Was Grand Moff Tarkin the head of the noble Tarkin family? Is there any canon that says what happened to them and who took over after the Grand Moff died? My Google force power was weak today...

EDIT: Oops, only found stuff from before.

EDIT: Oops, only found stuff from before.

Hey, please share of you think it's relevant! One of my players is playing a young Tarkin on the run. Not from the core family though, but still has the name.

EDIT: Oops, only found stuff from before.

Hey, please share of you think it's relevant! One of my players is playing a young Tarkin on the run. Not from the core family though, but still has the name.

Oooh...I've been trying to finalize an idea for a young, idealistic, enthusiastic potential Rebel recruit to start stirring up trouble after being inspired by (one or more of) my group. With tomorrow game day, I haven't been happy with the vague ideas I was coming up with. Now, however, I think I do....

Thanks!!

According to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, the First Order put Tarkin's name on the armband insignia for the rank of Major (in Aurebesh, of course).

That's the best I could find that's from canon. (Looking at pictures of the First Order officer uniforms from The Force Awakens, they really do have armbands with words printed on them.)

To find anything else, I had to go to legends...

Tarkin came from a very wealthy family, one of the five families (The Quintad) who originally colonized the planet Eriadu and were its rulers. Tarkin's death did not change that as the Quintad still ruled the planet after the Battle of Endor. Not only did Tarkin's death not harm his family's fortunes or reputation on the planet, but they built the Tarkin Memorial Conference Center to honor him.

I just found out that the novel Tarkin is considered part of the new canon so if you want more info about Wilhuff and his background it might be worth a read.

Yes've considered that. Mostly I want to figure out how great families work in this universe. Are the Tarkins a large and numerous noble family? As I said, my player's character has the Tarkin name, but he isn't very closely related to Wilhuff.

There was a character from one of the WEG supplements that had Tarkin's niece - I think it was Cracken's Rebel Operatives . As I recall, she was working for the rebellion as a spy amongst the nobility.

Tarkin also had a wife, according to the old Russ Manning newspaper strips from '79. She ran a moss mining operation, where the moss had to be kept at freezing or it would explode.

That is interesting. Thanks! I couldn't see if they were nobles or had titles or anything. Are they just a rich family with strong military and political traditions?

Mind you, it's been years since I read the comics (I think it was called Princess Leia, Imperial Servant or Servant of the Empire - something like that), but I seem to recall that Tarkin's widow was nobility - holding court, servants, having a title (she was called Lady Tarkin) and so on.

So they were probably all three. Rich, imbedded in the military and powerful.

On Eriadu the family is a big deal. I imagine it's probably similar to the Organa family on Alderaan (before that planet became an asteroid field of course). Also, according to the novel Tarkin the Imperial-appointed governor of Eriadu was of the Tarkin family. So during the Emperor's reign, the family effectively ran the whole planet.

The Tarkin family had developed a militia on Eriadu that was successful and served as the planet's military. It grew beyond the planet over time and eventually became the Outlands Region Security Force. It's no wonder that Wilhuff became the Grand Moff in charge of the Outlands since his family were already the primary peacekeepers of the region, fighting piracy and enforcing Republic/Imperial law. I don't see why that group wouldn't still be doing the same work in the New Republic.

The Tarkin family lived in a huge compound where they had lived for over a millennium. You don't keep a family that long without having many relatives. The novel stated that many Tarkins were in the ORSF so there must be a good number. Distant relatives stayed in contact because Wilhuff was trained to hunt by his great uncle as a child.

For an idea of how great families lived in the Star Wars Galaxy, look at information on the Organa family of Alderaan. While the Tarkins don't seem to have noble or royal titles they seem to be the equivalent so I would treat them as such.

The kids all hired lawyers and it turned into a huge mess in probate court.....

Mind you, it's been years since I read the comics (I think it was called Princess Leia, Imperial Servant or Servant of the Empire - something like that), but I seem to recall that Tarkin's widow was nobility - holding court, servants, having a title (she was called Lady Tarkin) and so on.

So they were probably all three. Rich, imbedded in the military and powerful.

According to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, the First Order put Tarkin's name on the armband insignia for the rank of Major (in Aurebesh, of course).

That's the best I could find that's from canon. (Looking at pictures of the First Order officer uniforms from The Force Awakens, they really do have armbands with words printed on them.)

To find anything else, I had to go to legends...

Tarkin came from a very wealthy family, one of the five families (The Quintad) who originally colonized the planet Eriadu and were its rulers. Tarkin's death did not change that as the Quintad still ruled the planet after the Battle of Endor. Not only did Tarkin's death not harm his family's fortunes or reputation on the planet, but they built the Tarkin Memorial Conference Center to honor him.

Ummmm.....

Looking at (and translating) those ranks, I'm thinking those are supposed to be the names of the individual wearing them. So that would allow someone to look at a First Order uniform and know both the rank and name of someone with a glance to one location.

In this case:

Col. Kaplan

Maj. Tarkin

Capt. Dillon

Lt. Power

Sgt. RO8

Squad Leader HAL7

I mean, I'm not one to say the visual dictionary is talking out it's thermal exhaust port... but I'm pretty sure it's talking out of it's thermal exhaust port.

Normally I might be willing to just assume it was some weird costumers joke that got out of hand that has now become, for lack of a better term "New EU."

However seeing as how X-wing pilot's chest harness actually says "Pull to inflate" making it also now a life jacket, and there's that dude in Maz's bar with a black stormtrooper helmet that has the word "Fear" stenciled across the forehead, I'm pretty sure the production team knew better than to put their own names on those insignia and assume the viewers would think it was some kind of rank marking and not translate.

That doesn't make sense. If that was true then there would be no difference between colonels and majors, or captains and lieutenants, or sergeants and squad leaders. And who would be named RO8 or HAL7 (unless they were droids)?

And who would be named RO8 or HAL7 (unless they were droids)?

Stormtroopers?

And who would be named RO8 or HAL7 (unless they were droids)?

Stormtroopers?

ETA: Thannison is also in the Star Wars Databank: http://www.starwars.com/databank/petty-officer-thanisson

And who would be named RO8 or HAL7 (unless they were droids)?

Stormtroopers?

Thanisson was an officer on the Finalizer during Episode VII. He wore a squad leader uniform and has the same armband seen above. He is not a Stormtrooper named HAL7. Ghostofman's theory contradicts what is seen on-screen.

ETA: Thannison is also in the Star Wars Databank: http://www.starwars.com/databank/petty-officer-thanisson

OK, then it does indeed appear that the costumer assumed no one would bother to translate...

However it's also possible Thannison's name was also generated after the fact. HAL7 was his operating number on set, and then someone gave him a name when writing the fluff for the visual dictionary, or the novelization, or the holiday special. Wouldn't be the first time in Star Wars a no-name background character was given a name and intricate backstory well beyond the filmmakers original intent... Without watching the entire film over again, I'm pretty sure he's never called by name, so what it says on that sleeve stripe really wouldn't matter on set..

It'll actually be kinda interesting to see how this goes, as there's lots of possible explanation and possibilities, and the simple fact is we haven't seen enough First Order uniforms to sort out what all the little details mean. Things like the Visual Dictionary help, but Star Wars has a long history of not tracking minor details like that, so we may see it contradicted later.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm right. Maybe it's a mix.

Look at Iron Man, there were Stark Industries ID plates made for all the weapons, but the props department only made one master mold, so as a result every weapon is marked as firing 5.56mm NATO ammunition... could be something similar.

It's hokey either way. I'm not a big fan of these armbands. They should either have some kind of symbol for the rank or have the rank spelled out in Aurebesh (or abbreviated) if they wanted something on the bands. The ranks for general and admiral look fine and they should have gone with something similar for the lower ranks.

You're right that he was not addressed by name in the film, and I don't believe he was named in the credits either. IMDb lists him as "First Order Officer". Lots of background characters get named after the fact (check out the Mos Eisley cantina from Episode IV) and it looks like that's what happened here too.

During WWII German troops wore division names on there armbands like Grossdeutchland or Viking division so that may be the inspiration for these uniforms being the same way.

So are they imperial war heroes on those armbands? Then stormtrooper names could make sense on higher ranking officers too I guess.