Chiraneau

Chiraneau was a Human who served the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War. A TIE fighter ace and an expert in the field of deep-space transmissions, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral by Firmus Piett, the commanding officer of Darth Vader's Death Squadron. In 4 ABY, Chiraneau was serving as Piett's personal advisor aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor during the Battle of Endor, and he was killed when the warship plummeted into the second Death Star's surface.

Biography

Ace pilot

A Human male,^[2] Chiraneau was an expert in the field of deep-space transmissions. In his service to the Galactic Empire, he also flew as a TIE pilot, becoming an ace.^[3]

This section of the article assumes 100% game completion. Any alternate stories may be noted in the "Behind the scenes" section. The events in this section may or may not have been confirmed as canon within the Star Wars Legends continuity.

Sometime following the Battle of Yavin, Chiraneau partook in a skirmish against at least one Rebel pilot. Although defeated in the engagement, Chiraneau managed to escape the battle in his crippled TIE fighter.^[2]

Assumption ends here.

Chiraneau was later promoted^[3] to the naval rank of Rear Admiral^[5] at the request of Admiral Firmus Piett,^[3] the commanding officer of Death Squadron, the personal Star Destroyer fleet^[6] of the Dark Lord Darth Vader.^[4] Chiraneau served as Piett's personal advisor^[3] aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor,^[7] the flagship of the fleet.^[8] At some point during his service as a Rear Admiral, Chiraneau piloted a VT-49 Decimator.^[5]

Battle of Endor

ChiraneausHugoBossJodhpurs-RotJ — Chiraneau was present for Darth Vader's arrival aboard the second Death Star.

In 4 ABY,^[1] Chiraneau was present aboard the second Death Star battle station during its construction in the Endor system. He was one of the Imperial officers assembled to greet Vader when the Sith Lord arrived aboard the Death Star to discuss the station's lagging construction schedule with Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, the station's commander.^[4] At some point around the same time period, Chiraneau was among the officers who strode down a corridor alongside Vader and Jerjerrod.^[9]

When the Rebel Alliance launched an attack on the Death Star,^[4] Chiraneau served aboard the Executor as Piett's personal advisor during the engagement.^[7] After a Rebel A-wing starfighter crashed into the Executor's bridge, setting off a chain reaction that sent the warship out of control,^[4] Chiraneau died^[7] when the massive Super Star Destroyer collided with the Death Star's surface.^[4]

Personality and traits

Chiraneau had gray hair,^[3] brown eyes^[2] and light skin.^[4]

Skills and abilities

Chiraneau was a deep-space transmissions expert^[3] and a TIE fighter ace.^[7]

Equipment

On one occasion, Admiral Chiraneau wore the standard-issue Imperial officer's uniform without a rank insignia plaque or a code cylinder,^[2] though by 4 ABY,^[1] he wore the uniform with both of those.^[4]

Behind the scenes

Admiral Chiraneau first appeared in the opening scene of 1983's Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi as an unnamed background character.^[4] Although not credited in the film, he was portrayed by Mike Havord.^[10] He was given a name and a brief backstory in the 2000 Death Star II Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game,^[3] and in the 2001 video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Chiraneau's name appeared as one of the leaders for an AI player controlling the Empire in the standard game mode.^[11]

Chiraneau, in his TIE fighter, was added to the video game Star Wars Galaxies^[2] in Game Update 20^[12] as one of various, randomly-generated "elite pilots" whom the player, as a Rebel character, can fight in a Tier 7 Duty Mission. When vanquished, a message indicates that the player successfully defeated Chiraneau. The player then receives a collection icon for the feat.^[2]

Deleted scenes

MoffJerjerrodGreetsVader — An unused version of the scene featuring Chiraneau was reused in the *Special Edition* of *The Empire Strikes Back*.

According to several images found on T-bone's Star Wars Universe website, Chiraneau was meant to appear in at least two more scenes in Return of the Jedi not found in the film's final version. The first four images show Vader and a group of Imperial officers, Chiraneau included, heading toward the Death Star's docking bay to greet Emperor Palpatine upon his arrival.^[13] A still from that deleted scene was used for the "Imperial Command" card for the Death Star II Limited set, though there was no confirmation that it depicted the same event in-universe.^[9]

Because an alternate angle of the Return of the Jedi scene showing Vader's arrival on the second Death Star was reused for Vader's return to the Executor from Bespin in the Special Edition release of The Empire Strikes Back, Mike Havord can be seen in the Special Edition version alongside other extras who portrayed Imperial officers in Return of the Jedi.^[14]