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Star Wars Skywalker Saga characters

  • Obi-Wan KenobiOn the ice planet Hoth, a young Luke Skywalker hears the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Jedi Master instructs him to travel to Dagobah to find Yoda.
  • Luke SkywalkerLuke Skywalker first appeared on screen in 1977, a teenager from a desert planet who wanted nothing more than to leave home.
  • R2-D2George Lucas watched Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress and saw a peasant character named Matashichi. That small, round figure became the visual…
  • Darth VaderDarth Vader first appeared in 1977, and the question George Lucas put before his production team was deceptively simple: how do you make a villain feel like…
  • Kylo RenIn March 2014, the production team for Star Wars: The Force Awakens knew their main antagonist only as Jedi Killer. That name hid a character who had gone…
  • Stormtrooper (Star Wars)Stormtroopers are among the most recognized fictional soldiers ever put on screen, introduced to audiences in the original Star Wars film of 1977.
  • C-3PORalph McQuarrie painted a golden humanoid figure in 1976 that drew directly from the female robot in Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis.
  • Princess LeiaGeorge Lucas wrote and refined the Star Wars screenplay over several years, changing Princess Leia's identity multiple times before settling on her final…
  • Qui-Gon JinnGeorge Lucas created the character Qui-Gon Jinn for the 1999 film The Phantom Menace. He originally envisioned an American actor in the role but ultimately…
  • PalpatineSheev Palpatine is the main antagonist of the Star Wars franchise, a character so carefully constructed that his first name did not appear on screen until…
  • Poe DameronIn 2015, the character that would become Poe Dameron was referred to as John Doe. Early script drafts envisioned him as a black man in his 30s or 40s.
  • Finn (Star Wars)Lawrence Kasdan, one of the screenwriters for The Force Awakens, grew angry during script meetings. He accused his fellow writers of not thinking big enough…
  • Han SoloHan Solo made his first appearance not on screen but on the page, in the novelization of Star Wars published in 1976, a full year before audiences saw him…
  • Darth MaulDarth Maul arrived on screen in 1999 with a face that concept artist Iain McCaig described as what you would see if you stripped the flesh off your own face…
  • Lando CalrissianGeorge Lucas began writing The Empire Strikes Back in 1978 with a specific character type in mind. He wanted a gambler who would serve as a foil to the rough…
  • Padmé AmidalaPadmé Amidala enters the Star Wars universe as the teenage queen of Naboo, a planet under military occupation. She is fourteen years old, recently elected…
  • Rey (Star Wars)In 2012, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy invited Michael Arndt to write three screenplays for the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
  • Supreme Leader SnokeIn the opening scene of The Force Awakens, a massive hologram projects across a dark throne room. This figure speaks with a deep, resonant voice that fills…
  • Skywalker familyThe Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human bloodline at the heart of the Star Wars franchise, one whose grip on galactic history spans generations…