Rukh/Legends

"For the treachery of the Empire against the Noghri people. We were betrayed. We have been revenged."

- Rukh, as he assassinated Grand Admiral Thrawn

Rukh was a Noghri who served as the personal bodyguard of Grand Admiral Thrawn during his campaign to destroy the Rebellion.

Biography


A member of clan Baikh'var, Rukh was a rival of fellow Noghri Cakhmaim since their childhood. He was one of the first recruits of Thrawn on Honoghr, who was impressed by his fearless stance in the face of Imperial power demonstration on his planet, and made him his own bodyguard.

His service to the lord of the Noghri brought honor to his clan. Rukh killed many of Thrawn's enemies, both in defense of Thrawn and in murder, to further Thrawn's own means. Rukh was one of the Empire's staunchest supporters on Honoghr, despite the fact that the Empire was not well liked.

He frequently clashed with the so-called "traitor", Khabarakh, upon Khabarakh's miraculous "escape" and return from a mission to kill Leia Organa Solo on Kashyyyk. At one point he almost got into a brawl with Ir'khaim, dynast of clan Khim'bar, which Khabarakh belonged to, over the subject.

Rukh enjoyed hiding in the shadows outside the door of whatever room Grand Admiral Thrawn was in so he could ambush people who were summoned by the Grand Admiral. His favorite target was Captain Gilad Pellaeon since Pellaeon utterly despised this practice.

After Leia revealed to the Noghri that the Empire had been the ones who poisoned their world, Akh'laht, a Noghri commando, met Rukh on the Star Destroyer Chimaera, and informed him that the Empire had betrayed them. Rukh promised to monitor Thrawn and to set things right, even at the cost of his own life.

At the height of the Battle of Bilbringi, Rukh wounded Pellaeon and then killed Thrawn by thrusting his assassin's knife into the back of Thrawn's command chair, pinning and killing the Grand Admiral. The assassin was cut down by stormtroopers led by the clone of Major Grodin Tierce while attempting to flee the Chimaera.

Through his death, Rukh became a legend among Noghri circles for his killing of the greatest possible hunt. Cakhmaim was not particularly pleased by this turn of events, though, as he felt Rukh was not worthy of such acclaim.

Behind the scenes
The full name of "Rukh clan Baikh'var" is a reference to the Reichenbach Falls, where Sherlock Holmes, one of the inspirations for Thrawn, seemingly met his death in "The Adventure of the Final Problem", only to return several years later in "The Adventure of the Empty House". A rukh (also spelled 'roc') was also a large mythological bird of prey.

In Isard's Revenge, his name is spelled "Ruhk."

Appearances

 * Heir to the Empire
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Specter of the Past
 * The Final Prophecy