TK-421

For other uses, see THX (disambiguation).

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

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"TK-421, why aren't you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?"

―Imperial officer Pol Treidum^[4]

TK-421 was the designation of a clone stormtrooper^[3] stationed aboard the first Death Star.^[4]

Biography[]

TK-421 Fathead — TK-421 with a SE-14r light repeating blaster

At some point in 1 BBY, TK-421 went off-duty and went to the Star Tours interstellar travel agency for unknown reasons. His bag was eventually discovered by G2-9T during baggage checks, and upon learning of who it belonged to, decided that TK-421 might have good reason not to be at his regular post before clearing it.^[5]^[6]

After the Millennium Falcon was captured shortly before the Battle of Yavin, he was ordered to stand guard in front of the freighter's boarding ramp, while a scanning crew attempted to determine if anyone was hiding aboard the Falcon.^[4]

Just seconds after the scanning crew had made their way up the boarding ramp, a loud thump was heard and someone (Later revealed to be Han Solo) called down to them, asking TK-421 and his fellow guard, TK-422, for help with a piece of equipment. The two stormtroopers made their way up the ramp to assist the technicians; both troopers were ambushed by Han Solo and stripped of their armor to conceal Han and Luke's identities aboard the Death Star.^[4]

Lt. Pol Treidum (observing from Docking Control Room 327 that TK-421 was absent) attempted to contact the stormtrooper, asking (via comlink) why he wasn't stationed at his post. Luke Skywalker (having disguised himself as TK-421 by that time) concealed TK-421's current status by motioning to his ear to imply that the comlink in his helmet must be broken.^[4]

After the battle of Detention Block AA-23, a security team was dispatched to the hangar housing the Millennium Falcon where TK-421 and his comrades were found unconscious aboard the Freighter. He, along with TK-422 and the two crewmen were taken to the infirmary and perished in the Death Star's destruction during the battle of Yavin 4.

Behind the scenes[]

Origin and portrayal[]

TK-421 first appeared in the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope,^[4] and was portrayed by an uncredited extra, Stephen Bayley.^[7] In the novelization and in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, the trooper was referred to as THX-1138, a homage to George Lucas's first feature film. In the Star Wars radio drama, he is referred to as TX-421. In Star Wars (1977) 3 he is likewise referred to as TX-421 and as part of Scanning crew BT-445. In the German dubbing of Episode IV, the trooper's designation is "TK-241" instead of "TK-421." The Italian dub changed it to "TK-21" and had Treidum refer to him in plural form; this can either be a form of extreme respect or a form used when one does not know how many people they are talking to over radio or telephone, but could also be a translation error. In the video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, the character TK-664 is a direct reference to this character. In the game, TK-421 is also the name of the player skin of a stormtrooper that is selectable in multiplayer. In the Star Wars: Battlefront series, TK-421 is one of the random names given to Imperial bots.

Non-canon adaptations[]

"Pray, may we have thy good assistance here?"
[to Guard 2:] "So, let us go together, friend. Good cheer!"

―Han Solo and TK-421 as Guard 1, in the style of William Shakespeare^[8]

TK-421 appears as Guard 1 with TK-422 as Guard 2 in the non-canonical 2013 satire William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher, a retelling of A New Hope in the style of poet and playwright William Shakespeare. The guards have a dialogue about the scanning crew, the ship's presence, and their friendship before they are tricked into boarding.^[8]