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During Rogue One, we see that Krennic is largely responsible for getting the first Death Star up and running, and that the test they do an the desert planet is completely successful beyond what anyone expected.

Grand Mof Tarkin sees this as an opportunity to make himself look better to Vader and the emperor and decides that he'll take control of the new weapon. That makes sense, as he's looking out for number 1.

Vader also seems to really dislike Krennic, though, and I don't understand why. He sees that Krennic has aspirations for grander things. But the thing is, Krennic gets stuff done. He actually went out and got the resources to build the thing and then built it! It seems that Vader should want to promote him to get more stuff done.

Why does Vader dislike Krennic so much?

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    Is it more contempt than anything? After all Vader says later : "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force."
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Dec 21, 2016 at 18:43
  • Perhaps. It seems to me if the Force is so powerful they don't need the Death Star (or it's insignificant), they should have already harnessed it to control the galaxy, but they haven't.
    – user1118321
    Dec 21, 2016 at 19:39
  • Yeah - perhaps Vader has correctly surmised that technological solutions will fail because of people strong with the force - the Death Star, Death Star mk 2, Starkiller Base. I don't think he's necessarily against these tools, but he views them as not the be-all-and-end-all that Krennic and others think. Ultimately he's correct - they are all destroyed ultimately by a combination of subterfuge and relatively weak weapons like x-wing fighters.
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Dec 21, 2016 at 19:59
  • What makes you think he actually actively disliked Krennic, rather than just being the hard-ass asshole boss he is to any other Imperial officer, too?
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Dec 23, 2016 at 3:13
  • That's a fair point. He does seem like a "tough love" kind of leader. I guess it was just odd to me that after producing such a large and useful thing for their cause, he got nothing but grief. It doesn't seem like a useful way to engender pride in their work or organization. But I guess that's not their groove, anyway.
    – user1118321
    Dec 23, 2016 at 3:17

2 Answers 2

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  1. As any power-hungry apex predator, he doesn't like others who reach for power, as potential threat to themselves.

    This is double-extra valid for Vader, who's working for Palpatine, the latter specializing in pitting his top lieutenants against each other in both Disney and pre-Disney canon.

  2. Vader is intensely uncomfortable with, or rather disdainful of, "mundane" power which isn't of the Dark Side of the Force.

    As he told Krennic's successors in A New Hope:

    Don't be so proud of this technological terror you created.
    The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the Power of the Force.

    While not stated outright (except perhaps obliquely in Tarkin novel), Vader likely thinks of this to the tune of "If we rely on Death Star, that means the Dark Side wasn't sufficient for the job", and the Dark Side fanatic in him dislikes that implication.

  3. Krennic is an example of those bureaucrats that Vader generally dislikes.

    The top brass impression is that Krennic isn't as good (efficient) at his job as they'd like, as Tarkin told him directly (don't recall if that was in novelization only or in the film as well).

    While that might be Tarkin's personal power play against Krennic, it likely does reflect Vader and Emperor's view as well, if you recall a very similar dynamics in Return of the Jedi around delays in construction of Death Star II

    The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am

  4. Krennic seems to start off with an unhealthy level of LACK of respect for Vader.

    He entered Vader's castle with these thoughts (from the official canon novelization by Alexander Freed):

    Palpatine had tamed Vader, but he had not created the self-styled mystic and lord of the dead Sith cult.

    That gave Krennic hope. If a senator from Naboo could leash Vader, then surely Krennic could as well. Whether he was here for accolades or castigation, he could creep into Vader’s inner circle and break the alliance between Vader and Tarkin....

  5. He's still Anakin Skywalker, and even as a Sith, isn't terribly happy with the idea of killing innocents.

    While he's merciless towards rebels, in Disney Canon novel Lords of the Sith we see him openly defy his Master, Darth Sidious, to save the life of an innocent child that the Emperor was about to exterminate.

    Remember, his goal is "To bring the Law and Order to the Galaxy" - he sees himself as a Good Guy, not the Evilz for Lulz type like the Emperor.

    This bullet is more of a speculation but it seems like a reasonable assumption from what we know in canon.

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  • These are all good points! Thanks for your thoughts!
    – user1118321
    Dec 21, 2016 at 20:01
  • Definitely a great point on that last one. Another item to add to it would be to remember Anakin followed Palpatine and the Dark Side in an effort to save Padme from dying, which his dreams had foretold him would happen.
    – MattD
    Dec 21, 2016 at 20:34
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    I think the Jedi younglings would disagree with number 4.
    – Javier
    Dec 21, 2016 at 23:06
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    @Javier - He was choosing between Padme's life and younglings. In his mind, they were worth hers.
    – DVK
    Dec 22, 2016 at 0:37
  • @Javier: I read someone's convincing but unsourced idea that Anakin killed the younglings out of mercy, actually. If they hadn't been killed they would have all been corrupted to the Dark Side.
    – Zan Lynx
    Dec 22, 2016 at 4:28
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Krennic represents science, logic, technology, the future, which changes and evolves, grows beyond with no limits.

Vader is a sad devotee to an ancient religion who is afraid of being left behind by technology he can't understand, stuck in the past because he has no future.

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  • That's an interesting theory, but how does that square with the fact that the Rebels use that same ancient religion to defeat the Empire in later episodes? I don't think Lucas intends for the Force to be something that gets discarded because better technology is invented in their universe. It seems like a rather important part of the story for both the good guys and the bad.
    – user1118321
    Dec 22, 2016 at 4:16
  • Mysticism dies hard but eventually does. In later "episodes", stormtroopers created a weapon to counter the lightsaber. Rebels or non-believers using 'may force .." would be same as something saying 'godspeed' to an atheist. People don't believe it but it becomes culture. You could project out that eventually people would realize the 'force' is just a mind-games and become impervious to its affects, like jabba-da-hut
    – μολὼν.λαβέ
    Dec 22, 2016 at 4:29
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    Um. We are talking about little Annie Skywalker here? Who built an antire advance droid at the age of 6? And Krennic, who is a mediocre scientist and is far more of an administrtor/manager of scientists?
    – DVK
    Dec 22, 2016 at 5:26
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    That argument doesn't hold. Building something from pre-existing parts does not make one a a scientist/engineer. That might be an expression of creativity but not invention. Create something new, that which did not exist, from an idea then by build it. Scientist you create/investigate new theories from observing your surrounding, good ones don't parrot or ape.
    – μολὼν.λαβέ
    Dec 22, 2016 at 21:15
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    @DVK Not only that, Krennic is an obsequiously shitty and heavy-handed manager with delusions of competence and importance. Vader is not even remotely impressed. The book includes a few email exchanges during the development project that shows just how flawlessly Galen ran circles around him and got him to approve the big thermal exhaust port overriding Galen's formal recommendations.
    – Shadur
    Dec 18, 2020 at 12:42

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