Editing Grand Moff Tarkin (section)

===Film===

====''Star Wars'' (1977)====
Introduced in the first film in the [[Original trilogy (Star Wars)|original ''Star Wars'' trilogy]], Governor Tarkin is a Grand Moff of the Galactic Empire and commander of the [[Death Star]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Peter Cushing in "Star Wars"|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|publisher=[[Block Communications]]|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|date=August 13, 1976|pages=29}}</ref> After [[Emperor Palpatine]] dissolves the Imperial Senate, Tarkin and [[Darth Vader]] (portrayed by [[David Prowse]], voiced by [[James Earl Jones]]) are charged with pursuing and destroying the [[Rebel Alliance]]. He threatens [[Princess Leia|Princess Leia Organa]] ([[Carrie Fisher]]) with the destruction of her home planet, [[Alderaan]], if Leia does not reveal the location of the Rebel main base of operations. When Leia names the planet [[Dantooine]] as the base's location, he destroys Alderaan regardless, hoping to make an example out of the planet's support of the Rebellion. Upon learning that Leia's coerced information was false, Tarkin orders Leia's execution.

He allows the Rebels to escape the Death Star with Leia after placing a tracking beacon on the ''[[Millennium Falcon]]'' in order to find the Rebel base. He orders the Death Star to destroy the Rebel base on [[Yavin 4]]. In the film's climax, Tarkin refuses to believe that the Death Star is in danger from the Rebel starfighter attack; as a result, he refuses to evacuate. He is subsequently killed by [[Luke Skywalker]] ([[Mark Hamill]]), who succeeds in destroying the Death Star by firing torpedoes into the exhaust port. Tarkin is last seen deep in thought seconds before the Death Star explodes.

====''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005)====
At the end of ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith]]'', the final film in the [[Prequel trilogy (Star Wars)|''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy]], a younger version of Tarkin, played by [[Wayne Pygram]], makes a [[cameo appearance]] overseeing the original Death Star's construction, standing beside Darth Vader ([[Hayden Christensen]]) and Emperor Palpatine ([[Ian McDiarmid]]).<ref name=EntertainmentCast>{{cite magazine|last1=Breznican|first1=Anthony|title=Should Star Wars: Rogue One resurrect Peter Cushing as Tarkin?|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/24/star-wars-rogue-one-peter-cushing-tarkin|access-date=August 24, 2015|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=August 24, 2015|archive-date=August 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825223923/http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/24/star-wars-rogue-one-peter-cushing-tarkin|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=GuardianCast>{{cite news|last1=Child|first1=Ben|title=Star Wars: Rogue One 'to resurrect Peter Cushing via CGI', despite slipper issues |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/24/star-wars-rogue-one-to-resurrect-peter-cushing-via-cgi-despite-slipper-issues|access-date=August 24, 2015|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=August 24, 2015}}</ref>

====''Rogue One'' (2016)====
In the film ''[[Rogue One]]'' (which takes place just a week before the events in ''A New Hope''), [[Orson Krennic]] ([[Ben Mendelsohn]]), Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military, meets with Tarkin, who expresses his skepticism about Krennic's management of the Death Star project. Tarkin oversees the Death Star's first attack on the Rebellion when it is used to destroy the Holy City of the planet Jedha. Impressed, he congratulates Krennic before announcing that he is going to take command of the Death Star from that point on, pointing out security breaches that had occurred under Krennic's command (much to Krennic's chagrin). Later in the film, Tarkin is informed of a Rebel attack on Scarif, the planet where the plans to the Death Star are kept. He orders the jump to hyperspace to the planet, where an ongoing battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance rages. Tarkin has the Death Star target and destroy the Scarif base, killing Krennic, [[Jyn Erso]] ([[Felicity Jones]]), [[Cassian Andor]] ([[Diego Luna]]), and any other survivor of the ground battle.