CC-1119/Legends

"I was rather fond of Commander Appo."

- Darth Vader, on Appo's death

CC-1119, also known as "Appo," was a clone commander who led the 501st Legion in a Republic attack on the Jedi Temple at the end of the Clone Wars. During the war, CC-1119 received training from the ARC trooper Alpha-17, where he was given the name "Appo." He served under Darth Vader during the Temple attack and later, when the Republic transformed into the Galactic Empire. Appo and his soldiers became some of the first Imperial stormtroopers, and alongside Vader he worked to suppress threats against the Empire. A month after its creation, he and his men saved Vader's life in a Jedi ambush on Kessel.

In the following weeks, Appo was stationed aboard Vader's Imperator-class Star Destroyer Exactor. He helped Vader to hunt down a group of clone traitors who had aided the escape of Jedi on Murkhana, then continued to aid Vader in the search for those Jedi. The chase took him from Murkhana to the Jedi Temple to Alderaan, where the path of the fugitive Jedi intersected that of Senator Fang Zar&mdash;a wanted man by the Empire&mdash;and at last to Kashyyyk. As the Empire invaded that world, Appo accompanied Vader to the planet's surface in pursuit of the Jedi, only to be decapitated by Jedi Master Roan Shryne.

Clone Wars and Order 66
"There's been a rebellion, sir. Don't worry. The situation is under control. I'm sorry, sir. It's time for you to leave."

- Appo, barring Senator Organa from entering the Jedi Temple after Order 66

CC-1119 was cloned from the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett on the planet Kamino, part of the Grand Army of the Republic that would serve in the Clone Wars. A special operations trooper and clone commander, CC-1119 participated in a training program during the war run by fellow clone Alpha-17, who stressed the importance of improvisational thinking and individuality. It was this emphasis on individualism that led to Alpha-17 bestowing names upon the graduates of his program; CC-1119 received the designation "Appo."

In the final year of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared the Jedi Order enemies of the Republic and issued Order 66, a contingency order for the Republic's Grand Army. Appo led the 501st Legion against the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, serving alongside the Chancellor's new apprentice Darth Vader. Appo and his soldiers killed a number of Jedi that night. When Senator Bail Organa came to the Temple to investigate what had happened, Appo and several troopers met him on one of the Temple's landing platforms. Appo informed Organa that there had been a rebellion, but when Organa tried to enter the Temple, he drew his blaster upon the Senator and ordered him to leave. As Organa turned to go, a Padawan, Zett Jukassa, rushed onto the pad and began slashing at troopers with his lightsaber. Appo ordered his troops to open fire on Organa, only to be cut down by Jukassa. His fellow soldier Sergeant Fox killed Jukassa, but allowed Organa to escape. Jukassa's attack seriously wounded Appo, but he survived and recovered, later filing a report on the death of Jukassa and a number of other Jedi killed in the Temple.

In the Empire's service
"I was concerned we'd end up as glorified policemen. It's good to have a mission.''" "''I hope you're right&mdash;because Lord Vader doesn't seem pleased."

- Commanders Vill and Appo

Following the execution of the Jedi Order, Chancellor Palpatine reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Appo's 501st Legion received a new name, as well: stormtroopers. Approximately a month after the declaration of the Empire, Vader received word from spies that his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, was on Kessel; against the orders of now-Emperor Palpatine, he set off for that world. Palpatine, however, dispatched Appo and his soldiers to follow. This was fortunate for Vader&mdash;the intelligence about Kenobi had been bait for a trap laid by Jedi Master Shadday Potkin, and a group of Jedi waited on Kessel to kill him. Though Vader was able to slay several of them, including Potkin, the last three Jedi survivors&mdash;Tsui Choi, Roblio Darté, and Jastus Farr&mdash;combined their powers against Vader. Before they could kill him, though, Appo and his men arrived and opened fire on the Jedi. After the clones executed the last of them, Appo informed Vader that Palpatine sought his presence.

The pursuit of the Jedi
It was during this time that Appo accompanied Vader aboard his Imperator-class Star Destroyer Exactor to New Plympto, where the Empire had been engaging in operations against Separatist holdouts. Working with Clone Commander Vill, Appo oversaw the removal of forces from the world. Shortly thereafter, Palpatine ordered the Exactor to Murkhana, following reports of surviving Jedi on that world. A squad of clone commandos had refused to obey Order 66 and allowed their Jedi Generals to escape, and Appo and his stormtroopers accompanied Vader down to the planet's surface to deal with the situation.

