After the planet-destroying events of The Force Awakens, General Hux was already running at least 5 mega-Hitlers on the villainy scale and his behaviour in Star Wars: The Last Jedi only made audiences despise him more. But who really is General Hux? The films supply precious little information on him save that he’s unusually young to be commanding such a vast fleet and that he’s favoured by Supreme Leader Snoke.
Now though, courtesy Delilah Dawson’s new novel Phasma, together with Pablo Hidalgo’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi – The Visual Dictionary, we can start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and figure out the hows, whys and whens of General Hux’s life. And, as it turns out, said life is a catalogue of unearned privilege, backstabbing and naked ambition.
Phasma details how General Hux – then simply Armitage Hux – was raised inside the First Order under the tutelage of former imperial officer Brendol Hux. Brendol was a prominent figure in the former Empire and was apparently instrumental in recreating the army as the First Order way out in the ‘Unknown Regions.’ His reward for resurrecting the Empire was assassination – his ambitious son having colluded with the talented Captain Phasma in order to take his place. Very quickly, Armitage displayed an unusual ruthlessness that impressed Supreme Leader Snoke, seeing in him a future military prodigy.
Here’s the quote from the visual dictionary:
“Hux is responsible for the deaths of billions, having given the order to fire the Starkiller at the heavily populated Hosnian system. A man of no scruples who craves power above all, Hux has dispatched many enemies or would-be foes before they became too dangerous a threat.
This included quietly eliminating his own father, the elder General Brendol Hux, whose elevated position in the early First Order gave Armitage a childhood of great privilege.”
We also learn that:
“Hux loathes Kylo Ren, and takes pleasure both in Kylo’s failures and Snoke’s anger with his apprentice. The fact that Kylo had to be rescued from Starkiller Base after being bested by a lightsaber novice delights the young general.”
If you were paying attention during The Last Jedi, you’ll have noticed that when Hux comes across the unconscious Kylo Ren following Snoke’s death, his first reaction is to reach for his blaster to execute him. Amusingly, once Ren stirs, he sheepishly tucks it back in its holster.
With Snoke out of the way now, we’ll no doubt be seeing the fruits of this hatred between Ren and Hux in Episode IX. Could a split in the First Order be on the cards, then? Time will tell, but let us know what you think by dropping a comment down below.