Star Wars/Characters

Luke Skywalker


"Played by: Mark Hamill (Ep.IV-VI), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III)"

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

A Farm Boy from a desert planet, Luke discovers that his father was a Jedi and that he can be one too. This led to him becoming a major figure in the Rebel Alliance, the savior of the galaxy, leader of the reborn Jedi Order and all-around Badass.

"Darth Vader: The force is definitely strong with young Skywalker."
 * Ace Pilot
 * Adorkable: His awful 1970's hairstyle really helps.
 * Artificial Hand: Replaces the one he lost fighting Vader inThe Empire Strikes Back.
 * Awesome McCoolname
 * Badass
 * Ambadassador: At the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
 * Handicapped Badass: Played with in A New Hope, when he trains with a blindfold and then refuses to use his targeting computer when shooting the Death Star. Played straight in Return of the Jedi, after he's lost his hand.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Notably during The Empire Strikes Back and at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.
 * Berserk Button: Threatening to turn Leia to The Dark Side.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Luke is overall a Nice Guy who manages to keep any feelings of strong anger in check most of the time (as it is the Jedi way). However when Luke does get severely pissed while dueling Vader near the end of Return of the Jedi, his rage overwhelms Vader, a sith lord whose fighting style involves channeling feelings of pure hate. Beating a Sith at their own game by summoning rage within yourself and using it to beat them, that's quite something.
 * Big Good: After the foundation of the New Jedi Order in the Expanded Universe.
 * Big No: A classic one in The Empire Strikes Back
 * Also when Obi Wan is killed in A New Hope.
 * Another one in the final duel when Vader suggests to turn Leia to the Dark Side.
 * Black Cloak / In the Hood: This is how he makes his entrance to Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi.
 * Conveniently an Orphan
 * Cool Spaceship: The Incom T-65 X-wing starfighter.
 * Did Not Get the Girl: Considering the girl is later revealed to be his sister, this is a good thing. He has to wait for the Expanded Universe for his own chance at romance.
 * Don't Think, Feel: A major part of his Jedi training.
 * Dork Knight
 * Farm Boy
 * Generation Xerox: To Anakin Skywalker.
 * Also, he's alot like Padme with his almost messianic sense of compassion.
 * The Gift: Luke has tremendous force potential that he inherited from his feather Anakin Skywalker. Before his Jedi training, he was able to instinctively reach out and allow the force to guide his hand in blowing up the deathstar. On Hoth, he could telekinetically pull his lightsaber from Ice with some effort and in the reboot comics (current Disney canon) made an entire spaceship shake from an emotional outburst while fighting the leader of the Scar squadron of storm troopers. Vader happened to be close by in his Tie-fighter and even mentioned it.

"Yoda: Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be."
 * While being trained by Yoda in only the span of a few weeks/months, Luke's powers grew so strong that he was capable of feats most Jedi need years of training to perform. Even without any formal combat training or experience using the force in a duel, he was still able to put up a good fight against his father on Bespin. Keep in mind Vader can casually curb stomp most experience Jedi that engage him in combat. He had to put in real effort(though not his best) in his first duel with his son.
 * Grew a Spine: When he leaves Yoda's training to rescue Han and Leia on Bespin.
 * The Heart
 * The Hero
 * Honor Before Reason: Decides to rescue his friends from Vader although he has little chance against him.
 * Also, joining the Rebel attack on the Death Star despite its low chance of success, as Lampshaded by Han.
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: His last fight with Vader in Return of the Jedi.
 * Jumped At the Call
 * Kung Fu Jesus: Since he's a Messianic Archetype who's also a Jedi.
 * Last of His Kind: He is the said to be the last Jedi knight to be alive from Yoda's death to the foundation of a new Jedi Order.


 * Leeroy Jenkins: In The Empire Strikes Back and to a lesser extent in A New Hope.
 * The Load: In The Empire Strikes Back. Over the course of the film, Luke is actually the cause of the invasion of Hoth (Vader sensed him and immediately determined it was a Rebel stronghold); the ambush on Cloud City and subsequent torture of Han; and the crew of the Millenium Falcon had to go back to rescue Luke.
 * Luke Nounverber: Trope Namer.
 * Master Swordsman: He is definitely one in Return of the Jedi and afterwards.
 * The McCoy
 * The Messiah: Did a better job than his father did.
 * Messianic Archetype
 * Nice Guy
 * Not So Different: Him and Vader.
 * People Jars: His healing in The Empire Strikes Back.
 * Physical God: As Grand Master of the New Jedi Order in the Expanded Universe, possibly even moreso than his father could've hypothetically been.
 * Psychic Powers: Luke has mastered them by the start of Return of the Jedi.
 * Reckless Gun Usage: Watch very closely as Luke Skywalker first ignites his lightsaber in Star Wars: A New Hope — he doesn't know how long the beam is and yet is pointing it at Obi-Wan.
 * Sneaky Departure
 * Sword and Gun: He uses both his blaster and lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back before only using his lightsaber in Return of the Jedi.
 * Tell Me About My Father
 * Training from Hell: With Yoda.
 * Weapon of Choice: His father's blue lightsaber until he lost it against Vader. He made himself a green one afterwards.
 * What Could Have Been: Believe it or not, he was the character originally slated to die in Vector Prime to show that the Yuuzhan Vong meant business, but Lucasfilm put a moratorium on visibly killing him, Han, or Leia.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: A major plot point of the EU is how a lot of people (including Leia) are pissed at him for forgiving Vader after everything he had done.
 * Wide-Eyed Idealist: In contrast to Han's cynicism.

Han Solo
"Played by: Harrison Ford (Ep.IV-VI)"



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

A smuggler originally hired by Obi-Wan to provide him transport to Alderaan, Han (and his Cool Ship, the Millenium Falcon) became central to the fate of the galaxy. An Ace Pilot with a sarcastic streak and no particular loyalties (initially), Han was played by Harrison Ford, who improvised many of the character's best lines.


 * Ace Pilot
 * Anti-Hero: Type IV (A New Hope)-> Type II.
 * The Asteroid Thicket: See Ace Pilot.
 * Badass:
 * Badass Normal: Is not Force-sensitive, but a great pilot and fighter.
 * Badass Grandpa: Literally in the Expanded Universe.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Leia.
 * Big Damn Heroes: A classic one towards the end of A New Hope.
 * Blood Brothers: With Chewbacca.
 * The Captain: In the loosest sense of the word.
 * Changed My Mind, Kid
 * Character Development
 * Cool Starship: The Millenium Falcon.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Dog Shot First
 * The Ferry Man
 * The Gunslinger
 * Guile Hero
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Chewie.
 * Intrepid Merchant
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Knight in Sour Armor: After he joins the Rebel Alliance.
 * The Lancer
 * Loveable Rogue: Trope Codifier.
 * Never Tell Me the Odds: Trope Namer.
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Dinner with Vader in Cloud City.
 * Not in This For Your Revolution: At first.
 * Only in It For the Money: "Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money."
 * Polyglot: Though not as reliable as C-3PO, being able to interpret Chewbacca's bellowing and Jabba's belches definitely counts for something.
 * The Idea Guy
 * Weapon of Choice: DL-44 heavy blaster pistol.
 * Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: With Leia.

Princess Leia Organa S
"Played by: Carrie Fisher (Ep.IV-VI), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III)"



"I am NOT a committee!"

Leia was the (adopted) daughter of Bail Organa and followed his footsteps in becoming the Senator of the planet Alderaan. She also followed him into the Rebel Alliance, which led to her imprisonment on the Death Star, where two young men and a Wookiee with more heroism than sense (Luke and Han) broke her out. Then it became clear that she's an Action Girl in her own right, and things got really interesting.

"Somebody's got to save our skins!"
 * Action Girl: Leia fights her way out of the Death Star, chokes Jabba to death with her own chains and joins the Rebel strike team for their mission on Endor.


 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Badass:
 * Ambadassador
 * Badass Normal: In the original trilogy. She became
 * Badass Princess: The first thing she does in A New Hope? Shooting a stormtrooper in cold blood.
 * Never Mess with Granny: In the Expanded Universe.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Han.
 * Braids of Action: In Return of the Jedi.
 * Brainy Brunette
 * The Chick: Subverted; she is definitely not the useless type of female character.
 * Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Damsel in Distress: Subverted where she ends up leading her own rescue mission.
 * Everything's Better with Princesses
 * Go-Go Enslavement: See above.
 * Happily Adopted: At the end of Revenge of the Sith.
 * Happily Married: To Han, in the EU.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: The one character in the original trilogy who almost never misses. Justified somewhat in that she is Force-sensitive.
 * The Lancer: A little.
 * Odango: Her famous "cinnamon bun" hairstyle in "A New Hope".
 * Only Sane Man: In A New Hope.
 * Politically-Active Princess: Is a senator (until Palpatine disbands the Senate), and then an important member of the rebellion.
 * Pursued Protagonist
 * La Résistance
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Sex Slave: To Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi.
 * There Is Another:
 * Tsundere
 * Well, Excuse Me, Princess!
 * Woman in White

Anakin Skywalker
"Played by: Jake Lloyd (as a child, Ep.I), Hayden Christensen (Ep.II-III; as a Force ghost in the 2004 rerelease of Ep.VI), Sebastian Shaw (Ep.VI)"



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

The most pivotal man in the galaxy, whose decisions changed the fate of every living being. Also had a son who did the same thing. Anakin was born on a desert planet (the same one, actually) and grew up with Jedi training; unlike Luke, he was hot-tempered, brash and sometimes undisciplined. Evidently that made all the difference; Luke didn't help put the galaxy under the heel of an evil dictator.


 * Ace Pilot
 * Informed Ability: This is never proven, except for young Anakin shouting, "Let's try spinning! That's a good trick!"
 * Accidental Hero: In The Phantom Menace.
 * Always Save the Girl: His quest to save Padmé from death.
 * And Then Anakin Was A Sith Lord
 * Anti-Hero: Type II or III, veering towards V on the occasions that he flirts with The Dark Side.
 * Anti-Villain: Type II
 * Artificial Limb: Has a cybernetic arm, thanks to Dooku,
 * Awesome McCoolname
 * Badass:
 * Badass Abnormal: He was abnormally Force-sensitive, even by Jedi standards.
 * Badass Adorable: In Episode I.
 * Badass Driver: He IS called the best starpilot in the galaxy.
 * Badass Long Hair: In Episode III.
 * Handicapped Badass: In Episode III, after losing an arm in Episode II.
 * Heartbroken Badass
 * One-Man Army: In Episode III.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, obviously.
 * Berserk Button: Torturing someone he loves.  found that out the hard way in Return of the Jedi.
 * And an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders (men, women and children) found it out way earlier.
 * Black Cloak: He begins dressing in black robes in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Born Into Slavery
 * Byronic Hero
 * Captain Crash: He could out-fly grown pilots when he was a kid; it's just a shame he never quite got the hang of landings.
 * The Chosen One: Doubly subverted. He joins The Dark Side, then destroys the Emperor at the end of the saga.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Oh, so much. Ironically, his loyalty to the people he cares about ends up being the reason he is constantly stabbing people in the back.
 * Cool Starship: Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Anakin's descent into evil is paralleled by his cyborg conversion. Also, by Word of God, losing body parts makes you lose midichlorians and thus get weaker in the Force.
 * Dark Messiah / Destructive Savior: To the core.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Despair Event Horizon: The Empire is all he has left.
 * Disappeared Dad: Non-existent dad; Word of God confirms that he was conceived by the Force itself.
 * Dual-Wielding: At the end of Episode II.
 * Dull Surprise: Both actors were criticized for it (specially since Vader stands on the other side).
 * Evil Is Hammy: Once he turns to the dark side...
 * Emergency Transformation: When he becomes Darth Vader.
 * Fallen Hero
 * Fantastic Racism: After his mother is killed by them, he really hates Sand People. Enough to kill every last one of them.
 * Freudian Excuse: His upbringing as a slave and inability to let go of any loved ones, particularly his mother.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar next to his right eye by the time of Episode III, before ending up covered in burn scars after his battle with Obi-Wan.
 * Go Out with a Smile: Anakin's farewell to Luke.
 * Hell-Bent for Leather
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Obi-Wan. Before that all goes to hell.
 * He Who Fights Monsters
 * Humanoid Abomination/Golem: The films offer us two choices for Anakin's origin: Either he's an avatar of the Force, conceived by parthenogenesis...or he was created by the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis in that exact same way.
 * Darth Plagueis implies that.
 * I Did What I Had to Do: When trying to justify his actions to Padmé in Revenge of the Sith.
 * I Will Protect Padmé
 * Improbable Piloting Skills: In The Phantom Menace.
 * Jumping Off the Slippery Slope
 * Knight in Shining Armor: He wants to be the most powerful Jedi Knight, but his love for Padme is his first priority.
 * Lady and Knight: The Knight to Padmé's Lady.
 * Large Ham: Not in his normal personality, but after his Heel Face Turn...YOU UNDERESTIMATE MAH POWAAAAAAAAAAAH!
 * The Lancer: To Obi-Wan in the Clone Wars.
 * Leeroy Jenkins: In Attack of the Clones.
 * Love Makes You Evil
 * MacGyvering: He built his own podracer from Watto's junkyard. And won the Boonta Eve Classic with it.
 * Master Swordsman
 * Messianic Archetype
 * Moment of Weakness: See Start of Darkness.
 * Papa Wolf: To his unborn kids. And to his son when Palpatine tries to kill him.
 * The Paragon Always Rebels
 * Physical God: Word of God says that had he not been crippled at Mustafar, he would've eventually ended up as this. His son realizes his potential in the Expanded Universe.
 * Psychic Powers: As a highly Force-sensitive little boy, he was able to use them in some situations (podraces, for instance) without really knowing where it came from. He learned to master them during his Jedi training.
 * Politically Incorrect Hero
 * Power Levels: The "midichlorian" concept was criticized by fans as this, especially with Obi-Wan's non-ironic observation that Anakin clocks in at Over Nine Thousand. This didn't stop Word of God from declaring that Anakin is meant to be the strongest Force-user in canon, equaled only by his son. See also Cybernetics Eat Your Soul.
 * Protagonist Journey to Villain
 * Rasputinian Death: He gets  Subverted in that he
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: After turning to the Dark Side, his eyes become jaundiced.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Obi-Wan's blue.
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * Renowned Selective Mentor: Due to his unusual affinity with the Force, Anakin gets mentoring and attention from high-ranking Jedi beyond that given to other padawans.
 * Self-Proclaimed Knight: At the end of The Phantom Menace, Anakin is allowed to be trained as a Jedi Knight in even though he is too old. He vents his frustration to Senator Amidala in Attack of the Clones that he's ready to be a knight, but they won't let him move on.
 * Single Tear: After murdering hundreds of Jedi and the helpless Trade Federation leaders, Anakin looks out into the hellscape that is Mustafar and silently sheds a tear of remorse.
 * The Starscream: To the Jedi, and tries to be this to Palpatine twice.
 * Start of Darkness: Slaughtering the Tusken Raiders after his mother's death. The shocker is that this happened in Episode Two, where Anakin is still supposedly a clear-cut good guy. While he was still labeled as a Jedi after that event, mentally he had already stepped into the dark side of the force.
 * To Be Lawful or Good
 * Tragic Hero
 * Universal Pilot's Licence: He could pilot anything from a podracer in his youth (in The Phantom Menace) to the Confederacy's enormous flagship (in Revenge of the Sith). With ease.
 * Villain Protagonist: Towards the end of Revenge of the Sith
 * Weapon of Choice: A blue lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Yandere: In Revenge of the Sith
 * Tragic Hero
 * Universal Pilot's Licence: He could pilot anything from a podracer in his youth (in The Phantom Menace) to the Confederacy's enormous flagship (in Revenge of the Sith). With ease.
 * Villain Protagonist: Towards the end of Revenge of the Sith
 * Weapon of Choice: A blue lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Yandere: In Revenge of the Sith

Obi-Wan Kenobi
"Played by: Alec Guinness (Ep.IV-VI); Ewan McGregor (Ep.I-III)"



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

Introduced in Episode IV as "Ben Kenobi," Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training and sets him on his course as savior of the galaxy. He fought in the Clone Wars and, as Anakin's teacher, was deeply involved in Anakin's fall to The Dark Side. While Anakin is indisputably the Main Character of the series, Obi-Wan runs a close second, and is one of only four characters to appear in every Film of the series.


 * Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence
 * The Atoner: For training the man who destroyed the Jedi Order.
 * Badass: The only Jedi to have fought three powerful Sith warriors and lived to tell the tale, of which he defeated two.
 * Ambadassador
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Grandpa: Still retains some fighting skill despite his age in A New Hope.
 * One-Man Army: In his Glory Days. Took on General Grievous and his droid army alone and won.
 * Retired Badass: By the time of A New Hope.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Described in the Revenge of the Sith novelisation as "the ulitmate Jedi" partially because he is "modest, centered and always kind". Nonetheless, if you push him far enough (like ), he is prepared to hack off your limbs and leave you alone to slowly burn to death (although he seems to show some remorse while doing so).
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Anakin.
 * Bond One-Liner: "So uncivilized."
 * Chessmaster: Subverted in that he is 1) a good character and 2) his attempts to steer the plot in the direction he wants by keeping information from Luke end up not working, as Luke screws up his plans for for the better.
 * Cool Old Guy: From A New Hope to Return of the Jedi.
 * Cool Starship: Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor in Attack of the Clones and Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Cynical Mentor: To Anakin again. Despite this, he still seemed pretty shocked when Anakin falls to The Dark Side.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Especially in the prequel trilogy. Ewan McGregor's Alec Guinness impersonation managed to produce some of the driest irony ever captured on celluloid.
 * Deuteragonist: Especially in the prequels.
 * Does Not Like Guns: Until he's forced to use one against Grievous.
 * Doomed by Canon: Or rather, obligated to stay alive to be killed by Vader in the original trilogy.
 * Fantastic Racism: Refers to Jar Jar as a "lower life form".
 * Foreshadowing:
 * From a Certain Point of View: The Trope Namer.
 * Glory Days: Only a pale shadow of the warrior he once was, much like Anakin is.
 * Guile Hero: His in-universe nickname is The Negotiator (which is slightly ironic when one of the senior Jedi that he reports to is played by Samuel L Jackson)
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Anakin, after the later becomes a Jedi Knight. The novelization of Episode III in particular really brings out the closeness of their friendship.
 * So does the Clone Wars animated series which shows them as a clear case of Vitriolic Best Buds.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: A subtler version when he throws the fight against Vader to allow his friends to escape.
 * Jedi Mind Trick: The Trope Maker.
 * Knight Errant: Will go where ever he's sent.
 * Manipulative Bastard: An interesting example, since Obi-Wan is ubiquitously on the side of the good, but he did attempt to manipulate  Although, Obi Wan himself would probably argue that that was only true From a Certain Point of View  . The EU brings out some of his more weasley, morally ambiguous moments as well.
 * Curious here. Which weasley, morally ambiguous moments are these?
 * And isn't using deception and manipulation for the Greater Good without any personal gain just part of his Guile Hero status anyway?
 * Martial Pacifist
 * Master Swordsman
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard
 * My Greatest Failure: Anakin's fall.
 * My Death Is Just the Beginning
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sneaking aboard Padme's ship as she leaves to Mustafar fills Anakin with such an anger when he sees him that Anakin
 * The Obi-Wan: Trope Namer.
 * Officer and a Gentleman
 * Old Master: In Episode IV.
 * The Paladin
 * Politically Incorrect Hero
 * Psychic Powers
 * The Stoic: Has one of the suckiest lives (and afterlife?) of any character in fiction, but remains calm, never complains, and usually keeps his emotions well in check. When he starts screaming or gets visibly upset, you know shit just got real.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Anakin's red.
 * Spirit Advisor: To Luke after his death.
 * Stone Wall: The EU establishes that Obi-Wan is the definitive master of Soresu, the defensive lightsaber style. This allows him to perform feats like (during his fight with Grievous) blocking twelve lightsaber strikes a second.
 * Universal Pilot's Licence
 * Tragic Bromance: He never gets over what happened to Anakin Skywalker.
 * Weapon of Choice: Blue lightsaber.

Yoda
"Voiced by: Frank Oz (Ep.I-VI)"



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

A diminutive Jedi Master of unknown species from whom Luke seeks training in Episode V. Originally a spiritual (and very old) character drawing on the wizened Old Master tradition, he shows his true capabilities in Episodes II and III, in which (not coincidentally) he is of the Serkis Folk variety. In all other films, he is a puppet performed by the legendary Frank Oz, who also brought us Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and Grover.

"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."
 * Adventure Rebuff
 * Badass
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Proof of the above, there is.
 * One-Man Army
 * Retired Badass: By the time of the original trilogy.
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * Big Good: The Grand Master of the Jedi Order.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Doting Grandparent: To every warrior in the Jedi Order, younglings in particular ... when not giving them Training from Hell, that is.
 * Eccentric Mentor: A little eccentric, but still very capable and wise, he is.
 * Inexplicably Awesome: He's just a short, green, centuries-old alien who is quite possibly the most powerful Jedi alive. How he got that way is officially the one Noodle Incident the expanded universe will never touch.
 * Large Ham: In The Empire Strikes Back.
 * Little Green Men
 * Master Swordsman: As shown in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
 * Meaningful Name: Yoda literally means "warrior" in Sanskrit, though we don't see him live up to his namesake until Episode II...
 * It also means "one who knows" in Hebrew.
 * Mentor Mascot: One of the most recognisable symbols of the series, he is, and he's a mentor to boot.
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard: Justified. Really freakin' old in Episode VI, he is. Die peacefully in his bed in his home, he does.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Pretends to be a wacky old hermit in The Empire Strikes Back as a test of Luke's patience and tolerance of strangers. Fail miserably, Luke does.
 * Old Master: To just about every single Jedi, but especially Luke.
 * One-Man Army
 * The Paladin: Wise and powerful.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Less than a meter tall but still one of the most powerful Force users and one of the best duelists in the Jedi Order.
 * Pointy Ears
 * Psychic Powers
 * Really Nine Hundred Years Old
 * Though he does look like it.
 * Reluctant Warrior:


 * Serkis Folk: In Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
 * In the 2011 Blue-ray release of The Phantom Menace.
 * As well as the 2012 3-D theatrical re-release.
 * Strange Syntax Speaker: Hmm, yes he is? Agree, you do.
 * Supporting Leader: During the assault on Geonosis in Attack of the Clones and the battle on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Technical Pacifist
 * There Is No Try: Trope Namer.
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Threw his lightsaber into the chest of a clone trooper in Episode III.
 * Weapon of Choice: A small green lightsaber in Episode in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Chewbacca
"Played by: Peter Mayhew (suit; Ep.III-VI)"



Han Solo's co-pilot aboard The Alleged Freighter Millenium Falcon, which he and Han seem to spend more time repairing than flying. Chewie is a Wookiee (read: 8-foot-tall walking carpet) who only speaks in growls and roars. According to official sources, Han rescued him from slavery at some point, leading to Chewbacca swearing him a "life debt."


 * Adorkable
 * Anti-Hero: Type II
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable: Resembles a teddy bear... an eight foot tall teddy bear who can rip your arms off as easily as breathing.
 * Badass Bandolier
 * Berserk Button: Hurting Han, as Lando Calrissian's windpipe found out the hard way.
 * Also, don't win any game against him. Really, don't.
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * The Big Guy
 * Bilingual Dialogue: He speaks Wookiee and Han speaks Basic, and they understand each other fine.
 * Blood Brothers: With Han.
 * Cuddle Bug: Chewie really likes to hug the people that he loves, and making him no less manly in doing so.
 * Dork Knight
 * Gentle Giant
 * The Glomp: What it's like to be hugged by Chewie.
 * Killed Off for Real: In the Expanded Universe, reportedly because he was the most important character Lucasfilm would allow them to kill.
 * Mr. Fixit
 * Morality Pet
 * Nice Guy
 * Number Two
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Really Two Hundred Years Old: According to the Expanded Universe.
 * Smart People Play Chess
 * Sore Loser
 * Starfish Language/The Unintelligible: Chewie's only lines are growls, barks, and grunts. The script actually had lines of dialogue for Peter Mayhew to recite in order to make the other characters reactions to him more genuine.
 * Weapon of Choice: Bowcaster (Wookiee crossbow).

C-3PO and R2-D2
"3PO played by: Anthony Daniels R2 played by: Kenny Baker (suit) R2 "voiced" by: Ben Burtt"



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-3PO and R2-D2 are the last of the four characters who appear in all six movies; they are also the only characters to be portrayed by the same actors throughout all six movies.


 * Badass Adorable: R2, especially in the prequel trilogy.
 * Badass Automaton: R2.
 * Big Guy, Little Guy
 * Bilingual Dialogue
 * Butt Monkey: 3PO.
 * Camp: C-3PO's defining characteristic.
 * Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them
 * If My Calculations Are Correct: C-3PO is prone to this, and very annoying about it.
 * The Ishmael: The original trilogy was essentially told from the perspectives of the droids. At least one of them is present at (or in proximity to) nearly every important event.
 * Losing Your Head: Happens to 3PO in Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: R2. In Revenge of the Sith, he proved that he can take care of robots twice his size.
 * Plot Coupon: R2's message from Leia, and the Death Star plans he carried.
 * Robot Buddy
 * Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: C-3PO.
 * Silent Snarker: R2, judging by C-3PO's reactions to what he's saying, is quite the Deadpan Snarker.
 * The Smart Guy: R2, though 3PO has his moments.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": See-Threepio or C-3PO? Artoo-Deetoo or R2-D2? See-Threepio or See-Threepizero?
 * Word of God: Yes. (Except for the last one, which is a little more obvious when you spell it out that way.)
 * Starfish Language/The Unintelligible: R2-D2
 * Those Two Robots
 * Translator Buddy: 3P0 for R2.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds
 * With Friends Like These...

Lando Calrissian
"Played by: Billy Dee Williams (Ep.V-VI)"



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

The only black guy in the Galaxy. Well, him and Mace, that is. Though introduced as a somewhat shady former business partner of Han's, he ends up Defaulting To Good when Vader tramples all over him. He later flies the Millennium Falcon in the Battle of Endor; the ship used to be his, until Han won it off him.

""I...had...no...choice!!"
 * The Ace: Subverted
 * The Atoner: Joins the Rebellion due to his guilt over selling out Han.
 * Badass Cape
 * Badass Mustache
 * Black Best Friend: He and Han are old friends.
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Lovable Sex Maniac
 * Noodle Incident: "He's forgotten all about that. I hope."
 * Reformed Criminal
 * Reverse Mole: In Return of the Jedi.
 * Sharp-Dressed Man
 * Salt and Pepper: With Han.
 * Sixth Ranger
 * Soul Brotha: Though less offensive than most.
 * The Stool Pigeon:

Oh we understand him, don't we Chewie? "He had no choice!!""


 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Han himself. Lando's appearance was calculated to replace Harrison Ford should he choose not to return. As it turned out, Lando still ended up piloting the Falcon into another Death Star.
 * Where Da White Women At?: "You truly belong with us among the clouds." Smooth talker.
 * You Said You Would Let Them Go

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

"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."

A democratically-elected Queen (just roll with it) on the planet of Naboo, Amidala starts out with her planet subjected to an unprovoked invasion by the Trade Federation (under orders from Palpatine, who at the time would have been a member of her government); Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are dispatched to do something about this. Then they escape to Tatooine and 9-year-old Anakin starts putting the moves on her, and we see where this is going. Her other major habit was disguising herself as one of her own handmaids, which is why her "servant" Padmé got so much attention in Episode I.


 * Action Fashionista
 * Action Girl
 * Action Girlfriend: In Attack of the Clones.
 * Child Soldier: In the first movie.
 * Lady of War
 * Badass:
 * Ambadassador
 * Badass Normal
 * Badass Queen
 * Body Double: One of them was Keira Knightley.
 * Chickification: In Revenge of the Sith. Justifiable, in that she's pregnant.
 * A Child Shall Lead Them
 * Costume Porn
 * Death by Childbirth
 * Fairytale Wedding Dress
 * Hide Your Pregnancy
 * Honor Before Reason: "I will NOT stand by and watch my people die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!!"
 * Hot Mom:
 * Lady and Knight: The Lady to Anakin's Knight.
 * Impractically Fancy Outfit
 * Improbable Age: Elected leader of her entire planet by age fourteen.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills
 * Meaningful Name: Padme means "lotus" in Sanskrit.
 * The Messiah: Nothing Anakin does can stop her from loving him, not even
 * Pimped-Out Cape
 * Pimped-Out Dress
 * Politically-Active Princess: She came to the Senate to plead the cause of her planet as it was invaded by the Trade Federation in The Phantom Menace. She became a senator afterwards.
 * Pretty in Mink: Her ice planet outfit.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Stylish Protection Gear
 * Technical Pacifist: She won't condone a course of action that will lead to war, and she worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act, but she will partake in some "aggressive negotiation" when pushed.
 * Unlimited Wardrobe
 * Woman in White

Mace Windu
"Played by: Samuel L. Jackson (Ep.I-III)"



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
 * Bald of Awesome
 * One-Man Army
 * 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
 * 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.
 * The attempted assassination of Palpatine raises doubts as to whether he cares any more than the other Jedi about what all those non-Force sensitive folks will think. And whether he's careful enough to consider that clouding of precognition on which Jedi rely too much could mask traps (and the entire Jedi Order already walked into the trap of Clone Wars), thus any rash moves increase risk of running into one. Especially when presence of a party naturally hostile to Jedi is suspected.
 * : Spectacularly so, in a case of
 * Knight Templar: Despite evidently not being as Holier Than Thou as the rest of the contemporary Jedi Order, he shares their notions of universal Omniscient Morality License. The most glaring display of it is when he threatens to murder senator Palpatine. Fine, he's an evildoer, but Anakin has a good point when he says Palpatine should be given a fair trial, rather than killing the guy in cold blood, which is not the Jedi way.
 * Worse, earlier in the film, Palpatine makes the same justification as to why Anakin should kill Dooku ("He's too dangerous to be left alive"), exactly the same reason Windu delivers to justify murdering the chancellor. It's clear that Windu and Palpatine are Not So Different in a way.
 * 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.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Purple Is Powerful: His lightsaber is purple, which was requested by Jackson himself.
 * Scary Black Man
 * Supporting Leader: During the Jedi assault on the arena of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones.
 * Technical Pacifist
 * Weapon of Choice: Purple lightsaber.

Wedge Antilles
"Played by: Denis Lawson (Ep.IV-VI) Played by: Colin Higgins (briefly in Ep.IV)"



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.
 * 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".
 * Ace Pilot
 * Action Survivor
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In the first movie Wedge has a standard "American" accent but later on slips into Dennis Lawson's natural Scottish.
 * Real Life Relative: His actor (Dennis Lawson) is the uncle of Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan. Famously he tried to talk his nephew out of the role, fearing that, like his career, he'd meet with early success and then a nosedive. He was wrong and this was actually McGregor's breakout role, and in a bit of a happy ending Lawson has had a mild resurgence himself on British TV.
 * The Other Darrin: During the Yavin briefing scene, he's played by a body double.

