Before they became Legends, they were the stars of the Expanded Universe.
Entertainment Weeklyrecently published our selection ofthe 100 bestStar Warscharacters.
But the list hurt my heart.
The ‘Star Wars’ Expanded Universe.LucasArts; Marvel Comics; Random House
It honored the currentStar Warscanon, which is a broken history.
I remember when Leia and Han had twins.
I remember the Empire’s shadows.
I remember so, so many Wedge Antilles books.
Lucasfilm has reclassified all that as “Legends,” which, whatever.
It is just whatStar Warswas, for the precise length of some entire youths.
Consider this list that follows a salute to absent friends.
The ranking is hyper-personal and helplessly incomplete.
The Expanded Universe was a big place before it was nothing at all.
Kyle Katarn
A Rebel-affiliated mercenary who debuted in 1995’sDark Forcesas, basically, the First-Person-Shooting hand holding various weapons.
Sequels sent Kyle down the Jedi path, offering players the chance to choose Dark or Light.
This was mind-blowing moral-ambiguity stuff, a full decade pre-BioShock.
But only Carnor Jax was a space-samurai with a fully customized suit of armor and a killed-all-my-sworn-brothers backstory.
And his name was CARNOR JAX.
A standout monstrosity from a series ofJabba the Huttcomics that Dark Horse published from 1995-96.
They didn’t get along, because his dad arrested her dad, and then theyreallygot along.
Exar Kun
The Emperor was a bad guy for, what, half a canonical century?
He’s a major antagonist fromTales of the Jedi, a.k.a.
the Old Republic, a.k.a.Star Warswith maximum tunics.
I miss all the Sephiroths, man.
Nomi Sunrider
Think it’s hard to be a Jedi Knight?
Try being a single motheranda Jedi Knight.
Ysanne Isard
Imagine an Imperial willing to do all the stuff most Imperials wouldn’t want to do.
That’s “Iceheart,” the former Intelligence chief and main antagonist in theRogue Squadronnovels.
Points added for her bespoke red uniform.
Essentially a movie-less movie,it comprised a cycle of multimedia stories.
This brown one lurks in Gall spaceport and often takes out a squad of Stormtroopers before they even arrive.
There’s even a cheat code that allows you to play as the Wampa.
Ken
Some names define a decade.
In the ’90s, the name was Ken.
Ken fromStreet Fighter II.
Two Ken Griffeys, father and son, on the same team, in the 1990 season.
Actually, Ken’s existence in the kid-friendlyJedi Princeseries only barely ever qualified as canon.
Did I mention he was raised by a droid named DJ-88?
Spin, DJ-88, spin!
“FISH-FACE MAKES OUT WITH SQUID-FACE” was the headline news here.
She also helped create the Sun Crusher, a Mega-Death Star that could blow up entire solar systems.
She later fell in wuv with Wedge, which earns you big points as far as I’m concerned.
Technically, Davin still sort of exists he’s the guy saying “Look sir, droids!”
inA New Hope but the specifics of his journey seem to have been decanonized.
(Though Finn’s turncoat heroism inThe Force Awakensis very Felth-y.)
Some context is key here, though.
Imagine, if you will, that you just stopped readingStar Warsbooks sometime around 1998.
Gotta admit, solid metaphor for the general descent from the ’90s to the 2000s.
Grand Admiral Thrawn
Yes, I’m cheating.
Yes, Thrawn has made the reality jump into Disney’s ongoingStar Warsadventures.
But neo-Thrawn will never do everything the Grand Admiral did in author Timothy Zahn’sHeir to the Empiretrilogy.
His journey started with a scam religion whose victims included this highborn Corellian.
Corran Horn
Okay, but like, what if Han Solo was also Luke Skywalker?
Mara Jade
Another Zahn creation, and one of the greatest complete lives ever lived in theStar Warsuniverse.
Mara Jade was raised in the brutal employ of Emperor Palpatine.
Her tragic death > all the tragic deaths in the sequel trilogy, frankly.
But the Expanded Universe got there a long time ago.
