to general, based largely on the laurels of his victory at Taanab. At the Battle of Endor, General Calrissian commanded the Rebel starfighter contingent as Gold Leader from the cockpit of his old ship, the Millennium Falcon, alongside copilot Nien Nunb. When the Alliance discovered that the battle was orchestrated by the Empire as a trap, Calrissian's unorthodox strategies were vital in keeping the flailing Alliance forces from collapsing. He suggested taking the fleet's Mon Calamari Star Cruisers into point blank range of the Empire's Star Destroyers, exposing them to the Empire's warships but protecting them from the far more dangerous superlaser of the unexpectedly operational Death Star. At one point in the battle, while pursuing two TIE Interceptors, Calrissian approached a Super Star Destroyer (presumably the Executor) too closely; rather than flee, Calrissian flew the Falcon into the hangar bay of the massive ship, flew through an interior access corridor, and, after blasting away at the unarmored innards, flew back out the way he came ahead of a sensor-obscuring fireball, saving the ship and crew from what otherwise would have been certain doom.

Eventually, the strike team on the surface of Endor was able to bring the shield protecting the Death Star down. Calrissian, along with Wedge Antilles, led the starfighter assault into the battle station to destroy it. After evading TIEs and having close run-ins with the station's superstructure, Calrissian fired the Falcon's concussion missiles into the Death Star's reactor core, destroying the station; for the second time that day, Calrissian rode a fireball from inside an Imperial structure to safety. The destruction of the station, along with Luke and Anakin Skywalker's victory over the Emperor, effectively sealed the fate of the Empire, and Calrissian was hailed a hero.

New Republic Era, 4-25 ABY
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm sitting in a cell. How about you?"

- Lando Calrissian to Kyle Katarn



After the Battle of Endor, Calrissian would continue to serve the New Republic and its successor government the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances – usually as a civilian, but intermittently taking up his general's commission again. Unfortunately, he had lost control of Cloud City to Jabba the Hutt's father, Zorba, the same way he got it. Calrissian tried his hand at several businesses, including a glitterstim mining operation on Kessel, and becoming the administrator of Hologram Fun World. He had some success with Nomad City, but it was destroyed after an Imperial raid led by Grand Admiral Thrawn in 9 ABY. He worked with the New Republic during the Thrawn campaign, participating in such actions as the Battle for the Katana fleet and the destruction of the Imperial stronghold at Mount Tantiss.

During the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine, he and R2-D2 would also be responsible for the destruction of two of Palpatine's superweapons: the Galaxy Gun and the Eclipse II. During the Almanian Crisis, Lando ran afoul of the Ghottalphib crimelord Nandreeson, who had put a considerable bounty on his head due to a weapons cache Lando had raided twenty years earlier.

In 13 ABY, Cloud City was overrunn with mercenaries, criminals and thugs. Lando took it upon himself to track down the source. After a few card games and bar fights, he was led to Reelo Baruk on Nar Shaddaa. The moment he heard of a Remnant called Desann, Lando was captured and placed into one of Reelos holding cells. Fortunatly for Lando, Kyle Katarn was also looking for Reelo Baruk. He freed Lando Calrissian from Baruk's hold and eventually Katarn and Calrissian managed to find Lady Luck and refuel her using pipelines. When they were about to make their escape from Nar Shaddaa, Reelo attacked them with a handful of mercenaries. The criminal used a gun platform to hit the ship while his thugs boarded the ship, but Katarn leapt into the laser turret of the Lady Luck and shot down the gangster. Lando, finally able to call for help, signaled the New Republic with the news that the Imperial Remnant were on Cloud City. Lando dropped Kyle off at the lower levels while he organized the security forces to drive Reelos remaining thugs and the Remnant off.

In 18 ABY, with the reluctant help of Luke, Lando set up a series of visits in order to find wealthy women to marry. One of them was Tendra Risant (who would become his wife some time later) and another was Karia Ver Seryan, a 'life-bearer' (or 'life-witch'), who had (as a few other of her planet) the power to give men very good health for some time - usually 3-5 years - with the tradeoff that they would die as soon as the period ended.

Lando also served the New Republic during the Caamas Document crisis, going with Han Solo on a mission to the Imperial Remnant's capital Bastion in an effort to retrieve the document, and leading a combined New Republic fleet at the Second Battle of Bothawui.

