The Battle of Yavin was a major battle of the Galactic Civil War that led to the destruction of the first Death Star and Luke Skywalker's first step to becoming a fully-fledged Jedi. It was one of the Rebellion's first major victories.

Prelude[]

With the imminent completion of the Empire's Death Star, the Rebel Alliance anticipated a major Imperial offensive. To unify command and coordinate a defense, the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence carried members of the Alliance High Command to their secret base on Yavin 4.^[20] Upon arrival, the Independence sent Red, Gold and Blue Squadron to the Yavin Base. Their numbers were augmented by veteran pilots as the Alliance gathered its resources in preparation for the coming battle.^[15]

The Rebels' Mission to Danuta accomplished by rebel agent Kyle Katarn^[21] had resulted in the resistance movement obtaining a complete technical readout of the battle station. The plans were placed into the hands of Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, but she was captured by Imperial forces over the planet Tatooine.^[7]

The plans were brought to Yavin 4 after the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falcon successfully rescued Organa from the Death Star. To facilitate their escape, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had confronted his former Padawan and Organa's birth father, Darth Vader, and sacrificed himself in the process.^[7]

Around the time of the rescue, several pilots of Red Squadron were on a mission to Commenor to pick up astromech droids. They were successful, although the raid resulted in the death of Cesi Eirriss.^[22]

However, as Organa suspected, the Empire allowed them to escape after planting a homing beacon aboard the Millennium Falcon, thus leading Imperial forces to the previously hidden main Rebel base on Yavin 4.^[7] As the Rebel Alliance stationed at Yavin 4 lacked the amount of capital ships required to attack the battle station, the Alliance could not attempt to exploit the tactic of firing on the focusing crystals enough to misalign it, and the Death Star's defenses were also designed to repel that kind of assault anyway. In addition, as the Rebels had learned of the Death Star's arrival on short notice after recovering the full plans, they also were left with little time to plan an infiltration operation into the station to destroy it from within.^[13]

Having received intelligence that the Rebels were on Yavin, an Imperial strike force arrived to verify the presence of the Rebel base; they successfully fought the defenders at the Massassi Arena.^[1]

Studying the plans provided by Organa's astromech droid R2-D2, the Alliance learned that the station had a small exhaust port not protected by a particle shield through which a well-placed proton torpedo could reach the main reactor and destroy the station. The port was only two meters wide and was situated in a narrow trench protected by turbolaser batteries. The trench would have to be navigated to allow the Rebel targeting system to lock on to the port, and perfect accuracy was required for the torpedo to enter the exhaust port. Under such conditions, there was little confidence that the weakness could be exploited.^[7] Despite this uncertainty, Red and Gold Squadrons decided to target the exhaust port, while Blue and Green Squadrons attacked the superlaser in order to buy time for Red and Gold Squadrons. If Red and Gold Squadrons failed, Blue and Green squadrons' damage to the superlaser dish would possibly make the Death Star unable to fire its superlaser.^[13] General Jan Dodonna briefed the strike pilots himself.^[7]

That same day, Imperial commander Brenn Tantor saved the planet Sarapin from destabilization at the hands of the Rebel Alliance.^[2] Also, Soontir Fel led a squadron of the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing in routing a squadron of Rebel Y-wings at Ord Biniir.^[4]

Battle[]

The Death Star arrived in system escorted by a small support fleet consisting of the Nebulon-B frigate Divad and two CR90 corvettes BB 45 and SB 35. While the Death Star prepared to fire its main weapon, a communications satellite was deployed to coordinate defenses. The Rebels, still planning their attack, knew that any delay to the Death Star's approach could spell the difference between victory and defeat. Therefore they planned a small attack to destroy the communications satellite and disrupt operations.

A trio of X-wings, including Keyan Farlander, and a pair of R-22 Spearheads were dispatched to destroy the satellite. While Farlander's wingmen held off Imperial fighters, the pilot ignored the threat and headed straight for the satellite, destroying it with a proton torpedo. The mission was a success, preventing the Empire from calling for reinforcements and disrupting their defenses, although two of the Rebel X-wings were shot down and the pilots had to be rescued later.^[15]

Other portions of the offensive fleet included two Victory II-class Star Destroyers and two Tartan-class patrol cruisers.^[16] A large part of the Alliance Fleet, including MC80 Star Cruisers, Nebulon-B escort frigates, and other Rebel starfighters^[18] destroyed those four Imperial starships, however, to allow the Rebel Alliance attack on the Death Star to proceed.^[16]

Farlander was quickly dispatched again in one of two X-wings charged with clearing some of the defenses around the trench. They succeeded in destroying several laser batteries as well as some small surface hangars, limiting the Death Star's ability to launch fighters.^[15]

Meanwhile, down on the ground, X2, Shara, and other Rebel soldiers fought off Imperials attacking from space. Various TIE/sa bombers were deployed and doing bombing strafes, and likewise a contingent of Stormtroopers entered the Yavin 4 Base. X2, Shara, and various Rebel soldiers proceeded to enter the temple as well as avoid the various strafing runs of the TIE bombers. Thanks to the Stormtroopers, the base's anti-aircraft turret was also deactivated, forcing X2 to reactivate the turret's power station. After doing so and then preventing them from taking the Great Temple, Dodonna called X2 and Shara and informed them that Imperials had set up jamming systems that were interfering with the X-wing's engines. X2 and Shara located and destroyed the jamming devices.^[12]

The Trench Run[]

Following the preliminary attacks, a fleet of 22 X-wing, 8 Y-wing, and 2 R-22 Spearhead starfighters scrambled to assault the station. The Death Star attempted to use its batteries to defend itself, but the defenses were designed primarily to fight off capital ships, not the small, agile Rebel ships. The fighters destroyed several turrets and a rookie pilot known as Rookie One destroyed a giant ion cannon mounted on the Station, in order to set the stage for the main phase of the assault.^[3]

Although they managed to infiltrate the Death Star's outer defenses, the Rebel Alliance pilots still needed to destroy the Death Star's ten deflector shield towers that protected the trench.^[14]

The station commander, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, dismissed the attack as futile and refused to deploy the station's vast TIE squadrons. Tarkin also refused to evacuate when his chief, Moradmin Bast, attempted to warn him that the Rebels may have found a weak spot in the station. Darth Vader, however, realizing the material threat, ordered his personal fighter squadron to scramble on his own authority. The TIE fighter squadron attacked the Rebel forces soon after they realized that their laser batteries were failing. An order was passed on to stop all turbolasers from firing, letting the TIEs do the job, and to avoid the risk of Imperial fighters being shot down by friendly fire.^[7] The Rebels engaged in duels with the starfighters, destroying several to clear the way to the trench.^[14]

As the rest of the Rebel fighters engaged Vader's forces, three Y-wings from Gold Squadron began their attack run on the trench. They were followed by Vader in his TIE/Advanced, flanked by Backstabber and "Mauler" Mithel in TIE/LNs. Vader shot down Gold Two, Tiree and Gold Leader, Jon Vander; in the trench, then shot down Gold Five, Davish Krail as he attempted to escape. Following the failure of Gold Squadron, the Rebel tacticians on Yavin 4 directed Red Leader, Garvin Dreis to keep half of the group out of range. Red Leader obliged by instructing Reds Two, Three, and Five (Wedge Antilles, Biggs Darklighter, and Luke Skywalker, respectively) to hold back while he led the second trench run, flanked by Red Ten, Theron Nett and Red Twelve, Puck Naeco.^[7]

As Red Leader made his trench run, both his companions were shot down by Vader and his wingmen as they pursued. Red Leader succeeded in making the run, but his proton torpedoes exploded on the exhaust port's surface, leaving a near miss and also killing some stormtroopers inside from the force of the explosion. The remaining X-Wings attempted to cover Red Leader on his exit from the trench, but Dreis, who had been hit and damaged while exiting the trench, ordered them to maintain their position and prepare for their run, just before being shot down by Vader.^[7]

Vader and his wingmen briefly exited the battle and tried to shoot a fleeing E-2T medical shuttle, 5537, as it was full of Imperial defectors. The shuttle's pilot, Villian Dance, managed to outmaneuver Vader until the ongoing battle forced him and his wingmen to turn back.^[11]

On the Death Star, an officer analyzed the Rebels' attack plan and realized there was a good chance they could destroy the reactor—and with it, the entire station. He alerted Tarkin and suggested they consider a retreat or evacuation. Tarkin, however, believed the final victory for the Empire was in sight, and did not consider pulling back.^[23]

The remaining pilots of Red Squadron began their trench run, with Skywalker in the lead, while Darklighter and Antilles maintained a greater distance behind him in order to shield him from the Imperial fighters. The three pilots traversed the trench at full throttle in order to keep the TIEs away. During the approach the stabilizer on Luke's X-Wing loosened, forcing him to initiate repairs and keep his ship steady before he could begin targeting, slowing down the run. Vader and his wingmen gave chase, and opened fire on the X-Wings at long range. One of the wingmen's shots scored a minor hit on Wedge's X-Wing, damaging the engine array, and forcing him to abandon the trench run, unable to keep up with his wingmates. Vader instructed his wingmen to let him go and maintain their pursuit of Biggs and Luke. As they closed the distance, Biggs threw his X-Wing into a weave maneuver, erratically moving around both laterally and vertically, to deny his pursuers a clean shot at either his leader or himself. While this was successful against Vader's wingmen, the Dark Lord of the Sith anticipated his opponent's move through the Force and eventually got a clear shot at Biggs, killing Luke's childhood friend from Tatooine and leaving Luke without any assistance in the trench.^[7]

Meanwhile, on the ground, after X2 fully cleared out the Imperials in the base, he flew to the Death Star in his own fighter to backup the remaining pilots. He arrived at the Death Star during Skywalker's trench run, and got himself within range of Darth Vader's TIE/Advanced to supply Skywalker with backup. However, Vader anticipated X2's arrival and ordered all turbolaser turrets to fire on X2, forcing him to withdraw.^[12] Vader and his wingmen then sped down the trench after Skywalker, as they neared the exhaust port. At this critical moment, Skywalker heard the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi prompting him to deactivate his targeting computer. The Rebel technicians on Yavin 4 questioned this decision, but Luke reassured them that everything was all right. Vader gained a partial weapon lock on Skywalker's X-Wing, and took a potentially fatal shot. However, the blast only grazed R2, rendering him inoperative for the remainder of the mission but causing no direct damage to Skywalker's fighter.^[7]

In the Death Star's control room, as the Rebel base came into range, Tarkin instructed Admiral Conan Antonio Motti give Superlaser Fire Control the order to fire the superlaser when ready.

Vader, sensing that Skywalker was strong in the Force and unaware that Skywalker was his son, readied his guns to fire again and kill him. However, at the last moment, Han Solo and Chewbacca arrived in the Millennium Falcon and surprised Vader by shooting at and destroying his wingman, Backstabber. In the confusion, the other wingman, Mithel, panicked and collided with Vader's fighter, sending himself crashing into the trench and Vader careening out of control into space. With the Force aiding him, Skywalker fired his torpedoes, both of which entered the port perfectly. After confirming the torpedoes hit their target, Skywalker, Antillies, and the remaining Rebel fighters, including the Falcon quickly flew away from the Death Star and back towards Yavin 4.^[7]

As master chief gunnery officer Tenn Graneet prepared to fire the Death Star's superlaser, he hesitated when the Death Star was primed to fire, feeling the guilt of the destruction of Alderaan. He told his crew to standby as the others in the control room urged him to shoot.^[11]

On the Death Star's bridge, Motti called out that torpedoes were fired down the main shaft and would hit the reactor.^[11] The Death Star exploded just seconds after.^[7] Tarkin, Motti, Bast, and the rest of the battle station's crew that were onboard were killed.^[11] Vader managed to regain control of his fighter and fled the Yavin system with his life. The Rebel Alliance had won a spectacular victory, and because of these actions, Skywalker, Solo, and Chewbacca were awarded medals after the battle.^[7]

Aftermath[]

Vader managed to make it to the nearby listening post on Vaal.^[24] As a result of this battle, the Rebel Alliance gained instant credibility as a legitimate military opponent to the Empire. Between the effects of the battle and the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, thousands of star systems openly joined the Alliance in the months following the Death Star's destruction. As a result, the Empire began occupying worlds it had allowed to remain untouched earlier, both actions resulting in an escalation of the war.^[19]

The next day, Skywalker took his X-wing for a flight, and fought a TIE fighter survivor.^[25]

Soon after the destruction, Imperial commander Brenn Tantor arrived with a strike force to rescue Colonel Maximilian Veers, whose shuttle had gotten caught in the crossfire. Tantor rescued Veers and destroyed a Rebel command center.^[2] Several garrisons escaped the Death Star, and their escape pods crashed near the Rebel base. They were fought off before the Evacuation of Yavin.^[1] Survivors from the 501st Legion also joined up with a Star Destroyer to launch a raid, which resulted in the death of three Bothan High Command leaders and the destruction of hundreds of Rebel ships.^[19]

Darth Vader became obsessed with finding the pilot with the Force presence who had fired the conclusive shot^[26] and led Death Squadron in his search.^[13]

A few months after the Battle of Yavin, the Empire launched a number of raids at the Yavin moon. These raids were carried out by small TIE squadrons launched from a small base near the Yavin system. They often maintained reconnaissance patrols rather than retaliatory attacks. The Rebel Alliance eventually evacuated Yavin 4 to escape retaliation from the Imperial Navy and settled on Hoth.^[27]

The last raid carried out by the Empire was a crushing assault consisting of a planetary blockade along with the remnants of the 501st Legion, TIE Fighters and AT-STs. General Jan Dodonna, mastermind of Yavin's defense, was not able to escape and was captured by Imperial forces and later imprisoned for several years.^[28]

The newly launched Imperial flagship, Executor, was dispatched to destroy the Rebel fleet. But Admiral Griff's squadron of Star Destroyers came out of lightspeed and collided with the Executor. By the time the crew regained control, the last Rebel ship jumped into hyperspace.^[29]

Few Rebel pilots escaped with their lives from the battle, including Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles,^[7] Rookie One, Ru Murleen, Merrick Simms, Jake Farrell,^[3] Keyan Farlander, X2, and Shara.^[12] The Red Squadron survivors continued to fight for the Rebellion and eventually grew into two groups, Renegade Flight and Rogue Flight.^[13]

In honor of the battle, an Imperial vessel was eventually renamed upon its capture by the Rebel Alliance.

Some time after the battle, the run was ported into a simulation. One version allowed the pilot to fly with a new B-wing in order to compare its efficiency against the classic X-wing.

Warlord Nuso Esva spread rumors that Senior Captain Thrawn had been in fact directing the Empire during the Battle of Yavin.^[30]

As a direct result of the conflict and the Rebel Alliance's victory, the Empire quickly increased mass production of the TIE/IN interceptor line, which had already been created as a direct result of the Lightspeed Panthers' destruction of 286 TIE/LN starfighters during the Fei Hu campaign a year earlier, eventually resulting in it becoming the Empire's primary starfighters by the time of 2 ABY,^[13] as well as quickly increasing the development and mass production of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought line. In addition, thousands of cadets at the Imperial Academy ended up rapidly advancing into service as a direct result of the events at Yavin.^[31]

Although the Death Star II was not planned as a direct result of the Death Star's destruction (as Emperor Palpatine had earlier ordered for the construction of it and reserved the Sanctuary Pipeline hyperspace route to Endor for transporting construction materials, an order he ironically gave minutes before Luke delivered the deciding shot that resulted in the first Death Star's destruction),^[13] its completion was nonetheless made more urgent as a direct result of the Rebel victory.

Calendrical impact[]

25 years later, the New Republic Historical Council decided to set a new calendar. Some already used a calendar that set year 0 as the fall of Palpatine. However, due to the significance of the destruction of the Death Star, and its significance in the eventual overthrow of the Empire, the Council set year 0 as the year when the Battle of Yavin happened; therefore they established the BBY/ABY calendar.^[32]

The Galactic Alliance, as the legal successor to the defunct New Republic, continued to use this calendar, but it is unknown what calendar was used by the Fel Empire or the new Sith Empire.

Squadrons[]

Rebel squadrons[]

32 Rebel starfighters launched from Yavin 4. The whole fleet was composed of Red, Gold, Blue, and Green Squadrons. The known pilots assigned to them are:

• Red Squadron (12 T-65 X-wings):^[17]
  • Red Leader - Garven Dreis†^[7]
  • Red Two - Wedge Antilles^[7]
  • Red Three - Biggs Darklighter†^[7]
  • Red Four - John D. Branon†^[13]
  • Red Five - Luke Skywalker^[7]
  • Red Six - Jek Tono Porkins†^[7]
  • Red Seven - Elyhek Rue†^[13]
  • Red Eight - Bren Quersey†^[13]
  • Red Nine - Nozzo Naytaan†^[13]
  • Red Ten - Theron Nett†^[13]
  • Red Eleven - Wenton Chan^[33]†
  • Red Twelve - Puck Naeco^[13] †
• Gold Squadron (7 BTL Y-wings):^[17]
  • Gold Leader - Jon Vander†^[7]
  • Gold Two - Tiree†^[7]
  • Gold Three - Ryle Torsyn†
  • Gold Four - Lepira†
  • Gold Five - Davish Krail†
  • Gold Six - Hol Okand†
  • Gold Seven - Keyan Farlander^[34]
• Blue Squadron (6 T-65 X-wings):^[17]
  • Blue Leader - Merrick Simms (T-65 X-wing)^[3]
  • Blue Two - Ru Murleen (T-65 X-wing)^[3]
  • Blue Three - Rookie One (T-65 X-wing)^[3]
  • Blue Four - Thurlow Harris (T-65 X-wing)^[3]
• Green Squadron
  • Pilots unknown
• Grey Squadron
  • X2^[12]
• Other pilots (squadrons unknown):
  • Hamo Blastwell (Survived,^[35] but reported MIA)^[15]
  • Jake Farrell (R-22 Spearhead)^[3]
  • Ernek Marskan
  • Talos Merkin†^[36]
  • Samuel Raider
  • Doyle Skims† (BTL Y-wing)^[37]
  • Shara^[12]
• Millennium Falcon^[7]
  • Han Solo^[7]
  • Chewbacca^[7]

Imperial squadron[]

Only a single elite squadron of TIE fighters was deployed. The members of the squadron were formed by, and under the direct command of, Darth Vader.

• Black Squadron (8 TIE/LN starfighters, 1 TIE Advanced x1):
  • Darth Vader^[7]
  • Qorl^[38]
  • Black Two - "Mauler" Mithel†
  • Black Three - "Backstabber"†
  • Black Four - "Dark Curse"†

Casualties and survivors[]

Rebel Alliance[]

The Alliance's desperate assault on the Death Star was successful, but costly. Only two—Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles—survived the assault.^[7] All members of Gold Squadron except Keyan Farlander reportedly died as well. A Rebel Sullustan named Dr'uun Unnh was killed on the ground by a TIE Fighter that crashed into the jungle during the battle; the TIE fighter pilot died.^[39] Commander Hamo Blastwell was presumed dead by other pilots following the battle, but was officially listed as missing in action. Blastwell had in fact survived, as later reports placed him working as an undercover agent for the Alliance, posing as an Imperial officer.

A number of other Rebels stationed at Yavin 4 were either unable or unwilling to participate in the battle. Both Jal Te Gniev^[26] and Derek Klivian were grounded due to illness.^[40] Wes Janson would have joined the pilots at Yavin 4 some time before the battle, but stayed behind at his previous assignment due to illness. His replacement,^[41] Jek Porkins, was killed in the battle.^[7] Tyler Lucian fled Yavin 4 prior to the Death Star's impending arrival, fearing for his life.^[27]

The Empire[]

Exceptions included Darth Vader, whose fighter was sent hurtling off into space^[7] and eventually crashed into the planet Vaal,^[24] and a TIE Fighter pilot named Qorl, who crashed on the surface of Yavin 4. Qorl would survive alone in the jungles for decades before being discovered by students from Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum.^[38] About half of the 501st Legion were still on-board the Death Star when it was destroyed. Another third were killed when their ships were destroyed by the explosion.^[19]

Maximilian Veers was on his way to report to the Death Star for his new assignment when the battle began. His command shuttle was attacked and crash landed on Yavin 4. He was rescued by Imperial forces some time after the battle.^[2] A small band of deserters escaped the Death Star shortly before it was destroyed. They included Villian Dance, Teela Kaarz, Celot Ratua Dil, Kornell Divini and Memah Roothes.^[11]

Behind the scenes[]

The battle is based heavily on the battle scenes in the British war film The Dam Busters.

The timeline of Star Wars fiction is most often based upon this event, where events are dated as happening so many years "before the Battle of Yavin" (BBY) or "after the Battle of Yavin" (ABY).

