Beri Tulon

A Human male, Beri Tulon's birth occurred within a family boasting a long and distinguished military heritage spanning millennia. According to family history, his ancestors served under Empress Teta during the Great Hyperspace War. Eager to uphold this legacy, he enrolled in the Academy at the earliest opportunity. Raised with unwavering military ethics, Tulon distinguished himself as a principled and dependable officer. He made it a priority to cultivate camaraderie and respect among his troops. While this approach drew criticism from his peers and superiors, his exceptional performance as a commander validated his methods.

However, this only intensified the resentment of one of his commanding officers. Driven by spite, the officer devised a scheme to eliminate Tulon by dispatching his unit to Khomm on a supposedly routine reconnaissance assignment. To Tulon's surprise, a contingent of mercenaries lay in wait, resulting in the massacre of nearly all of his soldiers. Tulon successfully traced the cowardly assault back to his superior and ensured that he faced the full consequences of Imperial law.

This episode, however, significantly dampened Tulon's enthusiasm for command. Reluctant to continue bearing the responsibility for the lives and deaths of his soldiers, he requested a transfer to a training instructor position. Tulon quickly rose to become one of the most highly regarded training instructors in the Galactic Empire.

Eventually, Tulon became involved in the Battlefield Holographic Control Interface (BHCI) program led by Grand General Malcor Brashin. In 0 ABY, Tulon, now holding the rank of captain, observed the Battle of Kalaan to identify promising candidates for BHCI training. He identified Brenn Tantor, a stormtrooper corporal who had assumed command of his unit after his superior's death and demonstrated exceptional leadership. Approaching the young man amidst the ruins of a bombed-out city on Kalaan, Tulon immediately promoted him to the rank of lieutenant and instructed him to report to the Star Destroyer Inquisitor for training.

While in orbit above Tatooine, Tulon introduced Tantor to the Battlefield Holographic Control Interface, a command center that enabled officers to remotely direct troops from the safety of orbit, providing a comprehensive representation of the battlefield. Tulon instructed Tantor as the newly appointed officer guided Zeta Squadron through a series of exercises. However, their training was interrupted by an announcement indicating that an escape pod originating from the Rebel Alliance corvette Tantive IV, containing plans for the first Death Star battle station, had landed near Zeta Squadron's location. Tulon observed as Tantor swiftly located the pod.

Subsequently, the young officer tracked down the Jawa sandcrawler that had collected the droids carrying the plans and orchestrated a raid on Obi-Wan Kenobi's dwelling—where the droids had previously visited—all under Tulon's guidance.

Tantor, Tulon, and Brashin were then dispatched to Ruul, based on the possibility that the starship Millennium Falcon, carrying the droids and the Death Star plans, might have diverted there instead of its suspected destination, Alderaan, which was on a similar trajectory. Upon arrival, they discovered that while the Millennium Falcon had not arrived there, the Rebel Alliance had seized control of the primary computer facility on the planet. Tulon proudly watched as Tantor, now also holding the rank of captain, annihilated the Rebel presence on Ruul.

This marked the final mission where Tulon supervised Tantor. Tulon, who had always considered himself a man of principle, had lost the confidence of Grand General Brashin. Brashin believed that Tulon's conscience, and his consequent instilling of traditional military values in Tantor, was a dangerous and inappropriate trait for an Imperial officer. Tulon was relieved of his duties as Tantor's training officer and reassigned to a different role.

For half of the next three years, Tulon was stationed at the Trasse Proving Grounds, an Imperial facility dedicated to the manufacturing of All Terrain Armored Transports. At this location, the walkers underwent testing on Rebel prisoners and armored units. This assignment only deepened Tulon's growing dissatisfaction with the government. His upbringing had instilled in him a strong sense of honor, making it impossible for him to reconcile his values with those of an Empire that condoned brutality and injustice. Tulon came to the conclusion that he could no longer serve the Galactic Empire.

In 3 ABY, Tulon, now holding the rank of colonel, was assigned to lead a detachment participating in an assault on a Rebel base located on Abridon. With the intention of defecting during this mission, Tulon discovered that his commanding officer would be his former student, Brenn Tantor, who had risen to the rank of Imperial general. Shortly after the mission commenced, Tulon's personal AT-AT, designated Annihilator 1, opened fire on the rest of his detachment and headed straight for the Rebel base. Tantor, assuming that his mentor was either dead or being held hostage by rogue elements, pursued the walker and disabled it. He was utterly shocked to discover that Tulon was the one defecting. Tulon attempted to explain to Tantor that the Empire was corrupt and evil, but Tantor, feeling betrayed and under Brashin's observation, was either unable or unwilling to assist Tulon.

Tulon received a sentence of imprisonment at the Tarkin Detention Facility situated on Ruul. However, he never arrived at his destination. Unbeknownst to Tulon, Tantor, tormented by his own Imperial experiences, had refused an order to massacre civilians shortly after Tulon's capture. Tantor orchestrated his own defection with the assistance of Rebel General Tyr Taskeen. Tantor's inaugural mission following his defection involved the rescue of Tulon.

Tantor led a group of troopers on a daring commando operation, destroying the Imperial convoy transporting Tulon across the surface of Ruul and extracting Tulon in a Hover Transport. Tulon learned that Tantor intended to seize an AT-AT walker to demonstrate his loyalty and reliability to Taskeen, and he required Tulon's expertise from his time at the Trasse Proving Grounds. Tulon determined that they would need a security code to access Trasse undetected and persuaded Tantor to raid the Imperial computer facility at Sounder Flats to obtain the necessary codes. Despite an Imperial counterattack, Tulon successfully extracted the codes.

In preparation for the Trasse operation, Tulon trained a unit of elite soldiers, known as the Infiltrators, to hijack Imperial walkers. They were successfully deployed on Trasse and captured an AT-AT, but their mission was complicated by the arrival of the Inquisitor in the system, with Grand General Brashin aboard. Tantor's forces overwhelmed the Imperial ground opposition, enabling them to rush Tulon to a planetary ion cannon, which he used to disable the Star Destroyer. While accessing the ion cannon's computer systems, Tulon also uncovered intriguing data suggesting that the second Death Star was nearing operational status.

Later, during the Liberation of Coruscant, Tulon was present when Taskeen briefed Tantor on the invasion of Coruscant, the Empire's throneworld. Tulon reported on Rogue Squadron's successful sabotage of the shields.

Beri Tulon's upbringing in a military family instilled in him a strong adherence to traditional martial values. These principles would have served him well if the Republic had endured, but the establishment of Palpatine's Empire ushered in a new order.

As a staunch traditionalist raised with a strong moral compass, Tulon found himself ill-suited for the New Order. Nevertheless, Tulon was not unlike countless other officers who held Republican ideals. However, his placement under Grand General Brashin, a fervent supporter of the new ideology, brought this internal conflict to the forefront.

Tulon's reassignment had little impact on his career trajectory, as evidenced by his promotions, but his new responsibilities appeared to have a profound effect on his conscience. The brutality that he witnessed and was compelled to participate in did not desensitize him; instead, it further alienated him from the Empire. While he valued loyalty, he placed a higher premium on his other principles and ultimately sided with the Alliance.

The character of Beri Tulon originated in Star Wars: Force Commander, where Peter Firth provided his voice.