Qui-Gon Jinn
"Played by: Liam Neeson"

"Your focus determines your reality."



The master of Obi-Wan and the former apprentice of Dooku. Noted for his compassion for all living things and his unorthodox ways, it is his desire to train a young Anakin that leads to the events of the rest of the series.

""You will be a Jedi. I promise.""
 * Badass:
 * Ambadassador
 * Badass Beard
 * Badass Grandpa: Early drafts of the script has his age as 60.
 * Badass Long Hair
 * The Cassandra: His beliefs that the Sith have returned and Anakin is The Chosen One are dismissed by the Jedi at first but turn out to be true.
 * The Chooser of the One
 * Cool Old Guy: How many other Jedi would cheat at gambling to free a slave?
 * Decoy Protagonist
 * Honor Before Reason
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice
 * The Last DJ: If not for his unorthodox ways and his tendency to do things his own way, he would've been a member of the Jedi Council.
 * Looks Like Jesus: Even wears robes as part of his Jedi outfit.
 * Master Swordsman
 * Mentor Occupational Hazard
 * The Messiah
 * The Obi-Wan: To the man himself, no less.
 * Parental Substitute: To Obi-Wan, and Anakin.
 * Psychic Powers
 * The Quiet One: Is almost always softly spoken, compared to his two proteges.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Subverted. His hair is only kinda long, but it looks like this compared to all the other male characters.
 * Sacrificial Lion: His death shocks the Jedi into realizing the Sith have returned.
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right:
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right:


 * Supporting Leader
 * Technical Pacifist
 * Weapon of Choice: Green lightsaber.

Jar Jar Binks
"Played by: Ahmed Best (Ep.I-III)"



A Gungan from Naboo, whom Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stumble upon early in Episode I. Jar Jar represents Lucas' attempt to appeal to the younger crowd, which he had successfully courted via Ewoks in Episode VI. The problem was that, even when Jar Jar was trying to be heroic, he had a tendency to just look stupid. Thankfully, Lucas toned down his presence in Episodes II and III. Played by Ahmed Best (Ink Suit Actor and Voice Actor both), who has shown a good sense of humor about the whole thing.

"Stone: "Don't worry. He's smarter than he looks.""
 * Beware the Silly Ones/Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Jar Jar is a surprisingly adept fighter, capable of taking out battle tanks by himself.
 * Cowardly Lion: At his best, he will try to lay down his life for his friends, even if he is still a....
 * Dirty Coward: A rare and painfully embarrassing "heroic" example. He is meant to be a Lovable Coward, but they painfully failed.
 * Demoted to Extra: In II and III.
 * Shoo Out the New Guy
 * Fantastic Racism: Not Jar Jar himself, mind, but rather, according to him, the Naboo think they're smarter than Gungans. Then Jar Jar proves them right.
 * The Friend Nobody Likes: in Star Wars the Clone Wars.
 * Kid Appeal Character: Jar Jar is Exhibit A for this type of character done badly.
 * The Klutz
 * Lethal Klutz
 * The Millstone
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jar Jar's the one who proposes giving Palpatine supreme power.
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Possibly. A wildly popular fan theory (which Jar Jar's actor has said is partially true) suggests that Jar Jar's stupidity is just a clever ruse to fool his Jedi companions and that his Lethal Klutz behaviour during battles is more than just dumb luck, but instead a force-boosted version of drunken fist. Jar Jar being 'fooled' by Palpatine into ending the senate's democratic status could also be deliberate, rather than an idiot who simply got manipulated. Therefore implying that Jar Jar is either an agent working for Palpatine, or even worse, IS a sith lord. At the very least, it is extremely plausible that Jar Jar is a force sensitive creature and no one has caught onto this fact. Jar Jar's stunts during TPM are moves which you'd normally only see force users in the series pull off, not ordinary creatures.
 * There's also an in-universe allegation of this; in Clone Wars, during a conversation between a clone trooper and CC-5869 aka Stone, when the clone trooper remarks that Jar Jar "is probably going to get himself killed", Stone reassures the clone trooper by replying with:


 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Subverted. Gungans are set up as a proud warrior race, then the audience meets Jar Jar...
 * Serkis Folk
 * The Fool: Jar Jar irritatingly seems to stagger his way out of every dangerous situation safely. He also ends up becoming member of the senate despite appearing highly incompetent.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Mostly in Star Wars the Clone Wars, however in Episode II, though still (very) naive and lighthearted, he shows to be more mature and brave than in Episode I.
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His one notable action in the series is to pass a motion that grants Palpatine emergency powers, thus causing the end of the Republic. In his defense, however, we're talking about Palpatine here.

Darth Vader
"Played by: David Prowse (suit, Ep.IV-VI); Bob Anderson (swordplay and stunts, Ep.IV-VI), Hayden Christensen (suit, Ep.III) Voiced by: James Earl Jones (Ep.III-VI)"



"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Dark Lord of the Sith, apprentice to Senator Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious). The central antagonist (or is he?) in the original trilogy. Killed Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker...FromACertainPointOfView. His descent into evil shaped the fate of the Galaxy.

"Obi-Wan:"He is more machine than man now; twisted, and evil.""
 * Ace Pilot: Still the best in the galaxy. Despite being outnumbered due to being the only pilots Genre Savvy enough to scramble against the rebel's "futile" attack, he and his handpicked Black Squadron shoot down many rebels during A New Hope's Final Battle and would have done the same to Luke Skywalker if not for
 * Achilles' Heel:
 * Anti-Villain: Unlike Palpatine, who is merely obsessed with power, Vader genuinely wants to do the right thing for the galaxy and also hates himself for all the evil he's done.
 * Archnemesis Dad
 * Artificial Limbs: All of them.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Awesome McCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this.
 * Badass
 * Badass Cape
 * Handicapped Badass: Has to change his entire fighting style due to his injuries, spends his time in life-support armor and cannot use Force Lightning. Even then, he manages to be one of the most proficient single lightsaber users and.
 * Heartbroken Badass
 * One-Man Army: Taken Up to Eleven in EU works such as The Force Unleashed.
 * Bad Boss: Has become a memetic archetype of this trope.
 * He is the Trope Namer for You Have Failed Me..., executing two Imperial officers on screen for failure and implied to have done so to countless others.
 * He forces his fleet to pursue the Millennium Falcon through an asteroid field, ignoring the casualties they suffer as a result—up to and including the loss of a Star Destroyer with all hands.
 * He is more than willing to involve his boss when his own presence fails to adequately cow. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am," indeed.
 * Bald of Evil
 * The Battlestar: The Executor is among the largest ever examples of these.
 * Being Evil Sucks: The way that he says "it's too late for me" implies that on a fundamental level he despises what he's become but sticks around largely because he believes it's too late to back out.
 * Big No: After learning of Padmé's death.
 * Black Cloak
 * Black Knight
 * Blood Knight: As much as he might want to kill Palpatine and become Emperor, realistically Vader is too much of a warrior to deal with all the politics and scheming involved with being the ruler of a Galactic Empire. He would most likely have put a figure head in place to deal with that if he ever did get the chance to conquer the Galaxy.
 * Brought Down To Badass: The injuries Anakin sustained on Mustafar severely diminished his potential as a warrior and he would never be able to achieve the heights of his power if not for his horrible physical state. While his injuries by themselves did nothing to reduce his force potential directly (he sent Palpatine flying in the canon Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic) they still placed a hard limit on how much of his power he could use. Darkside powers are by nature destructive and will gradually place a burden on the force user. Even an initially healthy force user will develop health issues from use the darkside frequently and Vader, in his current state, is far from healthy. Pushing his powers to the limit would only end up killing him. Further, his need for a heavy life support suit and armor restricts his movements forcing him to adopt a less mobile/acrobatic style and focus on power with skill.
 * Byronic Hero
 * Classic Villain: Fits all of the criteria as a Wrath villain.
 * Clothes Make the Legend: His Cool Helmet and Black Cloak are so iconic that just their silhouette in the first teaser posters for The Phantom Menace was enough to let everyone know just who the cute kid in the picture would become.
 * Cool Helmet
 * Cool Starship: The Devastator, the Executor, and the TIE Advanced x1. And that's just from the movies. In the Expanded Universe, he also has the Terror among other vessels.
 * Covered with Scars: The reason for his armour.
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul:


