Jan Dodonna

"&hellip;man your ships, and may the Force be with you."

- General Dodonna, to the Rebel pilots, before the Battle of Yavin

Jan Dodonna was a male human military officer who served as a general in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the military leader of the Rebellion's base on Yavin 4. He formulated the plan that led to the successful Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star.

Early rebellion
"We have orders to deliver these bombers to General Dodonna's unit. They're part of a wider rebellion we're working to build."

- Hera Syndulla, referring to the Y-wing bombers stolen by the Phoenix rebel cell

A human male from the planet Commenor, Jan Dodonna was a military officer in the Galactic Empire, who, for outstanding service, became one of the first captains of a Star Destroyer. However, Dodonna would eventually abandon the Empire, becoming the leader of his own rebel cell, a unit of Senator Bail Organa's loosely-connected secret rebel network. In the second year before the Battle of Yavin, members of the Phoenix rebel cell, which also operated as part of the rebel network, managed to steal five antiquated Republic Navy BTL-A4 Y-wing assault starfighter/bombers from an Imperial salvage yard, which they planned to deliver to Dodonna and his unit. The Y-wings eventually made their way to Gold Squadron.

Galactic Civil War
"...The Empire now knows our location. Therefore our first priority is to find a base of operations. To that end, all rebel fleets have arrived to assist us in evacuating Yavin immediately."

- General Jan Dodonna to Yavin personnel

After the consolidation of these groups into the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the general rose to command the Great Temple of Massassi, the rebel headquarters on the fourth moon of Yavin. Dodonna was present at the headquarters early in the Galactic Civil War when the squad Rogue One successfully retrieved the stolen plans to the Death Star, an Imperial space station capable of destroying entire planets.

After the plans made their way to the headquarters and the weakness installed in the battle station by Galen Erso was found, Dodonna designed an attack strategy that would set a group of starfighters into battle against the Death Star with the mission to fire proton torpedoes into the station's exhaust port and destroy it. This led to the Battle of Yavin, which Dodonna and other Rebel leaders monitored from Yavin 4. Just as the Death Star came into range to destroy Yavin 4, and Dodonna with it, the station was destroyed by Luke Skywalker.

The General was present at the Royal Award Ceremony commemorating the battle station's destruction, announcing at the conclusion of the event that they would be evacuating Yavin 4, as the Empire now knew the location of their base. Dodonna immediately began screening new planets that would be suitable to establish a new base of operations, quickly dismissing Insk and Daxan Beta as candidates.

Princess Leia spoke with General Dodonna, asking to assist with scouting for a new base. The General refused her offer, reporting that a bounty of 10,000,000 credits had been placed on her head by the Empire and reported rumors that the Imperials were seeking out surviving Alderaanians for reprisal. Dodonna demanded that the Princess not leave the system with anything less than a full military escort before dismissing her.

Despite Dodonna's objections, Organa departed the jungle moon in a T-1 shuttle operated by R2-D2 and Evaan Verlaine, an Alderaanian pilot. Leia left a hologram explaining her actions in Dodonna's private quarters, which contained luxury furniture and a balcony overlooking the jungle canopy below. The General dispatched Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles in X-wing starfighters to retrieve the wayward princess; however, the shuttle jumped to hyperspace before Skywalker and Antilles could stop them.

Following the evacuation of Yavin 4, Dodonna joined the Alliance Fleet and helped the rest of the Alliance's leaders oversee the war effort. Shortly after the assault on the Empire's Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1, Dodonna met with Princess Leia, Chancellor Mon Mothma, and Admiral Gial Ackbar to discuss the Alliance's next steps and the need to find a new base of operations.

Several days later, the Rebel fleet received an distress call from R2-D2, Skywalker's astromech droid. The droid reported that Skywalker had been captured by Grakkus the Hutt, a powerful crime lord on Nar Shaddaa. Dodonna met with Mon Mothma and Ackbar to discuss the situation, and expressed his confusion as to why Skywalker had been on the crime-ridden moon of Nar Shaddaa in the first place. Ackbar proposed that they rescue the Rebel hero, but Mon Mothma noted that they could not make a move against the powerful Hutt Cartels, and that no one would be brave enough to volunteer for a covert rescue mission. The meeting was then interrupted by Chewbacca, and Dodonna noted that he seemed to be willing to do so alongside the protocol droid C-3PO. Chewbacca successfully rescued Skywalker with the help of Princess Leia and Han Solo, who had learned of Skywalker's situation and went to his aid.

Alliance High Command soon received word that the Rebel garrison on Vrogas Vas had engaged Darth Vader and shot his starfighter down after taking heavy casualties. Dodonna decided that Darth Vader represented a significant threat and target of opportunity, and dispatched a battalion to reinforce the Rebels on planet in their effort to kill the Sith Lord.

Behind the scenes
Jan Dodonna's first film appearance was in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, where he was played by Alex McCrindle. Dodonna later appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story where he was portrayed by Ian McElhinney.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow
 * Star Wars Rebels Season Three
 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novel
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy
 * Episode IV: A New Hope Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * Star Wars: The Original Trilogy: A Graphic Novel
 * Star Wars: Battle Pod
 * Princess Leia, Part I
 * Star Wars 4: Skywalker Strikes, Part IV
 * Star Wars 9: Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon, Part II
 * Vader Down, Part I
 * Star Wars 23: The Last Flight of the Harbinger, Part III
 * Han & Chewie Return!