“He never felt more so himself than when he was manipulating things to his satisfaction.”
erhaps the slimiest crime lord to ever grace the under levels of coruscant, Prince Xizor leads the Black Sun in the less-than-scrupulous activities around the galaxy. Slavery. He’s your guy. Drugs? Xizor manages the market. Black market weapons? You guessed it. On top of all that, the Falleen uses his pheromones to cause females to lust after him against their wills (yep huge yikes) and do his bidding. . . That part didn’t age so well but is believable in its own way. Needless to say, it’s not hard to dislike the green-skinned, purple-clad crime lord with a top knot. He is, after all, a predator in every way.
In addition to his appearance, prestige, and general unsavoriness, Xizor’s character is defined by his relationships with the other characters of the Star Wars universe. His rivalry with Darth Vader is not too dissimilar from that of Dwight Shrute and Andy Bernard competing to be Michael Scott’s right-hand-man in The Office (which of course makes the Emperor Michael Scott in this analogy). Or, to use another analogy, this kind of petty backstabbing is largely akin to Mean Girls. Beyond Vader, Xizor becomes enamored with Princess Leia in a super creepy way, obsessed with killing Luke Skywalker, and secretly hated by Dash Rendar. Talk about drama.
It’s easy to see why Xizor hasn’t caught on compared to the likes of Thrawn, for instance. On the one hand, it is due to the fact that Thrawn had a singular author in Timothy Zahn to shepherd his character across multiple eras of Star Wars storytelling, whereas Xizor’s creator, Steve Perry, penned one and only one Star Wars book in its entirety, plus a few others in partnership with Michael Reaves (the MedStar duology, Death Star, and a short story). On the other hand, it has to do with Xizor’s manipulation of individuals through the use of his powerful pheromones being a little less savory than Thrawn’s art appreciation skills. . . Regardless, Xizor’s story did extend beyond his grand entrance in Shadows of the Empire. A handful of Legends appearances give weight to Xizor’s dominance in the criminal underworld. Shadow Games, from the aforementioned Michael Reeves and Maya Katherine Bonhoff, pays homage to Shadows of the Empire with a Xizor and Dash Rendar-centric prequel story. Xizor functions as an adequate villain throughout Legends whenever Black Sun’s criminal gang serves the story, such as Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn, or Reeves & Bonhoff’s Coruscant Nights series.
Xizor even appears to have popped up as an animated Easter Egg in the Clone Wars revival alongside other shady characters such as Dryden Vos. The mere existence of Maul and Vos alongside a Falleen in a Canon show begs the question if they will reappear in more stories to come. The future is unclear but exciting nonetheless! Xizor would certainly fit alongside Maul, Q’ira, and the Pikes if the Crimson Dawn syndicate is further explored. That being said, maybe having Donald Glover’s Lando and Xizor in the same frame would be too much charisma for the pixels to contain.
What do you think of the Purple Prince? The one with the pheromones, not the musician. How does he stack up alongside other proprietary villains from the Expanded Universe? Be sure to check out our massively collaborative Shadows of the Empire crossover event over on Youtube.com/youtini.
Coming Soon
Our team is hard at work building out this collection. Stay tuned!
Books in this Collection
Shadows of the Empire
The Empire Strikes Back was a big hit, as was Return of the Jedi. But many fans wondered what our heroes were up to in preparation for Han’s rescue at Jabba’s palace. Shadows of the Empire fills the blanks in between the two films and gained enough popularity to be released in various media like comic adaptations, video games, and action figures.
His name is Xizor, Underlord of a galaxywide criminal organization called Black Sun. He seeks to displace Darth Vader as Emperor Palpatine's right hand. To do so, he will hatch a brilliantly evil plan to discredit Vader in the Emperor's eyes. But in the meantime he will join the Dark Lord in an unholy alliance whose common target is the young Rebel hero, Luke Skywalker.
While Vader and Xizor bait their trap for Luke, Han Solo is being held captive, flash-frozen in a carbonite slab. Mourning the loss of the man she loves, Princess Leia mounts a rescue mission to free Han. She enlists the aid of Luke, who is sharpening his skill in the Force at Ben Kenobi's home on the edge of Tatooine's Western Dune Sea. Skywalker organizes a crack fighting force, including Wedge Antilles and his famous X-wing squadron; Lando Calrissian; and the mercenary Dash Rendar. Yet the fierce battle that ensues to rescue Han will not go according to plan. For the Empire's spies are everywhere.
What's worse, though he is cold and reptilian, Xizor has a certain predatory charisma that not even Leia can totally resist. Against the judgment of Chewbacca, who has promised Han to keep her from harm, Leia walks willingly into Xizor's lair in a dangerous play of passion and willpower to get the information she needs to defeat him. At the same time, Luke stands in the crosshairs of a conspiracy of assassins and bounty hunters recruited by Xizor's lieutenant, the beautiful but lethal Human replicant Guri. As the struggle between Xizor and Vader intensifies, Luke finds himself the potential prize of the two most evil entities in the galaxy — one who wants him alive, and one who wants him dead.
In a final, explosive showdown, the Rebels must infiltrate Xizor's impregnable stronghold and fight the combined forces of Black Sun and the Empire in deep space. With death and betrayal looming on every side, Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie must use every weapon and resource at their disposal, including the Rebel fleet and some intriguing new allies, if they are to prove victorious. In Shadows of the Empire, Steve Perry adds an exciting new chapter to the Star Wars saga and introduces important new characters and situations no Star Wars fan will want to miss.
The Last Jedi
Ever since Emperor Palpatine's Order 66--which called for the execution of all Jedi--Jax Pavan is the last Knight around to fight the dark side of the Force. Together with his droid I-5, Jax has eluded Vader time and again, all the while wreaking havoc against the Empire through the underground resistance on Coruscant. But now the Rebel's leader on the city-planet has been captured, and it's up to the Last Jedi to ride again...possibly for one final adventure.
Shadow Games
Javul Charn is the most famous pop star in the galaxy – and the runaway bride of a violent lieutenant in Black Sun, the crime syndicate commanded by Prince Xizor. Or so Javul says. Soon after Dash Rendar, broke and desperate, agrees to be Javul's bodyguard, he realizes that openness is not her strong suit – and that murder is stalking her tour. Between the discovery of dead bodies in a cargo hold and an attack by an unidentified warship, Dash and co-pilot Eaden Vrill desperately try to understand who is terrorizing Javul's tour and why. When Han Solo suddenly joins Javul's road show, the stakes are raised even higher. Now Dash, who has a history with Han and an even worse history with Prince Xizor, follows his instincts, his discoveries, and Javul herself – straight into a world that may be too dangerous to survive!
