Bolvan/Legends

"Hold your fire. There is no lifeform. It must have been short-circuited."

- Bolvan, to Lieutenant Hija

Bolvan was a Human male captain of the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War. He captained the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator, under the command of Sith Lord Darth Vader. In 7 BBY, altough Bolvan suggested the sterilization of the planet Falleen in order to stop an Imperial-produced bacterial plague from spreading out of control, Vader ordered the orbital bombardment of the planet instead. Later, Bolvan served on the same starship as gunnery captain. In 0 BBY, Bolvan participated in the Devastator's capture of the Rebel CR90 corvette Tantive IV, during which Chief Gunnery Officer Hija spotted an escape pod fleeing from the impounded Rebel vessel. However, Bolvan ordered him not to fire on the pod because the Devastator's gunnery sensors detected no lifeforms aboard.

Biography
"Hold your fire, Lieutenant Hija [&hellip;] Don't waste your power."

- Bolvan, to Lieutenant Hija

The Human male Bolvan was a member of the Galactic Empire's Navy during the Imperial Period. By 7 BBY, he captained the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator, commanded by the Dark Lord Darth Vader.

In 7 BBY, the Star Destroyer arrived at the planet Falleen as a part of Vader's exploration tour visiting Imperial weapon development projects. Bolvan reported Vader an accident in a biological research facility and the following spread of a flesh-eating bacterium across Falleen's surface. The Captain showed some projections that were based on information salvaged from the laboratory and predicted the devastation of the whole planet in short time. Bolvan suggested the requisition of the ordnance from Project X271 and incinerate the plague from orbit, but Vader disagreed, because he did not wish to wipe out the entire Falleen species. Vader ordered an orbital bombardment of the surface to halt any further spread of the leaking bioweapon. Chief Gunnery Officer Hija was responsible for firing the devastating turbolaser bombardment from the Devastator that destroyed the weapons facility and everything within forty kilometers to cover up the mishap. Among the 200,000 Falleen casualties in the ensuing destruction was the family of Prince Xizor, who later led the Black Sun criminal organization.

Seven years later during the Battle of Tatooine in the Galactic Civil War, Bolvan was still serving on the Devastator. However, he was not the commanding officer&mdash;who was Captain Mulchive Wermis &mdash;but was in charge of the main weaponry as gunnery captain.

After Rebel agents transmitted the stolen plans of the first Death Star, a new Imperial superweapon to the Rebel CR90 corvette Tantive IV, Senator Leia Organa's consular ship, the Devastator pursued and captured the Rebel starship over the planet Tatooine. Several escape pods were jettisoned from the impounded vessel during the battle. Chief Gunnery Officer Hija spotted the one that, unbeknownst to the Imperials, contained the Rebel droids C-3PO and R2-D2, the latter of whom carried the stolen Death Star plans in his memory banks. However, since the Devastator gunnery sensors detected no lifeforms within the escape pod, Bolvan ordered Hija to hold his fire in order to conserve power, allowing the droids to escape.

Personality and traits
"Captain, you must learn when it is appropriate to offer your counsel. Now is not the time."

- Darth Vader, to Captain Bolvan

As a captain during the incident on Fallen, Bolvan demonstrated a thorough and merciless personality when he wanted the incinerate the plague from orbit even at the cost of genocide. He opposed his superior, Darth Vader, but the Sith Lord warned him to learn to offer his counsel in the appropriate time. By 0 BBY, he was serving the Empire in a lower commission, and was less profound when he ordered Lieutenant Hija to let a wrongly-supposed empty escape pod go in exchange for sparing some energy.

Behind the scenes
"What, are we paying by the laser now?''" "''You don't do the budget, Terry. I do."

- Hija and Bolvan in Blue Harvest

The character of Bolvan first appeared in the novelization of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and first published in December of 1976 by Del Rey. His scene also appeared in the released version of A New Hope. In the Revised Fourth Draft of the film, he is addressed as "Captain," and in the novel, he is described as "the captain of the ship." The Marvel Comics 21st issue identified the captain of the Vader's Star Destroyer as Mulchive Wermis, however, more than fifteen years later, West End Games's Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook gave another name for the captain: Bolvan. In 2007, the fourth chapter of the official website's Visual Guides identified Bolvan as the black-uniformed officer, who ordered Hija not to fire on the escape pod, and Wermis as the captain of the Devastator. Finally, in 2008, the The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia developed the gunnery captains commission for Bolvan to solve the problem of two captain on the same ship. The character's scene appeared in the Star Wars parody Family Guy: Blue Harvest, which presented a comical disagreement between Hija and Bolvan.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope junior novelization
 * Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 1
 * Star Wars Manga: A New Hope 1
 * Star Wars Manga: A New Hope 1