Star Wars: Out with the Old, In with the New

Recently, there have been two major Star Wars developments of note: the questionable fate of the Star Wars Extended Universe (the fiction outside of the movies, through books, comics, video games, etc...) has been decided, and the major cast members for Episode VII have been revealed.

There's your EU...

Whelp. Some of this news is good, and some of it is very bittersweet.

The Star Wars Extended Universe is officially being removed from canon, the official Star Wars history. Only the 6 feature films and the CGI Clone Wars movie/series are currently considered canon. Going forward, every newly created Star Wars story, be it in movie, book, or video game format, will supposedly be canon.

This is bad news on two fronts. First, and foremost to a long-term, loyal Star Wars fan, all the stories and characters I've been following for the past two decades no longer "exist." Yes, their stories are still out there to read, but no longer will they impact the Star Wars universe and, going forward in the series, we'll never see them again. They may use the names and faces later, assuming the re-introduce them, but it would be as if a reboot took place for that character -- their history, as we knew it, is gone.

Dash Rendar, the scoundrel

Mara Jade, the... well, badass.

This means characters such as Mara Jade, Dash Rendar, and Darth Revan no longer exist (and never did). This spreads to every single character introduced in EU that never made it into the films. Even Boba Fett is still rotting in the Sarlaac Pit, as far as this announcement goes (though I suspect this won't be kept for too
long).

That's a real bummer. And all the current storylines, from comics set in the past to novels following the children of Han & Leia or Luke & Mara won't get the ending they deserve. Series like Star Wars: Legacy are also dead in the water. Partially because of the announcement, but mostly because Dark Horse, who has produced some of the best Star Wars comics to date, will no longer be publishing them.

It will be nice to meet new characters and see new stories and even to avoid some of the really depressing moments in the EU that follow up the films (we'll miss several character deaths, until the movies decide to use them for emotional pull). But it's not enough. Unless they introduce all of my favorite characters, how can I be happy with this?

I can't.

The other end is that, with everything being canon going forward, the lore will stay pretty tight knit. This is good from a base storytelling angle, but ignores the fact that novels and comics get a lot of their attraction from being able to explore more outrageous moments. Jedi in the EU do immensely crazy things that would, potentially, no longer be the case. That's why the "levels" of canon was a nice option. Zombie Stormtroopers? It could happen! Crashing a Star Destroyer with the Force? Why not!

Well, now the 'why not' is because it sounds as if there won't be any more levels of canon, and all the stories will need to play with the relatively same power base. Again, good for cohesive storytelling. Bad for the level of outlandish adventures we had imagined in a universe where something like the Force exists.

Oh, and I guess this is also bad if the movies suck. Because some of the EU moments have truly been the best in the series, and many of them are much, much better than any of the prequel movies (and some even top the original trilogy. Com at me, nerd).

The new cast. Google 'em, I'm not interested enough to find names...

For the casting... I really don't care. I'm glad that Harrison Ford is coming back as Han Solo, even though he's gone on record about hating the character. I guess the butchering of the Indiana Jones franchise weakened his resolve. It will be pretty awesome to see Mark Hamill on the big screen again. Not quite as pumped for on old Princess Leia, but that may be sexism coming into play. I'm just a bit concerned that they'll all feel old and then I'll feel depressed.

For the rest, I either don't know them or don't have a comment until I see what role their actually being cast in. There does seem to be an AWFUL gender ratio, though. From what I've seen, only one of the new cast is female? What the what? Plenty of aliens in outerspace, but the women must still be trapped in the space-kitchen. A long time ago and all that, right? COMPLETE BUMMER. The original Star Wars was especially great due to a strong female role... but they don't always have to play it solo.

I did read that they tried to get Wedge Antilles back, but the actor said the role was to small and boring. WHY AREN'T THEY GIVE WEDGE HIS OWN DAMN MOVIE!? Seems nothing from the EU will be sacred :/

An "X-Wing" series of movies are in order.

Bah. Guess I'm bitter 'bout the ol' Star Wars. VII better be good, Abrams.

The Nerd's Favorite Star Wars Characters

Between movies, comic books, novels, tv shows, video games, and any other format we can think up, Star Wars has many, many characters. Some everyone would be familiar with due to them being in the movie, while many more rest in obscurity, due to being introduced in the Extended Universe.

Here is my list of my favorite characters, spanning all formats.

1. Han Solo

I had to get this one out of the way quickly. Since everyone is familiar with this character (or damn well should be), I don't need to go into too much description here. I always love a good-hearted scoundrel, and Han was my first introduction to this archetype. Being played by Harrison Ford, there is nothing for me to not love about this character. He's cocky, good with a gun or ship, and wears the best outfits.

I suggest his origin novels, known as the Han Solo Trilogy.

Even his Bespin outfit is pretty awesome.

2. Darth Revan

Doesn't care for your republic.

Introduced in the game Knights of the Old Republic, Revan is another popular character many people may recognize. He was the big bad right before the game begins, and you spend your journey hearing about his achievements that nearly brought the galaxy to his knees. It almost seems a pity that his apprentice got uppity and shot him in the back... For those who've played the game, the plot twist is another big reason why I love this character.

Aside from the interesting story, Revan's Sith outfit is my favorite out of any character in the movies or EU. If I was to ever get into cosplay, my first project would be to make Revan's mask.

3. Dash Rendar

This character was released across multiple mediums at the same time, in the multimedia project titled Shadows of the Empire. I've talked about Shadows before, but want to reiterate that it also created one of my absolute favorite, yet still wildly under used, characters. Dash is a smuggler, like Han, but his heart of gold seems to have been plundered. There is no question that Dash always shoots first. He's Han if Han never matured or met Leia. He's a badass pilot and mercenary who will take on any mission for a price.

Currently, the character is still mostly found only in Shadows of the Empire material. There was a relatively recent novel, Shadow Games, that featured the rogue, but I didn't enjoy it overly much.

Ok, I hate his outfit. But he makes up for it!

Dash has two other points that work in his favor: a sassy robot sidekick, named Leebo, and his much-better-than-the-Falcon ship, the Outrider.

Being able to play the character in Shadows of the Empire went a long way to entrench this characters as a favorite, even if the game was light on the story elements.

4. Jaina Solo

This is one of Han and Leia's kids. If you're at all current in the Extended Universe, you'll know she's the only surviving one. Since the Young Jedi Knights series, she's been an interesting mix of a mechanic, like Chewbacca, and a Jedi, like her uncle Luke. I almost grew up with this character, being that I read the Young series when I was younger, and am still reading novels featuring her today (though I'm actually very behind on the Fate of the Jedi series).

Jaina Solo, solo.

She's had some of the more interesting twists and turns, trials and tribulations among the EU cast. And she's grown up to be both melancholic to some degree and a complete badass in others. It's a difficult balance, but both components I enjoy in literary characters -- the ability to be series and down to earth while still fighting the good fight.

She can be found in plenty of EU novels, not sure if she's ever branched out into the comics or not. The Legacy of the Force series, infamous for many reasons, has a her dealing with issues above and beyond what most would expect. And, unlike many EU characters, she rose to the challenge.

5. Corran Horn

Read it!

One of my favorite things about Star Wars was the dogfights. I love space battles in general. Therefore, interesting pilots always find a way into my heart. Throughout the (on my part) much beloved X-Wing series, Corran Horn is an interesting character that shows a lot of growth throughout the series. He's a member of Rogue Squadron and, appropriately, constantly giving the Empire/remnants a bad day. He's the star of the day many times, and makes down-to-the-wire situations still seem stressful -- most characters you can stay fairly safe knowing they'll make it through the day. The X-Wing series, and Corran's status as an EU-only character, didn't give him quite as much plot armor as other characters. This made him interesting.

Then, reading the novel I, Jedi, you learn more about his history as he eventually starts on the Jedi path. This novel is one of the most interesting EU novels I've read, simply because it spans a decent chunk of time and pulls in references to other big events as they occur. A lot of the EU feels as if it happens in a vacuum, where only one story is happening at a time, but I, Jedi actively interacted with the timelines it crossed, without seeming overly gimmicky.


There are more characters that I love, and I have to give an honorable mention to Wedge Antilles, but the above five are my absolute favorite from a universe that spans thousands of years and many different formats/genres. Are there any standouts for you? I've not included a single cartoon or comic character in this list, so I know I'm missing plenty!