Ambassador Zell was a male member of a sentient species who served the planet Majoor, where he fathered a son, Llez. In 15 BBY, Zell went on a peace mission to the planet Armath, leaving Llez in the hands of two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2. However, Llez got into trouble when he freed the pirate Reddjak from prison, escaping to Reddjak's ship and letting slip that his father was an ambassador and was headed for Armath.

Eager to rob the convoy of starships that accompanied Zell, Reddjak launched torpedoes at the ambassador's ships, but Llez and the droids were able to self-destruct the weapons from Reddjak's vessel. Llez then contacted his father, who rushed over to the ship in order to save his son, and following a short fight with the pirate, he and his guards were able to overtake and arrest Reddjak and his crew.

Biography[]

A mission of peace…[]

Zell was a male member of a sentient species of the planet Majoor. Formerly a member of^[1] the elite Republic Space Rangers,^[2] he came to be a wealthy ambassador for Majoor and fathered a son there, Llez, the only family member with whom he lived.^[1] In 15 BBY,^[3] Zell had an important peace mission on the planet Armath, so he purchased the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 to be tutors and companions for Llez in his absence. Before he left, C-3PO assured the ambassador that he would not regret acquiring the droids' services and noted that teaching was his specialty. As he departed, Zell threatened C-3PO that if his son got in any trouble at all, both droids would be sent to a scrap yard. He then bade goodbye to Llez and walked out.^[1]

While his father was away, Llez, to the protests of his droid nannies, freed his hero, the ruthless pirate Reddjak, from prison. Not knowing Reddjak's violent tendencies and only knowing him to be a man of adventure, he accompanied the pirate to his starship, the Blood Brother, and told him of his father on the way, explaining that Zell did not care about him and was more concerned with peace missions. He further mentioned that his father was Ambassador Zell, whom Reddjak had heard of, and that he had left for a mission to Armath. Once they were back with Reddjak's crew, the ship picked up a convoy of ships—Zell's peace convoy—which Reddjak ordered his men to attack so that he could rob them. Llez protested their innocence, but Reddjak did not care, ordering stowaways C-3PO and R2-D2, whom he thought were part of his crew, to take Llez away.^[1]

…becomes quite violent[]

The trio hurried to the weapons room to try and prevent Zell's ships from being hit by torpedoes, but since they were already launched, Artoo was forced to plug into the ship via scomp link and find the self-destruct code, which he activated just in time—right as Zell and his crew realized that they had no way to escape. Llez then contacted his father's ship, informing Zell that he was on Reddjak's ship and begging him to run away from the danger. Zell, however, ordered his captain to prepare a security team to board the Blood Brother in order to save his son. The ambassador rushed in in the nick of time, for Reddjak had Llez by his neck. The ambassador ordered the pirate to let his son go, so Reddjak threw the child at his father's feet.^[1]

Zell comforted a distressed Llez but was then warned by C-3PO as Reddjak eagerly swung a sword at the ambassador's head. Zell was able to duck, however, and whacked the pirate in the stomach and head in return. Reddjak begged for mercy as Zell shouted at him that was what he got for threatening his son, and he then had his guards take the pirate and his crew away.^[1]

Observing Reddjak on the ground, he remarked how he had not had as much fun since his days as a Space Ranger, which excited Llez, who had not known about his father's past. Zell then turned his attention to the droids, whom he held responsible for the day's trouble, but Llez then admitted that the whole ordeal was his fault and that Artoo and Threepio had actually saved them all. Zell instead thanked the droids and then walked away with Llez, promising that the two would go on missions together from then on and leaving C-3PO and R2-D2 masterless.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

Zell was originally not very active in his son's upbringing;^[2] Llez claimed that the words he knew his father by were "hello" and "goodbye." He threatened the droids with harsh punishment if his son got into any trouble during his absence. When his son was in danger, however, he spared no time in getting to him, angrily hitting Reddjak and calling him a coward for threatening Llez. The ambassador had fun defending his son from the pirate.^[1] After the incident, Llez was in awe of his father's actions to defend him, which Zell was touched by, deciding to take an active role in raising the boy.^[2] He had green skin and black eyes.^[1]

Skills and abilities[]

Zell, having been in the Space Rangers, was able to defeat Reddjak in combat and leave him on the ground, begging for mercy, which greatly impressed his son.^[1]

Equipment[]

Zell carried a blaster and wore a uniform that consisted of a yellow-and-purple jumpsuit, blue shoes, a blue sash, a medal on his chest, and yellow shoulder pieces. He also wore a blue helmet and used a gold-colored staff-like weapon to whack Reddjak.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Zell first appeared in the third issue of the Star Wars: Droids comic series, which was written by David Manak, illustrated by John Romita Sr., and published by Marvel Comics^[1] on May 13, 1986.^[4]

Appearances[]

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• Droids (1986) 3 (First appearance)

Sources[]

• The New Essential Guide to Characters
• The Droids Re-Animated, Part 1 on StarWars.com (article) (content now obsolete; backup link)

Notes and references[]