Dewell Bronk was male Kedorzhan who served as a senator in the Galactic Senate of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. Bronk was best known for his desire to help others, a fact that the Republic's successor state, the Galactic Empire, eventually used when attempting to track him down. Toward the end of the war, Bronk was one of many senators who, as part of the Delegation of 2000, signed the Petition of 2000, a document condemning the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's misuse of emergency powers and the formation of the new office of Moff.

In 19 BBY, after the Clone Wars had ended, Bronk attempted to flee the galactic capital planet of Coruscant in an attempt to escape the persecution that many members of the delegation were facing from the newly formed Galactic Empire. During his journey off-planet he encountered the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was also fleeing with the young infant. Bronk did not recognize Kenobi, though the Jedi saved Bronk from a pair of clone troopers who attempted to arrest the Kedorzhan. Kenobi then revealed the reality of life in exile to the senator, persuading him to try and return to Coruscant and falsely announce his support for the new Empire. This would better enable the senator to help others without fear of persecution.

Biography[]

The kindly senator[]

During the Clone Wars,^[1] a conflict fought between 22 BBY and 19 BBY by the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems,^[2] Dewell Bronk served as a senator in the Galactic Senate, the ruling body of the Republic. Within the Senate, Bronk represented his species, the Kedorzhans,^[1] who hailed from the planet Kedorzha in the Senex sector of the Mid Rim.^[3] While working as a senator, Bronk lived on the Republic's capital world of Coruscant, where he owned an apartment and was protected by several bodyguards. Due to his helpful nature, Bronk was a three time recipient of the Good Neighbor of the Year award, an award that was given by the Coruscant Benevolent Society.^[1]

By the time of the Clone Wars, Bronk had fathered seven children, but lost one—during the conflict, Dewell's son Tyloor Bronk was killed in action while fighting for the Republic, and his body was not recovered from the battlefield where he fell. The loss of his son, along with several other factors, led Senator Bronk to join a faction known as the Delegation of 2000. The Delegation's members all signed the Petition of 2000, a document stating their dissatisfaction with the actions of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine during the war,^[1] particularly the formation of the office of Moff. They presented the document to the Chancellor shortly before the end of the war in 19 BBY.^[4]

On the run[]

After the end of the Clone Wars and the declaration of the New Order, the political system of the newly formed Galactic Empire, many members of the Delegation of 2000 were arrested—some members, including Senator Nee Alavar of the Kanz sector, were even executed.^[4] In fear of persecution, many of the remaining members withdrew their signatures from the petition, but Bronk refused to do so and instead fled from Coruscant for his own safety. Leaving his bodyguards behind, the Kedorzhan boarded a Tallaan Clipper transport named the Space Slug which was headed off-world. While on board, he tried to remain inconspicuous, but was horrified to see a pair of Devaronians harassing and robbing an elderly Twi'lek woman.^[1]

Bronk attempted to tell the thugs to stop, but was too fearful for his own safety to succeed. Giving up hope, he was surprised to hear another passenger, a young Human with an infant child, warn the Devaronians to leave the woman alone. Bronk expected that the man would be beaten, but was shocked to see the Devaronians leaving the woman, who then fled. Bronk then gave advice on looking after the infant to the young man, who unbeknownst to the senator was in fact Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi fleeing Coruscant himself with Luke Skywalker,^[1] the newly-born son of Bronk's fellow senator and delegation member Padmé Amidala.^[5] Bronk informed Kenobi that the baby was hungry when it started crying, a possibility that had escaped the Jedi.^[1]

A change of plans[]

Once the transport arrived at its destination, the pair were required to disembark and transfer to a new ship in order to reach the Outer Rim Territories. While trying to reach Pad 560, where his next transport was located, Bronk ran into a Ortolan janitor being physically harassed by a pair of clone troopers. The Kedorzhan stepped forward and struck one of the troopers with a bag of his possessions, telling them to leave the janitor alone. The troopers allowed the Ortolan to flee but recognized the senator, as they were searching the planet for him specifically, and the two attempted to arrest him. Bronk did not resist, but as he prepared to be taken away, the troopers were attacked from behind and incapacitated by Kenobi, who used the janitor's equipment to temporarily blind them and then push them into a maintenance area.^[1]

The senator thanked the stranger and lamented that he would have to live the rest of his life fearing such occurrences, and Kenobi pointed out that the troopers had been using Bronk's known desire to help others as a way to find him by harassing the Ortolan. The Jedi also confessed that he suspected that the Devaronians on the Space Slug had been informants trying to draw Bronk out as well. Kenobi then pointed out that the senator had options other than a life on the run, and Bronk realized that his best option was to return to Coruscant and feign support of the Empire so that he could continue his work in the Senate. He and Kenobi then parted ways, with the Jedi leaving for the Outer Rim and Bronk heading back the way he came.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

Bronk was a male Kedorzhan with black eyes and brown fur who stood one meter tall and had a relatively pudgy stature. He also had a broad nose, which he twitched when disdainful of something. As a Kedorzhan, the senator was almost blind in brightly-lit environments, seeing others as little more than blurry shapes, but he refused to wear a visor to protect his eyes, as he believed in looking others in the eye when speaking to them. He was well known for his loud authoritative voice and, like his predecessors, Bronk had a tendency to fight for those who could not defend themselves.^[1]

His desire to help others was what led him to win the Good Neighbor of the Year award multiple times, as well as signing the Petition of 2000. Bronk felt that many of Palpatine's actions in no way aided the war and arbitrarily removed aid for the weak, something that the Kedorzhan opposed. The death of his son also contributed to Bronk's signing of the Petition, which he did despite the protests of his advisers.^[1]

His small size caused him to fear few would listen to him outside of the Senate, and fear for his own safety prevented Bronk from helping others in need after he fled from Coruscant, although he overcame the fear when he saw clone troopers attacking an innocent Ortolan. Bronk's helpful and trusting nature defined him so much that the Empire used it to try and capture him, setting up situations where he would show himself while trying to aid others. The Kedorzhan was able to aid Kenobi as he looked after the infant Luke Skywalker as he had experience in parenting from raising his own children, although Bronk wished he had spent more time with his offspring and was unaware of where all bar Tyloor were at the time of his escape.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Dewell Bronk first appeared in "Incognito," a short story by author John Jackson Miller and illustrated by Chris Scalf, which was published in Star Wars Insider 143^[1] on July 23, 2013.^[6]

Appearances[]

• "Incognito" — Star Wars Insider 143 (First appearance)
• "Incognito" — Star Wars Insider: The Fiction Collection Volume 2

Notes and references[]