User:Master Jonathan/Wedge Antilles/7

Personal characteristics
"You think I'm egotistical?''" "''Wedge, I love you like a brother, so it hurts me to say this, but you're so egotistical you think you can keep your ego under control. Most of the time you do, which is your only saving grace. And the times you don't, well, I've not been on the receiving end of a display, but I imagine there are some Imps who would regret that experience, if they were alive to think about it."

- Wedge Antilles and Mirax Terrik

Wedge Antilles was a male Human who had fair skin, dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. As an adult, he stood 1.7 meters tall and massed seventy-seven kilograms. As a child, he killed the pirates responsible for his parents' deaths, and afterward felt that he had been immediately thrust into maturity and could no longer be shocked by anything. He did not become a cynic, however; Antilles was an optimist. He was known for his sense of humor, though he remained a serious man inside the cockpit. Antilles projected a strong presence in the Force, reflective of vitality and a focused mind.

Antilles was highly confident in his own abilities as a pilot and general. He could be condescending and harsh to individuals he disliked. He bristled at those he genuinely despised and was openly hostile even to as powerful an individual as Thrackan Sal-Solo, refusing to play to the man's ego. After a long and distinguished career, he was annoyed when his judgment or accomplishments were called into question. Though he had this touch of vanity, taking pride in his skills, he was generally able to control his ego, remaining humble. He was uncomfortable with adulation, instead preferring to do his job protecting others. Though a hero of great stature to those in the Rebel Alliance and New Republic, Antilles remained approachable and friendly to those around him, which only made him more popular.

As a young pilot, Antilles's interests lay in sabacc and Corellian ale, through which mediums he formed fast friendships with many of his compatriots, including Wes Janson. Tycho Celchu was the closest of these friends; Antilles considered him like a brother. Through his close work with them, the famed Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Lando Calrissian soon became part of his circle of very close friends as well. Antilles was fiercely loyal to his friends, believing in them and willing to gamble his career to support them in doing what he thought to be the right thing.

Family was of paramount importance to Antilles, and he was intensely loyal to his wife and daughters, relishing time spent with them. Once there was peace and his sense of duty no longer required him to serve in the military, Antilles eagerly sought retirement so he could spend more time with his family&mdash;though when war returned, he again felt compelled to serve. Even into their adulthood, he maintained a close and affectionate relationship with his daughters. Antilles expected his children to behave maturely, training them to express themselves clearly and think logically. As they grew, he demanded that they earn money for their educations themselves. Though he contributed four times what each saved in her education fund, his daughters would get nothing unless they worked for it. A protective father, he insisted his daughters always carry a pair of blaster pistols as soon as they were old enough to begin dating.

Antilles hated politics, especially the politicization of military and private matters. He was skeptical of politicians, seeing them generally as opportunists who pursued their own ends instead of the public good. He strongly disliked military bureaucracy as well and was uninterested in playing politics, having no ambitions for advancement. Despite his dislike of politics, Antilles could be an adept analyst of political considerations, especially those regarding the military, and as a general he developed his own skill in that arena, though the process remained distasteful to him.

Morality
"Here's the truth: I kill the enemy so someone, somewhere&mdash;probably someone I've never met and never will meet&mdash;will be happy.''" "That doesn't make sense." "''Yes, it does. I told you how I lost my parents. Nothing I ever do can make up for that loss. But if I put myself in the way of people just as bad as the ones who killed my family, if I burn them down, then someone else they would have hurt gets to stay happy. That's the only honorable thing about my profession. It's not the killing. It's making the galaxy a little better."

- Wedge Antilles and Cheriss ke Hanadi

Wedge Antilles was known for his strong sense of ethics; he felt compelled to behave honorably and would never compromise his morals to take the easy path. In his morality, he was influenced by the Jedi in particular, respecting their moral code and ideals of peace and compassion, as well as having a great admiration for his friend Luke Skywalker, Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Even when furious, provoked by the belief that his close friend Mirax Terrik had been killed, Antilles retained his sense of honor. He led an angry assault against the perpetrators of the attack, eager to kill them, but when they retreated, he relented and took the opportunity to negotiate a surrender instead. His great sense of duty led him to selflessness in his pursuit of a more peaceful galaxy for others. Antilles was prepared to give his own life, though his sacrifice would never be known and his family would be left without knowledge of what had happened to him, in order to save the freighter Ammuud Swooper over Borleias. He knew that he would never be able to live with himself if he allowed others to die in his place when he could have saved them. Those around him noticed his moral sense; his immaculate reputation for honesty was such that the New Republic authorized him to directly control the proceeds from his pirating operations with Wraith Squadron, a highly unusual act.

