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Main Protagonists[]

Luke Skywalker[]

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 Played by: Mark Hamill (Ep.IV-IX), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III), Grant Feely (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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 I am a Jedi, like my father before me.

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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.

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Yoda: Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be.

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Han Solo[]

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 Played by: Harrison Ford (Ep.IV-VII, IX), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo)

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 Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

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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.


Princess Leia Organa[]

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 Played by: Carrie Fisher (Ep.IV-IX), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III), Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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 I am NOT a committee!

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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.

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 Somebody's got to save our skins!

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Anakin Skywalker[]

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 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)

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 Something's happening. I'm not the Jedi I should be. I want more, but I know I shouldn't...

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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.

Obi-Wan Kenobi[]

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 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)

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 If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

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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.

Yoda[]

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 Voiced by: Frank Oz (Ep.I, II, III, V, VI, VIII, voice cameo in Ep.IX)

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 Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

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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.

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 A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

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Chewbacca[]

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 Played by: Peter Mayhew (suit; Ep.III-IX)

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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."

C-3P0 and R2-D2[]

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 3P0 played by: Anthony Daniels

R2 played by: Kenny Baker (suit)

R2 "voiced" by: Ben Burtt

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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.

Lando Calrissian[]

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 Played by: Billy Dee Williams (Ep.V-VI, IX)

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 Yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful.

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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.

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Padmé Amidala[]

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 Played by: Natalie Portman (Ep.I-III)

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 So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.

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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.

Mace Windu[]

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 Played by: Samuel L. Jackson (Ep.I-III, voice cameo in Ep.IX)

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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[]

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 Played by: Denis Lawson (Ep.IV-VI, IX)

Played by: Colin Higgins (briefly in Ep.IV)

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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[]

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 Played by: Liam Neeson (Ep. I, voice cameo in Ep.IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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 Your focus determines your reality.

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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.

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 "You will be a Jedi. I promise."

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Jar Jar Binks[]

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 Played by: Ahmed Best (Ep.I-III)

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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.

Finn[]

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Played by: John Boyega (Ep. VII-IX)

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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[]

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Played by: Oscar Isaac (Ep. VII-IX)

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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[]

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 Played by: David Prowse (suit, Ep.IV-VI); Bob Anderson (swordplay and stunts, Ep.IV-VI), Hayden Christensen (suit, Ep.III, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Voiced by: James Earl Jones (Ep.III-VI)

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 I find your lack of faith disturbing.

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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.

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 Obi-Wan:"He's more machine than man now; twisted, and evil."

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Emperor Palpatine[]

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 Played by: Ian McDiarmid (Ep.I-III, the rerelease of V, VI, voice cameo in VII, IX, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Voiced by: Clive Revill (Ep.V, original version)

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 Let the hate flow through you.

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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.
  • 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[]

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 Played by: Played by: Jeremy Bulloch (suit, Ep.V-VI); Daniel Logan (child, Ep.II); Temuera Morrison (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett)

Voiced by: Temuera Morrison (Special Edition, Ep.V-VI); Jason Wingreen (original voice, Ep.V-VI)

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 He's no good to me dead.

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Bobafett1 407

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".
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 "Vader always said that, after that one time..."

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  • 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[]

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 Played by: Ray Park (Ep.I)

Voiced by: Peter Serafinowicz (Ep.I)

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Darth maul 2006

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[]

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 Played by: Temuera Morrison

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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.

General Grievous[]

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 Voiced by: Matthew Wood (Ep. III)

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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.

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus[]

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 Played by: Christopher Lee (Ep.II-III)

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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.
  • 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[]

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 Played by: Peter Cushing (Ep.IV); Wayne Pygram (5-second cameo in Ep.III).

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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.
  • 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[]

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 Voiced by: Larry Ward (Ep. VI)

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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.

Viceroy Nute Gunray[]

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 Played by: Silas Carson (Ep.I-III)

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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[]

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Played by: Adam Driver (Ep. VII-IX)

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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.
  • 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[]

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 Played by: Kenneth Colley (Ep.V-VI)

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"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.


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[]

General Maximilian Veers[]

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 Played by: Julian Glover (Ep.V)

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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[]

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 Played by: Silas Carson (Ep. I-II-III), Derek Arnold (The Acolyte)

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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.


Bail Prestor Organa[]

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 Played by: Jimmy Smits (Ep.II-III, Rogue One, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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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.

Mon Mothma[]

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 Played by: Caroline Blakiston (Ep. VI), Genevieve O'Reilly (Ep. III, Rogue One, Andor)

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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.

Admiral Gial Ackbar[]

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 Played by: Timothy M. Rose (Ep.VI-VIII)

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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!"

General Crix Madine[]

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  Played by: Dermot Crowley (Ep. VI)

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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[]

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  Played by: Garrick Hagon (Ep. IV)

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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).

Lobot[]

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  Played by: John Hollis (Ep. V)

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Lando's chief aide on Cloud City. His brain is linked to Cloud City's computer network.

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.

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.

Ewoks[]

Sentient primitive furry bipeds native to the forest moon of Endor.

The Clone Troopers[]

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 Played by: Temuera Morrison (Ep.II-III). All of them.

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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.

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[]

Boss Nass[]

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 Played by: Brian Blessed

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Ruler of the Gungans.

The Wookiees[]

Species of hairy bipedal humanoids that are inhabitants of the planet Kashyyyk.

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.

Owen and Beru Lars[]

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 Owen played by: Phil Brown (Ep.IV); Joel Edgerton (Ep.II-III, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Beru played by: Shelagh Fraser (Ep.IV); Bonnie Piesse (Ep.II-III, Obi-Wan Kenobi)

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Moisture farmers from Tatooine. They're Luke's stepuncle and stepaunt, they adopted and raised him.

Shmi Skywalker Lars[]

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 Played by: Pernilla August (Ep.I-II)

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Mother of Anakin Skywalker, stepmother to Owen Lars and the paternal grandmother of Luke and Leia.

Cliegg Lars[]

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 Played by: Jack Thompson (Ep.II)

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A hardworking moisture farmer from Tatooine, he is Shmi's husband, Owen's father and Luke's grand-stepfather.

Watto[]

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 Voiced by: Andrew Secombe (Ep.I-II)

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Toydarian junk dealer who owns a shop in Mos Espa, Tatooine, and two slaves, Shmi and Anakin Skywalker. Immune to Jedi Mind Trick.

Sebulba[]

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 Voiced by : Lewis Mac Leod (Ep.I)

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High-speed podracer pilot of the Dug species, and the arch-rival of a young Anakin Skywalker.


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