So I picked up Far, Far Away the other day, which is the 7th volume in the Marvel reprint collection, and tells the story of the Nagai invasion, just after the Battle of Endor. Now, I'd heard a lot about this arc - I knew about Lumiya, I knew about the Nagai and the Tofs, I knew about Dani the Zeltron, the Hiromi, and Commander Knife. But someone I hadn't read about before was Lieutenant Den Siva.

My introduction to Den was in issue #96, Duel With A Dark Lady, (but I hear his first chronological appearance is in #95, No Zeltrons, collected in the omnibus edition Wookiee World). In the story, Den could just be any other villainous henchman. But there's a key moment when he asks Lumiya if he can have the captured Zeltron Dani as his prisoner. Even as he tortures Dani, he becomes infatuated and obsessed with her, and it's this odd obssession that plauges him throughout his remaining appearances in the series. In #103, Tai, we see Den's private lounge, decorated with a holo-image of the Zeltron, and later in the issue, Den volunteers to lead the attack on Zeltros. During the battle, he is forced to choose between saving Dani's life, or saving the lives of his attack squadron, and he chooses Dani - leading his Nagai warriors into a trap.

It's this act that cuts irrevocably ostracises Den from the Nagai, and he and Dani become a team - even though she doesn't really like him, they understand each other. After the Battle of Saijo, they dissapear into EU obscurity (tho Corey Herndon gives us a very bleak view of Dani's future in The Zeltron Who Cried), but I'm not complaining. Den's character arc comes full circle, and it'd be a shame to bring him back fully, as good as he is (not that I wouldn't appreciate a couple of meaty nods to him).

Just thought I'd highlight one of the more complex and exciting characters in the entire Expanded Universe, not to mention one of the most ignored.

Learn more about Den Siva at the Wookieepedia.