60 Fun Facts About Star Wars Legends

On what date did Lucasfilm rebrand the Expanded Universe as Star Wars Legends and declare it non-canon?

April 25, 2014 was the announcement date; Disney had bought Lucasfilm in October 2012, and the reset freed the planned sequel trilogy from decades of continuity.

Which pre-2014 non-film work stayed in canon when the Expanded Universe became Legends?

The Clone Wars animated series (2008-14) was kept in canon alongside the six films, and its final seventh season later arrived on Disney+ in 2020.

Which 1991 novel is credited with jump-starting the Expanded Universe after four quiet years?

Heir to the Empire, published in May 1991, reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list and launched the modern Expanded Universe.

Who wrote the Thrawn trilogy?

Timothy Zahn wrote all three Thrawn novels, and returned to write new canon Thrawn books after the character was revived in Rebels in 2016.

What are the titles of the second and third Thrawn trilogy books?

Dark Force Rising and The Last Command complete the trilogy that began in 1991; Specter of the Past and Vision of the Future are the author's later Hand of Thrawn duology.

Thrawn belongs to which blue-skinned species?

Chiss are a blue-skinned, red-eyed species from the Unknown Regions; Thrawn's full name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo, shortened to its core name for Imperial service.

What Force-repelling creatures does Thrawn use to subdue the mad clone Joruus C'baoth?

Ysalamiri, salamander-like creatures from Myrkr, push the Force away in bubbles around themselves; the vornskrs of the same planet hunt by sensing the Force.

What is the lost fleet of automated Dreadnaughts, the 'Dark Force', called in Dark Force Rising?

The Katana fleet's crews were driven mad by a hive virus decades earlier, and its 200 slaved Dreadnaughts vanished into hyperspace until a smuggler stumbled on them.

Mara Jade was introduced as the second-in-command of which smuggler?

Talon Karrde, head of a smuggling organization, employed Mara Jade as his second-in-command when she debuted; she had secretly served the Emperor, whose dying command compelled her to kill the last Jedi.

What title did Mara Jade hold under Palpatine before his death?

Emperor's Hand was the title of the Emperor's personal agent and assassin, who answered only to him and could hear his commands from across the galaxy.

Whom does Mara Jade marry, becoming the mother of Ben?

Luke Skywalker weds Mara Jade in the 1999-2000 Dark Horse comic Union, and their son Ben is born during the New Jedi Order series.

In which Legacy of the Force novel is Mara Jade killed?

Sacrifice, the fifth Legacy of the Force novel, has her nephew Jacen, by then apprenticed to the dark side, kill her; she later appears to her son as a Force ghost.

The Dark Horse comic Dark Empire resurrected which villain in a succession of cloned bodies?

Emperor Palpatine returns in Dark Empire (1991-92), his spirit transferred into a series of clone bodies grown on the Deep Core world Byss.

Which bounty hunter, seemingly killed in Return of the Jedi, returned in Dark Empire?

Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc and reappears in Dark Empire hunting Han Solo; the comic also introduced Han and Leia's youngest son, Anakin Solo.

Which Thrawn-trilogy planet made its film debut in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition?

Coruscant, first named in the 1991 Thrawn trilogy, appeared on screen in the 1997 Special Edition's celebration montage before becoming the prequels' galactic capital.

Which extragalactic invaders were the villains of The New Jedi Order series?

The Yuuzhan Vong, invaders from beyond the galaxy who could not be sensed through the Force and worshipped pain, drove the series that ran from 1999 to 2003.

Which major film character was killed in Vector Prime, the first New Jedi Order novel?

Chewbacca dies in Vector Prime saving Anakin Solo when the invaders pull a moon down onto the planet Sernpidal.

Who wrote Vector Prime?

R. A. Salvatore, best known for his Drizzt novels, wrote Vector Prime, the 1999 hardcover that opened The New Jedi Order.

How many novels made up The New Jedi Order series?

19 novels ran from 1999 to 2003, beginning with Vector Prime and ending with James Luceno's The Unifying Force.

Under what Sith name does Jacen become the antagonist of Legacy of the Force?

Darth Caedus is the name Jacen Solo takes midway through the nine-book series, after Lumiya steers the former hero of the invasion war to the dark side.

Which three authors wrote the nine Legacy of the Force novels in rotation?

Denning, Allston and Traviss rotated through the nine books from 2006 to 2008; Karen Traviss also wrote the Republic Commando novels.

Kyle Katarn debuted as the player character of which 1995 game?

Star Wars: Dark Forces, LucasArts' 1995 first-person shooter, introduced Kyle Katarn as a mercenary stealing the Death Star plans in its opening mission.

In Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Kyle Katarn is replaced as the playable hero by which student?

Jaden Korr, a new student at the Yavin 4 academy, is the playable hero of the 2003 game, with Kyle Katarn demoted to the role of instructor.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the first original Star Wars novel, was written by whom?

Alan Dean Foster, who had ghostwritten the 1976 film novelisation, wrote the 1978 book as a low-budget sequel in case Star Wars flopped.

On which swampy planet are Luke and Leia marooned in Splinter of the Mind's Eye?

Mimban finally reached the screen in Solo: A Star Wars Story, forty years after the novel.

Steve Perry's 1996 'movie without a movie' multimedia project is set between which two films?

The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi bracket the 1996 story, which was told through a novel, a Dark Horse comic, a Nintendo 64 game, a soundtrack and toys.

Which crime lord in Shadows of the Empire plots to replace Vader at the Emperor's side?

Prince Xizor headed the Black Sun crime syndicate and schemed to discredit Vader; smuggler Dash Rendar served as the story's Han Solo stand-in.

Which studio developed Knights of the Old Republic, released in 2003?

BioWare developed the 2003 role-playing game for Xbox and PC, building its combat on a version of the d20 rules system, before moving on to Mass Effect.

Roughly how many years before the films is Knights of the Old Republic set?

4,000 years before the films, roughly 3,956 years before the Battle of Yavin, in an era Dark Horse's Tales of the Jedi comics had opened up years earlier.

In Knights of the Old Republic, the amnesiac player character turns out to be which Sith Lord?

Darth Revan is the player's hidden identity; the Jedi wiped Revan's memory after a strike team's ambush, and the reveal is regularly cited among gaming's best twists.

Which space station is the site of the final battle in Knights of the Old Republic?

The Star Forge, an ancient Rakata factory orbiting their homeworld, builds the enemy fleet and is where the final confrontation with Darth Malak takes place.

Darth Bane is credited with creating which Sith doctrine?

The Rule of Two, one master and one apprentice at a time, was Darth Bane's reform after the Brotherhood of Darkness destroyed itself; Drew Karpyshyn's novels dramatised it.

What is the given name of Starkiller, Vader's secret apprentice in The Force Unleashed?

Galen Marek was taken by Vader as a child after the Empire killed his Jedi father, Kento, on Kashyyyk, and raised in secret as the apprentice Starkiller.

Starkiller's ship in The Force Unleashed is called what?

Rogue Shadow is the stealth-equipped ship flown for Starkiller by the Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse, who later defects alongside him.

Star Wars: Legacy, set over 130 years after the Empire's fall, follows which descendant of Luke?

Cade Skywalker, a bounty hunter who abandoned his Jedi training, leads John Ostrander and Jan Duursema's 2006-10 Dark Horse series against Darth Krayt's new order.

What is the callsign of RC-1138, the squad leader you play in Republic Commando?

Boss is RC-1138's callsign; Scorch is the explosives expert, Fixer the slicer and Sev the sniper, and the '1138' nods to the 1971 film THX 1138.

Star Wars Galaxies, the 2003 MMO, was developed by which company?

Sony Online Entertainment ran the game from June 2003 until its servers went dark on December 15, 2011, days before The Old Republic launched.

Marvel's original Star Wars comic ran from 1977 to 1986 for how many issues?

107 issues ran from 1977 to 1986; Jim Shooter said the title's sales kept Marvel afloat in 1977-78, and the company revived it for a one-off issue 108 in 2019.

What kind of creature was Jaxxon, the Marvel comic character the franchise's creator reportedly disliked?

A green rabbit, six feet tall and armed, Jaxxon joined Han Solo's Seven Samurai-style band in Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin's 1978 'Eight for Aduba-3' story.

Kevin J. Anderson's 1994 Jedi Academy trilogy features which superweapon stolen by Han Solo?

The Sun Crusher, a tiny indestructible ship that detonates stars, is stolen from the Maw Installation; Kyp Durron later uses it to destroy Carida, and Exar Kun's spirit haunts Yavin 4.

Which continuity database, run by Leland Chee, tracked the Expanded Universe before 2014?

The Holocron was the internal continuity database Leland Chee kept from 2000, ranking material into tiers from G-canon at the top down to N-canon.

In the old five-tier system, the 'G' in top-tier 'G-canon' stood for what?

George Lucas gave the top tier its letter: G-canon covered his films and statements, T-canon the television series, C-canon most books and games, and S-canon older contradicted material.

Which 2012 James Luceno novel told the story of Palpatine's Muun master?

Darth Plagueis, published in January 2012, follows the Muun banker who trained the future Emperor and was killed by him in his sleep, as Episode III's opera scene hints.

Which Thrawn trilogy character, played by Xander Berkeley, appeared in The Mandalorian season three?

Gilad Pellaeon, the Chimaera's captain in the novels, was played by Xander Berkeley in the 2023 third season of The Mandalorian, during a meeting of the Imperial Shadow Council.

The 2021 Essential Legends Collection launched with Shatterpoint, a Thrawn-trilogy book, and which Bane novel?

Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn's 2006 Darth Bane novel, joined Shatterpoint and the first Thrawn-trilogy book in the June 2021 launch wave marking Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary.

In which year did the Thrawn trilogy conclude with The Last Command?

1993 saw The Last Command published in April, two years after the trilogy opened; all three books reached the New York Times bestseller list.

Which author wrote The Han Solo Adventures trilogy (1979-80) and the radio dramas of the films?

Brian Daley wrote the three Han Solo Adventures and adapted all three films for National Public Radio, airing in 1981, 1983 and 1996, with Perry King voicing Han.

Who wrote the Dark Horse comic sequence Dark Empire, drawn by Cam Kennedy?

Tom Veitch wrote Dark Empire (1991-92) and its two sequels for Dark Horse, which had taken over the Star Wars comics licence after Marvel's run ended.

Which novel is set in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Endor?

The Truce at Bakura opens days after the second Death Star falls, with the Rebels answering a distress call from an Imperial world under attack by the Ssi-ruuk.

From which publisher did Star Wars novels move to Del Rey in 1999?

The switch coincided with the launch of The New Jedi Order, which opened by killing off Chewbacca.

What was the rejected working title of the first Thrawn trilogy novel?

Wild Card was the working title, a nod to Mara Jade's role, but it sounded too much like the Wild Cards shared-world anthology series from the same publisher.

The mad Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth was originally written as an evil clone of whom?

Obi-Wan Kenobi was the intended template for the insane clone Jedi, but Lucasfilm vetoed cloning a film character, so the author invented Jorus C'baoth and his clone Joruus.

What had the author originally named the Noghri species before Lucasfilm made him change it?

Sith was the name in the manuscript, but Lucasfilm said the word was reserved for the dark-side order of Vader's title, so the grey-skinned assassins became the Noghri.

Who wrote the first four X-Wing novels, beginning with Rogue Squadron in 1996?

Michael A. Stackpole wrote the first four X-Wing novels, Rogue Squadron, Wedge's Gamble, The Krytos Trap and The Bacta War, and introduced the Corellian Jedi Corran Horn.

Who kills Grand Admiral Thrawn at the end of The Last Command?

His bodyguard Rukh stabbed Thrawn after the Noghri learned the Empire had deceived them; the Grand Admiral's last words were that it was 'so artistically done'.

Why do the Noghri serve the Empire in the Thrawn trilogy?

They believe Vader saved their homeworld, Honoghr, after a wartime starship crash poisoned it; Leia, Vader's daughter, later proves the Empire kept the planet poisoned, and the Noghri defect.

Which actor voiced Thrawn when he was re-canonized in Star Wars Rebels?

Lars Mikkelsen, the Danish actor, voiced Thrawn from Rebels' third season in 2016 and went on to play him in live action in Ahsoka in 2023.

Which studio developed Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords?

Obsidian Entertainment, founded in 2003 by former Black Isle staff, made the December 2004 sequel on a schedule so tight that much finished content was cut.

What is the freighter the player travels in throughout the Knights of the Old Republic games?

The Ebon Hawk, a Dynamic-class freighter, serves as the player's base and hub in both games, with party members waiting aboard between missions.

Which company was announced in 2021 as developer of the Knights of the Old Republic remake?

Aspyr, the Texas studio known for Star Wars ports, was unveiled as the remake's developer at Sony's September 2021 PlayStation Showcase; Bloomberg reported the project stalled in 2022.