Windy Starkiller

Windy Starkiller
Biographical information
Homeworld	Tatooine
Born	c. 19 BBY, Tatooine
Descriptive information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Skin color	Light

"Windy's nothing but a follower…"

―Biggs Darklighter

Windy Starkiller, otherwise known as Windom Marstrap, was a Human male, and a childhood friend of Luke Skywalker when he lived on Tatooine. He often spent time with Luke at Tosche Station.

Biography

Early life

Windy mocks his friend Luke Skywalker about his dream to join the Imperial Academy.

Windy Starkiller was a male Human born on Tatooine around the same time as his future friend Luke Skywalker from a couple of local inhabitants.

Windy was usually seen in the company of his friend Deak, who continually followed him around Anchorhead. Another Tatooine acquaintance, Biggs Darklighter, once characterized Windy as "a follower" and called Deak "a follower of a follower."

Windy in 0 BBY

Windy's parents would sometimes visit Luke's aunt and uncle at the Lars homestead. When they were thirteen, Luke and Windy became lost in the desert and found themselves face to face with a Krayt dragon. They were rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom they only knew as hermit Ben Kenobi. When Windy and Luke were brought back safely to the Lars homestead by the Jedi, Owen angrily chased Kenobi away.

Windy and Deak were present when Luke was challenged to a speeder race by a local braggart, Gorm Maldorf, in The Cage. He warned Luke that Maldorf was dangerous, but he accepted the challenge. On the morning of the race, Gorm was found dead, strangled, in The Cage. After Windy and Deak helped him make his escape, Luke investigated the death and deduced that Gorm had been accidentally killed while trying to sabotage the race the night before.

Windy in his late teens

By their late teens, the friends were part of a group of youths that included Biggs Darklighter, Janek "Tank" Sunber, Laze "Fixer" Loneozner, and his girlfriend Camie. The teens spent time hanging around at Tosche Station in Anchorhead, and raced their skyhoppers for fun.

When Biggs was accepted into the Imperial Academy, the friends and other locals threw him a party that was broken up by attacking Sand people.

Windy would often serve as a foil to Luke's dreams of leaving Tatooine to join the Academy. Once, when Windy found Luke replaying a Space Academy Recruitment tape for a countless time, he told his friend that he should grow up and be content with the life of a moisture farmer.

Galactic Civil War

Deak and Windy at Tosche Station

Sometime later, just before the Tantive IV was captured by Darth Vader above Tatooine, Luke challenged Fixer to a dangerous skyhopper race through Beggar's Canyon and through the eye of the Stone Needle. Windy flew along with Luke during the race, squealing with fear the whole time. He was frightened by Skywalker's reckless flying and called him "crazy."

Windy saw Luke on the morning Biggs confided in Luke about his plans to join the Rebel Alliance. Windy, along with the rest of his friends, told Luke that he did not believe he had actually seen a firefight in the skies above Tatooine. Shortly after, Luke left and eventually participated in the Battle of Yavin. Months later Windy saw Luke again when the Rebel returned briefly to Tatooine while he was trying to hide from X-7.

More than a year after the Battle of Yavin, Windy could still be found in Anchorhead. While there, he asked a spacer to find a wanted murderer named Blix Lanister, who had fled town.

Windy around 1.5 ABY

The spacer agreed to carry out the task, and found Blix shortly thereafter. Blix was brought back to Windy, who paid the spacer 30 credits in thanks. He even said the spacer should consider a career as a security officer. Yet the situation with Blix did not end there. Windy also wanted the spacer to find one of Blix's gang members, a Rodian named Gleezwuq. Gleezwuq was the only member of Blix's gang whose whereabouts Windy did not know. He was sure that Gleezwuq would have evidence which would implicate Blix in his murder of Alita Sweetwater.

The spacer managed to find the Rodian gang member, and killed him. On Gleezwuq's person was the same blaster that Blix used in his murder of Alita. The spacer brought the blaster back to an impressed Windy, who was now certain that Blix could be brought to justice. The spacer was once again awarded another 30 credits. However, shortly after the evidence was brought to Windy, Blix's cohorts came into town and helped Blix escape Anchorhead. Windy tasked the spacer with one final task, which was to find Blix and his cronies. Windy did not believe that Blix would let himself be brought back alive again. He told the spacer to do what was necessary. Ultimately, the spacer found Blix, and killed him and the other thugs. Following the successful operation, Windy awarded the spacer 100 credits. Sometime following this event, Windy left Anchorhead.

Behind the scenes

A glimpse of Windy in the back of Tosche Station, with Biggs and Deak

Windy is barely glimpsed in the background of the Tosche Station scene cut from A New Hope, playing a game with Biggs and Deak. It's not obvious which of the two men is Windy and which is Deak. The scene is included in the Blu-Ray release of the film. His character is expanded upon in the Star Wars radio drama, where he gets several lines of dialogue.

Windy appears briefly in a training level of the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, voiced by Andrew Chaikin.

Continuity

In the original version of Luke Skywalker's Walkabout, Windy is referred to as both Windom Starkiller and Windy Marstrap. One can assume that Windy is short for Windom. Leland Chee has stated that his last name is Marstrap in the Holocron continuity database. However, in the colored reprint for Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, Last Hope for the Galaxy, Windy's last name has been corrected, and he is named Starkiller both times. Confusing things further, an action figure released by Hasbro in 2010 gave Windy's friend Camie the last name "Marstrap."

Adventure in Beggar's Canyon and Luke Skywalker's Walkabout were both suggested by a single line of dialogue from Luke in the Star Wars radio drama. The two stories are variations on the same premise.

In "Luke Skywalker: Detective," the artist makes Windy and Deak virtually identical, and it's never identified which character is which.

Windy depicted as a girl instead of as a boy in Luke's Fate, unlike all of his other appearances.

In the MMORPG Star Wars Galaxies, Windy was named Windom Starkiller and could be found as a Non-Player Character (NPC) in a tent in Anchorhead. Players who performed a series of quests for Windy had to escort Blix Lanister to Anchorhead, kill Gleezwuq outside town, and then kill Lanister when he escaped from Anchorhead. The series of quests involved implicating Blix Lanister in the murder of Alita Sweetwater. During the second quest, Windom Starkiller would ask the player to call him "Windy." In the game, Windy had blond hair with brown eyes. For unknown reasons, Windy was removed from Star Wars Galaxies less than a year after its release, during Publish 6 on February 11, 2004. Although the player could choose not to do Windy's quests, this article assumes 100% game completion.

In the book Luke's Fate by Jim Thomas, Windy is depicted as a young girl, in contrast with his usual masculine representation and pronouns.

"Windy" was the name of a character in early versions of the Star Wars script. The first iteration of Windy was as "Mace Windy," a Jedi, in the Journal of the Whills, Part I. In the rough draft, Windy becomes the son of King Kayos and brother of Biggs and Leia. In the second draft, Windy, with Biggs, his twin, is a younger brother of Luke Starkiller. They are definitively excised from Luke's family tree in the third draft, where they first become Luke's friends at the power station.

Appearances

• "Luke Skywalker: Detective" — Star Wars Tales 20
• Luke Skywalker's Walkabout
• Adventure in Beggar's Canyon
• Luke's Fate
• Empire 8
• Star Wars radio drama
• Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
• Star Wars: A New Hope novelization (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (Deleted scene)
• Rebel Force: Renegade
• Star Wars (1977) 17 (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
• Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Identified as Windom Starkiller)
• The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi (In flashback(s))
• A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker (In flashback(s))

Sources

• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
• The Essential Guide to Characters
• "Anchorhead: The Lost Scenes" — Star Wars Insider 35
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
• The Essential Guide to Alien Species
• Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided Quick Reference Guide (as Windom Starkiller)
• The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
• 2007 Topps Star Wars 30th Anniversary (Card: At the Power Station) (backup link)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Lars, Beru in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Lars, Owen in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
• Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded

• 2013 Topps Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope

• 2013 Topps Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope (Card: At the Vaporator) (backup link)
• 2013 Topps Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope (Card: Back at Tosche Station) (backup link)
• 2013 Topps Star Wars Illustrated: A New Hope (Card: Threading the Stone Needle) (backup link)

Notes and references

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