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Main Protagonists[]
Luke Skywalker[]
Played by: Mark Hamill (Ep.IV-IX), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III), Grant Feely (Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
I am a Jedi, like my father before me. |
A Farm Boy from a desert planet, Luke discovers that his father was a Jedi and that he can be one too. This led to him becoming a major figure in the Rebel Alliance, the savior of the galaxy, leader of the short-lived reborn Jedi Order and all-around Badass.
- Ace Pilot
- Adorkable: His awful 1970's hairstyle really helps.
- All-Loving Hero: Luke can get angry at someone. Hating them is totally beyond him. Even in the Sequels he's quite adamant that he's to blame for Ben Solo's fall, refusing to place any of the blame on his nephew.
- Artificial Hand: Replaces the one he lost fighting Vader inThe Empire Strikes Back.
- Awesome McCoolname
- Badass
- Ambadassador: At the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
- Handicapped Badass: Played with in A New Hope, when he trains with a blindfold and then refuses to use his targeting computer when shooting the Death Star. Played straight in Return of the Jedi, after he's lost his hand.
- Took a Level In Badass: Notably during The Empire Strikes Back and at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
- Badass Baritone: In the Sequels. Complimented by his...
- Badass Beard
- Berserk Button: Threatening to turn Leia to The Dark Side.
- Big Good: Regarded as such in the post-Death Star galaxy. He's an outright Living Legend by the time of the Sequels.
- Big No: A classic one in The Empire Strikes Back
- Also when Obi Wan is killed in A New Hope.
- Another one in the final duel when Vader suggests to turn Leia to the Dark Side.
- Black Cloak / In the Hood: This is how he makes his entrance to Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi.
- Conveniently an Orphan
- Cool Spaceship: The Incom T-65 X-wing starfighter.
- Did Not Get the Girl:
- Considering the girl is later revealed to be his sister, this is a good thing.
- Grouses about not getting any girl in the novelization of The Last Jedi, counting it as one of his many Senseless Sacrifices.
- Don't Think, Feel: A major part of his Jedi training.
- Dork Knight
- Farm Boy
- Fatal Flaw: His tendency to look to the horizon. He tends to impulsively do what he feels is right and rush things for what he thinks will be a better future rather than stop and consider the needs right in front of him.
- Generation Xerox: To Anakin Skywalker.
- Also, he's a lot like Padmé with his almost messianic sense of compassion.
- Gone Horribly Right: Luke rebuilt the Jedi Order based on Yoda and Obi-Wan's teachings of the old Order. And just like them, his most prodigious student fell to the Dark Side because Luke's Order only accounted for a Black and White Morality, unable to provide proper mental support to someone who needed it.
- Grew a Spine: When he leaves Yoda's training to rescue Han and Leia on Bespin.
- The Heart
- The Hero
- Honor Before Reason: Decides to rescue his friends from Vader although he has little chance against him.
- Also, joining the Rebel attack on the Death Star despite its low chance of success, as Lampshaded by Han.
- Hypocrite: Despite everyone telling him otherwise, Luke refused to give up on his attachment to his father. Yet when training Grogu, he says that the youngling has to let go of his own father figure to become a true Jedi.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: His last fight with Vader in Return of the Jedi.
- Jumped At the Call
- Kung Fu Jesus: Since he's a Messianic Archetype who's also a Jedi.
- Last of His Kind: He is the said to be the last Jedi following Yoda's death. Episode VIII outright spells out his status as such, but he turns over the title to Rey. Though there's a bit of Exact Words as he did train Leia to use the Force, enough that she managed to teach Rey the basics in Luke's absence, but she chose not to become a Jedi.
Yoda: Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be. |
- Leeroy Jenkins: In The Empire Strikes Back and to a lesser extent in A New Hope.
- The Load: In The Empire Strikes Back. Over the course of the film, Luke is actually the cause of the invasion of Hoth (Vader sensed him and immediately determined it was a Rebel stronghold); the ambush on Cloud City and subsequent torture of Han; and the crew of the Millenium Falcon had to go back to rescue Luke.
- Luke Nounverber: Trope Namer.
- Master Swordsman: He is definitely one in Return of the Jedi and afterwards.
- The McCoy
- The Messiah: Did a better job than his father did.
- My Greatest Failure: His thoughtless impulse to end the darkness in Ben Solo by killing his nephew. It just pushed Ben into becoming Kylo Ren.
- Nice Guy
- Not So Different: Him and Vader.
- People Jars: His healing in The Empire Strikes Back.
- Psychic Powers: Luke has mastered them by the start of Return of the Jedi.
- Reckless Gun Usage: Watch very closely as Luke Skywalker first ignites his lightsaber in Star Wars: A New Hope — he doesn't know how long the beam is and yet is pointing it at Obi-Wan.
- Sins of Our Fathers: During the time of the Original Trilogy, survivors of Order 66 who knew the truth about Darth Vader decided that killing Luke was just as good.
- Sneaky Departure
- Story-Breaker Power: The real reason he doesn't have a bigger role to play in the Sequel Trilogy. His powers have grown so much since Episode VI that he would have ended the trilogy before it even began. While the strain of Force projection ultimately kills him, it's easily one of the most impressive uses of the Force.
- Sword and Gun: He uses both his blaster and lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back before only using his lightsaber in Return of the Jedi.
- Tell Me About My Father
- Took a Level In Jerkass: By the time of the Sequels, his failure to bring back the Jedi and the rise of the First Order have robbed him of all his wonderlust and optimism. Rey and Yoda's ghost are able to break him out of it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Shadow of the Sith establishes that Luke really enjoys a good cup of hot chocolate.
- Training From Hell: With Yoda.
- Weapon of Choice: His father's blue lightsaber until he lost it against Vader. He made himself a green one afterwards.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- A lot of people in the EU (including Leia) are pissed at him for forgiving Vader after everything he had done.
- In The Last Jedi, Rey calls him out on his thought to murder the young Ben Solo. As Luke regards that as My Greatest Failure, he doesn't push back.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: In contrast to Han's cynicism.
Han Solo[]
Played by: Harrison Ford (Ep.IV-VII, IX), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo) |
Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid. |
A smuggler originally hired by Obi-Wan to provide him transport to Alderaan, Han (and his Cool Ship, the Millenium Falcon) became central to the fate of the galaxy. An Ace Pilot with a sarcastic streak and no particular loyalties (initially), Han was played by Harrison Ford, who improvised many of the character's best lines.
- Ace Pilot
- Anti-Hero: Type IV (A New Hope)-> Type II.
- The Asteroid Thicket: See Ace Pilot.
- Badass:
- Badass Normal: Is not Force-sensitive, but a great pilot and fighter.
- Badass Grandpa: His hair is pure white in The Force Awakens but he's just as badass as ever.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Leia.
- Big Damn Heroes: A classic one towards the end of A New Hope.
- Blood Brothers: With Chewbacca.
- The Captain: In the loosest sense of the word.
- Changed My Mind, Kid
- Character Development
- Cool Starship: The Millenium Falcon.
- Deadpan Snarker
- The Dog Shot First
- The Ferry Man
- The Gunslinger
- Guile Hero
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Chewie.
- Intrepid Merchant
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Knight in Sour Armor: After he joins the Rebel Alliance.
- The Lancer
- Loveable Rogue: Trope Codifier.
- Never Tell Me the Odds: Trope Namer.
- No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Dinner with Vader in Cloud City.
- Not in This For Your Revolution: At first.
- Only in It For the Money: "Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money."
- Polyglot: Though not as reliable as C-3P0, being able to interpret Chewbacca's bellowing and Jabba's belches definitely counts for something.
- Small Name, Big Ego: What he started out as. Even as he got more name recognition, it's clear that he views himself as a more competent than he actually is.
- The Idea Guy
- Took a Level In Kindness: In The Force Awakens, he's a thousand times nicer than he ever was in the OT. Whereas he was contemptuous of Luke's claims of knowing how to fly in A New Hope, he graciously gives Rey a chance to prove herself in The Force Awakens, being impressed by her piloting skills.
- Weapon of Choice: DL-44 heavy blaster pistol.
- Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: With Leia.
Princess Leia Organa[]
Played by: Carrie Fisher (Ep.IV-IX), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III), Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
I am NOT a committee! |
Leia was the (adopted) daughter of Bail Organa and followed his footsteps in becoming the Senator of the planet Alderaan. She also followed him into the Rebel Alliance, which led to her imprisonment on the Death Star, where two young men and a Wookiee with more heroism than sense (Luke and Han) broke her out. Then it became clear that she's an Action Girl in her own right, and things got really interesting.
- Action Girl: Leia fights her way out of the Death Star, chokes Jabba to death with her own chains and joins the Rebel strike team for their mission on Endor.
Somebody's got to save our skins! |
- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Badass:
- Ambadassador
- Badass Adorable: In Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ten years old but still a badass.
- Badass Normal: In the original trilogy. She was eventually trained in the Force but chose to fight as politician rather than a Jedi.
- Badass Princess: The first thing she does in A New Hope? Shooting a stormtrooper in cold blood.
- Never Mess with Granny: Leia fought against tyranny until the very end of her life. Grey hair didn't slow her down at all.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Han.
- Braids of Action: In Return of the Jedi.
- Brainy Brunette
- Career-Ending Injury: Used the Force to protect herself from space in The Last Jedi. It destroyed her potential to use the Force and drained her life force.
- Character Development: Having becoming the true leader of the Resistance, instead of a high ranking member like she was in the Rebellion, Leia in the Sequels is less impulsive and snarky, understanding what it means to fight smarter and inspire morale.
- The Chick: Subverted; she is definitely not the useless type of female character.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like:
- In Obi-Wan Kenobi, she's rather put out that Ben Kenobi is the only one who shows up to rescue her, having expected her father to send an army.
- Famously in A New Hope. Though justified given the incompetence her rescuers display.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Defrosting Ice Queen
- Distressed Damsel: Subverted where she ends up leading her own rescue mission.
- Everything's Better with Princesses
- Go-Go Enslavement: See above.
- Happily Adopted: At the end of Revenge of the Sith. In the novels set between the Prequel and Original trilogies, she outright says she doesn't care who her birth parents are, the Organas are her family.
- Happily Married: To Han but it sadly fell apart.
- I Have No Son:
- Inverted. She refuses to acknowledge Anakin Skywalker as her father. As far as she's concerned, Bail Organa was her father and Anakin was just a sperm donor.
- Averted in the Sequels. It's clear that despite everything, she still loves Ben Solo as her son.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: The one character in the original trilogy who almost never misses. Justified somewhat in that she is Force-sensitive.
- The Lancer: A little.
- Not So Different: Has a horrified moment of this in Bloodline when she understands what drove Anakin Skywalker to become Darth Vader. Indeed while she takes after her mother in appearance, her personality owes a bit more to her father.
- Odango: Her famous "cinnamon bun" hairstyle in "A New Hope".
- Only Sane Man: In A New Hope.
- Parental Substitute: To Rey in The Rise of Skywalker. The novel has Leia say that Rey is the daughter she never had.
- Politically-Active Princess: Is a senator (until Palpatine disbands the Senate), and then an important member of the rebellion.
- Pursued Protagonist
- La Résistance
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
- Sex Slave: To Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Bloodline has the galaxy at large learn who her biological father is. It ends any political future she might have had.
- There Is Another: She is actually Luke's sister and a Force-sensitive.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Considers everything Darth Vader did to be this. The Princess and the Scoundrel has her outright refuse to listen to Vader's last words. As far as she's concerned, he was not her father.
- Tsundere
- Unlimited Wardrobe: Changed outfits quite often in Episodes V and VI.
- Well, Excuse Me, Princess!
- Wise Beyond Their Years: In Obi-Wan Kenobi, the title character is quite surprised that she's so lucid and erudite for a ten year old girl.
- Woman in White
Anakin Skywalker[]
Played by: Jake Lloyd (as a child, Ep.I), Hayden Christensen (Ep.II-III; as a Force ghost in the 2004 rerelease of Ep.VI, voice cameo in Ep.IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Sebastian Shaw (Ep.VI) |
Something's happening. I'm not the Jedi I should be. I want more, but I know I shouldn't... |
The most pivotal man in the galaxy, whose decisions changed the fate of every living being. Also had a son who did the same thing. Anakin was born on a desert planet (the same one, actually) and grew up with Jedi training; unlike Luke, he was hot-tempered, brash and sometimes undisciplined. Evidently that made all the difference; Luke didn't help put the galaxy under the heel of an evil dictator. You might know him better as Darth Vader.
- Ace Pilot
- Informed Ability: This is never proven, except for young Anakin shouting, "Let's try spinning! That's a good trick!"
- Accidental Hero: In The Phantom Menace.
- Always Save the Girl: His quest to save Padmé from death which ironically kills her.
- Ambiguous Situation: The new canon doesn't seem fully sold on the idea that he was The Chosen One. While he himself believed it, Palpatine eventually came to question whether Anakin might have been just an ordinary, if unprecedentedly strong, Force-wielder.
- And Then Anakin Was A Sith Lord
- Anti-Hero: Type II or III, veering towards V on the occasions that he flirts with The Dark Side.
- Anti-Villain: Type II
- Artificial Limb: Has a cybernetic arm, thanks to Dooku, and later gains three more cybernetic limbs and a black suit of armour after losing to Obi-Wan on Mustafar.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: He dies as a Jedi, having redeemed himself by saving his son and fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One.
- Awesome McCoolname
- Badass:
- Badass Abnormal: He was abnormally Force-sensitive, even by Jedi standards.
- Badass Adorable: In Episode I.
- Badass Driver: He IS called the best starpilot in the galaxy.
- Badass Long Hair: In Episode III.
- Handicapped Badass: In Episode III, after losing an arm in Episode II.
- Heartbroken Badass
- One-Man Army: In Episode III.
- Took a Level In Badass: Between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, obviously.
- Berserk Button: Torturing someone he loves. Palpatine found that out the hard way in Return of the Jedi.
- And an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders (men, women and children) found it out way earlier.
- Black Cloak: He begins dressing in black robes in Revenge of the Sith.
- Born Into Slavery
- Byronic Hero
- Captain Crash: He could out-fly grown pilots when he was a kid; it's just a shame he never quite got the hang of landings.
- The Chosen One: Doubly subverted. He joins The Dark Side, then destroys the Emperor at the end of the saga. Though the new canon has frequently raised the possibility, though never confirmed it, that he wasn't the Chosen One, merely believed to be.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Oh, so much. Ironically, his loyalty to the people he cares about ends up being the reason he is constantly stabbing people in the back.
- Cool Starship: Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor in Revenge of the Sith.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Anakin's descent into evil is paralleled by his cyborg conversion. Also, by Word of God, losing body parts makes you lose midichlorians and thus get weaker in the Force.
- Dark Messiah / Destructive Savior: To the core.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Despair Event Horizon: Padmé's death. The Empire is all he has left.
- Disappeared Dad: Non-existent dad; Word of God confirms that he was conceived by the Force itself.
- Dual-Wielding: At the end of Episode II.
- Dull Surprise: Both actors were criticized for it (specially since Vader stands on the other side).
- Evil Is Hammy: Once he turns to the dark side...
- Emergency Transformation: When he becomes Darth Vader.
- Fallen Hero
- Fantastic Racism: After his mother is killed by them, he really hates Sand People. Enough to kill every last one of them.
- Freudian Excuse: His upbringing as a slave and inability to let go of any loved ones, particularly his mother.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar next to his right eye by the time of Episode III, before ending up covered in burn scars after his battle with Obi-Wan.
- Go Out with a Smile: Anakin's farewell to Luke.
- Hell-Bent for Leather
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Obi-Wan. Before that all goes to hell.
- He Who Fights Monsters
- Humanoid Abomination/Golem: The films offer us two choices for Anakin's origin: Either he's an avatar of the Force, conceived by parthenogenesis...or he was created by the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis in that exact same way.
- Darth Plagueis implies that he's both; he was created by Plagueis's experiments, all right, but the Force didn't like being screwed with and thus ensured that the resulting creation would hoist the Sith by their own petard.
- I Did What I Had to Do: When trying to justify his actions to Padmé in Revenge of the Sith.
- I Will Protect Padmé
- I Die Free
- It's All About Me: Committed high treason and multiple murders against his closest friends if it meant saving Padmé, all based on his judgement instead of talking to her. Word of God is even that he tinted Ahsoka's lightsabers blue because that would make them match his own and he thought they looked better.
- Improbable Piloting Skills: In The Phantom Menace.
- Informed Ability: He's stated several times to be one of the, if not the, most powerful Force user in the saga, a claim that none of his feats back up. While there's no doubt that he's very skilled at using the Force, many other characters (Yoda, Qui-Gonn, Palpatine, Rey, Ben Solo) show off talent in the Force that outshines Anakin with ease. Notably, he couldn't overpower Obi-Wan's Force push in their duel. Some characters do occasionally seem to pick up on this in the EU. In the second arc of the 2020 Darth Vader comic, everyone keeps telling Vader that he isn't as strong as Palpatine and Kylo's issue in Age of Resistance has a Stormtrooper captain note that Kylo is more powerful than Vader ever was.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
- "Just Joking" Justification: Whenever he made a pro-authoritarian comment in the Prequel Era.
- Kill the Ones You Love: He didn't deliver the killing blow but he definitely had a hand in Padmé's death, whether it was Force choking her or putting her under so much stress that she died in childbirth as a result.
- Knight in Shining Armor: He wants to be the most powerful Jedi Knight, but his love for Padmé is his first priority.
- Lady and Knight: The Knight to Padmé's Lady.
- Large Ham: Not in his normal personality, but after his Heel Face Turn...YOU UNDERESTIMATE MAH POWAAAAAAAAAAAH!
- The Lancer: To Obi-Wan in the Clone Wars.
- Leeroy Jenkins: In Attack of the Clones.
- Love Makes You Evil
- MacGyvering: He built his own podracer from Watto's junkyard. And won the Boonta Eve Classic with it.
- Master Swordsman
- Messianic Archetype
- Moment of Weakness: See Start of Darkness.
- Never My Fault: He doesn't take any shred of responsibility for his fall to the Dark Side, blaming the Jedi for everything.
- Papa Wolf: To his unborn kids. And to his son when Palpatine tries to kill him.
- The Paragon Always Rebels
- Physical God: Word of God says that had he not been crippled at Mustafar, he would've eventually ended up as this. His son realizes his potential in the Expanded Universe.
- Psychic Powers: As a highly Force-sensitive little boy, he was able to use them in some situations (podraces, for instance) without really knowing where it came from. He learned to master them during his Jedi training.
- Power Levels: The "midichlorian" concept was criticized by fans as this, especially with Obi-Wan's non-ironic observation that Anakin clocks in at Over Nine Thousand. This didn't stop Word of God from declaring that Anakin is meant to be the strongest Force-user in canon, equaled only by his son. See also Cybernetics Eat Your Soul.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: After turning to the Dark Side, his eyes become jaundiced.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Obi-Wan's blue.
- Redemption Equals Death
- Renowned Selective Mentor: Due to his unusual affinity with the Force, Anakin gets mentoring and attention from high-ranking Jedi beyond that given to other padawans.
- Self-Proclaimed Knight: At the end of The Phantom Menace, Anakin is allowed to be trained as a Jedi Knight in even though he is too old. He vents his frustration to Senator Amidala in Attack of the Clones that he's ready to be a knight, but they won't let him move on.
- Single Tear: After murdering hundreds of Jedi and the helpless Trade Federation leaders, Anakin looks out into the hellscape that is Mustafar and silently sheds a tear of remorse.
- The Starscream: To the Jedi, and tries to be this to Palpatine twice.
- Start of Darkness: Slaughtering the Tusken Raiders after his mother's death.
- To Be Lawful or Good
- Token Evil Teammate: Of the Jedi Order. The Clone Wars has many moments where he approves of autocratic and fascistic styles of government, much to the horror of his friends. The "Just Joking" Justification was his best friend in those days.
- Tragic Hero
- Universal Pilot's Licence: He could pilot anything from a podracer in his youth (in The Phantom Menace) to the Confederacy's enormous flagship (in Revenge of the Sith). With ease.
- Villain Protagonist: Towards the end of Revenge of the Sith
- Weapon of Choice: A blue lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith.
- What You Are in the Dark: He dived into the Dark Side with both feet, eager to let loose his power.
- Yandere: In Revenge of the Sith
Obi-Wan Kenobi[]
Played by: Alec Guinness (Ep.IV-VI, voice cameo in Ep.IX); Ewan McGregor (Ep.I-III, voice cameo in Ep.IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. |
Introduced in Episode IV as "Ben Kenobi," Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training and sets him on his course as savior of the galaxy. He fought in the Clone Wars and, as Anakin's teacher, was deeply involved in Anakin's fall to The Dark Side. While Anakin is indisputably the Main Character of the series, Obi-Wan runs a close second, and is one of only four characters to appear in the first six films along with voice cameos in Episodes VII and IX.
- Always Someone Better: Darth Vader may be the most feared warrior in the galaxy but Kenobi trained him. Obi-Wan wins two of their three duels and only loses the third by surrendering.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence
- The Atoner: For training the man who destroyed the Jedi Order.
- Badass: The only Jedi to have fought three powerful Sith warriors and lived to tell the tale, of which he defeated two.
- Ambadassador
- Badass Beard
- Badass Grandpa: Still retains some fighting skill despite his age in A New Hope.
- One-Man Army: In his Glory Days. Took on General Grievous and his droid army alone and won.
- Retired Badass: By the time of A New Hope.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Described in the Revenge of the Sith novelisation as "the ultimate Jedi" partially because he is "modest, centered and always kind". Nonetheless, if you push him far enough (like taking part in the murder of almost his entire "family", ie the Jedi Order, including innocent children), he is prepared to hack off your limbs and leave you alone to slowly burn to death (although he seems to show some remorse while doing so).
- Big Brother Mentor: To Anakin.
- Bond One-Liner: "So uncivilized."
- Chessmaster: Subverted in that he is 1) a good character and 2) his attempts to steer the plot in the direction he wants by keeping information from Luke end up not working, as Luke screws up his plans for for the better.
- Cool Old Guy: From A New Hope to Return of the Jedi.
- Cool Starship: Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor in Attack of the Clones and Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor in Revenge of the Sith.
- Cynical Mentor: To Anakin again. Despite this, he still seemed pretty shocked when Anakin falls to The Dark Side.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially in the prequel trilogy. Ewan McGregor's Alec Guinness impersonation managed to produce some of the driest irony ever captured on celluloid.
- Deuteragonist: Of the prequels.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Chose the Jedi Order over Satine and it's clear he never got over that.
- Does Not Like Guns: Until he's forced to use one against Grievous. The PTSD of Order 66 had him rely on one as his primary weapon for the next years.
- Doomed by Canon: Or rather, obligated to stay alive to be killed by Vader in the original trilogy.
- Fantastic Racism: Refers to Jar Jar as a "lower life form" and regards droids as Just a Machine.
- Foreshadowing: "Why do I think you're going to be the death of me, Anakin?"
- From a Certain Point of View: The Trope Namer.
- Glory Days: Only a pale shadow of the warrior he once was, much like Anakin is.
- Go Mad From the Isolation: The 2015 comics shed some light on his time on Tatooine between Episodes III and IV. Solitude and being forced to ignore his Chronic Hero Syndrome have not been kind to him.
- Guile Hero: His in-universe nickname is The Negotiator (which is slightly ironic when one of the senior Jedi that he reports to is played by Samuel L Jackson)
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Anakin, after the later becomes a Jedi Knight. The novelization of Episode III in particular really brings out the closeness of their friendship.
- So does the Clone Wars animated series which shows them as a clear case of Vitriolic Best Buds.
- Heroic Sacrifice: A subtler version when he throws the fight against Vader to allow his friends to escape.
- Jedi Mind Trick: The Trope Maker.
- Knight Errant: Will go where ever he's sent.
- Lack of Empathy: As a result of being the most quintessential Jedi ever, Obi-Wan doesn't have the highest emotional intelligence and is unable to appreciate how some of his requests, while for the greater good of the galaxy, can put people through the emotional ringer.
- Manipulative Bastard: An interesting example, since Obi-Wan is ubiquitously on the side of the good, but he did attempt to manipulate Luke into unknowingly killing his own father. Although, Obi Wan himself would probably argue that that was only true From a Certain Point of View since he argued that the good man that was Anakin effectively "died" when he became Darth Vader. The EU brings out some of his more weasley, morally ambiguous moments as well.
- Martial Pacifist
- Master Swordsman
- Mentor Occupational Hazard
- My Greatest Failure: Anakin's fall.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sneaking aboard Padmé's ship as she leaves to Mustafar fills Anakin with such an anger when he sees him that Anakin Force chokes Padmé, ultimately killing her.
- The Obi-Wan: Trope Namer.
- Officer and a Gentleman
- Old Master: In Episode IV.
- The Paladin
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Makes a mildly racist comment every now and then.
- Psychic Powers
- The Stoic: Has one of the suckiest lives (and afterlife?) of any character in fiction, but remains calm, never complains, and usually keeps his emotions well in check. When he starts screaming or gets visibly upset, you know shit just got real.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Anakin's red.
- Spirit Advisor: To Luke after his death.
- Stone Wall: The EU establishes that Obi-Wan is the definitive master of Soresu, the defensive lightsaber style. This allows him to perform feats like (during his fight with Grievous) blocking twelve lightsaber strikes a second.
- Universal Pilot's Licence
- Tragic Bromance: He never gets over what happened to Anakin Skywalker.
- Weapon of Choice: Blue lightsaber.
Yoda[]
Voiced by: Frank Oz (Ep.I, II, III, V, VI, VIII, voice cameo in Ep.IX) |
Try not. Do or do not. There is no try. |
A diminutive Jedi Master of unknown species from whom Luke seeks training in Episode V. Originally a spiritual (and very old) character drawing on the wizened Old Master tradition, he shows his true capabilities in Episodes II and III, in which (not coincidentally) he is of the Serkis Folk variety. In all other films, he is a puppet performed by the legendary Frank Oz, who also brought us Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and Grover.
- Adventure Rebuff
- Badass
- Badass Grandpa
- One-Man Army
- Retired Badass: By the time of the original trilogy.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Big Good: The Grand Master of the Jedi Order.
- Cool Old Guy
- Doting Grandparent: To every warrior in the Jedi Order, younglings in particular... when not giving them Training From Hell, that is.
- Eccentric Mentor: A little eccentric, but still very capable and wise, he is.
- Inexplicably Awesome: He's just a short, green, centuries-old alien who is quite possibly the most powerful Jedi alive. How he got that way is officially the one Noodle Incident the expanded universe will never touch.
- Large Ham: In The Empire Strikes Back.
- Little Green Men
- Master Swordsman: As shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
- Meaningful Name: Yoda literally means "warrior" in Sanskrit, though we don't see him live up to his namesake until Episode II...
- It also means "one who knows" in Hebrew.
- Mentor Mascot: One of the most recognisable symbols of the series, he is, and he's a mentor to boot.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Justified. Really freakin' old in Episode VI, he is. Die peacefully in his bed in his home, he does.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Pretends to be a wacky old hermit in The Empire Strikes Back as a test of Luke's patience and tolerance of strangers. Fail miserably, Luke does.
- Old Master: To just about every single Jedi, but especially Luke.
- One-Man Army
- The Paladin: Wise and powerful.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Less than a meter tall but still one of the most powerful Force users and one of the best duelists in the Jedi Order.
- Pointy Ears
- Psychic Powers
- Really Nine Hundred Years Old
- Though he does look like it.
- Reluctant Warrior:
A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. |
- Serkis Folk: In Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
- In the 2011 Blue-ray release of The Phantom Menace.
- As well as the 2012 3-D theatrical re-release.
- Strange Syntax Speaker: Hmm, yes he is? Agree, you do.
- Supporting Leader: During the assault on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones and the battle on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith.
- Technical Pacifist
- There Is No Try: Trope Namer.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Threw his lightsaber into the chest of a clone trooper in Episode III.
- Weapon of Choice: A small green lightsaber in Episode in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Chewbacca[]
Played by: Peter Mayhew (suit; Ep.III-IX) |
Han Solo's co-pilot aboard The Alleged Freighter Millenium Falcon, which he and Han seem to spend more time repairing than flying. Chewie is a Wookiee (read: 8-foot-tall walking carpet) who only speaks in growls and roars. According to official sources, Han rescued him from slavery at some point, leading to Chewbacca swearing him a "life debt."
- Adorkable
- Anti-Hero: Type II
- Badass
- Badass Adorable: Resembles a teddy bear... an eight foot tall teddy bear who can rip your arms off as easily as breathing.
- Badass Bandolier
- Berserk Button: Hurting Han, as Lando Calrissian's windpipe found out the hard way.
- Also, don't win any game against him. Really, don't.
- Beware the Nice Ones
- The Big Guy
- Bilingual Dialogue: He speaks Wookiee and Han speaks Basic, and they understand each other fine.
- Blood Brothers: With Han.
- Cuddle Bug: Chewie really likes to hug the people that he loves, and making him no less manly in doing so.
- Dork Knight
- Gentle Giant
- The Glomp: What it's like to be hugged by Chewie.
- Mr. Fixit
- Morality Pet
- Nice Guy
- Number Two
- Proud Warrior Race Guy
- Really Two Hundred Years Old: According to the Expanded Universe.
- Spared by the Adaptation: After infamously dying in Star Wars Legends, he lives through the entire Sequel Trilogy, outlasting Luke, Han and Leia.
- Smart People Play Chess
- Starfish Language/The Unintelligible: Chewie's only lines are growls, barks, and grunts. The script actually had lines of dialogue for Peter Mayhew to recite in order to make the other characters reactions to him more genuine.
- Weapon of Choice: Bowcaster (Wookiee crossbow).
C-3P0 and R2-D2[]
3P0 played by: Anthony Daniels |
A pair of "droids" (short for android, even though only Threepio is man-shaped) who accompany the heroes on their various adventures. Threepio is a "protocol droid" who helps smooth negotiations and understands 6 million forms of communication; he is fussy and quick to proclaim, "We're doomed." Artoo is an "astromech droid," basically making him a co-pilot for various starfighters, and is much more gutsy. Their (one-sided) banter is one of the franchise's main sources of Comic Relief. C-3P0 and R2-D2 are the only two characters who appeared in all nine films of the Skywalker Saga; they are also the only characters to be portrayed by the same actors throughout the first six movies with Anthony Daniels acting as C-3P0 in all nine of the main films.
- Badass Adorable: R2, especially in the prequel trilogy.
- Badass Automaton: R2.
- Big Guy, Little Guy: Being a different type of robot, C-3P0 is much taller than R2-D2.
- Bilingual Dialogue
- Butt Monkey: 3P0.
- The Cameo: They appear in Rogue One, confused as to why everyone is going to Scarif.
- Camp: C-3P0's defining characteristic.
- Can't Stand Them, Can't Live Without Them
- Demoted to Extra:
- C-3P0 has barely a role to play in the Prequel Trilogy, being background dressing at best. Though inverted for in Episode IX.
- R2 has a much smaller role to play in the Sequels, where BB-8 handles most of the Robot Buddy duties.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In The Rise of Skywalker, 3P0 consents to having his memory wiped so he can translate the Sith dagger and lead the heroes to Palpatine's wayfinder. Thankfully R2 had a backup of 3P0's memories.
- If My Calculations Are Correct: C-3P0 is prone to this, and very annoying about it.
- The Ishmael: The original trilogy was essentially told from the perspectives of the droids. At least one of them is present at (or in proximity to) nearly every important event.
- Losing Your Head: Happens to 3P0 in Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: R2. In Revenge of the Sith, he proved that he can take care of robots twice his size.
- Plot Coupon: R2's message from Leia, and the Death Star plans he carried.
- Robot Buddy
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: C-3P0.
- Silent Snarker: R2, judging by C-3P0's reactions to what he's saying, is quite the Deadpan Snarker.
- The Smart Guy: R2, though 3P0 has his moments.
- Spell My Name with an "S": See-Threepio or C-3P0? Artoo-Deetoo or R2-D2? See-Threepio or See-Threepizero?
- Word of God: Yes. (Except for the last one, which is a little more obvious when you spell it out that way.)
- Starfish Language/The Unintelligible: R2-D2.
- Those Two Robots
- Took a Level In Badass: 3P0 is a lot less whiny in the Sequel Trilogy and takes a much more active role in the Resistance's war effort.
- Translator Buddy: 3P0 for R2.
- Unreliable Narrator: George Lucas has joked that R2 is one, the films being him telling the Skywalker Saga to the Whills, which is why he's so Inexplicably Awesome.
- Vitriolic Best Buds
- With Friends Like These...
Lando Calrissian[]
Played by: Billy Dee Williams (Ep.V-VI, IX) |
Yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful. |
The only black guy in the Galaxy. Well, him and Mace, that is. Though introduced as a somewhat shady former business partner of Han's, he ends up Defaulting To Good when Vader tramples all over him. He later flies the Millennium Falcon in the Battle of Endor; the ship used to be his, until Han won it off him.
- The Ace: Subverted
- The Atoner: Joins the Rebellion due to his guilt over selling out Han.
- Badass Cape
- Badass Mustache
- Badass Grandpa: In Episode IX.
- Black Best Friend: He and Han are old friends.
- Chivalrous Pervert
- Lovable Sex Maniac
- Noodle Incident: "He's forgotten all about that. I hope."
- Outliving One's Offspring: Maybe? His daughter was abducted by the First Order and while it's never said what happened to her, Lando treats her as gone. Though it's implied that the defected Stormtrooper Jannah might be his daughter.
- Reformed Criminal
- Reverse Mole: In Return of the Jedi.
- Sharp-Dressed Man
- Salt and Pepper: With Han.
- Sixth Ranger
- Soul Brotha: Though less offensive than most.
- The Stool Pigeon:
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Han himself. Lando's appearance was calculated to replace Harrison Ford should he choose not to return. As it turned out, Lando still ended up piloting the Falcon into another Death Star.
- Where Da White Women At?: "You truly belong with us among the clouds." Smooth talker.
- You Said You Would Let Them Go
Padmé Amidala[]
Played by: Natalie Portman (Ep.I-III) |
So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause. |
A democratically-elected Queen (just roll with it) on the planet of Naboo, Amidala starts out with her planet subjected to an unprovoked invasion by the Trade Federation (under orders from Palpatine, who at the time would have been a member of her government); Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are dispatched to do something about this. Then they escape to Tatooine and 9-year-old Anakin starts putting the moves on her, and we see where this is going. Her other major habit was disguising herself as one of her own handmaids, which is why her "servant" Padmé got so much attention in Episode I.
- Action Fashionista
- Action Girl
- Action Girlfriend: In Attack of the Clones.
- Child Soldier: In the first movie.
- Badass:
- Body Double: One of them was Keira Knightley.
- Chickification: In Revenge of the Sith. Justifiable, in that she's pregnant.
- A Child Shall Lead Them
- Costume Porn
- Death by Childbirth
- Fairytale Wedding Dress
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: After her funeral, everyone who knew her pretty much forgets she ever existed. When discussed, she generally receives only indirect mentions and allusions and even Vader only thinks of her intermittently.
- Hide Your Pregnancy
- Honor Before Reason: "I will NOT stand by and watch my people die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!!"
- Hot Mom: Not for long, sadly.
- Lady and Knight: The Lady to Anakin's Knight.
- The Lost Lenore: To Anakin/Vader. He doesn't think of her too much, but it's made clear he never stopped grieving.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit
- Improbable Age: Elected leader of her entire planet by age fourteen.
- Improbable Aiming Skills
- Meaningful Name: Padmé means "lotus" in Sanskrit.
- The Messiah: Nothing Anakin does can stop her from loving him, not even when he kills her.
- Parents as People: While Leia does look up to Padmé, it's implied her mother is quite a Broken Pedestal for loving the man who became Darth Vader.
- Pimped-Out Cape
- Pimped-Out Dress
- Politically-Active Princess: She came to the Senate to plead the cause of her planet as it was invaded by the Trade Federation in The Phantom Menace. She became a senator afterwards.
- Pregnant Badass: Averted. She's not Imperiled By Pregnancy but carrying twins does ensure that she can't be on the front lines of combat.
- Pretty in Mink: Her ice planet outfit.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
- Stylish Protection Gear
- Technical Pacifist: She won't condone a course of action that will lead to war, and she worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act, but she will partake in some "aggressive negotiation" when pushed.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: So much that it warranted its own Wookieepedia page.
