Plo Koon

Plo Koon was a Kel Dor Jedi Master serving as a member of the Jedi Council during the last years of the Galactic Republic. He was the Jedi who found Ahsoka Tano, with whom he would, from that moment, share a special bond. He was among the Jedi who participated in the Battle of Geonosis. He became a Jedi General in the Clone Wars and took part in such conflicts as the Battle of Abregado and the Battle of Felucia. While he was leading a squadron of ARC-170 starfighters on Cato Neimoidia, he was executed by his own forces under Order 66.

Naboo Crisis
Prior to the Naboo crisis, Koon had achieved the rank of Jedi Master. He was present when Qui-Gon Jinn approached the Jedi Council, describing a lightsaber duel he had on Tatooine with a Zabrak, which Jinn believed to be a Sith.

Koon was also present when Jinn brought Anakin Skywalker in front of the Jedi Council. The boy had a high midi-chlorian count and a good grasp on the Force, but the Council denied his and Jinn's wishes to train him as a Jedi.

Following the death of Jinn at the hands of the warrior Darth Maul, Koon traveled to Naboo for Jinn's Funeral.

Prior to the Clone Wars
Plo Koon sat on the Jedi Council during several talks. He also participated in the Battle of Geonosis as part of a Jedi strike force assembled by Windu, in which he survived.

Hunting the Malevolence
"Do you think we've got a chance, General?''" ''"I don't believe in chance, Commander. I know if we work together we will stay alive, and someone will find us."

- Commander Wolffe and Plo Koon

Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe led a fleet of three Venator-class Star Destroyers from his flagship Triumphant while searching for a mysterious Separatist warship, the Malevolence, that had been destroying Republic fleets under the command of General Grievous. After tracking down the vessel to the Abregado system, Plo Koon ordered his fleet to engage the enemy while he contacted General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, whose forces were stationed in the nearby Bith system, to request reinforcements. While conversing with them, the Malevolence jammed Republic communications and fired its secret weapon, a giant ion cannon that disabled all three of Plo Koon's vessels and left them vulnerable to attack. He ordered an evacuation as the Malevolence began destroying the ships, and escaped in an escape pod alongside Wolffe, Sergeant Sinker, and Boost.

As they waited for rescue, Plo Koon and his men worked to fix damage to the pod while searching the debris field for other survivors. After Sinker noted that it would not make strategic sense for rescue to be sent for them, Plo Koon reassured his men that their lives mattered and that he was sure rescue would come. They spotted another pod which had been broken into by a boarding pod, resulting in the death of its survivors. They picked up a distress call from another pod under attack from the boarding pod, and witnessed it get destroyed. The craft then noticed Plo Koon's pod, and moved into position to attack them. Plo Koon led Sinker and Boost outside of the pod to engage the rocket battle droids outside of the boarding ship. Using the Force, Plo Koon pushed Sinker behind the droids, and the three quickly destroyed them before. Plo Koon then destroyed the hunter pod, which alerted the Malevolence to their presence. Before they could be destroyed, Anakin and Ashoka arrived in the Twilight and rescued Plo Koon and his men before escaping the system.

Destroying the Malevolence
With the nature of the Malevolence now revealed, the Jedi began making plans to destroy it. Plo Koon attended a briefing where Anakin outlined his plan use Shadow Squadron to fly past the defenses of the massive vessel and destroy its bridge, riding the galaxy of both the ship and General Grievous in one move. Plo Koon was uneasy about the aggressive and difficult nature of the mission, but when word arrived that the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center was the next target, he resolved to aid the mission by flying escort in his Delta-7 Aethersprite Jedi starfighter. In order to beat the Malevolence to the medical station, the Jedi and clone pilots head through a shortcut in the Kaliida Nebula. When Anakin mentions that the shortcut is called the Balmorra Run, Plo Koon is horrified and attempts to warn him that they have to turn back, as the Balmorra Run is a breeding ground for Neebrays. They are soon caught in a massive herd of the giant creatures, and have no choice but to fly through them to the other side. They make it through with several of the ships suffering damage and proceed to the medical center.

They arrive just before the Malevolence, and quickly begin their attack run against the Separatist warship. Fighting through a wave of Vulture droids, Plo Koon and half of Shadow Squadron avoid a blast from the Malevolence's ion canon. With half of their force destroyed or disabled, Plo Koon notes that they no longer have the firepower to take out the bridge of the enemy warship. After he and Ashoka encourage Anakin to change his plan, they target the warships ion canon instead as it prepares to fire upon the medical station. They severely damage the weapon, which malfunctions and causes explosions across the Malevolence which disable its hyperdrive. Plo Koon and the surviving members of Shadow Squadron dock with the medical station as Master Obi-Wan Kenobi pursues the crippled Separatist vessel with his taskforce.

First Battle of Felucia
Later on during the war, Plo Koon took part in the defense of Felucia as he led fighters to transport of the world. He was also present on the Jedi High Council hearing of Tano's Reckless behavior during the battle, which they decided to be a guard at the Jedi Temple Archives.

Hunt for Boba Fett
Koon and Ahsoka helped with rescuing Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu from being trapped on Vapor.

Return of the Zygerrian Slave Empire
"Troubling is the return of the Zygerrians."'' ''"It is likely they mean to use Dooku to rebuild their slaver empire."

- Yoda and Plo Koon

When the Togruta colony of Kiros was occupied by the Separatists, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ashoka were dispatched to free the neutral world. They reported to the Jedi Council that the Zygerrians were behind the occupation, and that they had taken all of the colonists to be sold as slaves. The council was troubled by this news, and Koon speculated that the Zygerrians were likely siding with Dooku and the Separatists so they could rebuild their slave empire, which had been destroyed by the Jedi centuries before. Koon noticed that Yoda looked particularly concerned and questioned what troubled him. Yoda told the rest of the council he sensed a greater hand in this affair, noting that slavery was a powerful tool to aid in the rise of the Sith.

In order to find the missing Togruta colonists and stop the reemergence of the Zygerrian slave empire, the Jedi Council sent Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ashoka, and Clone Captain Rex to infiltrate the Zygerrian homeworld Zygerria/Canon. Although they were exposed and enslaved, Anakin and Ashoka managed to escape and let the Republic know that Obi-Wan, Rex, and the colonists were being held at a slave processing facility on the planet Kadavo. Plo Koon led a small taskforce to the system to liberate the slaves, leading a group of fighters to cover his dropships and a Arquitens-class light cruiser. Koon shot down several Zygerrian fightercraft, but could not destroy the ray shielded cannons which defended the facility which were preventing the cruiser from rescuing the imperiled colonists. Anakin managed to destroy the towers, allowing the cruiser to move into position below the facility and rescue the slaves. Once all the slaves and Republic forces had been rescued, Koon ordered his gunships to destroy the slaving facility.

Search for the Truth
"Prior to the blockade of Naboo, Sifo-Dyas sat on this Council until we judged his ideas to be too extreme.''" ''"Indeed. He said he foresaw great conflict, and that the Republic would need to raise an army. At the time the council rejected those ideas."

- Mace Windu and Plo Koon

When a distress signal was picked up by the Jedi Temple from a ship belonging to the long dead Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, Plo Koon was dispatched by the Jedi Council to locate the source. Tracking the signal to the desert moon of Oba Diah, Plo Koon and the Wolfpack began searching for the vessel. After some difficulty with a sandstorm, they located the wreckage of a T-6 shuttle. Inside, Plo Koon discovered the lightsaber of Sifo-Dyas. He order his men to clear the area and take all of the wreckage back to Coruscant. He contacted the Jedi Council and informed them of his findings. The Council discussed Sifo-Dyas' role in the formation of the clone army, with Plo Koon noting that prior to the Clone Wars, Sifo-Dyas had claimed to have seen a great war coming which would require the Republic to have an army. Following this meeting, Plo Koon holographically attended a briefing by Master Jocasta Nu as she explained how Sifo-Dyas had perished on Felucia while trying to negotiate a peace treaty between two tribes. Plo Koon inquired about what had become of his body, but Nu informed him that she did not know, as information about the mission had been sealed by the Office of the Supreme Chancellor.

Plo Koon then returned to Coruscant, where he met with Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, where they discussed new evidence related to the mysterious presence of a second Jedi on Felucia and the missing Silman, a aide to Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum who had accompanied Sifo-Dyas on a mission to meet with the leaders of the Pyke Syndicate. Plo Koon noted that the Pyke's headquarters was located on Oba Diah, which the moon where he had found Sifo-Dyas's ship and lightsaber orbited. Obi-Wan and Anakin were dispatched to Oba Diah, where they discovered that Silman was still alive, but he was murdered by Count Dooku before he could tell them much. They did learn that Count Dooku was Darth Tyrannus, and that he had been responsible for the creation of the clone army. Plo Koon and the other council members were disturbed by this revelation, but resolved to cover it up to prevent the Republic from collapsing.

End of the Clone Wars
Shortly after the Battle of Coruscant, Plo Koon was flying on a mission over Cato Neimoidia. He was caught unawares when Darth Sidious executed Order 66, which caused all the clone troopers to turn on the Jedi. Plo Koon was shot down by his own clone pilot escorts, perishing as his fighter exploded and crashed.

Portrayals
Plo Koon was played by Alan Ruscoe in The Phantom Menace, and by both Roscoe and Matt Sloan in Attack of the Clones. Sloan reprised the role once more in Revenge of the Sith. He was voiced by James Arnold Taylor in The Clone Wars TV series.

Origin of the name
During construction and planning, Plo Koon was known as "Plonkoon", after the nickname of Nick Dudman's son. It was amended by George Lucas before filming to "Plo Koon".

Appearance without mask
The official Star Wars database has an image of Plo Koon without his goggles exposing his closed eyes. The canon status of this is, however, in question, as the image appears in the Behind the Scenes section as a pre-production concept model and does not necessarily reflect the reality of the character.