Lit Dash Rendar Appreciation Thread

Part one in the series in which I talk about how much I love characters that are widely despised! Part two is Starkiller!


Take that, Han!

I never really bought the argument that he's a surrogate Han -- he fulfills the same role in the plot, sure, but Han is the smuggler with a heart of gold. Dash's heart is copper at best. Dash is the guy that Han is pretending to be in ANH. He was never going to join the Rebel Alliance, he was truly a loner. He didn't have Chewbacca, he had a droid programmed by a failed comedian for companionship. Dash wouldn't have saved Luke during the Death Star run. He would have been counting his money in hyperspace.



Good thing Dash was flying out of Mos Eisley as Luke and Obi-Wan arrived.

Plus the Outrider is pretty slick...


I was pretty disappointed when Dash didn't show up again in the New Jedi Order. Sure, we got "Or Die Trying," which was pointless but showcased how much Dash loves money. I like the idea of Dash being used in a story with Han after Return of the Jedi. It would work rather well for Han, like "The Last One Standing," as a character study, in which the domesticated Han sees the road not taken through the eyes of Dash Rendar, compared to TLOS in which the ghost from the past reemerges when Han takes an opportunity to relive his glory days on Jubilar.

I wasn't much a fan of how Dash was depicted in Shadow Games, as I thought Han and Dash had their characterizations swapped, in terms of their commitment issues. Dash seemed the more likely of the two to join the Rebellion at the conclusion of the novel, and doesn't for... reasons, whereas Han is cool and aloof. It works for Han regardless, in the sense that if he had those thoughts earlier it would be premature character development -- they need to develop out of an attachment to Luke and Leia, although certainly it's something that can be anticipated in the character.

But for Dash, he's not joining the Rebellion ever, and unless Shadow Games is getting a sequel, there's something missing between its end and the start of Shadows of the Empire. He wears his emotions on his sleeve in SG, but in SOTE that doesn't really happen until his brash facade is cracked by failure. Plus in Shadow Games he knew Xizor's family's death at the hands of Vader even though Xizor covered it up per Shadows of the Empire, what's up with that, amirite?

I haven't read the short fiction about Leebo's joining the crew, but maybe I should.

 

I actually really liked Dash in SG even though he didn't line up perfectly with SOTE. Actually, I loved some of the lines there about the Rebellion. "I'll join...oh, when Han Solo is frozen in carbonite." Which, humorously enough, he sort-of does. I wonder if he looked at Leebo and said, deadpan, "I told you so," when Leia asked him to help them track down Han. In relation to Dash, I was a huge fan of Eaden Vrill and was quite sad when he died.

If SG got a sequel, I'd love to see why Dash suddenly became so cynical. Something serious must've happened between SG and SOTE; maybe he found out that Javul was on Alderaan when the Death Star blew it to pieces. After that, he became distant and wouldn't help anyone for free. It would make sense, sort of like what would've happened to Han if Leia had ended up dying in ESB. He would've been bent on revenge, but after that he would've cut his ties to the Rebels, gone off on his own, and probably become a barfly on the Smuggler's Run with Ana Blue and co.

 

Dash's characterization in Shadow Games overall struck me as being DINO I guess, in the same sense that Dark Nest and LOTF had JINO. It's understandable that Dash as a character in SOTE isn't feasible as a primary protagonist, because you don't and can't get in his headspace, and if you do it ruins the depiction in the same way that if you write A New Hope from Han Solo's perspective and put it on the page that Han is struggling with his commitment issues throughout the course of the film, it's lacking in subtlety and nuance. In other words, perfect for Star Wars!

He simply struck me as a character that would have much more utility after SOTE than before it as a foil for Han. I suppose now with Shadow Games out there, it could only strengthen such a story because Han and Dash will have swapped places. According to Wookieepedia he's in Rebel Dawn but I can't remember what his role in that novel was at all. I would guess his intended death at the conclusion of the novel could be an excuse for his non-use, but there's the comic SOTE: Evolution in which he cameos at the end. Or people just used Han. But as I argued above, I think it's misreading the character to view Dash and Han as interchangeable!

I suppose this thread is Dash Rendar Appreciation Thread: The Dark Forces Saga II in that it's spun-off from speaking of that game series as I also intended to talk about SOTE the game! And the much anticipated follow-up for Starkiller would be for TFU! Yay!

Fun fact: John Cygan, whom voiced Dash for the PC version of SOTE, also voiced Luke Skywalker in the Dark Empire audio dramas, Ulic Qel-Droma in Dark Lords of the Sith audio drama (but NOT Tales of the Jedi audio drama), Canderous Ordo in KOTOR I and KOTOR II, and Solidus Snake!

 

The only Dash Rendar story I've read is The Doomsday Ship from Galaxy of Fear, where a door like closes on his head or something and he's unconscious for the second half of the book. Classic character.

 

_Catherine_ How about

It was perfectly clear that the negotiation phase of the proceedings was over and they were entering the social phase. Han was telling jokes.
"A Wookiee and an Ewok walk into a cantina, see..."

I like that Han knows what an Ewok is prior to A New Hope.

I'd be interested in hearing more about how Dash Rendar is secretly a Jango Fett clone.

Edit:


Here's Cygan as Dash talking with Luke when he was going through his teras kasi phase.

That's another game I can replay and relive the fun.

 

Yeah, his fate was never really a mystery --- he's in Evolution, and in fact his survival is revealed at the end of the SOTE video game. It was only a mystery if you stuck to novels in the nineties.

I've always liked Dash, but to be honest I think it's mainly because Shadows was my introduction to the EU. I can't really back it up with anything more than "He's cool."

 

I liked his bravado. He was a much bigger trash talker than Han, and flew the Outrider a meter above the tree line to showboat. He wasn't strictly a smuggler, either, he was a mercenary, flying a snowspeeder during the Battle of Hoth. He slept through that battle!

I suppose his conclusion just never sat well with me, that he ran off with Guri and started this HRD company. It doesn't really strike me as genuine, as while he loves money, he seems to love showing off just as much, and running a company doesn't really allow for that. But then Brakiss getting punked by four Imperial Royal Guardsmen, thinking they were Palpatine despite the obvious absence of his tremendous Force presence in the room in Jedi Under Siege, it instead being

struck me as not genuine either. I found that to be an immensely unsatisfying end as the lone Brakiss fanboy in the world. But I digress...

I dunno, for me, Dash was as distinct from Han as Lando is. I mean, maybe they occupied a similar niche, insofar as that Lando is the face of a group whereas Han and Dash are more nuts and bolts type guys, but Dash is much more of a fighter than Han. You see Han in a starfighter all of two times of which I'm aware, in Han Solo at Star's End in a Z-95 IIRC, and in Mission to Ord Mantell in an X-Wing. Dash strikes me as the type of guy that could have been an ace for Rogue Squadron if he wanted to be, but obviously they aren't paying well enough for his tastes beyond taking down a walker and then taking a nap.

The class of, what, c. 10 BBY must have been pretty good if it had Han, Dash, and Soontir in it.

 

I think there's already a Star Wars Journal showing the events of some of the movies from Han's perspective.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Journal:_Hero_for_Hire

 

I . . . kind of like Brakiss too.

But, yeah, Dash has his own thing going on -- he's the genuinely cynical loudmouth who, like Han, buries his feelings under a persona of detached braggadocio, but unlike Han he's buried his feelings well and they're never going to come out. He's angry and wounded by his family's death, but he doesn't have the heart of gold idealism of Han -- just anger and disillusionment that mean he's never going to join anybody's movement, never going to drop the facade because the facade has become real. It's also notable that he doesn't really have the charm of Han -- he's sort of enjoyably jerkish in a way that can entertain you if you have to be with him, but you'd never actually like him the way you like Han. Han's the charming rogue, but Dash is just a frat boy. He's a great contrast to Han rather than a replacement, as you've indicated.

 

I admit, I groaned pretty loudly when he said it, but in the same way I groaned when Obi-Wan said "why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me" in AOTC.

 

There's no way that guy cannot be awful.

 

I'm a HUGE Dash fan, in SOTE, he stayed true to himself, even when the ego took a huge hit (not destroying that missile). In Rebel Dawn, he seemed to be in line witht he Ego driven career smuggle in his Small appearance. Just playing Cards in the Cantina the day before Luke and Obi Wan Show up.

Shadow Games, although a decent story, left me wondering where some of Dash's Ego went. or at least the confidence to back it up. if anything, I'd put the appearance of Rebel Dawn down to just an especially good run and confidence was there. There is definitely a HUGE story that needs to be told between Shadow Games and SOTE. I think the thought of Juval dying on Alderaan. that would have been what it would take to cut Dash off from attachment even more.

I think the reason we don't see more of Dash is that many authors may not be familiar with the Ending of the Video game, or the SOTE:E comic ending and felt Dash was dead after SOTE. I am hoping for some more Dash. with or without Han in the Story.

 

I appreciate Dash, because he is the main hero in Shadows of the Empire game. He took down Xizor and many other threats. He went up against Bobba Fett and lived, and not many Star Wars characters can brag about that.
I would also like to see Dash in a game/book/movie after Return of the Jedi. Problem is, some people who played the game might not have seen the true ending. If you beat it on easy difficulty only, you would assume he is dead, or if you have read shadows of the empire book you assume he is dead.

Also, I played the N64 version, not the computer version if there is a difference at all besides the cutscenes.

 

If they paid him enough, Dash would have take down half the tie fighters and the death star himself, like he did with the skyhook.

 

Dash is widely despised? Didn't know that. I don't despise him, but I don't love him, either. He's alright.

Reading this thread makes me feel pretty good about my decision to not bother reading Shadow Games. Terrible jokes, Han knowing about Ewoks, backwards characterization...

I kinda like Brakiss too, always have. Is Brakiss also widely despised? I know so little about Star Wars fandom. You are the first person I've seen call themselves a Brakiss fanboy.

 

I, too, am a Brakiss fan.

 

We need to do a Brakiss fan thread
Also we need to get a pic of him in his white robes

 

Silver, actually.

 

He makes both colours look good

 

This thread isn't as serious as, say, my Vergere thread. Except when it is.

Let's just say when I speak for other people I might be straw manning for the purpose of pointless satire. Unless we are talking about Starkiller people hate him right?

 

Yeah, I hate Starkiller and I always assume, correctly, that most people agree with me.

 

I kinda assumed Dash was the same way. "Oh he's just a soulless version of Han Solo."

 

Ugh, Dash.



As for Starkiller, he's one of those characters that the performance saves for me. If he were purely a literary creation I would utterly despise him, but for some reason I find Sam Witwer gives a very charming portrayal of him (I find Witwer an underrated actor in general). Granted, I still don't like him, as there's really not much there to work with.

 

Now we just need a rope, rations for a week, a hand mirror and a lantern and we are ready for adventure!

 

Yeah I was pretty much basing my impression of consensus opinion off of Instantdeath.

I just can't get in the mindset of being offended by Starkiller anymore than I am by any of Zahn's characters.