Mark Hamill as Luke
Skywalker
Tatooine farmboy turned hero of
the Rebel Alliance
The foster son of a farming couple, Luke has been raised on
the backwater planet of Tatooine with little idea of his true heritage. He
survives personal tragedy and deep pain, and overcomes impossibly high odds to
become a hero of the Rebel Alliance. Luke Skywalker always knew that he was the
son of a man who fought valiantly in the Clone Wars, but his adventures lead
him to discover that his past is touched with unspeakable darkness.
Luke's childhood was spent helping his aunt and uncle on
their moisture farm and becoming a skillful pilot in his T-16 Skyhopper, shooting womp rats
with good friends such as Biggs Darklighter. He had
hoped to enter the Academy with Biggs, but his uncle Owen Lars has held him
back. Destiny brings the affairs of the galaxy to young Skywalker's doorstep in
the form of two droids that his uncle purchases, C-3PO and R2-D2. Thus starts
an adventure that takes Luke on a voyage of self-discovery, with his bravery
and commitment to the light side of the Force tested at every step.
Luke constantly faces challenges that would test any mortal:
The responsibility for either destroying the Empire's super weapon, the Death
Star, or seeing it destroy the backbone of the Rebellion; learning patience at
the hands of Jedi Master Yoda, yet having to choose between completing his
training or trying to rescue his imperiled friends; facing the horrifying truth
of his parentage, and then instantly deciding what path to take; and finally
taking the nearly unimaginable risk that there was still some goodness deep
within the dark soul of one of the galaxy's most evil warriors.
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa
Strong-willed heroine of the Rebel Alliance
Separated at an early age from a mother she barely knew and
a heritage that was hidden from her, Leia Organa was
raised as the daughter of Viceroy and First Chairman of the planet Alderaan, Bail Organa, a hero of
the Clone Wars. Leia grew up in a highly-charged political atmosphere and
watched as Senator Palpatine took increasing control
of the galactic government, eventually declaring himself Emperor.
She became the youngest Senator in galactic history, even as
Palpatine committed more and more atrocities in the
name of pacifying the galaxy.
Leia is at the heart of many of the Rebel Alliance's most
secret missions, using her consular ship, the Tantive
IV to travel throughout the galaxy with diplomatic immunity. Near Tatooine, on
a mission to recruit General Obi-Wan Kenobi into the Rebellion, she and her
ship are captured by the Darth Vader's Star Destroyer Devastator. Leia manages
to get top-secret intercepted plans for the Death Star battle station to
After the Battle of Yavin, Leia
becomes a full-time leader of the Rebel Alliance. Those who have rescued her
from a Death Star cell, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca -
along with the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO - become a kind of second family to her.
She helps lead the evacuation of the Rebel's Echo Base on Hoth and travels in
Solo's Millennium Falcon to
Months later, Leia enters the
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Corellian smuggler and pilot of the
Millennium Falcon
While the carbon-freezing chambers of Bespin's
Immobilized and powerless, Han is handed over to the
notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett as a trophy. With Han loaded into the cargo
compartment of the Slave I, Boba Fett conveys his entombed prisoner to the
desert palace of the gangster Jabba the Hutt for the bounty on his head. The
frozen Corellian pirate becomes an object of
ridicule, hanging as a decoration in the Hutt's throne
room.
Alec Guinness as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi
Jedi Knight and defender of the
Ben Kenobi has lived for years in the dangerous Jundland Wastes, on the edge of the
In truth, Kenobi once traveled the galaxy as a Jedi Knight
and defender of the
Kenobi took on a student whom he trained in the ways of the
Jedi, but lost him to the dark side of the Force. The boy became the evil Darth
Vader, turned against the Jedi, and helped the Emperor hunt down and destroy
the Jedi protectors of the
Haunted by his failure, Obi-Wan Kenobi went into hiding,
realizing that he could do more by guarding the young Luke Skywalker from afar
than by leading a desperate, doomed battle against Vader and his Emperor.
Kenobi brooded, watching for the right time to make a move
against the Empire, waiting for a new hope. He took the name Ben and cloaked
himself in the persona of a crazy wizard. Many years later, when a pair of
droids brought young Luke Skywalker into the web of destiny, Kenobi knew his
wait was over.
David Prowse as Darth Vader
James Earl Jones as the Voice
Dark Lord of the Sith
Standing two meters tall, dressed in flowing black robes and
black body armor, Darth Vader is a tangibly evil symbol of the Emperor's
doctrine of rule through fear and terror. With the Emperor's favor Vader has
risen through the Imperial ranks to become a fearsome and dreaded military
commander, now one of the most highly placed individuals in the New Order.
His face locked behind a hideous metal breath screen, Vader
cannot survive without the artificial support of his suit, which functions like
a walking "iron lung," breathing for his crushed lungs and keeping
his shattered body alive. In spite of these injuries, Vader is a powerful and
dangerous figure. Ruthlessly employing torture and brutal violence to achieve
his objectives, Darth Vader commands fear within his own troops as well as
among his Rebel enemies.
While there are those within the military who despise his
weird "sorcerer's ways" and his eccentric and dramatic behavior, as
Vader's power has grown these objections have become fewer.
Once a Jedi Knight, Vader was formerly the pupil of Obi-Wan
Kenobi in the days of the
When Grand Moff Tarkin's Death
Star was destroyed by the Rebels, it was believed that Vader had been lost to
the void. But he did survive, piloting a special advanced prototype fighter
equipped with hyperspace engines. Vader returned from deep space more powerful
than before, to take command of the Imperial Star Destroyer fleet assigned to
track down Luke Skywalker.
Through the use of thousands of probe droids dispatched to
comb the galaxy, Vader eventually located the new Rebel base on the ice planet
Hoth. Vader directed the invasion of Hoth and then trapped Luke's friends as
they sought refuge on
Their final confrontation would be before the Emperor
himself, on board the second Death Star, within the depths of the Emperor's
dark Throne Room. Here the ultimate battle for good and evil would be played
out between their spirits, and in one last defining moment Vader's identity is
at least revealed for everything that it is. Luke triumphs for both of them,
and the circle of the Force is at last truly complete.
Anthony Daniels as C-3P0
Luke Skywalker's golden protocol droid
C-3PO is a protocol droid whose primary functions are
etiquette and translation, making interaction between the myriad races of the
galaxy possible. Protocol droids such as Threepio are
particularly useful to diplomats like Princess Leia, who must be especially
aware of the subtleties of custom and language among the other cultures they
encounter. Capable of conversing in six million forms of communication, Threepio is particularly versatile, owing in part to his
wide variety of experiences. These experiences have also given him a distinct,
pragmatic and pessimistic personality, making him almost human in his
perceptions and feelings. Often paired with his spirited maintenance droid
counterpart R2-D2, Threepio serves as Artoo's interpreter for human masters.
While serving as a diplomatic protocol droid aboard Princess
Leia's starship Tantive IV,
C-3PO is unwillingly drawn into his counterpart's quest to find Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Escaping the captured starship with R2-D2 in a life pod, Threepio crash-lands in the deserts of Tatooine to begin a
new series of adventures. Wandering the dune sands alone, Threepio
is captured by Jawas and sold along with Artoo to his new master Luke Skywalker, setting him on a
course of events that take him into high adventure amidst the Rebellion against
the Empire.
Kenny Baker as R2-D2
Luke Skywalker's trusty astromech
droid
A three-legged R2 series astromech
utility droid, R2-D2 usually teams with a fussy golden protocol droid named
C-3PO. Squat and barrel-shaped, Artoo-Detoo
communicates electronically in a limited vocabulary of beeps and whistles, but
his programming has evolved into a near-human personality that is both brash
and bold.
Artoo-Detoo is designed to operate in deep
space, interfacing with fighter craft and computer systems to augment the
capabilities of ships and their pilots, usually from a socket behind the cockpit.
Artoo monitors and diagnoses flight performance, maps
and stores hyperspace data, and pinpoints technical errors.
The meter-high droid has two treaded legs to provide
mobility, and a third leg that can drop down for extra stability on rough
terrain. Artoo also has floatation devices and a periscoping visual scanner which can guide the droid while
he is submerged.
Artoo and Threepio
have been at the heart of the Rebellion ever since their duty together on
Princess Leia's consular ship, the Tantive IV. When the Princess' ship is overhauled and
boarded by troops from the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator, Leia programs
R2-D2 with the vital stolen technical readouts of the Death Star. The little
droid struggles to carry her secret message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, and comes to
serve a new master, Luke Skywalker. As Skywalker's trusty companion, R2-D2
continues to play an important and ongoing role in helping the Rebels thwart
Imperial forces.
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
Han Solo's 200-year-old Wookiee copilot
Strong, fearless, and an able pilot and mechanic, Chewbacca
the Wookiee makes a capable ally to his friends and to the Rebel Alliance. A
loyal friend to Corellian smuggler Han Solo,
Chewbacca is his co-pilot when Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and two droids
come aboard the Millennium Falcon for a fateful trip to Alderaan.
Chewbacca is a key part of the rescue plan for Princess
Leia, acting as an 'alien prisoner,' allowing Han and Luke to infiltrate
Detention Block AA-23 of the Death Star. It is also Chewie
who persuades Han to go back to help Luke during his critical attack run on the
Death Star's fatal exhaust port.
It is later, during the events on Bespin that perhaps the
greatest change takes place in Chewbacca. Roaring in rage as the Imperials
began to lower Han into the carbon-freeze chamber, the Wookiee lashes out at
the stormtroopers. It is Han himself who calms his
friend and ends the berserker rage.
"Save your strength," Solo calls out.
"There'll be another time. The Princess. You have
to take care of her."
It is then that Chewbacca realizes there is more to his
honor family than just Han Solo. With Lando Calrissian in tow, Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon
return to Tatooine to await Luke Skywalker, firmly believing that together they
can save Han from Jabba the Hutt.
His faith and belief in his friends continues throughout the
war. Whether he is cramped inside a ship designed for beings much smaller than Wookiees, tied to a stake and at the mercy of the Ewoks, or
battling a legion of the Empire's best troops, Chewbacca remains confident that
he and his comrades will eventually triumph.
Stormtroopers
Armored shock troops of the Empire
Encased in hardened white plastoid
armor, these Imperial shock troops neutralize resistance to the New Order and
are totally loyal to the Emperor even in the face of certain death. Used as
first-strike forces, they cannot be bribed or blackmailed. Stormtroopers
live in a totally-disciplined environment and are militaristic to the core.
In addition to regular stormtroopers
the Empire maintains a number of units specialized for various environments and
mission profiles. Among these units are snowtroopers,
or cold-assault troopers, who wear lighter armor equipped with powerful heating
and personal environment control units, terrain-grip boots and face-shielding
breathing masks.
Scout troopers, very lightly armored for mobility, are
usually assigned to Imperial garrisons. They use speeder bikes to patrol
perimeters, perform reconnaissance missions and scout enemy locations.
The standard stormtrooper suit of
body armor can adapt to all but the most extreme climatic conditions, and
various gear accessories and backpacks are issued to support operations in
environments such as open sand or jungle. Field units may wear shoulder pauldrons as high-visibility rank indicators.
Peter Cushing as Grand Moff
Tarkin
Imperial commander of the planet-destroying Death Star
Grand Moff Tarkin
is Governor of the Imperial Outland Regions, and a dreaded servant of Emperor Pslpatine. Tarkin formulated the
infamous Imperial doctrine of rule through fear, and has been the primary force
behind the construction of the galaxy's ultimate weapon, the planet-destroying
Death Star. It is his determination and management that built the Death Star, and it is his military genius that makes him the best
person to command it. Led by Admiral Motti and
General Tagge, Tarkin's tactical brain-trust aboard
the Death Star is unmatched anywhere in the Empire, constituting a formidable
power to match the capabilities of the Death Star itself.
Tarkin's conception of the battle station's use is as a
grand weapon of intimidation and fear: "Rule through the fear of the
force," he observed, "rather than through force itself." The
mere existence of the Death Star would cow into submission the widely-scattered
star systems too disparate to police effectively with armed presence. Tarkin wastes no time in committing his evil creation to
this mission, as he selects Princess Leia's home
planet Alderaan to be destroyed by the Death Star as
a horrific example of absolute Imperial might.
Tarkin is an interesting individual, a
kind of person who appears untouchable, both in the heat of battle and on the
Senate floor. His charisma and personal presence are capable of swaying even
Darth Vader's iron resolve, saving some of his closest commanders from Vader's
deadly mind-projected wrath.
Phil Brown as Uncle Owen
Shelagh Fraser as Aunt Beru
The guardians and foster parents of Luke Skywalker.
They have tried to raise him as a normal youth, keeping from him the fact that
his veins coursed with Jedi blood and that his "dead" hero father was
not simply a freighter navigator as they have told Luke.
Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi turned to the Lars couple just after Luke was born, and
asked that they raise the child on the desolate planet of Tatooine, far from
Imperial intrigue. Young Luke calls them aunt and uncle.
Owen and Beru toil as moisture farmers and have a
difficult existence, some years barely eking out a living, even with Luke's
help. There is constant tension between Luke and Owen as the youth wants to
leave for pilot training at the Academy like his friend Biggs Darklighter, but Owen always insists that he stay "one
more season" to help with the chores. Despite that, Beru
and Owen Lars have taught young Skywalker the value of hard work, loyalty,
commitment - and compassion.
Jack Purvis as Chief Jawa
Alex Mccrindle as General Dodonna
Eddie Byrne as General Willard
Drewe Hemley as Red Leader
Denis Lawson as Red Two (Wedge)
Garrick Hagon as Red Three
(Biggs)
Jack Klaff as Red Four (John "D")
William Hootkins as Red Six (Porkins)
Angus Mcinnis as Gold Leader
Jeremy Sinden as Gold Two
Graham Ashley as Gold Five
Don Henderson as General Taggi
Richard Le Parmentier as General Motti
Leslie Schofield as Commander #1
The Empire Strikes Back
Frank Oz as Yoda
Wise master of the Force and teacher of Jedi
A long-lived Jedi Master, Yoda is the conduit for the
rebirth of the nearly-vanished Jedi Knights. For more than 800 years, the
diminutive green being has trained Jedi Knights in the ways of the Force, but
rarely has he faced such a challenge as the impetuous young Luke Skywalker.
By the time Luke encounters him in the bogs of Dagobah, Yoda
is nearly 900 years old and walks stooped over with the help of a gimer stick. He subsists on things that nature
offer him, eating plants and fruits and fungi, and building his home of
mud, sticks and stones.
Yoda's path to Jedi wisdom seems simple, yet profound. He
makes his students unlearn what they had been taught, helping them to tune in
to the subtle world around them to learn its truths. "A Jedi uses the
Force for knowledge. Never for attack," he tells
them.
When Emperor Palpatine ordered his
purge of the Jedi, Yoda went into hiding on Dagobah. He uses the Force and the planet's own natural defenses to discourage visitors. But he
has kept watch on Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.
After escaping almost certain death from a wampa ice
creature on Hoth, Luke sees Ben Kenobi in a vision, telling him to go to the
Dagobah system to continue his Jedi training with Yoda.
Yoda lectures young Skywalker about the Force while Luke
performs rigorous physical and mental exercises. Yoda especially cautions him
against the easy path of anger and the lure of the dark side of the Force.
When ordered to undertake a particularly daunting task, Luke
says he'll try. "No! Try not," Yoda says. "Do. Or do not. There
is no try." Despite Yoda's plea, Luke leaves before his training is
complete when he senses that his friends are in danger. By the time Luke
returns, Yoda is close to becoming one with the Force.
Billy Dee Williams as Lando
Calrissian
Baron administrator of Bespin's
A soldier-of-fortune and a high-stakes player, Lando Calrissian has long had a
love-hate relationship with Han Solo. The suave Calrissian
owned the Millennium Falcon before losing it to Han in a game of sabacc. But not long after, he won something of great value
in another sabacc game: Bespin's
Lando has proven surprisingly adept at
running the Tibanna gas mining colony as a
businessman. Lando's luck seems to run out with a
visit by Darth Vader, who uses him against his will to spring a trap for Luke
Skywalker. Vader entombs Solo in carbonite and hands
him over to bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Finally convinced that the Empire will never leave his city
alone, Calrissian orders the evacuation of Cloud City
and fights back against Imperial forces, later helping to rescue a near-dead
Skywalker from the very bottom of the floating city in the clouds.
Given the rank of General in the Alliance forces for past
performance, especially at the Battle of Tanaab, Calrissian finally has a chance to fully redeem himself by
piloting the Falcon for an a last-ditch assault against the second Death Star
battle station in the Battle of Endor.
Boba Fett
The best bounty hunter in the galaxy
Mean and menacing, one of the galaxy's best bounty hunters
is used to tracking down his prizes, with the possible exception of a crafty Corellian smuggler. Many tales are told of Fett's background and exploits, but there are few
verifiable facts--perhaps by design.
Fett wears the armor of the Mandalorians,
a group of fearsome warriors dating back to ancient times who were defeated by
the Jedi Knights. His modified armor includes a helmet with a macrobinocular viewplate, motion
and sound sensors, infrared capabilities, an internal comlink
with his ship (the Slave I), and a broad-band antenna for intercepting and
decoding transmissions; wrist gauntlets that house lasers, a miniature flame
projector, and a fibercord whip/grappling device; a
back-pack jet pack with a turbo-projected magnetic grappling hook with a
20-meter lanyard; knee-pad rocket dart launchers, spiked boots, a concussion
grenade launcher and a BlasTech EE-3 rifle. Braided
Wookiee scalps hang over his right shoulder.
Fett has worked on retainer for Jabba The
Hutt as well as for the Empire. He is methodical in his tracking. While he
doesn't seem to hold grudges against his prey, that may be because he rarely
loses his quarry. After theBattle Of Hoth, Darth
Vader summons Fett along with five other bounty hunters and offers a huge
bounty forHan Solo. Fett succeeds in tracking the Millenium Falcon to the Bespin system, and he helps Vader
capture Solo, and then brings the onetime smuggler - frozen in carbonite - to Jabba the Hutt. In a fight with Solo's
friends atop theGreat Pit of Carkoon,
Fett falls into the mouth of the monstrous Sarlacc,
to be digested over a period of a thousand years. Or is he?
Return Of The Jedi
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine
All-powerful ruler of the Empire
As a Senator in the
Both strong in the dark side of the Force and possessed of a
subtle and dangerous mind, Palpatine has a genius for
manipulation. How the Emperor gained mastery of the dark side of the Force
remains a mystery, but it was through his influence that Obi-Wan's apprentice later became the Dark Lord of the Sith,
Darth Vader.
For a time, the Emperor believed that nothing could
seriously threaten his rule: his old enemy, Mon Mothma,
was clever and strong, and the Rebel Alliance was growing, but without the
Force, neither could ever become a serious threat. In some ways, the Rebellion
was a useful scapegoat, giving him an excuse to further undermine and corrupt
the
But the Emperor has become aware of a new current in the
ever-flowing energy of the Force. It began as a subtle, barely perceptible surge,
but in a short time has grown into the bright light that he now knows as Luke
Skywalker. Lord Vader observed to his Emperor that if Skywalker could be turned
to the dark side of the Force, "he would become a powerful ally." And
so the Emperor plots to deal with this young Skywalker: he will join the New
Order, or he will die. Pitting Vader against Skywalker, with all their
psychological threats for each other, is all part of the Emperor's plan, and he
remains evilly confident that no matter who is killed, he will settle the
balance of the Force to his satisfaction.
Jabba the Hutt
Grotesque and powerful criminal underlord
One of the galaxy's top criminal underlords,
Jabba the Hutt has been in charge of a major criminal empire since he was about
600 years old. He moved to Tatooine and established himself at a palace built
around the ancient monastery of B'ommar monks. Its
centerpiece is a huge throne room where Jabba constantly entertains and holds
court from his high dais at one end of the room.
Jabba's criminal empire knows no bounds. It includes
smuggling, glitterstim spice dealing, slave trading, assassination,
loan sharking, protection and piracy. One smuggler on his payroll is the Corellian Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca.
But after Solo has to jettison a spice load to avoid Imperial entanglements,
Jabba orders him brought in. It takes a few years, but bounty hunter Boba Fett
eventually delivers Solo entombed in carbonite.
Solo's friends come to rescue him, and Luke Skywalker directly confronts the
Hutt, who drops him into a pit to be eaten by Jabba's pet rancor.
When Skywalker instead kills the rancor, an enraged Jabba
orders all the Rebels to be taken to the desert and fed to the Sarlacc monster. But Jabba pays the supreme price for
underestimating Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa and
their friends.
Warwick Davis as Wicket
A curious and resourceful young Ewok
This young Ewok helps the Rebel
forces during the monumental Battle of Endor. Wicket
W. Warrick is the youngest son of Ewoks Shodu and Deej. Wicket has always shown a greater-than-usual
curiosity to explore the unknown. When Imperials first come to Endor, the Ewoks are alarmed. Many want to declare war on
them, but the Ewok leader, Chief Chirpa,
reminds them that their spears couldn't hurt the Imperial fortresses, and that
the invaders have machines that can fly through the air or burn the forests.
But one night, as the villagers gather around the fires, young Wicket recounts
how he had witnessed an AT-ST "walker" stumble on the rocks, fall,
and explode. So the Ewoks do have a way to fight back, and they start preparing
for battle.
While on a foraging expedition, Wicket comes across an
unconscious Princess Leia Organa, who has been thrown
off a speeder bike during a chase with Biker Scouts. Although she initially
spooks him, Wicket senses her innate goodness. He returns with her to the
village, only to find that Leia's companions have
been captured in an Ewok
hunting net.
Even though Wicket pleads their case to Chief Chirpa, it takes some Jedi tricks from Luke Skywalker to
free the
rebels. Wicket then is a major factor in
convincing the tribe to help the Rebels try to blow up the shield generator
protecting the second Death Star.
The Phantom Menace | Attack of the Clones | Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: A New Hope
| The
Empire Strikes Back |
Return of the Jedi
1998-2005 Jedi Vega