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User Name/Nick: Allison
User DW:

arcticfoxtrot
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact: Plurk is cannibalherpes
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Trevor Belmont

Character Name: Mitth'raw'nuruodo is his full name, but like most of his species, he goes by his shortened core name, 'Thrawn'. 'Mitth' is his family name, 'Thrawn' is his given name, and 'odo' is a societal suffix to denote an honor, literally 'guardian'.
Series: Star Wars, but specifically the following:

Thrawn (2017)
Thrawn: Alliances (2018)
Thrawn: Treason (2019)
Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising (2020)
Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good (2021)
Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil (2021)
Star Wars: Rebels (2014-2018)

Age: Between 50-60 years old
From When?: When Ezra Bridger uses space whales to pull them into the next galaxy at the end of Rebels.

Inmate Justification: Thrawn is an exceptionally morally gray character from the start; he literally will do anything it takes to safeguard his people, the Chiss. He's a ruthless military leader and strategist, even among other warriors. Thrawn believes in preemptive strikes against his enemies and will work with whatever morally bankrupt allies he feels is necessary to achieve his goals.

He has a very strong code of honor but occasionally it's hard to reconcile: he considers working with a lesser evil a necessity in order to prevent a greater evil from taking over, and thus swears his allegiance to the Imperial Empire, an organization known for its war crimes such as slaughtering civilians, imprisoning others without due process, xenophobia, corruption, and endorsing/actively participating in slavery. He's practical almost to a fault and he performs much of the same exploitative tactics the greater Empire employs if he finds them useful to his ultimate goals or if he's directly ordered to do so in order to protect something or someone more important. He has tortured his enemies, killed some of his own people and ordered strikes on civilian territories, all in service of the Empire. He is also not quite the model Chiss, deliberately placing his crew and ship (and himself) in harm's way if the risk will secure a more complete victory.

He will weigh sentient beings' lives against what he wants and determine what's an acceptable loss, though his interpretation of this might differ radically from other military leadership: Thrawn believes that if someone puts on a uniform, they are prepared to do anything they can to achieve victory for their side and will treat enemy combatants seriously and without mercy until victory is assured.

It could be argued that what Thrawn suffers from is poor timing on the part of the galaxy: he arrives just at the 20 year period when the galaxy is in the hands of a massive Empire, and he swears allegiance to it despite its expansive list of war crimes and internal corruption. However, Thrawn likely wouldn't have joined up with either the Old Republic or the New: both were significantly weaker in central authority by definition of their being democracies and both Republics were extremely slow to act and not immune to corruption either. Thrawn is a military man who believes in absolute power, primarily because he doesn't have a lot of political imagination and believes that things politically would sort themselves out if someone less than savory is in charge.

He makes the argument that while yes, what the Emperor is doing is evil and terrible, the Emperor is also ancient and prime for a change in government, and wouldn't it be nice if Thrawn were on hand to help choose a better leader who didn't kill his own people. However, this speaks to his myopic vision that the rest of the high command will somehow just fall in line and somehow not break out into infighting, or that the eventual new Emperor won't be worse. Additionally he will also argue that because the known galaxy is so expansive with so many different worlds and species, it's impossible to stop injustice without having a massive amount of firepower and a certain degree of ruthlessness.

One of his enemies calls Thrawn out on this and goes a step further, telling him that when Thrawn seeks absolute control over his enemies, the more enemies he will make. Thus Thrawn's whole arc is chiefly self-defeating: he wants to make an oppressive system stronger and can almost certainly manage it, but ends up pissing off more people in the process. Further, he doesn't really have a plan for succession of power: he believes that if you mentor enough good people, they'll balance out the bad. It worked for him, after all, but Thrawn is an insanely hard-working, intense guy who has no real equal and if he's trying to build something that's going to last after his own death, he's failing miserably. He's hitched his cart to the wrong Bantha and his code of honor requires he fulfill his oath of loyalty: Thrawn is of the mindset that the Empire can be reformed or redeemed from the inside and doesn't have the political intuition to know it was corrupt from the jump.

Be prepared for a lot of circular arguing about the nature of individual vs imperial redemption.

Arrival: Against his will!

Abilities/Powers: Thrawn has no powers and isn't a Force-user, but he does have a few uncanny abilities that speak more to his intelligence and observational skills. He has an impeccable memory: those speaking to him only once note that he can recall their name, place of work, and superiors years later.

Thrawn tends to pay insane attention to his surroundings, able to hear attacks coming from things like the silence of a room, the flush of someone's face, or the rush of a breeze just before a hit lands. Thrawn's eyes are a little better than humans, able to see a little more of the visible spectrum into the infrared. He also can hear slightly better than humans can. He fights extremely well (knowing several forms of Star Wars-ian martial arts) and will leave himself open for attacks in order to ascertain the measure of a person.

Using his infrared vision from his native species and observational skills from years of practice, Thrawn can make pretty sound guesses as to who someone is if he's seen them before, even when they take pains to hide their faces or are behind walls. He doesn't really have a word for this detection in Basic, calling it a person's 'aura': his translator describes it as referring to someone's "height, weight, build, vocal quality, mannerisms, profession and expertise, or some combination". Note that some of this only applies if he's watching them in person, as infrared can't be detected over a video screen.

Inmate Information:

Thrawn as a representative of his species
Thrawn is a member of the Chiss race, a group of blue-skinned, red-eyed humanoids who control a portion of the Unknown Regions, outside of conventional Imperial/Republic space. They (and Thrawn especially) are known for being proud, confident, and deadly warriors. They act in unison, very rarely disagreeing where outsiders can see, especially when it comes to military decisions. They're thought by humans in Wild Space to be myths or bedtime stories told to frighten children. Most, including Thrawn, speak a version of the language Sy Bisti to communicate with traders but their primary language is Cheunh.

Thrawn, like most Chiss, exhibits cleverness, tactics, resourcefulness, and an ability to maintain control of the situation. He prepares himself to explain his actions carefully if asked, interested in reaching an understanding with the asker and teaching them his methods. The Chiss don't use as many facial expressions as other humanoid species, and Thrawn has been known to privately observe many tics of others to establish whether they're lying or uncomfortable or upset. The Chiss understand sarcasm and resentment very well, but they aren't often seen using it, because it denotes disrespect and they prefer to simply eliminate the disrespectful and move on. They don't make boasts or idle promises, and as one familiar with their legends notes; "once they set their minds to something, they succeeded or died in the attempt."

Both the Chiss and Thrawn are intensely loyal, especially to other Chiss and people they respect: all of Thrawn's good and bad actions could be summed up as 'motivation to do right by his people' in some way. They do not suffer disrespect lightly: when Thrawn is brought before Palpatine not as a prisoner or a resource but as a 'gift', it's thought of by Thrawn's translator as something the Chiss would consider a 'deadly insult'. Chiss do not forget injuries done to them, though it may not always lead to retribution: Thrawn acknowledges that situations, motives, and reasons can change and therefore may not feel the urge to extract vengeance on an injury done to him, though he won't forget it.

The Chiss (and Thrawn) have to be approached with respect and strength when negotiating or promising something. However, if the Chiss (and Thrawn) deem something to be pure evil, they won't attempt to understand or compromise: only to eliminate.

Thrawn as an exception to his species

Thrawn is a terribly reckless, confusing Chiss. His people do not understand him and constantly misinterpret his actions and motivations.

Unlike most of the Chiss, Thrawn believes in preemptive strikes and this is what causes him to disagree with most of the ruling council. He outright calls the Chiss Ascendancy dishonorable when they refused to assist in defending nearby defenseless worlds who were being raided by pirates. He also does not like that while the Ascendancy demands non-interference into non-Chiss activities, they also want to know everything about non-Chiss and thus send Thrawn and others like him out into the most dangerous parts of space.

Thrawn heavily disagrees with the Ascendancy on the use of the Chiss' Force-sensitive children. For unknown reasons, the Chiss tend to mostly produce Force-sensitive girls, who lose most of their powers around age 14 or so: however, these children, called 'sky-walkers', are extremely important on military vessels as navigators, as they can use their Force sensitivity to calculate hyperspace jumps in a fraction of the time it would ordinarily take their current technology. Thrawn's older sister was one of these conscripted girls, taken from his family when he was three years old and not returned: the Chiss military discharges these girls when their Force sensitivity runs out and adopts them out to other families. As a younger brother and as a military leader, Thrawn actively disagrees with the practice, although he admits he has no alternative as of yet. Even so, he treats Force-sensitive children with exceptional kindness because of this and even manages to convince Darth Vader to let the Force-sensitive Chiss children go. Moreover, his interest in recovering the kidnapped Chiss children are less "the enemy will have an advantage" and more "we need to get these kids back to their families", demonstrating his earnest empathy for his people as a protector than as a full-on military commander.

Thrawn is a remarkably empathetic person when compared to his species: the Chiss are a species that is extremely isolationist, and as such, tend to treat non-Chiss people as little better than talking pets. Even the CEDF (Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, whose mission is to interact with these other native species)'s best officers are surprised when Thrawn treats non-Chiss with the same level of respect as he might give an esteemed member of a ruling family.

He also tends to treat members of his own species differently. In the Ascendancy, though they often pretend to be otherwise, the Chiss are deeply fractured among family lines: there are 9 main 'Families' that rule the whole of the species, 40 lesser families, and countless smaller ones, and each one is trying to one-up the other. Thus most Chiss get fairly good at playing the political game early, or else they're crushed: Thrawn is an insane exception because he literally does not care about the glory of his adopted family: he seems to believe that what's good for one is good for all Chiss. This is noble in theory but naive in practice.

He also treats his subordinates with much more care because of this: whereas most Chiss superior officers would give preferential treatment to their own family members, Thrawn believes strongly in meritocracy and will promote based purely on that, which tends to throw off everyone around him. He will disobey rules (VERY non-Chiss!) and stretch the boundaries of what he's permitted to do at every turn. But he'll also stop to comfort a crying Chiss child, even if bridge protocol demands that he isn't even supposed to know of their existence.

According to him, the Chiss also don't understand Thrawn's near-obsession with art; they don't understand the link between tactical knowledge of a people they hope to win military victories against, and the culture, history, and philosophy of that people. Thrawn, meanwhile, can see links between what artists as products of their environment can do and what that means for military counter-attacks. Most of his people find him weird and off-putting (even those who have reason to like him) and most take a while to warm up to him, indicating that he doesn't know or doesn't care how he comes off to others.

Thrawn and Chiss Politics
Thrawn is bad at politics.

Thrawn is so bad at politics that the ruling head of his family notices this and manipulates a rising political star in the same family to befriend Thrawn, because Thrawn can't be trusted to safeguard his own career politically. Despite Thrawn's insane military capabilities and genius when it comes to tactics, his major flaw is being insecure, socially inept, and uninterested in the political life one needs to have at least some basis in once they get to a high enough rank. The Chiss have an extraordinarily rigid system of government and the head of the family (Thrawn's family being the Mitth) exercises near complete control over everyone below him. Therefore, to succeed in life and in one's chosen career, one has to learn not to piss people off or make them look stupid in comparison: this is something Thrawn will never, ever learn how to do.

In his later years he'll get better at acknowledging this flaw and seek to remedy it, mainly through befriending someone else who's really good at the game and can help steer him away from political suicide. The first of these friends is Thrass, Thrawn's 'brother' in the Mitth family; while both were manipulated into friendship through their ruling head placing them together at key moments, the friendship and brotherhood is genuine.

Interactions with Other Chiss Officers
Most other Chiss in the military, like their Imperial counterparts later in life, find Thrawn's tactics off-putting, frustrating, and successful. One of Thrawn's first life-long friends is made when he is accused of cheating as a cadet in Taharim Academy: Senior Cadet Ar'Alani, responsible for proctoring Cadet Thrawn's exam, is there when he's brought up on charges. Not understanding why he felt the need to cheat when he had high grades already - and taking into consideration his plea of not guilty - Ar'alani supports his claim that the test was flawed.

Thrawn and Ar'Alani work extremely well together, and enjoy learning from one another: Ar'Alani learns better strategy and tactics from Thrawn, and Thrawn learns how to inspire loyalty and camaraderie in his crews for decades to come by watching Ar'Alani's interactions with her own bridge.

Thrawn's second in command through most of his time is a Chiss named Samakro, who like future Imperial officers, finds Thrawn off-putting, weird, and potentially politically conniving. Only to find that later he is...off-putting, weird, but politically inept and a genius in military strategy and it would be better for everyone to just let him do his thing and make up an excuse later to justify Thrawn's insane plans.

Military Victories and Big Brain Time

Thrawn's star shines brightest when he is pulling strategic victories out of thin air, to both the approval and consternation of his allies. He's been in the military since he was twenty years old, and even as a young cadet managed to distinguish himself through simulations, almost getting himself kicked out of his academy for 'cheating' when he starts inventing his own stealth maneuvers. In both the Chiss and Imperial academies he scores top marks and then starts to reinvent the curriculum.

Most of Thrawn's first Imperial assignments aboard the cruisers Blood Crow and Thunder Wasp are hunting down pirates and smugglers. Thrawn manages to distinguish himself to most everyone around him through his out-of-the-box thinking, tracking down fleeing criminals with ease and recovering stolen goods and property mostly intact. However, these do not have the flashy, big victories that get someone noticed and promoted; most of Thrawn's time on these first few ships as a military leader is observing how his commanders and aide seek to test themselves in full combat.

At one point, he's asked why he seeks higher rank if not to exercise control and authority. He answers "Because there are problems that must be solved. Some cannot be solved by anyone except me." While bordering on the egotistical, Thrawn proves sadly right; much of his desire to reach rank is so he can solve his problems back home. He acknowledges, however, that this answer is unsatisfactory to anyone who asks him this question.

His military career is chiefly something he also loves; if Thrawn could not exercise his brain to strategy and tactics, he would have to find other outlets for this boundless creativity, or risk stagnation. The military is famously not interested in remodeling or creativity, however, so Thrawn dances on the edge of court martials and dishonorable discharges as often as he is lauded and promoted. When left to his own devices and not hampered by distrusting colleagues, there is little that Thrawn can't accomplish on a battlefield.

A more detailed list of his military victories, promotions, and many court martials can be found here

Big Brain, but When It's Not Being Used to Blow Up Enemies

Thrawn ~~would do really well in Kanban/Lean training~~ is someone who isn't content with tasks being performed at satisfactory levels: he wants to know why they're being done in a certain way. He's someone who doesn't like or understand tradition for tradition's sake alone: he constantly challenges the idea of "that's the way it's always been done", which is an endless source of frustration and irritation for his superiors but leads to innovative new ideas. He doesn't mind things that have a satisfactory reason behind them (ex., "Hey Thrawn we don't have emergency buttons on our comms because there's no room for them alongside the levels of encryption we need to protect our messages") but doesn't like anything that comes with the answer "that's just traditional." Most of the time if he's not in a position to directly affect change, he'll answer with "We'll see" or "Perhaps", and go sneak off to do the changes discretely on his own authority.

Thrawn is exceedingly good at analyzing data and numbers; he doesn't concentrate on military victories alone (though that tends to be where he shines) but also on supply lines, imports and exports, and market fluctuations. This especially comes in handy when he's tracking down smugglers, raiders, and what faction is attempting to build superweapons. He is one of the first people not involved with the building of the Death Star to suspect it's being constructed way back when he was a senior lieutenant: he makes the connection that the Imperial Navy is buying up all the doonium they can get their hands on. He concludes it has to be something large and unannounced. He continues to follow this line of operation well into his career: as a commodore he makes the connection that hyperdrive components are being taken without assembled hyperdrives, and engine components but not engines: therefore it's something tremendously big and not a load of little ships as previously thought.

Perhaps interestingly, Thrawn will eventually go along with plans that he knows are doomed for failure. He doesn't like to waste time with people who refuse to agree with him or consider alternative possibilities: instead he prefers to safeguard as much as personnel or projects as possible when the plan inevitably self-destructs. Therefore while he will voice his discontent, he won't spend hours trying to convince someone of logic they won't believe in anyway: he'll move to work with what little trust or power he has instead. This speaks to Thrawn's chief dislike of politics, debate, and useless talking when lives are at stake. He has little confidence in his oral capacities and prefers to just sort of shrug, let the officer in charge wreck themselves against whatever obstacle they're trying to break through, and proceed with his own plans on the side.

Ultimately, Thrawn does nothing without a reason: if he's asking weird questions, putting out bizarre or nonsensical orders, or setting up meetings with strange people, it's always in service of a goal, even if it's hard to see until he explains himself.

Thrawn and Loyalty

As discussed above, Thrawn displays the Chiss' hallmark signs of absolute loyalty. Even under his supposed exile, when asked what he might do if his people don't welcome him back after defending them, Thrawn replies: "I do not need their permission to protect them...Nor do I expect their thanks." He outright says to Vader that he "prizes and cherishes loyalty," especially when it stems from proven competence and not from xenophobia. He believes that he can continue to serve both Empire and Ascendancy, especially in adherence to eliminating a shared enemy. To those unwilling to accept this as an answer, he pleads for time and trust, and barring that, will give up as little information as possible about the Chiss, to as few people as possible.

Thrawn's loyalties are constantly called to question by those around him: even Palpatine demands to know who Thrawn would be loyal to, the Chiss or the Empire. Thrawn so far has been able to avoid being put in such a situation but when pressed, he will admit that the Empire commands his actions but the Chiss will always have his heart and mind.

Thrawn and the Force

Thrawn has a...complicated relationship with the Force. For all his logic and planning and tactical maneuvering, the Force is the deus ex machina of the Star Wars universe and impossible to plan for. Rather than embrace the idea that there are just some things you can't predict your enemies will use, Thrawn actively tries to find ways to suppress or eliminate the Force as a weapon. Though it hasn't been made explicit Disney canon yet, the fact that Thrawn collects art pieces featuring the ysalamiri (Force-suppressant lizards who can render a Force-user helpless) speaks to their existence and his desire to track down these methods, if he hasn't already.

Thrawn and Technology

As a military commander, Thrawn is extremely interested in the logic and detail of the vessels he commands, and goes about overhauling or understanding every piece of tech he's expected to interact with. He overhauls his own commlink as a cadet to include an emergency button and attaches a second one to his insignia tiles as a back-up. As a weapons officer, Thrawn takes a deep interest in the electronics repair shop and has a keen eye for metals, buying up old battle droids with valuable doonium inside and repairing the droids inside the hangars to make use of their compactness, drills, and cutting implements.

On his first couple of ships of the navy, Thrawn works on repairing a hyperdrive ring. He collects buzz and vulture droids in hanger bays despite the reluctance of his commanders, and is deeply invested in the technology of the old Clone Wars, especially the antiques being bought up so fast as to drive the pricing up.

As an Admiral, Thrawn sinks a lot of time, effort, and social credit into attempting to convince the Navy to accept his TIE defender program. The TIE fighters (small one-man ships) traditionally have no shielding and no hyperdrive, sacrificing both for speed. Thrawn's redesign includes both, with an added bonus of being a lot faster and stealthier. However, he's routinely mocked for them, as pride and insistence that a 'competent pilot' did not need shielding.

Thrawn and Art(!!!)

From the very beginning, Thrawn is deeply invested in the culture and artwork of every people he interacts with. He is able to defeat a senior Chiss cadet three years older than him simply by observing the clay statues she makes and what her art says about her. He asks Eli Vanto to tell him stories of what he's heard of his kind, explaining that "one may learn a great deal about a person by the stories they tell of others." From observing the very expensive piece of artwork behind his commander's desk relative to his low-paying salary, Thrawn deduces that the art was a gift given to the commander by a powerful family, and thus is beholden to them and would not willingly confront his benefactors.

In his first three years in the Imperial Empire, Thrawn builds up a huge collection of data cards 'to rival the best art archives in the Empire'. He treats art not as a matter of culture or wealth or to enjoy; he uses it as a tool to understand the world around him and more specifically the people he needs to subjugate. So complete is his love for art as a tool of military power that he tends to zone out and not even answer the comms of his superiors.

Thrawn uses the art of other cultures to understand what they value: for example, in a land dispute on Cyphar between the Afe clan of Cyphari natives and the human colonists, Thrawn deduces through the Afe art that they would consider killing to be shameful and feel guilty, and thus baited into giving up their territory unjustly. He instead urges them away from the border so they won't be lured into a trap of kill-or-be-killed and catches the humans out before they have a chance to bait the Afe in order to steal their territory (which holds a significant amount of mineral deposits).

When asked to describe what he sees by both Chiss and Imperial allies, it's a source of frustration for all parties when Thrawn can't. He's able to make extremely educated guesses when studying the art of both a culture and a single person, but struggles to teach others this hyperfocused skill of his. He once replied to a request to explain his deductive reasoning with; "I can't explain it. It just seems obvious to me."

Interactions with other Imperial Officers

It's almost hilarious how bad Thrawn can be with political schmoozing, given his high rank in the navy. Upon first being inducted into the Imperial navy, Thrawn didn't really understand what playing politics was, preferring to be as direct as possible with his superiors and believing them to have just cause in their actions, instead of the usual cause of "I've got a big ego and I don't like your blue face telling me what to do". Later on in his career, Thrawn would understand why people would kiss up to their bosses and use empty flattery to get what they wanted and he still refused to play that game, finding it underhanded and not very convincing, and worst of all, slow. Thrawn believes in direct, concise actions and has little patience for dealing with people who don't want to jump onboard with his plans...even when they're his direct bosses. At one point he tells a direct commanding officer "I can't let you do that": these near-misses and court martials happen on an unfortunately regular basis. Even when he makes Admiral, he fails to do such little things as introduce his subordinates to strangers or lay out food for guests.

As a Grand Admiral, Thrawn goes so far as to tell Darth Vader himself to "be quick" with his business - a line that doesn't exactly endear him to the famously impatient and homicidal dark lord. He tells him to 'calm himself' when Vader is about to strangle an important hostage, leading to a verbal smackdown between the two later on the Chimaera's bridge in front of the crew.

By being extraordinarily competent and tactical, Thrawn repeatedly shows up all the politically-connected High Command and makes them resent him. Worse, he doesn't realize he's doing it until he has to have a frank conversation with his aide about it. Thrawn is political poison: he can mostly escape the crosshairs of someone with a grudge, but a lot of others who helped him out cannot. Thus he's left a trail of destruction behind him, as allies around Thrawn have their careers stagnate or outright ended. He wonders if he should try to be less capable as a result, but is enthusiastically refused by his aide; the navy needs him because when he's in command, more lives are saved.

He's been the target of a lot of xenophobic actions and words throughout the whole of his Imperial career, but takes it all in stride and tries not to let it bother him, preferring to respond mildly or not at all. Thrawn divides every single officer he encounters (superior and inferior) into specific categories: those who have a mind for tactics and see his plans and will work with him; those who need to see his plans work before they'll agree to work with him; those he can force to work with him through manipulation, reverse psychology, or threats; and those who will never work with him. Everything else to him becomes inconsequential, regardless of any political or emotional motive behind it.

One of the hardest things for Thrawn to learn is that while his hunches are almost always correct, offering explanations up without proof has led to so many Imperial officers not believing him. Worse, when the proof does arrive, it biases said officers against him. Thrawn will not say so outright, but it's clear from his posture and his tone that he's hurt by his expert opinions being casually dismissed out of hand despite (or perhaps because of) his record of being correct. Therefore he learns to keep some of his findings a secret until such time as he can point to the reasoning behind them and earn trust that way. This, also, ironically puts him at odds with officers resentful of secrets being kept from them. Erroneously believing that once he achieved a high enough rank with a performance record behind it, Thrawn is similarly hurt when even as a Grand Admiral, he's not afforded the trust that comes with that rank when he needs it.

Of particular note are his interactions with Eli Vanto, the supply officer who ends up as his translator and later aide and trusted companion. Thrawn greatly enjoys Eli's company from the start, first getting to know him as a person and then telling him that he holds his life in his hands: as Thrawn's translator and therefore guide to the rest of the Empire, Eli could accidentally or even deliberately mistranslate Thrawn's words and lead to his execution. Thrawn tells Eli from the start that he's 'content' to have him as his translator, which is huge in Chiss society: it means he trusts him with his life, that he accepts his intelligence and that there is a mutual respect at play. As the two work through the Royal Imperial academy together, Thrawn relies heavily on Eli for help understanding idioms, cultural norms, and social orders/interactions, especially when it comes to identifying future problematic behavior from other Imperials, his so-called allies. Eli is one of Thrawn's closest allies, arguably his first human friend, and the first person he sends back to his home planet as a valuable asset for his people to rely on.

It's debatable that Eli is one of the reasons Thrawn did his best to skyrocket his career in the navy: Eli, unhappy with his first official assignment as then-Lieutenant Thrawn's aide, tells him not to make a fuss on his behalf because the Imperial Navy doesn't listen to junior officers and sarcastically remarks that when he's an admiral, he can request a change. Thrawn, deadly serious, agrees and promises to achieve that rank as quickly as possible. Eli's lack of promotions thanks to Thrawn pissing off High Command rankles him deeply; his inability to play politics didn't allow him to see that his superiors would target Eli. He grooms Eli for command, making agreements in order to bring Eli to promotion from Ensign to Lieutenant Commander. Captain Kayrn Faro notes that Eli "kept Thrawn sane" when he was surrounded by bigots and idiots. Such is the level of underhanded backstabbing that Thrawn is visibly relieved (and a little bit sadly amused) when Vader questions his loyalties based on his actions and not anything having to do with the circumstances of his birth.

Other notable people in Thrawn's life include Colonel Yularen of the Imperial Security Bureau who takes an immediate liking to Thrawn due to his cleverness and intercedes on his behalf numerous times when others in High Command want to punish him or knock him down a peg. He regularly checks in with the Colonel throughout the beginning of his career, and has been offered jobs by Yularen if ever the Navy succeeds in kicking him out.

Despite the massive amounts of pushback, even outright insubordination or attacks he receives from some Imperials, because they're on the same 'team', Thrawn does his best to turn those who would slight him into useful or usable assets. When he's attacked unprovoked by three cadets, he outright demands for them not to be punished, but to be enrolled in starfighter training because they acted in a cohesive combat unit, which coincidentally also moves them away from his own career trajectory and keeps their powerful families happy. He's later proven right in his prediction: one of the TIE fighters later assigned to him as a commander is one of the attackers from the night they were all cadets, and he proves to be a spectacular (albeit still xenophobic) pilot.

When he's assigned to a captain resentful of an alien officer who goes against protocol and tradition (and thus assigns him the worst of the ship's jobs possible), Thrawn bears this with 'stoic good grace.' He's been threatened with court martial so often at this point that he goes along with it with the same grace, feeling that it's the natural way of things rather than what would be to most others a career-ending failure. Most often he's treated either as a renegade non-human masquerading as an imperial officer or as an 'unusual prize fish' by High Command, most of whom despise him for a variety of reasons and go so far as to keep putting his ships at the bottom of the list for repairs in order to keep him grounded planet-side.

Throughout his time in the Imperial Navy, Thrawn does his best to instruct those around him about his tactics and what he's doing, in order to teach them to do as he does. He asks his subordinates what they've learned about interactions and battles, and makes thoughtful corrections without condemnation or condescension. He proves to be an excellent teacher to those willing to listen, making it a matter of duty to help others below him rise to their full ability. He teaches his people how to communicate nonverbally if they are under duress, and lets them know when he's pleased with them through verbal praising, promotions, and respect for their lives. Thrawn considers every person under his control a matter of responsibility and does not take that responsibility lightly, which enamors his crew and makes them that much more loyal and hard-working. Most low-ranking Imperial soldiers are treated as throw-away trash by High Command: Thrawn is one of the few notable exceptions and most of his crew appreciate and even adore their commander for it, knowing that he won't treat them as expendable.

Another person Thrawn interacts with closely is his first officer aboard the Chimaera, Commander Karyn Faro. She, like most imperial officers, has a tone of insubordination to her, calling Thrawn's comments into question in full view of the crew under the guise of clarifying what he means. However, Thrawn treats her respectfully in turn, answering her questions with an endless amount of patience. Thrawn finds her smart and self-confident and allows her to take command of the Chimaera very early in her career while he has a more secretive mission elsewhere. Despite her hesitancy around Thrawn, she obeys his orders without question and is able to anticipate his needs. As she gets comfortable with Thrawn's unusual command structure, however, her respect for him blossoms and she finds herself far less tense and more comfortable when reporting, noting that Thrawn 'always saw the big picture, choosing to concentrate on the successes and learning from the failures.' She begins to take pride in the small smiles he offers her when she's able to anticipate his needs, and eventually her insubordination and xenophobia disappear entirely: this tends to be par for the course for how Thrawn's crew is so loyal to him compared to other Imperial officers.

Thrawn can be a hard, demanding taskmaster at times, but his unconventional approaches to battles usually end in victory and low casualties. He is brilliant but doesn't use his brilliance to humiliate his crew members: he asks only what they can give but never out-of-reach perfection. One stormtrooper commander notes that Thrawn "had amazing stores of patience for those who were truly working to their fullest ability." Moreover, he cares about what he's doing (in a way most Imperial commanders don't), and his intense interest in people is contagious. Those who already have cause to like him tend to want to please him more because they know he'll notice and approve. Thrawn desires cohesiveness in his crew, which stands in stark contrast to most of the self-serving captains and commanders. He leads open tactile consultation on his bridge; anyone present can offer advice or suggestions or comments after briefings, allowing all of his officers a chance to hone their skills. Visitors to the Chimaera note the unique attitude of both officers and crew: none of the senior officers are self-centered or going through the motions, and from the Commodore to the lowly mechanic, everyone is 'intent on working together to the best of their ability'.

However, this cohesiveness can come at a price: he will praise and reward the worthy, but is swift and brutal in his treatment of those under him who put crew or civilian lives in danger for their own gain. He doesn't tolerate laziness, time-wasters, or people who are uninterested in giving their best. If they are working underneath him, Thrawn typically has them fired or moved elsewhere to other commanders, or on rare occasions, court-martialed. One informed observer notes that Thrawn has a slow but meaningful effect on younger officers and if he manages to last long enough, he could very well change the Empire to truly last forever.

Interactions with Civilians

In general, Thrawn outright despises those in political power who have no need to prove their leadership or competence, which he says is an outright difference from the way military leadership is set up. He calls those who resist against those with that political power either brave or foolish, with some admiration, and notes that 'promotions should not be affected by politics', betraying his own naivete in such matters.

Thrawn does his best to protect the lives of all citizens, finding loss of life to be distateful. However, he has a very cold, calculated view of most people, categorizing them as 'imperial resources that a wise commander never wastes without need.'

Interactions with Adversaries and Enemies

Thrawn rarely gets upset or concerned about much, and almost never frightened (a notable exception is when he's interacting with hostile Force users). He's direct when it comes to situations that may involve loss of life or limb and though he tries to mitigate both, he will calculate what he deems as 'acceptable' or 'unacceptable' losses and act accordingly. He describes himself as 'a warrior', recalling to the Emperor: "A warrior may retreat. He does not flee. He may lie in ambush. He does not hide. He may experience victory or defeat. He does not cease to serve."

Such is Thrawn's interactions with anyone he considers his enemy. He accepts both his victories and defeats gracefully and works tirelessly to understand why an outcome ended the way it did and how he can best orchestrate or avoid it as needed. He doesn't gloat and very rarely gives ultimatums, considering it his responsibility to do everything in his power to end conflicts in the least loss-of-life possible.

He is unerringly polite and never outwardly mocking, but he definitely has a sadistic, sarcastic edge to him. He wants his enemies to know they've been defeated by him: not for his personal glory (he wants none), but as part of Thrawn's satisfaction of a completed task. He enjoys battles and war, and delights when he can find an opponent to play against: an unhindered conquest, while easy, brings him less satisfaction than a challenging victory that forces him to think in new ways. Make no mistake, though: he won't go easy on his opponents for anything, unwilling to fall prey to the very Imperial habit of underestimating the other side.

He does make an interesting distinction between an adversary and an actual enemy. Adversaries are people like the Rebellion, the Imperials who hate him, and the not-so-bloodthirsty smugglers/pirates who have a code of honor that he can work with, aka "people who could eventually become allies": enemies are 'pure evil' who seek nothing but absolute conquest or destruction and should receive nothing but obliteration in return. Thawn's list of enemies is a much shorter but far more terrifying list.

He often compliments his adversaries when they deserve it, calling some of them brave or tenacious. He doesn't lie when he doesn't have to, so this might be a genuine mark of respect; it doesn't, however, prevent him from executing these same people. He tends to offer temporary mercy to smaller fish in order to catch bigger prey, retreating at certain key points to draw out a leader or higher-up into a trap.

To the adversaries who have personally bested him before, Thrawn is not exactly obsessed - obsession would imply that he cares about this only, to little else - but he does have what his aide calls a 'subtle but strong focus'. His first real opponent in Imperial space is the smuggler-turned-Rebel Nightswan, who can match Thrawn pound-for-pound on tactics and plays a longer game like the Chiss does. Thrawn is visibly pleased when he sees 'invitations' from Nightswan to come and 'play' - basically blatant smuggling tactics with a hallmark signature on them - and is interested in seeing which of the two of them can come out the victor.

Acting Out of Character

Thrawn has a very mild, modest, even temperament, exuding calm control in most everything he does: therefore when he goes off-script, it's something worth paying attention about.

When he's first confronted with an Imperial commander who values goods over the lives of a civilian crew and reprimands him for choosing the latter over the former, Thrawn is "as confused as [the observer] had ever seen him". This confusion is hinting to the Chiss' level of genuine shock that monetary goods are worth more to some than the lives of the people under their care. For all his cleverness, this speaks to Thrawn's naivete when it comes to the base natures of a lot of the evil banality that goes on in the Empire.

He also voices confusion when Commander Cheno is forcibly retired when all he did was save lives. Thrawn doesn't understand navy politics in the slightest even as a captain and it takes him some time to realize that the navy doesn't care about a waste of resources (and the retirement of a good commander who had the possibility of learning from his mistakes) so much as it cares about soothing over the fragile egos of its admirals.

One of the few times he's heard to even raise his voice happens when then-Commodore Thrawn is investigating a brutal attack on a frigate and is prevented from entering the troop quarters by a stormtrooper. Thrawn is the most senior-ranked person within hours of space, yet the trooper refuses to let him inside, citing 'I have my orders'. Thrawn, wanting to move quickly to achieve justice and retribution, shouts very firmly at the stormtrooper, who jumps to obey. Thrawn later confides in his aide out of hearing; "I was not angry. Some people will not respond to reason. Others refuse to consider alternatives to their normal pattern of behavior. In such cases, an unexpected breaking of one's own patterns can be an effective tool."

It's very rare that he genuinely feels fear, so it may be that he doesn't know how best to hide it when it does happen: during a mission to Batuu with Vader, Thrawn is caught off-guard by Vader's description of a disturbance in the force suddenly going fearful and then silent: his posture becomes jerky and his expression grows rigid. He recovers quickly, but it's significant enough that Vader notices and remembers it - later it's revealed that Thrawn reacted as he did because he came to the unfortunate conclusion that the enemy they were hunting was connected to the Grysk species, who had kidnapped Chiss force-sensitives.

Thrawn and the Grysk

The Grysk - a humanoid species with tapered skulls, deep-set eyes and wide shoulders - are Thrawn's earliest, longest-lasting true enemy and the catalyst for him leaving Chiss society and entering Imperial space. Thrawn describes them to Vader as follows:

"Grysks are a species living somewhere in the Unknown Regions. Creatures half of myth, whom few have ever seen. It is said that they are nomads, with no fixed home, traveling in spacecraft so numerous they blot out the stars. They are said to be terrifying warriors, overwhelming their opponents by sheer numbers and ferocity."

The Grysk are the big threat to the Chiss Ascendancy, primarily because they're able to use satellite species to get around attacking directly until all their pieces are in place. Thrawn's entire motivation to join with the Empire is to use their firepower to eventually take down the Grysk before they incite civil war on his people. He will show no mercy, and be shown none in return.

Those Damn Skywalkers

'Skywalkers' are, to Thrawn, one word with two very important meanings. The first is a last name belonging to a certain Force-wielding Jedi he's encountered in his journeys: the second is an actual navigator class of people kept secret from all of the non-Chiss galaxy and even most of Chiss society.

'Sky-walkers' are Force-sensitive Chiss (nearly all girls) who act as navigators on starships through hyperspace. The homeworlds of the Chiss can't be conventionally navigated to or between, due to black holes, supernova, and gravity wells, collectively called the Chaos. The Force-sensitive Chiss are the solution: they can warn a pilot before impact and chart a course faster than anything else through the Chaos. Thus, to Thrawn they're a necessary evil: the Chiss defense and exploratory branches need these girls to pilot their ships effectively, but the girls are conscripted, taken from their families and adopted away forever, as letting a secret of this magnitude out would essentially cripple the Chiss' navigational abilities.

Despite Thrawn's apprehension about the Force as a tool he can't predict or adequately control, he has a grudging respect for the Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Early interactions with Anakin led Thrawn to believe Anakin was a courageous and cunning warrior, all traits that the Chiss admire. It's their mutual respect as warriors that initially led Thrawn to be accepted as a member of the Imperial Navy. Anakin spoke highly of Thrawn to Palpatine of their encounters, who years later remembered these tales of a blue-skinned warrior and demanded he be brought before him, leading directly to Thrawn's induction into the Empire. Anakin in turn found it surprising that he didn't take offense to the young Thrawn's condescending way of speaking, finding instead that he took mild satisfaction from being able to keep up with the Chiss.

Anakin found Thrawn to be calm, with reasonable and quick answers and slightly annoying/condescending. Vader (the Dark Side version of Anakin) believes the same. Thrawn considers both the same person, and much to Vader's chagrin, will insist on referencing past encounters with Anakin to Vader, knowing they are the same person.

Core Personality

All this to say that at the heart of him, Thrawn is constantly, consistently alone. He was raised as an only child, his older sister taken from him. As a cadet accused of cheating, not even his adoptive family was there to represent him. As a senior officer, he went willingly into exile. He was the only Imperial alien officer of flag rank, his blue skin and red eyes marking him as an outsider, but had stood out like a sore thumb far longer than before even entering Imperial space. His genius won some hearts, but in truth it also alienated and antagonized many more, especially when that same genius proved to be a double-edged sword and make him more freakish and strange.

Thrawn is quiet and reserved, even for a Chiss, knowing how different he is and being unable to be anything else. The rare smiles he gives are usually when his officers are able to come to the correct conclusions he was leading them to: most of his crew believes he's rewarding them for using their logic, but it may also be that he's happy to have found connection, even for a brief moment. Despite it all, Thrawn doesn't want to be alone.

He cultivates friendships with people from all walks of life - Subordinates Samakro, Eli Vanto, Thalias, and Karyn Faro, fellow peers Thrass and Ar'alani, superior officers Yularen and Ba'kif - all of these people so different but all of them willing to get into his head and share some moments of peace. And despite him holding favor with a few powerful people, Thrawn will never let his ties with others blind him from doing what he thinks is right for the whole of the group survival. Even his subordinates aren't clutched onto: Thrawn does his best to set Vanto and Faro on their own brilliant career paths, mentoring them and sending them on their way even if it means being alone again. He made his peace with his loneliness long ago.

Path to Redemption:

Thrawn works best with those he can respect: those who are cunning, brave, and who do what they have to do to secure victory. His ideal warden would be someone like him: hard-working and laser-focused on their goals, but this isn't a requirement for him. If he gets a warden who isn't as good a pairing as he'd like, Thrawn will take steps to either mold them into a better warden or suggest an unpairing and alternative inmate candidate that would suit the warden better. He appreciates those who grow with time and experience, and will be in a constant state of questions, both about the ship and about the warden themselves, until such time as he can get situated.

Most of Thrawn's initial time on the ship will be learning exactly what he needs to do to graduate and become a warden himself; a deal with the Admiral is one of the most coveted prizes he can think of and he'll waste no time in attempting to mold himself to the ideal inmate. This might actually backfire because he will literally do absolutely anything to graduate, finding this to be an acceptable diversion until he can win his prize. One of Thrawn's major blindspots will be to get him to accept that some entities you shouldn't make deals with, even if it's to defeat a greater evil.

Because he's a multi-faceted guy, he's going to take a lot of multi-faceted milestones to get him to graduate. He has to grapple with the idea that the Empire cannot be redeemed even if he goes back and declares himself the Emperor. He has to sit with the distasteful idea of going against his word of loyalty after he gave it (a very un-Chiss-like thing to do). He HAS to get better at the political game and come up with stronger checks and balances to prevent people like Palpatine, Pryce, Tarkin, and like 80% of High Command from showing up and taking over after he passes. He has to get used to the idea that he can't be in complete control and sometimes Force whales are just gonna show up out of nowhere to ruin his day.

He sometimes thinks a little too much like a warrior to the detriment of all else, his practicality getting in the way of ideals or optimism: it might be beneficial to steer him towards rethinking of people as tools and art as weaponry, or at least not only as that. He could still be intensely absolutist when it comes to military victories, but he has to recognize when he needs to let a people be at peace, and admit that not everyone thinks like he does and it's okay that they don't want to be saved if the alternative is tyranny. Thrawn's way is certainly effective and useful and gets results, but it's by no means the only way of doing things.

Thrawn is at his most moral when he's doing the absolute right thing: defeating pirates and slavers, rescuing kidnapped children, honoring and protecting cultures not his own and defending his homeworld. Certainly if he could strike a deal with the New Republic, he could be one of the most useful allies the fledgling democracy could cultivate. He may never agree to that and it isn't a barrier to his graduation, but even entertaining the idea of working alongside the people he wanted to declare victory over would represent a massive leap forward. Either that or just taking his Star Destroyer and parking it in another part of the galaxy: Thrawn as an inmate has this intense urge to win against those who bested him, which is extremely Chiss in nature, but he's never been a typical Chiss, either.

History: Linked here!

Sample Network Entry:
[Voice]

[A low baritone, soft and mild and with a quiet underpinning of thoughtfulness, enters the chat one day]

To the inmates of the Barge, I pose a question: do you feel your skills are being utilized to the best of your abilities? Why or why not?

To the wardens: I should like a tour of your facilities as soon as is convenient. In particular, I am interested in the engine room, the repair offices, the infirmary, the kitchens, and the art gazebo. I will be a resource to you in one or all of these areas. One you have never seen the like of before, and may never see again.

If you have doubts about either my competency or my intentions - I am, after all, an inmate and a complete unknown - I invite you to test me in whatever way you deem appropriate to your satisfaction. In the meantime, I will avail myself of your comprehensive library and its contents. My thanks to you all.

[and then, some time later]

It's come to my attention I've failed to introduce myself.

You may call me Thrawn.

A follow-up query: what do you notice about the lifeboats on this ship?

Sample RP: Thrawn awakens in his private cabin on the Chimaera.

No - not the Chimaera. A very good replica of it, but he can see no one beyond the borders of the room, hear no life outside the door or feel the rumble of the ion engines beneath his feet. He's in his admiral uniform, sitting up at his desk instead of bunked down for the night. His blaster is gone, and a quick purview of the room confirms that all the rest of his weapons are missing, too: even the tiles on his plaque have had their explosive capabilities removed and seamlessly replaced. He'll have to commend whomever was responsible for their thoroughness.

The navigation systems are down at his console, as is his access to any kind of outside communication, either to the rest of the 'Chimaera' or otherwise. As expected. But the data cards holding his vast collection of artwork are remarkably intact, as are all other personal effects.

Interesting. But he needs more information before he determines his next move.

Thrawn brings up the ship's holonet to an array of voices and faces, mostly human, none of which are familiar. From a few moments of reading he first learns what this place is (the 'Barge'), the name of his host (the 'Admiral'), and the social structure at play ('wardens and inmates', and by dint of his not holding weaponry, he's clearly the latter).

He also learns that he is dead.

Thrawn closes his eyes for a brief second, allowing himself to mourn the waste, put to rest his worry, and trust those he's left behind.

But he's still sentient and in reasonable possession of his senses, and there is still hope. From there he takes several hours to acquaint himself with this strange new ship, focused on the rehabilitation of the dead. He reads as much as he can, as fast and effectively as he can; names and faces and statuses are cataloged, the more dangerous inmates sorted from the most passive wardens.

Thrawn is especially interested to see names of old colleagues from the records of the previously-graduated; evidently he's not the first from his corner of space to be plucked from the brink of obsolescence. He smiles when he reads the statements of those Imperials who came before him. No Chiss, but he's always been the rare exception, or perhaps the Admiral only has a limited amount of space and chose to focus his attention on one precise corner of the known galaxy. A question for another time.

For now, he's prepared to greet the rest of the Barge.

Grasp the useful. Let the useless fly.

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