Wedge Antilles/Legends

Wedge Antilles (21 BBY&mdash;) was a legendary X-wing pilot, intelligence operative and general who fought for the Rebellion and New Republic from the earliest days of the Galactic Civil War through the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and beyond. A Corellian by birth, Antilles defied odds to become among the very few to survive the Battles of Yavin, Hoth, and Endor, as well as the only pilot to have participated in the attacks on both Death Stars.

Early Life
Wedge's early life was split between attending school on Corellia's surface and working aboard the Gus Treta space station, where his parents Jagged and Zena operated a starship-refueling depot. When he was 17, the pirate Loka Hask pulled away from the station while the fuel lines were still attached to his craft, the Buzzzer. The resulting fireball would have killed all aboard had the Antilles not sacrficed themselves to save the station. Wedge was devastated and set out in a dilapidated Z-95 Headhunter borrowed from Corellian smuggler Booster Terrik to seek vengeance. Numb with shock and determination, Wedge tracked the pirates to the Jumus system and coldly obliterated the Buzzzer, though Hask escaped.

Galactic Civil War
Insurance money allowed Wedge to buy a freighter, and he spent several years running supplies for Terrik to the nascent Rebellion, only joining its starfighter division during an open call for pilots. Either by fate or the will of the Force, Wedge joined in time for the assault on the first Death Star above Yavin IV and flew an X-wing in the unit designated Red Squadron alongside Biggs Darklighter and Luke Skywalker. It was during the pilots' approach to the station that Antilles uttered the immortal words, "Look at the size of that thing!" Following Skywalker into the trench, he was forced to pull away when laserfire shredded his fighter's stabilizer.

Afterwards he founded Rogue Squadron along with Luke Skywalker, which he soon commanded. He led Rogue Squadron (temporarily renamed Red Squadron in honor of those who died in the assault on Death Star I)in the Battle of Endor against the Death Star II. He, along with Lando Calrissian and Nien Nunb, flew through the stations superstructure and destroyed the station's power core. Six years later, at age 31, he grudgingly accepted promotion to the rank of general.

Wedge was a charter member of Rogue Squadron, becoming Rogue Leader and Squadron Commander after Luke Skywalker retired from the military. Although Luke was the founder of the squadron, the Rogues are immediately associated with Wedge Antilles because of his long command of the squadron and his reforming of the squadron 6.5 years ABY. At this time, he brought in Corran Horn, Ooryl Qyrrg, Gavin Darklighter and many others who would become high-ranking officers and famous pilots. Wedge also went on to found Wraith Squadron and eventually rose to the rank of General. He had a brief romance with Qwi Xux (one of the principle designers of the Death Star), but they parted on good terms. Wedge eventually married Iella Wessiri, and retired after the end of the Galactic Civil War. He came out of retirement during the Yuuzhan Vong war, but retired after its conclusion.

Behind the Scenes
Denis Lawson played Wedge in all three films. Coincidentally, he is the uncle of Ewan McGregor, the actor who played the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel films The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.

Fans of the Star Wars series explain his popularity by describing him as a survivor: he is the one minor character to survive all three movies without the blessings of 'fate' (i.e. luck and destiny) that allow the major protagonists to survive constant peril and certain death. He is also the only known pilot to have survived each Death Star attack, though the anonymous Y-wing pilot seen in A New Hope could possibly have been in the Death Star II attack. Some sources have it that the Y-Wing pilot was Horton Salm, who is known to have participated in the Battle of Endor. It is generally accepted, however, that the lone Y-Wing pilot is Keyan Farlander, a character created in the X-Wing computer game background information.

During the pre-battle briefing on Yavin IV, Luke briefly chats with a character seated next to him who scoffs at the idea of successfully hitting such a small target (the Death Star exhaust port). In the shooting script and novelization of the film, this character is identified as Wedge but given his skeptical attitude and the fact that he was not played by Denis Lawson in this scene, many assume that he was one of the other anonymous Rebel pilots.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * X-wing book series
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron comic series
 * Dark Empire
 * Crimson Empire
 * Union
 * New Jedi Order