After the Bastion Accords were signed, he married Tendra Risant. Together, they ran a mining operation on Dubrillion and Destrillion. At the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Lando asked Han and Chewbacca to make a supply run to Serpindal, which resulted in the Wookiee's death. Lando felt extreme guilt because of this, and made sure he would do all he could to stop the invaders. He built the Shelter, a space station inside the Maw, which housed Jedi children and apprentices, and was responsible for establishing Tendrando Arms, which manufactured deadly YVH 1 Droids. He also aided Talon Karrde in "persuading" important Senators to elect Cal Omas, the pro-Jedi candidate, as Chief of State.

[[Media:Lando.ogg|Hear Lando Calrissian]]

Behind the scenes
Lando Calrissian was portrayed on-screen by Billy Dee Williams, who reprised the role for the radio adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back, in Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, and the dramatization of Dark Empire. In the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi, Arye Gross was the voice of Lando.

On June 9, 2005, at the American Film Institute's award ceremony for George Lucas, Williams collected on his experience as Lando, and light-heartedly described the character as a "super-space stud".

Lando existed as several different entities in early drafts of The Empire Strikes Back:
 * In the first draft of Episode V, Lando was known as Lando Kadar, a refugee from the Clone Wars making a living as a smuggler on Hoth.
 * A gambler and general store owner on the Wookiee homeworld (see also Saun Dann from the The Star Wars Holiday Special.)
 * The leader of a group of clones from the Clone Wars; his homeworld was to be filled with clones spread across 700 countries, each of which belonged to a specific clan.

Appearances

 * Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
 * Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
 * Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Nightmare Machine
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Lady Luck
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Marvel Star Wars 43: The Empire Strikes Back: Betrayal at Bespin
 * Marvel Star Wars 44: The Empire Strikes Back: Duel a Dark Lord
 * Marvel Star Wars 46: The Dreams of Cody Sunn-Childe
 * Marvel Star Wars 50: The Crimson Forever
 * Marvel Star Wars 51: Resurrection of Evil
 * Marvel Star Wars 52: To Take The Tarkin
 * Marvel Star Wars 54: Starfire Rising
 * Marvel Star Wars 55: Plif
 * Marvel Star Wars 56: Coffin in the Clouds
 * Marvel Star Wars 57: Hello, Bespin, Goodbye
 * Marvel Star Wars 59: Bazarre
 * Marvel Star Wars 61: Screams in the Void
 * Marvel Star Wars 62: Pariah
 * Marvel Star Wars Annual 2: Shadeshine
 * Marvel Star Wars 67: The Darker
 * Marvel Star Wars 68: The Search Begins
 * Marvel Star Wars 70: The Stenax Shuffle
 * Marvel Star Wars 71: Return to Stenos
 * Marvel Star Wars 72: Fool's Bounty
 * Marvel Star Wars 73: Lahsbane
 * Marvel Star Wars 74: The Iskalon Effect
 * Marvel Star Wars 75: Tidal
 * Marvel Star Wars 76: Artoo-Deetoo to the Rescue
 * Marvel Star Wars 77: Chanteuse of the Stars
 * Marvel Star Wars 79: The Big Con
 * Marvel Star Wars 82: Diplomacy
 * Marvel Star Wars 83: Sweetheart Contract
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * The Bounty Hunters: Scoundrel's Wages
 * Entrenched
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Tales from Jabba's Palace
 * A Bad Feeling: The Tale of EV-9D9
 * Marvel Star Wars 85: The Hero
 * Marvel Star Wars 86: The Alderaan Factor
 * Marvel Star Wars 91: Wookiee World
 * Marvel Star Wars 92: The Dream
 * Marvel Star Wars 97: Escape
 * Marvel Star Wars 98: Supply and Demand
 * Marvel Star Wars 99: Touch of the Goddess
 * Marvel Star Wars 100: First Strike
 * Marvel Star Wars 102: School Spirit
 * Marvel Star Wars 104: Nagais and Dolls
 * Marvel Star Wars 105: The Party's Over
 * Marvel Star Wars 106: My Hiromi
 * Marvel Star Wars 107: All Together Now
 * Lando's Commandos: On Eagles' Wings
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * The Glove of Darth Vader
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Before the Storm
 * Shield of Lies
 * Tyrant's Test
 * The New Rebellion
 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vision of the Future
 * Union
 * Vector Prime
 * Star by Star
 * The Unifying Force