- "Freelies look out for ol' number one... everyone else better watch out for Freelies!"
- ―Jax
Jax was a Human male who served as the leader for a delinquent youth gang called the Freelies that operated on the planet Vorzyd V. In 1 ABY, Jax led his gang in a plot to kidnap prominent Rebel leader Leia Organa for a hefty ransom, and his gang succeeded in capturing her and bringing her back to their hideout. However, the plan was ultimately foiled by the arrival of a squad of Imperial stormtroopers, and Organa was able to escape during the ensuing firefight.
Biography[]
- "The Empire is your enemy, too! Everybody's enemy-!!"
"Not ours, Princess! The Empire doesn't even know we Freelies exist! Nobody does!" - ―Leia Organa and Jax
A Human male, Jax grew up on the "Gambler's World" of Vorzyd V,[1] an Outer Rim planet known for its high crime rate.[2] As a youth, Jax fell in with a delinquent gang known as the Freelies,[1] derived from the term "freeloaders." The Freelies were born out of a sense of resentment from the planet's Vorzydiak natives towards the complacency and conformism of their elders, and Freelie gangs were present around Vorzyd V—the Freelies of the planet's capital city of Efavan also accepted members of other species,[2] and by 1 ABY the Human Jax had become their leader. Jax's crew included a pair of Vorzydiaks named Bemmie and Merf, along with a Selonian named Choyd, the son of a local Rebel operative. Operating from a hideout deep in the Efavan undercity, Jax and his gang were known to patrol the city streets at night, looking for scores.[1]
Choyd and Jax.
On one of these trips Jax and his friends happened across a valuable-looking pair of droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, traveling on their own near the casino district. Jax's Freelies immediately tried to make off with the droids, only to run into trouble when they realized that they had forgotten the tool they needed to take off C-3PO's restraining bolt. That holdup gave R2-D2 time to hail a nearby police droid, which chased the street urchins off. Jax and his gang soon encountered the same droids again at a weapons shop, but were once again scared off from stealing them when the droids accidentally set off an array of automatic weapons. Instead, the Freelies held back, tailing the droids back to a starship owned by their master, the Rebel hero Luke Skywalker. Once there, Jax and the gang tricked C-3PO into letting them aboard, where they found much more valuable quarry: well-known Rebel leader Leia Organa, whom they kidnapped and brought back to their hideout, seeking a 5 million credit ransom for her safe return to the Alliance.[1]
Somewhere along the way, Jax's gang was separated from Bemmie, who fell into the hands of Imperials who were also after Organa. Skywalker soon stumbled upon the Freelie during his own search for Organa, and rescued Bemmie from brutal torture, leading the grateful Vorzydiak to take Skywalker and a couple captive stormtroopers back to their den. Although Bemmie attempted to convince Jax that Skywalker could be trusted, Jax decided instead that the gang would be better served just executing the man, even if it cost him Bemmie as well. However, before he could follow through on his threat, the Freelie hideout was suddenly stormed by a squad of stormtroopers. Although Skywalker and Organa quickly took up arms along with the Freelies to fight the Imperials off, Jax still planned on turning on the Rebels, hoping to somehow contact the leader of the stormtroopers and sell Skywalker and Organa to them. That plan was foiled when Bemmie, feeling that he owed Skywalker his life, offered to lead the Rebels to safety through the Freelies' hidden emergency exit. Although the escape cost Bemmie his life, Skywalker and Organa made it home free and cost Jax his big score.[1]
Personality and traits[]
- "Nobody's on our side! Remember-? Nobody in Freelie den but Freelies!"
- ―Jax, to Bemmie
The unquestioned leader of the Freelies of Efavan, Jax commanded the respect and the obedience of his crew. Aggressive and dynamic, Jax was the driving force behind the gang, always urging them to action and putting together heists and plots that required swift action. Jax had an attitude of total ambivalence towards matters outside the gang: as far as he was concerned, the Empire could rule with an iron fist and do whatever it wanted, so long as it left the Freelies alone. Jax refused to trust anyone outside of the gang, even when one of his own Freelies vouched for them, and was even willing to threaten violence on his fellow Freelies to protect the gang from outsiders.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Jax made his only appearance in the Star Wars Legends continuity in Gambler's World, a comic strip story arc written and illustrated by Russ Manning and released in 1979.[1]
Appearances[]
- "Gambler's World" (First appearance)