The concept artists behind ROTS adopted a jokey mascot, whom they called "Horse Pilot," during all-nighters spent toiling at the drawing tables. Here's the story of how Horse Pilot came to be.

The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (p. 29) reveals the following: "All the concept artists came to regard the heroic Horse Pilot (whose specially designed X-wing was created by Alex Jaeger) as their mascot. Actually a character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, "Horse Pilot!" became the battle cry during late nights and inspirational design marathons." The book reprints Jaeger's sketch of the X-wing, which humorously melds a horse trailer onto the top of an X-wing, complete with an astromech droid popping out of the top and a horse tail flapping out the rear window.

"Horse Pilot" is actually Hohass (Runt) Ekwesh, a member of the Thakwaash species who exhibits multiple personalities. He debuted in the Wraith Squadron novels by Aaron Allston, where he became a member of the New Republic pilot corps in the years after ROJ.

He's a cool character. And Aaron never described him as "Horse Pilot." But he did use vaguely equine descriptors to paint a mental picture of the Thakwaash species. My friend Amy Provonost (visit her art site here) decided to sketch up some visuals of Runt, and created the first-ever model sheet of the character. As you'll note, he is definitely horsey, but is more of an equine-inspired alien than a true horse.

Aaron liked Amy's vision, and I liked it enough to want to capture it in the New Essential Guide to Characters. While Runt didn't warrant a full entry in that book, I suggested he be one of the few characters in the Appendix to receive an illustration. I provided Amy's model sheets for background, and artist Michael Sutfin provided the final.

Michael's depiction was realistic and painterly but also more literal -- that of a horse wearing a pilot suit. Carrying a bit of a Mr. Ed vibe, this New Essential Guide to Characters depiction was the one adopted by the artists of ROTS as their mascot.

When I hear their cry of "Horse Pilot," I know whereof they speak.

Dan
(writing projects and current releases)