Commander Salvo, the leader of the Imperial forces on the world, greeted Vader upon his arrival in front of a crowd of Separatist prisoners, then presented him with the bodies and lightsabers of three Jedi who the clones had killed. Vader passed the lightsabers onto Appo, then queried Salvo as to the location of the other three Jedi that had been assigned to Murkhana. Salvo informed him that they had escaped and brought forth the commando squad that had been responsible for letting them live, Ion Team. When Vader drew his own lightsaber and prepared to execute them, Ion Team opened fire; Vader killed two of the clones, and the other two fled into the forest. The Dark Lord ordered Appo to pursue and bring them back alive. It was not long before the traitorous clones were apprehended; upon the return of Appo's men, Vader had Salvo load the Separatist prisoners onto a transport for transfer to an Imperial prison. While processing them, Appo noticed a discrepancy in the prisoner count and realized that two Jedi had escaped after disguising themselves as Separatists and hiding within the group. Vader decided to deal with the problem himself.

Appo was unable to find any sign of the two Jedi, Roan Shryne and Olee Starstone, but he did locate Cash Garrulan, a Twi'lek crime lord with former ties to Shryne. Vader, Appo, and his troopers stormed Garrulan's offices, and Vader was able to catch the escaping crime lord. Garrulan attempted to play dumb, but eventually admitted that Shryne had contacted him; however, he stated that he had refused to help and had turned Shryne's name over to the local garrison. Appo verified his claim. Garrulan then suggested Vader look for a Koorivar named Bioto, who he implied might smuggle out the Jedi in his ship, the Dead Ringer. Appo reported that the Ringer had taken flight, and Vader ordered him to have the Exactor intercept the ship; the two then returned to the Star Destroyer. As Vader interrogated Bioto, Appo learned that two humans had been found in one of the Ringer smuggling compartments. Vader and Appo questioned them, learning they had been hired by Garrulan as a distraction. What they were being distracted from became obvious as Appo learned that a CloakShape fighter was launching from Murkhana and would pass through the space the Exactor had occupied before it had moved to intercept the Ringer. Vader prepared to go after the CloakShape in his own personal starfighter and had Appo select his wingmen. He ordered the commander to destroy Garrulan's ship when the crime lord attempted to flee Murkhana. Vader was unsuccessful in his mission, though, and the fugitive Jedi escaped to hyperspace in the CloakShape. Garrulan was killed shortly thereafter.

Appo returned with Vader to Coruscant, later accompanying him when Palpatine sent Vader to the Jedi Temple in search of Sith holocrons. Armand Isard and a crew of technicians came too, on their own mission, only to detect that Shryne was accessing Temple records from a remote site. One of Isard's technicians traced it to a moon of Jaguada, and Appo relayed information on the location to Vader, including the fact that an Imperial garrison was present on Jaguada. Vader had Appo order the garrison commander to pursue Shryne and his cohorts. The Jedi escaped nonetheless; Appo had the garrison find all possible hyperspace vectors for their ship, but they were unsuccessful in catching it.

Alderaan and Kashyyyk
Vader and Appo's search would not be thwarted for long, though. Former Senator Fang Zar of Sern Prime, who had opposed Palpatine's rise to power, had thwarted Imperial orders to remain on Coruscant and fled the planet, finding refuge with Bail Organa on Alderaan. When Palpatine learned that Zar had been in contact with a crime lord on Murkhana to arrange for passage off Alderaan, he concluded that Zar's escape plan was tied to Vader's Jedi fugitives and sent Vader to deal with Zar. Appo and his stormtroopers accompanied Vader on his shuttle to the planet's surface and stood by as Vader ordered Organa to turn over Zar. Organa prepared to comply, but they soon learned that Zar had fled his quarters. Vader sent Appo in pursuit of the former senator and headed off on his own to find Zar, while Organa dispatched his men with the same goal. Vader reached Zar first and executed him as the senator attempted to flee.

Though Vader encountered Shryne on Alderaan, the Jedi escaped yet again; Palpatine soon informed Vader that Shryne and the party of Jedi survivors that he had gathered were headed for the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk. Some weeks later, Vader and Appo traveled to that world in the Exactor. Vader met with Moff Wilhuff Tarkin aboard Tarkin's ship Executrix; there, Tarkin informed Vader that the Jedi ship had been spotted arriving on Kashyyyk, then told Vader of the plan that he and Palpatine had devised. Tarkin would use the presence of Jedi on Kashyyyk as a pretense to invade the planet and enslave the native Wookiees as enemies of the Empire. Appo and Vader supervised the initial part of the invasion from the bridge of the Exactor; the commander summoned the officers in charge of the various theaters of battle to meet with the Dark Lord, then joined them as Vader briefed the group. Once the officers were clear on their duties, Vader and Appo descended to the surface of Kashyyyk to take on the Jedi. As they landed, Vader was informed over the comm by one of the officers that the Wookiees were fleeing into the safety of Kashyyyk's forest and would soon become impossible to root out. Appo suggested that they initiate surgical orbital bombardments to flush the Wookiees out, and Vader gave the order to do so.

