Even more vital than Star Destroyers in making a Star Wars film have the right feel are TIE fighters. With their unmistakable howl as they swoop down to attack, these one-man fighters cast fear into the hearts of the Empire's enemies. George Lucas originally called the crafts TIEs because of their similarity in shape to bow ties. However, the acronym was later said to stand for Twin Ion Engine, reflecting the nature of the fighters' propulsion systems. Little is explicitly stated on screen about these fighters, but much has been inferred and incorporated into the Expanded Universe- for example, the shape of the wings makes landing on a planet difficult, restricting the fighters to launching from and returning to Star Destroyers or space-based facilities. TIEs are the cheaply produced workhorses of the Galactic Empire. However, the utilitarian nature of the fighters seems to lend itself easily to modification, with TIE bombers and TIE Interceptors being common variations from the basic model. Since TIE fighters were seen in the teaser for The Force Awakens (with a modified look), this iconic ship can now be said to have appeared in four of the seven "main" films. Few other starships can make the same claim...
Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year.
You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike
