Kendal Ozzel/Legends

"He is as clumsy as he is stupid."

- Darth Vader

Kendal Ozzel was an officer who served in the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War. He came from a wealthy landowning family on Carida, and his last name would aid him in his quest to gain power. Ironically, Ozzel did not achieve his goal of high rank due to his loyalty or skills, but his disloyalty, as the Emperor's Hand Mara Jade advised Darth Vader to keep him under close supervision.

At the end of his life, he was both the commander of Darth Vader's flagship, the Star Dreadnaught Executor, and the admiral in command of Death Squadron, having served in those positions for approximately three years. He saw command of the Executor as a path to more power, and he believed that he would be able to control the universe with the Super Star Destroyer.

However, he was considered inept, clumsy, and stupid by Imperial personnel, including Lord Vader. His overconfidence ultimately led to his death before the Battle of Hoth, when he had Death Squadron emerge from hyperspace too close to Hoth, alerting the Rebels to the Imperials' presence. Darth Vader telekinetically executed him for the blunder shortly thereafter, promoting his senior subordinate Captain Firmus Piett to Ozzel's position.

Early Life
Kendal Ozzel was born on the planet Carida, and he was a descendant of trading mastermind Mann Ozzel who made the Ozzel family wealthy a long time before Kendal was born. The second-born son, Kendal could not inherit his family's business or land, so he both intimidated lesser bureaucrats to increase his standing in the Navy and used his family's name to rise through the social, political, and military ranks of the Galactic Empire.

For a short time, Captain Ozzel served as an instructor at the Coruscant Naval Academy until the destruction of the first Death Star at Yavin. He was the presiding officer at Han Solo's court-martial for saving Chewbacca. Han took a fairly low view of his intelligence. Solo later sighted Ozzel aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor in the Black Widow Nebula before the vessel was officially launched, though it is unclear as to why Ozzel was onboard, seeing as he wouldn't be stationed on it until after Amise Griff's death.

Ascent
"With the Executor under my command, I will be the ultimate power in the universe!"

- Admiral Ozzel

In 0.5 ABY, he was captain of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Reprisal, the largest capital ship in Shelsha sector. He oversaw the brutal massacre of "Rebel sympathizers" on the planet Teardrop, after which the Reprisal was assigned a full tactical unit of the Imperial Security Bureau under the command of Colonel Vak Somoril, to further prosecute the suppression of resistance in the sector.

When a group of stormtroopers killed ISB Major Drelfin and fled the Reprisal, Ozzel and Colonel Somoril mistakenly believed that the subsequent arrival of Mara Jade in Shelsha sector was part of a high-level investigation into the incident, and they conspired in an unsanctioned scheme to kill her. Mara was ultimately unable to prove their complicity, but suggested to Darth Vader that he should keep a close eye on Ozzel, a suggestion that evidently appealed to the newly-appointed Supreme Commander's dark sense of humor.

Ozzel unexpectedly achieved his aim of being promoted to Fleet Admiral as a result of Mara Jade's suggestion. He was assigned to the Executor, the flagship of both Darth Vader and the task force Death Squadron, as its commanding officer, with Captain Firmus Piett as his senior subordinate. Perhaps simultaneously, he was also promoted to overall commander of Death Squadron after Admiral Griff's death, a promotion assisted in part by the loss of the cadre of able officers whom Willhuf Tarkin had assembled aboard the Death Star. When he was first made admiral, many officers saw him as Vader's equal. He led Death Squadron alongside Vader into a battle against the Rebel fleet in .75 ABY that ended in a Rebel escape.

Speculation abounded as to the exact nature by which Ozzel achieved his prestigious command position. Many believed older ties between Imperial military command and Ozzel's bloodline were chiefly responsible for his sudden and inexplicable rise. Another theory explained his achievement as Ozzel acting as a figure-head of command in Vader's fleet, aside from Vader himself, to appease the high-ranking members of the general staff. Regardless of the nature of these rumors, Ozzel was in command of hunting down the Alliance High Command headquarters using whatever devices he deemed necessary. To this end, he took a very personal approach to his mission, preferring to follow up substantial leads himself. This often meant diverting the fleet on less than productive forays, which soon earned the ire of Vader, who grew tired of these indulgences. As a result Ozzel was relegated to the true position of figure-head that he occupied, serving merely as a go-between for issuing Vader's orders to the Executor's rank and file. It was Ozzel who gave Captain Needa command of the Avenger, and as a result, Vader regarded Needa with suspicion along with Ozzel's close advisors. Ozzel would give Needa and the Avenger independent assignments to check on leads, and when the Avenger was with the rest of Death Squadron, Ozzel had the ship in the point position, considered a prestigious position.

According to rumors that had reached Alliance Intelligence, Ozzel and Vader rarely saw eye-to-eye. In 1 ABY the Rebels managed to plant seeds of discord between Vader's fleet commanders. Ozzel took the bait and believed the rumors that said that Vader wanted to replace him with a junior officer.

Shortly before the Battle of Hoth, Piett and his staff received a transmission from a probe droid launched from the Star Destroyer Stalker. The transmission displayed the Rebel shield generator, suggesting there was life in a supposedly uninhabitable system of Hoth. Piett, knowing that Ozzel would likely ignore the signal, initially went to Darth Vader with the news. When informed, and despite his tendancy to indulge in unsubstantial leads, Ozzel dismissed the lead, stating that the shield generator most likely belonged to smugglers. Vader, however, was certain that they had found the Rebel base, and ordered his fleet to the Hoth system.

Death
"You have failed me for the last time, Admiral."

- Darth Vader to Admiral Ozzel

Believing that he could best defeat the Rebels by surprising them, Ozzel brought the fleet out of hyperspace very close to the sixth planet of the Hoth system. When General Maximilian Veers informed Vader of Ozzel's action, the Dark Lord immediately saw the admiral's foolishiness: Ozzel had inadvertently alerted the Rebels to their prescence, which allowing them to activate an energy field, rendering an orbital bombardment useless. Via a viewscreen, Ozzel began to report that the fleet had entered the Hoth system, but before he could finish, Vader Force choked Ozzel to death and made his subordinate officer, Piett, commander of the Executor. In the end, Ozzel's mistake had cost Vader young Luke Skywalker and his allies, though the battle had resulted in a victory for the Empire.

Personality and traits
"Captain Ozzel likes simple, comfortable routines. The man is excruciatingly predictable."

- Caaldra

Kendal Ozzel was considered inept, disloyal, easily manipulated, and stupid, which made many wonder how he achieved his rank of admiral. Darth Vader considered Ozzel to be a clumsy and stupid man for bringing Death Squadron out of hyperspace too close to Hoth, a move with which Ozzel had hoped would surprise the Alliance. As a result of his actions, the Alliance was able to detect the fleet of approaching Star Destroyers, activate Echo Base's shield, and evacuate the majority of the base.

Despite these flaws, Ozzel was an ambitious man. He viewed the elimination of Rebels as the fastest path to success within the Imperial Navy, and he hoped that his attempt to destroy the rebels would eventually grant him the rank of admiral. Whenever he failed he would cast the blame onto his subordinates, which sparked an enmity between Ozzel and his subordinate and eventual replacement, Firmus Piett.

Behind the scenes
Kendal Ozzel was played by Michael Sheard in The Empire Strikes Back, who also portrayed Adolf Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the third installment of George Lucas' other successful trilogy. In the audio drama version of The Empire Strikes Back, Ozzel was voiced by Peter Michael Goetz.

The name "Kendal" may be a reference to the character Danny Kendall from the British TV series Grange Hill, with whom Sheard's character, Mr. Bronson, had a long-standing enmity. The name first appeared in The Official Star Wars Fact File 4 in the UK (the reference was put in with Sheard's blessing) and later made its way to the official website.

There are inconsistencies between the various sources describing Ozzel's path to becoming Vader's senior subordinate in Death Squadron. Most notably, he appears as an admiral aboard the Executor under Vader's command in Scoundrel's Luck, which apparently takes place while Vader is still in a healing trance in his TIE Advanced x1 after the Battle of Yavin.

In Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground: Hoth, artist Al Williamson incorrectly switches Ozzel's and Piett's roles, and as a result, it is Piett who suffers from Vader's Force choke.

Appearances

 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Allegiance
 * Star Wars Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Galaxies
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novel
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars 39: The Empire Strikes Back: Beginning
 * Star Wars 40: The Empire Strikes Back: Battleground: Hoth
 * The Longest Fall

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga