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Saw Gerrera

Charactercanon

Also known as Saw Gerrara · Gerrera · Saw · Stoneface

See Saw Gerrera on Timeline, HyperPanels, Wookieepedia and Databank.

Saw Gerrera

Saw Gerrera is best known as the Rebellion's most uncompromising fighter, a guerrilla leader whose methods made even the Alliance keep him at arm's length. He first took up arms with his sister Steela during the Clone Wars, when a Separatist-backed coup put a puppet king on Onderon's throne. Trained by Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex, their rebels helped restore King Ramsis Dendup, but Saw was tortured by the droid general Kalani and lost Steela in the final battle, a death he blamed on himself for the rest of his life. When the Republic became the Empire, he turned his fight against the new regime, formed the Partisans and hid the Erso family on Lah'mu. After Galen Erso was taken, he raised young Jyn as his own and trained her as a soldier before leaving her at sixteen to protect her. His bombings and willingness to spend lives made him a feared figure. Worn down by years of combat and dependent on a breathing apparatus, he broke with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa and set up his final base on Jedha, drawn by the Empire's kyber mining there. There he finally received Galen's message about the Death Star and showed it to Jyn. Then he chose to stay behind and died when the battle station's test shot destroyed Jedha City.

Facts

Died
1 BBY
Gender
Male
Pronouns
He/him
Height
1.87 meters (6 ft, 2 in) 1.80 meters (5 ft, 11 in)
Hair
Black; with orange stripe; later graying; no orange stripe
Eyes
Blue; later green; later brown
Skin
Dark
Type
Rebel

Connections

Species
Human, Onderonian
Homeworld
Onderon
Affiliations
Galactic Republic, Alliance to Restore the Republic, Partisans, Onderon rebels, Royal Court of Onderon, Royal Onderon Militia
Trained
Jyn Erso, Reece Tallent
Trained by
Anakin Skywalker, Rex
Children
Jyn Erso
Siblings
Steela Gerrera

Appearances

145 Star Wars works, first in A War on Two Fronts (2012).

See all 145 appearances in release order ›

Notable works

Key events in Saw Gerrera's story

View Saw Gerrera on the Timeline ›

~42 BBY - Birth on Onderon

Born on Onderon in the last years of the Republic and raised in the capital city of Iziz alongside his sister Steela. Records of his birth were later destroyed.

~22 BBY - Coup on Onderon

After the Separatists put King Sanjay Rash on Onderon's throne in place of Ramsis Dendup, Saw and Steela are banished from Iziz for defying him. They start gathering fighters for a resistance.

Pre-20 BBY - Rhydonium work camp

Held prisoner in a jungle rhydonium labor camp as a youth, where he develops his strange attachment to the volatile substance.

20 BBY - Jedi advisors arrive

With Lux Bonteri, Saw asks the Jedi Council for help. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex come to train the Onderon rebels in guerrilla tactics.

20 BBY - Guerrilla war in Iziz

The rebels move into the capital and knock out the city's power generator with a hijacked tank. Steela, not Saw, is elected leader of the movement.

20 BBY - Capture and torture

A solo attempt to rescue King Dendup ends with Saw's capture and torture by the super tactical droid Kalani. His words persuade General Tandin to defect, and Tandin helps the rebels free him and the king.

20 BBY - Death of Steela

During the final battle in the Onderon highlands, the gunship Saw shoots down crashes near Steela, and she falls to her death. The Separatists withdraw and Dendup is restored, but Saw blames himself for her death.

19 BBY - Resisting the Empire

After the Empire is proclaimed, Saw's Onderonian fighters are branded insurgents and keep fighting. On Onderon he crosses paths with Clone Force 99.

~13 BBY - Takes in Jyn Erso

After hiding the Erso family on Lah'mu, Saw rescues young Jyn when Orson Krennic seizes Galen and kills Lyra. He raises Jyn as his own and trains her as a Partisan.

14 BBY - Kashyyyk

Leads Partisan operations against the Imperial occupation of Kashyyyk and fights alongside Cal Kestis.

~6 BBY - Leaves Jyn behind

Leaves the sixteen-year-old Jyn to fend for herself after her identity is put at risk.

5 BBY - Segra Milo

Meets Luthen Rael, disputes his fellow rebel cells' agendas and refuses to join a coordinated effort.

~2 BBY - Mission to Jalindi

Works with the Ghost crew's Ezra Bridger to sabotage an Imperial relay station and discovers an Imperial kyber shipment, but his ruthlessness drives the Spectres away.

~2 BBY - Break with the Alliance

Formally cut off and censured by Mon Mothma and Bail Organa's Alliance as an extremist.

1 BBY - Holdout on Jedha

Now dependent on a respirator and armored suit, Saw leads a Partisan insurgency against the Imperial occupation of Jedha City.

1 BBY - Reunion with Jyn and death

Saw receives defector Bodhi Rook and plays Galen Erso's message about the Death Star for Jyn. When the station's test shot destroys Jedha City, he stays in his base and dies in the blast.

Often seen with

Data from Wookieepedia (revision 15610931, 2026-09-26), licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.

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