| TIE Pilot | |
|---|---|
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| Information | |
| Home World: |
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| Rank: |
Pilot |
| Species: |
Human |
| Gender: |
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| Height: |
Unknown |
| Hair color: |
Unknown |
| Eye color: |
Unknown |
| Affiliation/Unit: | |
| Era(s): | |
TIE Pilots also known as Imperial Starfighter Pilots serve in the Imperial Navy by piloting the various TIE series starfighters. Many of them were former Clone trooper pilots while others were hand picked by the evil Empire. TIE Pilots usually pilot the main TIEs which are: TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and TIE Hunters.
Characteristics[]
They represent the elite of the Imperial Navy, having undergone grueling physical and psychological conditioning to achieve their ranks. An elite corps, only 10 percent of TIE Pilots successfully navigated the intense training and testing of the Imperial Navy. The rest are reassigned throughout the Navy as combat gunners, crewmen, and other personnel.
Drawing from the graduates of Imperial academies, the fleet conditioned their best prospects to be fanatically loyal to the Emperor and willing to sacrifice their lives to complete their assigned missions. To ingrain the concept of placing mission and Empire above self, TIE Pilots' names are replaced with identification numbers (such as DS-61-2) and are subjected to continual reminders of their craft's lack of integrated life-support system and combat deflector shields.
TIE Pilots on duty are deliberately kept emotionally unstable, in a constant state of insecurity and hunter's anxiety. This is believed to let them fight more efficiently, although it frequently caused trouble in their interpersonal relationships. They are a closely knit group and tended to stick to their own kind, avoiding others in social interaction.
They are referred to as "bucketheads" by Battle Droids, due to their bulky, fully enclosed helmets. Within the Imperial forces they were often referred to as "coffin jockeys", due to the high mortality rate of those manning the vulnerable TIE fighters.
History[]
The first generation of TIE pilots was composed of clones, survivors of the clone trooper pilots of the evil Republic Starfighter Corps from the Clone Wars. The first clone pilots were first-generation Jango Fett clones, but the best clone pilots were honored as the prime clones for newer pilot lineages, and were distinguished by their all-black dress uniforms. This early use of clones was one of the main reasons why TIE pilots were often viewed as expendable and given little protection during combat.
Even early into the Empire, however, there were several Imperial officers, among them the distinguished TIE ace Shea Hublin, who campaigned to have the various TIE fighters redesigned to protect the pilots better, largely because non-clone Human pilots from the Imperial Academy began to replace and outnumber the aging clone trooper veterans. However, these were ignored by the Imperial Navy's hierarchy, and notably were dismissed by the pilots themselves.