Shadowspawn

Shadowspawn was an Imperial Warlord and Prophet of the Dark Side who declared himself to be the Galactic Emperor circa 5 ABY. Originally an Imperial Intelligence agent, Lord Shadowspawn had been exiled to the Outer Rim Territories, during Emperor Palpatine's tenure. There, he amassed arcane Sith knowledge, and developed expertise in dealing with modern technology. When Palpatine died his first death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker in 4 ABY, Shadowspawn returned from exile, with a cadre of the Emperor's Royal Guards and a legion of shadow stormtroopers at his disposal.

Laying waste to worlds of the New Republic, Shadowspawn and his splinter Imperial faction blazed a path of death and destruction, committing acts of piracy, terrorism, and mass slaughter. Conquering the Inner Rim the warlord established his base of operations on the world of Mindor. The New Republic, responding to the threat of Shadowspawn, sent the newly appointed General Luke Skywalker after him, starting a campaign that resulted in a substantial loss of life. Planning a trap for Skywalker on Mindor, Shadowspawn perished during the ensuing battle. His troops all fought to the death, prompting Skywalker to resign from the New Republic military.

Exile
Serving the Galactic Empire, Lord Shadowspawn was initially an agent of Imperial Intelligence, though he eventually left the organization. He was also a Prophet of the Dark Side, but was banished to the Outer Rim Territories for unknown reasons. In exile, he studied the ancient Sith, and amassed a wealth of knowledge on their ways. He also developed an expertise in the field of modern technology, giving him the confidence to mount a bid for galactic domination. The first death of Emperor Palpatine allowed Shadowspawn to return from exile, and put his plans into motion.

Return
When he returned, Shadowspawn, as a warlord, headed one of the many Imperial splinter factions that opposed the New Republic Following the death of their master, several of the Emperor's Royal Guards that had not participated in the mass suicides thinning their number joined Shadowspawn's cause. Shadowspawn was able to capture and hold the Inner Rim, while making the strategically advantageous world of Mindor his base of operations. With his shadow stormtroopers deployed, Shadowspawn committed acts of terrorism and piracy, in addition to wholesale slaughter against worlds of the New Republic. It was Shadowspawn's hope that he could wrack the Republic's hold on the galaxy, and breed fears of an Imperial, and Sith, resurgence. In aid of this, he declared himself to be the new Galactic Emperor, and intended on fully restoring the Galactic Empire.

Refusing to tolerate Shadowspawn's destructive bid for power, Republic general Luke Skywalker led the campaign against Shadowspawn to free the worlds of the Inner Rim he had conquered, resulting in a protracted and bloody string of battles that left thousands dead. Prophesy had told Shadowspawn that he would have to face one significant obstacle, which he surmised to be Skywalker. Looking forward to the confrontation, the warlord devised a trap for the general.

Towards the end of the campaign, his troops entrenched themselves on Mindor in preparation for Skywalker's inevitable assault. There, Shadowspawn hoped to lure the heroes of the Republic into his trap. Sure enough, Skywalker attacked the planet, with the aid of Fenn Shysa's Mandalorian Protectors, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the pilots of Rogue Squadron.

Death
Shadowspawn and his shadow stormtroopers fought in the Battle of Mindor against Skywalker and his allies, with the warlord himself taking to his enemy with a sword, although he had underestimated the bravery and resourcefulness of his foes. The arduous battle finally ended, with the participation of the Mandalorians on the side of the Republic turning the tide. Shadowspawn and his men fought to the death, resulting in a tremendous loss of life on both sides. Disgusted at what he perceived to be tremendous waste, Skywalker resigned from the New Republic military as a result of the events on Mindor, and focused on his Jedi studies.

Personality and traits
Shadowspawn was a cunning man, able to manipulate his foes so they would play directly into his hands. Considered to be vicious in temperament, he ordered his troops to lay waste to many Republic worlds, and in doing so created wholesale slaughter and carnage in the year following the Battle of Endor. He was eager to confront Skywalker on Mindor, but was proven foolhardy when his trap failed. As a result, he perished, but not before having his soldiers fight to the last man.

Behind the scenes
Shadowspawn was first mentioned in 1993's Dark Empire Sourcebook, by Michael Allen Horne, as one of the numerous warlords defeated by the New Republic early in its tenure. This was further expounded upon by 2000's The Essential Chronology, by Kevin J. Anderson and Daniel Wallace, which established the fact that Shadowspawn was defeated on Mindor by Luke Skywalker.

For 2001's The Emperor's Pawns, Abel G. Peña originally consolidated the characters of Shadowspawn and Blackhole. As such, illustrator Joe Corroney drew what was to be Shadowspawn's first depiction, which utilized elements of Blackhole's earlier depiction in Russ Manning's Gambler's World. The reference to Shadowspawn however, was cut, and the character remained canonically independent. Another cut element from that article explained that Shadowspawn/Blackhole was actually a ghostly apparition, conjured by the dark side of the Force.

As of 2007, Peña no longer considered Shadowspawn and Blackhole to be one and the same, and in fact had already consolidated the latter with another character called Cronal. In 2004, along with Wallace, he had developed a new framing story for Shadowspawn in an article on Imperial Warlords intended for Polyhedron magazine, but the publication was canceled before the article could be published. The article would have identified Shadowspawn as Atha Prime, the villain from an abandoned project submitted to Lucasfilm Ltd. by Kenner in 1985.

Minor elements concerning Shadowspawn cut from The Emperor's Pawns were later resurrected by Peña for use in The History of the Mandalorians, published in 2005. Later that year, the character received his first visual depiction in The New Essential Chronology. Corroney had given The New Essential Chronology artist Tommy Lee Edwards his original sketch of Blackhole as Shadowspawn, which Edwards would in turn use for his rendering of the character. In particular, Blackhole's headpiece and sword were reused for The New Essential Chronology.

In October 2008, Shadowspawn will make his first appearance in a Star Wars story, when Del Rey publishes Matthew Stover's Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. The novel, which will adapt and expand upon the original scenario presented in the Dark Empire Sourcebook and The Essential Chronology, will feature Lord Shadowspawn as its primary villain. A blurb of the book released by StarWars.com expanded Shadowspawn's character greatly, identifying him as a Prophet of the Dark Side and an Imperial Intelligence agent, much like Blackhole. Phrasing from the blurb concerning Shadowspawn's exile and eventual return following Palpatine's death mirror's Kenner's brief for the Atha Prime figure, leading to speculation on the Jedi Council Forums that the character may be finally proven to be Cronal and Atha Prime at the same time.

Appearances

 * Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor