In honor of the upcoming “Clone Wars,” on August 15th, a movie we’re actually looking forward to we’re ashamed to admit, we’ve decided to think inside the box for a while. I mean, we just admitted we want to see “Clone Wars,” we think we should let you know where we stand as a Star Wars geeks, right? There’s really not much more damage George Lucas can inflict on his universe, after all. And animation is cost effective, a no lose medium. and there’s a ninety nine percent chance voice actors could do a better job than Hayden Christensen. Hell, a log can.
Whether we like it or not “The Clone Wars” is coming, not to mention the animated series, so we figured we’d just list our top ten Star Wars characters and have some fun with this impending release.
Star Killer
I’ll be honest, I have yet to play “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” but my fan boy bone tickles at the aspect of being able to operate this force power through the Wii, and play as Darth Vader’s apprentice Starkiller. I don’t particularly know this character beyond what I’ve seen in the trailers, his back story on the game, and his role in the new Soul Caliber games, but I already know that he’s becoming one of my favorite anti-heroes of the mythos already. From the way he performs combat to his unusual wielding of the light saber, he’s the offensive Sith who may have to battle for power against his mentor Darth eventually.
What becomes of his servitude under the Sith is a mystery for me that I’m looking forward to researching. Darth is alone when we see him in his confrontation with Luke Skywalker, and there can only be two Sith warriors, so what becomes of Starkiller? If anything, Starkiller will help to seal the gaping hole that was the whiny Anakin and the dark lord Vader. Starkiller’s merciless pursuit to hunt down the Jedi may prove to be great fodder for the mythos. And it should be noted that the original last name for Luke Skywalker was Luke Starkiller. I’m just saying.
Yoda
If the prequels managed to accomplish anything, it was the emphasis on Master Yoda and convincing us of his immense gravitas and power as the most powerful Jedi who ever lived. Or one of the most powerful Jedi who ever lived, that is. Yoda, prior to the prequels, was a wise and all knowing character who enabled the movement of a rebellion victory and allowed Luke some therapy in the process as he faced the revelation that Darth Vader is his father.
He was the one last strand in the balance of the dark and light side for Luke and his descent in to the darkside would have been an easy one, and the prequels he was a calculating and incredible Jedi whose own size was constantly a miscalculation in his abilities as a warrior. One of my favorite moments, out of the few, from the prequels involves Yoda’s own destruction of the assassination plot put upon him and his fellow Jedi where he makes quick work of two Clone troopers and allies himself with his Wookie friends. Yoda turned from cute and cuddly to fierce and powerful in only a few movies and he earned his place on the list thanks to his strong fight for the Jedi Knights that he ultimately lost.
Han Solo
While my enjoyment for this character has waned over the years what with his massive neutering in the last part of the original “Star Wars” trilogy, Solo remains one of the coolest characters of the original trilogy that Lucas thankfully didn’t under use. In fact he may have used him a bit too much if you ask me. If you remember, the original plan was for Solo to die in “Empire,” which would have made a lot of sense in the long run.
His story would have served as use for inspiration to the rebellion and motivation for Luke to strike down Vader before another hero was lost in battle; as a two fold purpose it also would have explored how far Luke would go to avenge a friend. But still, he lives on in the expanded universe (as far as I know) and continues to be one of the coolest science fiction characters who managed to inspire a slew of dashing space heroes, including his tougher successor, Malcolm Reynolds. That’s right. Malcolm Reynolds would have Solo for breakfast.
Darth Maul
Maul is only one in a line of many characters Lucas just didn’t use enough. Perhaps it was his inability to get through five minutes of the prequels without screwing over a character we knew or were beginning to know, or maybe it was his attempts to appeal to children for fear Maul would scare them, either way, Maul was a character so intense and fantastic he almost didn’t belong in a Star Wars film.
The comic books after the prequel did all the work for fans who felt cheated by Lucas. And though many of you may not want to do all the legwork required to get in to the depth of Maul’s origins, trust me when I say that there’s more to this warrior than meets the eye. Beyond the expanded universe in which Maul survives to live as a half Cyborg, Darth Maul is probably one of the few redeeming traits in “The Phantom Menace,” a force of unstoppable nature whose own alliance with the dark side makes him an incredible match for Padawan Kenobi and his Master Qui Gonn, and Maul continues to be a tragically misused side note of the mythos. Lucas fucked it up!
General Grievous
“Revenge of the Sith” did this character no justice, because if you ever actually saw the “Clone Wars” animated mini-series on Cartoon Network you’ll see that he was actually a terrifying villain almost as menacing as Darth Vader. Intended as a precursor to Vader, Grievous was part man and part machine, a villain who lost all sense of the humanity he may have once possessed but gave himself over to the Darkside to bring about the downfall of the Jedi. In the “Clone Wars” cartoons, he battled Mace Windu and lost the fight to some degree as Windu used his force grip to crush his chest plate.
That explains why he wheezed so much in “Revenge of the Sith.” But sadly, Lucas wrote himself in to a corner asking us to believe Windu couldn’t stop Grievous but an out of the gates Jedi Knight like Kenobi could. In spite of Lucas’s talent for under using potentially amazing characters in the mythos, Grievous is still a great villain whose four arms make him an almost impossible match against a Jedi. In the “Clone Wars” cartoons we see the unstoppable Sith borg battle four Jedi Masters and win, to which he faces off against one last master with four Light Sabers, and a fifth on his foot, which he balances during the fight with ease. It’s a startling sight to behold. Lucas fucked it up!
