Top Twenty Favorite Star Wars Characters

Top Twenty Favorite Star Wars Characters.

Not ranked from 20 to 1. Instead I'll just be going in chronological order, picking one or two from each film. For my personal preference I'm sticking to the 6 Lucas movies. Sequels not included because I don't like them and Animation not included because I've not seen any of them.
There are too many characters to like and love in Star Wars to narrow it down to 10. I could probably even do more than twenty, but I'll just do a pair of favorites to match one in my least favorite list. When it's a main character, I'll put them in at the point that I think they were at their best.
First picks: Qui Gon Jin and Padme Amidala. Specifically Padme from Phandom Menace and Attack of the Clones. I loved her in Revenge of the Sith as well, but her character didn't have as much impact in that one. I loved young Padme in PM because she was a secret. The Queen in disguise. That's great stuff. And in AOTC she was just plain badass like Leia after her. And Qui Gon... Does it get much cooler than Qui Gon? He didn't need more than one movie to make you totally believe him and become invested in him. He was the best mentor character in the series next to older Obi Wann in the original trilogy.

 

Next up, it's Watto and R2D2. I can't help but love the smarmy, unscrupulous junk dealer, Watto. Such a used car salesman who can't even be put off his game by Jedi mind tricks. I also love the creativity of his design, his beard in particular. You don't see a lot of aliens that are created with face hair and Watto has a beard that varies in length throughout the first two prequels. It just a nice touch of a fine detail that stands out to me. And then R2.. dear R2, the real hero of the entire franchise. I've written about that before. The glue that held all six movies together was right out in front in the first movie taking care of everyone and adorable as ever. If you don't love R2D2 I just don't understand how. He belongs on every favorite character list, I believe.

Next we have Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Windu didn't have a huge part, but he made and impression. Mace Windu and his bling-saber. Which was cooler? We may never know. But it was a different kind of part for Samuel L. Jackson. Even more different than his part in the MCU. It's the last place anyone would've expected him to turn up back in the Pulp Fiction days. A wise, sagely Jedi master is a refreshing break from his pigeonholed personality as a loud, gritty, and brash kind of hero/anti-hero without taking away from his formidablility. Much respect.

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Whether Ewan McGregor or Alec Guinness, he has the heart of a lot of fans. Alec Guinness portrayed the subtle pain and regret of a story that hadn't been told yet at the time. Ewan McGregor played out that story to perfection. He really held the prequels together as the best actor in the group, hands down with the character perspective that made the most sense. With the six movies combined, he's probably the best character of the franchise. 

Next up,  Yoda and Princess Leia. Bridging the gap between the two trilogies, I chose Yoda from the prequels because he got to demonstrate why he was the very best for all the lifting of space ships in his swamp. Teacher, fighter, strategist. I don't know anyone who doesn't love Yoda. Princess Leia, also a teacher, fighter and strategist. She picked up in giving some guidance to the boys after Obi-Wan was killed in A New Hope and continued to guide a rebellion, showing limitless versatility while not overshadowing and suffocatingthe other characters. Two of the very best characters ever created.

 Next...
The heart of the series... Luke and Han. Mostly A New Hope Luke because he was so wide-eyed and fresh. He didn't have the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders yet and his energy was unstoppable. I liked his hair longer and blonder too. Let's face it, there's nothing like the first movie or the first book or the first part of any series. A New Hope will always be the first in my mind and young, eager Luke, along with Han and Leia are the coolest team in the trilogy.
Han... Han at any point in the trilogy. Han was equally as cool as the Jedi without having any mystic or magic qualities. Sometimes cooler. Without even trying it would seem. Always an adorable smile and a cheeky one-liner. He's one of the best characters ever made.

Okay, Darth Maul is out of order... this is why I'm not actually ranking them, lol. This is also why the idea of favorite and least favorite characters doesn't really apply in Star Wars. Neither Maul or Vader should be a favorite since they were antagonists. But I was and still am intrigued by Darth Maul. His make up was so unique and different. And his brief time in The Phantom Menace had a stunning impact. I liked Count Dooku, but I'm kind of disappointed that Maul wasn't in at least 2 of the prequels. He's a frightening, silent predator that could really give everyone a bad day. I like the creativity put into this character.
And of course, Darth Vader is the king. The reason why I say Anakin is the most important character in all of Star Wars is because of Vader. They've resurrected him in almost every incarnation, book, and video game connected to the franchise. The tragic character seeking redemption while making force-choking everyone totally cool. There hasn't been many screen personas made that can match Darth Vader.

