Biggs Darklighter/Legends

"It'll be like old times, Luke. They'll never stop us."

- Biggs Darklighter, shortly before the Battle of Yavin

Biggs Darklighter was a member of the Rebel Alliance who flew an X-wing during the Battle of Yavin. Biggs's astromech droid during the battle was R2-Q2.

Biography
Biggs was born on Tatooine to the local agricultural magnate Huff Darklighter. While young, the girl he developed a crush on was captured by sand people; by the time the rescue party arrived, she was dead, and all they could do was take revenge. He carried a hologram of her for the rest of his life.

Biggs was a was a close friend of Luke Skywalker. The two of them spent most of their youth together, racing through Beggar's Canyon in T-16 Skyhoppers and socializing with the other local teenagers at Tosche Station. The two friends planned to attend the Imperial Academy together, and go into business together by buying their own ship after their service in the Imperial Starfleet ended. This plan was not to be, as Luke's uncle, Owen Lars, kept him behind to help on his moisture farm while Biggs went off to the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy the same time as another mutual friend, Janek Sunber.



While at the Academy, Biggs was taught by Soontir Fel. He gradually became disenchanted with the Empire. Managing to make contact with Rebel sympathizers, he and a group of his fellow cadets who were about to be assigned to the Rand Ecliptic made plans to jump ship in an outlying system and join the Alliance. During a brief furlough when Biggs returned to Tatooine, Biggs revealed this plan to Luke. It is presumably around this time that he attended the debutante ball of Rivoche Tarkin, passing information from her to his Rebel contacts that served to avert a CompForce purge of the Duros Allied Army.

During one mission for the Rebels, Darklighter's X-wing was carrying important intelligence information when it broke down and came under attack by Imperial forces. He was rescued by a team from Independence and became friends with two of the pilots, Keyan Farlander and Samuel Raider.

Shortly thereafter, Luke would also join the Alliance after rescuing Princess Leia Organa. The two old friends had a brief reunion on Yavin 4 shortly before the attack on the Death Star. Biggs told Red Squadron's leader, Garven Dreis, that Luke was the "best bush pilot in the Outer Rim," convincing him that the untrained young pilot would easily be able to fly a starfighter in the upcoming battle. He assured Luke just before they parted for their starfighters that it would "be like old times". During the final attack run on the Death Star, Biggs and Wedge Antilles flew as Luke's wingmen. Biggs was killed when Darth Vader fired upon him while he was flanking Luke down the Death Star trench.

He improvised a maneuver shortly after joining the Alliance. By spining his starfighter while firing all four cannons, he was able to destroy multiple incoming targets.

Biggs Darklighter's legacy as a pilot would be picked up by his younger cousin, Gavin Darklighter. Wedge Antilles, the commander of Rogue Squadron remarked to Gavin that if Biggs were to have survived the Battle of Yavin, they'd all be reporting to him by now.

Behind the scenes
Biggs was played by Garrick Hagon and briefly appeared in the 1977 release of Star Wars, where he was only seen as Luke's wingman. The script included the scene at Tosche Station where Biggs tells Luke of his secret plans to join the Rebel Alliance, as well as the conversation where he meets Luke in the hangar on Yavin 4. These scenes were filmed, but were cut from the final version. These scenes did appear, however, in the novelization and the radio adaptation, where he was voiced by Kale Brown. Part of the Yavin 4 scene was reintroduced in the 1997 re-release of the film. Here are some details on Bigg's deleted scenes.

Biggs Returns


Luke Skywalker, full of excitement at having seen some starships in the sky above Tatooine, races towards the Tosche Station (located in Anchorhead) to tell his friends about the battle he's just witnessed which we all know is the capture of the Tantive IV. In transit, Luke almost runs down an old woman with his landspeeder. She turns and yells at Luke to slow down. Luke hops out of his speeder and runs into the Tosche Station where he finds his friends Camie, Fixer, Deak and Windy relaxing and enjoying the day. Deak and Windy are in the back area playing a game that resembles pool or air-hockey or something, while Camie and Fixer nap at a desk - Camie in Fixer's arms. Luke scrambles in waking them up and then notices another guy in the room. It's Biggs Darklighter, who had left Tatooine the previous season to join the Imperial Academy. Luke is overwhelmed with joy to see his old friend again.

They start to talk a little but then Luke remembers the real reason he came by and urges everyone to come outside for a look. Deak and Windy, however, remain inside writing off the event as one of Wormie's delusions. Luke's nickname in the film is obviously "Wormie," in case you haven't noticed by now. When they get outside, Luke points to where the action was and Biggs takes a look using Luke's macrobinoculars. He does see two ships but no action and tells the little crowd so. Then Camie grabs the binocs and has a look for herself. The disappointed group retreats back inside the station without Luke who remains outside looking (and feeling) embarrassed.

Old Friends Part Ways Once More


Biggs Darklighter, Luke's childhood friend, suffered heavily at the mighty hand of George Lucas' editorial choices. There are two major deleted scenes involving Biggs. The second of these takes place a short time after the first one, after the scene where C-3PO starts waving and shouting at the Sandcrawler out in the Tatooine desert.

Luke and Biggs are walking outside in Anchorhead enjoying a beverage of some sort. As they are walking, they talk about old times and how quiet it's been without Biggs around. Biggs then decides to tell Luke about his plans to jump ship and join the Rebellion. Luke is very surprised.

The two then talk about Luke not getting his chance to leave for the Academy this season, Uncle Owen, the Sandpeople and the Empire. The two childhood friends share a bittersweet good-bye. Luke tells Biggs that he will always be the best friend he's ever had. Biggs turns and leaves. Luke remains for a few seconds then turns and leaves as well.

Biggs Reprise


Until the Special Editions were released, there was an additional scene with Biggs Darklighter that was cut from the Rebel Base scenes on Yavin IV just before the attack on the Death Star. For the Special Edition of A New Hope, most of this scene was restored. The scene involves Biggs, Luke, and Red Leader. There's only a small amount of dialogue that was kept out for reasons that can only speculated as having to do with the release of the Prequel Trilogy, since a small portion of the dialogue deals with Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker.

In the script, Red Leader says, "Are you... Luke Skywalker? Have you been checked out on the Incom T-sixty-five?" to which Biggs replies, "Sir, Luke is the best bushpilot in the Outer Rim Territories." Then follows the line from Red Leader that was partially edited in the Special Edition, "I met your father once when I was just a boy. He was a great pilot. You'll do all right. If you've got half of your father's skill, you'll do better than all right." Luke and Biggs say a few more words to each other, head to their ships and move on to destroy the Death Star.

To cover up the dialogue edit, they used an editing technique called a "wipe" which is used pretty heavily in the Star Wars films. Right when Red Leader is about to mention Luke's father, a Rebel Technician moves across the screen from left to right allowing the editors to remove the desired frames from the scene without much notice.

Appearances

 * Falling Star
 * Marvel Star Wars 17: Crucible
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron 25: The Making of Baron Fel
 * Star Wars Empire: Darklighter
 * X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Marvel Star Wars 1
 * Marvel Star Wars 5: Lo, The Moons of Yavin
 * Marvel Star Wars 6: Is This the Final Chapter?
 * Star Wars Empire: The Wrong Side of the War
 * Star Wars Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: In the Empire's Service
 * X-wing Rogue Squadron: Family Ties
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron
 * Jedi Search
 * Darksaber