The morality of killing was a particularly central issue to Antilles. Though he did not care for causing the deaths of other beings, he accepted his task, as a military man, to be that of stopping those who would harm innocents like his parents and thereby making the galaxy a better and safer place. His greatest regret in his waging of war was the toll of collateral damage on innocents, being an orphan himself. He took refuge in his beliefs that his cause was just, that violent opposition to evil was necessary, and that he took every effort to minimize casualties, but he was never comfortable with the fact that his actions could cause injury to innocents.

Though he was committed to the New Republic, Antilles put his sense of right and wrong first. He resigned when told the New Republic would not bring Ysanne Isard to justice and mounted a guerrilla campaign to oust her from power over Thyferra. Many years later, though he had put in decades of service to the Galactic Alliance and its predecessor governments, Antilles could no longer support it when faced with what he believed was tyrannical behavior. Angered also by his own treatment by the government, Antilles joined the Corellian opposition, both to stand up to the Galactic Alliance and in hope of limiting any bloodshed caused by the Corellians, Thrackan Sal-Solo in particular. Though he had friends and family on both sides, including his daughter Syal directly in harm's way, he did not shirk from attacking the Galactic Alliance forces on Tralus when called upon to do so. Even the knowledge that if he failed, and possibly even if he succeeded, he would be labeled a traitor did not deter him from doing what he thought was right. When Antilles then found he could no longer morally support the Corellian cause, he resigned and sided with the Jedi.

Leadership and duty
"Me, I'm the quintessential soldier who does his job very well. But what is that job? Two things: neutralizing Imperials and, the part I take most seriously, keeping my people alive."

- Wedge Antilles, to Afyon

Early in his career, Antilles was placed in a position of responsibility in which he had to make difficult decisions that led to the deaths of his compatriots. Over time, his responsibility only grew. As a leader, Antilles felt that the lives of all beings under his command depended on him and was determined to work as hard as possible at all times. Though he recognized that he had to make choices that would cost beings their lives, he bore a heavy burden with each loss of a friend or subordinate, maintaining a sense of guilt and grief that was a constant presence in his life.

Antilles could be distant from new pilots, unwilling to get too close to them lest they die in combat. It took time for him to invest emotionally in his squadron-mates. He disliked this tendency in himself and tried to remedy it when he was aware of falling into that pattern. He decided that by making a conscious effort to bridge the gap between himself and new pilots, he could help them become better fliers and lessen the chances of losing a pilot.

Antilles kept discipline laxer than most commanders, as his elite pilots had more latitude to act. He tried to keep the whole unit on equal footing, each pilot depending on the others, and was very open with his subordinates. Even as a general, Antilles had an easy camaraderie with those under his command. Though he was friendly with his pilots, he was unable to be just "one of the guys," in his words, around most of his subordinates. He knew that as their superior officer, there was a natural degree of separation, which he needed to maintain in order to enforce discipline. Among the lines he thought most inappropriate to cross was becoming romantically involved with subordinates, especially very junior ones. Only his oldest friends, subordinates such as Celchu, Janson, and Klivian, could truly be at ease with him as equals.

He ran tight-knit squadrons, and though he would not lie under oath, he was willing to adjust reports and deflect investigations to protect his people. In addition to his great concern for his pilots, he subjected himself to the same dangers as his subordinates. For this, Antilles earned the full respect and fierce loyalty of those serving under him, who trusted his leadership and knew that he put their well-being foremost. His policies led to a belief among the ranks that Antilles was one of the finest officers a being could serve, exactly what a soldier wanted in a commander.

This did not mean that his unit ran wild, however; Antilles insisted that his subordinates follow orders; without obedience there was chaos. He was tolerant of a great deal of informality from subordinates in his units, but only in allowable contexts and from those with established relationships with him, after unit discipline was already established. From new subordinates and those facing his displeasure, he demanded full military discipline. When his ire was incurred, Antilles was known for his skill in dressing down pilots and his fearsome, blunt demeanor in addressing problematic subordinates. He himself, though, was known for his frequent violation or evasion of orders; only the fact that his violation of orders generally turned out for the best saved him from demotion or charges of insubordination. His close friendships with his superiors Ackbar and Calrissian helped as well.

