Star Wars Skeleton Crew has caught the fan community by storm. It has brought the fun back into Star Wars. Something that some might say has been missing since the early days of The Mandalorian. Even the online community has been having difficulty finding anything negative to say about Skeleton Crew. I mean who doesn’t love a fun story with kids and pirates? Skeleton Crew emphasizes there’s more to the galaxy far, far away than good versus evil, light side versus dark side, rebellion versus Empire. There are treasures to be had, secret treasures, and mysterious planets. Pirates are the focus here, and even though Han Solo didn’t appreciate them, here is a list of some of the most infamous pirates in the Star Wars galaxy.
The Nihil
The Nihil emerged as a significant threat to the Galactic Republic during the High Republic Era. Before the construction of starships that pirates could prey upon, The Nihil hunted a vast array of creatures, such as purrgil and exogorths (space slugs). They were responsible for large-scale atrocities, including the Great Hyperspace Disaster through their unique travel in hyperspace, the attack on the Republic Fair and numerous other raids, and even the destruction of the Starlight Beacon. The Eye of the Nihil, Marchion Ro, established the Nihil space and claimed he did so in order to create a place free of Republic rule.
Hondo Ohnaka
A male Weequay pirate and outlaw whose varied exploits garnered him notoriety and infamy throughout the galaxy. Throughout Ohnaka’s storied and decades-long career as the head of his own gang, the Ohnaka Gang and Ohnaka Transport Solutions, he often became mixed up in the conflicts of his time. Although primarily self-serving, he occasionally worked closely with Jedi’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to provide crucial aid and assistance to his allies in the Galactic Republic during The Clone Wars, the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, and the Resistance during the First Order-Resistance War. For a pirate Hondo at least had some amount of morals.
Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders
Nest was a human female resistance fighter who led the Cloud-Riders, a band of pirates and rebel group that fought against the crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn. Nest’s skills as a pirate earned her a reputation as an infamous marauder including in Crimson Dawn, who Nest and her Cloud-Riders fought against in retaliation for the atrocities Crimson Dawn had committed against them. Nest, who wore a battle helmet passed down to her from her mother, had run-ins with Crimson Dawn operative Tobias Beckett and his gang. Nest also tried to recruit a young Han Solo into joining the fledgling rebellion, but Han had other ideas.
Gorian Shard
A male individual of a plant-like species who served as the Pirate King of a gang of pirates, which included Nikto Vane, leading the gang from his Cumulus Class Corsair warship. At some point, Shard obtained a treasure, which Guild Master Greef Karga used a portion of it to build a cantina on the Outer Rim planet Nevarro. Shard was killed when The Mandalorian, Din Djarin, and Bo Katan destroyed Shard’s vessel causing him to crash on Nevarro.
Tak Rennod
Former pirate captain of the Onyx Cinder. Rennod’s droid, SM-33, was devotedly loyal to him, searching the starship endlessly for him. Fern claimed she killed the Onyx Cinder’s old captain and threw him into space. SM-33 agreed with her that she was therefore the new captain of the ship. Before his demise, Rennod was one of the most infamous pirates in the galaxy holding secrets to a treasure on the mysterious world of At Attin.
Sidon Ithano
Pirate who went by several nicknames including the Crimson Corsair, was a male Delphidian pirate who lived in the Outer Rim Territories in the decades following the end of the Galactic Civil War. Ithano, who wore a distinctive red Kaleesh mask, led a crew of pirates and gained a reputation as the best pirate in the region. He and his crew discovered the remains of the downed Obrexta III, a ship that had been in service to the Confederacy of Independent Systems exactly 50 standard years prior during the Clone Wars, and raided it under the assumption that they would find valuable kyber crystals that once belonged to Count Dooku. Instead, they found a Galactic Republic clone trooper named Kix, who had been frozen in stasis, and the locations of former Separatist bases.
Kragan Gorr
A male Quarren pirate who operated during the New Republic/Resistance Era. Gorr led the Warbird gang and secretly worked for the First Order. After raiding the Colossus refueling platform on behalf of the First Order, Gorr and his pirates turned against their First Order employers when the latter tricked them into kidnapping Torra Doza, the daughter of Captain Imanuel Doza, to gain a pretext for occupying the refueling platform. Gorr and his pirates later helped Team Colossus led by Kazuda Xiono and Jarek Yeager to expel the First Order from the Colossus before fleeing into space with their former enemies.
Pirates are certainly colorful characters who generally lack a moral compass. Credits are the only language they speak. Crime syndicates and their bosses are the only ones who have no qualms about working with pirates. But even that bond is tenuous. Even smugglers and bounty hunters keep their distance. Slavers are the only ones lower on the morality scale than pirates, but it takes all kinds to run a galaxy.