Saw Gerrera



"I'm not a terrorist. I'm a patriot. And resistance is not terrorism."

- Saw Gerrera

Saw Gerrera was a human male resistance fighter who, as a leading member of the Onderon rebels, fought against the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Onderon during the Clone Wars. He and his sister, Steela Gerrera, were instrumental in the rebel liberation of their homeworld during the Battle of Onderon. He later became a key member in the fight against the Galactic Empire and the formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. His tactics against the Empire led him to be seen as an extremist, one whose notoriety was recognized by the Empire and, many years later, the New Republic.

In the early resistance against the Separatist Alliance on Onderon, Gerrera and his fellow soldiers were outnumbered and out-fought by the Separatist Droid Army. They requested help from the Jedi High Council, which led the Grand Army of the Republic in its fight against the Separatists, but the Jedi Order chose not to become actively involved in the fighting on Onderon. Instead, they sent a team of advisors&mdash;Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Ahsoka Tano, and Clone Captain CT-7567 ("Rex")&mdash;to train the Onderonian fighters. The Jedi and Captain Rex taught them proper techniques and strategies for taking on the battle droid army, and, through their efforts, the rebels began to turn the tide. Gerrera came to resent that the rebels chose Steela as their leader, and he was soon captured in an ill-concocted solo effort to rescue the deposed King Ramsis Dendup from the Separatists. They were both rescued by the rebels, who eventually mounted a final battle against the Separatists. Through their efforts, the rebels liberated their world and returned Dendup to the throne. The fight, however, came at a personal cost: Steela was killed during the final battle, and Gerrera was left to mourn his sister&mdash;feeling responsible for her death.

At the end of the Clone Wars, the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire. Gerrera fought against the Imperial Military and led a resistance group known as the Partisans. His resistance cell, a continuation of his Onderonian resistance, was one of the first in the group of cells that formed the Rebel Alliance. He was later involved in the Rebel mission to steal the plans to the Imperial superweapon known as the Death Star, by which time his more-extreme tactics had come to stand in stark contrast with those of Alliance leaders Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. Later, Saw brought Galen Erso, Lyra Erso, and Jyn Erso to the uninhabited planet of Lah'mu. When Orson Krennic took Jyn's parents away from her, Saw found her and raised her until she was a young adult. He then created a rebel group on Jedha, where he met Jyn again. When NiJedha was destroyed by the Death Star, Saw told Jyn he was done running and stayed on Jedha, and was killed by the aftermath of the blast.

During the time of the New Republic, Senator Ransolm Casterfo suggested that Gerrera and his Partisans, though part of the Rebel Alliance, engaged in terrorist tactics.

Early life and career
Saw Gerrera was a human male who was born on the jungle planet Onderon during the last years of the Galactic Republic. Growing up within the walls of Onderon's capital city of Iziz with his sister Steela Gerrera, Saw learned to greatly respect Onderon's monarch, longtime King Ramsis Dendup. In 22 BBY, thousands of star systems seceded from the Republic and formed their own galactic government, the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Soon, the Republic and Confederacy broke into all-out war&mdash;a Clone War&mdash;and King Dendup, wishing to keep his people out of the conflict, sided with neither the Republic and its newly-acquired Grand Army of clone troopers, or the Confederacy.

In the year 20 BBY as the Clone War sustained itself on battlefronts across the galaxy, at the behest of the Confederate Head of State Count Dooku of Serenno, the Separatist Droid Army invaded Saw's homeworld and subjected its citizens to Confederate law. And to make matters worse for Saw, King Dendup was ousted from his royal throne and replaced with King Sanjay Rash, a "puppet leader" who answered directly to Count Dooku. King Rash enacted a Royal Proclamation that declared any who tried to usurp him from his throne would be declared a terrorist. Deeply troubled for Onderon's future and undeterred that he and Steela had banished from Iziz for openly defying King Rash, Saw and Steela began to gather resources and other like-minded individuals in the hopes of forming a resistance to fight against Rash and his battle droid forces.

Clone Wars combatant
"If you have a chance to fight, you take it. That's what we did on my world when the Separatists took control." "Were you victorious?" "Eventually. But we paid a price&mdash;a terrible price."

- Saw Gerrera reflects on the Clone Wars in 18 BBY with a Hiitian general

Helping hand from the Jedi
"He fashions himself as our leader, though no one elected him."

- Steela, on how Saw arose to lead the freedom fighters

Some time later, Saw had become the defacto leader of the Onderon rebels, and as a result of being banished from Iziz, the rebels took up residence in an abandoned outpost within a group of ancient ruins in Sector S-29 of the wilderness. Around this time, Lux Bonteri, the son of the late Mina Bonteri, the former senator of Onderon in the Republic's Galactic Senate joined Saw and his resistance. Having obtained enough armor, blasters, and various other small arms to supply their forces, Saw, Steela, and Bonteri plotted to take back Iziz for Onderon; the rebel leaders, however, after a number of small skirmishes with battle droid forces, came to the realization that they were both under-equipped and had neither the training nor skills to wage open war against the Confederacy. Therefore, Saw and Bonteri reached out to the Republic, requesting aid. As a result, the esteemed Jedi High Council on the Republic's capital world, Coruscant, heard Saw and Bonteri's story via HoloNet transmission. Diminutive Grand Master Yoda promised that the Jedi Order would find a way to aid them. A short time later, the freedom fighters were alerted to an intrusion in jungle Sector S-11 and Steela led a squad to investigate. Shortly, Steela, mounted on a dalgo steed, returned with Yoda's promise: Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, his Togruta Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and 501st Legion clone trooper CT-7567, nicknamed "Rex." Saw, mounted on his reptavian ruping, welcomed the four Republic military advisors to his world. Skywalker informed Saw that they couldn't fight the Battle of Onderon for the resistance&mdash;Onderon, after all, was legitimately aligned with the Confederacy, no matter how illegitimate Saw viewed the situation&mdash;but he would train Saw's resistance to fight well on their own.

Rex explained that as a clone trooper, he would assist the Jedi Generals, and after relocating a half-kilometer to a clearing in the jungle where a captured Separatist Armored Assault Tank was left dormant, Jedi Commander Tano and Clone Captain Rex instructed the freedom fighters on how to disable the tank: they had drop a pair of Electro Magnetic Pulse grenades&mdash;"droid poppers"&mdash;into both the tank's cockpits, one for the pilot and one for the gunner, respectively. Saw and Bonteri teamed for the exercise, but sharing in a tense rivalry, incidentally sabotaged one another by refusing to cooperate. Disgusted, Saw ridiculed Bonteri for being a "terrible soldier;" which disappointed the Jedi advisors. As the day wore on, Saw grew increasingly frustrated, so he berated Steela for regularly attending to Bonteri, the two of whom shared a mutual attraction. The confrontation coming almost to blows, Steela diffused the two men, explaining that there would be both a time for the direct fight that Saw desired, and the political speeches that Bonteri excelled at.

The rebels next returned to the encampment, where General Skywalker and Rex demonstrated how to most efficiently disable droideka Security droids. Protected by a deflector shield, droidekas were immune to blaster bolts. Skywalker, thus, indicated that a slowly rolled droid popper was the best way to disable the droids. Confident in his abilities, Saw stepped up and attempted the technique first; Saw, however, rolled the grenade too quickly and failed to penetrate the shield. Bonteri tried next and succeeded. Later, after many tries and much coaching from Tano, Saw managed to roll the grenade at the right speed and pierce the shield.

Shortly thereafter, the Jedi advisors moved on to coaching the rebels on how to properly utilize their blaster rifles. Steela, a very skilled sniper, impressed the Jedi, but while practicing, was alerted to see that their encampment was under attack: Separatist B1 battle droids and an Assault Tank pushed through the brush and opened fire on the rebels. Saw narrowly avoided by taken out by a missile blast from a B2 super battle droid, and advanced onto the very frontline of the skirmish and returned fire. At a signal from the Jedi and Steela, Saw and other rebels heaved disruptor explosives into the path of the droids, where they exploded. Still outgunned, Steela loosed the dalgos, falumpasets, and tee-muss mammals, which stampeded and trampled the remaining droids. Only the armored tank remaining, Saw and Bonteri tried once more to disable the tank. On this attempt, however, the rebels worked together and succeed in destroying the tank with a pair of thermal detonators. Elated in their first victory, Saw quipped that Bonteri look more the soldier than the politician from the grit that had come to cover him during the altercation. Knowing that their base location was compromised, the rebels and advisors concocted a plan to infiltrate Iziz and pose as civilians to wage the guerrilla war from within the capital.

Taking the fight to the Confederacy
"The people were fearful, Master." "Indeeed. Judging from the reactions I saw today, I'm afraid they will mistake your intentions." "[...]" "I don't understand. Why are they afraid?"

