The Star Wars Skywalker saga will draw to a close next month when The Rise of Skywalker releases in theaters, with director JJ Abrams committed to giving the saga the sendoff it royally deserves. Fans are excited to see Rey, Finn and Poe Damaron again but others are hoping to get a glimpse of popular heroes such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda again - despite the trio all dying in previous installments.
We now go through the best Star Wars heroes over the years, ranking them as we go along. First, however, are some honourable mentions for the individuals who didn’t make the cut.
Honourable Mentions: Finn, Poe Damaron and Jyn Erso
While we can’t wait to see Finn and Poe Damaron, we can’t help but feel their characters regressed during the previous Star Wars blockbuster, The Last Jedi. As Rey and Kylo Ren took center stage, the duo suffered, with director Rian Johnson marginalizing their characters by having Finn go to Canto Bight with Rose and forcing Poe to engage in political sparring with Laura Dern’s Vice Admiral Holdo.
As for Jyn Erso, she was awesome, but unfortunately not awesome enough to make our top 10. Now let’s get into it.
Padme Amidala
Padme Amidala was more than just your usual Queen. Somehow, we can’t see the Queen of England fighting on the front line like Padme does in The Phantom Menace or murdering Geonosians in Attack of the Clones. But she does both of those things and is another example of a strong female character within the Star Wars saga.
Our only complaint about Padme is her death. You’re really telling us she died because she ‘lost the will to live?’ Come on! It would have made more sense for her to have perished as a result of Anakin Skywalker’s attempts to choke her, or even darker, as a result of Emperor Palpatine draining her life force to keep her husband alive following his defeat to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar.
Lando Calrissian
Well hello, what do we have here. One of the reasons why we’re so stoked for The Rise of Skywalker is the return of Billy Dee Williams as lovable rogue Lando Calrissian, whose silver tongue will no doubt be in full force throughout the blockbuster.
Lando during the original trilogy, and Solo: A Star Wars story, shows himself to be more than just a smooth talker, however. He’s also incredibly good at fighting, playing a key role in the destruction of the second Death Star and Han Solo’s successful coup on Kessel. He’s in the TROS trailer fleetingly, but looks to be having he time of his life. Which is exactly what we, as the audience, want to see
Mace Windu
Samuel L. Jackson had a ball during his time on Star Wars, despite his character Mace Windu being stony-faced during the three prequel movies. Despite that, though, Windu deserves a place on the list with the Jedi Master doing many cool things during his time on the big screen.
Whether that be chopping off Jango Fett’s head on Geonosis or directly engaging Emperor Palpatine in combat, Windu is a fearsome warrior and vital asset for the good guys. He only has himself to blame for his death, however, with Anakin Skywalker choosing to side with Palpatine after Jackson’s character had regularly shunned him and stopped him from becoming a Jedi Master too.
Rey
Rey is the only character of the sequel trilogy to make this list. But with good reason, considering that the former Jakku scavenger seems to have powers mere mortals, and even other Jedi, can only dream of. Despite having little to no training, she’s so far bested Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker in respective showdowns and also proven herself to be a remarkable flyer, piloting herself, Finn, and Chewbacca out of some tricky situations.
However, our complaint is that none of her prowess has so far been explained. There’s whispers it’s because she’s related to Palpatine, but we’ll have to wait and see for The Rise of Skywalker comes out.
Yoda
Fans weren’t sure what to make of Yoda when he made his debut back in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back. He initially appeared as a comedic figure, engaging in some goofy dialogue with Luke Skywalker on Dagobah. But he quickly reveals himself to be a former Jedi Master and goes on to establish himself as a wise mentor to Luke.
And the prequels only serve to enhance Yoda. His wisdom shines through, of course, but he also takes part in some jaw-dropping lightsaber fights against Count Dooku and Darth Sideous. He also beheads two Stormtroopers on Kashyyk, despite not even looking in their direction at the time. So cool…
Leia Organa
Leia Organa was the first strong female character in a Star Wars movie and, in our opinions, the best of the bunch. In A New Hope, she shows her bravery and courage by standing up to villains Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin, while also managing to get the Death Star plans to the Rebel Alliance. She only gets stronger as the original trilogy goes on, too
Leia stands up to Vader again when they meet on Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back and gets the last laugh on Jabba the Hutt in the sequel, Return of the Jedi, choking him with his own chain after he’d attempted to enslave her. Carrie Fisher’s character also demonstrates her power during The Last Jedi, where she survives being thrown out into space. Whether that’s awesome or just bad writing, you decide…
Anakin Skywalker
If it wasn’t for some rather questionable dialogue, Anakin Skywalker would probably rank even higher on this list. The Jedi Knight starts off as a Tatooine slave in The Phantom Menace, eager to escape his life of misery. And when he’s rescued by Qui-Gon Jinn, who frees him following his victory over Sebulba in the podracing, he goes on to achieve remarkable things.
Anakin is at his best when he’s fighting on the front foot. He does that during Attack of the Clones, defeating waves of Geonosians and later battle droids. Even in Revenge of the Sith, the blockbuster where he turns into Darth Vader, he’s successful in defeating Count Dooku and rescuing Chancellor Palpatine. Eventually, though, the darkness consumes him.
Han Solo
While we described Lando Calrissian as a lovable rogue earlier, the same can be said for his long-time friend Han Solo. Harrison Ford’s character is charming but also brilliant on the battlefield, doing many extraordinary things across the four blockbusters he appears in.
Whether that be stopping Darth Vader from preventing the destruction of the Death Star, slaying stormtroopers (of both Empire and First Order design), helping the Rebel Alliance triumph on Endor, and even escaping a tight spot with Kanja Klub in The Force Awakens, Han does it all. He even dies a hero, trying to turn his son Kylo Ren back to the light side of the force.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
We were honestly giddy with excitement when it was announced that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be getting his own TV show on Disney+. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal as the Jedi Knight was arguably the best thing about the prequel trilogy, with the character already loved because of how he mentored Luke Skywalker through the events of the originals.
Obi-Wan has done many cool things throughout his life. He defeated Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, escaped death in the Geonosian arena in Attack of the Clones, bested both Anakin Skywalker and General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith and much, much more. We can’t wait to see McGregor coming back as the Jedi everybody loves in 2021.
Luke Skywalker
You knew this was coming, right? Luke Skywalker remains very much the poster boy of Star Wars all these years on. When you think of the franchise, you can’t help but think about Mark Hamill’s character.
His journey from Tatooine farmboy to Jedi Knight during the original trilogy is Star Wars at its absolute best. He destroys the Death Star, survives after being dismembered during The Empire Strikes Back, and despite looking destined to turn to the dark side, manages to triumph over Emperor Palpatine at the end of Return of the Jedi.
And while his storyline for The Last Jedi wasn’t great, he’s still the hero in that film when he sacrifices himself, stalls for time against Kylo Ren, and therefore allows the remaining members of the Resistance to escape alive as a result. We’re hoping we get to see him one last time when The Rise of Skywalker comes out next month.
