With The Force Awakens drawing closer with each passing day and our desire for Christmas to arrive already increasing with each behind-the-scenes photo spread in Entertainment Weekly, it only make sense to look back to the six films that come before this year’s most anticipated movie (Sorry Ultron. Sorry 007.) in today’s edition of The Rundown.
Standard Rundown Rules Apply: You may have different thoughts and that’s cool, because this is my list. Share yours in the comments or on Twitter.
Honourable Mentions
Princess Leia: Outside of “Slave Girl Leia,” she was take it or leave it for me. Sure, she sparked the Rebel Alliance into action with her “Help Me, Obi Wan Kenobi” message and all, but let’s be honest – Leia was kind of a buzzkill.
Jabba the Hutt: Dude gave us “Slave Girl Leia” and Salacious B. Crumb; what more do you need?
Scout Troopers: They were better than your run of the mill Stormtroopers because they had cooler helmets and the fact that the speeder toy had an “explode it into pieces” switch to simulate them crashing into trees was awesome.
Top 10 Star Wars Characters
10. Luke Skywalker
Luke was kind of like the kid that got everything handed to him in school and still found a way to whine about it, complaining about how hard it was to master the Force and become a legit Jedi. Quit whining – you get to be a Jedi! Here’s the thing: he gets a lot of credit for thwarting the Empire, but his old man finished of The Emperor and the crew on Endor did a lot of good work too. He’s kind of overrated, but pretty important, so he sneaks into the Top 10.
9. R2-D2
We don’t know for sure because he “talks” in robotic sounds, but we’re told R2 is a cheeky, “voice of reason” type droid and it’s hard not to like him. R2 also put up with C-3P0 crap for years, was the “Goose” to Luke’s “Maverick” in the X-Wing and did a lot of sneaky little work on the side picking locks and fixing vehicles that he doesn’t get enough credit for. Plus he’s got that little taser and it was always fun to see him catch someone off-guard with it.
8. Jawas
Utinni! You have to respect the hustle of the Jawas, those little orange-eyed scavengers from Tatooine that fixed droids and basically tried to swindle anyone they could by selling them busted up droid whenever possible. Remember that broken-ass droid they sold Luke? Damn near got away with it too.
7. Chewbacca
Anyone would be lucky to have a best friend/sidekick/partner-in-crime like Chewie. The amount of everyone’s favourite Wookie took from Han, he could have bounced at any time, but there he was, every time, right by his side, ready to ride or die. That’s loyalty. That’s love. That’s the good stuff. I wish I had a Chewbacca.
6. Obi Wan Kenobi
First – well second in the movie sequence, but first in chronology – he tried to stop Anakin Skywalker when it was clear that his former Padawan had crossed over the Dark Side and then he helped Luke begin his journey as a Jedi. If Chewie is the road dog everyone needs, Ben Kenobi is the kind of teacher and mentor that has a profound impact on your life and only few are fortunate enough to have at some point along the way.
5. Darth Maul
There wasn’t much from the prequels that was redeemable, but there is no denying that Darth Maul was badass. Two-sided lightsaber? Dude was the Sith equivalent of a ninja and his appearance – his red and black face with protruding horns – was a grand departure from the shrouded appearance of the bad guys from the first three films. Even though Phantom Menace was mostly whack, Darth Maul was still awesome.
4. Yoda
I’ll be honest: I thought about putting Yoda even higher because when I was putting this list together, it took me a minute or two to remember his lightsaber battle with Count Dooku from the second trilogy and since that was amazing, it nearly put him in the Top 3. Still, the sage Jedi Master who spoke in twisted sentences with a lot of “uhms” mixed in was pivotal in Luke’s education in the ways of the Force and for that, we’re all forever grateful… or at least I am, even if Luke was a bit of a dolt.
3. Boba Fett
A kickass bounty hunter who was just hustling to make a few bucks and put food on the table, the dude showed the signs of the struggle, cruising around in the Slave 1 – a ship that wasn’t exactly pretty – and sporting plenty of dents and divots and scuff marks on his armor. And he survived falling into the Sarlaac Pit too.
2. Darth Vader
Doesn’t matter that he was “the bad guy” – Vader was amazing! For starters, he was the pioneer of the “All Black Everything” look and had a breathy baritone that told you he meant business. Then you add in the lightsaber skills, the serious command of the Force and everything else and you have one of the best characters in cinematic history, period, and the silver medalist on this list.
1. Han Solo
Who else could possibly top this list? Seriously? If anyone else but Han Solo tops your list of the best Star Wars characters, you weren’t watching Star Wars properly. An intergalactic lovable rogue that was handy with a shooter, a slick pilot and sarcastic as hell – Han was the best, period. How else do you know he was the best character? Who got the girl in the end? Han, that’s who.
