Biggs Darklighter

"It'll be like old times, Luke. They'll never stop us."

- Biggs Darklighter, to Luke Skywalker, just before the Battle of Yavin

Biggs Darklighter was a human male pilot who fought for the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the early days of the Galactic Civil War. He grew up on the desert world of Tatooine, where he became a close boyhood friend of Luke Skywalker. The two became pilots and dreamed of leaving Tatooine. Darklighter left his homeworld for the Imperial Academy, but defected from the Galactic Empire after graduation in order to join the Rebel Alliance. He returned to Tatooine one final time to tell Skywalker of his plans.

With his home planet behind him, Darklighter relocated to the Rebel base on Yavin 4. He reunited with Skywalker, who had helped rescue Princess Leia Organa, a leader in the Alliance, escape from the Death Star with stolen plans for the planet-destroying space station. The Rebellion analyzed the plans and organized the Battle of Yavin, where Darklighter and Skywalker flew as members of Red Squadron in the assault on the station. Skywalker successfully destroyed the Death Star, but not before Darklighter was killed in combat by Darth Vader.

Leaving Tatooine
Biggs Darklighter, a human male, grew up on the desert world of Tatooine, where he became close friends with Luke Skywalker. The two both became pilots, and often flew through Beggar's Canyon. When they were young, Darklighter and Skywalker both dreamed of leaving their homeworld behind and attending the Imperial Academy. Darklighter eventually left Tatooine for the Academy, but Skywalker was left behind, as his uncle, Owen Lars, would not allow him to leave out of fear that he would follow in the footsteps of his father: the Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Lord Anakin Skywalker.

After graduating from the Imperial Academy, Darklighter returned to Tatooine to visit Skywalker and his friends in Tosche Station. When Skywalker arrived at Tosche Station, he claimed to have witnessed a battle in the skies over Tatooine. Darklighter and the others were skeptical, however, and the now-Imperial pilot believed that it was simply two ships sitting in orbit. In actuality, Skywalker had witnessed a battle between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a resistance group that stood in opposition to the Empire. Although Darklighter was uninvolved in the battle, his return did deal with the Rebel Alliance: he told Skywalker that he would be defecting from the Empire and becoming a pilot for the Rebel Alliance. As the two said their goodbyes, Darklighter told his old friend that he would keep an eye out for him, in the event Skywalker ever joined the Rebellion.

The Battle of Yavin
Darklighter joined the Rebel Alliance shortly after leaving Tatooine, and was assigned to the Rebel base on Yavin 4. In the meantime, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a leader in the Rebel Alliance, successfully brought stolen plans for the Death Star to the Rebel base; this was done with the help of Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, who aided in Organa's escape after she had been held prisoner by the Empire on the Death Star. Using the plans, the Rebel Alliance put together an attack plan to destroy the planet-destroying space station, which arrived near Yavin 4 with the intention of destroying it&mdash;as well as the Rebel Alliance. Darklighter was assigned to be a fighter pilot in the assault.

In the lead-up to the battle, Darklighter encountered Skywalker in the Rebel hangar, as Skywalker had also become a pilot in the Rebellion as a result of his actions aboard the Death Star. The two reminisced about their time flying on Tatooine, and Darklighter vouched for Skywalker as the best bush pilot in the Outer Rim Territories when Garven Dreis, the leader of Red Squadron, questioned whether the rookie pilot would be able to handle a X-wing starfighter.

The Battle of Yavin commenced shortly thereafter, and Darklighter flew with the codename "Red Three" as part of Red Squadron. The pilots dodged turbolaser fire and fought against TIE/LN starfighters in an attempt to reach the Death Star's reactor shaft, where they could fire proton torpedoes into the shaft and cause a chain reaction that would destroy the station. As the battle neared its end, Darklighter was one of the few remaining pilots, flying alongside Skywalker and Wedge Antilles as they made their way towards the reactor shaft. Just before reaching the shaft, however, the trio of X-wings was fired upon by Darth Vader, who struck Darklighter's fighter and killed him. Shortly after Darklighter's death, Skywalker destroyed the Death Star and saved the Rebellion that Darklighter fought for and believed in.

Legacy
After the Battle of Yavin, Skywalker continued to think of his late friend and his sacrifice. Skywalker consoled himself knowing that Darklighter was a strong believer in the cause that he died for, and hoped that each new mission would destroy the Empire and honor Darklighter's sacrifice.

Personality and traits
As a member of the Rebel Alliance, Darklighter was a believer in its cause against the Empire. Skywalker felt that Darklighter would have thought that joining the Alliance was worth the risk and worth dying for, even if Darklighter had known he would perish in the Battle of Yavin. He also felt concern for Skywalker, whose story he would listen to with amusement and patience, and defended him when Garven Dreis questioned whether Skywalker was ready to fly with Red Squadron.

Skills and abilities
Darklighter was a skilled pilot, and loved to fly alongside Skywalker. He gained piloting experience on Tatooine, including flying through the narrow Beggar's Canyon, and eventually used that experience to join the Imperial Academy and the Rebel Alliance.

Behind the scenes
"Take it easy buddy, you'll always be the best friend I ever had."

- Luke Skywalker says goodbye to Biggs Darklighter.

Biggs Darklighter was played by Garrick Hagon in the 1977 film of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, then-titled simply Star Wars. The character first appeared in the various script drafts of Star Wars as King Kayos's son and the brother of the princess who would become Leia Organa. He was Luke Skywalker's younger brother and the brother of Windy Marstrap in the second draft, before finally being changed to Skywalker's friend in the third draft. Although Darklighter only appears briefly in the final film, where he is listed as "Red Three" in the film's closing credits, the movie originally included several scenes in which he figured much more prominently in the story. These included deleted scenes set in Tosche Station on Tatooine.

Despite perishing in the original film, Darklighter was a popular character in material providing a backstory for the film and was also often mentioned in latter works within the Expanded Universe, which are now considered part of Star Wars Legends.

Appearances

 * Star Wars 15: From the Journals of Old Ben Kenobi
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Heir to the Jedi
 * Star Wars 5: Skywalker Strikes, Part V

Non-Canon Appearances

 * Disney Infinity 3.0