Triclops

"He's like two people living inside the same body&mdash;part of him good and well-intentioned; the other part an evil and dangerous genius inventor."

- Ken

Triclops was allegedly the son of Emperor Palpatine, though this relation may not have been in a strict biological sense. It is likely, though, that Triclops was the natural son of a human woman named Niobi.

Triclops was a mysterious white-haired mutant with three eyes, one being on the back of his head, and sported scars on his temples from electroshocks administered by the Galactic Empire. "Triclops" may actually have been an alias, and not his true name. He was trained to be an Emperor's Eye but Palpatine considered him a failure, and had him imprisoned. He languished for years in an Imperial prison on Kessel, fathering a son, Ken, with a former Jedi padawan named Kendalina.

He would eventually escape the clutches of the Empire and, betraying his supposed father, joined the Rebel Alliance with his son Ken before disappearing from the known galaxy entirely.

Early Life
During the Republic, Chancellor Palpatine engaged the services of the scientists Mammon Hoole and Borborygmus Gog in secret experiments involving the spontaneous generation of life. Their first attempt was rumored to have had less than ideal results - Niobi, the female subject obtained by Sly Moore, gave birth to a three-eyed mutant. Mother and son were quickly spirited away by Sarcev Quest.

Whatever his origins, Triclops spent his early life on Dromund Kaas. Trained by the Prophets of the Dark Side to be an Emperor's Eye, Triclops was a great disappointment to Palpatine, his presumed father.

According to the false Supreme Prophet Kadann, Palpatine had also sensed that Triclops could grow more powerful than him in the Force and, rather than killing him, made his own son a common slave in the spice mines of Kessel.

Imprisonment


While imprisoned on Kessel, in 7 BBY Triclops produced an offspring named Ken with a nurse and "Jedi Princess" named Kendalina. Ken was taken to the Lost City of the Jedi, where he was to remain for twelve years, while Triclops remained in the Empire's firm grip.

When Palpatine died, rumors began to abound that Palpatine had a three-eyed son. Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa took advantage of this, setting up another three-eyed named Trioculus as Palpatine's son (the Empire considered Triclops to be both insane and dangerous, due in part to his pacifistic views and calls for disarmament)

Triclops was later moved to an asylum on Duro. Ken, meanwhile, had been discovered by Luke Skywalker and was now aligned with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Triclops finally managed to escape and joined the Alliance with the aid of his son and Skywalker, but was held under close supervision by Mon Mothma for fear that he was an Imperial spy.

Discovery
It was around this time that the Empire's reasons for keeping Triclops alive became clear: while asleep, he would dream designs for deadly new machines of war, which the Empire would later produce. During these dreams he would often enter convulsive fits, and even the mighty Chewbacca could be hard-pressed to restrain him. He would not, however, recall the dreams after awakening, never realizing that he was aiding the Empire he despised.

On Yavin 4, Triclops, after writing an impassioned letter to Ken, escaped into the jungles of the moon. He was never seen or heard from again.

Behind the scenes
Triclops was created by Paul and Hollace Davids for their 1992 young reader novel The Lost City of the Jedi.

Appearances

 * The Glove of Darth Vader
 * The Lost City of the Jedi
 * Zorba the Hutt's Revenge
 * Mission from Mount Yoda
 * Queen of the Empire
 * Prophets of the Dark Side
 * Star Wars Tales 14 intro