110 Fun Facts About Star Wars Legends

Why was the Star Wars Expanded Universe made non-canon in 2014?

To give filmmakers a clean slate: Episodes VII to IX would not follow the old post-film novels, which stayed in print under a new Legends banner.

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

The Clone Wars animated series was kept alongside the six films because the franchise's creator had developed and produced it himself; a seventh and final season followed on Disney+ in 2020.

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

Heir to the Empire topped the New York Times bestseller list in 1991; its trilogy began as a pitch to Lucasfilm from book editor Lou Aronica.

Who wrote the Thrawn trilogy?

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

Which two books complete the Thrawn trilogy?

Dark Force Rising and The Last Command complete the trilogy; the last title is the Emperor's dying order to Mara Jade, which she finally silences by killing a clone of her target instead.

Thrawn belongs to which blue-skinned species?

Chiss are a blue-skinned, red-eyed people of the Unknown Regions; Thrawn rose to Grand Admiral in an Empire notorious for its prejudice against non-humans.

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

Ysalamiri, salamander-like creatures of Myrkr, push the Force away in a bubble, a defence thought to have evolved against the vornskrs, local predators that hunt through 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 virus, and its slave-rigged Dreadnaughts jumped into hyperspace together and vanished until a smuggler stumbled on them years later.

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 a special agent of the Emperor; on one mission she slipped into Jabba the Hutt's palace as a dancer to assassinate the Rebellion's young Jedi, and missed her chance.

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

Luke Skywalker marries the woman the dying Emperor once ordered to kill him; their wedding fills the Dark Horse comic Union, and son Ben arrives during The New Jedi Order.

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.

Which 1990s comic brought the Emperor back from the dead decades before The Rise of Skywalker did?

Dark Empire (1991-92) revealed that the Emperor had cheated death by moving his spirit into clone bodies grown on the Deep Core world Byss; the 2019 film's novelization gave a similar explanation.

In Legends, which bounty hunter does Dengar find near death and nurse back to health?

Boba Fett survives the Sarlacc that swallowed him in Return of the Jedi, and Dengar finds him; a Dark Horse comic set six years later has him hunting Han Solo again.

Which Thrawn-trilogy planet first appeared on screen 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, invisible to the Force and armed with living ships and weapons instead of machines, drove the 19-novel series, capturing the galactic capital before they were finally beaten.

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

Chewbacca dies in Vector Prime saving Han Solo's youngest son when the invaders pull a moon down onto the planet Sernpidal.

Who wrote Vector Prime, the novel that opened The New Jedi Order?

R. A. Salvatore, best known for his Drizzt fantasy novels, wrote the 1999 opener, which was promoted with a television commercial starring Mark Hamill in character.

Which young Jedi dies leading the strike team to Myrkr?

Anakin Solo, the youngest of Han and Leia's children, gives his life in The New Jedi Order so his team can destroy the voxyn, beasts the invaders bred to hunt Jedi.

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 took the nine books in turn, one hardcover and two paperbacks each; the story turns Han and Leia's son into a Sith villain finally brought down by his own twin sister.

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 earns a place at the Yavin 4 academy by building a lightsaber with no formal training, and studies under Kyle Katarn, now an instructor; players choose the character's species and gender.

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 forty years after the novel, in Solo: A Star Wars Story, as the muddy battlefield where a young Han serves in the Imperial infantry.

Which 1996 Star Wars project had a novel, a comic, a game, a soundtrack and toys, but deliberately no film?

Shadows of the Empire set its story between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and was meant to rebuild interest in the franchise ahead of the 1997 Special Editions.

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

Prince Xizor, head of the Black Sun syndicate, tries to have Vader's son killed as part of his plot, and dies when Vader's Star Destroyer blasts his skyhook base out of orbit.

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

BioWare was offered a tie-in to Attack of the Clones or a story set thousands of years earlier, and chose the distant past for the creative freedom it gave the team.

Knights of the Old Republic opens shortly after which war?

The Mandalorian Wars ended only a few years before the game, set about 4,000 years before the films: the Jedi who defied their Council to win them came back at the head of a Sith fleet.

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: presumed dead after an ambush, the Sith Lord was secretly kept alive by the Jedi Council, which wiped all memory of the past.

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

The Star Forge, an ancient Rakata factory station, draws energy and matter from a nearby star to build the Sith fleet, which is why the final assault has to destroy it.

Darth Bane is credited with creating which Sith doctrine?

The Rule of Two, one master and one apprentice, was Darth Bane's answer to Sith infighting: he tricked the Brotherhood of Darkness into destroying itself, then rebuilt the order in hiding.

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

Galen Marek was taken by Vader as a child after the Sith Lord killed his Jedi father, Kento, on Kashyyyk, and was 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 more than a century after the films, 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 clone commando you play in Republic Commando?

Boss leads Delta Squad: Scorch the explosives expert, Fixer the hacker and Sev the sniper, whom the squad is ordered to leave behind on Kashyyyk in the game's final mission.

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

Sony Online Entertainment shut the game down on December 15, 2011: its licensing contract was ending in 2012, and the rival MMO The Old Republic launched five days later.

Which publisher launched the first Star Wars comic in 1977?

Marvel Comics began the series weeks before the film opened in 1977 and ran it for 107 issues; a later editor-in-chief credited its sales with saving the company financially.

What kind of creature was Jaxxon, the 1970s comic character that the creator of Star Wars reportedly disliked?

A green rabbit, Jaxxon was one of six misfits Han Solo hired to defend a village in a Seven Samurai-style tale, the comic's first original storyline after it adapted the film.

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

The Sun Crusher, a near-indestructible ship no bigger than a fighter that can make stars explode, is stolen from the Maw Installation; Kyp Durron later uses it to destroy the Imperial world Carida.

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 Star Wars canon ranking, the 'G' in top-tier 'G-canon' stood for what?

George Lucas gave the top tier its letter: G-canon was his six films, and it overrode the television tier and the books, comics and games ranked beneath it whenever they clashed.

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, Thrawn's flagship captain in the novels, goes on in Legends to lead what is left of the Empire and make peace with the New Republic; Xander Berkeley played him in 2023.

Which novel opens Drew Karpyshyn's Darth Bane trilogy and helped launch the Essential Legends Collection in 2021?

Path of Destruction follows Dessel, a miner's son who flees a killing, enlists with the Sith army and renames himself Bane; it was reissued in June 2021 for Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary.

The Thrawn trilogy's Jedi hero is cloned from what?

His hand, severed in the Cloud City duel, gives mad Joruus C'baoth the cells to grow a clone; Mara Jade kills the copy instead of the original she was ordered to kill.

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

Brian Daley adapted all three films for National Public Radio between 1981 and 1996, and died of cancer just after the cast finished recording his Return of the Jedi scripts.

Which comic series follows Kir Kanos, the last loyal Imperial Royal Guard, as he hunts the Emperor's betrayers?

Crimson Empire (1997-98), written by Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley, sends Kanos after Carnor Jax, the fellow guardsman whose treachery brought about the Emperor's final death.

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

The Truce at Bakura opens with the Rebels still recovering at Endor when an Imperial world's distress call reaches them; they end up fighting beside its garrison against alien invaders.

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

Bantam Spectra had published the novels since 1991; Del Rey, which had printed the very first spin-off novel back in 1978, took the licence back as the prequel films arrived.

The first Thrawn novel's working title clashed with which author's Wild Cards series?

George R. R. Martin's shared-world Wild Cards series was already on sale from the same publisher, so the title Wild Card was dropped, and a second idea was turned down too.

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.

Which Legends species did its creator originally name 'the Sith', until Lucasfilm made him change it?

Noghri were to be the Sith of the films' 'Dark Lord of the Sith' title, an idea Lucasfilm turned down, so the Thrawn trilogy's alien assassins got a new name.

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

Michael A. Stackpole built the novels around Wedge Antilles, a supporting pilot who survives both Death Star battles in the films, and created Corran Horn, who later narrates his novel I, Jedi.

Who kills Grand Admiral Thrawn at the end of the Thrawn trilogy?

Rukh, his own Noghri bodyguard, stabs Thrawn once the Noghri learn the Empire has deceived them; the Grand Admiral's last words are 'But... 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 and older brother of fellow actor Mads Mikkelsen, voiced Thrawn from 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 whole sections were cut; fans later restored much of it with a mod.

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

The Ebon Hawk is gangster Davik Kang's prized smuggling ship until the player's party takes it to flee Taris, moments before a Sith fleet lays waste to the planet.

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.

Which company's 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm led to the Expanded Universe being rebranded as Star Wars Legends?

Disney paid about $4 billion for Lucasfilm, half in cash and half in its own stock.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is described as a tall humanoid with blue skin and glowing eyes of which colour?

Red eyes, blue skin and the white uniform of his rank make Thrawn one of the most recognisable villains in the novels.

In The Force Unleashed, Starkiller uses the Force to pull which falling vessel out of the sky over Raxus Prime?

A Star Destroyer torn from the sky began as a passing remark about how strong the Force should feel, then became the game's signature moment.

Which 2004 multiplayer shooter from Pandemic Studios was the first instalment of a long-running Star Wars series?

Battlefront was released to coincide with the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set and went on to sell more than four million copies.

On which moon, whose ancient temples once housed a Rebel base, does Luke Skywalker found his Jedi academy in Legends?

Yavin 4 was the base the first Death Star came to destroy, and its pyramid temples were built by a vanished species called the Massassi.

Which film pilot, a survivor of both Death Star attack runs, forms a new Rogue Squadron in the X-wing novels?

Wedge Antilles founded the original squadron with his friend Luke Skywalker, and is a playable hero of the Rogue Squadron video games.

In the novel Jedi Search, Han Solo is captured and forced to toil deep in the mines of which planet?

Kessel is only the start of his troubles: his escape leads straight to a secret Imperial research base ringed by black holes.

Which Golden Girls star plays Ackmena, who runs the Mos Eisley cantina, in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special?

Bea Arthur closes the bar with a farewell song set to the Cantina Band theme from the original film.

Besides military intelligence, the tactician Grand Admiral Thrawn makes an extensive study of what from other cultures?

Their artwork gives Thrawn insight into how its makers think, a habit he kept when Star Wars Rebels brought him back.

In a 1991 comic series, Emperor Palpatine is revealed to have cheated death by moving his spirit into what?

Cloned bodies were the fallback idea: the writer first pitched a new villain wearing Darth Vader's armour, which was turned down.

Which planet, later a battlefield in Revenge of the Sith, was introduced by the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special?

Kashyyyk kept the look of the special: the treetop homes in Revenge of the Sith echo the Wookiee family house shown on television in 1978.

Which assassin droid in Knights of the Old Republic pairs polite protocol-droid speech with contempt for organic life?

HK-47 lost much of his planned storyline in the sequel, a droid-factory plot that fans later rebuilt themselves as a mod.

Which publisher took over the Star Wars comics licence in 1991 and produced over 100 titles, including Republic?

Dark Horse built its name on film licences, publishing Aliens, Predator and The Terminator comics alongside its Star Wars line.

Which Sith Lord with a metal jaw guard unleashes an armada on the Republic in Knights of the Old Republic?

Darth Malak wears the guard because his own master cut off his lower jaw in a duel.

Which Rebel hero of the Battle of Endor is arrested for treason in the Thrawn trilogy, thanks to Thrawn's plotting?

Admiral Ackbar's arrest takes the New Republic's best tactician off the board just as Thrawn makes his next move.

Which Jedi Master is the hero of Matthew Stover's novel Shatterpoint, set six months after Attack of the Clones?

Mace Windu gives the book its title: he can sense shatterpoints, fault lines in the Force that expose an enemy's weakness.

Which twin daughter of Han and Leia, hailed as the Sword of the Jedi, must stop her brother Jacen?

Jaina is finally forced to kill her own twin after he turns Sith, the bleak climax of Legacy of the Force.

Which real-life costuming club lent its name to the clone unit that storms the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the Sith?

The 501st Legion entered the stories in 2004, when a novelist honoured the fan group; the film's novelisation adopted the name a year later.

Which blue-skinned Twi'lek Jedi, introduced in a comic book in 2000, went on to appear in Attack of the Clones?

Aayla Secura was created as the apprentice of the comic-book Jedi Quinlan Vos, two years before she reached the cinema.

Which masked Sith Lord in Knights of the Old Republic II consumed every living thing on the planet Katarr?

Darth Nihilus left a single survivor, Visas Marr, who becomes his apprentice and later helps the player confront him.

Which actor, later the voice of Darth Maul on television, gave Starkiller his voice and likeness in The Force Unleashed?

Sam Witwer was called in to audition after the game's audio director noticed that the concept art of Starkiller already looked like him.

In The Courtship of Princess Leia, Han Solo wins the deed to which planet in a high-stakes sabacc game?

Dathomir proves a poor prize: it sits inside a warlord's territory and is home to witches who once thwarted Yoda himself.

Which 2009 horror novel, set just before A New Hope, unleashes a zombie plague aboard an Imperial prison barge?

Death Troopers was written as Star Wars horror in the vein of The Shining and Alien, the first since a 1990s series for young readers.

Which rock drummer performed and co-wrote the theme song of the 1985 cartoon Star Wars: Droids?

Stewart Copeland of The Police performed the theme, In Trouble Again, while Anthony Daniels returned as the voice of C-3PO.

Which Cocoon actor plays the hermit Noa in the 1985 television film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor?

Wilford Brimley did not get along with the film's two directors, so his scenes were directed by its production designer instead.

Which mercenary and Battle of Hoth veteran is hired to track down the frozen Han Solo in a 1996 novel and game?

Dash Rendar's ship reached the big screen: the Outrider appears in the 1997 Special Edition of A New Hope.

Which Knights of the Old Republic companion is hunted by the Sith for the rare Force power of Battle Meditation?

Bastila Shan took over a part first planned for Vima Sunrider, a character borrowed from the comics.

Which blind mentor of the Jedi Exile in Knights of the Old Republic II is revealed as a former Sith leader?

Kreia won Best Character in GameSpy's 2005 awards, rare praise for a teacher who ends up as the game's final enemy.

Which planet from Knights of the Old Republic II resurfaced in the Rebels episode Twilight of the Apprentice?

Malachor returned as a forbidden planet hiding an ancient Sith temple, one of several nods to the games in the canon series.

On which tomb world, site of the Valley of the Dark Lords, does Darth Bane train at a Sith academy?

Korriban was settled by exiled Dark Jedi who met its native species, the original Sith, and came to dominate them.

Which comic series, published from 1993, follows heroes such as Ulic Qel-Droma thousands of years before the films?

Tales of the Jedi introduced the planet Ossus, which canon later made the site of Luke Skywalker's own Jedi temple.

Under which Sith name does a young girl called Rain become the apprentice of Darth Bane in Drew Karpyshyn's novels?

Darth Zannah was a Force-sensitive child when Bane met her on the planet Ruusan and saw her potential.

Which Dark Lady of the Sith, posing as Brisha Syo, lures Jacen to the dark side in Legacy of the Force?

Lumiya began in the comics as an Imperial agent named Shira Brie, rebuilt with cybernetic implants after she was nearly killed.

Which nine-novel series, published from 2009, picks up two years after the end of Legacy of the Force?

Fate of the Jedi rotated between three authors, and one volume slipped by weeks while its writer recovered from a heart attack.

Which unit of commando-trained pilots is founded in the fifth X-wing novel, published in 1998?

Wraith Squadron came with a condition from the fleet's commander: if the unit failed, its founder had to accept a promotion to general.

Which Force-focusing gem do Luke and Leia hunt for in the 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye?

The Kaiburr crystal sends the pair racing Darth Vader to a remote temple, in a story written to be filmed cheaply if Star Wars flopped.

Which four-man unit of clone special forces does the player lead in the shooter Star Wars: Republic Commando?

Delta Squad opens its war at the Battle of Geonosis, sent to assassinate a lieutenant of the Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser.

In Legends novels, Leia Organa Solo rises to which office at the head of the New Republic?

Chief of State is only one of her Legends roles: she also trains as a Jedi Knight and raises three children with Han.

Which company's roleplaying sourcebooks were sent to the Thrawn trilogy's author as official background material?

West End Games books were thought so authoritative that Lucasfilm sent the novelist a box of them and told him to build on them.

Which 2002 game finds Kyle Katarn working as a mercenary, having cut his own connection to the Force?

Jedi Outcast sends him back to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his powers after a fallen student named Desann beats him easily.

Which long-dead Jedi, surviving as a spirit in a warship's gunnery computer, falls in love with Luke Skywalker?

Callista returns to life in another woman's body in Children of the Jedi, but loses her connection to the Force in the process.

Which ancient Sith Lord's spirit haunts Luke Skywalker's academy until the apprentices unite to destroy him?

Exar Kun earned a nod in canon decades later, with a reference in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Which student of Luke Skywalker's academy turns to the dark side and destroys the Imperial world of Carida?

Kyp Durron wanted revenge for his brother, only to kill him by accident when he wiped out the planet.

Which renegade Imperial admiral wages guerrilla warfare on peaceful planets in the Jedi Academy novel Dark Apprentice?

Daala proved hard to write out: after the trilogy she came back in Darksaber, Planet of Twilight and a novel about the Death Star.

Which Rogue Squadron pilot narrates the novel I, Jedi, training at Luke's academy to rescue his kidnapped wife?

Corran Horn's story was the first Star Wars novel told in the first person by a character never seen in the films.

Which shooter's heavily modified engine powers the 2003 game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy?

Quake III technology had powered the previous game too, and the studio was given just one year to build the sequel.

Which Wookiee student befriends Han and Leia's twins at Luke Skywalker's academy in the Young Jedi Knights novels?

Lowbacca wears a miniature translator droid called Em Teedee on his hip, programmed by C-3PO and just as long-winded.

Which Hapan princess loses an arm during her Jedi training, yet goes on to become Queen Mother of Hapes?

Tenel Ka fought as a Jedi Knight through a galactic war before leaving the Order for her duties on the Hapan throne.

Which ancient Sith Lord does the cult leader Tavion try to resurrect in the game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy?

Marka Ragnos gives his name to the game's villains, a Sith cult called the Disciples of Ragnos.

Which Imperial pilot flies Starkiller's ship in The Force Unleashed and is later branded a traitor to the Empire?

Juno Eclipse keeps his secret even after learning that he still serves Darth Vader, and later comes back to rescue him.