Lando Calrissian

Baron Lando Calrissian is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He also appears frequently in the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books and video games, including a series of novels in which he is the primary protagonist.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Lando Calrissian first appears in The Empire Strikes Back as the feudal administrator of Cloud City, concerned primarily with keeping the Galactic Civil War and the Empire out of his affairs. The bounty hunter Boba Fett, working for Darth Vader, tracks Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO traveling in the hyper-drive damaged Millennium Falcon to Bespin. Shortly before Solo and crew make it to Bespin, Darth Vader and a contingent of Imperial Forces arrive at Bespin and threaten to take over the city. Calrissian is strongarmed by Darth Vader into betraying his old friend Han Solo and turning him over to the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Unwilling to leave the city in the hands of the Empire, Calrissian reluctantly does so, but his conscience gets the better of him when Vader goes back on his word and takes Princess Leia Organa and Chewbacca as prisoners. When Lando sets Leia, C-3P0 and Chewbacca free. Chewbacca chokes Lando for giving Han to Darth Vader and Boba Fett to Jabba the Hutt and Leia angrily tells Lando that they do not need his help before they chase Boba Fett who escapes with Han. In the ensuing evacuation of Cloud City, he helps Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO escape. He then assists Leia in rescuing the maimed Luke Skywalker from the underside of Cloud City who fallen into Vader's trap and losing his right hand during their duel. Afterwards, he joins the Rebel Alliance and promises Leia he will find Han.

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
In Return of the Jedi, Calrissian goes undercover to help Luke Skywalker rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt. During a heated battle with Jabba's henchmen, Han saves Calrissian from being devoured by a Sarlaac; in return, Calrissian helps Han and his friends destroy Jabba's barge. For his heroics, he is made a general in the Rebel Alliance. He then takes the pilot chair in the Millennium Falcon, which was originally his, and leads the attack on the second Death Star. He leads the Rebels to victory by destroying the gigantic battle station and the Empire.

Pre-Empire Strikes Back
Calrissian's life prior to The Empire Strikes Back is chronicled in The Adventures of Lando Calrissian series of novels. Early in his career, Lando is a prodigious gambler and wins the Millennium Falcon in a game of sabacc. He also wins a strange star-shaped droid named Vuffi Raa, who would be his friend and ally on many occasions. After acquiring the Falcon, and under the tutelage of his friend Han Solo, Calrissian begins to develop his skills as a pilot.

In Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, he is conned by the Sorcerer of Tund, Rokur Gepta, into hunting down the titular object in the Rafa system. When he arrives, he finds it totally covered in sand and plastic pyramids, and inhabited by a dull and slow-witted society, the Toka. Lando eventually finds the mindharp, but the human governor of Rafa IV activates it. Majestically, the pyramids crumble and the Toka are revealed as the Sharu, an ancient civilization that had drained their intelligence away for safety. Once the Sharu are resurrected, they drive out all the humans. Lando is forced to return to Rokur empty-handed.

In Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka, Lando tries to save a space-borne species called the Oswaft. During the mission, strange spherical droids appear and take Vuffi Raa away, for he is actually a scout for this strange culture. Then, he enters the sabacc championships, and loses to Han Solo. Han makes off with the Millennium Falcon.

In Rebel Dawn, Calrissian helps Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Solo's old flame Bria Tharen (then a Commander in the Rebel Alliance) in a raid against the Hutt-controlled slave world of Ylesia. During the raid which promises generous rewards to Han and his compatriots, Tharen's Red Hand Squadron double crosses Lando and the rest of Han's friends. In the ensuing chaos, Han is branded an accomplice and a traitor. Back on Nar Shaddaa (then Solo's home) word soon spreads, and Calrissian punches him out.

Later, he wins the mining facility of Cloud City from its current ruler, Baron Raynor. He becomes a responsible leader, keeping his operations out of the eyes of the Galactic Empire. These events are chronicled in the comic book story "Lady Luck," written by Rich Handley and Darko Macan, and its sequel, "Lando Calrissian: Idiot's Array," by Rich Handley.

Pre-Return of the Jedi
The Star Wars comic book series released by Marvel Comics featured Calrissian as a prominent character following The Empire Strikes Back. In the comic series, he has a crime lord arch nemesis named Drebble, and Calrissian will frequently make use of his foil's name as a cover identity so that any animosity he generates while using the alias will be brought against the real Drebble, not Calrissian himself. Drebble features in the comic story "Lady Luck," in which he receives a first name, Barpotomous. Calrissian's use of Drebble's name backfires when the alliance hears how much trouble "Drebble" has been causing the Empire, and orders Calrissian to find and decorate him.

Post-Return of the Jedi
Following the events of Return of the Jedi, he builds a mining complex on the superhot planet Nkllon called Nomad City. The city consists of an old Dreadnaught carried across the landscape on the night side of the planet.

Nomad City is destroyed during Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic, portrayed in The Thrawn Trilogy. When Emperor Palpatine reappears in Dark Empire and begins his own campaign against the New Republic, Calrissian rejoins the Republic's military at his previous rank. After Palpatine is finally destroyed in Empire's End, Calrissian leaves the military. When Kessel is abandoned following Admiral Daala's attack on the planet in Darksaber, Calrissian takes over the planet, converts its prison into a mining complex, and mines spice from the planet for a number of years.

During The Corellian Trilogy, Calrissian goes on a galaxy-wide hunt for a rich wife. The businessman, reasoning that marriage is partly a financial relationship, meets Tendra Risant, whom he marries. With his inlaws' money and his entrepreneurial abilities, he opens a mining facility on the outer rim planet of Dubrillion. On the side, he unofficially runs an asteroid training facility for smuggler pilots.

In Vector Prime, Calrissian asks Solo and Chewie to help him with a business transaction on the planet of Sernpidal. During this trip, Chewbacca meets his demise, saving Solo's son Anakin from the moon the Yuuzhan Vong sends crashing onto the planet. Solo, Anakin, and the thousands of people they saved head to Dubrillion, where the first major clash between the biological Vong and the mechanical New Republic occurs. Calrissian's ground defenses, as well as his newly created shielding technologies, help save Dubrillion from the initial assault. When the Vong retreat, the Skywalker family launch a desperate attack with the Star Destroyer Rejuvenator and its task force. Calrissian serves as gunner for Solo on the Falcon, but the Rejuvenator and most of her complement of ships are destroyed.

In Dark Tide: Onslaught, Calrissian helps the Solos organize an escape route for Skywalker's Jedi Academy. He poses as a citizen of the besieged world Talfaglia in order to deliver 17 Jedi "hostages" to the Yuuzhan Vong; this is actually a strike team, which attempts to destroy the cloning facilities on the worldship orbiting Myrkr. He also creates Yuuzhan Vong Hunter Droids, two of which prove crucial in the assault on Myrkr to destroy the voxyn queen, and dozens more are used in assaults on Vong strongholds throughout the war.

In Star By Star, Calrissian's efforts are crucial in delaying the Vong victory in a battle on Coruscant. Instead of using mines to attack the Vong piecemeal, he lets them into the minefield, then turns them on the approaching enemy. Over one thousand of the Vong are destroyed or damaged. He also rescues the kidnapped Ben Skywalker from the clutches of the treacherous Senator Viqi Shesh.

In Enemy Lines: Rebel Dream, Calrissian leads the ground troops to a quick victory, then volunteers to lead a small task force to destroy Vong ambushes of convoys and find out how they tracked said convoys. These efforts are wholly successful, with large Vong capital ships destroyed with minimal effort, time, fuel, and munitions.

Finally, when the newly located Galactic Senate on Mon Calamari sets out to vote for a new Chief of State, Calrissian and Talon Karrde provide "incentives" such as silence, money, and blackmail to convince a group of corrupt senators to vote for Cal Omas, who supports the Jedi. When Omas is elected, Calrissian, Karrde, and Star Destroyer owner Booster Terrik lead the Smuggler's Alliance, with Han Solo commanding, to victory over a massive Yuuzhan Vong force in the rout at Ebaq 9.

Calrissian eventually retires to private life after proving crucial in the Battle of Yuuzhan'tar and creating a new Holonet to replace the one the Vong destroyed.

In the seventh novel of the Legacy of the Force series, Fury, Calrissian announces to Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo that he and Tendra are having a child.

Lando is revealed to have a son Lando Jr. nicknamed "Chance".

Reception
Lando Calrissian was chosen as the 11th top Star Wars character by IGN and the character was chosen as the 12th top Star Wars hero by Jesse Schedeen. Schedeen also said that Calrissian was one of the characters he would most like seeing in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Cultural references
Lando, the hit single by the Futurians, was written about Baron Lando Calrissian.