Ridge

"Ridge is down! Maul's advancing toward the main hangar!"

―A clone trooper reports to Commander Rex^[6]

Ridge was a clone trooper who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars as a part of the 501st Legion. They first served in the legion's Torrent Company during the Battle of Teth under Clone Captain Rex, one of the earlier conflicts of the war, and later served in the 332nd Company of the legion's new division by the end of the war.

Following the Siege of Mandalore that resulted in the capture of renegade Sith Lord Maul, Ridge participated in the implementation of Order 66 against Ahsoka Tano aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal, and was killed when they and their fellow troopers encountered Maul. After Ridge was incapacitated, another clone trooper reported to Rex, now a Clone Commander, that Ridge was down and that Maul was moving toward the main hangar.

Biography[]

Battle of Teth[]

"Ridge, your comm's got static."
"Got it."

―A clone trooper and Ridge, before the Battle of Teth —

Listen (file info)^[5]

Confederate counterassault — Ridge participated in the Battle of Teth as part of the 501st Legion's Torrent Company.

Ridge was a clone trooper that was grown on the planet Kamino from the DNA of Jango Fett,^[1] a bounty hunter who became the template of the clone trooper army.^[7] Ridge served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance, and belonged to Torrent Company of the 501st Legion.^[5]

After Jabba Desilijic Tiure's son, Rotta, was kidnapped by alleged bounty hunters, Ridge and their unit were dispatched to the planet Teth^[5] in 22 BBY^[8] in order to rescue him. Ridge was onboard the same LAAT/i gunship that carried Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Commander Ahsoka Tano, and Clone Captain Rex to the B'omarr Order Monastery where Rotta was suspected to be held captive. Falling under attack by Separatist forces on the monastery, the Battle of Teth commenced and the gunships came under heavy fire. During the landing, a clone trooper informed Ridge that their comlink had static, which Ridge quickly acknowledged and repaired by knocking on their helmet.^[5]

Republic forces soon landed and scaled up the monastery's rock wall until they managed to reach the structure itself. There, they managed to locate and rescue Rotta, but not before Separatist reinforcements trapped them on the monastery. Forced inside the building, Torrent Company suffered heavy casualties and eventually were captured and taken prisoner. It wasn't until Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and the 7th Sky Corps arrived to reinforce Torrent Company that Captain Rex and his forces were able to fight off the droid forces. Eventually through the course of the battle, only a few survivors remained of Torrent Company.^[5]

Mandalore and Order 66[]

"All right. We know Ahsoka Tano is onboard. She's been marked for termination by Order 66."

―Commander Rex, to members of his unit during the implementation of Order 66^[6]

Siege of Mandalore rages — As part of the 501st's 332nd Company, Ridge participated in the Siege of Mandalore, which engulfed the city of Sundari.

In 19 BBY,^[2] by the time of the Outer Rim Sieges at the tail end of the Clone Wars, Ridge was reassigned to the 332nd Company,^[6] a company within the newly created 332nd Division of the 501st Legion. When former Jedi Ahsoka Tano returned and met with her former teacher and friend Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to discuss a joint operation between the Republic and the Mandalore resistance,^[9] Ridge was one of many clone troopers who customized their helmets in a stylized version of Tano's face and markings.^[6] Captain Rex was promoted to the military rank of Clone Commander, and along with Tano as an advisor, led Republic forces in the Siege of Mandalore against renegade Sith Lord Maul and the Shadow Collective, which controlled the planet from the city of Sundari.^[9]

After the Shadow Collective was defeated and Maul was captured, Ridge was among the remainder of 501st Legion forces that departed Mandalore aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer^[6] Tribunal,^[4] which was transporting Maul to Coruscant. As the Star Destroyer was en route, Republic Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, enacted Order 66, a clone protocol that established all members of the Jedi as traitors to the Galactic Republic. After Rex, Advanced Recon Commando CT-5597 "Jesse," and members of the 501st and Coruscant Guard ambushed Tano on the bridge, Tano managed to escape and reached Maul, who was being held captive in a holding cell inside a Mandalorian vault.^[6]

Needing a distraction, Tano freed Maul and parted ways with the intention that Maul would shift attention away from her. As Tano sought for answers and a way to stop Rex and remove him from his trance, Maul made his way to the main hangar of the Star Destroyer and left a path of destruction in his wake. Encountering 501st clone troopers and clone shock troopers, Maul used pieces of the hallways as shields and as weapons with the Force.^[6]

Ridge death — Ridge and another clone trooper, shortly prior to their incapacitation at the hands of Maul.

Ridge and a contingent of clone troopers confronted Maul but began to retreat, as the Sith Lord was too powerful for them. Using a piece of metal from the hallway, Maul threw the metal and decapitated several clones in front of Ridge. Maul then used another piece of metal and Force pushed it into Ridge and another clone, impaling one and pinning them against the wall, and knocking the other to the ground. After the two were incapacitated, one of the three remaining clones contacted Commander Rex that Ridge was down, and that Maul was heading towards the hangar. After Rex gave them orders, the three clones escaped, although one had their limb amputated by Maul when he used the Force to hold him back as the doors of the hallway closed.^[6]

While Maul escaped, he utilized the Force to destroy the ship's reactor and hyperdrive, causing the vessel to exit hyperspace in a deteriorated state as it began to rapidly descend on a moon. After firefighting took place in the ship's main hangar between the 501st, Maul, and Tano along with Rex, who had his inhibitor chip removed, the Tribunal crashed on the surface, killing all onboard. The only survivors were Maul, who escaped via a Nu-class attack/transport shuttle, and Tano and Rex, who survived by taking control of a BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bomber. In the aftermath, Tano and Rex were at the ship's crash site, with Rex gathering supplies and Tano burying the dead clones, using their helmets on poles as memorials.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

As a clone of Jango Fett, Ridge^[5] was a human who stood at 1.83 meters.^[1] When Order 66 was enacted, Ridge did not disobey the command. Even as their comrades nearby were killed in various ways, including decapitation, Ridge continued to fire their weapon.^[6]

Skills and abilities[]

As a clone trooper, Ridge was trained in combat and built to withstand battle stress.^[10] For instance, when their comlink had static, Ridge was able to quickly fix the issue.^[5] Ridge served in multiple battles throughout the war, including at one of the first engagements of the war at Teth^[5] and one of the last at Mandalore. After the activation of Order 66, Ridge and their fellow clone troopers hunted down Tano onboard the ship until she escaped and released Maul. As the clones rushed to combat him, Ridge bravely stood their ground against a far superior opponent as they tried to fight off the former Sith.^[6]

Equipment[]

Initially, Ridge was equipped with standard white Phase I clone trooper armor when he was a member of Torrent Company early in the Clone Wars.^[5] Toward the end of the war, Ridge was equipped with Phase II clone trooper armor in the blue markings of the 501st Legion, although Ridge later customized their armor set's helmet in orange-red coloring with the pattern reflecting a stylized version of Ahsoka Tano's face and facial markings, after they were reassigned to the 332nd Division. During combat, Ridge used a DC-15A blaster carbine.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

Ridge first appeared in the animated theatrical film Star Wars: The Clone Wars^[5] which was released on August 15, 2008 in the United States^[11] and was directed by Dave Filoni. Ridge, like all clone troopers in in the film and in the TV series, was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.^[5] Following his appearance in the film, Ridge was not featured in the show until the seventh and final season episode "Shattered," the penultimate of the series.^[6] This differs from Ridge's fate in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where the trooper established as having died during the events of the film.^[12]