For a long time, I've been wondering who is this enigmatic character listed in the credits of Episode IV as Red Four (John "D"), played by Jack Klaff. As a kid, I always thought that he was the pilot with the red helmet, because he's the only other pilot who has a line in the movie. But how come John D has never been mentioned anywhere else in a fiction or non-fiction source? Now, inspired by Pablo's great blog entry The Hunt for the Fake Wedge (and at the same time, in honor of the release of the new Bond flick), I bring you the results of my research.

First, I had to find out what the actor looks like. This James Bond website has pictures of Jack Klaff as Apostis, one of the villains in 1981's For Your Eyes Only.

Then, I looked through photos of the pilots in Episode IV and found that he was actually named in Decipher's Special Edition expansion to the Star Wars CCG... but as Red Nine, Lieutenant Naytaan!

So I collaged a quick side-by-side photo to compare, and as you can see it is an exact match. Turns out that my theory as a kid was right. He is the pilot with the red helmet.

Of course, one could create an easy retcon fix, a la Jek Tono Porkins (that's another story), by naming him Lieutenant John "D" Naytaan, but how to explain that he piloted both Red 4 and Red 9???

The question remains, is John "D" the twin brother of Lieutenant Naytaan (thus remaining John "D" Naytaan)? Or is the callsign on the card a typo and Lieutenant Naytaan was piloting Red 4 and not Red 9 during the Battle of Yavin? How come there is no card for the pilot of Red 4 in the whole CCG game by Decipher?

To further add to the confusion, another pilot photo from the same card series from Decipher looks almost exactly like Jack Klaff, although I am not 100% sure. Check out the picture of Bren Quersey (Red 8) and decide for yourself!

UPDATE (Dec. 20, 2006)
Actually, John D.'s last name is given in the Empire at War PC game as John D. Branon when you acquire enough resources to unlock Red Squadron. (Thanks to JMM for bringing this to my attention in the comments.)

Now I like to check stuff with my own eyes, and while I didn't see it in the actual game (mine has the Forces of Corruption expansion installed and Red Squadron is replaced by Rogue Squadron) but it shows on page 47 of the Prima Official Game Guide.

So the only fix for the Decipher card is to say that there is a Red 9 Lt. Naytaan, but Decipher used the wrong photo for the card! It's simple!

And by the way, the 6 X-wings of Rogue Squadron in Empire at War are:

Rogue Leader: Wedge Antilles
Rogue 2: Zev Senesca
Rogue 4: Derek Klivian (who is more commonly known as "Hobbie")
Rogue 7: Kasan Moor (homage to the first Rogue Squadron game which was her first and only appearance)
Rogue 10: Tarrub Datch (Must be a typo. There is a Tarrin Datch who appeared in The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama and was mentioned in the 2nd edition of West End Games' Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back.)
Rogue 11: Tenk Lenso (who appears in both editions of the Galaxy Guide 3.)