When you make your way through the Star Wars movies in order, obviously there are certain characters who stand out above the others, including Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, the list goes on. And then there are characters who may have supporting roles in these movies or only briefly appear, which is fine since not everyone can have the exact same level of importance. Still, you may find yourself wanting more from them.
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 32 Star Wars characters who appeared in the movies, but have shined in other media tied to the franchise. This list primarily covers content from the official Star Wars canon, but there will also be some talk about the old Legends continuity, which became defunct in 2014.
Boba Fett
Although Boba Fett collected a lot of fans from his appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and was later featured as a child in Attack of the Clones, frankly, he barely functions as a character in those movies. Fortunately, both the Legends-era material and the official canon have given him a lot to do, with the former largely consisting of roles in novels and comic books, and the latter putting him in the spotlight during some episodes of the TV shows The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian Season 2, as well as his own limited series, The Book of Boba Fett.
Count Dooku
Count Dooku was certainly presented as a capable threat in the latter half of Attack of the Clones, but he was quickly taken off the board by Anakin Skywalker at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. So if you’re looking to enjoy more of the former Jedi master-turned-Sith Lord, start with watching various The Clone Wars episodes and the three episodes focused on him in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and and then reading the book Dooku: Jedi Lost. If you’re a Legends fan, Dark Rendezvous is also worth a read.
Lobot
To most people who’ve seen the Star Wars movies, Lobot is just the silent guy with the weird mechanical apparatus around his head who was by Lando Calrissian’s side in The Empire Strikes Back. Well, you should know that he’s one of Lando’s closest allies, and that’s demonstrated in various Marvel Comics series, like the main title and the Lando miniseries. He also briefly appears in the Last Shot novel.
Sabé
You may not know her by name, but anyone who’s seen The Phantom Menace knows Sabé, as she’s the handmaiden who impersonated Queen Amidala for the majority of that movie. For those interested in learning what happened to her after the first Prequel Trilogy entry, check out Marvel Comics’ Darth Vader comic book series set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as she plays a key role in its story.
Phasma
Like Boba Fett, Captain Phasma was really only around to look cool during her two Sequel Trilogy appearances, although at least she proved herself more capable in The Last Jedi than Boba did in Return of the Jedi. In any case, pick up the Phasma novel if you want to learn about how she joined The First Order, and the Star Wars: Captain Phasma miniseries to learn what happened to her between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. She was also a supporting antagonist in Star Wars Resistance.
General Grievous
Although General Grievous was certainly no pushover in Revenge of the Sith, the movie also didn’t do the commander of the Separatists’ droid army justice for just how dangerous he is. The original Clone Wars micro series did that properly when it introduced him to the world, but even if we’re just limiting ourselves to the official canon, The Clone Wars and the Tales of the Empire miniseries do tremendous jobs of showing off of Grievous’ ruthlessness and skills that allowed him to kill countless Jedi, clones, the list goes on.
Darth Maul
There’s no question that Darth Maul came out of The Phantom Menace looking like a boss with his double-bladed lightsaber, but he only served as a weapon carrying out Darth Sidious’ will. If you want to really get to know Maul the character, then the latter half of The Clone Wars and a good chunk of Star Wars Rebels are must-watches. The former in particular adds context for why he cameoed in Solo. Maul’s also frequently appeared in books and comic book series from both the official canon and Legends.
Jango Fett
Jango Fett will always be important to the franchise as the genetic template for the clone troopers, which includes raising Boba, an unaltered clone, as his son. We also got a sense of how ruthless a bounty hunter he was when he killed Zam Wessell to cover his tracks and when he put up a decent fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi. But if you’re craving more action featuring Jango, track down the Legends-set video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter so you can play as him going on various missions.
Wedge Antilles
Wedge Antilles is the only non-core Original Trilogy character to appear in all three of those movies, as he was seen participating in the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth and the space portion of the Battle of Endor. An older Wedge also cameoed in The Rise of Skywalker, and his younger self appeared in a few Rebels episodes. Book-wise, though, he’s done quite well for himself, appearing in the canon Aftermath trilogy and Star Wars: Resistance Reborn, and leading the X-Wing novels from the Legends era.
Plo Koon
Like the next several entries on this list, Plo Koon was just one of the many silent Jedi who appeared during the Prequel Trilogy, and we saw his ship shot down when Order 66 was executed in Revenge of the Sith. Watch The Clone Wars to learn how he sounds and see him properly in action. Need extra incentive? He’s the one who discovered Ahsoka Tano.
