Dash Rendar/Legends

"Pretty good? I slept through most of that battle, kid. I could have stayed and knocked over those walkers all day without raising my heartbeat."

- Dash Rendar to Luke Skywalker, on his role at the Battle of Hoth

Dash Rendar was a Corellian smuggler, and friend of Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and the rest of the Rebel Alliance.

Early life
Dash was born on Corellia, where he lived with his parents and his brother Stanton. Dash was eventually accepted and began attending the Imperial Academy on Carida, where he was a promising student.

However, when Stanton crashed a sabotaged freighter into the Emperor's private spaceport museum (arranged by Prince Xizor), Dash was expelled from the academy and his entire family was banished from the Core, giving Dash a serious grudge with the Empire.

Dash quickly became a freelance spacer. He traveled the Galaxy in his YT-2400, the Outrider, which was a gift from the Twi'lek crime boss Vanya. Dash's original co-pilot was an incompetent Rodian comedian, but following his untimely demise during the first twenty seconds of Dash's debut mission, the role of first mate was filled by the Rodian's droid: LE-BO2D9 (Leebo).

Freelance spacer


During his time as a spacer he became friends with Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Katya M'buele, for whom he occasionally worked. He enjoyed a competitive rivalry with Solo, mainly over the speed of their respective ships. Solo narrowly beat Rendar in a race between the two ships the last time that they met. Dash became so successful that he was soon able to purchase another ship, the Outrunner.

In 0 BBY, Dash was in Mos Eisley. While purchasing weapons from Masse Goskey's Arms Emporium, he received word that his brother was still alive and had evidence that might clear his name. By the time Luke Skywalker arrived in the spaceport, the Outrider could be seen speedily leaving the planet.

One year after the Battle of Yavin he assisted Zak and Tash Arranda in saving the liner Star of Empire from a rogue artificial intelligence called SIM. Shortly after this he began his loose affiliation with the Rebel Alliance, transporting food and medical supplies.

The Rebel Alliance


Dash became entangled in the Galactic Civil War when the Empire attacked the new rebel base on Hoth. Dash flew a snowspeeder with Rogue Squadron as Rogue 12 and managed to take down at least one AT-AT walker during the engagement. Like Solo, he too was forced to escape the Imperial capture by flying through the Hoth asteroid belt.

Thanks to his previous association with Lando Calrissian, Dash was hired to track down Boba Fett and the captured Han Solo. Dash followed leads to the junkheap world of Ord Mantell where he battled IG-88D. Using this information he tracked Fett to Gall. Fett was repairing his ship at the spaceport and Dash fought the bounty hunter and Slave I, damaging it in the process. But having led the Alliance to Gall, he abandoned them during the battle, preventing the rescue of Han Solo.

Shortly after, Dash was hired by Princess Leia Organa to keep an eye on Luke Skywalker while he was in retreat on Tatooine. Dash saved Skywalker's life for the first time when he prevented an ambush by a swoop gang led by Big Gizz and Spiker. Dash continued his tenure with the Alliance by flying with Luke Skywalker and a squad of Bothan pilots in the attack on the Imperial freighter Suprosa, a mission to intercept the plans for the Death Star II.

Dash saved Skywalker's life again when Luke and Lando were attacked by Coruscant Guards, while trying to infiltrate Xizor's Palace through the sewers. He then accompanied the rebels in rescuing Princess Leia Organa. Dash set pulse bombs on the elevator shaft for Xizor's skyhook. Rendar then got in the Outrider and attacked Xizor's Skyhook. When the Skyhook had been destroyed by Darth Vader's Executor-class Star Dreadnaught Executor, the rebels attempted to escape through the debris. During this escape, the Outrider appeared to have been destroyed by a hunk of debris. However Dash actually jumped to hyperspace and survived.

Surviving death
Dash showed up again when the Alliance attempted to prevent Guri being used by Xizor's niece Savan in an attempt to revive Black Sun. Dash met up with Guri in a cantina on Hurd's Moon and the pair began a partnership. Shortly thereafter the pair helped Kyle Katarn infiltrate the Tof fortress world of Saijo. He was also onboard the Star of Empire with Tash and Zak Arranda during the SIM incident.



He and Guri also set up ODT, a company that constructed Human Replica Droids on Onadax in the Minos Cluster. They had used the company to bring his brother Stanton back to life, but both had left the company by the time it was infiltrated by Jaina Solo. It was rumored that during the Yuuzhan Vong War that he was responsible for sabotaging Peace Brigade shipments.

Behind the scenes

 * The character was developed for the Shadows of the Empire multimedia project. Lucasfilm and Steve Perry had conceived Dash as a "swaggery Top Gun-style fighter pilot. A guy with real talent but a bit of a braggart and a blowhard, too."


 * Though a high profile character, Dash had only a supporting role in the narrative of the comics and novel. It was in the Shadows of the Empire Nintendo 64 game that Dash was the star. Players would navigate Dash through twelve separate missions following the course of the Shadows storyline. Concept artist Mike Butkus, who listens to music while he illustrates, explained that Dash was designed while listening to Elvis Presley and 1960s rock'n'roll.


 * Some parts of the SOTE video game should not be taken as Star Wars canon, but should simply be taken instead as a video game. There are many notable differences between the game and the novel/comics. The game merely expanded and altered Dash's role in order to have a fun action/adventure video game.


 * The design of Dash was a combination of sketches by Mike Butkus, Kilian Plunkett, and John Knoll. They were then refined by LucasArts, a combination of a "good looking loner tough guy" and "unshaven two-fisted brawler". "Tom Cruise with attitude", "Elvis in space" and Kevin Costner were all inspirations for the design. Dash Rendar's live-action likeness was portrayed by John Knoll. He was voiced by John Cygan in the Shadows of the Empire PC video game.


 * Dash's ship, the Outrider, was seen leaving Mos Eisley in the Special Edition of A New Hope. The Outrider is also briefly seen in the opening cutscene of the game Bounty Hunter, flying toward Outland Station.


 * Dash's theme music can be briefly heard during the "Beggar's Canyon Chase" piece on the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack.


 * An action figure of Dash was made in 1996 as part of the Shadows of the Empire assortment of the Power of the Force 2 line. It included a blaster pistol and a shoulder-mounted blaster rifle created for the figure. The Outrider was also made into a toy as part of this line.

Appearances

 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Galaxy of Fear: The Doomsday Ship
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * Shadows of the Empire Kenner Special
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * Or Die Trying
 * New Jedi Order