Kassius Konstantine

"Admiral Konstantine is more politician than soldier."

- Governor Arihnda Pryce

Kassius Konstantine was a human male Admiral in the Imperial Navy. He was dispatched to the Lothal system where a rebel movement occurred. After the Spectres joined the rebellion, Admiral Konstantine would continue to hunt them down under the command of Agent Kallus and the Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother. Despite their efforts and superior resources, the rebels proved elusive for Konstantine and his comrades.

Admiral Konstantine's failed attempts to stamp out the rebellion led Governor Arihnda Pryce to solicit the services of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a seasoned tactician and the commander of the Seventh Fleet. In an effort to test the Admiral's talents and capabilities, Thrawn dispatched Konstantine on a mission to destroy the Iron Squadron, a rebel cell based at Mykapo. Konstantine managed to trap the Squadron's captain Mart Mattin but underestimated the ingenuity of the Spectres and Mart's uncle Commander Jun Sato. Konstantine was greatly embarrassed by this skirmish and attempted to spin the incident in a positive way. However, Thrawn saw through his obfuscation.

Some time later, Konstantine, commanding an Interdictor cruiser, accompanied Thrawn and Pryce at the Battle of Atollon. Consumed by his arrogance and jealousy, Konstantine pursued the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier Phoenix Home, defying Thrawn's direct orders of holding back. This maneuver cost Konstantine his life as Commander Sato rammed the Phoenix Home into the Interdictor, destroying both cruisers.

Empire Day
In the years before the Battle of Yavin, Kassius Konstantine commanded an Imperial fleet from his command ship, the Imperial Star Destroyer Relentless. He aided the Inquisitor in his search for the Ghost, a rebel starship. After the Spectres rescued another fugitive, the Rodian Imperial Information Office staffer Tseebo, and breached the Imperial security cordon around the planet Lothal's Capital City, Konstantine commanded the Relentless in the pursuit of the rebels. With Tseebo's help, the rebels escaped into hyperspace. While Konstatine thought of shifting the blame for the rebels' escape to the Inquisitor, he declined to since the Sith agent had succeeded in planting a tracking device onto the hull of the Ghost.

When Admiral Konstantine reported that they were receiving a signal from the tracker, the Inquisitor did not acknowledge his presence but merely commented that he himself would sense the Jedi Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan Ezra Bridger. In response to the Inquisitor's comments, Konstantine stifled a laugh, as he believed that the Empire had wiped out the Jedi years ago during the Jedi Purge. He was personally skeptical of reports that the leader of that rebel cell was a Jedi. However, the Inquisitor read his emotions and scowled back at the Admiral. Fearing that his long and storied career would end if he failed to capture the rebels, he vowed that they would succeed.

Meanwhile, the Spectres realized that there was a tracking device planted onto the Ghost auxiliary vessel, the Phantom. To prevent the Imperials from capturing Tseebo, Kanan and Ezra separated from the Ghost and flew the Phantom to the asteroid PM-1203, which hosted a former Republic base called Fort Anaxes. As planned, the Imperials took the bait. When Admiral Konstantine ordered that the Relentless land an entire battalion on that asteroid, the Inquisitor countermanded his orders and instead led a small contingent of stormtroopers to the PM-1203. The Inquisitor's troops were quickly dispatched by fyrnocks, fearsome predators that resided in the asteroid. Despite the Inquisitor's lightsaber skills and Force powers, Kanan and Ezra managed to escape; leaving both the Inquisitor and Admiral Konstantine empty-handed.

Looking out for smugglers
Admiral Konstatine was at the helm of his Star Destroyer Relentless when one of his crew took an interest in a VCX-100 light freighter approaching Lothal. This freighter turned out to be the rebel ship Ghost. However, the Spectres managed to fool the scanning technician and Konstantine by using a signature modulator to disguise the Ghost as the Tontine; a legitimate vessel traveling between Boz Pity and Lothal. The Ghost was transporting the "galactic entrepreneur" Lando Calrissian, who was trying to smuggle a puffer pig into Lothal for an illegal mining operation. The rebels almost made it through the blockade undetected but Ezra accidentally disturbed the puffer pig; causing it to throw Garazeb Orrelios off balance onto the ship's control console. This effectively deactivated the signature modulator and exposed the Ghost to the Imperial authorities. Konstantine then dispatched four TIE/ln space superiority starfighters after the Ghost but the rebels managed to lose their Imperial pursuer's in Lothal's cloudy skies.

Serving Tarkin
After the Inquisitor captured the rebel Jedi Kanan Jarrus sometime later, Konstantine was temporarily reassigned to Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's flagship, the Sovereign, while over the planet Mustafar. After a lightsaber duel between Jarrus and the Inquisitor destroyed the Sovereign's engines, the ship was evacuated.

Enforcing the Siege
After the destruction of the Sovereign, Konstantine took part in the blockade of Lothal intended to ensnare the Spectres. He was unsuccessful in this, however, as the rebels managed to evade capture again by deploying masking transponders emitting false signals, allowing them to escape in their stolen Sentinel-class landing craft. Shortly afterwards, Konstantine and the Relentless were part of the surprise attack on the Phoenix Squadron, led by Sith Lord Darth Vader, who was piloting a TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. As the Ghost made its escape, Konstantine activated his Destroyer's tractor beam to attempt to catch them, however instead ended up catching Vader as the rebels jumped to hyperspace. Knowing that his life was in danger for this mistake, Konstantine blamed his failure on a subordinate bridge officer.

Mission to Seelos
After the Spectres had escaped from Darth Vader, Admiral Konstantine continue his command of the Relentless which was still hunting for the rebels. He was accompanied by the Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus, who also had experience dealing with these rebels. Under instructions from the former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, the Lothalian rebels had traveled to the desert planet of Seelos to make contact with several retired Clone troopers: Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor. The rebels hoped to win them over to their cause. Wolffe, distrusting the rebels, secretly sent a coded transmission that was picked up by the Relentless.

Agent Kallus sent a probe droid to Seelos to investigate. Prior to its destruction, the droid succeeded in sabotaging the rebel's auxiliary ship Phantom and confirmed there was indeed a rebel presence there. While Agent Kallus led a ground assault with three AT-AT walkers, Admiral Konstatine remained aboard the Relentless to render air support to Kallus' forces. However, the clones and rebels put up an unexpectedly fierce fight and succeeded in immobilizing Kallus' AT-AT walkers. The Admiral was unable to render air support because Darth Vader had ordered him to rendezvous the Relentless with his shuttle in space.

Instead of meeting Vader, Admiral Konstantine received another Inquisitor known as the Fifth Brother. When Konstantine raised his concerns that the diversion might have compromised Agent Kallus' mission, the Inquisitor merely replied that his struggles were of no concern to him and pledged to stop the rebels himself.

Serving the Inquisitors
Following the Imperial misadventure at Seelos, Admiral Konstantine continued serving under the Fifth Brother. He and Agent Kallus were later present aboard the bridge of the Relentless when his crew picked up a surge of energy at an abandoned medical station. This surge had been triggered by several members of the Spectres, a rebel cell that had harried Konstantine and his Imperial comrades several times. These rebels had been searching for medical supplies for the Phoenix Squadron. In response to the surge, the Fifth Brother informed the Admiral and Kallus that he was visiting the station alone. There, the Fifth Brother and another Inquisitor known as the Seventh Sister almost succeeded in apprehending Chopper, Ezra Bridger, and Sabine Wren. However, due to Garazeb Orrelios' quick thinking, the four rebels managed to escape the two Inquisitors.

Later, Admiral Konstantine and the two Inquisitors were present when Agent Kallus suggested that the Imperials pool their resources together for a strike on Garel. Following an earlier incident on Takobo, the Inquisitors had learned that the rebels were hiding on Garel. Under Kallus' orders, Konstantine and the Imperial fleet departed from Lothal and traveled to Garel. Despite surrounding the rebels on both the ground and air, several rebel ships including the Spectre's ship Ghost and Commander Jun Sato's CR90 corvette still managed to escape into the skies above Garel City. Commanding the air assault, Admiral Konstantine ordered the crew of his Star Destroyer to deploy their tractor beam projector. His forces also succeeded in shooting down at least one rebel ship.

The Relentless tractor beam managed to trap Commander Sato's corvette. However, Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla used the Ghost to ram into the tractor beam projector; knocking it out of action. The damaged projector collided with a TIE fighter. This distraction enabled the Phoenix rebel fleet to make a jump into hyperspace. When Agent Kallus, who had led the ground assault, demanded a status on the position of the rebel fleet, a visible disappointed Admiral Konstatine reported that he and his men were also wondering the same thing. Despite exposing one of the Phoenix rebels' hideouts, Konstantine and his Imperial colleagues failed to crush the rebel cell.

Hunting the Rebels
Admiral Konstantine and Agent Kallus later commanded an Imperial light cruiser which attempted to capture the rebel ship known as the Ghost above Nixus. Despite their efforts, the Ghost managed to jump into hyperspace. Earlier, the crew of the Ghost had rescued two Lasat refugees named Gron and Chava, who were searching for the legendary Lasat homeworld of Lira San. With the help of the Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka, the Imperials managed to track the Ghost down to a collapsed star cluster in Wild Space. The Imperials attempted to pursue and destroy the Ghost but were forced to retreat due to the gravitational pull of the star cluster.

Later, Konstantine encountered Kallus in the corridor of a Star Destroyer after the latter had returned from a failed attempt to ambush the Spectres onboard an Imperial construction module above Geonosis. On the way to his quarters, after narrowly surviving the freezing temperatures of the ice moon Bahryn, Kallus greeted Konstantine who responded with a nonchalant acknowledgment devoid of emotion. Konstantine's coldness contrasted with the warmth and unlikely friendship that his rebel opponent Garazeb Orrelios had shown him on Bahryn.

Admiral Konstantine later commanded an Imperial assault on the Phoenix Squadron from his Star Destroyer Relentless. When one of his subordinates reported that a rebel ship called the Ghost was exiting hyperspace with stolen fuel supplies from Horizon Base, Konstantine ordered his TIE fighters not to let the ship dock with the rebel flagship, a former Imperial Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier that had been stolen on Ryloth. Despite their best efforts, Konstantine's TIE fighters were chased away by Ketsu Onyo's starship Shadow Caster. Later, the rebel fleet escaped to Atollon with the help of the former Imperial inventory droid AP-5, who informed the rebels of an Imperial trap in the Yost system.

Under Pryce's command
Dissatisfied with Admiral Konstantine's handling of the rebel insurgency in the Lothal sector, Governor Arihnda Pryce met with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and secured the services of the newly-appointed Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Seventh Fleet. Later, Konstantine met with Grand Moff Tarkin and Agent Kallus at the bridge of a Star Destroyer. Konstantine told Tarkin that Pryce was overestimating the threat posed by the Phoenix rebels and dismissed them as a localized insurgency. At that point, Thrawn interjected and expressed his hopes that the insurgency would remain that way. Konstantine was present when Thrawn theorized that the Phoenix rebels were planning to raid Reklam Station in the planet Yarma. Later, Konstantine, Pryce, and Kallus commanded a Star Destroyer that intercepted the rebels and their stolen Y-wing starfighters. He expressed surprise when Thrawn ordered the Imperials to allow the Phoenix rebels to escape with their "meager rewards." However, Pryce reassured him that Thrawn had a much larger objective than the destruction of a single rebel cell.

Later, Admiral Konstantine was aboard the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer with Governor Pryce and Agent Kallus. He informed Pryce that his crew had detected an encrypted distress signal from the planet Agamar. Pryce then dispatched Imperial forces from the nearest garrison to investigate Agamar; bringing them into conflict with members of the Phoenix Squadron and a Separatist holdout led by the super tactical droid Kalani.

Test above Mykapo
Under orders from Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Konstantine reluctantly departed for Mykapo with a single light cruiser and two Gozanti-class cruisers. Thrawn had tasked the Admiral with eliminating a local rebel cell called the Iron Squadron. When Konstantine offered to send his squadron, Thrawn replied that a man of his talents should have no difficulty eliminating the rebel cell with one light cruiser. By the time Konstantine had arrived, Phoenix Squadron had already evacuated the rebel sympathizers among the population.

Upon arriving, Konstantine's subordinate sighted a single YT-2400 light freighter. The Admiral believed that Thrawn had overestimated the threat posed by the rebel cell and dispatched fighters to attack the ship. The ship's captain Mart Mattin launched an attack on Konstantine's light cruiser, overestimating the Admiral. Meanwhile, his fellow crew and the Spectres Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, and Chopper escaped aboard the shuttle Phantom II. Mart released his cargo of explosives but Konstantine neutralized them by unleashing his ship's forward batteries.

Mart attempted to flee but Konstantine's TIE fighters disabled his engines. Konstantine's forces were unable to stop the other rebels from escaping into hyperspace aboard the Phantom II. One of Konstantine's TIE bombers attached a Magno-mine to the hull of Sato's Hammer. Konstantine then allowed Mart to send a distress signal to the Spectres before jamming it. He intended to lure Mart's rescuers into a trap. However, the Spectres saw through his trap and devised a counter-strategy.

When the Spectres returned aboard the Ghost, Konstantine ordered his subordinate not to trigger the mine until he gave orders. He wanted to destroy the two rebel ships with one fell swoop. However, the rebel astromech droids Chopper and R3-A3 detached the magno-mine and planted it in one of the Sato's Hammer cargo boxes. When the Ghost undertook a pick-up of Mart's ship, Admiral Konstantine ordered his subordinate to trigger the mine.

Konstantine's plan was complicated by the arrival of Mart's uncle Commander Jun Sato aboard a CR90 corvette. Sato's reinforcements destroyed one of Konstantine's Gozanti cruisers and several TIEs. Konstantine panicked and called Thrawn for help. The Ghost then flew over Konstantine's light cruiser while ferrying Mart's ship. Mart then dislodged the cargo box at the same moment that Konstantine's officer triggered the mine. The resulting explosion destroyed the forward compartment of Konstantine's light cruiser. Konstantine and the officer survived the blast but their ship was badly damaged.

At that point, Thrawn arrived in the system. Thrawn allowed the rebels to escape following a brief exchange with Commander Sato. Thrawn then contacted Konstantine via hologram. When Thrawn asked him whether he had contacted him for assistance, Konstantine tried to save face by claiming that he had called to inform him that the rebels had been driven from system. However, Thrawn saw through Konstantine's obfuscation and replied that he had assumed that the rebels and not their sympathizers had escaped. Konstantine bowed his head in embarrassment.

The hunt for Fulcrum
During Thrawn's investigation into the rebel spy known as Fulcrum, Admiral Konstantine was stationed aboard the Grand Admiral's Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera. He introduced Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste to Thrawn and the Imperial Security Bureau Colonel Wullf Yularen. Konstantine was present at a meeting where Thrawn briefed the others about his plan to screen Imperial sector command staff for rebel affiliations. Konstantine was also privy to Thrawn's plan to hunt down the Phoenix Squadron's base in the Lothal sector. When he asked about Thrawn's tactics, the Grand Admiral replied that he had calculated the possible locations of the rebel bases based on their proximity to attacks on Imperial ships and facilities, and the planet Lothal.

The Hunt for Mon Mothma
Later, Admiral Konstantine attended a briefing with Governor Pryce and Grand Admiral Thrawn to discuss plans to capture the fugitive former Senator Mon Mothma, who had incurred the wrath of the Emperor for denouncing the Ghorman Massacre. At the briefing, both Konstantine and Pryce expressed disbelief when Thrawn theorized that Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla would use the dangerous Archeon pass to smuggle Mothma out of the sector. When Pryce volunteered for the "honor" of silencing the rogue Senator, Thrawn assigned both Konstantine and Pryce with intercepting the rebel ships outside the Archeon Nebula. Thrawn's plan was to use his prototype TIE Defender and two TIE Interceptors to flush the rebels out of the nebula so that they could be captured by Konstantine and Pryce. For that mission, Konstantine and Pryce commanded two Imperial Star Destroyers.

When the rebel ship Ghost exited the Archeon Nebula, Konstantine informed Pryce that the rebel ship had sustained damaged to its core systems. After Pryce rejected Mon Mothma's demands, she ordered Konstantine to activate the ship's tractor beam projector. When the surviving rebel Y-wings piloted by Ezra and Gold Leader Jon Vander exited the nebula, Konstantine ordered his gunners to shoot down the rebel fighters. Despite believing the rebel fighters had arrived "too little, too late", Hera outmaneuvered the Imperials by convincing Ezra and Vander to fire their proton torpedoes into the Archeon Nebula. This caused the stars to explode and Konstantine and Pryce's Star Destroyers were damaged during the inferno. With the tractor disabled, the rebel ships fled to Dantooine.

The Battle of Atollon
When Thrawn discovered the location of Phoenix Squadron's base on Atollon, he commanded Admiral Konstantine to deploy the Seventh Fleet to the system. Placed in command of an interdictor cruiser, Konstantine prevented the rebels from escaping the system. When Commander Sato attempted a Danan tactic, Thrawn ordered Konstantine to hold back until ordered otherwise. Dismayed, Konstantine protested and expressed his desire to use overwhelming force instead. Thrawn reminded Konstantine that he had studied the rebels and was familiar with their propensity to use unconventional tactics.

