Tanith Shire

A number of years prior to the Battle of Yavin, Tanith and her father, Josen Shire, experienced a forced landing of their ship on the desolate world of Ophideraan. Once there, Tanith, Josen, and the other passengers of their shuttle found themselves enslaved by the Serpent Masters, who put them to work maintaining the Great Well, which functioned as the base of operations for the scavenger group. Shire and her people were confined to the slave levels located at the bottom of the well, with no means of escape except by riding flying beasts that were exclusively controlled by the Serpent Masters. Tyrann, the Supreme Serpent Master, developed an attraction to Tanith, and she skillfully used this to her advantage. She convinced Tyrann to allow her to leave Ophideraan, but only on the condition that she provide his people with wreckage to salvage. Tanith hoped that by faithfully serving the Serpent Masters, she would eventually be able to secure the freedom of her people. Around 0 ABY, Tanith was stationed on the planet Fondor, where she worked as a supply tug operator. She regularly dispatched drone barges and supply ships programmed to crash on Ophideraan's surface for the Serpent Masters to plunder. She justified the loss of these vessels by fabricating stories of system malfunctions.

While employed at the Fondor Shipyards, Shire's responsibilities included transporting raw materials and workers to the construction site of the Executor using her supply tug. During one of her supply runs, she was assigned to transport one of the droid maintenance workers and his droids to the worksite. As she went to meet the new worker, she encountered Luke Skywalker, a Rebel spy operating undercover. Unbeknownst to Shire, Skywalker was attempting to obtain data on the Empire's new warship and was using his droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to pose as a droid maintenance worker. Upon seeing Skywalker, Shire was immediately captivated, and with her characteristic directness, she informed the young man that she found him attractive. Luke was taken aback by Shire's straightforwardness, but he deflected her advances despite her obvious interest in him. During the flight to the Executor, Shire openly discussed the possibility that Skywalker might be a spy and questioned him about his relationships, suggesting that his hesitation in reciprocating her affections might be due to a recent rejection by another woman. Skywalker did not deny any of her assumptions and left her ship flustered by her assertiveness. As he departed for the worksite, Shire offered her supply tug for his return trip to Fondor.

However, when the work day concluded, Skywalker was nowhere to be found. After inquiring, she learned that the young man had been assigned a last-minute job by Admiral Amise Griff. Shire waited for Skywalker at the Fondor shipyard worker's compound and observed his arrival in the Admiral's personal starship. She propositioned Skywalker again, asking him to spend time with her, but he declined, claiming a prior engagement. Disbelieving the young man's excuse, Shire followed him as he left the worker's compound with his two droids. Shire trailed him as he descended into the planet's underground steam tubes, but in her pursuit, she also noticed a large contingent of Imperial stormtroopers entering the tunnels. While attempting to catch up to Skywalker to warn him, she encountered R2-D2 and C-3PO, who had been deactivated and left in one of the steam tubes. She reactivated both of them and learned that Skywalker had been lured into a trap orchestrated by Darth Vader. With Skywalker's droids by her side, she rushed to rescue the young Rebel, but a substantial Imperial force stood between her and Skywalker. Needing a diversion to aid his escape, Shire instructed R2-D2 to connect to a terminal controlling the steam flow system. Despite 3PO's objections to the danger, Shire forced the astromech droid to cause a backup in the steam flow, flooding the tunnels with fog. Thanks to Shire's diversion, Skywalker was able to overpower a stormtrooper, steal his armor, and use it to escape discreetly and meet up with Shire. Deeply grateful for her assistance, Skywalker joined Shire in fleeing the tunnels. The two Humans and the two droids stowed away on a departing drone barge and left the Fondor system, slipping through Vader's grasp.

The drone barge that the group had boarded was one that Shire had previously programmed to crash-land on her homeworld, and she was content to wait until the sabotaged barge dropped out of hyperspace above her world. As they journeyed, C-3PO informed the two Humans that, because the craft was an automated vessel, it lacked a life support system, and they would run out of air before the barge reached its destination. Shire confirmed 3PO's statement but informed Luke that they would have enough air to breathe, as the ship would not complete its trip and was scheduled to crash on Ophideraan due to her sabotage. Skywalker was surprised to learn that Shire had been stealing drone barges, but he was more concerned about surviving the crash landing. Shire had not planned that far ahead and had no idea how the two Humans would survive the crash. However, Skywalker had R2-D2 hack into the ship's system and programmed the ship to believe that a fire had broken out. The automated barge flooded the ship with extinguisher foam to counteract the nonexistent fire, providing the Humans with enough padding to survive. As the drone barge impacted the planet, Skywalker's tactic allowed the two to survive without significant injuries.

Despite surviving the crash, Skywalker was disheartened by being stranded on a remote world, unable to deliver the intelligence on the Executor to the Rebel Alliance. Skywalker ignored Shire throughout the night, but at dawn, the group was encountered by the Serpent Masters. Shire told Skywalker and his droids to relax, explaining that she worked for the group, helping them scavenge technology from the rest of the galaxy. After the Serpent Masters landed their serpent beasts, the head of the search party, Varn used his power lance to fire a disruptor ray into the droids, deactivating them. Shire calmed Skywalker down, preventing him from attacking the Serpent Masters, and the two Humans boarded serpent beasts to return to the Serpent Master's headquarters at the Great Well. Varn informed Skywalker that a slave party would return to the crash site to strip the drone barge and would gather his droids at that time.

After arriving at the Great Well, Shire and Skywalker appeared before Supreme Serpent Master Tyrann to determine their fate. Shire explained that she had been forced to use a drone barge to escape the Imperials, but Tyrann was unsatisfied with the explanation. He ordered Shire to return to the slave level and commanded that Skywalker be executed, as he had been responsible for bringing Shire back to Ophideraan and cutting off the source of misdirected Imperial barges. Shire protested Tyrann's decision, claiming that Skywalker was a talented technician and could be valuable to their operation. Although Tyrann surmised Shire's true reason for wanting to spare Skywalker's life, that she had a romantic interest in him, he agreed that he could be valuable. Despite Varn's protests, Tyrann ordered Skywalker to join the rest of the slaves, claiming that he could always kill him later. Varn used his serpent beast to take Shire and Skywalker to the lower slave levels, where Skywalker immediately began to plan their escape. However, Shire was less optimistic, telling the young man that the only way to escape the slave levels was by using a serpent beast, and only the serpent masters could control them.

Despite Skywalker's objections, he was overruled by the other slaves, including Shire's father, who claimed that there was no escaping their life of slavery. However, Skywalker decided that if the only way to escape was by riding a serpent beast, he would learn the Serpent Masters' secret and tame one of the beasts for himself. Shire tried to convince Skywalker to abandon his quest, but he was determined and made his way to the Cavern of the Serpents. A short time later, Skywalker returned, having failed to tame a serpent and discouraged about their prospects. However, he was not ready to give up and decided to track down his droids, hoping that they might hold the secret to controlling the serpent beasts. With Shire's help, Skywalker located the droids, and Shire watched as Skywalker used his lightsaber to cut handholds in the rock face and climbed to the chamber where his droids were located.

After Skywalker disappeared into the chamber containing his droids, Shire was summoned by her father to the daily slave count. Knowing that Tyrann would not tolerate Skywalker being absent from the count, they attempted to stall the count. However, Varn saw through their ruse and claimed that Skywalker would be found and punished. As Varn and his fellow Serpent Masters searched the Great Well for Skywalker, Shire was brought to Tyrann, who wished for her to see Skywalker's defeat personally. As Shire watched, Skywalker rode one of the serpent beasts against Varn's forces, having discovered how to control the beasts through ultrasonic signals. However, Varn and his men began to close in on Skywalker, firing their weapons at him. Concerned for Skywalker's safety, Shire attempted to bribe Tyrann into stopping the attack, tempting him with the possibility of submitting to him. However, Tyrann refused the offer, knowing that he could not let Skywalker survive after showing open defiance against him. Although Tyrann was confident that Varn would defeat Skywalker, Shire was unconvinced and was proven correct when Skywalker leapt at Tyrann, cutting the medallion that Tyrann used to control the serpents from his chest. As the transmitter fell to the bottom of the well, Tyrann dove for his device but slipped from the ledge, plummeting to his death. Tyrann's men, without the ultrasonic transmitter, were unable to control their mounts and were quickly thrown to their deaths and attacked by the serpent beasts.

Embracing Skywalker and congratulating him for his triumph, Shire organized her people, informing them that they were free from the Serpent Masters. R2-D2 was able to repair Tyrann's ultrasonic transmitter, and it was given to Shire's father, who promised to use it responsibly to help his people. With the Serpent Masters defeated, Shire joined Skywalker in trying to find transport back to the Rebel Alliance. The scavengers had scrapped all the starships in their possession, but one cargo hauler was still operational. However, the small vessel had a limited range and did not have enough power to return to their Rebel base. Despite R2-D2's efforts at augmenting the craft's hyperdrive, the droid was unable to increase the cargo hauler's power. Instead, the droid opened up a secret communication frequency to contact the Alliance Fleet. Skywalker was able to contact his friend, Han Solo, who agreed to rendezvous with their ship on the nearby planet of Kabal.

Although Skywalker and his droids were excited to return to the Rebellion, Shire had fallen in love with Skywalker and could not contain her sadness that the young Rebel would soon be abandoning her. When the cargo hauler arrived at Kabal, they were greeted by dozens of starships fleeing the world. Puzzled over the planet's impromptu evacuation, Shire landed the cargo hauler and tried to ask one of the fleeing individuals what was happening. Skywalker was able to stop one of the fleeing evacuees who told them that an Imperial battle cruiser was heading to Kabal at attack speed. Skywalker was determined to stay on the world for the rendezvous despite the danger, but Shire had other ideas. Knowing that the cargo hauler was the only starship that her people had access to, Shire could not risk the craft falling into Imperial hands or being destroyed.

Although Shire tried one last time to get Skywalker to come with her, he refused to abandon his duty to the Rebellion. Skywalker's affection for Princess Leia and his devotion to the Alliance kept him from accepting Shire's offer. However, as a parting remembrance, Skywalker kissed the young woman, a tribute to the affection they had developed over their adventures.

Skywalker never forgot Shire or their nascent romance. Later, when he found himself stranded on Seidhkona, the mind-witch S'ybll took on Shire's appearance after delving into Skywalker's thoughts. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Skywalker faced teasing from his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker, who alluded to his encounter with Shire on Fondor. However, Skywalker dismissed her teasing, asserting that he had never been in love with Shire, despite their kiss.

Shire demonstrated intelligence and capability, excelling as a pilot and successfully reprogramming automated vessels without detection. In romantic pursuits, she possessed a clear understanding of her desires and openly expressed them to those who captured her interest. Conversely, she had no difficulty rejecting the advances of those who were interested in her, as she did with Tyrann, despite his power to release her from slavery. Throughout their shared adventures, Shire could not conceal her infatuation with Luke Skywalker, repeatedly inviting him to spend time with her. Despite his reluctance, she persisted, even inviting him to join her as they parted ways. She also struggled to hide her emotions around him, shedding tears when she realized that their paths were diverging.

Tanith Shire's creation is attributed to Archie Goodwin, with illustrations by Al Williamson, for use in the Star Wars comic strip syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Shire featured in the stories Darth Vader Strikes, The Serpent Masters, and Deadly Reunion before her storyline concluded. She also received a mention in a later story, The Paradise Detour, where the character S'ybll used Shire's appearance to deceive Skywalker. These stories were subsequently reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in Classic Star Wars, and the storylines involving Shire were repackaged in Classic Star Wars Volume 1: In Deadly Pursuit. These reprints added color to the originally black and white comic strip panels and rearranged some panels, removing redundant sections of the storyline. Later, Shire was referenced in the ComicScan: Star Wars...On A Daily Basis article in issue 2 of Star Wars Galaxy Magazine, which recognized her as an original creation of the comic strip. Two subsequent articles in Star Wars Galaxy Collector magazine also discussed Tanith Shire's exploits during the comic strip. ComicScan: Coming Full Circle in issue 3 referenced the storylines in which Shire participated, and ComicScan: Luke-ing for Love in all the Wrong Places in issue 7 mentioned Skywalker's brief romance with Shire. The events of the comic strip were referenced in the books A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker and The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial, which mentioned Tanith Shire by name. She was also given an entry in the Star Wars Encyclopedia.

In the StarWars.com Databank, Tanith Shire's entry stated that her father and her homeworld remained unnamed. However, the entry identifies her homeworld as Ophideraan, despite the original comic indicating that Shire and her father crash-landed on the world long ago.