- Tano, Kenobi, and Saw examine the public perception of the rebels

Later in the day, posing as hunters, the rebels and military advisors boarded a pair of dalgo-yoked Mandolorian transports and traveled to Iziz and fooled the "dim-witted" OOM command battle droid checkpoint in order to gain pass through the city's ray shielded main gate. The rebels then split up; Saw alerted other rebels already within the city that the time to fight had come, while Steela, Bonteri, Tano, and others went in search of new recruits.

As time went on, many more Onderonians enlisted with the independence fighters, and they took shelter in a safehouse deep in the city. Saw, Bonteri, and Steela received regular intelligence and guidance from not only Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano, and Rex, but the Jedi Masters on Coruscant as well. Saw and the rebels took as many chances as they could to disrupt battle droid patrols and destroy droids harassing Iziz civilians; sometimes the rebels engaged in as many as five engagements in a single day&mdash;sometimes, even in high-traffic areas, such as Malgan Market. Saw often opened fire on Separatist minions publicly, which caused fear to mount in the civilian population&mdash;despite the fact that civilian casualties sat at zero.

One day, Saw and his resistance held committee in their Iziz safehouse, where Skywalker congratulated them on waging a thus-far successful campaign. Kenobi and Tano, however, believed that the public perception of Saw's rebels had not been as planned; the people were fearful of the sudden violence that had besieged their city. Saw, however, believed that the people were fearful simply because the droids were still active&mdash;that he hadn't done enough to demobilize the Confederates. Steela and Bonteri added that they had to assure the general populace that the freedom fighters were just that: fighting for the freedom of the people. Steela believed the rebels had to win the hearts and minds of the people to gain their trust, something Saw did not understand. In order to prove to the civilians that the rebels could oust the Separatists, Bonteri proposed that they strike the Iziz power generator. In agreement, Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex returned to the Core Worlds, having outfitted the rebels as planned.

The Jedi Knights pledged that they would continue to provide credits to the Saw's movement, and also stationed Tano to remain on Onderon. At dusk, Saw, Tano, Bonteri, and Steela scouted out the power generator complex. Lying prone on a rooftop, Bonteri explained that if they could manage to disable the power compound it would cause a city-wide power outage, which, given time, would bring the Droid Army to a literal standstill: the droids operated independently of a control computer, but still had to recharge periodically using power cells. However, before assaulting the generators, the rebels concluded that they needed to know more about the compound. Saw took it upon himself to gather the desired intel: he quickly descended the building and brutishly ripped the head off of a patrolling "clanker" in the street and returned to the rooftop where a robolobotomy was performed using a Republic-provided robolobotomy device. From the holographic images provided from the cranial unit, Saw and the rebels came to the conclusion that any attack on the compound would be futile; the droids were too numerous. Bonteri, however, saw an opportunity and added that if they had enough firepower it could be done&mdash;a Separatist Assault Tank needed to be hijacked.

In order to secure the tank, the resistance concocted a ruse: on a nearby street, rebel Dono detonated an EMP-loaded airspeeder in the path of droid Patrol 118, beginning the attack. Saw, utilizing droid poppers and a DC-15A blaster, took down the entire patrol, with the exception of the commander droid. The rebels let the commander call for reinforcements, hoping that the Separatists would deliver aid in the form of an Assault Tank. First, however, a pair of droidekas were sent in. Outmatched from the front, Saw and Bonteri navigated behind the droidekas in a flanking maneuver.

True to his training, Saw rolled his EMP grenade into the droideka's bubble shield and successfully disabled it, but Bonteri's went too fast, and alerted the other droideka that there was danger behind. The droid turned and fired at its adversaries, but Saw acted quickly, shoving Bonteri to safety. Saw dove behind the disabled droideka, but was pinned down, so Steela leapt into action and deposited a droid popper gently into the droideka's shield bubble, disabling it. Just then, the desired Assault Tank rumbled onto the street and fired on the rebels. Saw and Bonteri rapidly closed the distance between them and the tank, taking down its B2 super battle droid escorts on the way, and disabled the repulsorcraft using the duel droid popper strategy, just as they were trained. Saw then boarded the tank and attempted to get it running again, but to no avail. Steela, however, having a self-described "woman's touch," and being the better pilot of the two of them, managed to start it up once more.

Saw piloted the tank to the entrance to the generator compound and blew in the compound's two metal gateways. Steela sniped the droid guards while Saw waited for the tank's laser cannon to recharge. Bonteri and Steela fought off several BX-series droid commandos before Saw was able to target the generator itself, and when he fired on it, the ensuing explosion plunged the entire city into darkness. Saw donned night vision goggles in order to see, and was pleased to see that the freedom fighters were being cheered on by the Iziz citizens. Saw, Steela, Tano, and Bonteri returned to the safehouse and celebrated, raising drinks for Onderon. Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex appeared via the HoloNet and a holoprojector and congratulated the resistance troopers. Kenobi added, however, that the time had come for the movement to elect an official leader. Confident that he would be elected by popular vote, Saw was disheartened when instead Steela was chosen by the Onderonian soldiers. Angry but not irrational, Saw stormed off.

The King's blessing
With Steela the elected leader of the resistance, and King Rash and his Separatist forces beginning to feel the pressure from rebel raids throughout Iziz, the Confederates were granted new droid legions of reinforcements, which were lead by the brilliant Super tactical droid General Kalani, and were delivered in several Multi-Troop Transports on the orders of Count Dooku himself. Later, Saw hid incognito on a city street and helped Steela and more freedom fighters destroy a Confederate Army convoy that consisted of a Troop Transport, an Assault Tank, and many battle droids. Saw single-handedly wrecked the Assault Tank, using his training, he blew up the hovertank agilely using two grenades. Steela then delivered a speech to the Onderonoians who had gathered amid the wreckage to hear what the freedom fighters had to say; she reminded them that Rash had committed treason against the Onderon people by selling out the world to the Separatist Alliance, and requested that they join Saw and the rebels to reclaim the world and reinstate the rightful king, Ramsis Dendup.

Age of the Empire
Following the Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, Gerrera fought against the Imperial Military, organizing a group that became known as the Partisans. During this time, he hired a Lasat mercenary and fought an Imperial platoon under ISB Agent Kallus when they were sent to Onderon to bring peace. In 13 BBY Saw was tasked with protecting Jyn Erso, daughter of Lyra and Galen Erso after the former was killed and the latter was taken by Orson Krennic to continue his work on the Death Star. Some time prior to 6 BBY Saw had trained Jyn Erso to be a member in his extremist movement on the Moon of Jedha.

As Jyn matured, and as Saw became increasingly paranoid over time, he came to fear that Jyn would eventually be recognized as the daughter of a known Imperial collaborator, and so decided when she was 16 to abandon Jyn in a bunker with nothing more than a knife and a fully loaded blaster for protection. He had instructed her to wait until morning, by which time Saw was gone. He came to rationalize the decision by telling himself, and later her, that she was already one of his best people and that he knew she could survive without his aid. The decision was seen as a betrayal by Jyn, left a feeling of disenchantment for Saw, and for the Rebellion in general, in her mind.

In 2 BBY, Saw led an investigation to the planet Geonosis where he met his old friend Rex accompanied by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. His Partisan group become one of the many cells that would form the Rebel Alliance.

Reuniting with Erso
"Save the Rebellion! Save the dream!"

- Saw Gerrera

In 0 BBY, just prior to the Battle of Scarif, Saw's men captured Bodhi Rook, a recently defected Imperial pilot. Thinking it was a trick by the Empire, he used a Bor gullet to read his mind. Afterward he left him in a cell. Later when Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus were brought to him, he only saw Jyn. He questioned her on why she was there. He asked if she was there to kill him. She told him that she was there to ask for the message from her father and when it was given to the rebels she would be on her way. Saw asked her why she did not believe in the dream of freedom throughout the galaxy. She told him about how he abandoned her at the age of sixteen and that his war did not mean anything to her. He then showed her the message from her father which revealed the weakness in the Empire's super weapon. Soon after, the Death Star was fired at the holy city and during the rebels fleeing, Saw, willingly staying behind due to his being tired of running, was killed when the rubble from the explosion landed on him and his hideout.

Behind the scenes
"Saw Gerrera is maybe the original rebel. He is the first one in a long line of people that got trained by Jedi to fight for themselves; to save their planets during the Clone Wars. He's the beginning of what would eventually become the Rebel Alliance."

- Dave Filoni, on Saw Gerrera

The character of Saw Gerrera was voiced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Andrew Kishino. Saw Gerrera was played by Forest Whitaker in Rogue One and returned to voice the character in Star Wars Rebels. He was originally conceived by George Lucas for the unproduced Star Wars: Underworld. Prior to being officially unveiled, Saw was given the codename "Castro" by various staff involved in the film.