Tyber Zann

"I am Tyber Zann. Corruption is my weapon. And while the galaxy is distracted by civil war, I will strike."

- Tyber Zann

Tyber Zann was a Human male crime lord from Anaxes who rose to prominence after the Battle of Yavin during the Galactic Civil War and led his own faction, known as the Zann Consortium, a powerful crime syndicate. He would wage a personal war against the Galactic Empire as revenge for expelling him from the Imperial Academy.

Early life
"Everyone has a price."

- Tyber Zann



Tyber Zann was born on Anaxes in 34 BBY, and first worked in the family firm, Zann Remanufacturing. He became bored and entered into running crooked sabacc games. As his reputation grew, he attracted the notice of rival local crime lords.

In order to arm his gambling ring's enforcers, Zann attempted to steal an arms shipment from one the company's warehouses. The security forces caught him and reported the attempted theft to his father, who as punishment, arranged for him to be enrolled as a cadet in the Imperial Academy of Carida.

Imperial service
"I was rapidly working my way up through the Imperial academy. But some took exception to my creative solutions for advancement and had me expelled. I vowed to make them pay for this indignity."

- Tyber Zann

One of the most promising students at the Academy, he used his Imperial service to make underworld connections, including notorious gangster Jabba the Hutt. Just prior to Zann's graduation he ran into a smuggling racket that was actually a trap laid by suspicious Imperials. Fortunately his associate Urai Fen got word of the trap and warned Zann. He was suspected of weapons theft by Admiral Thrawn, but since there was no concrete evidence to connect him to the crime he was only expelled.

Life as a crime lord
"Time is money."

- Tyber Zann

Using the Imperial connections he made while in the military, Zann began to build up an extensive criminal organization known as the Zann Consortium. Zann collaborated with Jabba the Hutt until he stole a valuable and strange artifact from the Hutt on Felucia. However, while Urai Fen escaped with the artifact, Zann was arrested for "crimes against the Empire".

While Zann rotted away in the spice mines of Kessel, Urai Fen waited for the time Zann had set for his escape. By starting a riot on Kessel and hiring the crew of Millennium Falcon to pick him up, Zann made his escape, narrowly avoiding execution from a bounty hunter hired by Jabba.

After his return to freedom, Zann, along with his closest companion Urai Fen, gradually reestablished the Consortium as a power to be reckoned with from their headquarters on Ryloth. Among other things, the criminal organization would offer protection to worlds affected by the Galactic Civil War, having built up a sizable military force.

Lieutenant Izbela Saarrj of the Imperial Security Bureau wrote a report on his activities around 0 ABY, mentioning his use of spies to study the Star Dreadnought Eclipse, the first Eclipse-class dreadnought, while it underwent construction. The Eclipse was armed with an axial-super laser and was larger than any star destroyer created prior.

Zann also made a treaty with Jabba the Hutt stating that he would not operate on Hutt worlds after a battle on Hypori. He was allowed to keep Saleucami and Hypori as a condition of the treaty.

He used his extensive crime network to influence the warring factions of the Galactic Civil War, siphon their credits, and sabotage their operations when necessary. During the course of his ascent to power, his forces fought against both factions of the war. He had his own flagship, an Aggressor-class destroyer named Merciless, for his navy. When fighting, he would sometimes make use of his own personal cloaking device that rendered him invisible.

Zann was also intent on discovering the mysteries of the ancient Sith holocron, stolen from Jabba while he was making a deal with the Galactic Empire on Felucia. He employed a Nightsister, Silri, whom he freed on Dathomir in order to have her decipher the Sith artifact. Though she knew of the artifact's true importance, she withheld information from Tyber causing them to quarrel verbally on several occasions. After the battle of Dathomir, Tyber was contacted by Admiral Thrawn who warned him about his behavior and actions.

After the Empire seized control of Bespin, Prince Xizor contacted Tyber Zann and offered him a job to steal Tibanna Gas from the Bespin refinery which they would split in half. In exchange, Xizor would arrange a meeting with the Emperor or one of his representatives to whom Tyber could sell the Sith Artifact. Tyber and Urai knew this was a trap and knew that Xizor's rival Darth Vader controlled Bespin . Tyber and Urai Fen hired IG-88 to plant evidence to frame Xizor and the Black Sun. Later on, a stormtrooper reported to Vader and told him that they had evidence that suggested that the Black Sun stole the Tibanna Gas. Vader later killed Xizor partly because of this robbery of Bespin.

After Tyber, Urai, and IG-88 raided tibanna gas from Bespin, Xizor of Black Sun provided Tyber with a contact in the Empire, to whom he would sell the Sith Artifact. The negotiation was a trap. Grand Admiral Thrawn's fleet engaged Tyber's; the Merciless was first revealed in the battle. During the battle Bossk stole the Sith Artifact from Zann and gave it to Thrawn, who then fled in the Star Destroyer Admonitor, leaving the remaining ships to their fates. After defeating the remaining Imperial fleet, Tyber returned to Ryloth.

After he and Silri had a "misunderstanding" over the information of the Sith Artifact, Tyber promised to have every Nightsister on Dathomir annihilated if she lied or withheld information again. He also made clear that his associate and friend, Urai Fen, would kill Silri if any attempt was made on Zann's life (as he mentioned to Tyber quite frequently).

Tyber, Urai, and Silri raided the Emperor's archive at Coruscant after they put a tracer on the Sith Artifact. Tyber stole the Emperor's passkey to get on the Eclipse and Silri reclaimed the Sith Artifact.

Their last known action involved taking over the Eclipse in 4 ABY in order to gain information on the Emperor's vaults, during the Battle for the Eclipse. Zann proceeded to steal billions of credits, Technical data, and many priceless works of art from Emperor Palpatine's personal vault network, thus ensuring that he has enough resources to spread the Consortium throughout the galaxy. After his theft, Tyber decided to abandon the Eclipse as it would be a "target even the Rebels could not miss." He also decided to allow the Rebel Alliance to form their New Republic, seeing it as a chance to "own a senator." The Eclipse was later recovered by Imperial forces, who continued its construction.

However, Silri secretly unlocked the holocron behind Zann's and Fen's backs. The artifact led her to an ancient Sith tomb, with thousands of Sith soldiers frozen in carbonite.

Legacy
Inspired by Zann's earlier riot, the prisoners in the spice mines of Kessel staged yet another revolt.

Personality and traits
"I am in complete control, that's the way I like it."

- Tyber Zann

Zann was cold, methodical, ambitious, and ruthless, and had an arrogant streak, as evidenced by his steadfast confidence in himself. He liked to be in complete control of things and was also quite cunning. He was a criminal mastermind, a tactical genius, and adept at using most weapons of war. He could hold a grudge on people and would not let it go until he made them pay. Zann also seemed quite confident in his abilities, making his leadership abilities very powerful. Zann's cruelty was expressed during the Felucia theft, when his scouts in Alpha Squad were killed by native spores, he expressed no sense of dismay or sadness, but said the the ship would be a little bit lighter when they left the planet.

Despite these negatives traits, Tyber had a sense of humor, albeit a rather rude one, as seen throughout the Campaign towards Urai, such as when he asked Urai whether he had trained to be a Jedi during his absence. He was a long time ally of Urai Fen, who was possibly his only real friend, and the two were known to call each other by their first names. He however cared very little for those who served him as soldiers and would kill those who disobeyed him even if their actions actually gained him something. He was also very tolerant of Silri's actions compared to Urai, who often wanted to kill her. Tyber kept her around and she even managed to grow on him.

Zann wielded a modified Rawk chopped special, a weapon which was later favored by Cade Skywalker around 130 ABY.

Behind the scenes


Zann was included in Star Wars Insider 89's "Underworld: A Galaxy of Scum and Villainy" at the request of LucasArts, who wished additional publicity for him. For his illustration in Insider 89, artist Joe Corroney based him on British actor Jason Isaacs, using a promotional image of Isaac's character Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter films as a reference.

Zann was voiced by Steven Blum in the Forces of Corruption trailer, and by Jake Eberie in the actual game.

This character name is often misspelled 'Zahn' as the gold pack version of the game's case featured this spelling. This error was corrected in later printings.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption