We’ve see just how sinister General Hux can be in both The Force Awakens and in The Last Jedi, but now we’re learning how he rose through the ranks of the First Order, becoming one of the youngest officers with such a high rank. 

In Delilah Dawson‘s new novel Phasma, we learn that Armitage Hux was raised in the First Order, his father, Brendol Hux, served in the Empire before their defeat, eventually helping to recreate the army as the First Order in the Unknown Regions.

But Hux and Captain Phasma, conspired against him eventually killing Brendol. After that Armitage rose up in his place and his ruthlessness made him a valuable asset to the armed forces, and Supreme Leader Snoke knew how to get what he needed from Hux.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi – The Visual Dictionary, Pablo Hidalgo describes his journey succinctly:

“Hux is responsible for the deaths of billions, having given the order to fire the Starkiller at the heavily populated Hosnian system. A man of no scruples who craves power above all, Hux has dispatched many enemies or would-be foes before they became too dangerous a threat. This included quietly eliminating his own father, the elder General Brendol Hux, whose elevated position in the early First Order gave Armitage a childhood of great privilege.”