Asajj Ventress
I haven’t particularly been well versed in the back story of Asajj that wikipedia hasn’t explained since a majority of the Star Wars novels are mainly sub-par to complete tedious trash, but from what I’ve seen of her in the Clone Wars mini-series, and the upcoming animated movie, she’s a villain I’ve grown to hate immensely. But she’s just that character you love to hate because you know she has the potential to win, and let’s face it–the Sith do win until Luke Skywalker comes along. Reptilian in every way, Ventress is a character with much potential to have broken the prequels out of the doldrums what with Palpatine and Jango Fett pulling all the weight as the villains.
In the animated miniseries, Ventress is the newly ordained Sith warrior to Palpatine training her for the inevitable hunting of Anakin and Obi Wan to lead the charge against the republic in the clone wars, and in the upcoming movie, she’ll be a more prominent menace, battling Anakin’s young apprentice during the wars. With twin Sabers at her disposal and a slithery dialect, Ventress is that character so clever and skilled you can’t help but love to hate her whenever she’s on screen. I hope we can see more of her in the animated series.
Chewbacca
Chewbacca was that hero you could rely on. He was loyal, trustworthy, spunky, and outspoken, not to mention he didn’t mind smashing a few heads to express his anger. He choked Lando Calrissian for Christ sake. Chewbacca is that cool sidekick you could really see behind you making sure you’re safe, and that’s why he’s one of my absolute favorite characters of the mythos. In the expanded universe he apparently died saving Han’s son in battle, but I still know him as the eternal best friend who sticks by you regardless of what you do and what choices you make. He was given the task of taking care of Leia, Luke, and everyone else after Han was put in to Carbonite, and he helped lead the charge against the Stormtroopers. Sure, he became a buffoon in “Return of the Jedi,” but that was Lucas’s fault. I know Chewie as the tough second in command in “A New Hope” and the tough aid who discovered Vader’s manipulation in the cloud city after C3PO and could really do nothing but watch his friend die. We love him.
Mace Windu
He stood toe to toe with Emperor Palpatine, the embodiment of evil, and technically kicked his Sith butt from here to Tattooine and almost killed him, were it not for Anakin. In a room of three Jedi officers, Palpatine took down two and barely was able to keep up with Windu. Did I forget to mention he was the only character able to keep up with General Grievous and crushed his chest plate? There’s also his propensity for decapitating Fett’s. That’s the tip of the iceberg for a man whose name and light saber are just about the baddest of bad assness I’ve seen in years. Played by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, Mace Windu is one of the few incredible elements of the “Star Wars” prequels whose mere cameo escalated in to a full fledged storyline and I think that’s because Windu was just too great to ignore and push away. Windu is still one of our absolute favorite characters of the mythos and a Jedi I’d gladly be the Padawan to. If Obi-Wan declined to mentor me, of course.
Darth Vader
My Darth Vader isn’t a whiny petulant brat with a scratchy voice. My Darth Vader is a man whose origin remains ambiguous to this day with the story we saw in the prequels as only one of the possible stories for Vader’s descent in to the dark side. Darth Vader prior to the prequels was a villain of science fiction fantasy who exuded awe and terror from even the most cynical of movie goers and inspired many movie goers to gasp at his introduction in a hail of dead bodies in “A New Hope.” With a raspy wheeze, and a midnight black uniform, Darth Vader led the charge in the Clone Wars, and the assassination of the Jedi Order, and soon the entire Jedi Knighthood during the Jedi Holocaust.
His acceptance in to the darkside rendered him a bonafide force to be reckoned with with brute strength teamed with his ability to strategize, his history as a soldier and pilot, his propensity for manipulation, and his keen skills with the force and the light saber. Vader was not like Grievous though and made one last sacrifice, but his legacy as Darth Vader promised to live on long after his personal battle with his demons and his soul. Vader is and will always be one of the best on screen fantasy villains I’ve ever seen and he’s still the dark lord of the Sith who would put the force choke on anyone who dared to defy him, and destroy a ship of soldiers without even taking a second glance. When a villain like Vader can torture the woman who’d later be discovered as his daughter, then no amount of neutering could knock him down a peg. Lucas fucked it up! But Vader is still king.
Obi Wan Kenobi
I have a much better respect for the hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi from the original series who found no other option but to bring Luke in to guidance as a Jedi when the Empire came banging down their doors, but you have to admit it: Though the prequels were 80 percent complete cinematic screw ups, Obi Wan Kenobi was rather great. As a person who considered Obi-Wan to be his favorite character of the mythos prior to Ewan McGregor’s charismatic portrayal, I was very happy to see that Lucas seemed to have a respect for the character and gave Obi-Wan enough screen time to where he was fully fleshed out. He was a padawan barely out of training forced to become a Jedi Knight who trained Anakin Skywalker.
So focused was he on his competition with the young padawan that Anakin inevitably trailed away and became a Sithlord. Obi Wan is that force of the original series who gave Luke the confidence to enter in to a war that was bigger than his farm boy aspirations and taught him to hone the abilities of the force given to him by his father, and his skills as a pilot and soldier he inherited by Anakin, and he used it for the good of the galaxy. Kenobi’s constant guidance are the best recurring moments of the series, and it was a thrill to see his character given complete justice in the prequels with excellent action sequences and the absolutely excellent final duel against his best friend, Anakin Skywalker whose own rage fueled his power with the dark side enabling an equal match to the death. Kenobi has the best back story of the mythos and is still a character I’m absolutely captivated by to this day.