what price glory?

Tarkin is a genuinely awful person, first and foremost and given the nature of how he functions in his canon and just the state of the Real World in general I don’t want to bring him into proximity of anyone who's just trying to have a chill time.

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OOC INFORMATION
Name: stanwick
Contact: stanwick @ plurk lowstanwick @ Gmail
Are You Over 18?: yep
Other Characters: formerly Calvin Zabo the_war_won (Waldgeist) back in 2017, definitely down for repeats

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Wilhuff Tarkin
Age: 64
Canon: Star Wars
Canon Point: After his death, during the destruction of the Death Star
Character Information: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Wilhuff_Tarkin

Personality:

Seemingly genteel, and undeniably cultured, Wilhuff Tarkin is every bit a calculating military leader as he is a ruthless, savage soul lurking under a cool analytical exterior.

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“Triumphing over nature means better lives for sentients, but dominance is sustained only by bringing order to chaos and establishing law where none exists.”
-Jova Tarkin, to his eleven year old grand nephew
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On the self-policed planet of Eriadu, far from the protection or concern of the core worlds the Tarkin family was the law for generations. Protecting the planet from pirate attacks and securing the planet's ore trade.

You could say Wilhuff Tarkin was born and bred for war.

...You could also say that that at the tender age of eleven, he was dragged from his home and into the unforgiving Eriaduan wilderness on a harrowing rite of passage where nearly all empathy and decency was systematically terrorized and quite literally starved out of him, and replaced with a fanatical drive to enforce order at any cost.

Both are equally true.

In the wilds of Eriadu’s Carrion Plateau and in the aftermath of raider massacres, all under unrelenting ‘guidance’ from his Great Uncle, he was taught that all sentients are simply animals at heart and that the only way to prevent societies from collapsing into senseless chaos was through the enforcement of law and order. Enforcement that, as a Tarkin, was his duty to deal out.

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“Your task is to teach them the meaning of law and order. Then to punish them so that they remember the lesson. In the end, you’ll have driven the fear of you so deeply into them that fear alone will have them cowering at your feet.”
-Jova Tarkin, again
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The establishment of order through fear was the basis of Tarkin’s philosophy, and the Clone Wars turned that philosophy into outright obsession as his perspective widened from his own local sector to the rest of the Galaxy. His disdain for the ineffectual, corrupt bureaucracy of the Intergalactic community drew him closer to the side of his mentor, Senator Sheev Palpatine. And away from Eriadu, stepping down from his tenure as planetary governor to join the military.

Which would eventually lead to him forming a friendship with Anakin Skywalker, after the Jedi helped rescue him from a Separatist prison and they discovered that they shared the same criticisms of the Order’s code.

For his service and loyalty during the war, the newly proclaimed Emperor Palpatine awarded him with the rank of Moff, appointing him as Sector Governor of the Outer Rim territories. And as a Sector Governor Tarkin was ruthless, believing the planets that contributed to the Separtist movement needed to be punished, to atone before being let back into the galactic community.

Ironic, considering that Palpatine originally approached him as a young man under the guise of interest in uplifting the Outer Rim. It was he who initially turned Tarkin’s mind to politics.

(Though in reality, Palpatine was talent scouting for his great plan. And Tarkin’s unique blend of ambition and loyalty made him perfectly suited for the role. If you’re going to make a weapon that can destroy planets, you want to hand it to someone who isn’t about to fire it at you.)

And while Tarkin certainly didn’t design the Death Star, he saw such a weapon as a possible necessity before the conflict of the Clone Wars even reached full force. What better way to unite a fractured, disorganized galaxy then through terror? In his mind the only trait that truly unified all sentient beings.

Pragmatism and decency had long shown themselves to be in short supply. But every living creature experiences fear. And he would know, wouldn’t he? The boy on the Carrion, dragged drugged and terrified into a world of violence and constant vigilance.

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“Never try to live decently, boy—not unless you’re willing to open your life to tragedy and sadness. Live like a beast, and no event, no matter how harrowing, will ever be able to move you.”
-Jova Tarkin
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Planets exploited and drained of resources, mass murder, outright genocide; Tarkin oversaw many of the age’s worst atrocities, as no price was too high to secure the future for the Empire.

And as Emperor Palpatine retreated from the public eye, the newly appointed Grand Moff stepped into focus, preaching the importance of a stronger military presence and outlining his theory of ‘rule by fear.’

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“It may appear to some that the enactment of universal laws and the widespread deployment of a heavily armed military are steps toward galactic domination, but these actions are taken merely to protect us from those who would invade, enslave, exploit, or foment political dissent, and to punish accordingly any who engage in such acts. Look on our new military not as trespassers or interlopers, but as gatekeepers, here to shore up the Emperor's vision of a pacified and prosperous galaxy.”
-The Tarkin Doctrine
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And yet despite all this rampant cruelty, Tarkin wasn’t wholly incapable of forming mutual attachments. Most notably he was the only character who could claim to be a friend and ally to both Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader, and one of the few to know that they were in fact one and the same.

With a genuine fondness and mutual understanding between them established, Vader followed Tarkin’s commands not because he had to- neither outranked the other- but because he respected him. To the point that Vader was mockingly referred to as his pet by imperials and rebels alike.

(...Just how healthy a relationship can be when you’ve both been groomed by the same evil space warlock to be efficient, complimentary cogs in his murder machine is. You know, certainly subjective. But they’re close to each other and no one else.)

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“The Death Star will not put an end to treason. Yet never again will a conflict consume our galaxy as in the Clone Wars When an enemy arises we will strike with decapitating vehemence. If one strike does not suffice, we will repeat the process and burn planets until either our enemy is annihilated or the galaxy is so terrified that further resistance is unthinkable”
-Tarkin, from a communication addressed to Director Krennic
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Tarkin fully understood the responsibility that being put in charge of such a weapon as the Death Star represented. And was more than willing to let Orson Krennic handle babysitting the minute details of construction and take the fallout for the inevitable delays and setbacks a project of that scale would experience, while he in turn kept an eye on Krennic and the battle station personnel, waiting for the opportune time to wrestle it from him.

Understanding that even the weakest link in the chain could cause catastrophe- the station needed the consent of all gunners aboard to successfully fire. Those that wavered during the test firings were monitored, those that hesitated during the destruction of Alderaan were jettisoned into space.

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“Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?”
-Tarkin, famous last words
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But in the end it’s his arrogance that gets him killed. Refusing to evacuate when given the opportunity, and under the conviction that the rebels could never gain the upper hand, the Death Star is destroyed, and Tarkin with it.

(At his pull point, the Death Star has just exploded.)

5-10 Key Character Traits:

• Ambitious
  
• Analytical
• Arrogant
• Feral
• Loyal
• Obsessive
• Principled
• Ruthless
• Scarred

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? Fits, please.
Opt-Outs: Slime, Nymph, Simulacrum, Goblin, Lich

Roleplay Sample:
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Tarkin tilts his head down, curiously eyeing the creature before him as it scrambles amongst the rocks and tall grass. He could help of course but why should he? Far more interesting to see how this all plays out without inference. You can learn a lot from a man by the way he bleeds.

And just what he’s learning? Is...unimpressive.

“Just what are you trying to accomplish down there?” He finally announces himself, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I fell.” The voice is breathless. And the man it belongs to, surprised to see him. Squinting up at him with dull, unintelligent eyes set into a dirt and blood streaked face.

“Yes, that much is quite obvious. What do you plan to do about it?”

“...I’m trying to get up, will you help me? Or are you just going to stand up there?”

He considers for a moment, decides he can spare the time.

“Hold on a moment.”

Carefully, he makes his descent. It’s not a cliff, just a particularly steep incline. An amateur fall, to be sure. And the man looks rather surprised at the ease with which he arrives. He shouldn’t be surprised, he should be embarrassed.

On approach the man’s injuries reveal themself to his half interested inspection. That is surely a broken ankle, and he’d place credits on a few bruised ribs at least. But helping him to the shade of a tree as he babbles is easy enough.

“...then it’ll be dark, I need to get home before it gets dark…” The man continues rambling at him. Perhaps he’s starting to realize something important. The gravity of the situation he’s in.

“No, the trek to town is hours away, would you have me drag you to safety?”

And there it is, he’s finally truly realized: his could-be-rescuer is an old man.

He snorts and rolls his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Even if I could, I don’t believe that I would. Your condition would surely slow me down and attract attention from the beasts here. I, too, have no desire to be here after sunset. Good day.”

He makes his leave quickly, eager to leave before the man’s shouting can endanger them both. Whatever he may have to offer him- or claim to have- isn’t worth his life. He will not risk a nightfall in this foreign wilderness for this fool.