- Woman in White
Mace Windu[]
Played by: Samuel L. Jackson (Ep.I-III, voice cameo in Ep.IX) |
Okay, it's Samuel L. Jackson in Jedi robes and without the swearing, but with a purple lightsaber; and if Yoda is the wise heart and soul of the Jedi Order, Mace is its invincible mailed fist. Though he bows to Yoda in matters of spirituality, he takes the lead in battle, and is the greatest warrior of his generation. Amongst the Jedi Council, he shows the greatest distrust towards Anakin, which proves ultimately well-founded, or at the very least a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy...unto his death.
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Samuel L. Jackson signed on before even knowing what he was gonna play. In one interview he said he would have signed on even if his role was "Random Stormtrooper"
- Badass: Triumphed over Palpatine in their duel. If not for Anakin showing up, Mace would have killed Darth Sidious right then and there.
- Balance Between Good and Evil: He is the deadliest fighter among the Jedi because he's Samuel L Jack-- uh, sorry, because he practices a combat style that involves treading on the very edge of the Dark Side without actually succumbing.
- Bald Black Leader Guy
- Black and White Insanity: To Mace, any Force user not aligned with the Jedi is just a Sith waiting to happen. In that mindset, he embodies everything that led to the Jedi Order's fall.
- Bling Bling Bang: His lightsaber hilt is studded with electrum, a gold-like precious metal, as part of his privileges as a high-ranking Jedi Master. There is debate over whether it has "Bad Motherfucker" engraved on it.
- Cynical Mentor
- Informed Ability: Though Word of God as made him out to be a crafty diplomat and politician, his onscreen representations almost exclusively focuses on his life as a warrior.
- Killed Off for Real: Being hurled out the window by Force lightning.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As Luke lampshades when he learns about Windu, with the benefit of hindsight, it's hard to argue with Mace's distrust of Anakin and Palpatine.
- Lack of Empathy: Towards everyone. Mace cares about the common good, not the person in front of him.
- Master Swordsman: According to Word of God, he was literally Yoda's superior as a warrior. According to expanded universe sources, he's perfected Vapaad, a long incomplete and dangerous lightsaber fighting form.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- His blatant Lack of Empathy during the Clone Wars towards Anakin goes a long way in providing fertile ground for Darth Vader.
- Rushing off to arrest Palpatine without any authority or public just cause allows Sidious to frame the Jedi for treason.
- Pet the Dog:
- He offers an army of Battle Droids a chance to surrender but is rejected. Mace is notably the only Jedi who has ever tried to reason with the Battle Droids.
- When Anakin tells him Palpatine is a Sith Lord, Mace doesn't argue the point despite it being a rather stunning revelation. He merely thanks him and says he'll finally earn his trust which is something Anakin has been struggling to get for years.
- His voice is among the many Rey hears giving her encouragement to fight Palaptine one last time and he sounds far more supportive than he ever was in the Prequel Trilogy. Plus he's implied to be on good terms with Ahsoka and Anakin despite past bad blood.
- Properly Paranoid: He had every reason to worry what would happen if Chancellor Palpatine was allowed to do as he pleases. About 66 reasons.
- Psychic Powers
- Purple Is Powerful: His lightsaber is purple, which was requested by Jackson himself.
- Scary Black Man
- Supporting Leader: During the Jedi assault on the arena of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones.
- Technical Pacifist
- Weapon of Choice: Purple lightsaber.
Wedge Antilles[]
Played by: Denis Lawson (Ep.IV-VI, IX) |
A starfighter pilot, Wedge is one of the 9 characters who appears in all three Original Trilogy movies, and one of the 7 characters to live through them, despite having no particular role, importance or Plot Armor. For this reason, he is a major figure in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, where he is often referred to as the finest pilot in the galaxy, by virtue of having survived more Trench Runs than anyone living or dead. Played by Denis Lawson, except for the one scene when he isn't.
- Badass Normal: Especially in the EU.
- The Cameo: Appears in The Rise of Skywalker as the Falcon's gunner.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Less so in the first two, but listen to him during the Battle of Endor. His is the most glacially calm voice used.
- Hero of Another Story
- Mauve Shirt: To the point that a common alternative name for this trope is "Wedge-type character".
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In the first movie Wedge has a standard "American" accent but later on slips into Dennis Lawson's natural Scottish.
- Real Life Relative: His actor (Dennis Lawson) is the uncle of Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan. Famously he tried to talk his nephew out of the role, fearing that, like his career, he'd meet with early success and then a nosedive. He was wrong and this was actually McGregor's breakout role, and in a bit of a happy ending Lawson has had a mild resurgence himself on British TV.
- The Other Darrin: During the Yavin briefing scene, he's played by a body double.
Qui-Gon Jinn[]
Played by: Liam Neeson (Ep. I, voice cameo in Ep.IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
Your focus determines your reality. |
The master of Obi-Wan and the former apprentice of Dooku. Noted for his compassion for all living things and his unorthodox ways, it is his desire to train a young Anakin that leads to the events of the rest of the series.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The first Force Ghost.
- Badass:
- Ambadassador
- Badass Beard
- Badass Grandpa: Early drafts of the script has his age as 60.
- Badass Long Hair
- The Cassandra: His beliefs that the Sith have returned and Anakin is The Chosen One are dismissed by the Jedi at first but turn out to be true.
- The Chooser of the One
- Cool Old Guy: How many other Jedi would cheat at gambling to free a slave?
- Decoy Protagonist
- Honor Before Reason
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
- The Last DJ: If not for his unorthodox ways and his tendency to do things his own way, he would've been a member of the Jedi Council.
- Looks Like Jesus: Even wears robes as part of his Jedi outfit.
- Master Swordsman
- Mentor Occupational Hazard
- The Messiah
- The Obi-Wan: To the man himself, no less.
- Parental Substitute: To Obi-Wan, and Anakin.
- Psychic Powers
- The Quiet One: Is almost always softly spoken, compared to his two proteges.
- Rapunzel Hair: Subverted. His hair is only kinda long, but it looks like this compared to all the other male characters.
- Sacrificial Lion: His death shocks the Jedi into realizing the Sith have returned.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right:
"You will be a Jedi. I promise." |
- Supporting Leader
- Technical Pacifist
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Have Anakin Skywalker trained as a Jedi. What's the worst that could happen?
- Weapon of Choice: Green lightsaber.
Jar Jar Binks[]
Played by: Ahmed Best (Ep.I-III) |
A Gungan from Naboo, whom Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stumble upon early in Episode I. Jar Jar represents Lucas' attempt to appeal to the younger crowd, which he had successfully courted via Ewoks in Episode VI. The problem was that, even when Jar Jar was trying to be heroic, he had a tendency to just look stupid. Thankfully, Lucas toned down his presence in Episodes II and III. Played by Ahmed Best (Ink Suit Actor and Voice Actor both), who has shown a good sense of humor about the whole thing.
- Cowardly Lion: At his best, he will try to lay down his life for his friends, even if he is still a....
- Dirty Coward: A rare and painfully embarrassing "heroic" example. He is meant to be a Lovable Coward, but they painfully failed.
- Demoted to Extra: In II and III.
- The Exile: Was banished from Gungan society for being too clumsy. Then he got banished from galactic society for his role in Palpatine becoming emperor. By the time of the Aftermath trilogy, he's reduced to a street performer.
- Fantastic Racism: Not Jar Jar himself, mind, but rather, according to him, the Naboo think they're smarter than Gungans. Then Jar Jar proves them right.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Kid Appeal Character: Was designed as such. The Aftermath trilogy even lampshades it by pointing out that kids adore him but adults find him very annoying.
- The Klutz
- The Millstone
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jar Jar's the one who proposes giving Palpatine supreme power.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Subverted.
- Serkis Folk
- Took a Level In Badass: Mostly in Star Wars the Clone Wars, however in Episode II, though still (very) naive and lighthearted, he shows to be more mature and brave than in Episode I.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His one notable action in the series is to pass a motion that grants Palpatine emergency powers, thus causing the end of the Republic. In his defense, however, we're talking about Palpatine here.
Finn[]
Played by: John Boyega (Ep. VII-IX) |
Abducted as a child by the First Order and brainwashed to be a Stormtrooper FN-2187 managed to retain his morals. When faced with the prospect of actually firing on innocents on Jakku however, FN-2187 refused to obey, subsequently saving Poe Dameron and defecting to the Resistance as Finn.
- Almighty Janitor: Despite being a battle-rated Stormtrooper who served on the Supremacy and Starkiller Base, his primary duty was sanitation. Though this gives him a great insight into the security protocols of the First Order.
- Cowardly Lion: Spends most of Episode VIII as one before he finds his inner courage.
- Decoy Protagonist: Was heavily marketed as the lead for The Force Awakens only for the film to reveal Rey was the lead.
- Fatal Flaw: DJ pegs it as his Black and White Morality. To Finn, if it's not pure good, it's pure evil. He's grown out of it by Episode IX.
- Friend to All Living Things
- Heel Face Turn: He ditches the First Order early on.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Poe.
- Large Ham: He's usually pretty stoic but he can ham it up with the best of them when he's feeling particularly emotional.
- Mysterious Past: He was the victim of child abduction at the age of three. As a result, he has no idea where he came from or who his parents were.
- Nice Guy: Manages to maintain a sense of decency despite years of First Order brainwashing.
- Spanner in the Works: Defecting at just the right moment allowed him to be there to help Rey and BB-8 escape the First Order.
- What You Are in the Dark: Finn is the only one who refuses Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma's order to slaughter an entire village which Kylo takes notice of.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Tells as much to Rey when she starts going the "You Killed My Father" route with regards to Emperor Palpatine.
- You Are Number Six: He's first introduced as FN-2187.
Poe Dameron[]
Played by: Oscar Isaac (Ep. VII-IX) |
The son of two Rebel heroes, Poe Dameron followed in his parents' footsteps and joined the New Republic to fight for democracy in the unstable post-war galaxy, minus a brief stint as a spice runner during his rebellious teenage years. Something of a wannabe hero however, Poe struggles to understand that the myths of heroics are not quite the same of fighting a war.
- Ace Pilot
- Anti-Hero: In The Last Jedi he uses increasingly reckless and ruthless methods to combat the First Order, even outright rebelling against Holdo. He steps it down a fair bit by the end of the film.
- Badass Normal
- Character Development: The events of The Last Jedi see him ditch his maverick tendencies in favour of a more tactical approach to combat.
- Deadpan Snarker: Everything he says is laced in a tone that indicates he's 120% done with everything around him.
- Former Teen Rebel: During his teenage years, he grew bored of the stuffy life of duty and briefly joined a gang of Spice Runners.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: With Finn.
- My Greatest Failure: Views his mutiny against Holdo in The Last Jedi as such. Much of Resistance Reborn is him being wracked with guilt that his rash Indy Ploy forced a great general to perform a Heroic Sacrifice. At the novel's end, he swears to honor her sacrifice and legacy.
- Nice Guy: A very warm individual and loyal friend. Perhaps best shown by how willing he is to accept Finn despite his previous loyalty to the First Order.
- Older Than They Look: He was born a year prior to The Empire Strikes Back. He's nine years older than Finn and three years older than Ben Solo.
- Took a Level In Jerkass: The Time Skip between VIII and IX was not kind to him. He's much more short-tempered and abrasive for most of the film until the hope that the Resistance can indeed triumph over Palpatine.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With 3P0.
- You Are in Command Now: After Leia dies, he becomes the new general of the Resistance. His first act is to share command with Finn.
Rey[]
The Hero of the Sequel Trilogy, Rey was abandoned by her parents on the Crapsack World of Jakku and sold into slavery when she was six. Clinging to a Changeling Fantasy, Rey spent the next thirteen years waiting for her parents to come back for her before a chance encounter with the Resistance droid BB-8 set her on a collision course with her destiny as she tried to discover her origins, learning the true meaning of Be Careful What You Wish For in the process.
- Anti-Anti-Christ: Her grandfather envisioned as the heir to the resurgent Sith Empire. She dramatically announced herself as a Jedi to his face.
- Ascended Fangirl: She was a fan of the Original Trilogy characters before meeting them.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Rey clung to a Changeling Fantasy that she was Lost Orphaned Royalty of some great and important lineage. She got her wish alright.
- Blood Knight: Rey really enjoys a good fight. Beware the Nice Ones is in full effect when she fights.
- The Chosen One: Maybe? She definitely destroyed the Sith but Anakin's Force ghost asks her to bring back the balance as he once did. Maybe she just ensured Anakin's legacy or she was one of the Chosen Many.
- Don't Think, Feel: Why she was so good at using the Force in Episode VII, needing to rely on instinctively to survive. When forced to think about how it works in Episode VIII, she struggles quite a bit.
- Fatal Flaw: Her need to belong causes her to latch onto any Parental Substitute for validation. It takes Luke outright telling her that she's her own person who can make her own choices to overcome it.
- Foil: While very similar to Luke, she keenly differs from him in that she doesn't feel any attachment to the Sith Lord she's descended from.
- Forgotten First Meeting: Shadow of the Sith shows that she came within close orbit of Luke and Lando when she was six. She never brings it up because, as she was six, her parents handled most of the communication. And it was done purely by radio.
- Jabba Table Manners: On Jakku, you ate fast or you didn't eat at all.
- Last of His Kind: By the end of Episode IX, she's the last of the Palpatine lineage, Luke and Leia honor her as the last Skywalker and she's the last of the Jedi.
- Living MacGuffin: In Shadow of the Sith, Oochi is hunting for her so she can be Palpatine's new vessel.
- Meaningful Name: One might say she's a ray of hope.
- Morality Pet: She tries to be this for Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi but he is too devoted to the dark side. Her influence does ultimately help him redeem himself in The Rise of Skywalker.
- Mysterious Past: Her arc in the Sequel Trilogy is finding answers to it.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Of a sort. Despite having very high Force potential and being a very fast learner, her actual training and feats aren't hugely impressive by Jedi standards. But as she's the only Jedi, she's a borderline Physical God. Even if she's far beneath the fighting skills of Palpatine, Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren.
- Not So Similar: While much of Episode IX plays up her similarities to her grandfather, the final battle shows that she knows how to keep her hatred at bay and, unlike him, is capable of empathy towards other people.
- Replacement Goldfish: To a degree, Han, Luke and Leia regard her as one to Ben Solo. Han and Leia project a few parental feelings onto her and Luke fears she'll follow Ben's path.
- Much of Shadow of the Sith has her, unknowingly, serving as one to Kadara Calrissian. Since Lando couldn't save his own daughter from being abducted by the Sith, he'll give it his all to save another innocent little girl.
- Self-Made Orphan: Is ultimately the one who kills Emperor Palpatine, her grandfather and her only known living biological relative.
- Spin Offspring: She's Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter.
- Unkempt Beauty
- Unskilled but Strong: Leia suspects that Rey's potential in the Force actually exceeds Anakin Skywalker's. But Rey herself has little formal Force training and mainly uses it as a boxing glove to augment her natural fighting style. When going up against people trained in Force combat, she tends to be on the back foot.
Main Antagonists[]
Darth Vader[]
Played by: David Prowse (suit, Ep.IV-VI); Bob Anderson (swordplay and stunts, Ep.IV-VI), Hayden Christensen (suit, Ep.III, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
I find your lack of faith disturbing. |
Dark Lord of the Sith, apprentice to Senator Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious). The central antagonist (or is he?) in the original trilogy. Killed Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker... from a certain point of view. His descent into evil shaped the fate of the Galaxy.
- Adaptational Badass: Star Wars Legends went out of its way to establish that Vader's Force potential had been stunted by Obi-Wan hacking off his limbs and frequently saw him defeated. The new canon makes clear that this is not the case at all. Vader may be less physically flexible than Anakin Skywalker was but he's just as powerful.
- Adaptational Villainy: He's much more in touch with the Dark Side in the new canon than he was Legends, having less moments of angst and being more willing to kill right away.
- Ace Pilot: Still the best in the galaxy. Despite being outnumbered due to being the only pilots Genre Savvy enough to scramble against the rebel's "futile" attack, he and his handpicked Black Squadron shoot down many rebels during A New Hope's Final Battle and would have done the same to Luke Skywalker if not for Han Solo's Big Damn Heroes moment.
- Achilles Heel:
- Force Lightning. His cyborg physiology means he can't use it without frying his own life support, and this is how Palpatine kills Vader during the latter's Heroic Sacrifice.
- His blinking chest plate. It seems to have some protections but it's possible to damage it enough to give him breathing problems.
- All for Nothing: Sold his soul to save his family, killing all his friends in the process. At the end of it, his family was dead (or so he thought) and he was a pariah to any Jedi.
- Anti-Villain: Unlike Palpatine, who is merely obsessed with power, Vader genuinely wants to do the right thing for the galaxy and also hates himself for all the evil he's done.
- Archnemesis Dad
- Artificial Limbs: All of them.
- Authority Equals Asskicking
- Awesome McCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this.
- Badass
- Badass Cape
- Handicapped Badass: Has to change his entire fighting style due to his injuries, spends his time in life-support armor and cannot use Force Lightning. Even then, he manages to be one of the most proficient single lightsaber users and still is strong enough to defeat the Emperor at the end.
- Heartbroken Badass
- One-Man Army: Taken Up to Eleven in EU works such as The Force Unleashed.
- Bad Boss: Has become a memetic archetype of this trope.
- He is the Trope Namer for You Have Failed Me, executing two Imperial officers on screen for failure and implied to have done so to others.
- He forces his fleet to pursue the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field, ignoring the casualties they suffer as a result — up to and including the loss of a Star Destroyer with all hands.
- He is more than willing to involve his boss when his own presence fails to adequately cow. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am," indeed.
- Bald of Evil
- The Battlestar: The Executor is among the largest ever examples of these.
- Being Evil Sucks: The way that he says "it's too late for me" implies that on a fundamental level he despises what he's become but sticks around largely because he believes it's too late to back out.
- Big No: After learning of Padmé's death.
- Black Cloak
- Black Knight
- Blood Knight: As much as he might want to kill Palpatine and become Emperor, realistically Vader is too much of a warrior to deal with all the politics and scheming involved with being the ruler of a Galactic Empire. He would most likely have put a figure head in place to deal with that if he ever did get the chance to conquer the Galaxy.
- Byronic Hero
- Classic Villain: Fits all of the criteria as a Wrath villain.
- Clothes Make the Legend: His Cool Helmet and Black Cloak are so iconic that just their silhouette in the first teaser posters for The Phantom Menace was enough to let everyone know just who the cute kid in the picture would become.
- Cool Helmet
- Cool Starship: The Devastator, the Executor, and the TIE Advanced x1. And that's just from the movies. In the Expanded Universe, he also has the Terror among other vessels.
- Covered with Scars: The reason for his armour.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul:
Obi-Wan:"He's more machine than man now; twisted, and evil." |
- Cyborg
- Dark Is Evil
- The Dark Side
- Darth Vader Clone: Trope Namer, obviously. Interestingly, his armor is styled after ancient Sith warriors.
- Depending on the Writer: He's a Noble Demon with a few Pragmatic Villainy moments but the extent of such feelings can very wildly. Sometimes he reigns in the Emperor's sadism and other times, Palpatine is the one to tell Vader to dial back the overt villainy.
- Died Happily Ever After
- Dispense with the Pleasantries: Names the trope in Return of the Jedi.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: Names the trope during his famous conversation with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back.
- The Dragon: The main one for Palpatine.
- Dragon with an Agenda/The Starscream: Almost immediately after becoming Palpatine's apprentice, he's planning on overthrowing him. He's implied to be attempting this in The Empire Strikes Back, and in Return of the Jedi he finally does, just before it's too late, although it became more about freeing himself (and saving Luke) from the Emperor rather than ruling the galaxy.
- Co-Dragons: With Tarkin, to an extent.
- The Dreaded
- Dying as Yourself: Asks Luke to remove his mask before he dies.
- Early Installment Weirdness: He's a lot more emotional and hammy in A New Hope.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Vader deeply loved his mother Shmi. Her death pushed him further towards the Dark Side.
- Padmé who he became a Sith in order to protect. He's saddened when he finds out he caused her death.
- He still seems to have some fondness for Ahsoka. He's visibly hesitant to attack her when she appears to fight him and offers to spare her if she tells him the location of the other Jedi. When she refuses he attempts to kill her but it seems a part of him really didn't want to do it which is more than can be said for his other old allies.
- Vader cares deeply for Luke. He talks the Emperor out of killing him and genuinely wants to reconcile with his son. Ultimately his love for his son results in his redemption.
- Even Evil Has Standards: It's said a few times that he retains Anakin's hatred of slavery.
- Evil Counterpart: To Luke.
- Evil Cripple
- Evil Old Folks: He's pushing 46 in Return of the Jedi but looks much older when we finally see him unmasked due to his injuries and the corrupting effects of The Dark Side.
- Evil Overlooker
- Evil Overlord: Despite being The Dragon, Vader still maintains a position of high command (second only to his master) and even has his own set of troops (the 501st Legion, AKA "Vader's Fist").
- Evil Sounds Deep: An archetypal film example. In fact, they even had to overdub David Prowse's voice with that of James Earl Jones' to get the desired effect.
- The Faceless: Until the end of the film.
- Failed a Spot Check: Missed both that Leia is Force-sensitive and that she looks damn-near identical to Padmé.
- Fallen Hero
- Famous Last Words: Tell your sister … you were right …
- A Father to His Men: He earned the 501st Legion's actual respect by never sending them off to do things that he himself is unable to do. In other words, he fights alongside them.
- Finger-Poke of Doom: His Force Choke.
- Genius Lightning Bruiser: Vader's cybernetics make him one of the physically strongest characters in the series. Despite serving as the Emperor's muscle, he displays a cold and calculating nature (in the OT) and attacks at a surprisingly high speed. Not to mention as a child, he built C-3P0, and would proceed to personally deck out his extremely advanced custom fighter. And that the entire plot of The Empire Strikes Back was his personal Batman Gambit to trap Luke and get him to convert to the dark side (and possibly even to help him overthrow the Emperor).
- Genre Savvy
- The Force Is Strong with This One: Names the trope when he realizes that the pilot of the X-Wing he's targeting in A New Hope isn't just another Red Shirt.
- Gloved Fist of Doom: Page image. His fists are clenched all the time except when he's blocking lasers with his hands. The glove itself even gets its own story in the Expanded Universe! It's actually a Mandalorian crushgaunt fitted with a Sith amulet.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars
- Head Bob: David Prowse does this very well, making Vader an emotive character despite being perpetually masked.
- The Heavy: The most prominent villain in the series, although he is always subservient to Palpatine. In the first movie, he and Tarkin are somewhat equals, save that the Death Star is actually in the charge of of Tarkin.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Dies performing a Heel Face Turn when he saves Luke from the Emperor's lightning, dying himself from the attack in the process.
- Implacable Man
- Improbable Piloting Skills: In Death Star, a decent Imperial pilot remembers flying in training, with low-powered lasers so that no one was killed, and how during one demonstration Darth Vader decided to join them. He toyed with the best of the trainers - a veteran who made the decent pilot feel like a child who could barely walk trying to keep up with a marathon runner - matched every move, did things that TIE fighters should not be able to do, and was later found to have shot everyone down with his targeting and navigation computers disabled before launch, which the decent pilot believed was flatly impossible. Said pilot concluded that if he got on Vader's bad side and was pursued, he'd just overload his engines and commit suicide.
- I've Come Too Far...: His main reason for staying with the Empire. He's burnt every bridge he had and has nowhere else to go.
- Jerkass: Big-time. In-universe, many officers fear working under him due to his Bad Boss tendencies.
- Kick the Dog:
- Captures and tortures Luke's friends in an effort to force him to come and save them.
- Kills random civillians to draw out Obi-Wan, including children.
- Know When to Fold'Em: Between Episode IV and V, he learnt that Luke was his son, enraging him enough to try and overthrow Sidious. Following Episode V, Sidious dishes out a Humiliation Conga to Vader, ending when Vader finds Exegol and sees Sidious' master plan. The comic arc ends with Vader accepting his place as The Dragon.
- Large Ham: As Prowse gestures plentifully and Jones speaks bombastically, the result is simply glorious.
- Leitmotif: The Imperial March. Major and minor key versions of it are all over the place during his key scenes.
- Love Makes You Evil: One of the reasons why he turned to the Dark Side was to save Padmé Naberrie from death.
- Love Redeems: His son's.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Trope Namer, sort of, and by far the modern-day Trope Codifier.
- Malevolent Masked Man
- Man in the Machine
- Master Swordsman: Combines elements of multiple styles to become a devastatingly effective duelist despite his bulky cybernetics and inability to use Force Lightning. Taken Up to Eleven in the Expanded Universe. In Star Wars: Purge, he holds off eight Jedi and manages to kill five and disarm a sixth by the time his stormtrooper reinforcements show up to finish the job.
- Meaningful Name: "Vader" is Dutch for "father". Also, in-"vader".
- Memetic Outfit
- Milking the Giant Cow: Exaggerated movement is necessary for a masked character, and Vader is a well-played example... except perhaps for his infamous Big No.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Cut off Luke's hand for grazing his armor in their duel.
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: His Star Destroyer in A New Hope, the Devastator, and his Super Star Destroyer in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Executor.
- Neck Lift: Does this to Raymus Antilles in A New Hope. The good captain does not survive the interrogation.
- Never Bareheaded: He's seen only twice without his helmet: the first time in a special pressure chamber, the second time dying.
- Noble Demon: In the Expanded Universe, he earns his men's actual respect (as opposed to fearful obedience) by never asking something of them that he wouldn't do himself, IE. Leading the charge in battles and fighting side by side with them. He also retains a soft-spot for slaves, as a lingering memory of his own childhood. He also once tells Dengar that, although he does kill when it is necessary to his goals, he never takes amusement in people dying, unlike the Emperor.
- No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Does this to Lando in Empire.
- Not So Different: He and Luke.
- Obviously Evil
- Ominous Opera Cape
- One Handed Is Cool: Wields his lightsaber, a notoriously difficult-to-control weapon, one-handed in order to intimidate enemies. Being a Cyborg helps.
- Pet the Dog:
- Incredibly downplayed but even if it was unnecessary Vader agrees to stay for an amicable party with Jabba after half a day of great hostilities with the Hutt.
- The Pragmatic Villainy of it aside he has a moment of this when he pulls Aiolin out of a lava pit and gives her a Mercy Kill after she'd been thrown in by her own brother.
- Vader also allows Chewbacca to repair C-3P0 shortly after the latter's capture which explains why Chewie didn't seem scared of getting caught. This gets taken a step further when he forces Boba to lower his rifle when Chewie flies off the handle even though it would have saved both of them a lot of trouble if he killed the Wookie there and then.
- When Obi-Wan apologizes for their falling out in Kenobi, Vader tells his old master it's not his fault and the only person responsible for what happened to Anakin is himself. It's a small moment but it's also surprisingly compassionate for Vader.
- In Thrawn Alliances, he shows support for Thrawn's Tie Defender project by giving some recommendations on how to improve it and even personally speaks in favor of it to the Emperor.
- Papa Wolf: How he redeems himself.
- Physical Religion: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
- Psychic Powers: His most frequent uses of the Force involve telekinesis and choking.
- Putting on the Reich: His helmet was obviously inspired by the German Stahlhelm. Word of God also stated that his life support suit being all black was deliberate in an attempt to create an analogy to the Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany.
- Rage Helm: His iconic helmet has a chillingly penetrating stare.
- Redemption Equals Death: Both played straight and averted in two different appearances. It was averted when Darth Vader, when attempting to atone for his sins by trying to collapse Aloa's cathedral on himself, only ended up saved by Palpatine and given a new suit, and it is heavily implied that despite his intentions of trying to redeem himself for his past actions by doing this, the only thing he succeeded in was killing Garoche Tarkin and Lady Saro as a result of this attempt at suicide, and it is also implied that this was exactly what Palpatine intended to happen. It is played straight, however, in Return of the Jedi.
- Resistance Is Futile: Vader: You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.
- Sensor Character: Can sense when other Force-sensitives - notably Obi-Wan and Luke - are nearby. Might have also picked up Leia this way on Echo Base in ESB, although he seemed to mistake her for Luke.
- Series Mascot: The character most often used to represent the Star Wars franchise as a whole. He made the cover of Time magazine twice, in 1980 and 2005.
- Sinister Geometry: His obsidian-black helmet is designed to evoke a human skull, from angular cheekbones to rictus grin to Black Eyes of Evil.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Done twice!
- The Slow Walk: Does this in his very first scene in A New Hope and in The Force Unleashed.
- Space Fighter: His prototype TIE Advanced x1.
- Spanner in the Works: Palpatine knew that one day, Vader would try to kill him and made plans for that. But Vader turned on him much sooner than expected, stalling the Emperor's endgame for over twenty years.
- The Stoic
- The Starscream: Because he really wants peace for the galaxy, So his original plan was to backstab Palpatine, and rule the galaxy with his son Luke.
- Supporting Protagonist: He has the central role in the series and is arguably its most iconic character, but never has the leading role on the big screen. He has some Villain Protagonist comics though.
- Taught By Experience: losing all of his limbs apparently taught him restraint and caution when dueling in the original trilogy, where he uses Hannibal Lectures, Psychic Powers, ambushes, and intimidation rather than the berserker tactics that lost him the duel on Mustafar.
- That Man Is Dead: How he describes Anakin Skywalker. Though one small piece of Anakin survived throughout the reign of the Empire.
- Tin Tyrant
- Tragic Villain: Knows what he does is evil, and hates himself for it; he must obey his master.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid
- Vader Breath: Trope Namer.
- Villain Ball:
- Provoking Luke into an Unstoppable Rage when dueling him in Return of the Jedi.
- In The Force Unleashed, attempting to kill Galen Marek who had outlived his usefulness. Fortunately, Marek returned and royally curb-stomped him and The Emperor, giving inspiration to the rebels through his Heroic Sacrifice, which ended with Vader's and the Emperor's death (as well as the former's redemption).
- Villain Protagonist: According to George Lucas, Episodes I-VI are fundamentally about Anakin and his progression from innocence to a force of good, his fall to evil, and subsequent redemption.
- Villain Takes an Interest: In Luke.
- Villainous Valour: In the Expanded Universe, Vader is revealed to have a code of honor and a willingness to fight alongside his men that stems from his Well-Intentioned Extremist motivation to "bring order to the galaxy", and also from his remaining guilt over having fallen to the Dark Side in the first place.
- We Can Rule Together: Suggests this to Luke during his Hannibal Lecture in The Empire Strikes Back. Prior to that, he suggested this to Padmé in Revenge of the Sith.
- Weapon of Choice: A red lightsaber
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Anakin's reasons for turning to the Dark Side involved trying to prevent Padmé's death (although that ended up backfiring on him badly), and he legitimately wants to do what's right for the Galaxy.
- That's for the second time. The first time (during the Mortis arc) was in an attempt to fight fate when the Son exposed Anakin to the future where he would become Darth Vader and cause terrible atrocities. In other words, he did it ironically as a desperate attempt to avoid becoming Darth Vader and cause the future atrocities. The only reason he returned to the light side of the force after that is because the Father removed the memories of what he saw to weaken the Son's hold on him.
- Wham! Line: You know the one.
- Wolverine Publicity: Most noticeably in the case of Revenge of the Sith, appearing prominently in most of the posters and promotional art, despite not appearing in the iconic black armor until the last five minutes of the movie.
- You Are in Command Now: Names the trope when he promotes Piett just after force choking Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel's body hasn't even hit the floor yet.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Word of God states that the reason Obi-Wan had Luke Skywalker go to Tatooine after birth to live with the Owens despite it being Vader's home planet is because Darth Vader is unwilling to ever return to Tatooine due to painful memories of the place.
- You Have Failed Me: Trope Namer.
Emperor Palpatine[]
Played by: Ian McDiarmid (Ep.I-III, the rerelease of V, VI, voice cameo in VII, IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
Let the hate flow through you. |
Also known as Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. The man pulling the strings from the very beginning... and working, all the same time, to subvert Anakin to The Dark Side. Originally a Senator from Naboo, he was eventually nominated Chancellor of the Republic and ruled with great popularity and acclaim. During the Clone Wars, he began to take emergency war-time powers on himself. All of this would've been pretty Winston Churchill if he hadn't secretly been Adolf Hitler; he played both the Republic and the Separatists against each other, wiped out the Jedi, and came out on top. It's interesting to note that, though Palpatine is one of the most important characters in the franchise, he doesn't appear in all nine films; he missed Episode IV, just like Yoda did, and sits out Episodes VII and VIII.
- 0% Approval Rating: Implied by a couple of scenes added to the Updated Rereleases of Return of the Jedi. Some sources avert this, with the initial Novelization in particular had Vader when debating whether or not to save Luke specifically noting that most of the Empire would have been horrified if the Emperor was killed by him.
- A God Am I: By The Rise of Skywalker, he claims to be all the Sith and his Sith Eternal cultists do venerate him as though he were a deity.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Considering how the Galactic Empire has several parallels to Nazi Germany, Palpatine is pretty much a stand-in for Adolf Hitler, among others.
- Abusive Parents:
- Inverted: He actually bullies his dad and mom to get what he wants when his father bans him from racing ever again (and for good reason). Not that his dad was all that great of a parent to begin with, especially when his dad outright hates his son, and only bails him out to avoid scandal in his family and not out of genuine care for his son.
- Was Darth Maul's adoptive father and mentally tortured the kid whenever he could.
- Disowned his biological son for being a Muggle Born of Mages and then had him killed when he refused to give up the location of Palpatine's Force sensitive granddaughter. And when Rey refuses to bow to him, he has no issue trying to kill her.
- Adaptation Name Change: Legends never revealed his full name, though it was heavily implied to be "Cosigna Palpatine II". In the new canon, his name is "Sheev Palpatine".
- Adaptational Niceness: Downplayed and zig-zagged in the new canon. He definitely has quite a few more standards, Pet the Dog moments, and bouts of Pragmatic Villainy than his Legends self ever did but he's a good deal more spiteful and holds grudges for much longer. His canon self also has much more respect for Sith traditions and rules, whereas his Legends self very much did not. He's a better person, but most assuredly not a good one.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Did getting his Force lightning reflected back at him remove a Glamour or did it legitimately scar him?
- Is he a human supremacist? He definitely understands the benefits of courting bigotry to keep the serfs in line but his own feelings on aliens have never been revealed.
- The Antichrist: Heavily implied to be this in various sources, including the Darth Plagueis novel. Reading his childhood background on Wookiepedia feels like reading something from Omen.
- Dark Messiah: That being said, he does genuinely believe that having a Sith run government was ultimately in the best interests of the galaxy according to supplemental materials such as the Revenge of the Sith Visual Dictionary, and certain narrative choices in the same novel effectively imply that he might have been created the same way Anakin was, albeit in a more "natural" manner via Midichlorians with no known outside influences.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Comes from the noble "House of Palpatine." Deconstructed as its implied to be one of the less well-known noble houses.
- Ascended Extra: He was a rather minor character in the Original Trilogy, largely being a Giant Space Flea From Nowhere to act as the True Final Boss. He has a significantly larger role in the Prequel Trilogy.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Somewhat justified, although not by Asskicking Equals Authority, surprisingly.
- Awesome McCoolname: "Darth Sidious". All Sith Lords come with this.
- Badass: In Revenge of the Sith, we finally get a glimpse of Palpatine's surprisingly awesome fighting skills.
- Badass Bookworm
- Badass Grandpa: Literally revealed to be one in The Rise of Skywalker. He's Rey's grandfather.
- One-Man Army
- Bad Boss: Vader tells in Return of the Jedi that the Emperor is even worse of a boss than himself. His punishments aren't as physical as Vader's but he psychologically abuses people and drags it out For the Evulz.
- Big Bad: The definitive one for the movie saga, and arguably the most recognizable of all cinematic Big Bads (or second to Ernst Stavro Blofeld). He currently provides the page image.
- Bigger Bad: Any work set post-The Phantom Menace will cast him as such. Even he's not there physically, the legacy of war and division he's left across the galaxy is felt.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Who would've guessed that kindly old Chancellor Palpatine was in fact the most evil Sith Lord in the galaxy?
- Black Cloak
- Body Surf: As he fell down the Death Star II, he sent his spirit to his cloned body on Exegol.
- Boomerang Bigot: A Force user who builds a society that persecutes and denies the existence of Force users.
- The Caligula: Although he was a tyrant by the original trilogy (and expanded universe materials taking place within that time period and/or in-between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope), it was subverted in that Palpatine at least was sane enough to rule his empire effectively enough to actually have a stable, tight gripped rule over the Empire even with the Rebel Alliance until his first death at Endor. However, his return in The Rise of Skywalker has him embrace the trope. He will not rule as a Villain with Good Publicity or engage in any Pragmatic Villainy. The galaxy will bow to his fleet of planet-killing Star Destroyers or every inhabited world will burn.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Palpatine hated his father because he viewed his father as being grossly incompetent and responsible for his misfortune. Eventually, he does far more than simply "call him out" for it.
- Came Back Strong: Though he spends most of The Rise of Skywalker in Came Back Wrong, stealing enough Life Energy from Rey and Ben Solo boosts him to power to beyond what he was in the Prequels.
- Cessation of Existence: As The Star Wars Book confirms, Rey didn't just disintegrate him. She destroyed his soul.
- The Chessmaster: The way he became Emperor.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Has betrayed everyone who placed trust in him.
- Classic Villain: Palpatine/Sidious represents Ambition.
- The Corrupter: To Anakin.
- Dark Is Evil: Wouldn't be Palpatine otherwise (although side materials imply that he might not necessarily view himself as evil).
- Light Is Not Good: Although Palpatine's most well-known for being a Dark Side user, one guidebook, specifically the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook, indicates he is fully capable of using the Light Side to heal others.
- The Dark Side
- Demonic Possession: Attempts this in Episode IX. It's unclear whether his mind would overwrite Rey's or he'd just be in her head, but there's definitely this element in it.
- Death Seeker: Sort-of. While not quite going as far as to actually embrace being killed, he does have a knack for deliberately putting himself at risk of being killed and even egging people on to kill him or at least injure him to ensure he succeeds in turning them to the Dark Side based on his actions to Anakin, Luke, and Rey. The latter implies he needs the Moment of Weakness of killing him to pull a Body Surf.
- Didn't See That Coming: In the climax of Episode IX, he's legitimately caught off-guard by Rey and Ben Solo's dyad and their sympathy for each other. To his credit, a bit of Xanatos Speed Chess quickly turns the tide in his favour.
- Dirty Old Man: Some sources mention that, while he is Galactic Emperor, he kept concubines, and given his age, it's unlikely that they'd be as old as him.
- Disney Villain Death: Vader throws him down the shaft of the second Death Star in Episode VI. His body dies...
- Drives Like Crazy: He ended up crashing his speeder as well as committing manslaughter against two pedestrians.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Oh, so much.
- Early Installment Weirdness: In the initial novelization of A New Hope, he's described as a Puppet King controlled by ambitious warlords and the latest in a long line of emperors. Needless to say none of that plan survived.
- Electric Torture: He loves him some Force Lightning!
- The Emperor
- Emperor Scientist: Not as readily apparent as most of his other most notable traits, but Revenge of the Sith implies that he developed Darth Vader's life support armor, and various Expanded Universe materials show him as being particularly well-versed in Sith Alchemy.
- Enfant Terrible: He went to some of the most prestigious schools in the galaxy, but usually ended up expelled shortly after joining up for petty misdemeanours, and his crimes, regardless of whether they are minor or not, were extensive enough that, had he not been the son of a nobleman nor his father bribe the authorities, he would have spent time in a correctional facility. Then he committed manslaughter while driving his speeder recklessly. This might imply that he is a Psychopathic Manchild as an adult, albeit a high-functioning type.
- Et Tu, Brute?: His murder of Plagueis qualifies as such, as Plagueis certainly did not intend for the Rule of Two to be followed.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Averted hard. Episode IX teases this when Rey arrives on Exegol, hinting that he, in his own twisted way, is proud of his granddaughter and wants to see her attain her full potential by becoming a Sith Empress but when Rey is no further use to him, he brings out the lightning.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Though it could have been simply Pragmatic Villainy, even he didn't unleash the Blue Shadow Virus.
- Though he would easily kill someone who failed him, he notes to Vader that the punishment has to fit the failure, lest they rule over an empire of corpses. Killing someone for legitimately not knowing something is just overkill.
- It's ambiguous, given that he was in a battle both times, but he might have some respect for the dead, leaving the bodies of the fallen Jedi Masters and the seemingly dead Rey alone.
- It may be just his Control Freak tendencies, but he seems legitimately disgusted by organized crime.
- Everyone Calls Him The Emperor: In the original trilogy anyway.
- Evil Brit: Played by Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: If he could, he wouldn't have been so enthusiastic in torturing a boy with lightning right next to his father.
- Evil Chancellor: It takes a bit of digging since he's been around for so long, but he starts as this and is the poster boy.
- Evil Counterpart: To many characters:
- The most obvious one is to Yoda, the saga's Big Bad and Big Good. Both are considered the most powerful of their alignments and the leader of their forces.
- Much of the Prequel Era casts him as one to Padmé Amidala. Like her, he's from Naboo and is an emotional center in Anakin's life. But Palpatine is The Corrupter towards Anakin, encouraging his darker impulses while removing the Republic's democratic institutions yet remaining hugely popular. Padmé by contrast tries to bring out Anakin's better nature and preserve democracy, something that makes her hugely unpopular to the majority of a Senate under Palpatine's control. To hammer it home, while Palpatine did everything to stay in office even after his term ended, Padmé refused to remain Naboo's queen for even a second longer than she was allowed, despite the populace being willing to alter the constitution so she could remain in office.
- In The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine serves as one to Rey, his granddaughter. Both are supremely gifted in the Force and have pushed themselves beyond the philosophies of their alignments. But Rey is deeply unsure of her place in everything and seeks to prove herself a Jedi by destroying the Sith while Palpatine is assured that he is the rightful ruler of the galaxy and intends to bring about the return of the Sith by corrupting Rey. Even the way they use the Force's Healing Hands is a contrast. While Rey willingly gives up some of her Life Energy to heal the wounded, Palpatine vampires the Life Energy of others to heal himself.
- TROS also casts him as one to Leia Organa. Both are the leaders of their faction who have influence over the other's child (Palpatine has sway over Leia's son, while Leia has sway over Palpatine's granddaughter) while seeking to have their biological descendant return to them. And when the time to die comes, Leia accepts it with grace whereas the entire film is Palpatine trying to cheat it.
- Evil Gloating
- Evil Is Hammy: In Episodes III and IX in particular.
- Evil Is Petty: Throws Ben Solo down a gorge precisely because Vader, Ben's grandfather, threw him down a reactor shaft.
- Evil Laugh
- Evil Mentor: To Anakin/Vader.
- Evil Old Folks
- Evil Overlord: Also a poster boy for this one.
- Evil Plan: Galactic Conqueror variety. Everything from the Xanatos Gambit in the Clone Wars and the one in his apprentice upgrading goes toward this goal.
- Evil Redhead: He had red hair during his youth. In addition, his fresh clone bodies also possessed red hair.
- Evil Sorcerer
- Eviler Than Thou: To everyone at day's end. In the EU, even a Rebel spy who admits he's gone full "He Who Fights Monsters" considers Palpatine to be worse than him.
- Exact Words: Technically he never lies to Anakin in Episode III. He never says that Padmé is in danger or that he'll give Anakin the power and knowledge he needs.
- False Friend:
- To Anakin in the Prequel Trilogy, putting on a kind face but subtly encouraging the Jedi's worst impulses and traits while turning Anakin against his actual friends.
- To Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker. It's fine though, Kylo was the Starscream and reciprocating it.
- After Kylo's Heel Face Turn back into Ben Solo, he briefly adopts his grandfatherly persona again to manipulate Rey, playing on their family connection, to get her to become a Sith. If it wasn't for a redeemed Ben Solo showing up, he might have succeeded.
- Famous Last Words: "I AM ALL THE SITH!"
- Fantastic Racism: Used in the Expanded Universe to explain why, in a galaxy filled with aliens, the Empire only ever hires humans. Somewhat vague on whether he himself believed this, or merely fostered it because it made the galaxy easier to control.
- Fatal Flaw: Like any good fascist, Palpatine suffers from crippling overconfidence. He's such a bloated narcissist, combined with his Evil Cannot Comprehend Good tendencies, that he never learns from any of his mistakes. Despite tempting Anakin to the Sith by swearing to ensure Padmé and their children survived, he was totally caught off-guard by Vader choosing Luke over him. And thirty years later, he was equally caught off-guard that Rey, his granddaughter, and Ben Solo chose their loyalty to each other instead of the Sith. In his head, any defeat he suffers is just a delay in his destiny, never even entertaining the possibility that he could lose. While he certainly comes closer to winning, he makes the same mistakes in Episode IX that led to his defeat in Episode VI.
- Faux Affably Evil: For example, "Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."
- Foil: To Darth Plagueis, his master whom he betrayed. Whereas Plagueis was empathetic for a Sith Lord, Palpatine had a stellar lack of empathy even for a Sith.
- Galactic Conqueror: A variation in that he actually doesn't take over by force (more or less, and given how he's explicitly considered the strongest Force user short of a non-crippled Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and even managed to manipulate his own master before offing him, he most likely could take over by force if he so desired.), but instead did so via subterfuge. He does still instigate a war in order to solidify his power, however. When he's on the cusp of being revived in the Sequels however, he opts for the traditional method, intending for his fleet of Xyston-class warships to bully the galaxy into submission.
- Genocide Backfire: He attempted to exterminate everyone in the Jedi Order, and thus made further oppressive laws against force users to prevent the return of the Jedi. It backfired, as the Jedi did return.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His state in The Rise of Skywalker is largely thanks to his own arrogance. He failed to clone himself a perfect body because he destroyed Kamino and was trapped on Exegol for decades because he was such a dick to Vader that his apprentice turned on him before he could discover how to stabilize the clone bodies he had made.
- His final death comes from Rey turning his own lightning back on him. He was on such a Dark Side power high that he couldn't stop channeling it. Even Windu nearly did him in by reflecting the lightning back on him.
- Humanoid Abomination: Cast as such in The Rise of Skywalker.
- Hypocrite: Notes to Anakin that one of the many flaws of the Jedi is that they only adhere to the Light Side, never studying or using the Dark. Yet he himself exclusively lives in the Dark Side.
- Idiot Ball:
- Turned Anakin to the Dark Side by promising to save the life of Padmé and their unborn child. Decades later, he tortures Vader's son right in front of him, prompting Vader to turn on his master once and for all.
- Kept firing his lightning at Rey despite seeing that she was reflecting it back at him. Though somewhat justified by the Dark Side power high clouding his judgement.
- Immortality: Revenge of the Sith reveals this to be his ultimate goal.
- In the Hood
- It's All About Me: Everything he did in his life came down to getting more power.
- Joker Immunity: George Lucas intended for him to die a permanent death in Episode VI. But he's just too damn beloved by the fanbase to keep down for long. The novelization for Episode IX even raises the possibility that he might still be out there.
- Karma Houdini: Literally gets away with every crime (or at least gets an extremely tiny in proportion punishment such as expulsion for delinquent behavior from various universities) that he committed, no doubt due to his father's paying off the right authorities. Even Hitler, the guy Palpatine was supposedly partly based on, had to do time for his part in the Beer Hall Rebellion.
- Knight Templar: The only motivation Palpatine has besides a sociopathic lust for power and control is that he genuinely believed that a Sith-run government was in the Galaxy's best interest.
- Lack of Empathy: So much so he's forgotten the strength that one can draw from the love for their children. Ironically, his own father had attempted to buy his love, but he rejected it, because his father apparently wasn't willing to look at his own weaknesses.
- Large Ham: "POWAHHHH! UNLIMITED POWWAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
- "I ammm the Senate!"
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- He shackled Vader to a painful and clunky life support suit for decades. Following Return of the Jedi he spends decades in an even worse state, shackled to a barely mobile life support machine. And his body is so damaged that all his life support can do is delay his death.
- After years of executing people with Force Lightning, Rey reflects his attack back at him, killing him once and for all.
- Last-Name Basis: He's generally only referred to as "Palpatine".
- Last of His Kind:
- Until he had a son, he was the last of the Palpatine line.
- In Episode IX, he's the last of the Sith Order. He tries to pass the title onto Rey but she refuses.
- Logical Weakness: The reason he relies so heavily on manipulation and Force lightning is simply because he himself, as a very old man, tires out quickly and can't keep up a direct fight for long.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He's the grandfather of Rey, the Hero of the Sequel Trilogy.
- Luke, I Might Be Your Father: It's implied that, through midi-chlorian manipulation, he, and possibly Darth Plagueis, played a role in Anakin's miraculous conception.
- Inverted in the case of Palpatine himself with his own father. His father resolutely denied that Palpatine could possibly be his son, to such an extent that he made his son go through a paternity test twice.
- Made of Evil: Sometimes implied to be this.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Master Swordsman
- Meaningful Name: Darth Sidious is rather in'sidious.' Almost all the Darths have meaningful names, actually.
- His non-Sith name, Palpatine, also qualifies, as Word of God stated that Palpatine was derived from "Palpitare", which is Latin for "to throb" (in fear, in this case).
- Given that Naboo homages a lot of Hindu culture and names, his first name, "Sheev", might be a riff on the deity Shiva, often styled as the Destroyer in Hindu mythology. Shiva destroyed to make way for the new, the cycle of rebirth and continuation, as Palpatine claims to do.
- The Mole: If only the Jedi had realised that the Dark Lord of the Sith - their sworn enemy - was hiding amongst the politicians they were working for...
- Mole in Charge: After he becomes the leader of the Republic.
- Monster Protection Racket: On a galactic scale, and by the time he's found it it's already too late to stop him.
- My Death Is Only the Beginning: If he died, he left orders for the Empire to fracture and rebuild into the First Order.
- My World Doth Protest Too Much: Hailing from the peaceful world of Naboo, he becomes a genocidal galactic tyrant and in the front running (if not winner of) the Galaxy's most evil person who ever lived award.
- Mysterious Backer: Portrays himself as one in the prequel trilogy.
- Mysterious Past: Much of his origins are unknown. While he did get the spotlight in the Darth Plagueis novel, which is implied to still have happened in a Broad Strokes manner, the new EU has been mute on how he became such a monster.
- Near Villain Victory: Twice in The Rise of Skywalker.
- When the Resistance arrives on Exegol, their motley fleet is quickly overwhelmed by the Final Order's turbolasers and legions of TIE Daggers. It's bad enough that Rey consents to Palpatine's plan if it means calling off the attack. Had Ben Solo and the Citizens' Fleet not shown up then, the Final Order would have won through sheer military might.
- After stealing enough Life Energy from Ben and Rey, Palpatine fires a massive storm of Force lightning that disables the Citizens' Fleet. If Rey hadn't gotten Backup From Otherworld to overpower him, he would have bought enough time for the Xyston-fleet to launch.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If he and Darth Plagueis didn't attempt to unleash negative waves to influence the midichlorians to create the ultimate Sith weapon, the midichlorians wouldn't have essentially bit back and created Anakin to destroy the Sith.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Lucas' primary inspiration for Palpatine was, believe it or not, an American president. Richard Nixon.
- Not So Omniscient After All: Palpatine's speech about how everything transpiring according to his design rings a bit hollow when you realize he's talking to the guy he earlier admitted to not actually knowing would be there. Oh and then everything goes to hell for the Imperials soon after.
- Number of the Beast: The famous Order 66 was undoubtedly inspired by this. It also sounds similar to Order 9066, the order to arrest all Japanese-Americans during World War II.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He looks like a feeble old man, but he takes on four Jedi at once in a lightsaber duel and wins (sorta).
- Obviously Evil: In his Sidious persona.
- Offing the Offspring: At his command, Ochi killed Palpatine's cloned son. Palpatine later attempts to kill Rey when it's clear that she will not bow to him.
- Oh Crap: Has a moment when he realizes that Rey has turned his Force Lightning into an Advancing Wall of Doom but by then it's too late to stop it.
- Old Master
- Orcus on His Throne: In the Sequel Era. Justified since the throne is his life support machine.
- Our Liches Are Different: Fits this trope to a "T" in The Rise of Skywalker.
- Out of Focus: He doesn't appear much in media set during the era of the Original Trilogy. Media released following The Rise of Skywalker implies this is because he was busy with his Sith plans on Exegol.
- Pet The Dog: He has a degree of genuine affection for Maul. When he returns Sidious is amused and content to let him do as he pleases until Maul rises to become a legitimate rival.
- Physical God: By the time of The Rise of Skywalker, he'd coming close to this. His Force lightning storm is a strong argument in his favour.
- Playing Both Sides: How he arranged for the Clone Wars to begin before he became Supreme Chancellor.
- Playing Gertrude: A rather extreme example: in Return of the Jedi, even though Palpatine at the time of release was stated to be old enough to be well beyond his natural lifespan (with his mastery of the Dark Side more than playing a part in that), his actor Ian McDiarmid was actually in his early thirties when he got the role (apparently his role in Seduced convinced Lucas for him to play the role of Palpatine, which also dealt with this trope.).
- Psychic Powers
- Psychopathic Manchild: Implied to be what he grew up to be a high-functioning variation of the trope in Darth Plagueis, see Enfant Terrible.
- The Purge: Palpatine's infamous Order 66.
- Rich Bitch: His childhood was primarily his father bribing the proper authorities to prevent them from taking legal action against Palpatine whenever he committed a misdemeanor, not to mention that his gift of a speeder was also closer to a bribe.
- Running Both Sides: After he became Supreme Chancellor before and during the Clone Wars. Technically also before, due to his playing the Senate and the Trade Federation around, reasoning that people feeling bad for him because of his home planet’s blockade would make it easier for him to be elected as chancellor.
- Sanity Slippage: At first, while definitely not a good person, he at least was sane enough to both manipulate both sides into landing him with power, framing the Jedi to be exterminated, and actually having very firm grip over the Empire, and even acknowledging his mistakes. However, shortly after his first death at Endor and reviving himself, he ends up losing a lot of his sanity, becoming more similar to The Caligula than to The Chessmaster.
- Satan: Confirmed to represent this by Word of God. As if Order 66 didn't give you a clue.
- Scars Are Forever: His face after being disfigured by his own lightning. Even his cloned body looks wrinkled in the same areas as his scars.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money: His father often paid off the right people to make several of his misdemeanors "disappear."
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them: "I AM the Senate!"
- Self-Made Orphan: Portions of Palpatine's backstory were revealed, showing that he came from a noble house called Palpatine, and that he murdered his father, his mother, and his younger siblings (although his father was no saint, being apparently violent, and in fact, was about to act on his own murderous hatred of his son, albeit at his son's goading, just prior to said murder.). He also admits while murdering his father that he desired to murder at the very least his father since he was a baby.
- Shadow Archetype: To Anakin, oddly enough. Both hailed from backwater planets, were undetected by various Force Users for quite some time until a literal chance encounter with the groups they ultimately joined, and both were not known to have a father (or, in Palpatine's case, his father denies him being his son). This actually raises some Epileptic Trees regarding whether Palpatine was the actual Chosen One that the Jedi prophecy was referring to, and likewise creates some rather terrifying implications about the nature of the Force itself.
- Shock and Awe: Force Lightning.
- Smug Snake: In Return of the Jedi. Luke even lampshades this by telling him, "your overconfidence is your weakness".
- Smug Super/Beware the Superman: ...That being said, considering he by that point was the strongest Sith in existence and possibly the strongest Force-user of all save for maybe Vader, his arrogance is somewhat justified.
- The Sociopath: Completely uncaring for anyone bar himself and maybe Vader.
- The Starscream: To Darth Plagueis; notice his smile when he tells about Plagueis being killed by his apprentice. Of course, these are the Sith. It goes with the job description (though ironically, he actually chose to undergo this in spite of Plagueis removing that condition).
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred: Goads Jedi to do this. The Rise of Skywalker suggests that doing so would cause a Moment of Weakness for the Jedi and allow him to Body Surf into them.
- Sunk Cost Fallacy: No matter how many times it's shown that superweapons are more trouble than they're worth, Palpatine will commission a bigger and badder one.
- This Is Your Brain on Evil: Tries to kill a boy in front of his Papa Wolf father? Oops. Does this again, only this time its far worse? In the immortal words of Harry Potter, "You don't learn from your mistakes".
- Tranquil Fury: When he faces off against Windu, we get this slow and menacing rise from his seat, a sharp and sudden clutch for his lightsabre...followed by the calm, but terrifying and furious utterance of "It's treason, then..." before exploding towards the Jedi. And, good lord, is it awesome, mostly due to the delivery by the great Ian McDiarmid.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: In Revenge of the Sith he openly seizes the power that he'd been consolidating up until then.
- Uriah Gambit: Does it to Maul and Dooku! It's also pretty clear that he had every intention of doing this to Vader.
- Villain with Good Publicity: During the Clone Wars. As he became more Obviously Evil in the Imperial era, this steadily declined.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he finally realizes Luke has Incorruptible Pure Pureness and is not going to turn to the Dark Side, he flies off the handle a bit.
- Villainous Friendship: "Friendship" may be a bit of a stretch, but his relationship with Mas Amedda is the only one where the loyalty was mutual.
- Weapon of Choice: Red lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith. Relies on Force lightning afterwards.
- What Could Have Been: He was originally conceived as a heck of an Anticlimax Boss, a power-hungry dullard manipulated into the Galaxy's top spot by Vader and Tarkin, who ran things behind his back. Notably, this detail was changed so late in the universe concept that it made it into the novelization of A New Hope. Heck, originally, he was even meant to effectively be a non-Force user, yet come Empire Strikes Back, that was obviously nixed.
- Wicked Cultured: Ian McDiarmid, his actor, considers this the closest thing he has to a redeeming (or at least non-evil) feature. Makes sense, since he himself is a theater actor and director, a job which naturally implies being well-read.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After being defeated by Windu. The novelization implies he deliberately let Windu win in order to manipulate Anakin into turning to the Dark Side but either way, he's clearly playing it up.
- Xanatos Gambit: The Clone Wars are designed so that no matter who wins, he ends up with control of the galaxy, though it's pretty clear that a Separatist victory would be Plan B. His various gambits around his apprentices most truly represent this trope, however - by pitting his current apprentice against the potential replacement, he wins no matter the outcome. Dookú finds this out the hard way. Vader, on the other hand, takes exception to the idea. Heck, if one goes by the Book of Sith, he apparently also knowingly orchestrated Plagueis' involvement and his recruiting him (something that is also strongly implied in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Plagueis while murdering him).
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Likewise, even if things didn't end up going according to what he had originally planned, he manages to modify his plans to take into account the setback so he'd still come out on top regardless. This is especially apparent in Star Wars Battlefront Elite Squadron, where Renegade Squadron managed to trap Palpatine in one of the Sith tombs long enough to steal a datapad that indicated that he was to personally supervise the second Death Star's completion (he had earlier sent stormtroopers to deal with them as he didn't view them as significant, only to attack them when they not only took care of the stormtroopers, but also proceeded to destroy the artifacts in the tomb he ended up sealed in), resulting in him deciding to use that setback to his advantage by using himself as bait to ensure the Rebels get lured into the trap. Likewise, All There in the Manual and Word of God indicated that Amadala's successful arrival on Coruscant was not part of his original plan. He was originally supposed to have Maul retrieve her and kill the Jedi, and he would manipulate the events of the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo to turn it into an full-scale conflict where he would lead the command against the Trade Federation. Her arrival had him modify the plan to both accomodate her arrival, and so his plan becomes a lot more beneficial for him in the long run.
- You Have Failed Me: It is heavily implied in Return of the Jedi, and confirmed in the Expanded Universe, that Palpatine was even more horrific in how he punishes those who fail their task than even the Trope Namer, Darth Vader.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He has virtually everyone who ever helped him with his Evil Plan killed at some point, including Anakin (well, so to speak).
Boba Fett[]
Played by: Played by: Jeremy Bulloch (suit, Ep.V-VI); Daniel Logan (child, Ep.II); Temuera Morrison (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett) |
He's no good to me dead. |
One of the poster children of Too Cool to Live, Fett is a Mandalorian. He was introduced in The Star Wars Holiday Special but was too cool to stay there, which is saying something considering that the Holiday Special is practically the incarnation of Dork Age. Once entrenched in canon, he played a minor role in Episode V as the man who succeeds in capturing Han Solo for Vader and/or Jabba the Hutt; while he's later involuntarily defeated by Solo and eaten by a grue Sarlacc, his awesome armor and inscrutable demeanor Popularity Power makes him manly enough to fight his way out, allowing him to (again) play a major role in the EU. He also appears in Episode II as a child, specifically a clone of Jango Fett being raised by the man as his son; Jango's death in that film is basically Boba's Start of Darkness.
- Anti-Hero
- Anti-Villain: Type I.
- Alas, Poor Jango: He picks up his (sort of) father's helmet in Episode II after he's decapitated.
- Badass: How many other bad guys would have stood up to Darth Vader?
- Benevolent Boss: After taking over Jabba's operation Boba is far kinder to his underlings than Jabba was. He even allows a Gamorrean guard to be placed in his personal bacta tank before him despite being quite injured himself.
- Blood Knight: Automatically qualifies since he is of Mandalorian heritage, a race that is rather infamous for liking war.
- Bounty Hunter
- Canon Immigrant
- Cool Helmet
- Cool Starship: The Slave I.
- Determinator: The opening of The Book of Boba Fett shows how he stubbornly refused to be digested by the Sarlacc. He then spent years trying to track down his armor.
- The Dragon: To Darth Vader in TESB.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- He hates it when people disrespect his father's memory.
- Boba also quickly grows fond of his pet Rancor, treating it kindly and speaking to it as though it was a dog.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He deliberately gave up on a chance to kill Starkiller at a moment when he was vulnerable because he was having a romantic reunion with Juno Eclipse, because he felt doing that would "not have felt right." He even follows a strict code of honor in regards to his missions.
- In the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett, he refuses to act on advice to torture the two Gamorreans who loyally served Jabba and Fortuan. Boba instead spares their lives and takes them into his service. His kidness is repaid when they save him and Fenec from an ambush.
- I Gave My Word: Boba promises to ensure Grogu's safety if Din returns his armour. When Gideon and his troops capture Grogu, Boba insists on helping to save him despite the context simply being that he wouldn't kill Grogu which makes this a rare positive example of Exact Words. He also promises to help the Tuskens keep the Pykes from executing them and does so in spite of having a chance to escape.
- Jet Pack
- Knight Templar: He sees himself as bringing a brutal brand of justice to criminals and considers The Empire a lawful government.
- Legacy Character: although this trope only came in effect in the prequels.
- Malevolent Masked Man
- Mask Power
- Noble Demon: In the Expanded Universe
- Noodle Incident: "No disintegrations." The reason for Vader specifying this to Fett has yet to be explained, though it is mentioned in the Daniel Keys Moran short story "The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett".
"Vader always said that, after that one time..." |
- The Other Marty: His voice was changed in the classic trilogy's first DVD release. Obviously, this led to Internet Backdraft. Lucasfilms responded by releasing a second set that included the Special Edition (with the new voice) and the Original Theatrical Edition (with the first voice).
- Pet the Dog:
- Even though Krrsantan tried to kill him Boba tells him "no hard feelings" and sets him free rather than sell him as a slave like the twins suggest.
- Despite the majordomo being annoying and pretty useless Boba still saves him from Cad Bane after he has served his purpose as a distraction.
- The Quiet One
- Pragmatic Villainy: He does not want his bounty, Han Solo, dead as Jabba will find no use in a dead Han Solo.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: In the EU, Depending on the Writer.
- Punch Clock Villain
- The Stoic
- Took a Level In Kindness: Surviving the Sarlacc pit and living among the Tuskens did wonders for his mindset. As the new daimo of Tatooine, he tries to rule through compassion and respect, honoring his debts when he has them and is even willing to pull a "Think Nothing of It" when he helps others out.
- Weapon of Choice: EE-3 carbine rifle.
- Wolverine Publicity
Darth Maul[]
Played by: Ray Park (Ep.I) |
Ray Park, wearing horns, wielding a double-bladed lightsaber. The fact that all his lines were overdubbed does not in any way diminish his coolness rating.
- Awesome but Impractical: Seriously, if you see somebody wielding such a ridiculous weapon and not covered on scars and bionic legs, either he's a Sith-wannabe loonie with zero experience or a top-tier actual Badass. Fortunately, Maul is a Badass.
- Awesome McCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this.
- Badass
- One-Man Army: Wiped an entire crime syndicate clean off the galactic map days before The Phantom Menace in the Expanded Universe.
- Bald of Evil
- Black Cloak
- Blood Knight
- Cast the Expert: Played by Ray Park, who was a martial arts expert and stunt man, not an actor (though he became one following this movie). This is one of the reasons that he had virtually no lines. His lines were dubbed by Peter Serafinowicz.
- The Dark Side
- Disney Villain Death
- Disney Death: ...Only to survive by grabbing a duct, crawling through it, and go into hiding.
- Double Weapon
- The Dragon: To Darth Sidious in Episode I.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones
- Maul is genuinely crushed by his brother's death and years later in rebels it's clear he still hasn't forgiven Sidious for killing him.
- Maul also shows affection for his mother Talzin and her death at the hands of Grievous shocked him even more than Savage's did.
- Maul appears to care for Ezra and claims to be loyal to him even when their on different sides. Being a relationship between a Sith and Jedi, it's extremely messed up and includes trying to kill Ezra's actual parental figure.
- Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: The first warrior in the Star Wars franchise to openly utilize martial arts as opposed to swordsmanship alone.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Half-human-half-Zabrak, though usually called a full Zabrak.
- Half the Man He Used To Be: Complete with Disney Villain Death.
- Horned Humanoid
- Hot-Blooded: By virtue of his facial expressions and body language alone.
- Implacable Man
- Meaningful Name: Look up the definition of the word 'Maul'. Yeah, it's one of those Names to Run Away From Really Fast.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Unlike most Sith apprentices, who usually seem to just put up with their masters until they can finally betray them, Darth Maul was completely loyal to Darth Sidious. In fact, so loyal, that this loyalty almost cost him in regards to passing a Sith Initiation Test, to the extent that Palpatine had to motivate Maul by lying about cultivating an apprentice (or at least a half-truth) to get him to have enough anger to even nearly kill his master.
- Obviously Evil: Seriously, look at him.
- Pet the Dog:
- Given a slight one in his reappearance in Season 4, when his brother learns his survival.
- Maul also returns Jesse to Rex and the 332nd as a show of good faith rather than kill him.
- Despite manipulating Ezra into leading him to Kenobi in the Tatooine desert he doesn't go in for the kill until Kenobi sends Ezra away.
- Psychic Powers
- Psycho Supporter: See My Master, Right or Wrong above.
- The Quiet One
- Unwitting Pawn: Like Count Dooku, Darth Maul was only a useful placeholder for the spot of Palpatine's apprentice while he was preparing Anakin for the role. If he hadn't been killed by Obi Wan, Palpatine would still have found a way to off him eventually.
- Weapon of Choice: Red double-bladed lightsaber.
- White Mask of Doom: In early concept art, at least.
- You Have Failed Me: This is the reason why he avoided making contact with his master after he lost his legs and fled Naboo, as he feared that Sidious would kill him (or worse) if he returned having failed his mission.
Jango Fett[]
Played by: Temuera Morrison |
A top-notch bounty hunter who was hired by the Republic to be the template for an army of clones, from which the Clone Wars took their name. Secretly working for the Separatists. Gets on Mace Windu's bad side, so, that's the end of him.
- The Asteroid Thicket: Chases Obi-Wan through one in a Continuity Nod to The Empire Strikes Back.
- Bounty Hunter
- Badass
- Battle in the Rain: With Obi-Wan.
- Blood Knight: Since he was raised by the Mandalorians, he qualifies.
- Cool Helmet
- Cool Starship: The Slave I.
- Doting Parent: One of his redeeming qualities.
- The Dragon: To Dooku.
- Jet Pack
- Off with His Head: Courtesy of Mace Windu.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: As most Mandalorians are.
- Weapon of Choice: Guns Akimbo with two WESTAR-34 blaster pistols.
General Grievous[]
Voiced by: Matthew Wood (Ep. III) |
Don't call him a droid: he's still got biological components. He just happens to live in a mechanical body. Essentially a cyborg, Grievous received lightsaber training from Count Dooku and is able to hold his own against Jedi. Like Boba Fett, he was first introduced in a cartoon, though this was actually deliberate (whereas Fett was carried into Canon more by Popularity Power than anything else). Voiced by Skywalker Sound editor Matthew Wood, who submitted his audition under a pseudonym to guarantee he'd get a fair hearing.
- Alliterative Name
- Badass: He's usually this or getting Worfed. Depends on who's writing, really.
- Badass Normal: A rare example of a non-Force sensitive who uses lightsabers.
- Berserk Button: In the Expanded Universe, he goes nuts whenever someone mistakes him for another mindless droid.
- Battle Trophy: How he got his lightsabers.
- Black Knight: Except he is white
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Somewhat.
- Canon Immigrant
- Dirty Coward: During the first Cartoon series he appeared in, Dooku explicitly trains Grievous to fight like this: he's supposed to use fear, intimidation, and power to overwhelm his opponents, and to flee when that doesn't work.
- Dragon Ascendant: Subverted. When Count Dooku is killed, the Jedi think Grievous has become this when in reality he has just become Sidious's Dragon instead.
- Fake Russian: His accent.
- Fake Ultimate Villain: In the eyes of the Republic at large, upon Dooku's death, Grievous took over as the Big Bad; the Senate even voted to continue the Clone War, as long as Grievous lived. However, Palpatine is clearly the one pulling the strings, using both Dooku and Grievous as scapegoats to keep his involvement a secret.
- Fallen Hero
- Foil: For Obi-Wan Kenobi. Whereas Obi-Wan is loyal, calm and not too proud of the people he's killed, General Grievous is bloodthirsty, murderous, has a Berserk Button with all the density of wet paper...and there's the small matter of wearing the lightsabers of all the Jedi he's killed like trophies.
- Hero-Killer: He even provides the trope picture!
- Hollywood Cyborg
- Incurable Cough of Death: This was mostly due to both the result of his cybernetics, as well as Mace Windu Force Gripping his chest. However, this was Retconned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars to always have it.
- Kill It with Fire: When he's shot by Obi-Wan, his organic tissue burns up.
- Kaleesh In The Machine
- Large Ham: "You must realise...you are DOOOOMED!"
- Looks Like Orlok: Quite impressive for a cyborg.
- Malevolent Masked Man / White Mask of Doom
- Meaningful Name: "Grievous" means "causing grief or great sorrow," somewhat fitting for the slaughterer of millions.
- Interesting it has a double meaning, he renamed himself after his wife was killed in battle.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous
- Ominous Opera Cape
- One Kaleesh Army
- Pet the Dog: While he's very abusive to the Separatist droids, Grievous seems to have slightly more patience with his organic subordinates. He praises Gha Nahckt's work in extracting data from R2-D2 and was seemingly intent on following through with their deal. At least until Nahckt tried to demand more money. When Corbun Sear fails his mission Grievous doesn't kill, threaten or even berate him and instead simply tells Sear to let him handle the jedi.
- Quad Wielding
- Rule of Cool
- Tragic Villain: In a sense. The Expanded Universe reveals Grievous was an honorable warrior fighting to save his people until an accident left him crippled. He sold himself to Dooku to save his planet. Of course, Dooku had no use for an honorable, noble warrior and had his brain tampered with, replacing the honor and nobility with sadism and savagery.
- The Worf Effect
- Took a Level In Badass: In Massacre, he returns to his old-school Hero-Killer form by wiping out the Nightsisters and curb-stomping Ventress.
Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus[]
Played by: Christopher Lee (Ep.II-III) |
A fallen Jedi who left the Order over philosophical issues, Dooku turned up on the side of the Separatists. What nobody knew, at least for a while, was that he was also the other member of the Sith, apprenticed to Darth Sidious. He gives Yoda a run for his money in a lightsaber duel, which makes his Anticlimax Boss appearance in Episode III somewhat disappointing. Played by the legendary Christopher Lee.
- Actor Allusion: What do you think "Count" stands for?
- Aristocrats Are Evil
- Awesome McCoolname: "Darth Tyranus". All Sith Lords come with this.
- Badass Grandpa
- Beard of Evil
- Big Bad: Subverted. Similar to Vader, he's the most prominent villain in Episode II, but is subservient to Darth Sidious. Inverted in that he is generally perceived to be this by the Jedi and the galaxy at large, and on a smaller scale he does occasionally act without consulting Sidious, sometimes in plots to betray him.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Intended to kill Sidious at some point in the future and take over the Sith Order- he fails.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrayed the Jedi Order for the Sith, and proceeded to wage a campaign of murder and assassination against them all, despite many of them being his close friends. In the EU, regardless of the version, he ultimately betrays his apprentice Asajj Ventress, and as per Sith tradition is conspiring against his master Sidious (which doesn't work out). The entire Separatist movement itself is basically one giant con too.
- Cool Sword: The curved-hilt lightsaber allows for a more fencing-like fighting style and is designed to have an advantage in saberfights (due to the unique angles) at the expense of being harder to use to block blaster bolts.
- The Dark Side
- Depending on the Writer: His death. In ROTS, although he does have some fear when he learns of Palpatine's betrayal, he nonetheless remained Defiant to the End right up until Anakin beheads him. In the novelization, however, he panics are realizing Sidious is going to let him die and starts pleading for mercy.
- According to Christopher Lee, the novelization's take was actually originally going to be in the film, but he had convinced Lucas to change it, as he felt that Dooku would not have begged for his life like a coward.
- Between novels, Dark Rendezvous, which focuses heavily on Dooku and his past-and-present relationship with his old Jedi master Yoda, and the above-mentioned novelization of Revenge of the Sith, we see two interpretations of Dooku that are both compatible with the character from the films, but diverge into a conflicted old man who regrets much of what he's done, and a hard-lined sociopath who doesn't seem like he could even conceive of such a thing.
- The Dragon
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's not pleased by Moralo Eval's cowardly attempt to kill Rako Hardeen (actually an undercover Obi-Wan) and gives Hardeen the chance for a fair fight.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones
- His sister Jenza stopped him going fully down the dark side for years which is why Dooku had Ventress murder her to cut off his last ties to the past.
- He was deeply saddened by Qui Gon's death.
- Though it doesn't stop him from trying to Kill him Dooku shows affection for Obi-Wan and insists on turning him to the dark side instead of simply killing him.
- When ordered by Sidious to kill Ventress Dooku attempts to persuade him otherwise, saying Ventress is "quite important to me". While he goes through with it at his master's insistence he appears remorseful after he believes he has carried out the deed. However Ventress' efforts to avenge the betrayal kill any affection he had for her.
- Evil Brit: Well, he's played by a Brit.
- Evil Sounds Deep: It's Christopher Lee, what did you expect?
- Fallen Hero
- Hero-Killer: As shown by the Curb Stomp Battle he dishes out in the second film.
- Interim Villain: Mostly as part of Sidious' Xanatos Gambit. Details can be found on the page itself.
- Master Swordsman: Is able to take down both Obi-Wan and Anakin, and holds his own against Yoda.
- Not to mention being able to train General Grievous into such a powerful swordsman that he was able to slay Jedi in single combat without the Force.
- Meaningful Name: Christopher Lee points out in an interview with the Star Wars monthly magazine that "Dooku" is a homonym for the Japanese word doku, which literally means "venom."
- Off with His Head: After defeating him, Anakin decapitates him scissors-style at Palpatine's urging.
- Pet the Dog
- He seems genuinely saddened by Jango Fett's death while every other sith lord in the franchhise would have laughed at their subordinates' weakness.
- Despite having the jedi at his mercy Dooku orders the battle droids to stand down and offers to spare the jedi's lives if they surrender. He's clearly disappointed when Mace Windu turns down the offer so he most likely would have kept his word. He even apologizes to Windu for having to kill him.
- During the Ryloth arc in the Clone Wars Dooku warns Wat Tambor to leave the planet as he intends to bomb it.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: Used to be one of the Order's finest Knights.
- Shock and Awe
- Unwitting Pawn: To Palpatine.
- Uriah Gambit: Falls hard in the early part of Revenge of the Sith'.
- Weapon of Choice: A curved-hilt red lightsaber.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: For being such an important figure in the Clone Wars, he gets, at most, 30 minutes of total screen time in a saga exceeding 13 hours in length, and none of the "political idealist" persona is elaborated upon. Averted in the EU where, in stories set in this era, he is a fully fleshed out character with the appropriate number of scenes.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: In the EU, its clearer. In AOTC, none of this is actually shown, as he spends his choice few scenes plotting how to best extort the Republic for...something, presiding over a flashy execution, and fighting Jedi. His political beliefs, his ultimate goals, etc. are given zero elaboration. Even his reasons for joining the Sith are never actually explained within the films themselves.
- Villainous Breakdown: Has a brief one after Anakin chops off his hands and he realizes that Sidious wants him dead. Then he gets beheaded.
- Villain with Good Publicity: In the EU at least, and briefly in Attack of the Clone as far as his former fellow Jedi are concerned; in the eyes of many, on both sides of the conflict, Dooku is a charismatic idealist crusading against the very real corruption endemic in the Republic, and all the more overtly villainous characters in the Separatist movement are simply the allies he's stuck with, and the atrocities they commit are done without his approval. Neither is true, of course; although its implied he is against the corruption his idea to weed it out is to set up a sprawling galactic dictatorship, and far from disapproving of those atrocities he usually instigates them, and is more than happy to blame them on the Republic.
- We Could Have Avoided All This: Implied by his reaction shortly after defeating Obi-Wan and Anakin, but before facing Yoda. Upon their defeat, he sighs in a somewhat disappointed manner.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Revenge of the Sith.
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin[]
Played by: Peter Cushing (Ep.IV); Wayne Pygram (5-second cameo in Ep.III). |
In the movies, Wilhuff Tarkin is mostly known as the Smug Snake running the Death Star; it was he who ordered the destruction of Alderaan, forcing Leia to watch. EU materials have elaborated on his villainy; particularly, it was his idea to rule through fear, which is probably why the Death Star's outrageous Power Levels appealed to him.
- Big Bad: In A New Hope.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Vader. He orders him around a couple of times, but lets him take the initiative more often than not. His authority is probably based on the fact that he is in charge of the Death Star, and that's where Vader happens to be; in most respects they are pretty much equals.
- Interestingly enough, supplementary materials specify that his position is only the sixth highest in the empire, behind the Emperor, the Supreme Commander of the military (that's Vader), the Grand Vizier, the Ruling Council chief, and Grand Admirals/Generals.
- It's mentioned, especially in the Expanded Universe, that he was not only one of Palpatine's strongest and most competent supporters but became one of the main architects behind the Empire itself (which also led to the Emperor giving him the Death Star post). The repercussions of his actions, including the "Tarkin Doctrine" would cast a long shadow extending well into the Sequel Trilogy and the First Order military.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Vader. He orders him around a couple of times, but lets him take the initiative more often than not. His authority is probably based on the fact that he is in charge of the Death Star, and that's where Vader happens to be; in most respects they are pretty much equals.
- Despair Event Horizon: His son being killed resulted in him becoming even more of a monster than before.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The reason why Palpatine orchestrated his son's "defection" and later death was because he wanted Tarkin to become a more willing servant, implying that there were stuff Palpatine demanded that even Tarkin did not wish to commit.
- Evil Brit: Well, the actor is British, at least.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: His "Tarkin doctrine" in a nutshell. Raised in an environment where one HAD to Be Sharp, Tarkin believed that everyone could be brought into line by fear, never realizing that when pushed too far, people will push back.
- Evil Genius
- Evil Old Folks
- Fantastic Racism: He's one of the more ardent human-supremacists in the Empire.
- Faux Affably Evil
- Hannibal Lecture: To Leia.
- Informed Attribute: While stated to be a great military mind, he's quite the General Failure, generally blustering and bombing his way to victory and/or taking the credit for his subordinates' saving the day. He's cost the Empire scores of valuable resources, inspired hundreds of rebellions and personally ensured that the Stormtroopers would take the place of the Clone Troopers. The only reason he seems to get anywhere in the military is that Palpatine approves of his brutality.
- Jerkass: In his first appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he had to be saved by Anakin from the Separatists. However, instead of being gracious enough to express gratitude to Anakin, he is a complete jerk about it, causing Anakin to tell him that he'll only respect those who know gratitude.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While stealing the Death Star from Krennic was a petty power move, Tarkin was not wrong to say that Krennic had led to multiple security leaks during the project and was extremely short-tempered with a dangerous superweapon. Even if Tarkin hadn't muscled his way into the chain of command, it's doubtful that Palpatine would have allowed him to keep control of the Death Star.
- Karmic Death
- Lack of Empathy: He destroyed Alderaan. If that wasn't enough, the Expanded Universe makes him worse.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Carrie Fisher once said he "smelled of Lavender."
- A Nazi by Any Other Name
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- He personally ensured that the Clone Troopers would de retired from Imperial ranks, allowing the Rebels to go up against ineptly trained Stormtroopers rather than Super Soldiers with Undying Loyalty.
- After Mount Tantiss was wrecked, Tarkin had the facility scuttled and all its cloning data destroyed, meaning Palpatine had to spend three decades on Exegol trapped in an imperfect clone body, unable to perfect the process with the knowledge Tarkin destroyed.
- Non-Action Big Bad
- Papa Wolf: In "Darth Vader and the Lost Command 5", the results of Darth Vader's mission resulted in Tarkin wanting to commit genocide against the natives of Altoa because he thought they murdered his son. And it is also heavily implied in the ending that Palpatine manipulated Vader's actions to bring this about to get Tarkin to become a more willing servant.
- Pet the Dog: A minor one: He was Gial Ackbar's master when the former was a slave, and its implied that he treated him pretty decently.
- Sadistic Choice: Between betraying the Rebellion or Leia's home planet. Leia betrays the Rebellion. Tarkin blows up her planet anyway.
- The Scapegoat: After the Death Star blew up, and took with it some of the Empire's best along with a moon's worth of resources, everyone said it was "Tarkin's Folly".
- Screw the Rules, I Have a Nuke
- Smug Snake
- Tempting Fate: "Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances!"
- The radio play had him be a bit concerned, but he wasn't going to show weakness because if he ran and the place didn't get blown to hell, he'd have been utterly humiliated.
- Too Funny to Be Evil: Real Life on-set example - when filming, Peter Cushing's Nazi-style jackboots didn't fit him. Alternative footwear had to be found. Which meant that all the other actors had to pretend to be terrified of a man wearing the instantly recognizable Imperial uniform...and a pair of bath slippers for women.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Ahsoka helped save his life. In return, he acts as the prosecution when she's framed for bombing the Jedi Temple and makes very clear that he's pushing for her to be executed by a firing squad.
Jabba the Hutt[]
Voiced by: Larry Ward (Ep. VI) |
A very, very large slug-creature (it took something like 6 puppeteers to control him), leader of a major criminal organization, and the one to whom Han is deeply in debt to after a botched spice run. He was in the script for Episode IV, but it wasn't until VI that technology progressed enough to make him look like anything more than a half-inflated balloon; the Special Edition Ep.IV restores the deleted scenes graced by a completely CGI Jabba. Also had a cameo in Episode I.
- Adipose Rex
- Bad Boss
- Big Bad Wannabe
- Bilingual Dialogue
- Death by Irony: Leia strangles him with her slave chain.
- Depraved Bisexual: He had male pleasure slaves too, according to the Expanded Universe.
- Dirty Old Man: He's 600 years old, people.
- Disc One Final Boss: For the first act of Episode VI.
- The Don
- Evil Laugh
- Evil Is Hammy
- Evil Sounds Deep
- Fat Bastard
- Genius Bruiser: He's smart enough to shrug off a Jedi mind trick.
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- Hermaphrodite: According to the EU. You're welcome.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: "Soon you will learn to appreciate me."
- Jabba Table Manners: Trope Namer.
- Large Ham
- Non-Action Big Bad
- Papa Wolf: Jabba the Hutt in the Clone Wars movie cared quite a bit for Rotta the Hutt, his son, to the extent that should any of the two factions harm his son in any way, he will ensure they regretted it. On a related note, his love for his son was apparently strong enough to make him relent and allow Papanoida to make a case against Greedo when he appealed to his love for Rotta to have him help him find his daughters.
- Pet the Dog: Had one moment of this. See Papa Wolf above.
- Jabba decides tp spare Azool Phantelle's life when he's caught steailing in his territory because of his relation to Max Rebo. However Jabba still punished Azool by making him serve as a waiter on his sail barge.
- Jabba also stands up for the old and senile Marlo in War of the Bounty Hunters, telling Bokku to let him rest and take his adavnaced age into account.
- Psychopathic Manchild
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: The Rancor.
- Slouch of Villainy: Justified due to being a huge slug.
- Smug Snake
- Villain Ball: He tried to have some of the most influential Rebel leaders executed, including a Jedi. Yeah.
- Villainous Glutton
Viceroy Nute Gunray[]
Played by: Silas Carson (Ep.I-III) |
The Corrupt Corporate Executive leader of the Trade Federation and an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain during the prequel trilogy. Most prominently featured in Episode I, in which he makes a Deal with the Devil only to unsurprisingly be used and betrayed by Darth Sidious. Gunray joins the Separatists in Episode II, by which time he seems to have developed a grudge against Padmé. How dare she liberate her planet from his illegal invasion! In Episode III, Darth Vader kills him in cold blood as he begs for mercy.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Kind of. "Viceroy" is apparently just the title given to the leader of the Trade Federation. However, said organization apparently controls whole planets. So, whatever.
- Asshole Victim
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Dirty Coward: Qui-Gon notes that "these Federation types are cowards".
- Evil Genius
- Even Evil Has Standards: Sort of. When Sidious tells them to prepare their invasion of Naboo, Gunray implies that he's not willing to invade Naboo if such an invasion is illegal, resulting in Sidious telling them that he'll make the invasion legal. Though it may be more Pragmatic Villainy due to not wanting the inevitable backlash and sanctions for illegal actions.
- The Fundamentalist
- Greed: His apparent motivation. EU material (not to mention his attempt to have Padme assassinated in Episode 2) gives it as Revenge instead.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Mostly due to being generally bullied around by the real bad guys. He's not actually a very pleasant individual and in another story might even be a Complete Monster, but all we see is a man out of his depth, and fully aware of it.
- It's Personal: How he feels about Padmé after The Phantom Menace (and how he felt about then-Senator Palpatine in EU materials explaining why he blockaded Naboo). You'd think she'd be the one entitled to feel that way, but nope.
- Killed Mid-Sentence
- Lizard Folk: Along with apparently everyone who works for the Trade Federation.
- That's because the Neimodians were the only ones who were spared (unsurprisingly due to Palpatine's influence) in an assassination against the other leader races of the Trade Federation.
- Rubber Forehead Aliens
- Unwitting Pawn: Twice: First time was the aftermath of the invasion of Naboo, second time was during the Separatist wars, and at least until the near end of the conflict, he didn't even know that Darth Sidious was the true leader, or that it was even a Sith orchestrated group.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Revenge of the Sith.
Kylo Ren/Ben Solo[]
Played by: Adam Driver (Ep. VII-IX) |
Named after Obi-Wan's alias, Ben Solo was the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, born a year after Episode VI. Though he inherited his mother's affinity for the Force and was born into a Badass Family, Ben did not have a happy childhood, being neglected by his busy parents all the while he struggled with Sith voices in his head. Ben was eventually sent to train with his uncle Luke during which time he learnt that Darth Vader was his grandfather. With this knowledge, Ben was left vulnerable to a mysterious being called Snoke who introduced him to the Dark Side and the First Order. After crossing paths with, and taking command of, the Knights of Ren, Ben became Kylo Ren and took it upon himself to finish Darth Vader's legacy.
- Ace Pilot
- Always Someone Better:
- Palpatine regards him as an idealized version of Vader. It's also worth noting that Ben, unlike Anakin, managed to save the girl he loved.
- In his Age of Resistance comic, a Stormtrooper captain who served with Vader even concedes that Kylo Ren is more powerful than his predecessor.
- Without a Drama-Preserving Handicap, he proves how completely out of Rey's league he is.
- Palpatine regards him as an idealized version of Vader. It's also worth noting that Ben, unlike Anakin, managed to save the girl he loved.
- Bad Boss: Spends most of his time with his subordinates making Vader look like a Benevolent Boss.
- Badass Baritone
- Being Evil Sucks: It's clear that Kylo is not happy with where his life wound up.
- Darth Vader Clone
- Demoted to Dragon: Once it's clear that Palpatine is still alive, Kylo finds himself the victim of this. Though he's quick to elect himself as the Starscream.
- Determinator: When Ben Solo puts his mind to something, it's a question of when it will happen, not if.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: The climaxes of Episodes VII and VIII put him through the emotional ringer, allowing the heroes a chance against him in combat.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He puts the lion's share of the blame for his Parental Neglect onto Han. In The Last Jedi, he can't bring himself to fire on Leia and would even have stopped his escorts' attack on her if he could. Feeling her death causes a Villainous BSOD and leads to his Heel Face Turn.
- Fatal Flaw: Like his uncle, he tends to rush in without properly thinking things through or considering every angle.
- General Failure: His battle tactics mainly involve to Attack! Attack! Attack!, firing every turbolaser and missile he can.
- Generation Xerox: Like his grandfather, he's a Child Prodigy among the Jedi. And like his grandfather, his elders forgot that he was a child who needed familial structure, something whose absence left him vulnerable to Palpatine.
- Hair-Trigger Temper
- Hypocrite: During Rey's interrogation, he calls the Resistance a group of "murderers, traitors and thieves". This from a man who murdered innocents on Jakku, betrayed the Jedi and is trying to steal the map to Luke Skywalker. So he can murder him.
- Identical Grandson: While he looks more like Han Solo, much of Ben's personality follows his grandfather Anakin's. He even styles himself as a Darth Vader Clone and spends his life being gaslit by Palpatine.
- Ironic Birthday: He was born on the day the Galactic Concordance, the official peace treaty that ended the Galactic Civil War, was signed. Then he went on to aid in the First Order-Resistance war.
- I've Come Too Far...: Like his grandfather, the main reason he's with the Dark Side is because his dramatic betrayal of the Jedi left him with nowhere else to go.
- Kick the Dog: Kills Lor San Tekka when he tries to reason with him. Kylo even makes a coldly sarcastic comment before doing so.
- Last of His Kind: After Leia dies, he becomes the last of the biological Skywalker line.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After feeling Leia's love for him which allows him to break free from Palpatine's gaslighting.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Named after Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. He deeply resents the expectations that came with that name.
- Not So Different:
- If any of his body language looks familiar, it's because you've probably seen it come from Han Solo.
- How he and Rey bond.
- Older Than They Look: He's actually about ten years older than Rey.
- One-Man Army: Nothing can stand in his way for long.
- He once killed a Zillo Beast singlehanded. Keep in mind that everything the previous Jedi Order threw at one such beast failed to make even a scratch. When Darth Vader fought the beast that Kylo killed, he was ultimately forced to retreat.
- When Snoke's Praetorian Guard fight him and Rey, the majority decide to try and Zerg Rush him to no avail.
- In Episode IX, he manages to hold his own against the Knights of Ren unarmed. When he gets a lightsaber, it's such a Curb Stomp Battle that he has time to help Rey finish off Palpatine's Praetorian Guard.
- Pet the Dog: In The Last Jedi he listens to Rey's troubles and comforts her when she's upset during their force bonding scenes. Protecting her is also one of the reasons he kills Snoke and he states she means something to him.
- Spin Offspring: He's the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.
- Strong Family Resemblance: To Han, though he inherits Prequel-era Anakin's hair.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else: Beneath the imposing helmet of this Darth Vader Clone is a hunk.
- Ungrateful Bastard: When Han is willing to forgive him and help to redeem himself Kylo reacts by murdering his father.
- The Worf Effect: In Episode VII, his spirit is "split to the bone" from killing Han and he's recovering from a blaster wound, allowing Finn and Rey a chance against him.
- Young Conqueror: The undisputed ruler of most of the galaxy at thirty years old.
Supporting Characters, Troops and Alien Races[]
Admiral Firmus Piett[]
Played by: Kenneth Colley (Ep.V-VI) |
"You Have Failed Me for the last time, Admiral Ozzel. Captain Piett?... Make way to land our troops beyond the energy shield, and deploy the fleet so that nothing gets off the system. You Are in Command Now, Admiral Piett." Yep, that's the character's entire claim to fame (that,and he was the first person to see the back of Vader's head without the helmet). Did you even notice him in Episode VI? 'Cuz he was there.
- Anti-Villain / Punch Clock Villain
- The Dragon: To Darth Vader
- High Turnover Rate
- Mauve Shirt
- Mook Lieutenant
- The Starscream: Some sources in the EU imply that he was part of the reason for Ozzel's failures and thus his death.
- You Are in Command Now: The "You" in question. Once Ozell is out of the picture, Piett is promoted to admiral.
Kendal Ozzel[]
- The Ditz: As Vader puts it, he is as clumsy as he is stupid.
- Hate Sink: Nobody is unhappy to see him gone.
- Heel Face Door Slam: As he's being chocked to death, he reflects that he's wasted his life bowing to tyrants and understands how evil the Empire truly is. If he had more time, he says he would have joined the Rebellion and treated his fiancée better.
- The Millstone: Darth Vader force chokes him for this reason. Not least due to his terrible decision to alert the Rebels of their presence, allowing them to activate their force field and prevent an aerial bombardment, which could have prevented many Empire casualties.
- You Have Failed Me: The "You" in question.
Admiral Konstantine[]
- Green-Eyed Monster: He's clearly jealous of Thrawn's influence and rank.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's more than a bit creeped out by the inquisitors.
- Kick the Dog:
- Pins (or at least intends to pin) the blame of catching the Vader's tie instead of the Ghost onto a subordinate.
- Either doesn't notice or care that Kallus went missing for a day and shows concern for his well-being.
- Pet the Dog: In "Academy Cadets" despite their failure in apprehending the crew Konstantine still commends the cadets for their efforts and will specifically send a recommendation to Jenkins for Imvur's leadership.
Brom Titus[]
- Affably Evil: He genuinely respects Rex for his heroics in the clone wars and is disappointed by his decision to betray the empire though when Rex rejects his offer of reinstatement Titus drops any of his previous kindness.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He can't understand why Rex would leave the empire and seems surprised when he rejects his offer to rejoin in exchange for betraying his friends.
- Pet the Dog: When Ezra demonstrates he's perfectly willing to let Reklam Station fall Titus gets on the intercom and tells everyone to evacuate ASAP before running off.
General Maximilian Veers[]
Played by: Julian Glover (Ep.V) |
Commanding officer of the ground forces assigned to Darth Vader's personal squadron. He personally leads the Imperial assault on Echo Base, firing the last shots which destroys the shield generator. The Expanded Universe further expands his career, detailing how he was one of the few officers assigned to the Death Star who escaped and survived on his own on Yavin 4.
Ki-Adi-Mundi[]
Played by: Silas Carson (Ep. I-II-III), Derek Arnold (The Acolyte) |
Cerean Jedi Master who served on the Jedi High Council in last years of the Galactic Republic and played a major role in several battles during the Clone Wars. He was shot to death by his own clone troopers.
- Master Swordsman
- My Brain Is Big
- Old Master: He was an active member of the Jedi Order a hundred years before the Skywalker Saga.
- Psychic Powers
- Rubber Forehead Aliens
- Supporting Leader
Bail Prestor Organa[]
Played by: Jimmy Smits (Ep.II-III, Rogue One, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
Prince Consort, head of the royal house of Alderaan, ruler and senator of Alderaan. He is Leia's adoptive father and one of the main founders of the Rebel Alliance.
- Big No: As he witnesses young Padawan Zett Jukassa being gunned down by the Clone Troopers.
- Doomed by Canon: Word of God confirms that he died when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan in A New Hope.
- Good Parents
- La Résistance
- Law of Inverse Fertility: He and his wife had many difficulties in producing an heir.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something
Mon Mothma[]
Played by: Caroline Blakiston (Ep. VI), Genevieve O'Reilly (Ep. III, Rogue One, Andor) |
An important political figure who founded and led the Rebel Alliance. Later becomes Chief of State of the New Republic after the downfall of the Empire.
- Big Good: For the one scene she gets.
- Lethally Expensive: "Many Bothans died to bring us this information."
- Minor Major Character: Despite being the Big Good of the Rebellion, she doesn't appear much.
- One-Scene Wonder: Has less than thirty seconds of screentime in Return of the Jedi.
- La Résistance
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mon Mothma adored the Galactic Republic so much that she brought it back exactly as it was in the Prequel era. This meant the New Republic was mired by as much in-fighting as its predecessor. Her overt demilitarization also meant that the New Republic couldn't muster up a proper defence against the nascent First Order.
- Woman in White
Admiral Gial Ackbar[]
Played by: Timothy M. Rose (Ep.VI-VIII) |
A squid-person from a species called the Mon Calamari, Ackbar is something of a One-Scene Wonder, appearing only in the last hour of the entire franchise but, like Wedge, has gone on to be a pivotal member of the Expanded Universe. He commands the Rebel fleet during the Battle of Endor, during which he famously pronounced, "It's a trap!"
- All There in the Manual: His given name, Gial, was first mentioned in The Essential Guide To Warfare.
- Captain Obvious: "It's a trap!"
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Is among the many Resistance admirals and generals who perish in Kylo Ren's bombing run on the Raddus.
- Four-Star Badass
- Fish People
- The Strategist
- Supporting Leader
General Crix Madine[]
Played by: Dermot Crowley (Ep. VI) |
A former Imperial officer who defected to the Rebels, supplying valuable knowledge and information crucial to their success in the battle of Endor.
Biggs Darklighter[]
Played by: Garrick Hagon (Ep. IV) |
Luke's Big Brother Mentor from Tatooine. He left to join the Rebel Alliance prior to the events of A New Hope. He and Luke meet again upon finding out that they're both set to take on the Death Star in the battle of Yavin together. Sadly, Biggs is shot down by Imperial fighters. Though gone, Biggs still has his fans (and a plethora of Final Fantasy characters who share his name).
- Badass Mustache
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Never mentioned in the films after his untimely demise in Episode IV.
- Hero of Another Story: Has all sorts of his own adventures while Luke is stuck on boring old Tatooine, much to Luke's annoyance.
- Mauve Shirt
- What Could Have Been: He was intended to be a more prominent character in A New Hope, but most of his scenes were cut before the final release.
Lobot[]
Played by: John Hollis (Ep. V) |
Lando's chief aide on Cloud City. His brain is linked to Cloud City's computer network.
- Heel Face Turn: In his backstory, he is a convict who is sentenced to serve as Cloud City's computer-liason officer.
- Neural Implanting
- Satellite Character
- The Stoic
- The Voiceless: Never spoke a word onscreen.
Gar Saxon[]
- Kick the Dog: Uses Chopper as target practice in an effort to make Ezra tell him the truth.
- Pet the Dog:
- In Son of Dathomir his behavior towards Maul does seem rather genuine.
- When Sabine rolls a smokebomb into the room where he and another supercommando are interrogating Ezra Saxon tells the other one to get down right before it goes off.
Stormtroopers[]
Elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire. These faceless enforcers are considered an extension of the Emperor's will, and thus they will often use brutal tactics as a way to keep thousands of star systems throughout the galaxy in line.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: See Meaningful Name.
- Elite Mooks: More of an Informed Ability in the movies.
- Enemy Chatter
- Evil Minions
- Faceless Goons
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Trope Namer. Fiction outside the films has tried a couple times to justify it, including that the Stormtroopers were human recruits rather than clones. In the games, their signature blaster rifles are typically inaccurate beyond a few feet.
- Light Is Not Good: Don't be fooled by the shiny white armor.
- Malevolent Masked Men
- Meaningful Name: Apparently the Stormtroopers were named after the Sturm Abteilung of Nazi Germany. (In German, Sturm is synonymous with "assault")
- Punch Clock Villain
- Super Soldier
- White Mask of Doom
IG-88[]
A ruthless assassin droid, and one of the bounty hunters sent by the Empire to track Han Solo in Episode V. It started placing trackers on all of the bounty hunters' ships that were present and used them to find Solo. Boba Fett was not fooled; he allowed IG-88 to follow him to Bespin, where the droid met its end. IG-88B was left as scrap in the bowels of Cloud City.
Fenec Shand[]
- Even Evil Has Standards: When assisting Boba in killing Fortuna and taking over his empire she frees a slave girl.
- I Owe You My Life: She is loyal to Boba ever since he saved her life on Tatooine.
- Would Hurt a Child: She and Boba threaten to kill Gorgu if Mando doesn't return Boba's armour.
Jawas[]
Short rodent-like natives of Tatooine. They are passionate scavengers, seeking out or even stealing technology for trade in the deep deserts in their huge sandcrawler transports.
Tusken Raiders[]
Also known as Sand People. Nomadic, primitive sentients indigenous to Tatooine, where they are often hostile to local settlers.
- Rape, Pillage and Burn: Their culture in a nutshell.
- The Unintelligibles: Their language is made of growls and grunts. It sounds like donkey brayings.
Ewoks[]
Sentient primitive furry bipeds native to the forest moon of Endor.
- Badass Adorable
- Bamboo Technology
- Beware the Nice Ones
- Gang of Critters
- God Guise
- Proud Warrior Race Guys
- Rock Beats Laser
The Clone Troopers[]
Played by: Temuera Morrison (Ep.II-III). All of them. |
An army of identical, genetically-modified clones, created to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Grown and raised in the laboratories and facilities of Kamino, they fought under Jedi command to defend Republic sovereignty against the Separatist rebellion. Due to their inability to disobey any order, the clone troopers carried out Palpatine's commands without question and destroyed the Jedi Order. They were later re-designated as the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers.
- Expendable Clone
- Faceless Goons
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Averted, especially during Order 66.
- Just Following Orders
- Mauve Shirt/ Mook Lieutenant: Captain Rex and Commander Cody.
- Malevolent Masked Men
- Punch Clock Villain: Once Order 66 is launched.
- Super Soldier
- White Mask of Doom
- Younger Than They Look: Justified by their accelerated growth.
Commander Cody[]
- Big Brother Instinct: As one of the highest-ranking and oldest clone troopers Cody frequently shows concern for the well-being of his many clone brothers and is visibly angry when others abuse or mistreat them. When he found out some clones are being held prisoner on Krystar and will soon be sold into slavery he insists they stage a rescue operation immediately.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Inverted. People who usually dislike clones such as the Bad Batch and Quinlan Vos respect Cody and get on well with him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He was last seen when the Empire first rose.
The Battle Droids[]
- Elite Mooks: The B2 super battle droids and the Droidekas. Even the Jedi had problems defeating them and 50 years after the Clone Wars' end, the B2s is still useful in the Yuuzhan Vong War against the Yuuzhan Vong empire.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Which they lampshade sometimes.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains: The B1 units.
- Mecha-Mooks
Boss Nass[]
Played by: Brian Blessed |
Ruler of the Gungans.
- Adipose Rex
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Large Ham: Or is that redundant?
- Proud Warrior Race Guy
- Serkis Folk
The Wookiees[]
Species of hairy bipedal humanoids that are inhabitants of the planet Kashyyyk.
- Badass
- Badass Adorable
- Bilingual Dialogue
- Cuddle Bug: As hugging is the Wookie's cultural equivalent of a hand-shake, expect to get this a lot if you befriend a Wookie.
- Genius Bruiser
- Gentle Giant: In spite of the average Wookiee also being a...
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Every last lovable one of them.
- Slave Race: The Empire enslaved them.
- Starfish Language/The Unintelligible
Greedo[]
A Rodian bounty hunter in the employ of Jabba the Hutt. He confronts Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina because of the price on Solo's head. It doesn't end well for him.
- Bilingual Dialogue
- Bounty Hunter
- The Dog Shot First
- Evil Debt Collector
- Little Green Men: The size of a human though.
- One-Scene Wonder: His encounter with Han ends really, really badly.
Owen and Beru Lars[]
Owen played by: Phil Brown (Ep.IV); Joel Edgerton (Ep.II-III, Obi-Wan Kenobi) |
Moisture farmers from Tatooine. They're Luke's stepuncle and stepaunt, they adopted and raised him.
- Aerith and Bob
- Death By Origin Story
- Determined Homesteader
- Door Stop Baby
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite his dislike for Obi-Wan Owen refuses to betray him to the inquisitors and very nearly loses his life for it.
- Evil Uncle: Owen Lars is an inversion of the trope, as he was, while gruff, nonetheless depicted as a good man in the little we see of him, and if anything, it's Luke's father who was evil.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend
- Good Parents
- Happily Married
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Owen is a bit gruff and his actions come off as controlling but that's largely because he loves his nephew and wants to protect him from ending up like his father. He even stands up to Reva in order to protect Luke despite clearly being outmatched.
- Killed Off for Real
- Mama Bear/Papa Wolf: Blood relation or not, Luke is their son and they will lay down their lives to protect him.
- Muggle Foster Parents
- Nephewism
- Pet the Dog: When Obi-Wan demonstrates that he cares more about Luke as a person than as a Jedi, Owen allows the two to meet.
- Watching the Sunset
Shmi Skywalker Lars[]
Played by: Pernilla August (Ep.I-II) |
Mother of Anakin Skywalker, stepmother to Owen Lars and the paternal grandmother of Luke and Leia.
- Actor Allusion: Pernilla August played the Virgin Mary in a television film.
- Death By Origin Story: Avenging her death is Anakin's first major step towards the Dark Side.
- Determinator: She was captured by a group of Tusken raiders one month before the events of Attack of the Clones. She was severely beaten and dehydrated, but hold on to her memories of Anakin in an effort to stay alive.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight / Pieta Plagiarism: She dies in Anakin's arms.
- Don't Look Back: She gives Anakin the strength to leave Tatooine by telling him not to look back at her.
- Good Parent
- Happily Married: She was bought and freed by Cliegg Lars, who married her some time between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
- Killed Off for Real: In Attack of the Clones.
- Made a Slave
- Muggle Foster Parent
- Truly Single Parent: She conceived Anakin without the help of a father.
Cliegg Lars[]
Played by: Jack Thompson (Ep.II) |
A hardworking moisture farmer from Tatooine, he is Shmi's husband, Owen's father and Luke's grand-stepfather.
- Buy Their Freedom / Release Your Slaves: He bought Shmi to Watto and subsequently freed and married her.
- Happily Married: He and Shmi formed a strong bond of a loving family.
Watto[]
Voiced by: Andrew Secombe (Ep.I-II) |
Toydarian junk dealer who owns a shop in Mos Espa, Tatooine, and two slaves, Shmi and Anakin Skywalker. Immune to Jedi Mind Trick.
- The Gambling Addict: Often bets on podraces.
- Jerkass
- Pet the Dog:
- He allows Anakin to go home early after their first meeting with Qui-Gon much to the boy's delight.
- When Qui-Gon asks if he has the ship part he's looking for Watto confirms he does but in a surprising display of honesty warns Qui-Gon that buying a whole new ship (that he doesn't sell) would be cheaper than buying the part.
- Serkis Folk
- Sinister Schnoz
- Space Jews / Greedy Space Jew
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: The reason he sold Shmi to Cliegg Lars.
Sebulba[]
Voiced by : Lewis Mac Leod (Ep.I) |
High-speed podracer pilot of the Dug species, and the arch-rival of a young Anakin Skywalker.
- Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Race pilot version.
- Badass Driver
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Like all Dugs, he walks on his hands and uses his feet to hold onto things.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Subverted. Even though everyone knows he cheats, he's still the most popular racer. The Star Wars Expanded Universe material reveals that not only did he obtain Anakin's podracer later on, but he also continued to be one of the most succesful podracers ever. Losing the Boonta to Anakin was just a minor setback for him.
- Cool Car: Plug-F Mammoth podracer.
- Hot-Blooded
- Jerkass
- The Napoleon
- The Rival: To Anakin.
- Serkis Folk
- Spiked Wheels: Sebulba modified his podracer in lethal ways such as adding a flamethrower or making it durable enough to ram other podracers off of the track.
- Vehicular Sabotage: He has no qualms using this way to ensure his victory.
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