History Literature / ShadowsOfTheEmpire

* EnforcedMethodActing: The epilogue confirms what ''Return of the Jedi'' implied with Luke's Holo Message to Jabba. Luke intentionally locked Threepio out of the loop, so that his reaction of shock would be genuine and help convince Jabba.

* ActionGirl:
** Guri is a deadly female droid who serves as Prince Xizor's personal aide and assassin. She can easily kill most people (only Luke ever beats her).
** Leia gets up to less action in this book, but still briefly shows her stuff, kneeing Xizor in the groin at once after breaking free from the pheromone-caused lust toward him.
** Early on, Xizor also hires the Pike sisters as assassins due to their skills as martial artists. He watches a holo where they wipe out eight armed stormtroopers and approvingly notes neither is even breathing hard after. Both are experts in an unarmed combat technique; ''Shadows of the Empire: Evolution'' also shows they're equally skilled with blasters.

There are also two sequel comics, the InNameOnly ''Mara Jade - By The Emperor's Hand'' follows Mara Jade fighting the Black Sun's successor crime lords at the tail end of her service as an Emperor's Hand. ''Shadows of the Empire: Evolution'' follows the future of the Black Sun after Xizor's downfall and the efforts of his assassin and bodyguard, Guri, to rebuild her life. There would also later be a prequel novel, ''Shadow Games'', which focuses on the rivalry between Dash and Han as they struggle to protect a famed actress from several attempts on her life, some of which may have Xizor's hand in them

The novel is the centerpiece of the project and tells the overall story, focusing on the main characters. The comic book series has generally the same focus, but includes interludes to bounty hunter Boba Fett's battle to keep possession of the frozen Han Solo, and the antics of Wrenga Jixton, a spy sent by Darth Vader, as he infiltrates Jabba's swoop gang and ensures they are unable to kill Luke Skywalker. The video game allows players to control new character Dash Rendar, whose adventures in the game weave in and out of the overall storyline.

There are also two sequel comics, the InNameOnly ''Mara Jade - By The Emperor’s Hand'' follows Mara Jade fighting the Black Sun’s successor crime lords at the tail end of her service as an Emperor's Hand. ''Shadows of the Empire: Evolution'' follows the future of the Black Sun after Xizor's downfall and the efforts of his assassin and bodyguard, Guri, to rebuild her life.

* TheCreon: Black Sun Vigo Vekker isn't the ''second'' in command, but one of nine equally ranked lieutenants in an NGOSuperPower intergalactic criminal organization. He qualifies otherwise, though, as he's the only one specifically mentioned as being content with his position. In ''Shadows of the Empire: Evolution'', he doesn't push to be Xizor's successor (which does him no good as he's framed for an assassination attempt on the newest Vigo and is targeted himself by Vigo Sprax in retaliation)

-->'''Palpatine''': "I really must see about hiring your spies away from you. Especially after you stole my best horticulturist. A pity the man had that fatal lift accident before he could start working for you."\\
'''Xizor''': "Yes, a pity."\\

* EvilVersusEvil: Xizor and Vader... don't play well together. It's implied in the novel that Palpatine sets situations like this up so that his underlings would become [[TheRival rivals]] and work even harder to gain his approval by trying to outdo the other in obedience to the Empire--nothing gets results like a threat to job security.

* EyeScream: Luke blocks a shot from Xizor that would have hit him in the eye if he hadn't. Also, in the video game, the dianoga in the sewers that Dash shoots in the eye. (In the novel, Luke cuts off its eyestalk instead.)

* MarathonLevel: As far as the on foot levels go, Gal Spaceport is a long trek through winding canyon roads, and large structures to get to the end.

* MarathonLevel: As far as the on foot levels go, Gal Space Sport is a long trek through winding canyon roads, and large structures to get to the end.

* EvilPowerVacuum: Xizor's death has left Black Sun in dissaray, having his lieutenants (called Vigos) fighting over who will lead this. Numerous innocent people have killed when caught in the crossfire during their street fights, which causes Han, Luke and Leia to attempt mediation so the violence will cease. Xizor's niece Savan incites the factions against each other with {{false flag operation}}s in hopes of taking over herself. [[spoiler:She's foiled by the end, with what becomes of Black Sun left unclear. Other material says Durga the Hutt, one Vigo, takes control before being killed himself.]]

* AffluentAscetic: As the head of the largest criminal enterprise in the galaxy, Xizor is one of the wealthiest people alive yet dislikes ConspicuousConsumption. He even throws away a valuable jewel that one of his clients sends him as a gift since he has no use for it. He notes that Vader is the same way, since he has access to all the resources the Empire can offer but doesn't care for money at all.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: In the sequel comic, the heroes learn that Guri is headed for trouble. Luke, Leia and Lando immediately begin discussing the situation. As Han was frozen at the time, he keeps asking in increasing irritation who this Guri is.

** [[TheSyndicate Black Sun]] has tried to make overtures with the Rebel Alliance, who always rebuffed them on account of their criminality. Leia, however, approaches them in hopes of using their spy network to find out who's behind the assassination attempts against Luke, ([[{{Irony}} unaware that it's Black Sun]], using the rationale that the Empire is their common enemy. [[SubvertedTrope It does not transpire though]].

* CosmopolitanCouncil: Black Sun's Vigos (lieutenants of its leader Prince Xizor, who's himself [[HumanoidAlien Falleen]]) are from different species.

* VocalDissonance: Quasi-meta example. Most official artwork shows Xizor as having a rather {{bishonen}} appearance, yet the book describes his voice as being very deep and manly.

* CameraScrew: The game boasts a "Cinematic" mode which has no practical application whatsoever besides allowing you to see Dash's face. Even the normal camera modes are hellish when it comes to the game's platforming segments.