 

So, Han, are there any more like you at home? Why yes... yes there are.. Sigh... *heartthrob* Thing great thing about the original trilogy is that the writers and actors took what was assumed to be years of background and condense them into a few scenes. Lando has a dubious character, but Lando is no more of a bad guy than Han. Even though he's willing to cover his own skin... he can only be pushed so far. Loved Lando.
Chewbacca.. Proof that you don't even need real dialogue (along with R2) to fashion a strong, believable character. A sidekick, but no less important than any of the actual speaking characters. Chewbacca is just a tall guy in a costume but he's as real as any regular person in the movies. I don't think it's as easy as people think it is... I don't know if it could be done without the help of CGI today.

Also out of order is Kitt Fisto. I know nothing about this character. I think he had more experiences and a more thorough biography in other Star Wars shows, but that didn't stop that smile from capturing my heart in the second movie. Great alien character. Great makeup. And of course I can't leave C3PO out of this list. Poor 3PO is the fool who was swept along for the wild ride. Not entirely useless, he unwittingly played a big role in Han's rescue from Jabba. But for the most part he's just there for comic relief and he does a superb job

Next...

Bobba Fett. He was clever and deadly. And he wasn't really bad he was neutral. Just another day at the office. He was the best choice for the job. I think Vader knew that too, having had dealings with his progenitor. I wasn't sorry to see Jango go, but I was almost a little sorry to see Bobba go. Respect, my friend. The last three of my "favorites" are mostly insignificant characters (in the 6 Lucas movies anyway). They simply stand out and have left a lasting impression over the years like Admiral Ackbar. More than just pointing out the trap, he seemed to be a genuinely expressive character under that giant prosthetic alien head gear. I like it when a person can emote without being able to use their own face. We don't need animation to remember the honorable Admiral Ackbar and that makes him cool. 

Lastly, I picked these two for their looks mainly. Bib Fortuna is another great makeup job that made a lasting impression on me. And he's my favorite dupe of a Jedi mind trick. It's not my favorite mind trick per say, but I did enjoy Bib getting all the way to Jabba confident in his introduction of Luke. Funny stuff. And finally, the Imperial Guard. They were about as useless as Stormtroopers but they had a great look. One of my very favorite costumes of the franchise.

Top Ten Least Favorite Star Wars Characters

Top ten least favorite Star Wars characters.

Not ranked from 10 to 1. Instead I'll just be going in chronological order, picking one or two from each film. For my personal preference I'm sticking to the 6 Lucas movies. Sequels not included because I don't like them and Animation not included because I've not seen any of them.
This was actually harder to do than I thought. There's very few Star Wars characters that I genuinely don't like. I actually like close to half the characters on this list but I have to put them here because of their actions as bad guys (when it's a bad guy.)
First pick: Shmi Skywalker
In this case, I just thought she was kind of boring to watch and she represented the one real disappointment in the prequels for me - the midichlorians. It's not her fault, but she's on my list of least favorites nonetheless.

 

Next up.. these two freaks. I count them as one because you never saw one without the other. Nute Gunray and Rune Haako. These guys were such tools and it was comical because they didn't even understand that they had no real power or control until the end while the most casual viewer could spot it right away. I don't hate them because they're too funny to actually dislike. But they definitely belong on a least favorite list because they were the useful idiots of the Empire.

 Omgoodness... It's hard to put anyone in this list especially Ian McDiarmid! My most beloved least favorite character. But Senator/Chancellor Palpatine is a bad person. More so than when he is the fully the Emperor undisguised. His disguise is what makes this character even more evil. A two-faced snake who whispers discord while wielding enough charisma to make people throw their freedom gleefully at his feet. He was such a nice guy in the Phantom Menace. Genuinely likeable; Padme's mentor, nearly. But he was the Menace by the time Revenge of the Sith arrived. Palpatine's bio is a movie I'd like to see. 

For number seven, I pick the Jengo clones. Not the kids. Not the masked and marching soldier.. but these guys... I actually love most of these "least favorite" characters. The clones in this eating scene seem to epitomize the Stormtrooper clichés... big dumb animals. Even though they were top notch when the Jedi were in charge, they quickly developed a reputation for not being able to hit the broad side of a building. Their adorable, vacant stares in this scene seemed to match up with that. I don't know why I'm bothering with a least favorites list.. this isn't working out well.. lol

Six:  Commander Cody. The face of betrayal. He turned on Obi-Wan and that adorable Boga critter. 'Nuff said. Funk Commander Cody.

Anakin. It's not that I don't like Anakin. The six movies combined was the story of Anakin Skywalker. He's the most important character in all of Star Wars, probably. I just didn't care for Hayden Christensen's acting. His face was expressive in the right way, but when he spoke it was a little stiff in most scenes. Child Anakin wasn't much better, but forgivable since he was a little kid.

Next...  No I don't actually hate Greedo... but looking back on the unaltered version of ANH, I'm pretty sure he did shoot first.. he just missed.

Next up, Jabba. I don't really dislike Jabba too much.. he's very charming in a mob boss sort of way. But his tongue was really creepy to me when I was a kid. Especially when Leia strangled him.

Next...  Who taunts and provokes a giant Sith with a scary robot voice? Who does that? This guy.. Conan Antonio Motti. I think it's safe to say he was asking for it...

Finally, my last choice is Mon Mothma. I'm sure she in a position of leadership for a reason but she gives off a definite air of "politician" and she's kind of boring as well. She wasn't an active leader like Leia.. In fact she seemed more like a princess than Leia... distant and cold. Iconic though. It's amazing how these characters with only a few lines stay with you for years and years.

Book Review

A Map of Days, Ransom Riggs.
The fourth book of the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series and the first book of a separate trilogy.
This one was kind of uneven for me. I don't know if it was just my mood going into it (I was still considerably distracted from the last series I read) or if the quality had actually slipped some, but I had a hard time getting into this one. The plot holes and inconsistencies that I was happy to forgive in the first three seemed to stand out like sore thumbs in this one. It appeared to be leaning to an almost Harry Potterish sort of parallel at the very beginning, which seemed like a cop out. And of course the author just had to take a minute to bash America because it's the cheapest, easiest, though talentless, type of writing to fill the slow moving plot. But still, I stuck with it because I still like the peculiar fantasy elements and I liked the general direction that Jacob was going. It's full of great ideas to continue fleshing out the world by introducing the more complex governing structure for both the British and American Peculiars now that the big threat from the first series was defeated. That alone fills in some of the gaps from the earlier books. It goes into details about Jacob's grandfather's life and how he worked as a rogue Peculiar in America and puts Jacob on the path to follow in his work. That comes in to focus towards the end and that's when it starts to really become interesting. This new type of journey for Jacob had to happen if any more books were to be written in this series. But the transition between the series was a rough one.
It's the kind of downer that one normally associates with the middle book of a trilogy. His parents and normal family members had to be written out of the equation, but the process is sadder than expected, and leaves some of those plot holes mentioned above. He had to have a huge failure to learn a lesson. That's never fun. He had to be released from his relationship with Emma, which was always a little strange anyway to be honest. The team of Peculiars he's bonded with also had to split up... at least temporarily. I personally think they'll all be on the same page together by the 6th book. And it took an awfully long time to find it's way to what I see as the real starting point of this new storyline which looks very interesting and I'm all in on getting the next two books to find out how it goes.

Book Review

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
The final book of The Hunger Games series. I was so impressed with the second one that I opted not to wait until this coming Christmas to splurge on it. It probably doesn't go in a direction that most people would initially assume, myself included. It's at this point that you have to realize that this is a story tailor made for a generation that's grown up with almost nothing but reality shows of some kind or another. All of the action has been done with the awareness of cameras and an audience marveling over a twisted idea of celebrities. I think that's why I didn't initially connect with the first book all those years ago, but really it just hearkens back to the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome only with futuristic technology. Katniss seems to embody the gladiatorial ideal in this series. So, in the third book she's now the leader of the resistance, but only as a figurehead who is still just a pawn. And with this last book it becomes clear that the real power of her character is her ongoing defiance of those who are running the show. Even those running the rebellion, whose decisions are equally as misguided and even wrong as those of the president of Panem. It's a slower moving story since the pattern of society has been officially disrupted and because Katniss' exposure is tightly controlled for PR sake. But there are still opportunities for her to go rogue even within her confines. She also gets her chance to actually fight for the cause and her revenge in ways that reflect the Games which produces a satisfying amount of action, albeit a little later in this book than the previous two.
This book is also much darker. Darker, you ask, than a story about teenagers being forced to kill each other for entertainment? Somehow, yes. The world is fully developed and it's a nightmare on both sides really. The tensions of the war and the consequences for various characters within are deliberately ugly. And then there's a cruel twist of fate for Katniss towards the end that makes it seem like all of her efforts in the past two years were in vain. I don't know if I could've done it if I was the author. It's very sad. Sadder than my favorite character dying (which didn't happen this time, thankfully.) But a bittersweet ending is not uncommon and with the other two books, I'll call this a pretty great trilogy.
I don't have much experience with love stories or love triangles, but I think this one played out and turned out correctly. By the end she only had one choice. He represents the right things and is definitely what Katniss needed, I just had a hard time connecting with him. It's like he was lawful good and the other was chaotic good and I found the other more interesting because of that slight complexity. But I was never into this for the love story anyway. It was always Katniss' defiance that kept me hooked.
So, if you haven't read this series I sure do recommend it... Better late than never, in my case.