DS-3-12

The title of this article is a nickname, call sign, or alias.

This article is about a subject that has not been identified with an official name and is known only by a nickname, call sign, or alias.

DS-3-12 was the call sign of a TIE pilot who served in the Galactic Empire's navy^[1] by 0 BBY. That year, the Battle of Yavin occurred, during which the Alliance to Restore the Republic attempted to destroy the Empire's DS-1 Orbital Battle Station superweapon.^[2] DS-3-12 was among the TIE pilots who fought in the battle,^[1] which saw numerous TIE/LN starfighters attempting to defend the battle station from the Alliance starfighters. Ultimately, the TIE fighters were unsuccessful in defending the station, which was destroyed in a major Alliance victory over the Empire.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

The name "DS-3-12" was coined by Wizards of the Coast in the 2002 A New Hope expansion of the Star Wars Trading Card Game. Although the card game identified "DS-3-12" as the designation of a TIE fighter,^[4] 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia instead established that name as the call sign of the corresponding TIE pilot.^[1] This article assumes the latter source is correct.

Furthermore, the Star Wars Trading Card Game card for DS-3-12 uses a film still^[4] of a TIE fighter destroyed by Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles during the Battle of Yavin scenes in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.^[3] That TIE fighter had previously been identified as "Black 4,"^[5] and its pilot identified as "DS-61-4," in the 1996 A New Hope Limited expansion set of the Decipher Star Wars Customizable Card Game.^[6] This article treats the identification of DS-3-12 by the Star Wars Trading Card Game as an error and as such avoids linking the subject to any of the onscreen TIE fighters seen in the A New Hope Battle of Yavin scenes.