Antilles strongly disliked the bureaucratic aspect of command, preferring to fight rather than file reports. Because of his desire to remain in the cockpit, where he felt he was most needed and could do the most good, Antilles repeatedly turned down promotions throughout his early career and, on one occasion, even engineered his own demotion. Antilles sometimes regretted doing so, as when facing obstinate superior officers or seeing junior pilots promoted past him, but these temporary annoyances were never enough to surpass his need to fly on the front lines and reluctance to take on more administrative work. He also felt pressure to leave the cockpit from a different direction: though a consummate military man, Antilles's sense of duty hid a deep desire to retire and live as a man of peace. He accepted his lifestyle choice as a combat pilot, but inwardly longed for a comfortable, normal life with a wife and children in which his life was not on the line. He hoped to resign after the Battle of Endor, but as it became clear the Alliance would not soon achieve victory, he could not allow himself to cease serving the cause of freedom. He later was tempted by the offer of a staff position, but his sense of duty again ensured that he felt he could not leave his position on the front lines.

He finally did accept a promotion to general when Ackbar played on his loyalty to his subordinates, who themselves were refusing promotions to stay serving under him, and promised that Antilles would retain field command as a squadron leader. Soon, though, Palpatine's resurgence forced Antilles out of the cockpit. It pained him to go without piloting time, and he resented his move out of the cockpit after his promotion to general, loving flying and considering it a part of himself; however, he was able to function and deny his need to fly. His great hope was to one day return to flight operations. Antilles particularly disliked his stint as Starfighter Command chief of staff, hating working behind a desk, and soon after that returned to the squadron command he so loved.

Professional abilities
"If you're too old for this, the New Republic might as well give up now. Barring a squadron of Jedi Knights winging their way in here, you're the best we've got. That may not impress you, but there are plenty of Imp pilots out there who don't sleep the whole night through because of dreams about you being on their tail."

- Tycho Celchu, to Wedge Antilles

An elite starfighter pilot, Antilles was considered among the best combat pilots and squadron leaders in the galaxy. Similarly accomplished pilots such as Soontir Fel, Tycho Celchu, and Han Solo all evaluated Antilles as one of the most skilled fliers of his time. Among his numerous accomplishments, he earned the prestigious Kalidor Crescent, devised the Antilles Maneuver to counteract legendary starfighter tactician Adar Tallon's Tallon Roll, and saw his piloting established as a standard in New Republic simulators and textbooks. Regard for him as the New Republic's greatest pilot was so high that news of his appointment as supreme commander of the Adumari Union convinced numerous neutral nations to flock to the Adumari Union banner in opposition to the significantly superior forces of Cartann. By the time of his retirement, Antilles's reputation was that of a legend in the cockpit, a nearly mythological figure to fellow pilots.

Despite his accomplishments in the realm of starfighter tactics, Antilles believed that he lacked a grasp of capital ship combat, and did not think himself well-suited to higher command. Admiral Ackbar disagreed, believing that Antilles would make an exemplary general. Once Ackbar persuaded Antilles to accept a promotion, Antilles proved a highly successful commander, becoming Starfighter Command chief of staff. Antilles's fears that he would make a poor naval commander proved unfounded; he outmatched Ackbar in fleet exercises, used his knack for innovation and unconventional tactics to defeat famed Yuuzhan Vong ex-Warmaster Czulkang Lah, and served as one of the most senior fleet commanders during the Yuuzhan Vong War. In fact, he gained a reputation as a master of military tactics. By the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Antilles was considered a pilot, tactician, and strategist of towering stature, and he was selected as the supreme commander of the Corellian forces during the Second Galactic Civil War.

Mala Tinero
"Two days?''" "Tops. For you, I'll fly like the wind." "''Ooh. Cheesy."

- Mala Tinero and Wedge Antilles

While a youth on Gus Talon, Antilles developed a relationship with Mala Tinero, a native of the moon. Her father Rallo was not entirely enthused by the romance, but his gruffness covered an affection for the young man. Though Tinero attempted to get Antilles involved in the Rebel Alliance as her father was, Antilles declined. He was deeply in love with the young woman, whose hologram he kept on the console of his freighter, but did not wish to get involved.

When Antilles was nineteen, the Empire assaulted Gus Talon in retaliation for Rallo's Rebel activity while Antilles was on a freight run. Tinero was killed in the attack, although despite his desperation to find out her fate, Antilles never learned what became of her. His personal tragedy drove him to join the Rebellion and ever after soured him on being described as "lucky," feeling he would rather have been there with Tinero than have the supposed luck of being off-world at the time. He kept his agony over Tinero's death, and the pain the label "lucky" inspired, private, though it continued to torment him for years.

Reina Faleur
"It's the wanted poster, right? All the women like that wanted poster&hellip;"

- Wes Janson, to Reina Faleur

During his time in the Rebellion, Antilles did not pursue many relationships with women, seeing little long-term potential and not wanting to suffer the pain of heartbreak as he had with Tinero. Though he went on some dates and had some liaisons, they did not lead to long-term commitments. Antilles was content not to press the matter, believing that he would find his soulmate in time and romance often came unlooked-for.

A year after the Battle of Endor, when Lieutenant Reina Faleur expressed interest in Antilles to Tycho Celchu, though, Celchu prevailed on Antilles, who had not devoted energy to dating in some time, to accept a date with her. Antilles acquiesced, spending a night out dancing and dining on a double date with Celchu and Winter. They got along quite well and Antilles enjoyed himself, but the evening was interrupted by the call to rescue Sate Pestage. Antilles asked for another date, as he was very interested in her. The relationship did not work out in the course of time, however.

Iella Wessiri Antilles
"It took me a while to figure that out, and to understand just how much I need you to be in my life. As my friend, and more than my friend, for good. Now you tell me it can't happen. Because of mistakes. I made some, you made some, and now our chances are all behind us? No, Iella. That would be another mistake, and the older we get, the less time we have to bounce back from them. I'm tired of making mistakes. You're a grown woman and in training. If you want me out of your room, it'll take you just one knee and a little leverage to put me out. But you can't just tell me to go, not this time. I love you. I'm not going to meekly walk away."

- Wedge Antilles, to Iella Wessiri

Antilles always saw himself settling down with a Corellian girl. After meeting and working with her during the taking of Coruscant, Antilles found himself quite attracted to the Corellian Iella Wessiri. He admired her thoughtfulness, sense of humor, calmness under fire, loyalty to friends, and commitment to the New Republic, and when she was grieved by her former CorSec partner Corran Horn's apparent death, Antilles worked up the nerve to ask her out to eat as a friend, telling himself he was not asking her on a date. It was well he was not, as he arrived at her apartment only to find that her husband, Diric Wessiri, had been found after being thought dead. The Rogue was taken aback and put aside romantic thoughts, taking joy in his friend's happiness. He saw in Diric a man profoundly different from himself and believed that he could not have given Iella the stability she wanted in any case, resigning himself to pure friendship with her. When Diric was activated as a Lusankya assassin shortly after his return and Iella was forced to kill him, she was devastated, and Antilles helped comfort her.

The campaigns of Wraith Squadron kept Antilles away from Wessiri for some time, but during visits to Coruscant, several months after her husband's death, Antilles began taking Wessiri out for dinner, drifting away from his previous commitment to be friends as his feelings for her reignited. He never quite managed to begin dating her, as various crises intervened, and Antilles awkwardly avoided bringing up the subject of romance. He did not want to pressure her into a relationship, and so avoided making any overt moves. In 11 ABY, once he had taken an assignment on Coruscant's surface doing reconstruction work, Antilles decided to ask her out at Corran Horn's urging. He put it off until after his construction duties were well underway, however, and his assignment to escort Qwi Xux then intervened, leading him into a relationship with the ex-Imperial scientist. While he was dating Xux, he almost never encountered Wessiri, and their friendship crumbled.

He ran into Wessiri during his mission to Adumar, after he had broken up with Xux. When he first spoke to her, she seemed distant, and, after he asked if they had stopped being friends during their time apart, she said yes. He was left baffled and hurt at the loss of something very important to him for reasons he did not know, and the question of what had happened between them continued to gnaw at him. When he traveled to her apartment to ask her for a favor, he insisted on an answer as to how he had lost her friendship. She explained that she had been attracted to Antilles, but never made a move. When she saw him with Xux, she felt that she had thrown away her chance to be with him and could not stand the pain of facing that loss when she saw him, and so had drifted away&mdash;and now asked him to leave. About to give up, Antilles realized, and told Wessiri, that he would be throwing out their chance of happiness because of past mistakes that could in fact be fixed. After Antilles kissed Wessiri, she agreed to pursue a relationship. Antilles was ready to propose, but Wessiri insisted it wait until after they were finished on Adumar. He spent the night with her before returning to his mission.

After the mission on Adumar concluded, Antilles proposed, and he and Wessiri married a few months later. Around 17 ABY they had their first child, Syal, followed by Myri, their second daughter, a year later. Antilles loved his family, taking great pleasure in sharing time with his wife and daughters. He felt that his career had shortchanged him of time with Iella and delighted in giving her the attention she deserved during his retirement. As they aged together, he found Iella only more attractive.

Qwi Xux
"No matter how long it takes, I'll help you to remember. And if we can't find all of your past again&hellip;then I'll help you make new memories to fill those spaces."

- Wedge Antilles, to Qwi Xux

In 11 ABY, Antilles was assigned to escort and protect Doctor Qwi Xux, a former Imperial superweapon scientist who had defected to the New Republic. They immediately made a connection during her debriefing; Antilles found her beautiful and was attracted to her intelligence, honesty, and endearing naivete. They spent a great deal of time together, growing close. He gave her jewelry and took her to Ithor while squiring her about, hoping the romantic location would allow them to deepen their relationship. It did, and the pair shared their first kiss after a picnic on Ithor's surface. Antilles left for his room soon after the kiss, and immediately thereafter, Kyp Durron wiped Xux's memory, having turned to the dark side and wishing to destroy her superweapon knowledge. She barely recalled Antilles when he found her the next morning.

He desperately worked to stimulate her memory, taking her back to the same spots on Ithor and going over past events. Dedicated to the welfare of the woman who had been wounded under his protection, he provided emotional support as they grew into a relationship and took joy in the slow recovery of her mind. Their romance thrilled Antilles, who found himself writing poems about Xux's hair.

As he thought about their relationship more, however, he came to the conclusion that the two were not compatible in the long run. He was happy with Xux, but he failed to envision a future together. Antilles took her to dinner to break up, but as it happened, Xux brought up the topic before he did, saying she too did not see a future for them as a couple and felt she had inherited the relationship from her pre-memory-wipe self. She also expressed a belief that Antilles had been feeling ready for a relationship when he met her and fell for her because she was available, but she was the "wrong one" for him. Antilles confessed his own feelings, and they broke up amicably, remaining friends.

Personal freighter and Rebel fighters
Wedge Antilles flew many starships over the course of his life. One of the first was a Corellian freighter that he bought himself with the insurance payouts from his parents' deaths. He used it to find work as a legitimate freighter pilot, but found that he wasn't able to make enough money and eventually joined the Rebel Alliance. Upon doing so, Antilles began flying a Y-wing fighter. He used the Y-wing during the battle on Kamino in 1 BBY, where, with some daring maneuvers, he ferried Starkiller to the building where Juno Eclipse was being held.

Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Antilles flew a Y-wing in a mission to the Maw. He flew an A-wing fighter during a reconnaissance mission to Almaran, and later flew a B-wing at both Dega and on a rescue mission to Bakura. Soon after that, Antilles used a Clone Wars–era Delta-7 Aethersprite to escape from Geonosis. He then flew an A-wing on a scouting mission to Destrillion, followed by a Y-wing in the subsequent battle at Dubrillion.

X-wings
Antilles was well known for his skills in the cockpit of a starfighter, particularly X-wings. He was part of the original Rebel mission that obtained the first X-wings, and flew them in many battles for the Rebellion, including at Yavin, Hoth, and Endor. After the Rebellion reformed into the New Republic, Antilles continued to fly X-wings as the new government began pushing toward the Core. He would fly X-wings at several more battles, including at Mindor, before helping a newly reformed Rogue Squadron capture Borleias. Later, he would fly his X-wing in the Bacta War before using it with the new Wraith Squadron in the campaign against Warlord Zsinj.

Antilles later flew his X-wing in the Thrawn campaign, from during the battle for the Katana fleet to the final battle at Bilbringi. Though he would eventually move into naval command, he still flew an X-wing on occasion, including on a diplomatic mission to Adumar. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Antilles piloted an X-wing on only a few occasions; he flew one at Sernpidal, during his escape from Borleias&mdash;in which Antilles single-handedly defeated an entire squadron of enemy coralskippers &mdash;and during the final battle to retake Coruscant. In the Second Galactic Civil War, Antilles used an X-wing to escape from detention, and he flew one for the Jedi Coalition during the battle at Centerpoint Station. After his final retirement, he owned his own X-wing, which he used to help save the planet Kessel from destruction. His skill at the controls of an X-wing was so great that his piloting became a standard in simulators and textbooks.

T-47 airspeeder
While with the Rebellion, Antilles flew a T-47 airspeeder on occasion. He was part of the team that acquired them on Poln Minor, where he flew them in battle for the first time, and he flew one during the evacuation of Thila as well. Antilles also flew a T-47 in the Battle of Hoth, where at the direction of Luke Skywalker and with the help of Wes Janson, his gunner, he was the first pilot to take down an AT-AT with the T-47's tow cable.

Other fighters
In a few instances, Antilles flew other fighters, including several ships of the TIE series. During the time of the Rebellion, he and two other Rogues piloted TIE Hunters in an assault on the Fondor shipyards, attempting to deceive the Imperials there into believing that they were escorting a captured Rebel transport. About four years later, during the early days of Wraith Squadron, he piloted an original TIE fighter several times as part of the Night Caller deception. Soon afterward, he helped steal and then flew TIE interceptors as part of the Hawk-bats under the alias "Lieutenant Kettch." Later, Antilles and other members of Rogue Squadron trained on and piloted TIE Defenders against warlord Delak Krennel at the insistence of Ysanne Isard. Several years later, on a diplomatic mission to Adumar, Antilles and three others piloted Blade-32 fighters, first in duels with simulated weapons and later with real weapons in the process of running the gauntlet and the subsequent civil war.

Millennium Falsehood
The YT-1300 freighter Millennium Falsehood was a hoax perpetrated by Antilles and Rogue and Wraith Squadrons. Designed to draw Warlord Zsinj into a trap by making his believe the ship was actually Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, the Falsehood was flown by Antilles several times on missions with the intention of being seen by Zsinj's people. The Millennium Falsehood accomplished its objective, helping draw Zsinj and his flagship, Iron Fist, into a trap in the Vahaba system.

Lusankya
Originally Ysanne Isard's secret prison and flagship, the Lusankya was surrendered directly to Antilles at the end of the Bacta War. Antilles used his temporary role as the ship's captain to officiate the marriage of Corran Horn and Mirax Terrik. The Lusankya was then given to the New Republic, and four years later, Antilles, now a general, was given command of the ship. At Phaeda, Antilles used the ship to force the surrender of the Imperial ship Steadfast. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, he was given control of the Lusankya for the final time. Over the course of the Battle of Borleias, the ship slowly collected damage to the point that Antilles felt he would not be able to keep the ship operational, so he opted to sacrifice it for his garrison's escape. He transferred working equipment off of it onto other ships and turned the Lusankya into a massive battering ram and bomb. At Antilles's instruction, the Lusankya was rammed into a Yuuzhan Vong worldship and detonated, taking the worldship with it.

Mon Mothma
A variant of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer introduced during the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Mon Mothma was first commanded by Antilles at Talfaglio, where the ship's hidden gravity well generators helped the Jedi capture a yammosk. Soon after, Antilles and the Mon Mothma were part of the failed defense of Coruscant, after which they recaptured Borleias. Unable to hold the planet forever, Antilles eventually escaped, in the process using the Mon Mothma interdiction capability to help pin a worldship in place while the Lusankya rammed and destroyed it. After that, Antilles used the Mon Mothma in an unsuccessful attempt to retake Bilbringi.

Ground equipment
While on the ground, Antilles typically carried a blaster pistol, a datapad, a tool kit, and a comlink.

Behind the scenes
"Wedge is my favorite character, true. I've said in other interviews that he interests me because he's an ethical killer. The killer part isn't that interesting&mdash;from that perspective, he's a guy who always has a means, a motive, and an opportunity. No, it's the ethics that are interesting, his struggle to make each choice to kill a correct one, one that will not lead those he commands or inspires down some slippery slope."

- Aaron Allston

Wedge Antilles was created as a supporting character in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but first appeared in the Star Wars novelization, which was released in 1976, before the film's 1977 premiere. Though the film did not give his full name, crediting the character only as "Red Two (Wedge)" and only using his first name, the script established his last name as Antilles, and it was included in the novel. The character evolved from an early concept involving a hotshot young pilot by the name of Chewie, but when that nickname was assigned to the character of Chewbacca in the fourth draft, the pilot character became Wedge. The Antilles name originated with a separate character named Bail Antilles in early drafts, before it became the Chewie character's surname.

In the film, Antilles was played by two actors: Colin Higgins and Denis Lawson, but both British actors were dubbed with the voice of American David Ankrum. Higgins portrayed Antilles during the Death Star briefing scene, but Lawson played the character in the battle scenes and was the actor credited in the role. Higgins, used to television acting practices, had not memorized his lines, of which the Antilles character originally had several, closely and grew increasingly nervous and dispirited as he struggled during shooting. After one day of shooting, he was fired. Lawson, who had originally been passed for the role in favor of Higgins, was brought in. Fan confusion over Higgins's uncredited turn as the so-called "Fake Wedge," with many thinking Jack Klaff had been the mystery man playing Antilles, was only resolved in 2005 when Pablo Hidalgo researched the original production reports and confirmed that Higgins had been "Fake Wedge." Lawson went on to portray Antilles in 1980s sequels Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, as well as voicing him nearly twenty years later in the 2001 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Lawson was initially surprised to be called back for The Empire Strikes Back, as he had been under the impression that Antilles had died in A New Hope. Preliminary drafts of Return of the Jedi featured an early scene in which Antilles, flying a TIE after infiltrating an Imperial formation near the Executor, lost control of his craft and required rescue by Leia Organa, who had also infiltrated the fleet.

No actor voiced Antilles twice in the Star Wars radio dramas. Antilles was played by Meshach Taylor in the Episode IV radio drama, Don Scardino in the Episode V radio drama, and Jon Matthews in Episode VI dramatization. For the Dark Empire and Dark Empire II audio dramatizations, John Cygan provided his voice. Antilles was voiced by Robert Foster in the video games Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Star Wars: X-wing Alliance. Foster also voiced Antilles for Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, in which Antilles narrated the Rebel campaign. He is also credited as voicing Antilles in Star Wars: Force Commander, and dialogue for Antilles exists in the game data, but the character was cut and does not appear in the finished game. Chris Cox provided Antilles's voice in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike and Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

Antilles's first appearance outside the films and their adaptations was a bit part in Race for Survival, a 1983 arc of the Star Wars daily comic strip by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson. Antilles's second such appearance was later in the year, in Hoth Stuff!, issue 78 of Marvel's Star Wars ongoing comic. In it, he was assigned a backstory similar to that of Biggs Darklighter, establishing him as Luke Skywalker's oldest, best friend, from Tatooine. He was also given an old girlfriend, Belina, from Tatooine. The issue told the story of Antilles and Wes Janson, who was identified as Antilles's former roommate at a military academy, surviving as maroons on Hoth after the battle depicted in The Empire Strikes Back. Janson died, while Antilles survived to be rescued, overcoming a gang of scavengers. All further material on Antilles, however, ignored this issue, establishing a unique background for the character and showing him successfully evacuating Hoth with the other Rebels, while Janson continued to show up in material set well after the events of the comic. With the comic's status as S-canon, or not canon until referenced, this effectively invalidated the issue. Twenty years after the issue's publication, the Planet Hoppers article Hoth: Under the Ice undertook the task of integrating elements from the issue back into canon. It established that Antilles had encountered and killed the pirate Arns Grimraker and stated that Antilles had told a series of tall tales about the event that included Janson's death.

The Marvel comic continued to use Antilles as a supporting character after that issue, but only in bit parts. West End Games established much of Antilles's canonical background with its 1989 Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, expanding on the character for the first time since Hoth Stuff, which it ignored. During the resurgence of the Expanded Universe in the early 1990s, Antilles saw much greater use as a recurring supporting character in such sources as the Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Empire, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, and The Truce at Bakura. In the Thrawn Trilogy, set in 9 ABY, Antilles was a commander in charge of Rogue Squadron, but in Dark Empire, set shortly afterward, he was a general commanding Star Destroyers. This was explained in The Jedi Academy Sourcebook, which included a vignette depicting Ackbar issuing Antilles an emergency promotion to general&mdash;of the New Republic Army&mdash;after the Empire's deadly assault on Coruscant. This, however, was ignored in the novel X-wing: Isard's Revenge, in which Ackbar promoted Antilles, who remained within Starfighter Command, immediately after the Battle of Bilbringi; the scene and the reasons for the promotion was entirely dissimilar to The Jedi Academy Sourcebook version.

In 1995, Antilles became the main character of the ongoing comic series X-wing: Rogue Squadron, which followed Rogue Squadron as commanded by Antilles after the events of Return of the Jedi and ran for thirty-five issues over three years. The series, written by Michael A. Stackpole, tied in to the X-wing novel series Stackpole began in 1996, which also featured Antilles as one of the main characters, leading Rogue Squadron slightly later on in the timeline. Stackpole was brought in to write the comics due to the fact that, when Dark Horse Comics expressed interest in an X-wing series in 1994, he was already contracted to write the X-wing novels. Editor Sue Rostoni suggested that Stackpole use Antilles in his novels due to his popularity, but both were shocked to find out just how popular Antilles was, as sales for the books proved surprisingly high. Stackpole has maintained that he would have used Antilles even without Rostoni's suggestion, as he found Antilles, with his film background, accomplishments, and connection to the main characters of the Star Wars saga, to be the ideal main character for the series. Faced with the task of delving into the Rogue Leader's characterization, Stackpole looked to material on pilots of the World Wars to inform him on the portrayal of Antilles's personality.

After four books, the series moved into the hands of Aaron Allston, who wrote of Antilles's foundation of Wraith Squadron for three novels. Stackpole and Allston had originally pitched Janson and Klivian as leaders of Wraith Squadron, but their editors insisted each X-wing novel feature Antilles, causing his addition to the story. Stackpole and Allston wrote one more X-wing novel apiece, and both also wrote several more novels outside the series, almost every one of which has included Antilles, with the exceptions of Allston's Backlash, in which Antilles was only mentioned, and Conviction, which did not feature Antilles at all. Allston's novel Fury in particular was a notable usage, as in it Antilles became the first and thus far only character ever to kill a Rogue Leader in starfighter combat when he shot down active Rogue Leader Lensi. Stackpole intended to include Antilles, as well as background material on the character, in the proposed comic Specter of Thrawn, but the project was not picked up. Allston has said that Antilles is his own favorite character in Star Wars due to his sense of ethics. Stackpole has likewise indicated that Antilles is among his favorite characters.

For the 1998 video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, developers Factor 5 wanted to make Antilles the main player character, seeing an opportunity to expand on a supporting character. Lucas Licensing president Howard Roffman suggested using Luke Skywalker instead, wanting a major film character to anchor the game. Skywalker was used as the player character for all levels except the final one, in which the player flew as Antilles. Sequels Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike used both Skywalker and Antilles as player characters in roughly equal proportion.

As a background character in the films who survived all three major battles of the Star Wars trilogy&mdash;actor Mark Hamill has called him Star Wars creator "George Lucas's token survivor"&mdash;Antilles gained cult status among fans. A reader poll in Star Wars Insider ranked Antilles the eighth most popular Star Wars character. Antilles's survivor status has been noted in broader pop culture, as well. Stackpole and Allston have attributed Antilles's popularity to his status as an everyman soldier offering a grounded perspective outside that of the main characters.

Antilles appeared in the Star Wars Tales comic A Day in the Life, a story published as non-canon under the Infinities label. It presented Antilles and two fellow Rogues encountering the still-active wreckage of the Executor after the Battle of Endor and destroying the ship a second time. Subsequent inclusion of Antilles's wingmates from the story in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia canonized a few elements of the story, but did not canonize the story as a whole or Antilles's role in it.

As with any prominent character, some minor errors and contradictions have occurred in presentations of Antilles. In the novelization of A New Hope, Antilles was identified as "teenaged," and the film's script described him as "about sixteen years old." Later sources, however, have superseded this and established Antilles's birth year as 21 BBY. The Essential Guide to Characters listed Antilles as having green eyes, not hazel or brown as usually given. It also mistakenly used an image of Wes Janson as that of Antilles.

Non-canon history
The non-canon Star Wars Infinities comic series, presenting alternative takes on the films, used Antilles in his film roles but with some changes. In the twist on A New Hope, during the Battle of Yavin, after Luke Skywalker fired his proton torpedoes but the Death Star failed to explode, Antilles told Skywalker to check his readouts, where he discovered that the torpedoes detonated prematurely. Skywalker was puzzled as to why, and Antilles suggested a few possibilities before telling the young pilot that he had done his job. Antilles, Skywalker, and the Millennium Falcon were then forced into a dogfight with several TIE fighters before the Death Star destroyed Yavin 4, eliminating the Rebel Alliance.

In Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back, Skywalker froze to death after escaping from the wampa cave, leading to Antilles flying his snowspeeder in the Battle of Hoth without him. The Empire inserted a squadron of TIE fighters under the Rebels' deflector shield, but Antilles told Wes Janson to focus their fire on the AT-ATs, as only they had the firepower to take out the shield generator&mdash;a critical mistake, as one of the TIEs shot Antilles down. The adaptation of Return of the Jedi saw Antilles flying in the Battle of Endor and telling Lando Calrissian to move in close to the Star Destroyers. Later in the battle, Antilles and one other X-wing pilot made the run through the structure of the Death Star and fired on the reactor without assistance from Calrissian and the Millennium Falcon.

In the non-canon 2011 video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Antilles can be unlocked as a playable character for the game's "Free Play" mode. This can be achieved by either collecting all ten minikit pieces in the level adapting the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series episode "Destroy Malevolence," or by using a cheat code.