Beon Beonel

"If they want to beat us, they're going to have to come at us with something big enough. Good luck with that."

- Beonel declares he and Espirion are not afraid of the Empire

Beon Beonel was a male Alder-Espirion hybrid who lived on the planet Espirion. He acted as chief of the Alder-Espirion population on Espirion when the Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa sent representatives to Espirion to meet with the population and urge them to join her in her mission to rescue all Alderaanians who had survived the destruction of their homeworld by the Galactic Empire. Upon meeting the two representatives, Jora Astane and Uwa Pareece, Beonel immediately rejected the offer after seeing that Astane was disgusted by his hybrid heritage. He rejected a second attempt by Pareece to set up talks, but was swayed by a message from Organa to the many Alderaanians that had joined her cause when they came under attack by an Imperial Star Destroyer. Beonel then sent the starship Espirion Multi to aid the Alderaanians and destroy the Star Destroyer, joining their cause after the battle.

Biography
"Look at this one, Rill. Unable to conceal her bigoted disgust."

- Beonel is angered by Astane's disgust at his ancestry

Beon Beonel was the chief of the Alder-Espirion, a species of hybrids between human immigrants from the planet Alderaan and members of the Espirion species native to the Alder-Espirion homeworld Espirion. Shortly after Alderaan was destroyed by the Galactic Empire, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan set off on a mission to rescue all Alderaanians who had survived the disaster by being off world, as they were now being hunted by the Empire. The Alder-Espirion population was one of the groups she intended to visit and recruit to her cause; however, she was forced to cancel her plans to visit the planet after Imperial forces pursuing her demanded she exchange herself for an Alderaanian hostage on the planet Skaradosh. In her place, Organa instead sent two representatives to meet with the Alder-Espirion: Jora Astane and Uwa Pareece. As chief of his species, Beonel attended a meeting with the pair set up by the Espirion Consul Rill. He immediately recognized that Astane was disgusted by his mixed ancestry and abandoned the talks, unwilling to tolerate such bigotry despite Pareece's attempts to persuade him that Astane did not represent the rest of the Alderaanian survivors' opinions.

Pareece then had Rill contact Beonel and promise Organa would meet him in person, but the chief was still not interested in working with the Alderaanians and told the representatives as much when they ran into him boarding a vessel in one of Espirion's spaceports. The pair then returned to the Alderaanian fleet that had gathered above Espirion to meet with Organa after she returned from Skaradosh. Organa's return was followed by the arrival of an Imperial Star Destroyer that had also been at Skaradosh, and the Princess was forced to greet the fleet with a speech warning them of the impending danger and inspiring them to fight. Organa's astromech droid R2-D2 transmitted the speech to the surface of Espirion without Organa knowing and Beonel was amongst those who saw the transmission. Moved by what he heard, Beonel sent the starship Espirion Multi to aid the Alderaanian fleet, and with the vessel's aid the Alderaanians were able to destroy the Star Destroyer. Beonel then joined the celebrations following the victory and met with Organa, claiming that Espirion did not fear the Empire's wrath for what it had done as it was strongly defended. He and his people then joined the Alderaanian survivors, who soon began voting for a new leader after Organa left to return to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Personality and traits
"Beon Beonel? Why did you come to our aid? I mean I'm glad you did, but&mdash;what changed?" "That speech, your highness. You described the very society I've spent my life wishing for."

- Beonel explains to Organa why he changed his mind

Beon Beonel was a male Alder-Espirion with gray hair, green and yellow eyes and red and black skin. He assumed that the Alderaanian representatives sent to meet with him might be prejudiced against his hybrid species and when this proved to be true he was unwilling to hear out their offer as he believed that his fellow Alder-Espirions should not have to tolerate any bigotry, even if it only came from a minority of the other Alderaanians. Within the speech she gave to the Alderaanian fleet, Organa described the peaceful unprejudiced Alderaanian society she hoped to lead, a society that Beonel had dreamt of living in for his entire life. He was so swayed by the speech that he aided and joined the Alderaanian survivors despite the bigots amongst them and the attention it would bring from the Empire.

Behind the scenes
Beon Beonel first appeared in the comic book Star Wars: Princess Leia, Part IV, which was released on June 3, 2015 with writing by Mark Waid and illustrations by Terry Dodson. He then went on to appear in the next issue of the Star Wars: Princess Leia mini-series, which was released on July 1, 2015 as the final issue. In one panel of the final issue, Beonel's eyes are mistakenly depicted as white with blue pupils instead of yellow and green.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Princess Leia, Part IV
 * Star Wars: Princess Leia, Part V