In the novelization of the film, Luke Skywalker's X-wing squadron is called "Blue Squadron," while the Y-wing squadron is called "Red Squadron." In the film, these colors are changed to Red and Gold, respectively. This change was necessitated because the blue paint on the X-wings had to be removed for blue-screen purposes.

The Farlander Papers reveals that Keyan Farlander is the pilot of the Y-wing fighter seen leaving the Death Star alongside Luke, Wedge and the Millennium Falcon.

The 1998 Star Wars Encyclopedia places Commander Arhul Narra and his Renegade Flight at the Battle of Yavin. Lucasfilm's Leland Chee has since confirmed this as an error on the StarWars.com forums.^[42]

The battle (and alternative versions of it) has appeared so many times in Expanded Universe sources that have contributed many retcons and new elements, it seems that the events shown in the film are a very limited portion of the "full" battle. The movie describes the battle only from the point of view of some members of Red Squadron and Gold Squadron, only a fraction of the thirty ships mentioned and seen in the film.

The novelization of A New Hope also mentions two additional squadrons—Yellow and Green—providing cover to those we see in the film. Though these other squadrons are not seen in the film, the number of fighters shown does suggest more than two squadrons. In addition, A New Hope showed eight Y-wings participated in the battle, although a fact file released later claimed that it was actually seven.

The fourth squadron was referenced only in the novelization until 2008. Every squadron color in the novelization besides Green had been used in prior incarnations (assuming "Yellow" is a substitute for "Gold"), and in 2008, Green Squadron at Yavin was cited in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

In the 1987 Star Wars game for the Family Computer, the Battle of Yavin is featured. However, notable differences are that Luke Skywalker confronted Vader at the Great Temple just prior to departing to attack the Death Star.

In Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker's proton torpedoes detonate prematurely and fail to destroy the Death Star. The Imperials send out a wing of TIE Fighters to pick off the remaining members of Red Squadron. Unable to fire a fully charged shot from the Death Star's superlaser, Grand Moff Tarkin orders the technicians to fire at reduced power, nearly leveling the Massassi Temple on the moon's surface.The Rebel forces attempt to flee the Yavin system. Once the power levels are stabilized Tarkin orders to fire again to destroy the planet. After that, the Rebel forces are captured by the Imperials. Luke, driven to near-insanity by the failure of the mission and the apparent destruction of Rebel base, turns his fighter to face the TIEs alone. Eventually, Han Solo convinces Luke to flee and the Millennium Falcon jumps into hyperspace with Luke's X-wing on its tail.

These sources also suggest that the Rebels had to pass through Imperial forces before reaching the Death Star. Star Wars: Rebel Assault showed the Death Star was orbited by a Star Destroyer from which a TIE Fighter wave was launched and a surface cannon had to be neutralized before the trench run. X-wing showed other Imperial vessels as well like the Divad.

A Blue Squadron at Yavin 4 is mentioned in X-Wing: The Official Strategy Guide. Blue Squadron actually appears in the game Rebel Assault, though the specific details from that game (such as the player's character from Blue destroying the Death Star) are not canonical. A character killed in that non-canon trench run, Thurlow Harris, was revealed to have survived the battle in the Star Wars Blog article "The Not-So Magnificent Seven." The main characters from Rebel Assault do appear in Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire, the storyline of which has been referred to in canon sources.

Though the film shows just three surviving fighters, X-wing and Star Wars: Rebel Assault both show others flying away from the exploding Death Star, while the novelization mentions that "several" X-wings and Y-wings escaped. On StarWars.com's Q&A pages, Stephen J. Sansweet says it's "pretty definite" that more ships survived and just aren't visible on screen.

A-wings are shown taking part in the Battle of Yavin in X-wing and Rebel Assault, though other sources indicate the fighters were introduced some time after the battle. The A-wings in these games have been retconned into R-22 Spearheads, a forerunner of the later vessel, only nicknamed "A-wing." Writers created the Spearhead to specifically resolve this discrepancy, and that of the A-wing's appearance in Star Wars Droids. Inside the Worlds of Star Wars shows an R-22 in the Rebel base shortly before the battle.

In the LEGO Star Wars and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron video games, as well as Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, many more TIE Fighters beyond Black Squadron are depicted, probably for a bigger challenge. In addition, with the latter game, the player also has the option of picking up the Advanced Shields tech upgrade during the portion where the player (or players, as was the case of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike) has to fight various TIE squadrons. In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, the battle serves as the game's second bonus mission, unlocked by earning all silver medals in the campaign or by using cheat codes. The player is tasked with chasing the Imperials down the trench and then destroying the power plant. In the mission, the trench is larger than depicted in the film and has four corners, and the exhaust port is guarded by large turbolaser towers.

In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, in addition to the standard Battle of Yavin, the game included a bonus mission called "Triumph of the Empire," which was the Battle of Yavin told from the view of the Galactic Empire. The player plays as Darth Vader in his TIE Advanced x1. At the end of the mission, the player is treated to a short video of the last three X-wings getting shot down, with Vader proclaiming it is a great day for the Empire. As the point of the mission is to stop the Rebel forces from destroying the Death Star, the trench portion of the mission's conclusion is non-canon. The bonus mission is likewise omitted from Rebel Strike's co-op mode (which was a modified version of Rogue Leader).

In the 1983 Atari arcade game Star Wars, an arcade flight-simulator adaptation for A New Hope that focused on the Battle of Yavin, the player in some modes has to destroy several towers that litter the area. In addition, to make the run more challenging, there were also several turrets and obstacles in the trench that the player has to avoid. This was retained in the Rogue Squadron games, which cited the arcade game to be the inspiration for the game series. In addition, they were also to some extent based on Joe Johnston's original vision of the meridian trench run.

In the 2006 video game Star Wars: Empire at War, the endgame of the Rebellion campaign is the fight against the Death Star. The station may be destroyed over any planet, but only after its defensive fleet is destroyed and Red Squadron is present in the battle. The size of the Rebel fleet is the player's choice and can include several types of starships. This article assumes several starships were present but does not include a specific number. After the Death Star is destroyed, the player is treated to a cutscene with Skywalker launching his torpedoes, and it is followed by the Royal Award Ceremony. If the player chooses to win by domination, a separate cutscene is played, with the Rebel fleet destroying Vader's Star Destroyer over Coruscant.

The 2012 mobile game Angry Birds Star Wars recreates the Battle of Yavin in the final mission of the Death Star area. The launching platform is a "slingshot X-wing" and the player is provided with Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Rebel pilot-themed birds to face "Darth Piggy" and other Imperial forces. When the player wins, they are treated to a short slideshow of the destruction of the Death Star.

Star Destroyers at Yavin[]

Certain non G-canon sources such as Star Wars: Flight of the Falcon and Star Wars: Rebel Assault show a large force of Imperial ships and TIE fighters dogfighting with the Rebel assault force as they approach the Death Star. Star Wars Trilogy Arcade depicts at least two Star Destroyers being present at the battle.

Inaccuracies with the Trench Run[]

In many video games, particularly the Rogue Squadron trilogy, the player has to avoid many obstacles and make several turns when flying in the Death Star's trench. The schematics/layout of the Death Star show no objects or turns in the trench, and the appearance of the trench in video games is deemed non-canon game mechanics. In Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader, one of the bonus missions is an alternate-history scenario where the player flies as Darth Vader and defends the trench from the Rebel squadrons.

In Star Wars: Rebel Assault, Blue Squadron takes part in the trench run and their process parallels the action of Red Squadron as shown in the movie: Merrick Simms hits the torpedoes but misses, just like Garven Dreis; Ru Murleen is hit and pulls out like Wedge Antilles, and Jake Farrell, just like Han Solo, shows up saving Rookie One's life, allowing him to destroy the Death Star instead of Luke Skywalker. In December 2006, Leland Chee commented on the StarWars.com Message Boards that Rookie One's trench run was non-continuity.^[43] However, it is unclear whether Chee is referring to merely the outcome or the entire trench run; it remains possible that he did make a failed trench run.

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

• Choose Your Own Star Wars Adventure: A New Hope
• ° Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
• ° Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead
• "The Long, Bad Day" — Star Wars Tales 16
• "Perfect Evil"
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters video game

Sources[]

Non-canon sources[]

• LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side (Mentioned only)

Notes and references[]

External links[]

• Official Star Wars Soundboards: Battle of Yavin on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)