Kit Fisto
Kit Fisto got a slightly bigger platform than your average, silent Prequel-era Jedi when he accompanied Mace Windu to arrest Chancellor Palpatine with Agen Kolar and Sassee Tiin. He barely lasted longer against the Sith Lord than those last two, so if you’d like a better idea of how capable Kit actually was, check out his prominent appearances in The Clone Wars. There’s also the Legends novel The Cetus Deception if you’re craving more from the character.
Luminara Unduli
All you’ll really see of Luminara Unduli in the Star Wars movies is a few brief shots of her with her lightsaber in Attack of the Clones, and then making a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith. So watch The Clone Wars to see her being put to good use, and then head over to the Rebels episode “Rise of the Old Masters” to witness how she was horrifically used long after dying.
Barriss Offee
Barriss Offee was Luminara Unduli’s Pawadan when the Clone Wars broke out, so you’ll see her by her master’s side a little bit during Attack of the Clones. But it was The Clone Wars where she really shined, albeit not always as a hero, as the final episodes of Season 5 took her down a dark path. Then over a decade later, three of Tales of the Empire’s episodes showed what happened to her during the Empire’s reign.
Shaak Ti
It may sound like a broken record at this point, but once again, here’s another Jedi from the final days of the Old Republic who was followed a decent amount in The Clone Wars, and she also appeared in the Dark Disciple book. Additionally though, over in the Legends role, Shaak Ti played a prominent role in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, having survived Order 66 in this continuity.
Yaddle
Until Grogu became The Mandalorian’s breakout character, the only other member of Yoda’s species ever show was Yaddle, who was a Jedi Council member during The Phantom Menace. But Yaddle was nowhere to be seen in Attack of the Clones. Well, check out Tales of the Jedi if you want to learn what happened to her. This also cleared up that Yoda’s peculiar way of speaking is unique to him alone, not something done by others in his and Yaddle’s species.
Jar Jar Binks
There’s no question that Jar Jar Binks has one of the worst reputations of the Star Wars characters, and certainly no one is obligated to pretend they like him. That being said, The Clone Wars does do a decent job of giving the Gungan a handful of opportunities to come off looking a little better. It’s also worth reading the novel Aftermath: Empire’s End to learn what happened to Jar Jar after the events of Return of the Jedi.
Wilhuff Tarkin
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin functioned as a compelling secondary villain next to Darth Vader in A New Hope, even though he was actually the one calling the shots in this movie. Alas, his overconfidence in the first Death Star proved to be his undoing. Not to worry, though because along with him cameoing in Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One giving him a key supporting role, the TV shows The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch and Rebels gave him a lot to do. If you really want to dig into Tarkin’s psyche, read the novel about him published in 2014.
Commander Cody
Commander Cody offhandedly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith that he and Obi-Wan Kenobi had been on many missions together, Well, you can see some of those missions in The Clone Wars and see what their dynamic was like before Cody ordered the Jedi Master to be executed as part of Order 66. Cody also appears in The Bad Batch episode “The Solitary Clone,” where we learn how he’s handling working for the Empire.
Mon Mothma
Mon Mothma briefly appeared in Return of the Jedi as one of the Rebellion’s high-ranking leaders, and she was also supposed to appear in Revenge of the Sith, but her scenes were deleted. Fortunately, not only did Genevieve O’Reilly, who played the character in the latter, not only get to make a proper cinematic appearance as Mothma in Rogue One, but she’s also portrayed her in Rebels, Andor and Ahsoka.
Bossk
Like the next two entries on this list, Bossk cameoed in The Empire Strikes Back as one of the bounty hunters Darth Vader hired alongside Boba Fett to track down the Millennium Falcon. Make your way through The Clone Wars and the tie-in novel Dark Disciple to see what Bossk was up to during the title conflict, then jump over to Marvel Comics’ Bounty Hunters series to follow along with him post-Empire, pre-Return of the Jedi.
Dengar
Like Bossk and the following entry, Dengar was spotlighted in the Legends continuity through one of the short stories in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, amidst other appearances. Canon-wise, though, his list of appearances includes a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars, Marvel’s Darth Vader series that began publication in 2015, Target Vader, the aforementioned Bounty Hunters and the first two Aftermath books.
Zuckuss And 4-LOM
The bizarre-looking Zuckuss and his droid companion 4-LOM make for an extremely effective bounty hunting duo. They also play significant roles in the Bounty Hunters comic book series and the Dark Droids crossover event, and you can see them among other bounty hunters from the Empire Strikes Back era in “Wait for It,” one of the short stories from From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back.
Maz Kanata
Although Maz Kanata played an important role in The Force Awakens by bringing back Luke Skywalker’s original lightsaber, she barely had anything to do in both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. So if you’re looking to see more of the character, read material like The High Republic Adventures, the Han Solo & Chewbacca comic book series, Aftermath: Life Debt and Last Shot.
Cassian Andor
There’s no question that Cassian Andor was key to Rogue One’s story, and one could certainly make a strong argument for him being the movie’s second most important character behind Jyn Erso. But fans of the character got lucky, as the Andor series wound the clock back to show what Diego Luna’s character was doing in the five years ahead of him meeting Jyn and perishing on Scarif. This series also has the benefit of being one of the more grounded and grittier Star Wars projects.
Qi’ra
When we left off with Qi’ra at the end of Solo, she’d contacted Maul, leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, to inform him of Dryden Vos’ death and blame Tobias Beckett for their mission’s failure. While we never got to see Qi’ra meet up with Maul on Dathomir, she returned to prominence in the pages of Marvel’s Crimson Trilogy which comprised the Star Wars crossover events War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign and Hidden Empire.
Knights Of Ren
Following the Knights of Ren being teased in The Force Awakens, they didn’t resurface until The Rise of Skywalker, and even then they only served the function of nameless heavies, barely any more important than stormtroopers or the Praetorian Guard in The Last Jedi. So read Marvel’s Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren to learn how he joined this group, or read the Crimson Trilogy to see what these characters were up to before Return of the Jedi.
Rose Tico
Despite Rose Tico being an important character in The Last Jedi, she only had a couple of minutes of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker, and many fans were disappointed with her being sidelined. The good news, though, is that Rose’s fans can see what she was doing prior to Episode VIII in her Age of Resistance one-shot, then follow her between that movie and Episode XI in the Resistance Reborn and Spark of the Resistance books, and the Allegiance comic book miniseries.
Bail Organa
We met Bail Organa, Leia’s adoptive father, in Attack of the Clones, and then he played a bigger role in Revenge of the Sith, followed by a minor appearance in Rogue One. Once you’re done watching those movies, head over to The Clone Wars to see his activities during the Republic’s war with the Separatist, then watch Obi-Wan Kenobi to see him reunite with the title Jedi Master and finally get to see what kind of a parent he was to Leia.
Greedo
When the name Greedo pops up in Star Wars fans’ conversations, it’s almost always in reference to the “Han shot first” debate. But don’t let your opinion of the character rest only on his untimely demise: read Han Solo & Chewbacca and a handful of From a Certain Point of View: A New Hope’s short stories to learn more about him. Also, fun fact, that little Rodian kid who makes fun of Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace is Greedo.
Snap Wexley
Poe Dameron was the X-Wing pilot extraordinaire in the Sequel Trilogy, but Snap Wexley was pretty good in the seat of one of these starfighters too. We saw him in action during The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, but you can also follow along with him in the Aftermath trilogy, the Bloodline book and the Poe Dameron comic book series to learn more about this member of the Resistance.
Amilyn Holdo
Amilyn Holdo will arguably always be best known for jumping into hyperspace through Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship in The Last Jedi, a suicide attack that was later called “The Holdo Maneuver.” Fortunately, there are plenty of stories from her past that have been told in Star Wars media, including the book Leia: Princess of Alderaan, where we learn how those two became close, and various appearances in Marvel’s comic books.
Ochi Of Bestoon
Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t remember Ochi of Bestoon in The Rise of Skywalker, as he was only briefly seen in a hologram and flashbacks as the assassin/Jedi hunter who was being pursued by Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian on Pasaana, where he died. If you really want to know what this character’s deal is, read Shadow of the Sith to learn the specifics of his death and how he’s connected to Rey and her parents, as well as the Darth Vader comic book series set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as he’s one of the Sith Lord’s main minions during this period.
So if any of these characters appealed to you in any way, check out those recommended stories and feel free to do more research into the character.
