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The hell is a Moff?

Septimus Prime

Septimus Prime

EA
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
8,500
Yes, I know what they are in Star Wars. In that, they are very high ranking officials of the Empire, such that a Grand Moff is high enough that Vader defers to his command.

But where did this terminology originate? Google and Wikipedia aren't really helpful, as the former just links to the wiki pages of various Star Wars characters, and the latter redirects to an article on the Galactic Empire from Star Wars.

Is this just a made up term, or does it appear anywhere in actual history?
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,696
I think it might be made up? From what I could find in the original draft it was Mouff but then was changed to Moff but Mouff also has no definition. So.
 
nded

nded

Member
Nov 14, 2017
10,578
Made up word, most likely. Could be related to "toff", real-world slang for a rich or upper-class person.
 
adj_noun

adj_noun

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
17,218
Little known fact: when George Lucas was crafting the Original Trilogy, the planet Eer was the original home of the Imperial nobility. They were uniquely suited to not only the capture and detention of Rebel spies, but also prolonging their lives for further interrogation. It was often said that a Moff of the region was worth his weight in bacta, if admittedly for nefarious purposes.

This, of course, explains why when Luke was in dire straits on the frigid ice planet Hoth, the one thing he wanted most in the world was a pair of Eer Moffs.
 
Sulik2

Sulik2

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,168
They are regional governors. Kind of like old Roman governors. It made more sense before they made tech in the new movies able to communicate anywhere in the galaxy at any time and space travel instantaneous. You wouldn't need any sort of regional governments with that capability.
 
8byte

8byte

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt-account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,880
Kansas
180628_bogong_moths_1.jpg
 
GasProblem

GasProblem

Prophet of Truth
Member
Nov 18, 2017
3,150
In Dutch the word mof means a German, it was used a lot during and after WW2 (and still gets used). It's used as a derogatory term, like kraut.

Since the Empire are pretty much space nazis, it always made sense in my head.
 
Doober

Doober

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,295
adj_noun said:
Little known fact: when George Lucas was crafting the Original Trilogy, the planet Eer was the original home of the Imperial nobility. They were uniquely suited to not only the capture and detention of Rebel spies, but also prolonging their lives for further interrogation. It was often said that a Moff of the region was worth his weight in bacta, if admittedly for nefarious purposes.

This, of course, explains why when Luke was in dire straits on the frigid ice planet Hoth, the one thing he wanted most in the world was a pair of Eer Moffs.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

boo you suck get off the stage
 
How About No

How About No

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,785
The Great Dairy State
adj_noun said:
Little known fact: when George Lucas was crafting the Original Trilogy, the planet Eer was the original home of the Imperial nobility. They were uniquely suited to not only the capture and detention of Rebel spies, but also prolonging their lives for further interrogation. It was often said that a Moff of the region was worth his weight in bacta, if admittedly for nefarious purposes.

This, of course, explains why when Luke was in dire straits on the frigid ice planet Hoth, the one thing he wanted most in the world was a pair of Eer Moffs.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
🤭
 
Forkball

Forkball

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,941
Moff was the rank held by the Sector Governorsof the First Galactic Empire. In the fifth year of Emperor Sheev Palpatine's reign, there was a fixed number of twenty Moffs, who answered to the Imperial Ruling Council. That year, the senior rank of Grand Moff was created and awarded to Wilhuff Tarkin.[3] As a symbol of their charge, Moffs wore a rank insignia plaquebearing ten colored squares: five blue over three red and two gold.[4]
Moffs were in command of their sector's Sector Group, a formation that contained assets from the Imperial Military and intelligence. Moffs could be appointed by the Emperor or an advisor, but were obligated to report to both. A Grand Moff, overseer of an Oversector, could override any Moff.
 
Priapus

Priapus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,150
In the Netherlands a Mof is a derogatory term for a German. It's an old term (17th century) but when used it's mostly linked to WWII. A bit like the Jerries in the UK.
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,676
London
I don't think it's to do with toff, that's British slang that doesn't really mean much. Mufti makes more sense but I'm not really convinced by it either.

I don't think Lucas wrote his stuff with a logical background to language like Tolkien did. I do like the WW2 term for Germans idea though.
 
MirVie

MirVie

Member
Nov 17, 2017
278
GasProblem said:
In Dutch the word mof means a German, it was used a lot during and after WW2 (and still gets used). It's used as a derogatory term, like kraut.

Since the Empire are pretty much space nazis, it always made sense in my head.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


I always wonder how much inspiration Lucas took from the dutch language. I mean "Darth Vader" was a spoiler right there.
 
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