Grand Admiral Thrawn (full name: Mitth'raw'nuruodo) is a fictional character and major antagonist in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared in Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy — Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command — published between 1992 and 1994. In these books, set five years after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Thrawn has assumed command of the remaining forces of the Empire and is planning to battle the New Republic. He has subsequently appeared in numerous other Expanded Universe works, including five more novels by Zahn.

Zahn describes Thrawn's command style as considerably different from that of Darth Vader and other typical Imperial commanders; instead of punishing failure and dissent, Thrawn promotes creativity among his crew and accepts ideas from subordinates. He is a tactical genius who has made extensive study of military intelligence and art, and is willing to retreat instead of making a stand in a losing battle.

Thrawn is his "core" name, reminiscent of the English word "thrawn", meaning "twisted or crooked". His full name is only known to a few select individuals of the Empire and the New Republic.

Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.

In Bourbon Restoration France, the rank was an honorific one equivalent to that of marshal in the French Army.

In the German Navy, the rank was the equivalent of a British admiral of the fleet or a United States fleet admiral. It was created in 1901, and like field marshals its holders were authorised to carry a baton.

Before and during World War I, the following men were made grand admirals of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy):

Before and during World War II, the following men were made grand admirals of the German Kriegsmarine:

The Kriegsmarine also used the rank of general admiral (Generaladmiral) which was senior to a full admiral, but junior to a grand admiral.

The rank of grand admiral (in Italian, grande ammiraglio) was created by Benito Mussolini in 1924. It was established primarily to honour Paolo Thaon di Revel, who had been head of the Italian Regia Marina during World War I — he was the only person to be awarded the rank. It was equivalent to marshal of Italy in the army and also marshal of the Air Force.