For nearly 50 years the galaxy far far away has wowed audiences. We have been fascinated by all the characters in the best Star Wars movies and series for decades. The simple dichotomy of the light side and the dark side of the Force makes things easy for anybody to understand, but one thing we’ve learned over the years is that things aren’t ever as simple as light and dark.
Most people are not simply good or bad, there’s a spectrum of good and evil that people fall across. While Star Wars does have some truly evil people, as well as some that are nearly perfect in their goodness, most fall someplace in between. Here's a look at 20 of the best characters in the Star Wars franchise, starting with the worst, and ending with the best.
The Emperor
It’s not hard to put Emperor Palpatine on the extreme end of this list. Beyond the act that he apparently had a child, which means somebody must have loved him, however, briefly, there are no redeeming qualities about the man. He played both sides in a galactic war that killed countless people to ensure his control. His only goal is domination of the galaxy, a goal that even exists beyond his death.
Darth Maul
Of all of Palpatine’s apprentices, one was clearly his best match. Darth Maul also survived his own death, only to use his second chance to focus on power and revenge. A truly vicious monster of a man with no light in his heart.
General Hux
General Hux is the worst. The man is clearly a true believer in the cause of the First Order. That alone makes him terrible. While he does technically turn on the First Order in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, giving information to the Resistance, he only does it because he hates Kylo Ren and wants to see him fail. He never wanted to do good, being a traitor was only a different form of his evil. Hux ultimately dies, but not as a hero.
Kylo Ren/Ben Solo
While Kylo Ren does ultimately renounce the Dark Side and join Rey in her battle against the Emperor, he only does that after he has become Supreme Leader of the First Order. And he got that job by murdering his boss. He didn’t do it to save somebody’s life, he did it to gain power.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Darth Vader is often the symbol of the Dark Side when it comes to Star Wars, and yet, we know very well that there was more to him than that. He wasn’t always bad, and in the end, he chose his son over the Dark Side, but in between he never questioned his choices. There is real hate here. The tragedy of his story doesn't excuse it.
Lando Calrissian
There is pure evil, and then there’s simply choosing the most self-serving option, no matter how many people it hurts. Lando eventually joins the Rebel Alliance, but only after he forms a brief alliance with Darth Vader to sell out his friends on Cloud City. He did what he thought was best for his people, but a lot of people who make bad choices justify it to themselves that way.
Han Solo
Han is a scoundrel with a heart of gold, but he is a scoundrel. Before joining up with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia he worked for Jabba the Hutt transporting who knows what. He probably didn’t ask a lot of questions, and as long as the money showed up, that was fine with him.
Jyn Erso
Jyn Erso is a criminal who has broken a lot of laws, but those are the laws of the Empire, so if anything, it makes her more good. Still, it’s clear that during most of her life, Jyn has done whatever it took to survive, and she doesn’t have a problem if that means doing bad things. Her moral compass goes where it needs to.
Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron attempted a mutiny, which makes it clear that he has a dark streak in him. If he leaned a bit more toward being good he never would have considered what he did in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and he certainly couldn’t have acted on it. Still, he thought he was making the right call, and he was dedicated to the cause of freedom.
Din Djardin
Din Djardin belongs right in the middle of a list of good and bad characters in Star Wars because, for the most part, questions of good and evil don’t concern The Mandalorian. The first hero of the Disney+ Star Wars shows has no connection to the light side or the dark side. He’s a bounty hunter doing a job, nothing more, nothing less.
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker may be the main hero of the original Star Wars trilogy, but that doesn't mean he’s entirely pure of heart. Darth Vader and the Emperor attempt to turn him to the Dark Side, and what’s clear is that there is something in him that is attracted to that idea. He ultimately fights against it because he is good, but it’s a fight that continues for the rest of his life. He’s still battling it when trying to decide what to do about his nephew, Ben Solo, years later.
Rey
Like her mentor, Rey isn’t a purely good heroine. She’s lived most of her life alone, likely having to do what it takes to survive. She shows some curiosity about the Dark Side of the Force. She’s not afraid of it and ultimately uses some Dark Side powers to stop the First Order, and she nearly kills a friend in the process. That incident does seem to scare her straight.
Yoda
Yoda is one of the all-time great Jedi masters. He is strong in the Force and he is dedicated to the light, fighting against the Dark Side. there’s no indication that he ever considered the power that comes with the Dark Side. but he does lie to Luke and manipulate him to get him to do what he thinks is right, so Yoda is perhaps not without his flaws and he's not pure of heart.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Like Yoda, Obi-Wan intentionally avoids telling Luke the truth about Darth Vader. Not something a purely good person would do. But Obi-Wan Kenobi does dedicate his life to protecting the children of Anakin Skywalker, and he ultimately sacrifices himself to save his friends, a truly noble act.
Ahsoka Tano
Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan learned well from her master, and it seems she only learned the good he had to teach her. Ahsoka’s intentions seem to be as pure as her white lightsabers. While she chooses to leave the Jedi order, it’s not because she doesn’t believe in their ideals anymore. In fact, it’s because she believes in what the Jedi stand for so much, that she can’t be part of it when she feels the order is failing to live up to that standard.
Chewbacca
Anybody who hangs out with Han Solo and calls him a friend can’t be entirely pure of heart. Having said that, Chewbacca never does anything in the Star Wars movies to show us he is anything other than good. He’s clearly the major positive influence in Han’s life that pushes him to turn his life around.
Qui-Gon Jinn
If you watch the Star Wars movies in order, you'll meet one of the franchise's greatest heroes first. Nobody is more committed to the ideas of the Jedi order than Qui-Gon Jinn. He teaches Obi-Wan Kenobi how to be a Jedi with nobility and honor. His death in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is especially tragic because, had he lived, it’s possible Anakin Skywalker would never have turned.
Finn
Finn may have grown up a Stormtrooper, but he was brainwashed and conditioned to be one. From the moment that he can make his own choices, he chooses to be better and to stand against the First Order. He values his friends and will do anything to protect them, including sacrificing his own life, which, luckily for his friends, he doesn’t have to do.
Princess Leia
Maybe it was something genetic in being the daughter of Padme. Maybe it was in the way her parents on Alderaan raised her, but Leia Organa is purely dedicated to freedom and justice from the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope until her death in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. She inspires so many to fight with her because she is so good.
Padme Amidala
Padme Amidala isn’t a perfect person. Her greatest fault is that she refuses to accept Anakin’s descent into darkness until it is too late. But that fault comes from a woman who can’t see the evil because she is so purely good. Whether fighting injustice in the Senate, or with a blaster, Padme knows what is right, and she never sacrifices that belief to take the easy way out. She is the best of them all in Star Wars.
The Star Wars franchise is far from over. We will certainly be introduced to many new characters, both the good and the bad, and some of the upcoming Star Wars movies might even give us a different perspective on the characters on this list.
