15 Grand Admiral Thrawn Facts Star Wars Fans Should Know

Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most significant villains of Star Wars, but only recently has he become more known to casual fans. The book villain came into the current canon a few years ago and is set to impact the universe that The Mandalorian is building majorly.

From his humble book origins to Star Wars Rebels, Thrawn is a character who has a dedicated fan following for a reason. Here are 15 facts about the Chiss that you might want to know about.

1. Who Is Thrawn?

Mitth'raw'nuruodo, who went by his core name Thrawn, was a character invented by Timothy Zahn for the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. As the main antagonist for the Legends trilogy, Thrawn is considered one of the most significant novel characters as his series shaped the Extended Universe for many years.

At Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2016, it was announced that Thrawn would come into the current canon as one of the villains of Star Wars Rebels. Voiced by Lars Mikkelsen, who would reprise the role in live-action in the series Ahsoka, Thrawn is poised to be the big bad of Star Wars television.

2. Who Are the Chiss?

Thrawn is from an alien species called the Chiss, which hailed from the Unknown Regions. These people were near-human and had blue skin, red eyes, and dark hair. The Chiss were well known for their military, with stories of their victories carrying into Known Space where most Star Wars stories occur. They were xenophobic people, thinking other alien species were lesser than them.

Thrawn did not believe that to be true and found value in all people. The Chiss also had complicated ruling families that constantly were at odds with each other. Despite their differences, the good of the Chiss always came first, making the families allies first and enemies second.

3. The Importance of Art

Frequently, Thrawn is compared to another literary figure Sherlock Holmes. This is because the Chiss had a unique power of deduction, specifically in art. Thrawn deeply appreciated art and could accurately deduce much information about the artist, cultural norms, and society the creator came from. It was an ability that helped Thrawn rise through the ranks of both the Chiss fleet and the Empire.

4. Ysalamiri

One creature often seen with Thrawn in the Legends stories is the ysalamiri. These lizard-like animals were an essential weapon in the original Thrawn trilogy thanks to their ability to repeal the Force by making a Force-neutral bubble around itself. As Thrawn battled heroes like Luke Skywalker, the ysalamiri were crucial to his campaign.

The ysalamiri have yet to have a canon appearance, though statues of the creatures can be seen in Thrawn’s office on his Star Destroyer, the Chimaera.  

5. Anakin Skywalker

One enemy of the Chiss was the Grysk, who tried to orchestrate a civil war, and Thrawn went into Known Space to look for allies. On a fateful meeting in Wild Space, Thrawn ran into Anakin Skywalker.

The Jedi was searching for his wife, Padmé Amidala, who had gone missing. The Chiss and the Jedi decided to team up, and Anakin left a lasting impression on Thrawn.

6. The Spy

Thrawn was a vital player in stopping the Grysk, but because he broke a Chiss law by fighting an enemy Force that had not preemptively struck, he was stripped of all his rank and titles in the Chiss navy.

Knowing that the Grysk were still a threat, Thrawn volunteered to go into exile to spy on a growing government in Known Space called the Empire led by Emperor Palpatine. He wanted to infiltrate their ranks to judge whether or not the Empire could be allies for the Chiss. If the Empire became too strong where it was a threat to the Chiss or they could ally with the Grysk, Thrawn was tasked with destroying the Empire from the inside out.

When he was found by the Imperials and brought before Emperor Palpatine, Thrawn mentioned knowing a great warrior named Anakin Skywalker. There was no way for the Chiss to know that Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Vader, was his once ally. Though as Vader and the Chiss teamed up on a mission, Thrawn figured out that Anakin and Vader were the same people and kept the secret to himself.

7. Facing Discrimination

While training in the Imperial Academy, Thrawn faced firsthand xenophobia against the human members of the Empire. While this sentiment wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with, thanks to the Chiss’ xenophobic views of other species, the attacks confused him. The Empire was supposed to serve all its citizens, including non-humans. It was his firsthand taste of many of the Empire's flaws.

8. Thrawn’s Watsons

Every good Sherlockian character needs a John Watson archetype at his side, and Thrawn has had many Watsons over the years. A Watson archetype is a character there to serve as an exposition to witness Sherlock’s great feats and be the storyteller. Since only one book has been from Thrawn’s point of view, most novels focus on the Watsons telling the stories as they witness Thrawn's actions. Some arguments consider Admiral Ar’alani one of his Watson, though she is more of a peer as she helped train Thrawn as his commander.  

The first Watson was in the Expanded Universe with Captain Gilad Pellaeon, and the Disney canon has added more. Some of Thrawn’s Watsons fitting the archetype in the novels have been Anakin Skywalker, Samakro, Thalias, Che'ri, and Karyn Faro.

9. Eli Vanto

By far, Thrawn’s most popular Watson in the current canon is Eli Vanto, who became a true friend of the Chiss. The two met by chance when Thrawn was discovered in his faux exile. Eli was from Wild Space, which made him different from the Core World Imperials, who thought themselves more proper. Thanks to Wild Space’s proximity to the Unknown Regions, Eli and Thrawn both knew a trade language to communicate with each other. From there, Eli accompanied Thrawn throughout his Imperial Navy training until the Chiss became a Grand Admiral.

Thrawn valued Eli and his friendship, thus sending him away to the Chiss Ascendancy to serve as an ambassador for the Empire. Eli worked with Admiral Ar’alani to prepare for a possible war with the Grysk.

10. Thrawn’s Moriarty

Most good Sherlockian characters need a Professor Moriarty along with a Watson. This archetype is an antagonist who matches the Sherlock and constantly stays one step ahead. For Thrawn, his Moriarty was Nevil Cygni, who went by the codename “Nightswan.” The leader of a Rebel cell, Nightswan was just as good at deducing his enemy’s moves, making him a formidable opponent for the Chiss. Thanks to the chase for the adversary, Thrawn discovered the construction of the Death Star, which Thrawn believed was a waste of resources.

Thrawn was so impressed with Nightswan’s abilities and sense of justice that he offered the Rebel leader a position in the Chiss Ascendancy. Before Nightswan could give his answer, the man was killed in battle. The fight that took Nightswan’s life would be the battle in which Thrawn would gain the rank of Grand Admiral, but the Chiss was hurt at the loss of a brilliant mind like Nightswan.

11. Rukh

One character that carried over from the Expanded Universe alongside Thrawn was his loyal bodyguard, Rukh. The Noghri warrior was Thrawn’s assassin who helped hunt down the Chiss’ enemies in Star Wars Rebels. While their work relationship differed from the Legends stories, Rukh plays a vital role in many of Thrawn’s stories. In Star Wars Rebels, he is voiced by longtime Lucasfilm actor Warwick Davis.

12. Fighting the Spectres

In Star Wars Rebels, Thrawn’s main nemesis is the Ghost's crew, known as the Spectre rebel cell. This group was based on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal and was led by Hera Syndulla and Jedi Kanan Jarrus. Other members included Kanan’s padawan Ezra Bridger, Mandalorian Sabine Wren, and a Lasat honor guard named Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, who had a rivalry with Rukh.

Hera became the main adversary for Thrawn with her military tactics and resourcefulness rivaling Nightswan’s. General Syndulla clashed with the Grand Admiral on multiple occasions, and in the end, Hera came out on top because she had one thing that Thrawn couldn’t account for: People on her team who could use the Force.

13. A Mystical Weakness

One massive weakness of Thrawn was his inability to account for the Force. The Force was not a tangible thing he could measure. Even artwork of the Force varied because it had many different meanings to different cultures, groups, and even among the Jedi. Most of Thrawn’s shortcomings and failures were because Jedi like Ezra and Kanan would surprise the Chiss thanks to their mystical abilities.

Thrawn’s greatest failure was his defeat at Lothal. Face to face with Ezra, the Jedi used his strength in communing with animals and called a pod of Purrgil to his aid. These whale-like creatures could traverse hyperspace and attack Thrawn’s Star Destroyer, taking the Chiss and Jedi away to an unknown location.

14. The First Order

When Thrawn joined the Empire, he made a deal with Emperor Palpatine to allow the Chiss to join the Imperial ranks: Thrawn must provide Palpatine with maps of the Unknown Regions, which were incredibly dangerous to traverse. These maps became incredibly important for Palpatine’s contingency plan upon his demise.

After Thrawn was lost and Palpatine was killed by Darth Vader, another Grand Admiral named Rae Sloane took Thrawn’s maps to lead the Imperial remnants into the Unknown Regions. Her leadership would transform what was left of the Empire into what would become the First Order in the Sequel Trilogy.

15. Almost Chiss

There have been a few other characters in canon that were almost Chiss. Before Thrawn came into Star Wars Rebels, Agent Kallus’ early concept designs had him as a Chiss.

While the High Republic era was being developed, the idea for the main villain, Marchion Ro, being a Chiss was brought up. Lucasfilm illustration manager Jeffery Thomas championed the thought, but it was eventually put down to make a new species, the Evereni.