When Commander Sato flew his Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier Phoenix Home towards the centre of the Imperial formation, Konstantine attempted to intercept the carrier. Thrawn ordered him to return to his assigned coordinates but Konstantine, desiring personal glory, expressed his tiredness with Thrawn's "games." Sato's ploy proved to be a trap as he intended to draw the interdictor out of position and then surprise the admiral with a suicide run. Realizing his mistake too late, Konstantine frantically ordered evasive action but was too late to prevent the destruction of his ship. Konstantine not only perished for his reckless insubordination but his actions undermined the outcome of Thrawn's battle plans by allowing Ezra and Chopper to escape into hyperspace to seek reinforcements for the rebels.

Personality and traits
Admiral Konstantine was a stern by-the-books military leader. While he had a commanding presence, he always appeared perturbed by force-users such as the Inquisitor or Darth Vader, and expressed his dislike for working with "mystics". He showed little regard for any of his fellow imperials, and on occasion he showed himself to be self-serving and was not above sacrificing his own men to save himself. Due to his long and storied career in the Imperial Navy, Admiral Konstantine felt that he had to excuse or somehow find someone else to pin his failings. Furthermore he did not view his colleagues as friends, even Agent Kallus. He was also initially skeptical that any Jedi had survived the Jedi Purge. As his failures began to outnumber his victories, he grew increasingly eager to cover himself in personal glory, which would eventually become his fatal flaw.

Konstantine was described as more of a politician than a soldier by Governor Arihnda Pryce, and was not highly regarded by the governor. Konstantine underestimated the threat posed by the rebellion and regarded them as a localized insurgency rather than a galactic-wide insurrection. He lacked Grand Admiral Thrawn's strategic vision in defeating the entire galactic rebellion. Konstantine appeared to favor overwhelming military force and felt insufficient in handling the Iron Squadron with just one ship. He also underestimated the ingenuity and resourcefulness of his numerically and militarily inferior opponents.

Konstantine was familiar with the rebel habit of returning to rescue their stranded comrades. Anticipating this, he did not destroy Mart Mattin's ship but instead planted a magno-mine on it. He intended to lure Mart's rescuers into a trap and destroy both rebel ships. However, the Spectres saw through his plan and neutralized it by getting the astromech droids Chopper and R3 to disable his magno-mine. Konstantine also panicked when confronted by unexpected enemy forces and sought assistance from Thrawn. When Thrawn confronted him over his failure, Konstantine tried to hide the truth by claiming that he had driven the rebels. However, Thrawn realized that Konstantine was obfuscating and corrected him.

Konstantine expressed disbelief when Grand Admiral Thrawn predicted that the rebel Hera Syndulla would be risky enough to ferry Senator Mon Mothma through the dangerous Archeon pass. He and Pryce followed Thrawn's plan to trap the rebels. Konstantine believed that victory was imminent since Commander Skerris had wiped out most of the Ghost Y-wing escorts and that the rebel ships were outgunned and outnumbered by his Star Destroyers. However, Hera turned the tables on Konstantine and Pryce by convincing her Y-wing pilots to fire their proton torpedoes into the nebula, damaging the Star Destroyers.

As his bitter jealousy towards Thrawn grew stronger, he became insubordinate and willing to defy the Grand Admiral's command in battle. During the Battle of Atollon, Konstantine defied Grand Admiral Thrawn's orders and tried to intercept the Rebel command ship Phoenix Home with his own interdictor cruiser. However, Commander Sato, the captain aboard the rebel ship, changed course last minute and rammed Konstantine's cruiser, destroying both himself and the interdictor but allowing Ezra and Chopper's ship to escape the blockade.

Behind the scenes
Kassius Konstantine is a Star Wars Rebels character who first appeared in the first season episode "Gathering Forces." He is voiced by Star Wars: The Clone Wars veteran Dee Bradley Baker. Konstantine was given some point-of-view passages in Michael Kogge's chapter book Ezra's Duel with Danger, which was based on the Star Wars Rebels episodes Empire Day, Gathering Forces and Path of the Jedi. These passages shed light on his personality and tense relationship with the Inquisitor. Konstantine was killed off in the third season's finale "Zero Hour", which premiered on September 25, 2017.