In the novel, Tarkin advocates for the Tarkin Doctrine, an entirely fear-based military system in which the Empire uses large numbers of intimidating capital ships and strike fighters to seem undefeatable, so that no one would dare to try and rise up against it. He is also the protagonist of the 2014 novel Tarkin, which details the character's backstory and rise to power within the Empire's ranks. Outside of the original film, Tarkin has made appearances in various canon and non-canon Star Wars media, including the animated series The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch, and the films Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One. He orders the destruction of the planet Alderaan by the station's superlaser, and is killed at the end of the film, when Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star. In the film, Tarkin is depicted as a high-ranking officer of the Galactic Empire, placed in charge of the operations on the Death Star, the Empire's dwarf planet-sized battle station. Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, introduced in the original 1977 Star Wars film (played by Peter Cushing) as one of its two central antagonists, alongside Darth Vader.