 * Cyborg
 * Dark Is Evil
 * The Dark Side
 * Darth Vader Clone: Trope Namer, obviously.
 * Dispense with the Pleasantries: Names the trope in Return of the Jedi.
 * Don't Make Me Destroy You: Names the trope during his famous conversation with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back.
 * The Dragon: The main one for Palpatine.
 * Dragon with an Agenda/The Starscream: Almost immediately after becoming Palpatine's apprentice, he's planning on overthrowing him. He's implied to be attempting this in The Empire Strikes Back, and in Return of the Jedi.
 * Co-Dragons: With Tarkin, to an extent.
 * The Dreaded
 * Evil Counterpart: To Luke.
 * Evil Cripple
 * Evil Old Folks: He's pushing 46 in Return of the Jedi but looks much older  due to his injuries and the corrupting effects of The Dark Side.
 * Evil Overlooker
 * Evil Overlord: Despite being The Dragon, Vader still maintains a position of high command (second only to his master) and even has his own set of troops (the 501st Legion, AKA "Vader's Fist").
 * Evil Sounds Deep: An archetypal film example. In fact, they even had to overdub David Prowse's voice with that of James Earl Jones' to get the desired effect.
 * The Faceless: Until the end of the film.
 * Fallen Hero
 * Famous Last Words:
 * A Father to His Men: He earned the 501st Legion's actual respect by never sending them off to do things that he himself is unable to do. In other words, he fights alongside them.
 * Finger-Poke of Doom: His Force Choke.
 * Genius Lightning Bruiser: Vader's cybernetics make him one of the physically strongest characters in the series. Despite serving as the Emperor's muscle, he displays a cold and calculating nature (in the OT) and attacks at a surprisingly high speed. Not to mention as a child, he built C-3PO, and would proceed to personally deck out his extremely advanced custom fighter. And that the entire plot of The Empire Strikes Back was his personal Batman Gambit to trap Luke and get him to convert to the dark side (and possibly even to help him overthrow the Emperor).
 * Genre Savvy
 * The Force Is Strong with This One: Names the trope when he realizes that the pilot of the X-Wing he's targeting in A New Hope isn't just another Red Shirt.
 * Gloved Fist of Doom: Page image. His fists are clenched all the time except when he's blocking lasers with his hands. The glove itself even gets its own story in the Expanded Universe! It's actually a Mandalorian crushgaunt fitted with a Sith amulet.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars
 * Head Bob: David Prowse does this very well, making Vader an emotive character despite being perpetually masked.
 * The Heavy: The most prominent villain in the series, although he is always subservient to Palpatine. In the first movie, he and Tarkin are somewhat equals, save that the Death Star is actually in the charge of of Tarkin.
 * Implacable Man
 * Improbable Piloting Skills: In Death Star, a decent Imperial pilot remembers flying in training, with low-powered lasers so that no one was killed, and how during one demonstration Darth Vader decided to join them. He toyed with the best of the trainers - a veteran who made the decent pilot feel like a child who could barely walk trying to keep up with a marathon runner - matched every move, did things that TIE fighters should not be able to do, and was later found to have shot everyone down with his targeting and navigation computers disabled before launch, which the decent pilot believed was flatly impossible. Said pilot concluded that if he got on Vader's bad side and was pursued, he'd just overload his engines and commit suicide.
 * Jerkass: Big-time. In-universe, many officers fear working under him due to his Bad Boss tendencies.
 * Large Ham: As Prowse gestures plentifully and Jones speaks bombastically, the result is simply glorious.
 * Leitmotif: The Imperial March. Major and minor key versions of it are all over the place during his key scenes.
 * Love Makes You Evil: One of the reasons why he turned to the Dark Side was to save Padmé Naberrie from death.
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: Trope Namer, sort of, and by far the modern-day Trope Codifier.
 * Malevolent Masked Man
 * Man in the Machine
 * Master Swordsman: Combines elements of multiple styles to become a devastatingly effective duelist despite his bulky cybernetics and inability to use Force Lightning. Taken Up to Eleven in the Expanded Universe. In Star Wars: Purge, he holds off eight Jedi and manages to kill five and disarm a sixth by the time his stormtrooper reinforcements show up to finish the job.
 * Meaningful Name: "Vader" is Dutch for "father". Also, in-"vader".
 * Memetic Outfit
 * Milking the Giant Cow: Exaggerated movement is necessary for a masked character, and Vader is a well-played example... except perhaps for his infamous Big No.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: His Star Destroyer in A New Hope, the Devastator, and his Super Star Destroyer in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Executor.
 * Neck Lift: Does this to Raymus Antilles in A New Hope. The good captain does not survive the interrogation.
 * Never Bareheaded: He's seen only twice without his helmet:
 * Noble Demon: In the Expanded Universe, he earns his men's actual respect (as opposed to fearful obedience) by never asking something of them that he wouldn't do himself, IE. Leading the charge in battles and fighting side by side with them. He also retains a soft-spot for slaves, as a lingering memory of his own childhood. He also once tells Dengar that, although he does kill when it is necessary to his goals, he never takes amusement in people dying, unlike the Emperor.
 * No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Does this to Lando in Empire.
 * Not So Different: He and Luke.
 * Obviously Evil
 * Ominous Opera Cape
 * One Handed Is Cool: Wields his lightsaber, a notoriously difficult-to-control weapon, one-handed in order to intimidate enemies. Being a Cyborg helps.
 * Papa Wolf: How he redeems himself.
 * Physical Religion: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
 * Psychic Powers: His most frequent uses of the Force involve telekinesis and choking.
 * Putting on the Reich: His helmet was obviously inspired by the German Stahlhelm. Word of God also stated that his life support suit being all black was deliberate in an attempt to create an analogy to the Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany.
 * Rage Helm: His iconic helmet has a chillingly penetrating stare.
 * Resistance Is Futile: Vader: You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.
 * Sensor Character: Can sense when other Force-sensitives - notably Obi-Wan and Luke - are nearby. Might have also picked up Leia this way on Echo Base in ESB, although he seemed to mistake her for Luke.
 * Series Mascot: The character most often used to represent the Star Wars franchise as a whole. He made the cover of Time magazine twice, in 1980 and 2005.
 * Sinister Geometry: His obsidian-black helmet is designed to evoke a human skull, from angular cheekbones to rictus grin to Black Eyes of Evil.
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor: Done twice!
 * The Slow Walk: Does this in his very first scene in A New Hope and in The Force Unleashed.
 * Space Fighter: His prototype TIE Advanced x1.
 * The Stoic
 * The Starscream: Because he really wants peace for the galaxy, So his original plan was to backstab Palpatine, and rule the galaxy with his son Luke.
 * Supporting Protagonist: He has the central role in the series and is arguably its most iconic character, but never has the leading role.
 * Taught By Experience: losing all of his limbs apparently taught him restraint and caution when dueling in the original trilogy, where he uses Hannibal Lectures, Psychic Powers, ambushes, and intimidation rather than the berserker tactics that.
 * That Man Is Dead: Or so he thinks.
 * Tin Tyrant
 * Tragic Villain: Knows what he does is evil, and hates himself for it; he must obey his master.
 * Tranquil Fury: Vader is for the most part stoic and silent in his manner and due to the fact that his mask hides his face and expressions, it appears to all that he is a cold emotionless monster. In truth, Vader is always angry due to the perpetual pain of his injuries and cybernetics and the loss of everything he ever cared about. This is partly why he has such a low tolerance of failure.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid
 * Vader Breath: Trope Namer.
 * Villain Ball:
 * Provoking Luke into an Unstoppable Rage when dueling him in Return of the Jedi.
 * In The Force Unleashed, attempting to kill who had outlived his usefulness. Fortunately, Marek returned and royally curb-stomped him and The Emperor, giving inspiration to the rebels through his Heroic Sacrifice, which ended with Vader's and the Emperor's death (as well as ).
 * Villain Protagonist: According to George Lucas, the film franchise is fundamentally about Anakin and his progression from innocence to a force of good, his fall to evil, and subsequent redemption.
 * Villain Takes an Interest: In Luke.
 * Villainous Valour: In the Expanded Universe, Vader is revealed to have a code of honor and a willingness to fight alongside his men that stems from his Well-Intentioned Extremist motivation to "bring order to the galaxy", and also from his remaining guilt over having fallen to the Dark Side in the first place.
 * We Can Rule Together: Suggests this to Luke during his Hannibal Lecture in The Empire Strikes Back. Prior to that, he suggested this to Padmé in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Weapon of Choice: A red lightsaber
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Anakin's reasons for turning to the Dark Side involved trying to prevent Padmé's death (although that ended up backfiring on him badly), and he legitimately wants to do what's right for the Galaxy.
 * That's for the second time. The first time (during the Mortis arc) was in an attempt to fight fate when the Son exposed Anakin to the future where he would become Darth Vader and cause terrible atrocities. In other words, he did it ironically as a desperate attempt to avoid becoming Darth Vader and cause the future atrocities. The only reason he returned to the light side of the force after that is because the Father removed the memories of what he saw to weaken the Son's hold on him.
 * Wham! Line: You know the one.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Most noticeably in the case of Revenge of the Sith, appearing prominently in most of the posters and promotional art, despite not appearing in the iconic black armor until the last five minutes of the movie.
 * You Are in Command Now: Names the trope when he promotes Piett just after force choking Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel's body hasn't even hit the floor yet.
 * You Can't Go Home Again: Word of God states that the reason Obi-Wan had Luke Skywalker go to Tatooine after birth to live with the Owens despite it being Vader's home planet is because Darth Vader is unwilling to ever return to Tatooine due to painful memories of the place.
 * You Have Failed Me...: Trope Namer.
 * That's for the second time. The first time (during the Mortis arc) was in an attempt to fight fate when the Son exposed Anakin to the future where he would become Darth Vader and cause terrible atrocities. In other words, he did it ironically as a desperate attempt to avoid becoming Darth Vader and cause the future atrocities. The only reason he returned to the light side of the force after that is because the Father removed the memories of what he saw to weaken the Son's hold on him.
 * Wham! Line: You know the one.
 * Wolverine Publicity: Most noticeably in the case of Revenge of the Sith, appearing prominently in most of the posters and promotional art, despite not appearing in the iconic black armor until the last five minutes of the movie.
 * You Are in Command Now: Names the trope when he promotes Piett just after force choking Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel's body hasn't even hit the floor yet.
 * You Can't Go Home Again: Word of God states that the reason Obi-Wan had Luke Skywalker go to Tatooine after birth to live with the Owens despite it being Vader's home planet is because Darth Vader is unwilling to ever return to Tatooine due to painful memories of the place.
 * You Have Failed Me...: Trope Namer.

Emperor Palpatine
"Played by: Ian McDiarmid (Ep.I-III; VI, and the rerelease of V) Voiced by: Clive Revill (Ep.V, original version)"

"Let the hate flow through you. "



Also known as Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. The man pulling the strings from the very beginning...and working, all the same time, to subvert Anakin to The Dark Side. Originally a Senator from Naboo, he was eventually nominated Chancellor of the Republic and ruled with great popularity and acclaim. During the Clone Wars, he began to take emergency war-time powers on himself. All of this would've been pretty Winston Churchill if he hadn't secretly been Adolf Hitler; he played both the Republic and the Separatists against each other, wiped out the Jedi, and came out on top. It's interesting to note that, though Palpatine is one of the most important characters in the franchise, he doesn't appear in all six films; he missed Episode IV, just like Yoda did.


 * 0% Approval Rating: Implied by a couple of scenes added to the Updated Rereleases of Return of the Jedi.
 * A God Am I: Inverted, he believes himself to be the Dark Side incarnate. Given the little amount of the story revealed for the upcoming Darth Plagueis novel (where he felt a shift in the Force shortly after and communicates with it), it's very likely that his belief is well-founded.
 * By the time of Dark Empire, however, he's pretty much become the closest thing to a Phyiscal God-Emperor that the series has due to his revival. Notable evidence of this was the fact that he could generate Force Storms (the wormhole variety) simply by his own will, without any apparent drain on his force abilities.
 * 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).
 * 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.
 * Aristocrats Are Evil: He was heavily implied in various sources, and confirmed in the upcoming novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, to have come from a noble background. The specific noble house was the "House of Palpatine." Deconstructed as its implied to be one of the less well-known noble houses.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Somewhat justified, although not by Asskicking Equals Authority, surprisingly.
 * Awesome McCoolname: "Darth Sidious". All Sith Lords come with this.
 * Badass: In Revenge of the Sith, we finally get a glimpse of Palpatine's surprisingly awesome fighting skills.
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Badass Grandpa: By this point in time, he's in his 60s.
 * One-Man Army
 * Bad Boss: Vader implies in Return of the Jedi that the Emperor is even worse of a boss than himself. The Expanded Universe confirms it, actually killing an engineer seven times, each more horrifying than the last, just because he made a mistake with the Death Star that resulted in it being blown up.
 * 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.
 * 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
 * Boomerang Bigot: A Force user who builds a society that persecutes and denies the existence of Force users.
 * Inverted. He only did that to prevent the Return of the Jedi.
 * 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 resurrection in the Dark Empire arc afterwards has him playing this trope very much straight from then onwards, as he has pretty much become so insane that he ends up not having his empire being successful under his reign. It is also heavily implied that the reason for his increased insanity had to do with his constant transference of his soul into clone bodies.
 * 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.
 * 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
 * The Dark Side
 * Demonic Possession:
 * Dirty Old Man: Some sources mention that, while he is Galactic Emperor, he kept concubines, and given his age, its unlikely that they'd be as old as him.
 * 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.
 * Eldritch Abomination / Humanoid Abomination: When Darth Tenebrous briefly merged with Darth Plagueis after the latter "betrayed" him had him accessing the witnessing of Plagueis' death at the hands of Palpatine, his future apprentice, and it is also strongly implied that he was genuinely horrified at how evil Palpatine was, given that his first action upon seeing it was to escape from Plagueis' body in a panic.
 * Electric Torture: He loves him some Force Lightning!
 * The Emperor
 * 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 misdemeanors, 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?:
 * 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.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Apparently, Palpatine would have hated himself if he used illusions to break his opponent's will, going by what Mara Jade commented upon.
 * Given this is Palpatine we're discussing, he probably meant before using physical torture first.
 * Evil Gloating
 * Evil Is Hammy: In Episode III in particular.
 * 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
 * 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.
 * He's from Naboo, which already had Fantastic Racism. It's likely he's not a fan of aliens.
 * Fan Nickname: Has several. Was nicknamed Wankatine during the Dark Empire arc because of his Power Creep, Power Seep appearance, and Bowie-peror in the same series because of his resemblance to Goblin King Jareth (played by David Bowie) from Labyrinth. Was also given the fan real-name of Cos Palpatine, derived from a script where he was named Cos Dashit (this ends up being somewhat confirmed with the Darth Plagueis novel, where it heavily implies that Palpatine's full name was "Cosinga Palpatine II.")
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * From a Single Cell: The method in which he revived himself involved transferring his spirit into clone bodies of himself and continually doing so until his ultimate demise. This process was also heavily implied to have increased his insanity to Caligula levels.
 * 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.
 * Humanoid Abomination: Strongly hinted at in several Expanded Universe sources, most notably Dark Empire.
 * I Am the Noun/L'État, c'est moi: "I AM the senate!"
 * Immortality: Revenge of the Sith reveals this to be his ultimate goal.
 * Immortality Immorality: The specific method in which he managed to come close to accomplishing this: He has people across the galaxy (including Alderaanians shortly after their planet's destruction) transferred to Byss, which served as a darkside conduit in order to sap their life energies to strengthen himself, he has Leminisk executed and revived seven times just so he can train himself to use essence transfer into his clones in case his original body ends up dying, and he made clones and is capable of doing so even to non-clones and overwrite their original personalities just to ensure he is ensured immortality.
 * In the Hood
 * 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 partly based on, had to do time for his part in the Beer Hall Rebellion.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Fortunately, Palpatine gets hits by this hard by the time of the Battle of Endor. Also Hoist by His Own Petard and
 * 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.
 * Known Only By Their Nickname:
 * Inverted: He is only ever referenced by his real name, and very rarely by his Sith name.
 * Played straight with his real name in regards to his full name: Palpatine was disgusted enough by his father that he changed his name so that his only name is his family name ("Palpatine"). It's heavily implied, although not explicitly stated, that his full name prior to the name change was "Cosinga Palpatine II."
 * 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!!!!"
 * 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).
 * 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.
 * Multiple Choice Past: Although Palpatine claims that he hailed from Naboo, it has been speculated that the identity of Senator Palpatine and thus most of his past had actually been fabricated.
 * My Death Is Only the Beginning: Strongly implied to be the cause of his power increase by the time of his revival in Dark Empire.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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
 * Old Master
 * Physical God: By the time of Dark Empire; the endnotes state that by the time of his final death his mere existence was causing holes in reality to open.
 * Playing Both Sides: How he arranged for the Clone Wars to begin before he became Supreme Chancellor.
 * 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.
 * 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 continuously 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.
 * 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). He also admits while murdering his father that he desired to murder at the very least his father since he was a baby.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Smug Snake: In Return of the Jedi. Luke even lampshades this by telling him, "your overconfidence is your weakness".
 * The Sociopath
 * The Starscream: Implied with respect 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.
 * This Is Your Brain on Evil: In the immortal words of Harry Potter, "You don't learn from your mistakes".
 * 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, ordering Luke to kill Vader in front of him.
 * Villain Ball: The shield generators for the newly constructed Death Star are located on the Ewok planet, which turns out to be surprisingly easy to take down, as the course of the movie proves. There are ground forces on the planet itself guarding it, but not that many; definitely not enough to fight back a bunch of Ewoks, who use insanely primitive methods to wage war. You'd think Palpatine would invest greater resources than that to guard the crucial shield devices, but nope... He is awfully confident that they will remain operational.
 * Villain with Good Publicity
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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. Dooku 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).
 * 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).
 * You Have Failed Me...: It is heavily implied in Return of the Jedi, and confirmed in the Expanded Universe, that Palpatine was even more horrific in how he punishes those who fail their task than even the Trope Namer, Darth Vader.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He has virtually everyone who ever helped him with his Evil Plan killed at some point, including Anakin (well, so to speak).

Boba Fett
"Played by: Played by: Jeremy Bulloch (suit, Ep.V-VI); Daniel Logan (child, Ep.II) Voiced by: Temuera Morrison (Special Edition, Ep.V-VI); Jason Wingreen (original voice, Ep.V-VI)"

"He's no good to me dead."



One of the poster children of Too Cool to Live, Fett is a Mandalorian. He was introduced in The Star Wars Holiday Special but was too cool to stay there, which is saying something considering that the Holiday Special is practically the incarnation of Dork Age. Once entrenched in canon, he played a minor role in Episode V as the man who succeeds in capturing Han Solo for Vader and/or Jabba the Hutt; while he's later unvoluntarily 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.

""Vader always said that, after that one time...""
 * 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?
 * Badass Normal
 * 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: In the Expanded Universe. He fought out the Sarlacc's belly through sheer force and iron will. The Sarlacc itself admits that he's hardcore some years later.
 * The Dragon: To Darth Vader in TESB.
 * 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.
 * 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".


 * 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).
 * 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
 * Weapon of Choice: EE-3 carbine rifle.
 * Wolverine Publicity

Darth Maul
"Played by: Ray Park (Ep.I) Voiced by: Peter Serafinowicz (Ep.I)"



Ray Park, wearing horns, wielding a double-bladed lightsaber. The fact that all his lines were overdubbed does not in any way diminish his coolness rating.


 * Awesome but Impractical: Seriously, if you see somebody wielding such a ridiculous weapon and not covered on scars and bionic legs, either he's a Sith-wannabe loonie with zero experience or a top-tier actual Badass. Fortunately, Maul is a Badass.
 * Awesome McCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this.
 * Badass
 * One-Man Army: Wiped an entire crime syndicate clean off the galactic map days before The Phantom Menace in the Expanded Universe.
 * Bald of Evil
 * Black Cloak
 * Blood Knight
 * Cast the Expert: Played by Ray Park, who was a martial arts expert and stunt man, not an actor (though he became one following this movie). This is one of the reasons that he had virtually no lines. His lines were dubbed by Peter Serafinowicz.
 * The Dark Side
 * Disney Villain Death
 * Double Weapon
 * The Dragon: To Darth Sidious in Episode I.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * You Have Failed Me...: This is the reason why he avoided making contact with his master after he lost his legs and fled Naboo, as he feared that Sidious would kill him (or worse) if he returned having failed his mission.

Jango Fett
"Played by: Temuera Morrison"



A top-notch bounty hunter who was hired by the Republic to be the template for an army of clones, from which the Clone Wars took their name. Secretly working for the Separatists. Gets on Mace Windu's bad side, so, that's the end of him.


 * The Asteroid Thicket: Chases Obi-Wan through one in a Continuity Nod to The Empire Strikes Back.
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Badass
 * Badass Normal
 * Battle in the Rain: With Obi-Wan.
 * Blood Knight: Since he was raised by the Mandalorians, he qualifies.
 * Cool Helmet
 * Cool Starship: The Slave I.
 * Doting Parent: One of his redeeming qualities.
 * The Dragon: To Dooku.
 * Jet Pack
 * Off with His Head: Courtesy of Mace Windu.
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: As most Mandalorians are.
 * Weapon of Choice: Guns Akimbo with two WESTAR-34 blaster pistols.

General Grievous
"Voiced by: Matthew Wood (Ep. III)"



Don't call him a droid: he's still got biological components. He just happens to live in a mechanical body. Essentially a cyborg, Grievous received lightsaber training from Count Dooku and is able to hold his own against Jedi. Like Boba Fett, he was first introduced in a cartoon, though this was actually deliberate (whereas Fett was carried into Canon more by Popularity Power than anything else). Voiced by Skywalker Sound editor Matthew Wood, who submitted his audition under a pseudonym to guarantee he'd get a fair hearing.


 * Alliterative Name
 * Badass: He's usually this or getting Worfed. Depends on who's writing, really.
 * Badass Normal: A rare example of a non-Force sensitive who uses lightsabers.
 * Berserk Button: In the Expanded Universe, he goes nuts whenever someone mistakes him for another mindless droid.
 * Battle Trophy: How he got his lightsabers.
 * Black Knight: Except he is white
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Somewhat.
 * Canon Immigrant
 * Dirty Coward: During the first Cartoon series he appeared in, Dooku explicitly trains Grievous to fight like this: he's supposed to use fear, intimidation, and power to overwhelm his opponents, and to flee when that doesn't work.
 * Dragon Ascendant: Subverted. When Count Dooku is killed, the Jedi think Grievous has become this when in reality he has just become Sidious's Dragon instead.
 * Fake Russian: His accent.
 * Fake Ultimate Villain: In the eyes of the Republic at large, upon Dooku's death, Grievous took over as the Big Bad; the Senate even voted to continue the Clone War, as long as Grievous lived. However, Palpatine is clearly the one pulling the strings, using both Dooku and Grievous as scapegoats to keep his involvement a secret.
 * Fallen Hero
 * Hero-Killer: He even provides the trope picture!
 * Hollywood Cyborg
 * Incurable Cough of Death: This was mostly due to both the result of his cybernetics, as well as Mace Windu Force Gripping his chest. However, this was Retconned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars to always have it.
 * Kill It with Fire: When he's shot by Obi-Wan, his organic tissue burns up.
 * Kaleesh In The Machine
 * Large Ham
 * Looks Like Orlok: Quite impressive for a cyborg.
 * Malevolent Masked Man / White Mask of Doom
 * Meaningful Name: "Grievous" means "causing grief or great sorrow," somewhat fitting for the slaughterer of millions.
 * Interesting it has a double meaning, he renamed himself after his wife was killed in battle.
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous
 * Ominous Opera Cape
 * One Kaleesh Army
 * Quad Wielding
 * Rule of Cool
 * Tragic Villain: In a sense. The Expanded Universe reveals Grievous was an honorable warrior fighting to save his people until an accident left him crippled. He sold himself to Dooku to save his planet. Of course, Dooku had no use for an honorable, noble warrior and had his brain tampered with, replacing the honor and nobility with sadism and savagery.
 * The Worf Effect
 * Took a Level in Badass: In Massacre, he returns to his old-school Hero-Killer form by wiping out the Nightsisters and curb-stomping Ventress.

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus
"Played by: Christopher Lee (Ep.II-III)"



A fallen Jedi who left the Order over philosophical issues, Dooku turned up on the side of the Separatists. What nobody knew, at least for a while, was that he was also the other member of the Sith, apprenticed to Darth Sidious. He gives Yoda a run for his money in a lightsaber duel, which makes his Anticlimax Boss appearance in Episode III somewhat disappointing. Played by the legendary Christopher Lee.


 * Actor Allusion: What do you think "Count" stands for?
 * Aristocrats Are Evil
 * Awesome McCoolname: "Darth Tyranus". All Sith Lords come with this.
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Beard of Evil
 * Big Bad: Subverted. Similar to Vader, he's the most prominent villain in Episode II, but is subservient to Darth Sidious. Inverted in that he is generally perceived to be this by the Jedi and the galaxy at large, and on a smaller scale he does occasionally act without consulting Sidious, sometimes in plots to betray him.
 * Big Bad Wannabe: Intended to kill Sidious at some point in the future and take over the Sith Order- he fails.
 * Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrayed the Jedi Order for the Sith, and proceeded to wage a campaign of murder and assassination against them all, despite many of them being his close friends. In the EU, regardless of the version, he ultimately betrays his apprentice Asajj Ventress, and as per Sith tradition is conspiring against his master Sidious (which doesn't work out). The entire Separatist movement itself is basically one giant con too.
 * Cool Sword: The curved-hilt lightsaber allows for a more fencing-like fighting style and is designed to have an advantage in saberfights (due to the unique angles) at the expense of being harder to use to block blaster bolts.
 * The Dark Side
 * Depending on the Writer: His death. In ROTS, although he does have some fear when he learns of Palpatine's betrayal, he nonetheless remained Defiant to the End right up until Anakin beheads him. In the novelization, however, he panics are realizing Sidious is going to let him die and starts pleading for mercy.
 * According to Christopher Lee, the novelization's take was actually originally going to be in the film, but he had convinced Lucas to change it, as he felt that Dooku would not have begged for his life like a coward.
 * The Dragon
 * The Heavy
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Villain with Good Publicity: In the EU at least, and briefly in Attack of the Clone as far as his former fellow Jedi are concerned; in the eyes of many, on both sides of the conflict, Dooku is a charismatic idealist crusading against the very real corruption endemic in the Republic, and all the more overtly villainous characters in the Separatist movement are simply the allies he's stuck with, and the atrocities they commit are done without his approval. Neither is true, of course; although its implied he is against the corruption his idea to weed it out is to set up a sprawling galactic dictatorship, and far from disapproving of those atrocities he usually instigates them, and is more than happy to blame them on the Republic.
 * We Could Have Avoided All This: Implied by his reaction shortly after defeating Obi-Wan and Anakin, but before facing Yoda. Upon their defeat, he sighs in a somewhat disappointed manner.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Revenge of the Sith.

Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin
"Played by: Peter Cushing (Ep.IV); Wayne Pygram (5-second cameo in Ep.III)."



In the movies, Wilhuff Tarkin is mostly known as the Smug Snake running the Death Star; it was he who ordered the destruction of Alderaan, forcing Leia to watch. EU materials have elaborated on his villainy; particularly, it was his idea to rule through fear, which is probably why the Death Star's outrageous Power Levels appealed to him.


 * Big Bad: In A New Hope.
 * Big Bad Duumvirate: With Vader. He orders him around a couple of times, but lets him take the initiative more often than not. His authority is probably based on the fact that he is in charge of the Death Star, and thats 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 Star Wars Legacy.
 * 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 Genius
 * Evil Old Folks
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * Hannibal Lecture: To Leia.
 * Jerkass: In his appearance in the Clone Wars series, 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.
 * 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
 * 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 maniplated 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.
 * 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.

Jabba the Hutt
"Voiced by: Larry Ward (Ep. VI)"



A very, very large slug-creature (it took something like 6 puppeteers to control him), leader of a major criminal organization, and the one to whom Han is deeply in debt to after a botched spice run. He was in the script for Episode IV, but it wasn't until VI that technology progressed enough to make him look like anything more than a half-inflated balloon; the Special Edition Ep.IV restores the deleted scenes graced by a completely CGI Jabba. Also had a cameo in Episode I.


 * Adipose Rex
 * Bad Boss
 * Big Bad Wannabe
 * Bilingual Dialogue
 * Death by Irony: Leia strangles him with her slave chain.
 * Depraved Bisexual: He had male pleasure slaves too, according to the Expanded Universe.
 * Dirty Old Man: He's 600 years old, people.
 * Disc One Final Boss: For the first act of Episode VI.
 * The Don
 * Evil Laugh
 * Evil Is Hammy
 * Evil Sounds Deep
 * Fat Bastard
 * Genius Bruiser: He's smart enough to shrug off a Jedi mind trick.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper
 * Hermaphrodite: According to the EU. You're welcome.
 * I Have You Now, My Pretty: "Soon you will learn to appreciate me."
 * Jabba Table Manners: Trope Namer.
 * Large Ham
 * Non-Action Big Bad
 * Papa Wolf: Jabba the Hutt in the Clone Wars movie cared quite a bit for Rotta the Hutt, his son, to the extent that should any of the two factions harm his son in any way, he will ensure they regretted it. On a related note, his love for his son was apparently strong enough to make him relent and allow Papanoida to make a case against Greedo when he appealed to his love for Rotta to have him help him find his daughters.
 * Pet the Dog: Had one moment of this. See Papa Wolf above.
 * Psychopathic Manchild
 * Right-Hand Attack Dog: The Rancor.
 * Slouch of Villainy: Justified due to being a huge slug.
 * Reclining Reigner
 * Smug Snake
 * Villain Ball: He tried to have some of the most influential Rebel leaders executed, including a Jedi. Yeah.
 * Villainous Glutton

Viceroy Nute Gunray
"Played by: Silas Carson (Ep.I-III)"

The Corrupt Corporate Executive leader of the Trade Federation and an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain during the prequel trilogy. Most prominently featured in Episode I, in which he makes a Deal with the Devil only to unsurprisingly be used and betrayed by Darth Sidious. Gunray joins the Separatists in Episode II, by which time he seems to have developed a grudge against Padmé. How dare she liberate her planet from his illegal invasion! In Episode III, Darth Vader kills him in cold blood as he begs for mercy.


 * Aristocrats Are Evil: Kind of. "Viceroy" is apparently just the title given to the leader of the Trade Federation. However, said organization apparently controls whole planets. So, whatever.
 * Asshole Victim
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Dirty Coward: Qui-Gon notes that "these Federation types are cowards".
 * Evil Genius
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Sort of. When Sidious tells them to prepare their invasion of Naboo, Gunray implies that he's not willing to invade Naboo if such an invasion is illegal, resulting in Sidious telling them that he'll make the invasion legal. Though it may be more Pragmatic Villainy due to not wanting the inevitable backlash and sanctions for illegal actions.
 * The Fundamentalist
 * Greed: His apparent motivation. EU material (not to mention his attempt to have Padme assassinated in Episode 2) gives it as Revenge instead.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Mostly due to being generally bullied around by the real bad guys. He's not actually a very pleasant individual and in another story might even be a Complete Monster, but all we see is a man out of his depth, and fully aware of it.
 * It's Personal: How he feels about Padmé after The Phantom Menace (and how he felt about then-Senator Palpatine in EU materials explaining why he blockaded Naboo). You'd think she'd be the one entitled to feel that way, but nope.
 * Killed Mid-Sentence
 * Lizard Folk: Along with apparently everyone who works for the Trade Federation.
 * That's because the Neimodians were the only ones who were spared (unsurprisingly due to Palpatine's influence) in an assassination against the other leader races of the Trade Federation.
 * Rubber Forehead Aliens
 * Unwitting Pawn: Twice: First time was the aftermath of the invasion of Naboo, second time was during the Separatist wars, and at least until the near end of the conflict, he didn't even know that Darth Sidious was the true leader, or that it was even a Sith orchestrated group.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Revenge of the Sith.

Admiral Firmus Piett
"Played by: Kenneth Colley (Ep.V-VI)"

"You Have Failed Me... for the last time, Admiral Ozzel. Captain Piett?... Make way to land our troops beyond the energy shield, and deploy the fleet so that nothing gets off the system. You Are in Command Now, Admiral Piett." Yep, that's the character's entire claim to fame (that,and he was the first person to see the back of Vader's head without the helmet). Did you even notice him in Episode VI? 'Cuz he was there.


 * Anti-Villain / Punch Clock Villain
 * The Dragon: To Darth Vader
 * High Turnover Rate
 * Mauve Shirt
 * Mook Lieutenant
 * The Starscream: Some sources in the EU imply that he was part of the reason for Ozzel's failures and thus his death.
 * You Are in Command Now

General Maximilian Veers
"Played by: Julian Glover (Ep.V)"

Commanding officer of the ground forces assigned to Darth Vader's personal squadron. He personally leads the Imperial assault on Echo Base, firing the last shots which destroys the shield generator. The Expanded Universe further expands his career, detailing how he was one of the few officers assigned to the Death Star who escaped and survived on his own on Yavin 4.


 * Four-Star Badass

Ki-Adi-Mundi
"Played by: Silas Carson (Ep. I-II-III)"

Cerean Jedi Master who served on the Jedi High Council in last years of the Galactic Republic and played a major role in several battles during the Clone Wars. He was shot to death by his own clone troopers.


 * Master Swordsman
 * My Brain Is Big
 * Old Master
 * Psychic Powers
 * Rubber Forehead Aliens
 * Supporting Leader

Bail Prestor Organa
"Played by: Jimmy Smits (Ep.II-III)"

Prince Consort, head of the royal house of Alderaan, ruler and senator of Alderaan. He is Leia's adoptive father and one of the main founders of the Rebel Alliance.


 * Big No: As he witnesses young Padawan Zett Jukassa being gunned down by the Clone Troopers.
 * Doomed by Canon: Word of God confirms that he died when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan in A New Hope.
 * Good Parents
 * La Résistance
 * Law of Inverse Fertility: He and his wife had many difficulties in producing an heir.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something

Mon Mothma
"Played by: Caroline Blakiston (Ep. VI), Genevieve O'Reilly (Ep. III)"

An important political figure who founded and led the Rebel Alliance. Later becomes Chief of State of the New Republic after the downfall of the Empire.


 * Big Good: For the one scene she gets.
 * Lethally Expensive: "Many Bothans died to bring us this information."
 * Minor Major Character
 * One-Scene Wonder: Has less than thirty seconds of screentime in Return of the Jedi.
 * La Résistance
 * Woman in White

Admiral Gial Ackbar
"Played by: Timothy M. Rose (Ep.VI)"

A squid-person from a species called the Mon Calamari, Ackbar is something of a One-Scene Wonder, appearing only in the last hour of the entire franchise but, like Wedge, has gone on to be a pivotal member of the Expanded Universe. He commands the Rebel fleet during the Battle of Endor, during which he famously pronounced, "It's a trap!"


 * All There in the Manual: His given name, Gial, was first mentioned in The Essential Guide To Warfare.
 * Captain Obvious: "It's a trap!"
 * Four-Star Badass
 * Fish People
 * The Strategist
 * Supporting Leader

General Crix Madine
"Played by: Dermot Crowley(Ep. VI)"

A former Imperial officer who defected to the Rebels, supplying valuable knowledge and information crucial to their success in the battle of Endor.


 * Heel Face Turn
 * Four-Star Badass

Biggs Darklighter
"Played by: Garrick Hagon(Ep. IV)"

Luke's Big Brother Mentor from Tatooine. He left to join the Rebel Alliance prior to the events of A New Hope. He and Luke meet again upon finding out that they're both set to take on the Death Star in the battle of Yavin together. Biggs still has his fans (and a plethora of Final Fantasy characters who share his name).


 * Badass Mustache
 * Hero of Another Story: Has all sorts of his own adventures while Luke is stuck on boring old Tatooine, much to Luke's annoyance.
 * Mauve Shirt
 * What Could Have Been: He was intended to be a more prominent character in A New Hope, but most of his scenes were cut before the final release.
 * What Could Have Been: He was intended to be a more prominent character in A New Hope, but most of his scenes were cut before the final release.

Lobot
"Played by: John Hollis (Ep. V)"

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


 * Heel Face Turn: In his backstory, he is a convict who is sentenced to serve as Cloud City's computer-liason officer.
 * Neural Implanting
 * Satellite Character
 * The Stoic
 * The Voiceless: Never spoke a word onscreen.

Stormtroopers
Elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire. These faceless enforcers are considered an extension of the Emperor's will, and thus they will often use brutal tactics as a way to keep thousands of star systems throughout the galaxy in line.


 * A Nazi by Any Other Name: See Meaningful Name.
 * Elite Mooks: More of an Informed Ability in the movies.
 * Enemy Chatter
 * Evil Minions
 * Faceless Goons
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Trope Namer. Fiction outside the films has tried a couple times to justify it, including that the Stormtroopers were human recruits rather than clones. In the games, their signature blaster rifles are typically inaccurate beyond a few feet.
 * Light Is Not Good: Don't be fooled by the shiny white armor.
 * Malevolent Masked Men
 * Meaningful Name: Apparently the Stormtroopers were named after the Sturm Abteilung of Nazi Germany. (In German, Sturm is synonymous with "assault")
 * Punch Clock Villain
 * Super Soldier
 * White Mask of Doom

IG-88
A ruthless assassin droid, and one of the bounty hunters sent by the Empire to track Han Solo in Episode V. It started placing trackers on all of the bounty hunters' ships that were present and used them to find Solo. Boba Fett was not fooled; he allowed IG-88 to follow him to Bespin, where the droid met its end. IG-88B was left as scrap in the bowels of Cloud City.


 * Bounty Hunter
 * Killer Robot
 * Wall of Weapons

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.


 * Bedouin Rescue Service
 * By the Lights of Their Eyes
 * Gang of Critters
 * In the Hood

Tusken Raiders
Also known as Sand People. Nomadic, primitive sentients indigenous to Tatooine, where they are often hostile to local settlers.


 * Rape, Pillage and Burn: Their culture in a nutshell.
 * The Unintelligibles: Their language is made of growls and grunts. It sounds like donkey brayings.

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


 * Badass Adorable
 * Bamboo Technology
 * Beware the Nice Ones
 * Gang of Critters
 * God Guise
 * Proud Warrior Race Guys
 * Rock Beats Laser

The Clone Troopers
"Played by: Temuera Morrison (Ep.II-III). All of them."

An army of identical, genetically-modified clones, created to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Grown and raised in the laboratories and facilities of Kamino, they fought under Jedi command to defend Republic sovereignty against the Separatist rebellion. Due to their inability to disobey any order, the clone troopers carried out Palpatine's commands without question and destroyed the Jedi Order. They were later re-designated as the first generation of Imperial stormtroopers.


 * Expendable Clone
 * Faceless Goons
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Averted, especially during Order 66.
 * Just Following Orders
 * Mauve Shirt/ : Captain Rex and Commander Cody.
 * Malevolent Masked Men
 * Punch Clock Villain: Once Order 66 is launched.
 * Super Soldier
 * White Mask of Doom
 * Younger Than They Look: Justified by their accelerated growth.

The Battle Droids

 * Elite Mooks: The B2 super battle droids and the Droidekas. Even the Jedi had problems defeating them and 50 years after the Clone Wars' end, the B2s is still useful in the Yuuzhan Vong War against the Yuuzhan Vong empire.
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Which they lampshade sometimes.
 * Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains: The B1 units.
 * Mecha-Mooks

Boss Nass
"Played by: Brian Blessed"

Ruler of the Gungans.


 * Adipose Rex
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Large Ham: Or is that redundant?
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy
 * Serkis Folk

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


 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Bilingual Dialogue
 * Cuddle Bug: As hugging is the Wookie's cultural equivalent of a hand-shake, expect to get this a lot if you befriend a Wookie.
 * Genius Bruiser
 * Gentle Giant: In spite of the average Wookiee also being a...
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: Every last lovable one of them.
 * Slave Race: The Empire enslaved them.
 * Starfish Language/The Unintelligible

Greedo
A Rodian bounty hunter in the employ of Jabba the Hutt. He confronts Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina because of the price on Solo's head. It doesn't end well for him.


 * Bilingual Dialogue
 * Bounty Hunter
 * The Dog Shot First
 * Evil Debt Collector
 * Little Green Men: The size of a human though.
 * One-Scene Wonder: His encounter with Han ends really, really badly.

Owen and Beru Lars
"Owen played by: Phil Brown (Ep.IV); Joel Edgerton (Ep.II-III) Beru played by: Shelagh Fraser (Ep.IV); Bonnie Piesse (Ep.II-III)"

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


 * Aerith and Bob
 * Death by Origin Story
 * Determined Homesteader
 * Door Stop Baby
 * Forgotten Fallen Friend
 * Good Parents
 * Happily Married
 * Killed Off for Real
 * Muggle Foster Parents
 * Nephewism
 * Watching the Sunset

Shmi Skywalker Lars
"Played by: Pernilla August (Ep.I-II)"

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


 * Actor Allusion: Pernilla August played the Virgin Mary in a television film.
 * Death by Origin Story: Avenging her death is Anakin's first major step towards the Dark Side.
 * Determinator: She was captured by a group of Tusken raiders one month before the events of Attack of the Clones. She was severely beaten and dehydrated, but hold on to her memories of Anakin in an effort to stay alive.
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight / Pietà Plagiarism: She dies in Anakin's arms.
 * Don't Look Back: She gives Anakin the strength to leave Tatooine by telling him not to look back at her.
 * Good Parent
 * Happily Married: She was bought and freed by Cliegg Lars, who married her some time between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.
 * Killed Off for Real: In Attack of the Clones.
 * Made a Slave
 * Muggle Foster Parent
 * Truly Single Parent: She conceived Anakin without the help of a father.

Cliegg Lars
"Played by: Jack Thompson (Ep.II)"

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


 * Buy Their Freedom / Release Your Slaves: He bought Shmi to Watto and subsequently freed and married her.
 * Happily Married: He and Shmi formed a strong bond of a loving family.

Watto
"Voiced by: Andrew Secombe (Ep.I-II)"

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


 * The Gambling Addict: Often bets on podraces.
 * Jerkass
 * Serkis Folk
 * Sinister Schnoz
 * Space Jews / Greedy Space Jew
 * Trapped by Gambling Debts: The reason he sold Shmi to Cliegg Lars.

Sebulba
"Voiced by : Lewis Mac Leod (Ep.I)"

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


 * Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Race pilot version.
 * Badass Driver
 * Bizarre Alien Biology: Like all Dugs, he walks on his hands and uses his feet to hold onto things.
 * Cheaters Never Prosper: Subverted. Even though everyone knows he cheats, he's still the most popular racer. The Star Wars Expanded Universe material reveals that not only did he obtain Anakin's podracer later on, but he also continued to be one of the most succesful podracers ever. Losing the Boonta to Anakin was just a minor setback for him.
 * Cool Car: Plug-F Mammoth podracer.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Jerkass
 * The Napoleon
 * The Rival: To Anakin.
 * Serkis Folk
 * Spiked Wheels: Sebulba modified his podracer in lethal ways such as adding a flamethrower or making it durable enough to ram other podracers off of the track.
 * Vehicular Sabotage: He has no qualms using this way to ensure his victory.