Serji-X Arrogantus

"But Serji-X Arrogantus surrenders to nobody!! Never!!"

―Serji-X Arrogantus^[1]

Serji-X Arrogantus was a male Human swoop jockey who toured the professional circuit on Caprioril during the Imperial Period. He was nicknamed "the Arrogant One," due to his continual flagrant disregard for the rules and the dangers of professional swoop racing. He was usurped by the corporate-backed Dug racer Hodrix, and as his fans were rapidly siphoned away from him, Arrogantus attempted an incredibly dangerous stunt, in the hopes of attracting some of the attention he had once enjoyed. The stunt resulted in a perilous crash that almost claimed Arrogantus' life. He was deemed unfit to race, so he left the professional circuit to race with swoop gangs in the Outer Rim Territories.

Making his way to Aduba-3, Arrogantus formed the Cloud-Riders—a group of reprobates and degenerates who preyed upon the local farmers, exploiting the weak and innocent. Arrogantus in particular targeted the village of Onacra, with whom he had worked out a compromise in which they would pay him a considerable tithe each year, allaying his need to pillage their settlement. However, Arrogantus tired of the arrangement, and returned to his ransacking of the town. In 0 ABY, when attempting to claim one of the farm girls, Merri Shen, Arrogantus and the Cloud-Riders met resistance from a group of gunslingers led by Corellian smuggler Han Solo. Arrogantus was later killed when a large beast emerged from deep caverns near Onacra, wreaking havoc.

Biography[]

The Arrogant One[]

"Ignar drives like a mott. I've transmitted him a diagram of the back of my new Flare-P so that he can start getting used to the view."

―Serji-X Arrogantus^[4]

Serji-X Arrogantus was a Human male who had a career as a professional swoop jockey on Caprioril^[5] in the Swo-O'Rim racing circuit.^[4] He continued that line of work for several years, and earned himself the moniker of "the Arrogant One," due to his flagrant disregard of both the rules and dangers that distinguished the sport of swoop racing.^[5] In 22 BBY, he participated in a race in the city of Tasjon on Corulag, against Ignar Ominaz, the top-ranked swoop racer at the time. It was a rare meeting of the two most significant talents in the swoop-racing field, as the Swo-O'Rim circuit rarely overlapped with the TransGal circuit that Ominaz raced in. Although Ominaz won the race, Arrogantus finished nine seconds later. When speaking to HoloNet News after the race, Arrogantus confidently decried Ominaz's abilities, confident that his new Flare-P swoop from Mobquet Swoops and Speeders would give him the requisite edge to secure the top seed. HoloNet News believed that Arrogantus would secure the top seed at the Plooriod 940 on Corsin, a month after the Tasjon race.^[4]

Arrogantus earned a great many fans for his opulent displays and showboating, but he was eventually usurped by the newcomer Hodrix, a Dug hailing from Malastare who had the advantage of corporate backing. Arrogantus' manager took a job with the corporations, leaving Arrogantus alone to deal with his own affairs. In an attempt to regain his former standing, Arrogantus attempted a particularly dangerous and foolhardy stunt. As a result, he suffered a bad accident, and his prize speeder was wrecked. The only thing saving Arrogantus himself from death was his helmet. He sustained severe cranial trauma, and was ruled unfit to race. With his career at an end, Arrogantus made his way to the Outer Rim Territories. There, he participated in races with outlaw swoop gangs, and would relay stories of his former glory to the low-lifes that he was forced to gravitate to. He eventually made his way to Aduba-3, and formed a gang, the Cloud-Riders—a pack of miscreants who utilized stripped down skyspeeders and swoops. They were loyal to Arrogantus only through their own ignorance. As his vehicle of choice, Arrogantus flew a modified Peregrine-340 airspeeder.^[5]

A devil[]

Serji-XArrogantus — Serji-X Arrogantus in the Agrilat Swamp on Corellia

The Cloud-Riders maintained a small camp in the hills near the farming villages of Aduba-3. Arrogantus devised an extortion racket, in which they would prey upon the local farmers to their own benefit. They raided the villages, stealing both crops and women, before selling them to traders and slavers respectively in the port town of Tun Aduban for credits.^[5] They would also force the banthas that farmers used for both livestock and transportation to stampede.^[2] The closest of their targets was the village of Onacra. Rather than allow Arrogantus to repeatedly ransack their community, the village leaders, among them Oncho Shen and Ramiz, formulated a compromise with him. They would pay him an annual tithe of 9,000 credits, and Arrogantus would bypass Onacra altogether. He and the Cloud-Riders accepted the deal, as it required less hauling of grain and slaves to Tun Aduban.^[5] On the second year of their agreement, Arrogantus and his Cloud-Riders made a spectacular entrance into the town, crashing into several of the dwellings for effect.^[6] After three years, however, Arrogantus tired of the deal, and prepared to resume his ransacking of Onacra.^[5]

In 0 ABY, a newcomer, Warto, joined Arrogantus' gang. Arrogantus was impressed with the Boltrunian's strength, and his hunger for vengeance against several individuals who had humiliated him in the past. Arrogantus gave Warto a skyspeeder that had belonged to a Cloud Rider that had succumbed to a high-hound attack.^[5] Warto alerted Arrogantus to the fact that a Corellian smuggler, Han Solo, had been hired by the Onacrans to defend the village, and to that end had assembled a makeshift team of warriors,^[2] later to be known as the Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3.^[5] Arrogantus, Warto, and the rest of the Cloud-Riders rode to Tun Aduban to confront Solo, and while the Boltrunian goaded the Corellian, Arrogantus instructed him not to open fire until he had given word.^[2]

Downfall and death[]

Serjigoesskiing — Arrogantus does battle with the forces of Han Solo.

Confirming that he could approach Solo and the Star-Hoppers under a flag of truce, Arrogantus suggested that the Corellian abandon his mission. He claimed he was prepared to pay Solo a small sum for him to not work for the Onacrans, but felt sure that his price would by much higher than whatever the villagers could offer him. The Corellian countered with the fact that the villagers were offering all they could afford, and in Solo's view that was worth more than Arrogantus' credits. Solo then advised Arrogantus to leave the village alone—the assertion amused the gang leader, as did Solo's ragtag team. Insulted, one of the team members, young Jimm Doshun, drew his weapon on Arrogantus, before being subdued by another Star-Hopper, Amaiza Foxtrain. Pointing out that Solo's team were already fighting amongst themselves, Arrogantus departed with the Cloud-Riders, confident that he would not be threatened by the newcomers.^[2]

Meanwhile, one of the Onacran farm girls, Merri Shen, had aroused Arrogantus' interest. He became genuinely smitten with her, and although he was more than capable of seizing her with brute force, he sought to win her over with his charms. As he returned to Onacra with the intention of doing just that,^[5] he found that the Star-Hoppers had not heeded his warning, and were defending the village. Arrogantus, leading his Cloud-Riders, opened fire, hoping to match the spectacle of the previous years' entrance into the town. Declaring his intention to claim Shen as his own, Arrogantus approached the village, and met resistance from the Star-Hoppers.^[6]

A skirmish ensued, and eventually a giant beast entered the fray. Narrowly avoiding one of the beast's claws, Arrogantus recalled hearing tell of such a monster in his youth. In particular, he remembered that such monsters usually left a path of destruction in their wake, and realized that if he allowed the monster to continue on its rampage unabated, it would destroy Onacra, preventing Arrogantus from claming either tribute or "female amusement." He ordered his men to fire on the beast, but their collective efforts were in vain. The Cloud-Riders fell to the beast, who was seemingly ignoring Solo's Star-Hoppers altogether.^[1]

Arrogantus could do little but watch as the behemoth engineered a landslide, killing a slew of the Cloud-Riders instantaneously. His subordinates protested, but Arrogantus was determined to have the beast destroyed, as well as claim Shen. When only a few of the Cloud-Riders remained, Arrogantus briefly entertained the possibility of retreat, but once again resolved to destroy the beast. He noticed one of the elderly villagers, the "Old One," controlling the beast. Remembering that the Old One had continually talked of controlling a legendary monster, he realized that the villager was the source of his problem. Arrogantus raced towards the Old One with the intent of destroying him, but both he and the Old One were then trampled by the behemoth, killing them instantly.^[1] The Cloud-Riders later dissolved, and began fighting amongst themselves for possession of the savings back at their camp. Two years later, Arrogantus was profiled by historian Voren Na'al.^[5]

Personality and traits[]

Serji-X Arrogantus was noted for his callous disregard for the rules of swoop racing, and his arrogant attitude towards the real hazards and dangers posed by the sport. Such was his arrogance that he was nicknamed "the Arrogant One." He enjoyed a strong fanbase, but upon losing them to the newcomer Hodrix, Arrogantus was driven to desperate measures, attempting an incredibly foolhardy stunt that almost claimed his life. He was able to attract unintelligent low-lifes to his cause when he formulated the Cloud-Riders, and although he was pragmatic enough to accept a deal with the village of Onacra, his impatience eventually got the better of him, and he returned to his pillaging ways.^[5]

Arrogantus was labaled a "devil" by the villagers of Onacra. Conversely, he believed himself to possess delicate sensibilities, and was not particularly one to bandy words with his opponents. Respectively, he had a low opinion of the farmers, calling them "peons," and Han Solo's Star-Hoppers. He was not averse to threatening his opponents, however, but had an inflated opinion of his own importance, scoffing at the idea that the assembled Star-Hoppers could even hope to challenge him.^[2] Arrogantus valued dramatic and opulent entrances,^[6] and determined that he would never surrender to anyone. When the behemoth of Aduba-3 decimated his men, it affected him personally, and he resolved that the monster would die at his hands.^[1]

Arrogantus considered himself a gentleman in private, although he conceded that he was a maladroit one. Rather than simply claiming his beloved, Merri Shen, though force, he wanted to seduce and woo her with his charms. In addition to his charms, Arrogantus possessed a blaster pistol, a personal skyspeeder, and a fake identification. He also had the ability to speak, read, and write Basic, and could also speak Dug.^[5] For his attire, he donned a brown leather flight jacket, and a set of green-lensed flight goggles.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Serji-X Arrogantus first appeared in Star Wars (1977) 8 (1978), which was written by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin. He was killed off two issues later, in Star Wars (1977) 10 (1978), for which Don Glut was added to the writing team. The issues were loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai (1954),^[3] and Arrogantus filled the role of primary antagonist. Roy Thomas based the character's name on Sergio Aragonés, a figure of renown in the comics community,^[3] who worked extensively for MAD Magazine.

The character went untouched for many decades, much like many other elements of the early Marvel Comics Star Wars run, until profiled in the 2001 article "The Starhoppers of Aduba-3."^[3]