Although aged and decrepit looking, Emperor Palpatine is the ultimate power in the Empire. Palpatine formed the Empire and declared himself Emperor when the Old Republic Senate fell. Since that time, the Empire under Palpatine's direction has virtually conquered the known galaxy. A true master in the dark side of the Force, Palpatine was responsible for Darth Vader's instruction in the dark side. The true extent of his powers is as yet unknown.

The only non-human Admiral in the service of the Empire, Thrawn is a master tactician and a cool-headed warrior. His familiarity with spacecraft and cunning make him a deadly foe.

Encased in imposing black armor and death's head mask, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, is the most visible symbol of the Empire and its New Order. Vader is a powerful dark Jedi and primarily responsible for the almost complete extermination of the Order of the Jedi Knights. Once a student of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader was corrupted by the dark side of the Force and joined the Empire. He is a brilliant military tactician and excellent starfighter pilot. Known for his ruthlessness, few who fail Lord Vader ever live to regret their mistake. The Alliance hoped that Vader was lost during the destruction of the Death Star, but he has recently returned in command of one of the new Super Star Destroyers.

Daala is the only known female Admiral in the Imperial Navy and one of the most brilliant military strategists in the Empire. Daala is currently in command of the late Grand Moff Tarkin's special weapons development task force.

Captain-Supervisor Grammel is the commander of the Imperial garrison on Circarpous V. He is well known for being ruthless and torturing prisoners whether he needed information or not.

Like most Rodians, Menndo began his career as a bounty hunter, but later learned that assassination and espionage were more profitable and less hassling than bounties. An expert assassin, Menndo has been linked to the deaths of several high ranking political officials.

A loyal and dependable servant of the Empire, Commander Pter Thanas is nevertheless among the kindest of those who follow the will of Emperor Palpatine.

Chief Engineer Bevel Lemelisk is the chief Imperial space station designer and was the creator of the Death Star.

Moff Jerjerrod is the commander in charge of the construction of Imperial super weapons like the Death Star.

A tactless mercenary in the service of the Empire, Niles Ferrier is a smuggler, spy and inveterate war profiteer.

An immense battle station 120-kilometers in diameter, the Death Star was the pinnacle of Imperial engineering. Designed by Chief Engineer Bevel Lemelisk and constructed above the penal colony of Despyre, the Death Star was Grand Moff Tarkin's ultimate symbol of rule by fear of force. It carried a crew of over 750,000 and enough firepower to destroy an entire system. Tarkin demonstrated the power of his masterpiece by destroying the world of Alderaan in an attempt to persuade Princess Leia Organa to reveal the location of the Alliance base. The Death Star relies on its world destroying superlaser and vast numbers of turbolasers on its surface to defend against large scale attacks, but appears to be vulnerable to small starfighters. The Death Star was later destroyed in the Battle of Yavin. Grand Moff Tarkin died with his creation at Yavin, but it is unknown how many more Death Stars he was construct.