Cham Syndulla

"His fight against the droids has made him a symbol of freedom for the people."

- Mace Windu

Cham Syndulla is a supporting character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in The Clone Wars and Rebels. He was a war hero from the Clone Wars who wanted the liberation of Ryloth and his people from the Galactic Empire.

Cham is the father of Hera Syndulla, the tritagonist of Star Wars Rebels.

Background
Cham Syndulla hailed from the planet Ryloth, homeworld of the Twi'leks. Syndulla became a political revolutionary and opposed what he saw as the corruption in the Galactic Republic. For Syndulla, the corruption had no greater face than that of Orn Free Taa, the senator of Ryloth.he distrust that Syndulla felt towards the senator was mutual; Taa considered Syndulla to be a political radical, one who was unpredictable and sought to gain power for himself. In actuality, Syndulla's goal was the freedom of his people, which he fought for throughout his life. Cham married a Twi'lek woman named Tislera and together they had a daughter, Hera, who was inspired by his leadership among their people, and a son who died young.

Personality
Cham cared for his followers and sought to avenge the death of his lieutenant Pok at the hands of Darth Vader. After learning that the Emperor and Darth Vader were visiting Ryloth on a surprise trip, Cham engineered a trap for the two Sith Lords and their Star Destroyer Perilous. Despite his careful planning, Cham underestimated the resourcefulness and bold cunning of his Sith adversaries. As a military commander, Cham also took steps to safeguard his rebel movement by dispersing them into hiding. Despite losing his opportunity to kill the Sith Lords and topple the Empire, Cham never gave up his devotion to the rebel cause. While ruthless in combat, Cham was unwilling to endanger civilians and took precautions to evacuate them before the fighting.

Despite his distrust of the rebellion, Cham and his followers Gobi and Numa were willing to help his daughter Hera and her rebel cell to take out an Imperial fighter carrier that had been bombing Ryloth. Disagreeing with Hera's plans to steal the fighter instead of destroying it, Cham used his guile and charm to ingratiate the rebels and lull them into lowering their guard. Cham and his followers then proceeded with their plan to destroy the fighter carrier. However, Hera managed to sway him over by telling him that he had inspired her to join the rebellion. Due to their joint venture, Cham and his followers became more sympathetic of the rebellion.

Despite his skills as a guerrilla commander, Cham underestimated the capabilities of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who led the pacification of Tann province. Cham's love for his daughter Hera later led him to assist her in a plan to recover a family artifact, the Kalikori, from Thrawn. Thrawn and Captain Slavin attempted to exploit his love for his daughter by forcing Cham to surrender himself in return for sparing the lives of Hera and her rebel comrade Ezra Bridger. Though Hera destroyed their ancestral home during an escape attempt, he still respected her for her ingenuity and creativity.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
As a member of Ryloth's nobility, Cham opposed the policies of the Galactic Republic and Ryloth's senator Orn Free Taa. When the Clone Wars began and the Separatists invaded his world, Cham formed a group of freedom fighters to combat the invading droid army. When the Republic came to Ryloth to free the world from the Separatists, he formed an alliance with Jedi Master Mace Windu and his Clone Troopers to liberate the capital city of Lessu. The liberation of Lessu ended the battle for Ryloth and saw the capture of Separatist leader Wat Tambor.

Season 2
After the Clone Wars ended, the Republic was replaced by the Galactic Empire and Ryloth was occupied by the new government who planned to use its resources for its own military production. Cham opposed the Imperial presence on Ryloth and formed a new group of freedom fighters to disrupt Imperial military targets in the system. When his wife was killed during the resistance, Ryloth's freedom became more important to him than his own family. His relationship with his daughter became difficult when she left to join the Rebellion against the Empire. Despite having ignored her, he preferred to have Hera by his side in Ryloth's fight for liberation rather than fighting offworld.

Cham's relationship with his daughter become a difficult one, especially when she chose to leave and fight in the Rebellion against the Empire. For several years they hardly stayed in touch, but were reluctantly brought together again for a mission to steal an Imperial carrier and use it to house the Rebellion's starfighter. However, Cham had other plans for the carrier. He wanted to destroy it to symbolise the strength of Ryloth and his people. Accompanied by two of his best warriors, Numa and Gobi Glie, They were successful in boarding the carrier with help from the Rebels. However, he turned against them and proceeded with his plans to destroy the ship, only to be stopped by Hera. Listening to his daughter's wise words of how he became an inspiration to both her and their people, Cham abandoned his plan and assisted the Rebels in getting the carrier to the Rebellion. Following their victory, Cham showed new loyalty and respect for the Rebellion and for his daughter.

Season 3
Approximately one year later, Cham became the mortal enemy of the Imperial captain, Slavin, having managed to elude his him several times due to his clumsy plans. However, they recently became more complex due to the interference of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Both Cham and and Numa escaped from the Tann Province when the Empire took over the Syndulla household. With the help of Hera and the Spectres, the two Twi'leks fled from the Scout Troopers following them, and were able to catch the scout trooper pursuing them with help from Zeb, who the Lasat knocked out wih his own fist to give to Ezra. Cham informed the Ghost crew of what had happened and that he was unable to retrieve the Kalikori that belonged to Hera's mother. The rebels sent Hera with Ezra to get it back. However, the duo were captured by Thrawn, who left Slavin to deal with the two rebels. As Cham and his allies continued to shoot at the Imperials, Slavin stopped the firing and revealed he was holding Hera and Ezra hostage, threatening to kill them if Cham did not surrender. Not willing to risk his daughter or the boy, Cham agreed, out of love for his daughter. Though Sabine sensed it was a trap, Cham hoped the rebels would take advantage of his sacrifice to save both Hera and Ezra. However, unknown to Cham, Hera planned to destroy the Syndulla house. Because of this, the rebels were able to escape, rescuing Hera and Ezra.

Cham is indirectly mentioned in "Trials of the Darksaber," when Hera empathizes with Sabine, Knowing what it is like to not have anyone in your family believe in you.

Lords of the Sith
Cham appears as one of the hero antagonists of Lords of the Sith, a book that takes place ten years before Cham's re-appearance in Star Wars Rebels.