When the shuttle touched down, Appo and his stormtroopers rushed out, Vader right behind them. A heavy firefight with the Wookiees ensued, and several of Appo's stormtroopers fell. Vader dealt with the Wookiees and waved Appo forward, only to have several of the Jedi fugitives step out and meet them in combat, some engaging Vader and some Appo. As Vader killed those attacking him, the Jedi fighting Appo withdrew and set their sights on the Dark Lord, only to be slain in turn. At last only Olee Starstone remained, and Vader ordered Appo and his men to leave her to him and deal with the last few surviving Wookiees. A new ship arrived next to the stormtroopers, though, with Roan Shryne on board. Shryne used the Force to pull one of the fallen Jedi's lightsabers to him, and with it he decapitated Appo.

Appo's role in the 501st would be succeeded by Commander Bow, who filed the report on Appo's death.

Personality and traits
"Good work, Commander."

- Darth Vader, to Appo

During CC-1119's training under Alpha-17, the commander developed his sense of individuality, learning how to apply it to combat situations. Appo was constantly ready to relay or obey his superior's commands, and sometimes even took the initiative to seek out some piece of intelligence before his superior asked for it. After the Republic transformed into the Empire, Appo was concerned that his role would be downgraded to law enforcement and was grateful to be assigned actual missions.

In his service to the Empire, Appo had an easy relationship with his superior Darth Vader. Though the black armor that Vader covered himself in often inspired fear in others, to Appo it was only natural that Vader should protect himself from harm. Vader, in turn, felt more at ease around Appo and his soldiers, and after the commander's death even expressed a certain fondness for the man. Vader kept Appo at his side much of the time, sometimes asking for the commander's analysis of military matters. The two could communicate with each other wordlessly, Appo easily understanding and carrying out Vader's commands that consisted of a simple nod of the head or gesture of the hand.

Behind the scenes
Appo was created for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. With his voice provided by Temuera Morrison, Appo, like all clone troopers, was portrayed entirely with computer-generated imagery.

There is confusion over the identity of Appo in many of his appearances. Revenge of the Sith includes a number of clone troopers who meet with Bail Organa on the landing platform of the Jedi Temple. The script identifies the trooper who speaks with Organa and raises his gun as a "Clone Sergeant", with Appo stated to be a separate trooper who says "Take care of him." The novelization of the movie agrees with this version, establishing both a clone sergeant who speaks with Organa and an unnamed commander who says Appo's lines. However, an official poster of Appo given out at Comic-Con in 2006 identifies him as the clone who speaks with Organa&mdash;the "clone sergeant" character. In the movie, it is unclear which clone speaks the line ascribed to Appo in the script; the above article therefore treats the Comic-Con poster as the correct identification of Appo.

Zett Jukassa's role in this scene introduces another complication. According to Order 66: Destroy All Jedi, Jukassa injures Appo, and the script of the movie states this as well (while identifying Appo as the clone who orders the troopers to take care of Organa). While the movie, as mentioned above, does not make clear which trooper is Appo, the clone who confronts Organa is amongst those injured by Jukassa. The novel, however, has Appo still uninjured after Jukassa is dead, and the comic adaptation has no troopers&mdash;including the one who speaks with Organa&mdash;injured by Jukassa.

Appo was killed in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. When Dan Wallace wrote Order 66: Destroy All Jedi, he created the character of Commander Bow "when [he] realized that [he] couldn't have the headless body of Commander Appo file the paperwork on Roan Shryne." Another case of identity confusion arose with Star Wars: Purge, however, which includes an unnamed commander of the 501st serving under Vader. Because Lucasfilm had not decided on the relative timeline placements of Purge and Dark Lord, Wallace had Bow report on the events of Purge, while not making explicit whether the commander in the comic was Bow or Appo. When Hasbro created a figure of Appo, however, they established him as the commander in Purge.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith / novel / comic
 * Star Wars: Purge
 * Star Wars: Dark Times 4: The Path to Nowhere, Part 4
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader