Landonis Balthazar Calrissian

"...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 a human male smuggler, gambler, 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. As part of the trap, the Dark Lord of the Sith forced Calrissian into tricking a group of Rebels, including Solo and Princess Leia Organa, leading them to Vader himself. 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 which destroyed it.

Early life and career
"What have you done to my ship?''" " Your'' ship? Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square."

- Lando Calrissian and Han Solo, regarding the Millennium Falcon

Lando Calrissian was born on the planet Socorro approximately thirty years before the Battle of Yavin. 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.

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." When he was 26, 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, 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 required a ship 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.

Hiring the Spectres
Calrissian found such a ship after playing a game of sabacc in Jhothal, a settlement on Lothal. He played the game in Old Jho's Pit Stop, competing against Tsoklo 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, and had given Calrissian a piece of her mind over the betrayal via a knee to the groin, 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 farm 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.

Returning a favor
Calrissian came into contact with the rebels again some time later. After the rebels destroyed the Sovereign, the personal Star Destroyer of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, the Imperials tightened security on Lothal. The rebels returned to Lothal after having been away from the planet, where they were pursued by numerous Imperial agents: including Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith. Vader ordered that no ship could leave Lothal, leading the rebels to contact Calrissian to ask for his assistance in smuggling them off-planet. He spoke to them via hologram, as he was not on Lothal, but nonetheless agreed to help them in exchange for three military-grade shield generators. With the deal having been made, Calrissian ordered his personal droid, W1-LE, to assist the rebels with the masking transponders that would trick the Empire into pursuing false signals from their stolen Imperial shuttle. The rebels successfully escaped Lothal.

Trouble on Tyegin
Eventually, Calrissian returned to gambling at high stakes. At one point Calrissian traveled to the planet Tyegin and played a game of sabacc with local rich individuals during a luxury train ride. Calrissian managed to win, but when he cleared his winnings, the train was attacked by raiders. They stole all of Calrissian's money and set the train on fire before disappearing on their rockets. Calrissian and the other players tried to stop the train: first they unhooked speeders, and began to throw objects onto the railroad. Sometime later Calrissian and the other players where saved by Tyegin's law enforcement.

Deal of a lifetime
Prior to becoming the administrator of Cloud City, Calrissian was a self-described opportunist trying to "make his way" through an uncaring universe. Calrissian was able to make a living by illegally acquiring and redistributing rare or valuable goods. However, due to Calrissian's penchant for gambling, he and his business partner Lobot were in deep with the wrong people. After convincing Moff Ssaria, also known as the "fiend of Castell", into parting with a valuable and expensive trinket, Calrissian rendezvoused with Lobot at a cantina. After having had a few drinks, Calrissian was informed that Papa Toren, the individual who had loaned him money, was ready to see him. Calrissian sought to square away his debt by handing over the trinket to Toren, but the loan shark rejected to honor their prior arrangement. Instead of clearing the smuggler's debt, Toren offered to lower Calrissian's debt by ten percent.

Outraged by the offer, Calrissian claimed this was not the deal they had agreed upon. Toren argued that if Calrissian had any qualms about the deal, he should take it up with the Imperials, who had taken his property from him in the first place. Toren argued that had Calrissian used the time he had been given to pay off the debt, Calrissian would not be in his current predicament of owing a vast sum of credits, with little-to-no time to pay it off. The loan shark suggested that if the smuggler was sincere and adamant about clearing his debt, he would do so, provided Calrissian agreed to do a job for him. After leaving the cantina, Calrissian and Lobot got into a heated exchange. Angry at the fact that Calrissian had accepted the deal, as well as Toren's gall, Lobot argued that Calrissian should have stood up to Toren. Calrissian countered by explaining that only people with no imagination use blasters. If they tried to harm Toren, a bounty would be placed on their heads, adding to their current troubles.

Instead of using violence to accept the deal, Calrissian insisted that the job would be quick. It would not only clear their debt but would also put them ahead. Although Lobot was concerned about their chosen dangerous lifestyle, Calrissian promised his friend that they would no longer accept high stakes work after completing the job. Having acquired the services of Aleksin and Pavol, in case the plan required the use of force, Calrissian and Lobot went to speak to Sava Korin Pers, a former antiques dealer and professor. Calrissian attempted to make good on a promise to Korin, to pay her back for the loss of the woman's eye. Korin argued that she could not think of a reason why she would ever work with Calrissian again, until she saw Toren's plan and what they were going to steal. According to the plan, Calrissian and company were to steal a pleasure craft being refitted at Sienar Fleet Systems Orbital Shipyard CC-24.

Adhering to Toren's plan, Calrissian and his crew donned stealth suits and infiltrated the shipyard. They managed to overpower the stormtrooper sentries and escape in the stolen ship. After taking off, Calrissian and Lobot discussed the fact that the ship that they had stolen seemed to be fairly advanced, specially modified. Lobot asked whether his friend could activate the hyperdrive. Calrissian, however, assured Lobot that he could do so only after the ship escaped the planet's gravity well. Unknown to Calrissian and his crew, they had stolen the Emperor Palpatine's personal luxury yacht, Imperialis.

Imperial entanglements
Before they could jump into hyperspace, Calrissian and Lobot found their path blocked by three Imperial Star Destroyers. Calrissian was surprised that the Empire would dispatch such resources and realized that the ship was worth a lot. After the Imperial commander Commodore Idel destroyed Shipyard CC-24 for failing to respect the Emperor's property, he deployed a pair of gravity mines to disable the yacht. However, the Imperialis advanced automated defenses incinerated the bombs. An amazed Calrissian then instructed Lobot to power up the hyperdrive.

Korin then confronted Calrissian and asked what he had gotten them into. Based on the fact that the Imperials had deployed gravity mines, Calrissian deduced that the Empire wanted to capture them because there was something irreplaceable and priceless aboard the ship. When two of the Star Destroyers trapped the Imperialis in their tractor beams, Calrissian devised a trick escape maneuver. He got Lobot to feed the coordinates of the tractor beams into his piloting computer. Lobot and Aleksin were skeptical about Calrissian's plan to fly into the beams but Korin convinced the others to trust him. Flying the Imperialis, Calrissian locked Captain Conro's Star Destroyer's tractor beam onto Captain Shan's ship. This collision damaged the two Star Destroyers, allowing Calrissian and his crew to flee into deep space.

After escaping the Star Destroyers, Lobot thanked Calrissian for his dangerous maneuver. Calrissian then proposed to Korin that they divide the Imperialis treasures among themselves and give the ship to Toren. When Calrissian asked Korin what they stole, she replied that the ship was full of treasure. After touring the ship's hallways, they reached the Imperialis central chamber. Lobot managed to access the chamber with his cybernetic headset but was impaled in the gut by a pair of Imperial Royal Guards.

As Lobot succumbed to his injuries, his implants began to take over his mind. With Korin's help, Calrissia brought the wounded Lobot to the ship's medical bay while Aleksin and Pavol fought the Royal Guards with knives. Meanwhile, the Emperor dispatched the bounty hunter Chanath Cha to recover his ship. He supplied her with the modified Star Courier Scimitar, which was capable of tracking the hyperspace signature of starships. While Lobot recuperated inside a bacta tank, Korin told Calrissian that they had encountered Imperial Royal Guards. Based on the ship's opulent treasures and the Royal Guard's presence, Korin deduced that the stolen ship belonged to the Emperor himself.

Calrissian was unwilling to listen to Korin's admonition and told him they were going to help the twins. Calrissian and Korin found an armory and helped themselves to some blasters. When they returned to the central chamber, they discovered that Aleksin and Pavol had killed the Royal Guards. While Calrissian complimented the twins, Korin discovered that the guards had mysteriously been corrupted by something in the valuable chamber. Calrissian and his companions discovered that the central chamber stored several Sith artifacts including an ancient Sith helmet. No realizing the danger, Calrissian quipped that the treasures they found could make up for Korin's lost eye.

Pall of the Sith
When Calrissian asked how much the treasures in the central chamber were worth, Korin recognized that these artifacts belonged to the ancient Sith Lord Momin, a Sith sculptor whose works were believed to be lost. While Calrissian and Korin discussed their plans to sell the merchandise, Aleksin gazed into the Sith helmet. He grabbed a double-bladed lightsaber and sliced off his twin Pavol's lower right arm. Taken by surprise, Calrissian and Korin managed to exit the central chamber and seal the door. However, Pavol was left inside with the corrupted Aleksin.

Ignorant of the Sith and their history, Calrissian believed that Aleksin had double-crossed them. However, Korin speculated that Aleksin had been corrupted by the Sith artifacts, based on her research into Sith lore at the University of Bar'leth. She deduced that the Royal Guards had been corrupted by their proximity to the Sith objects in the central chamber. Calrissian complimented Korin for being a "fascinating" lady but dismissed the Jedi and Sith as superstition. All that he was concerned about was that one of his team members had gone nuts and chopped off the arm of his companion. Calrissian also wanted to get back into the chamber and help Pavol.

Korin replied that she was leaving the ship in an escape pod and marveled that Calrissian cared for others for a change. Unknown to Calrissian and his companions, Cha had infiltrated the ship. She was a former romantic interest of Lobot. When Calrissian objected to leaving Pavol behind, Korin warned him not to underestimate the powers of the Sith. Calrissian refused to leave his friend Lobot behind. Before the argument could escalate, the two heard over the intercom that the Imperialis escape pods had been disabled.

Despite Calrissian's objections, Korin headed to the bridge to reactivate the escape pods. However, she was held at gunpoint by Cha, who had disabled the escape pods. Calrissian went to confront the intruder only to discover that it was Cha. After embracing, Cha chastised Calrissian for stealing the Emperor's yacht. She recounted that the Emperor had sent her to kill whoever took his ship. If she was unable to do that, he had instructed her to destroy the ship. Cha warned Calrissian that the only cargo that the Imperialis carried was death.

Escaping the Imperialis
Recalling the Emperor's orders to kill the intruders or to destroy the ship, Cha opted to follow the second option since she was unwilling to hurt her former friend. Calrissian tried to reason with her but she pulled out her blaster and warned him that plans get people killed. Calrissian then tried to enlist Cha's help in dealing with Aleksin. He also suggested letting Korin and him escape in a few escape pods with some choice items while she destroyed the ship. Cha rejected that offer on the grounds that Palpatine would notice any choice items turning up on the black market. Unwilling to risk trouble with the Empire, Cha insisted on proceeding with her plan. However, she agree to ferry Calrissian and Korin to anywhere they wanted with her ship.

Calrissian then mentioned that he could not risk bringing his friend Lobot out of the bacta tank to avoid the danger of the implants taking over his mind. He reminded Cha that she once had a relationship with Lobot. Cha reluctantly agreed to help. However, they were then cornered by the corrupted Aleksin and Pavol, who were under the influence of Sith objects. Aleksin demanded that they leave "his" ship or he would kill them. Calrissian objected on the grounds that the heist had been his idea. Aleksin then appealed to Korin and offered to share their treasures with her. Korin stared into the Sith helmet and was corrupted. She volunteered to join forces with Aleksin and Pavol. However, Aleksin killed her with his double-bladed lightsaber.

Cha manged to shoot the door panel shut and initiate the self-destruct countdown. She then instructed Calrissian to retrieve Lobot from the medical bay while she docked her ship. Calrissian managed to helped Lobot out of the bacta tank. Before they could head to the airlock, they were cornered by a lightsaber-wielding Aleksin. Using his smooth talk, Calrissian managed to trick Aleksin into deactivating his lightsaber before shooting him dead. They then joined Cha at the airlock. Despite killing Pavol, the three encountered a new predicament. The Scimitar droid steward O-66 had abandoned Cha after learning that she had activated the Imperialis self-destruct mechanism.

When all seemed lost, Lobot volunteered to connect his cyborg unit to an interface. Despite struggling in his fight against the implants, Lobot managed to override the control codes. Calrissian and Lobot left in one escape pod while Cha left in the other. After escaping the Imperialis, Calrissian listened as Lobot advised Calrissian to use his charm and skills to find something bigger to believe in other than himself. He also counselled Calrissian to use his talents for good.

Business success
"A mining colony?''" "''Yeah, a tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it."

- Leia Organa and Han Solo

Some time later, Calrissian scored a major victory in a card game and won control of Cloud City, a tibanna gas mining operation within the atmosphere of the planet Bespin. The "legitimate pilot and businessman" Gev Hessan smuggled goods to Calrissian to help him build the city. Calrissian became the Baron Administrator of Cloud City and turned to more reputable enterprises. As leader of the mining operation, he 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

In 3 ABY, 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 and was granted permission from the city authorities to land. Once it landed, Calrissian personally greeted Solo and the others on the landing platform with Lobot and a full complement of the Bespin Wing Guard in tow. 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 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 Vader and 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, for which he received a slug to the face from an enraged Solo.

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. 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 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. Struggling to stop the enraged Wookiee from crushing his windpipe, Calrissian gasped out that there was still time to save Solo from the bounty hunter, who was taking him to the East 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 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.

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 Alliance Fleet, 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 past a protostar.

Some time 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

Calrissian participated in the Battle of Taanab, helping defeat a pirate fleet. He then rendezvoused with 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. Solo congratulated Calrissian on his promotion, to which he responded it must have been because of a maneuver he pulled at Taanab. 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 Gial 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 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. 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. When another Star Cruiser was atomised by the superweapon, Calrissian told Ackbar to move the rest of the cruisers and engage the Star Destroyers at point-blank range, reasoning that they stood a far better chance against them than the Death Star and that they would at least manage to take a few of them with them if the superlaser dared to fire again.

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 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.

New Republic era
"Lobot, we're home. Guess the Empire didn't keep up with housekeeping."

- Lando Calrissian, remained good-humored in the midst of hardship and conflict

Though they had won the Battle of Endor, the Rebels would still face many challenges as they sought to restore the Galactic Republic. Calrissian commanded the Alliance Fleet during the Battle of Naboo, aiding Queen Sosha Soruna, Organa and Lieutenant Shara Bey as they disrupted the Imperial operation to render Naboo inhospitable.

Following the events at Endor, Governor Adelhard imposed the Iron Blockade on the Anoat sector. Adelhard also claimed that the Empire had won the Battle of Endor and that rumors of the Emperor's death were rebel propaganda. In response, a resistance movement known as the Uprising emerged in the sector. Calrissian kept in touch with his old friend Lobot, who relayed messages through the blockade and served as a liaison between Calrissian and members of the Uprising. Unable to intervene directly in the uprising on Cloud City, Calrissian instead transferred credits to the rebels through the auspices of Lobot. He was privy to a joint operation by Lobot and the pirate Kars Tal-Korla to breach Adelhard's personal quarters and capture him. Though Adelhard evaded capture, the Uprising managed to liberate Bespin as the Galactic Civil War drew to a close.

Calrissian managed to starve Adelhard's Imperial remnant into submission. Around the time of the Battle of Jakku, he returned to Cloud City at the head of a ragtag force of Wing Guards and New Republic soldiers. With Lobot at his side, Calrissian led a mopping-up operation against an Imperial hold-out in the Casino Level's Bolo Tanga room. As they made their way there, Lobot reminded Calrissian to get Organa and Solo a nuptial gift for their expectant child. Calrissian joked about gifting the boy a little cape and mustache so that he could resemble Uncle Lando.

Upon arriving at the Bolo Tanga room, Calrissian met with the Wing Guard Captain Gladstone, who informed him that the Imperials were holed up inside. While they had broken through to the beam outtake shaft, they were trapped by poisonous fumes. Calrissian then addressed the Imperials and offered to spare their lives if they surrendered. As a further incentive, he promised to give them a hot meal, a warm bed, and to send them away without fear of New Republic prosecution. After ending his address, Calrissian ordered his engineers to unseal the door.

A dozen Imperials accepted Calrissian's offer and they were taken into custody by the Wing Guard. However, Gladstone then informed the Baron Administrator that an Imperial sergeant was refusing to surrender. Calrissian tried to reason with the sergeant but the man tried to shoot him. Calrissian was forced to kill the sergeant with his Vitiator blaster.

After subduing the Imperials, Calrissian chatted with Lobot about the matter of purchasing a nuptial gift. When Calrissian suggested a lamp and a blaster, Lobot opposed the ideas. Calrissian then proposed leaving his Vitiator in a save lock until Organa's son came of age. When Lobot vetoed that, Calrissian then proposed gifting the family a Vantillian catamaran. Lobot accepted that idea. When Calrissian toyed with the idea of starting his own family, Lobot vetoed that as well. Calrissian then invited Lobot out for a drink but Lobot responded that he did not drink. Calrissian then promised to find a win-win situation for both of them.

Rise of the First Order
Later, the Rebel Alliance reformed itself into a new galactic government called the New Republic, which defeated the remnants of the Empire. The Imperial remnants retreated to the Unknown Regions where they reestablished themselves as the First Order. In 28 ABY, Calrissian sent a message of support to his old friend Senator Organa following a political scandal arising from revelations about Darth Vader being her true father.

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

- Han Solo, to Leia Organa

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. Calrissian was also willing to undertaking dangerous risks. On one occasion, he, Lobot, and some companions stole the Emperor's luxury yacht Imperialis. Calrissian hoped to profit from selling the ship's treasures. The heist undertook a dangerous turn when the Sith objects aboard corrupted his companions Aleksin, Pavol, and Korin Pers. Calrissian had little appreciation for the Sith and Jedi, regarding them as "con-jobs."

He was also familiar with the bounty Cha, which led her to spare his life. Calrissian cared deeply for his friend Lobot and was unwilling to abandon him. The two were close friends. Lobot recognized Calrissian's charm and ability to motivate people and counseled him to find a greater cause than himself and to do good for others.

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.

Calrissian was known for his jocular and witty personality. Despite the wartime damage to Cloud City, Calrissian was undaunted and preferred to look on the bright side of things by hiring refugees to staff his facilities. Calrissian was also a smooth-talking negotiator who managed to convince several Imperial holdouts to surrender in return for being well-treated and allowed to leave Cloud City. Calrissian was also a man of honor who kept his promises. The only person that could exert an influence on Calrissian was his friend and employee Lobot. Calrissian welcomed the news that his friends Solo and Organa were expecting a child and looked forward to being an uncle.

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 Taanab, 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. Calrissian was also skilled with a blaster, wielding an X-8 Night Sniper as his weapon of choice which he used against Azmorigan's thugs with enough proficiency to earn him a compliment from Wren, herself an accomplished markswoman.

Calrissian once undertook a dangerous maneuver which involved latching onto a Star Destroyer's tractor beam and causing it to collide with another Star Destroyer. Calrissian boasted of doing this maneuver a thousand times. Calrissian was also a cunning combatant and once tricked the lightsaber-wielding Aleksin into deactivating his blade so that he could kill him. Calrissian also owned a Rossmoyne Vitiator pistol, which he won in a game of Six-Card Gizka Limit from a spice-drunk Aybarian diplomat. Calrissian used this pistol to kill an Imperial sergeant who refused to surrender.

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 returned in the first episode of the second season, "The Siege of Lothal".

Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, told Vanity Fair that Calrissian is not in The Force Awakens, but added that he believes that there is a future for the character and that Calrissian is not "finished in any way, shape, or form." The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson briefly considered to bring back Lando in the film as the codebreaker that Finn and Rose Tico needed to find at Canto Bight, but Calrissian was ultimately written out from the film's script and replaced by DJ in the role. A young Lando Calrissian will be portrayed by Donald Glover in the upcoming 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Non-canon appearances

 * Disney Infinity 3.0
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
 * Star Wars Epic Yarns: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Epic Yarns: Return of the Jedi
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens