Jagged Fel

"Have to remember: he may have been raised among the Chiss, but he's still full-blooded Corellian."

- Jaina Solo

Jagged Fel was the son of Soontir Fel, a former ace pilot with the Galactic Empire, and Syal Antilles Fel, the sister of Wedge Antilles, one of the most famous heroes of the Rebel Alliance and New Republic.

Early life (8 ABY–24 ABY)
"I was raised among them, raised with them, judged by their standards. I met those standards. I exceeded those standards."

- Jagged Fel

Jagged, or "Jag", as he liked to be called, was a ruggedly handsome young Corellian who grew up among the Chiss, a race of blue-skinned aliens native to the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy.

Named for his maternal grandfather Jagged Antilles, Jag was deadly calm and serious in battle, knowing if he made a mistake that himself and his squadmates could pay for it with their lives. He was specifically motivated by his loyalty to Thrawn's legacy and ideals.

A distinguishing feature was a scar which ran from his right eye and up into his hairline. This is usually covered by a single white lock of hair. Jag is said to resemble his father and his uncle Wedge.

Jag grew up in a big family with three other brothers, Chak, Davin, and Cem, and two younger sisters, Cherith and Wynssa. His little brother Cem was apparently a Shadow Child so Jag never mentioned him, and may not have even been aware of his exstence: Jag certainly led people outside of his family to believe there were only five Fel children. With the possible exception of Cem, all the Fel children served in the military forces of the the Empire of the Hand or the Chiss Ascendancy; all were perhaps officers of the Household Phalanx.

Jag was one of the few non-Chiss to have served with either and both the CEDF or the House Phalanx and it was interestingly political reasons that led to Jag and his older brother Davin Fel being trained and commissioned as officers in the Ascendancy’s military arm. Jag was basically a political hostage to the Chiss as a means of ensuring Baron Fel's full loyalty.

When Jag first began his military training, he was not a very good pilot and constantly crashed his first Clawcraft, the Blue Flame. When he was 14 years old, he proved himself and his loyalty while earning the respect of the Chiss when he and a few of his classmates at the Rata Nebula military training academy defended it in a raid from Cavrilhu Pirates. It was during this assault that Jag became friends with Shawnkyr Nuruodo and where she ceded the leadership of the cadets to him. This was also when he became decorated with the distinguishing scar which ran from his right eye and up into his hairline which he got from an injury.

In around 24 ABY, at the age of sixteen, Jag was elected as the commander of his own squadron, and within two years, he was leading a three-squadron group known as Spike force.

Yuuzhan Vong War (26 ABY–30 ABY)
"I came to fight a war, not to play political games."

- Jag Fel



In 26 ABY, Baron Fel dispatched force Spike to aid the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic against the Yuuzhan Vong, and as Spike Lead, Jag led his pilots into the Battle of Garqi and the Battle of Ithor. It was during this time that he first met his long-lost uncle, Wedge Antilles, and also the young Jedi Jaina Solo, who was serving in Rogue Squadron, and who proved to be one of the few pilots who could match him in combat training.

A fortnight after Ithor, when the Moff Council recalled Grand Admiral Pellaeon and his forces to defend Imperial Space, Jag dispatched one squadron to report back to his father, and transferred with the other two squadrons to the New Republic cruiser Ralroost, in order to liase with the Rogues and continue the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong - and also possibly due to his attraction to Lieutenant Solo.

Force Spike were subsequently recalled to the Unknown Regions, because neither Imperial nor Chiss commanders were prepared to commit further resources, and it was felt that two squadrons could not exert a significant influence on the outcome of events; but at least one Clawcraft was still flying alongside Rogue Squadron ten months after Ithor, at the Battle of Kalarba. It may be that the recall order had not yet reached them at this time, but it is possible that Jag did not return to the Unknown Regions when force Spike was recalled, choosing to cede his position in command of the wing, in order to remain in combat against the Yuuzhan Vong.

By the time of the Fall of Coruscant in 28 ABY, Jag had certainly returned to the Unknown Regions, but he was now dispatched back to New Republic space on a scouting mission with Shawnkyr. Although they had orders not to get embroiled in the conflict, they raised a volunteer unit known as Vanguard Squadron soon after their arrival on Hapes, and during the Battle of Hapes Jag commanded and led the rebuilt Hapan Fleet to victory again the invading Yuuzhan Vong.

It was also at this time that Jag rekindled his acquaintance with Jaina, and he subsequently joined Twin Suns Squadron when she was given command of it. The two young pilots' mutual attraction soon developed into a relationship. Jag and Jaina fought together in the Battle of Borleias, and, even though the Yuuzhan Vong reconquered the system, the New Republic turned defeat into a sort of victory when the Super Star Destroyer Lusankya rammed Czulkang Lah's worldship.

Subsequently, Jag took command of a full squadron of Chiss pilots that had arrived on a reconnaissance mission; he persuaded this Chiss Squadron to stay and fight the Yuuzhan Vong, and after flying with the Twin Suns for a time, they were detached to patrol the Hydian Way, about three months before the Battle of Ebaq 9. He remained in constant contact with Jaina through Holo messages, and was reunited with her shortly before the Battle of Ylesia, in which both their squadrons participated - although It is not known for sure if Jag's unit participated in the major victory at Ebaq.

Jag's relations with his father and the Chiss hierarchy at this time were not so much strained as disrupted; he had objected to what he saw as his father's concession to Csillan political interests before his departure from the Unknown Regions, and when his father subsequently used the Household Phalanx to intervene in a civil war in the Chiss Ascendancy, Jag considered him to have totally embraced Chiss modes of thought and action - a reflection that is equally telling about his own self-perception. With regard to his own mission in former New Republic territory, Jag saw himself as honour-bound to take command decisions on his own initiative, and he used this to justify a bland failure to report back to the General Baron for several months, although he remained loyal to the oath of secrecy he had taken not to discuss the political situation among the Chiss with outsiders.

In 29 ABY, Jag and two of his Chiss pilots were temporarily seconded to the Twin Suns on a mission commanded by Han and Leia Solo, which saw them fly and fight at N'zoth, Bakura and Esfandia. In the last few weeks of the war, Jag fought in the Battle of Mon Calamari and the Liberation of Coruscant: at Mon Calamari, his squadron was reduced to six Clawcraft, and they were subsequently amalgamated with the Twin Suns; it was as Twin Suns Leader that he flew in the reconquest of Coruscant, where he was shot down and rescued by Page's Commandos, rejoining the fight in an X-wing.

At the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War in 30 ABY on Zonoma Sekot, Jag asked Jaina to go back to Csilla with him to meet his family. Jaina declined his offer because she felt she still had to sort through her life before she could fully commit herself. Jag then surprised her with the news that the Chiss Ascendancy had appointed him a new position as a diplomat to serve as the liason between the Chiss and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY–36 ABY)
"No one can fly like that without the Force!"

- Zekk

Five years after the Yuuzhan Vong War (during the Dark Nest Crisis), Jaina put their relationship on hiatus, while Jag was again serving the Chiss military as a Commander. He was in command of the Chiss Star Destroyer the Fell Defender.

In 35 ABY, Commander Fel led a Chiss task force in the Chiss-Killik border war, helping avert total war between the two races and personally releasing the captured Lowbacca back to his old girlfriend, Jaina. For his role in the battle, Fel was given a promotion by the CEDF.

During the Battle of Tenupe, while commanding the Zark Squadron Jagged came into a dogfight with Jaina and Zekk, and later the Millennium Falcon. During his dogfight with Jaina and Zekk, Jaina declared to him that she still did and would always love him and warned him to eject before she shot him down which gave him the chance to avoid and escape their fire. When the Falcon was attempting to prevent the Chiss from releasing their parasite bombs, Leia Organa Solo was forced to shoot him down. Jagged managed to eject in time, and activate his locator beacon, but the Chiss had yet to recover him by the time the Galactic Alliance fleet left the system. Luke Skywalker even personally offered his aid in recovering Jag but the Chiss rejected the Jedi's help. Fel, however, survived the crash.

Behind the scenes
Jagged Fel's status after the Swarm War remained unknown and his death was speculated by some. It was later confirmed by the Dark Nest Trilogy author Troy Denning in a SW official site thread that Jagged Fel was alive. It was also mentioned that he would appear sometime during the Legacy Era.

There are also some uncertainties with Jag's rank; throughout his appearances in the NJO, he is called a Colonel, and in most of his appearances, he is treated as an officer of Thrawn's Household Phalanx as distinct from the CEDF, and it is implied that he is of rank appropriate to command a force of several starfighter squadrons.

In The Joiner King, he is styled Commander and appears to hold a senior position in the CEDF fleet at Qoribu, being promised a promotion at the end of the novel. In The Swarm War, however, he is a Captain, and it seems as though he has been recently promoted to a rank explicitly identified as the equivalent of a Colonel - which he held more than a decade earlier.

Several explanations are possible:


 * Jag was a Lieutenant Colonel in the NJO; this would place him instead on the seniority level of a Navy Commander, and imply a lateral transfer into the CEDF, followed by a subsequent promotion between The Joiner King and The Swarm War.
 * Jag entered the CEDF at a lower rank than that which he had previously held in the House Phalanx, and was not promoted again to the equivalent rank for several years.
 * In spite of what he claims, Jag was in fact demoted between The Joiner King and The Swarm War, and the POV character - Han - at least partially misconsrues a situation he evidently finds confusing. If this was the case, his position of Commander in The Joiner King could be senior his previous rank of Colonel.

Trivia

 * A very popular nickname to call Jag (especially among those who dislike his character) is "Captain Cardboard" due to his serious and grim demeanor. Depending on his rank, which nearly always started with a C, they would substitute "Captain" with whatever his rank may've been in the most recent book. (Colonel, Commander, etc.)


 * Fanfiction prior to the Legacy of the Force series frequently paired Jag with Tahiri Veila, usually after circumstances prevailed to unite Jaina with Kyp Durron.


 * Due to the events of Dark Nest and the fact that Jag and Jaina Solo are no longer a couple, pairing him with Shawnkyr Nuruodo has grown quite popular in fanfiction.


 * Fans of "alternative lifestyles" like to put him with both Jaina and Zekk, given that thanks to the Joining, Zekk also developed romantic feelings for him.


 * Jagged Fel has also harbored hatred by the Jaina/Zekk fanbase. Most of those fans contribute the drop in Jaina's character to him.

Appearances

 * Red Sky, Blue Flame
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Dark Journey
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Destiny's Way
 * Ylesia
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War