Landonis Balthazar Calrissian

"He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him."

- Han Solo, to Leia Organa

Lando Calrissian was a Human male smuggler and card player who became Baron Administrator of Cloud City and, later, a General in the Rebel Alliance. He was the owner of the Millennium Falcon before losing it to Han Solo in a game of sabacc. After losing the Falcon, Calrissian put an end to his days as a smuggler and became an entrepreneur, setting up a small mining operation on the planet Lothal before eventually becoming the leader of Cloud City in the skies of the planet Bespin.

During the Galactic Civil War, Darth Vader arrived on Cloud City in order to lay a trap for his son, Luke Skywalker. The Dark Lord of the Sith forced Calrissian into capturing a group of Rebels, including Solo and Princess Leia Organa, as part of the trap. Though Vader promised to leave Cloud City without an Imperial presence, Calrissian felt the deal had been altered to the point where he could no longer tolerate it. Calrissian alerted his citizens to the Galactic Empire's presence and impending occupation, and he ordered an evacuation. He helped the Rebels try to rescue Solo, who had been frozen in carbonite, from Boba Fett, but the bounty hunter escaped.

Calrissian joined the Rebel Alliance and set out to find Solo. After locating him in the palace of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, Calrissian aided in his rescue. The Rebels returned to the fleet and Calrissian became a General, volunteering to lead the assault on the Death Star II during the Battle of Endor. During the battle, he piloted the Millennium Falcon into the battle station's core, firing the shot that destroyed it.

Early life and career
"...you're quite the smooth-talking smuggler." "Smuggler? Such a small word. I'm more of a...galactic entrepreneur."

- Hera Syndulla and Lando Calrissian

Lando Calrissian was born a few years before the Clone Wars. During his youth, he became a smuggler and a gambler, playing a card game known as sabacc. He traveled throughout the galaxy and piloted a freighter called the Millennium Falcon, which saved his life on numerous occasions. He ended up losing the Millennium Falcon to Han Solo in a game of sabacc&mdash;one in which Solo may have cheated. At some point, Calrissian fought in the Battle of Taanab.

After losing the Falcon, Calrissian put an end to his days as a smuggler. He fancied himself a respectable businessman, and referred to himself as a "galactic entrepreneur." At some point, Calrissian met a criminal known as Azmorigan, who introduced him to Cikatro Vizago, a Devaronian crime lord who operated on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal. Calrissian purchased a plot of land from Vizago on Lothal, one on which the former smuggler intended to begin mining precious minerals. In order to do so discreetly, without attracting the attention of the Galactic Empire due to Imperial mining regulations, Calrissian planned to acquire a puffer pig from Azmorigan; puffer pigs had a nose for minerals and could do the same job as twelve mining scanners. He would first require a ship, however, one that could evade the Imperial blockade set up around the planet; Calrissian attempted to smuggle mining equipment onto Lothal but was stopped by the Empire.

Calrissian found such a ship after playing a game of sabacc in Kothal, a settlement on Lothal. He played the game in Old Jho's Pit Stop, competing against a Rodian and Garazeb Orrelios, the latter of whom was a Lasat crew member aboard the Ghost, a ship operated by a band of rebels on Lothal. Orrelios believed he had the upper hand and bet his crew's astromech droid, C1-10P, but Calrissian beat his hand by using an Idiot's Array. The droid, nicknamed Chopper, therefore belonged to Calrissian, but he agreed to give the droid back and pay the rebels much-needed credits if they assisted him on an operation&mdash;which, unknown to them, was the acquisition of the puffer pig. The crew was reluctant to trust Calrissian, but they needed the credits and wanted Chopper returned to them, so they agreed; Calrissian spent much of the time using a divide and conquer strategy, trying to play the rebels against each other so he could accomplish his goals. During the trip to rendezvous with Azmorigan, Chopper gave Calrissian a tour of the ship, where he admired the artwork of Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian artist and member of the crew. Calrissian used this as part of his strategy, flattering the Mandalorian's work in order to make himself look good.

Once the Ghost arrived at the rendezvous, the ship docked with Azmorigan's vessel, Merchant One. Calrissian and the crew's leaders, Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus, boarded Merchant One, and Calrissian told them to follow his lead. Calrissian also hinted that the ship had escape pods&mdash;a coded message to Syndulla, whom he intended to hand over to Azmorigan as payment for the puffer pig, and he knew that she would need a way to escape the vessel. Despite Jarrus' protests, Syndulla played along once Calrissian offered her to the crime lord, and Azmorigan gave Calrissian the puffer pig, which was locked in a crate. Calrissian and Jarrus returned to the Ghost, where Calrissian explained that he expected Syndulla to use an escape pod to leave Merchant One&mdash;which she did, returning to the Ghost and attracting the ire of the crime lord. Once Syndulla was aboard, the Ghost jumped back into hyperspace, leaving Azmorigan behind them.

Calrissian showed the crew the puffer pig and warned them not to let it out of its cage, as it would expand into a larger creature if it was startled. Orrelios and fellow crew member Ezra Bridger ended up letting it out, and the pig ran throughout the Ghost before being so startled that its size increased and it became stuck in one of the ship's hallways. This proved potentially problematic once the Ghost returned to Lothal, where they needed to slip through the Imperial blockade; Syndulla, the ship's pilot, was stuck on the other side of the pig, so Jarrus would need to pilot the vessel himself. Calrissian asked Chopper, who only responded to Calrissian's commands, to fix the mechanism that would allow the Ghost to mask its signature and slip past the blockade. Chopper was able to do so and the ship nearly made it through the blockade, but the pig expanded again, knocking Orrelios into the controls that allowed the ship's signature to remain masked. The Empire detected the Ghost as a rebel vessel and sent a group of TIE fighters in pursuit, which the Ghost was able to destroy.

The crew made their way to the land that Calrissian purchased from Vizago, where Calrissian explained that his plan was to use the puffer pig for mining. They were confronted by Azmorigan, however, who had anticipated that Calrissian would return to the land. This led to a shootout between the rebels and Azmorigan's forces, one that ended when Azmorigan threatened to kill Orrelios if they did not hand Calrissian over to him. Syndulla refused, and Chopper&mdash;who stole a crate of fuel for the Ghost and returned to the ship&mdash;fired the cannons on the Ghost at Azmorigan, giving Orrelios a chance to gain an upper hand and hold Azmorigan at gunpoint. Syndulla demanded that the crime lord leave, a demand that he acquiesced to. With Azmorigan gone, Calrissian claimed that he did not have the credits that he owed the rebels, but he did return Chopper to them. Nonetheless, Syndulla held Calrissian in her debt, though what he did not reveal was that he knew Chopper had stolen the fuel, which was why he did not give them any credits. He did, however, believe that he would one day meet the rebels again.

Some time later, Calrissian succeeded in his business ventures and became the Baron Administrator of Cloud City, a tibanna gas mining operation within the atmosphere of the planet Bespin. Calrissian was able to keep the operation small enough to avoid being noticed by the Empire and the Mining Guild, which he considered advantageous as his customers did not want to attract attention.

Deal with the Empire
"This deal's getting worse all the time."

- Lando Calrissian

Three years after the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader and the Imperial Navy tracked Solo and the Millennium Falcon after they escaped from the Battle of Hoth. Vader intended to use Solo&mdash;as well as fellow Rebel Alliance members Princess Leia Organa and Chewbacca, who were also aboard the Millennium Falcon&mdash;to lure Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, into a trap. Vader knew that if Skywalker thought his friends were in trouble, he would attempt to rescue them and fall into Vader's trap. In an effort to hide from the Empire, Solo suggested that they make their way to Cloud City and seek help from Calrissian. While en route to Bespin, the Falcon was tracked by bounty hunter Boba Fett, who had been employed by Vader to find the Falcon. Vader and Fett arrived on Cloud City before the Falcon, and the Dark Lord of the Sith told Calrissian to help trap the Rebels or Cloud City would face the wrath of the Empire. Calrissian agreed to Vader's demands and awaited the Rebels' arrival.

The Millennium Falcon arrived at Cloud City several weeks later and was granted permission from the city authorities to land. Once it landed, Calrissian personally greeted Solo and the others on the landing platform. When Calrissian first approached, he feigned anger for actions Solo committed in their previous encounters. He quickly dropped the facade, however, and greeted his old friend with affection, telling Solo it was very good to see him again. Calrissian asked what brought Solo to Cloud City and the smuggler told him that they needed to repair the Falcon. Calrissian briefly referred to it as his own ship, asking what Solo did to damage it, but Solo reminded him that he won it from Calrissian fair and square. Calrissian then noticed Princess Organa and introduced himself, using his charms to personally welcome her to Cloud City.

While the Rebels settled into an apartment on Cloud City, Calrissian ordered his workers to begin fixing the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon. At some point, the work was completed and Calrissian was informed that the vessel was fixed, but the Empire secretly disabled the vessel's hyperdrive without Calrissian's knowledge. Once the Empire was ready to capture Solo, Organa, and Chewbacca, Calrissian greeted them in the apartment, where he admired Organa for her beauty. He also found that their protocol droid, C-3PO, had been mysteriously damaged and blown into several pieces, which piqued the suspicions of the Rebels. Nonetheless, after he asked them to join him for refreshments, they followed Calrissian throughout the facility, where he told them about the mining operations and how the Empire and the Mining Guild had no presence on Cloud City. Upon arrival at a dining room, Calrissian told them that he had made a deal to keep the Empire off of Cloud City, and he opened the door to reveal Darth Vader and Boba Fett; Fett intended to take Solo to Jabba the Hutt to claim a bounty on the smuggler's head. As a result, the Rebels were successfully captured by the Empire.

The Rebels were taken into custody, and Solo was tortured by the Empire; the torture was seen by Skywalker in a vision, who rushed to Cloud City to save his friends. Calrissian waited outside of the torture chamber where he heard Solo's screams, and spoke with the Dark Lord once Vader emerged from the chamber. Vader told him that Organa and Chewbacca could never leave Cloud City, to which Calrissian protested, as neither that nor helping Fett were part of their arrangement. Vader threatened to leave an Imperial garrison on Cloud City if Calrissian did not cooperate, which made Calrissian realize that the deal was getting worse and that Vader would not uphold his promises. After Solo's torture ended, Calrissian spoke to his old friend, Organa, and Chewbacca, and told them that the princess and Chewbacca would have to remain on Cloud City. He also told them that Vader was not interested in them, but rather he was using them to bait Skywalker to Cloud City.

Later, Vader determined that he would use the Cloud City carbon-freezing chamber to freeze Skywalker in carbonite so he could be delivered to the Emperor, Sheev Palpatine. To ensure that Skywalker would not be damaged, Vader decided to test the carbon-freezing on Solo. Calrissian protested, believing that the carbon-freezing would kill Solo. Nonetheless, Vader moved forward with the test. When Solo and the other Rebels arrived, Calrissian informed Solo of what was about to happen to him. Calrissian monitored the freezing and, when it was completed, checked on Solo's lifesigns, where he found that Solo was alive and in perfect carbonite hibernation. Vader then ordered Calrissian to bring Organa and Chewbacca to the Dark Lord's vessel, once again altering the deal he had made with the Baron Administrator.

Imperial forces led Calrissian and the Rebels towards the Dark Lord's ship. While en route, they encountered Skywalker, who exchanged fire with the Imperials before the stormtroopers led Calrissian and the Rebels away. The Imperials were soon surrounded by Cloud City security forces, led by Calrissian's technician, Lobot, and disarmed. Calrissian freed the Rebels from their restraints, at which point Chewbacca attacked him, grabbing his neck and choking him for his betrayal. While gasping for breath, Calrissian said that there was still time to save Solo from the bounty hunter, who was taking him to the east landing platform. The Rebels let Calrissian go, and he followed them towards the platform. They arrived in time to watch Fett's ship, Slave I, take off. Though they attempted to fire at it with blasters, it had no impact and the bounty hunter escaped with Solo.

Stormtroopers soon arrived on the platform, forcing Calrissian and the Rebels to fight through them and escape. They made their way to the Millennium Falcon and arrived at its landing platform, only to find a locked door. R2-D2&mdash;Skywalker's astromech droid, who had rendezvoused with the Rebels&mdash;attempted and failed to open the door. While the droid was working, Calrissian issued a city-wide broadcast warning his citizens of the Imperial presence and impending occupation of Cloud City. He advised everyone to leave Cloud City before more Imperial forces could arrive. Calrissian's announcement created a frenzy of activity, as numerous people fled throughout the city. Calrissian led the Rebels through the commotion towards another doorway, which R2-D2 was able to open while Calrissian and the Rebels fought off more stormtroopers. The group ran towards the Falcon, where Calrissian provided cover fire as the others boarded the ship. Once aboard, the Falcon lifted off from the platform, pursued by TIE fighters.

As the Falcon was escaping, Skywalker&mdash;who had been injured in and escaped from a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader&mdash;communicated to Organa through the Force, calling to her for help as he struggled to hang onto an antenna at the base of Cloud City. Organa asked Chewbacca, who piloted the Falcon, to turn the ship around so they could save their friend. Calrissian protested because of the TIE fighters, but the Rebels went back anyway to rescue their friend. They found Skywalker hanging from the city and positioned the ship underneath him. Once in position, Calrissian opened a hatch and took a lift to the top of the ship, where Skywalker fell into and Calrissian caught him. With Skywalker on board, the Falcon took off again from Cloud City, and Calrissian left Skywalker in Organa's care.

For the first time in years, Calrissian took the pilot's seat in the Falcon and prepared the ship for a jump into hyperspace. When he attempted to make the jump, however, the hyperdrive failed, much to Calrissian's frustration as he was unaware that the Empire had sabotaged the ship. The Executor, Vader's Super Star Destroyer, approached the vessel, where Vader would once again attempt to capture Skywalker. R2-D2, who learned of the sabotage while communicating with Cloud City's computer, made the necessary repairs to the hyperdrive and the ship was able to jump into hyperspace, successfully escaping from the Empire.

Rescuing Han Solo
"Princess, we'll find Han. I promise."

- Lando Calrissian, to Leia Organa

The Millennium Falcon returned to the Rebel Alliance fleet, which was positioned on the outskirts of the galaxy. Calrissian did not stay long, however, as he and Chewbacca intended to set out in the Millennium Falcon to find Solo. Before leaving the fleet, he contacted Organa and Skywalker, promising the princess that he and Chewbacca would find Solo. The group agreed to meet at a rendezvous point on Tatooine, the location of Jabba's palace. They said their goodbyes and the Falcon departed from the fleet, blasting off back towards the galaxy.

Approximately one year later, Calrissian and Chewbacca had located Solo's still-frozen body at Jabba's palace on Tatooine. Skywalker put together a plan in which Calrissian, Organa, Chewbacca, the droids, and Skywalker himself would rescue their friend and, if necessary, destroy Jabba the Hutt. Calrissian infiltrated the palace and disguised himself as one of the Hutt's guards. He watched as each member of the Rebel team arrived; the droids arrived first, posing as gifts from Skywalker to Jabba, followed by Organa who posed as a bounty hunter collecting the bounty on Chewbacca, who she brought as her prisoner. Organa later released Solo from carbon-freeze, but they were discovered by Jabba and his court. Solo was placed into a prison cell with Chewbacca, while Organa became the Hutt's slave. Calrissian remained in disguise throughout the arrivals.

Skywalker arrived last and, while declaring himself a Jedi Knight, demanded that Solo and the others be released to him. Jabba refused, and Skywalker was forced to fight and kill Jabba's rancor beast. When the rancor failed to kill Skywalker, Jabba sentenced Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca to be killed; the sentence was that they would be fed to the sarlacc creature in the Great Pit of Carkoon, where they would be slowly digested over the course of a millennium. Calrissian, still disguised as a guard, traveled with Jabba and his entourage to the Great Pit of Carkoon, and was stationed aboard the skiff on which the prisoners were kept.

Before the Rebels could be executed, R2-D2 revealed he had been concealing Skywalker's lightsaber. The Jedi Knight attacked Jabba's guards and Calrissian revealed himself, helping to free the prisoners and fight off the other guards. While doing so, he was knocked from the side of the skiff and fell towards the sarlacc, clinging onto the edge of the pit. Solo, who was partially though temporarily blind as a result of the carbon freezing, was lowered towards Calrissian by Chewbacca. Solo handed him a staff and Calrissian reached for it, but one of the sarlacc's tentacles grabbed his leg. Solo aimed a blaster at the tentacle and, despite Calrissian's concerns over Solo's ability to see his target, fired upon the creature. He hit the tentacle and the sarlacc released Calrissian, allowing Solo to pull him to safety.

Once they were aboard, Skywalker and Organa&mdash;who had killed Jabba aboard the Hutt's vessel&mdash;jumped from Jabba's ship to the skiff. Calrissian piloted the skiff away from Jabba's vessel as it exploded, and the group rescued the droids, who had fallen overboard earlier. With the rescue completed, the group returned to the Millennium Falcon and left Tatooine.

Battle of Endor
"General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack." "Good luck. You're gonna need it."

- Admiral Ackbar and Han Solo

The group returned to the fleet to find that a battle was being prepared to strike a decisive blow against the Empire. The Empire was building a second Death Star, which orbited the forest moon of Endor, and the Emperor had personally arrived on the station to oversee the final stages of construction. Unknown to the Rebels was that the Emperor had allowed them to learn this information, as he was luring them into a trap in an attempt to destroy them. They believed that the station, which was fully operational, did not yet have use of its primary, planet-destroying weapon. As such, they put together a plan to destroy the Death Star and kill the Emperor. The plan would require a ground assault to destroy the generator that powered the shield protecting the Death Star, as well as a naval assault against the station itself. Calrissian volunteered to lead the starfighter attack and was commissioned as a General of the Rebel Alliance. He attended a Rebel briefing where the plan for the Battle of Endor was reviewed, and learned that Solo would lead the ground assault, with a team that included Organa, Chewbacca, and Skywalker. After the briefing, Solo told Calrissian he could fly the Millennium Falcon during the battle. Knowing how much the ship meant to his friend, Calrissian promised that he would return her without so much as a scratch.

Solo and his team departed prior to the fleet, in order to give themselves time to destroy the shield. The Rebel fleet, meanwhile, prepared to leave. Once it was ready, Calrissian and his co-pilot, a Sullustan named Nien Nunb, flew the Falcon to the head of the fleet, where all fighter squadrons were accounted for. Admiral Ackbar, who led the Alliance fleet, gave Calrissian the order to depart for Endor. Once they arrived at Endor, Nunb told Calrissian that the Falcon's scanners had been jammed, leading Calrissian to realize that the Empire knew they were coming and that the attack was a trap. As the squadrons approached the Death Star, Calrissian ordered his forces to break off the attack, as he knew that the shield was still operational.

A hidden Imperial fleet revealed itself, and Calrissian and his fighter squadrons were forced to contend with incoming TIE fighters. He led his fighters towards the Imperial fleet in order to draw enemy fire away from the Rebel cruisers, and the Falcon shot a number of the TIE fighters down. He soon saw Imperial Star Destroyers positioned away from the main fighting and was unsure as to why they were hanging back. Calrissian soon found an answer once the Death Star, revealed as operational, fired its primary weapon and destroyed a Rebel cruiser with a single shot. Admiral Ackbar ordered a retreat, but Calrissian convinced him to keep the fleet in place, as he had faith that Solo would complete his mission on the surface. In the meantime, the Falcon led its forces to engage the Star Destroyers, hoping to evade the Death Star and take out as many Star Destroyers as they could.

On the surface, Solo and his team successfully completed their mission and destroyed the shield generator. With the Death Star vulnerable, Ackbar ordered Calrissian and his forces to begin their assault on the Death Star. The Falcon and the fighter squadrons entered an opening on the space station and headed for the reactor core, all while pursued by TIE fighters. The Rebels reached the main reactor, where the Falcon fired the shot that started a chain reaction to destroy the station. Calrissian piloted the ship back through the same route that they entered, as a ball of fire followed close behind. While piloting towards their escape route, the top of the Falcon hit part of the interior of the Death Star, knocking its sensor dish off; Calrissian, as a result, had broken his promise to return the Falcon to Solo without a scratch. Despite the minor damage, the Falcon escaped the Death Star just in time and flew back towards the Rebel fleet as the Death Star exploded behind it.

Calrissian and his fellow Rebels made their way to the surface of Endor and regrouped in Bright Tree Village, the home of the Ewoks who helped Solo and his team destroy the shield generator, where they all celebrated the destruction of the Death Star and the death of the Emperor; during the battle, Skywalker redeemed Darth Vader, who in turn killed the Emperor before succumbing to his own injuries. Calrissian reunited with Solo, Chewbacca, and the rest of his friends for the festivities. Though they had won the Battle of Endor, they would still face many challenges as they sought to restore the Galactic Republic.

Personality and traits
"Can you trust him?" "No. But he has no love for the Empire, I can tell you that."

- Leia Organa and Han Solo

Lando Calrissian was a Human male with black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin. He often wore ornate clothing that included a cape. In his youth, Calrissian enjoyed playing sabacc, and Solo described him as having been a scoundrel. After losing the Millennium Falcon however, Calrissian sought to turn into a respectable businessman, and he turned Cloud City into a mostly-legitimate enterprise. He was protective of his people to the point that he betrayed Solo and the Rebels to save Cloud City from the wrath of the Empire, for whom Calrissian had no love. He turned against the Empire, however, in order to give his citizens a chance to escape and to save Solo. Although Solo had felt betrayed by Calrissian's actions, the two reconciled after Solo was rescued from Tatooine, and shared a warm embrace during the victory celebration on Endor.

Skills and abilities
"Someone must've told them about my little maneuver at the Battle of Taanab."

- Lando Calrissian

Calrissian was a skilled pilot. During the Battle of Tanaab, Calrissian performed a piloting maneuver that impressed even himself. He later attributed that maneuver as being one of the reasons why the Rebel Alliance commissioned him as a General and placed him in a command position for the Battle of Endor.

Behind the scenes
"The audience was so enamored with Lando, they could forgive Lando for anything. If you're able to play a character that can be sort of a bad guy but has redeeming qualities, those are the best characters to play. That was a great challenge to me, to make him palatable, and it worked."

- Billy Dee Williams, commenting on his work as Lando Calrissian

Lando Calrissian was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Williams reprised the role in "Idiot's Array," the ninth episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, and he will return for future episodes of the series. Williams has also expressed interest in reprising the role for Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi