The 50 best 'Star Wars' characters

Who is he?
Some will doubtless argue with this inclusion – the only good Ewok, they’ll say, is a dead Ewok, preferably being wept over by his traumatised Ewok buddy. In most cases we’d agree, but Logray, the medicine man of the tribe, is an altogether classier specimen.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s got a bird skull on his head, he’s got snazzy stripy fur, he dances like a demon and we have to believe his position as tribal shaman involves necking a pouch-load of the local wacky herbs and getting jiggy with his spirit animal.

Key line: ‘Squeaky squeaky squeak!’

Who is he?
The supreme commander of the droid army, and a dark lord of the Sith. In appearance he’s a big skeletal robot with four arms and a human heart. Not that it seems to make him any nicer…

Why do we love him?
Because he can fight with four lightsabers at once! Which is, of course, pretty cool. Plus he pre-empts Darth Vader by having a serious lung infection which causes him to cough and splutter like an 88-year-old asthmatic, which is actually scarier than it sounds.

Key line: ‘I’ll enjoy crushing you!’

Who are they?
Jabba the Hutt’s house band, consisting of flop-eared keyboard legend Rebo, shaved-mole clarinetist Droopy McCool and female-testicle-on-legs Sy Snootles.

Why do we love him?
To be fair, it was a close call between this combo and equally smokin’ ‘Star Wars’ egg-heads Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes. In the end, Rebo’s outfit won the battle of the bands because they were so egregiously ‘updated’ for the Special Edition, transformed from giants of interstellar funk to a hideously CG-mogrified soul-blues outfit. According to online sources, their original name was Evar Orbus and his Galactic Jizz-Wailers (honestly!), so lucky escape there.

Key line: ‘Lapti nek, rat a ran wim joct co jappi qaff!’

Who is he?
Pretty much the top geezer in the entire galaxy, the head of the Galactic Senate, and a pleasantly fusty old stick.

Why do we love him?
Largely because he’s played by the legendary Terence Stamp, who looks intermittently bemused, amused and slightly annoyed to be surrounded by blue screens, invisible effects and people with very silly hair. Valorum is, of course, booted out of his job in favour of the devious Palpatine. We imagine him back at home, feet up, sipping cocoa, listening to the news of the collapse of the Republic on the radio and mumbling ‘I bloody told them’.

Key line: ‘Will you defer your motion to allow a commission to explore the validity of your accusations?’ Snappy.

Who is he?
A desert warrior with an appearance seemingly modelled on the lovechild of an Egyptian mummy and a 16mm camera.

Why do we love him?
We had to have a Tusken Raider on this list, simply because these Bantha-riding bruisers are the baddest Bedouins in Beggar’s Canyon. This particularly narky specimen is the pick of the bunch, dealing Luke Skywalker a bloody good smack over the head before letting out a genuinely blood-curdling war cry.

Key line: ‘Arrrrrgh-ack-ack-ack!’

Who are they?
The intergalactic renegades who pick on poor Luke in the Mos Eisley Cantina bar. Evazan is roughly human save for a spot of facial scarring and a serious werepig nose, while Baba is a dark green reptilian type with a worryingly fleshy, vaguely gynaecological maw.

Why do we love him?
Because they’re hard as nails. These space pirates have the death sentence on 12 – count ‘em! – systems, which makes them very much the wrong guys to mess with (unless you’re Obi-Wan Kenobi, which you aren’t). But are they just business partners, or is there something more serious going on? Is interspecies marriage even legal on Tatooine?

Key line: ‘He doesn’t like you. I don’t like you either.’

Who is he?
The old-school military man who oversees the Rebels’, ahem, ‘tactical withdrawal’ from Echo Base on the ice-planet of Hoth.

Why do we love him?
Because while everyone else is running about and panicking because the Imperials are on their doorstep, Rieekan just gets on with it, keeping his troops in line at great personal risk. He’s pretty much the last man to leave, but although he seems to survive the invasion there’s no sign of him in ‘Return of the Jedi’. Oh, and also because he has an evident fatherly soft spot for Han Solo.

Key line: ‘A death mark’s not an easy thing to live with.’

Who is she?
The proud ice maiden of the saga, and leader of the Rebel Alliance by the time of the final battle – imagine Margaret Thatcher if she hadn’t turned to the dark side.

Why do we love her?
Because she’s chilly and aristocratic, but a fighter to the core. Her address to the Rebel forces in the run-up to the battle of Endor is the icy calm before the storm, although actress Caroline Blakiston does look like she’s wandered in from an episode of ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ (she was, in fact, more recently a regular in ‘Midsomer Murders’). She's set to return - now played by Genevieve O'Reilly - in this year's 'Rogue One'.

Key line: ‘Many Bothans died to bring us this information.’

Who is he?
Lando Calrissian’s co-pilot behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon at the Battle of Endor – an enthusiastic goon with a natty waistcoat and a face like layered sushi.

Why do we love him?
Because, while everyone else is getting blown to bits and yelling about how it’s a trap, Nien just looks like he’s having a whale of a time, bobbing up and down in his seat and gibbering away in what we’re reliably informed is a dialect of the Kenyan language. In the original script, Lando and Nien were supposed to die in the flaming fireball of the Death Star. We’re really glad the producers changed their minds.

Key line: Ask a Kenyan. Let's hope it’s not something offensive.

Who is he?
Luke Skywalker’s childhood buddy, a red-hot pilot with an absolutely cracking ’tache and the insouciant manner of an old-Hollywood matinee idol.

Why do we love him?
Because the bond between Biggs and Luke represents the link between George Lucas’s own California childhood and his galaxy far, far away. Luke and Biggs are essentially ‘American Graffiti’ characters gone awol, and the decision to cut most of their scenes together, while justifiable in pacing terms, slices some of the heart out of the first movie. We urge readers to check out these deleted scenes and discover the hero who got left on the cutting room floor. See also: Deak, Windy, Camie and Fixer.

Key line: ‘The rebellion is spreading, and I wanna be on the side I believe in.’

Who is he?
The dashing matinee-idol flyboy in ‘The Force Awakens’, General Leia’s trusted emissary who flees the First Order, miraculously escapes death and returns to lead the X-Wing charge against Starkiller Base. 

Why do we love him?
Because he’s an old-school charmer, the rightful heir to Biggs Darklighter and Lando Calrissian – all he’s missing is a stylish little pencil moustache (let’s hope he grows one in time for the next movie). We’re still not sure how Poe escaped that TIE Fighter crash on Jakku (plotting isn’t exactly the strong point in ‘The Force Awakens’), but we’re glad he returned for the rousing finale, not to mention his smoking hot runway run-in with Finn. And lo, a meme was born… 

Key line: ‘I can fly anything.’

Who is he?
The Imperial upstart who actually dares to challenge Darth Vader’s authority, and even the existence of the Force. But not for long…

Why do we love him?
Because he’s not just an ass-kissing yes-man on the road to terminal strangulation like pretty much everyone else in the Imperial high command (see numbers 37 and 45). Motti is a realist, dammit, and he believes in firepower and overwhelming force, not magic and mystical mumbo jumbo. Also, because he has the best lipcurling snarl this side of Huw Edwards.

Key line: ‘Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer’s ways, Lord Vader.’

Who is she?
Doomed Queen of Naboo, member of the Galactic Senate, wife of the traitor Anakin Skywalker, mother of two kids she’ll never get to see and owner of the weirdest make-up box in the known universe.

Why do we love her?
Okay, so Amidala’s not the snap-talking, blaster-wielding hardass that her daughter turns out to be, but she’s still a fascinating character, bred in tradition, but not tied to it, and in love with a man she must suspect is destined to go badly off the rails. Natalie Portman’s performance is hamstrung by some truly fistchewing dialogue, but there are moments where Amidala’s strength shines through.

Key line: ‘I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!’

Who is he?
The commander of the rebel armada during the Battle of Endor, piscine member of the moronically named Mon Calamari species and deliverer of one of the series’ truly great lines.

Why do we love him?
Because he looks like an enormous leathery, goggle-eyed trout, stands in a slightly camp hands-on-hips fashion and talks like he’s just swallowed a mouthful of Coke. But he still manages to be one of the coolest fish in the fleet. Plus he has a funky extendable chair that allows him to zip about the command centre like that old sci-fi puppet Joe 90.

Key line: All together now: ‘It’s a trap!’

Who is he?
Doomed, rotund X-wing pilot who refuses to eject (where would he eject to, exactly?) and gets splattered all over the Death Star.

Why do we love him?
Let us count the ways. Firstly, because he’s the only non-evil fat guy in the ‘Star Wars’ universe, which counts for something when you’re 12. Secondly, because he covers Biggs at great risk to his own safety. And thirdly, because he’s played by the eternally underrated William Hootkins, a remarkable and much-missed character actor whose career spanned everything from ‘Blackadder’ to ‘Batman’.

Key line: ‘No, I’m all r-aaaaagh!

Who is he?
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s tutor, and the only sap on the Jedi Council who believes that Anakin Skywalker is anything more than a whole heap of trouble in a bowlcut.

Why do we love him?
Principally, because of his matchless lightsaber skills, classy way with a mystical one-liner and facial resemblance to that fine actor, Liam Neeson. But also because it was here that folks first began to notice the phenomenon of the Jedi beard – well trimmed, very presentable and just like the one George Lucas happens to have. We’re still not convinced by all that guff about midi-chlorians (some sort of microscopic microbe), but we’ll let it go for now.

Key line: ‘Remember: your focus determines your reality.’ Eh?

Who is he?
The phlegmatic reptilian bounty hunter whom Han Solo abruptly, unceremoniously executes in the Tatooine bar Mos Eisley Cantina – and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Why do we love him?
At least partly because of all the controversy surrounding his death, after George Lucas added a premature laser blast in order to soften Han Solo’s prickly character. But also because he’s got huge, glassy green eyes, a fantastically otherworldly, insectoid voice and is one of the more convincingly realised patrons of that most wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Key line: ‘I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.’ Famous last words.

Who is he?
The hottest pilot in the rebel fleet, though his superior officer Luke Skywalker does tend to hog the credit.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s a survivor. While his fellow X-wing, Y-wing, A-wing, B-wing and snowspeeder pilots are blowing up, failing to eject and generally crashing into stuff, Wedge keeps his cool and just keeps on blasting, surviving three major battles with barely a scratch. Plus, he’s called Wedge Antilles, which is just the greatest thing ever.

Key line: ‘Cut to the left. I’ll take the leader.’

Who is he?
A denizen of the Mos Eisley Cantina bar on the planet Tatooine whose bulbous brown bonce happens to resemble that of a hammerhead shark – or, indeed, a hammer.

Why do we love him?
Hammerhead will have to stand for all those nameless little monsters out there in the dark whose figures we avidly collected even though they barely appeared in the movies: step forward Snaggletooth, Walrus Man, Squidhead, Bossk, Zuckuss, Ree-Yees, Weequay, Klaatu, Barada, Nikto, Prune Face, and too many more to mention. We also love him because he takes centre stage in the single greatest ‘Star Wars’-themed comedy sketch of all time. Please hammer, don’t hurt ‘em!

Key line: ‘Because my head is like a hammer, and a hammer is like-a my head!’

Who is he? 
The villain of ‘The Force Awakens’ – and (spoiler alert) the wayward son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, who turned, or was led, to the Dark Side following his Jedi training at the hands of Luke Skywalker, and is now in an almighty teenage piss about everything in the universe.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s just a big stroppy kid, albeit one with 1,000 armoured legions and a planet-shattering death laser at his disposal – also, JJ Abrams hasn’t come out and said it, but we reckon he’s having a sly pop at ‘Star Wars’ fanboys in Kylo’s obsession with Darth Vader’s scorched helmet (oo-er). The scenes between Adam Driver’s Kylo and Daisy Ridley’s Rey are the most dramatic in ‘The Force Awakens’, first his abortive attempt to torture her with the force, followed by his realisation of her untapped power and their thrilling climactic lightsaber smackdown. This is one character we’re dying to see more of.

Key line: ‘Wait! I can show you the power of the Dark Side!’

Who is he?
A dark lord of the Sith, and pretty much the only truly exciting new character from the first prequel, thanks in large part to his crazy Cirque du Soleil facepaint, acid-yellow eyes and double-ended lightsaber.

Why do we love him?
It’s not just about the look, though that is spectacularly cool. As played by martial artist Ray Park – and not overlooking some sterling, skin-crawling voice work from the mighty Peter Serafinowicz – Darth Maul is a sinuous sadist, and we can’t help thinking the prequel series would’ve been improved by keeping him alive a bit longer.

Key line: ‘Die, Jedi, die!’

Who is he?
A gleaming golden God to some, a deeply annoying buzz-kill to others, protocol droid Threepio is fluent in over 6,000,000 forms of communication, and boy does he love to go on about it.

Why do we love him?
If Threepio had restricted himself to the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy he’d be higher on this list: his appearances in those movies, whether it’s berating R2-D2 for his obstinacy, tapping Han Solo on the shoulder mid-snog or awkwardly buddying up to Jabba the Hutt, are consistently charming and funny. But the prequel trilogy tended to use him as an automatic gag generator, punctuating the action with inappropriate asides (‘this is such a drag!’). Also, how did a slave boy on a remote desert world manage to build a droid that knows 6,000,000 languages? Anyway, let’s hope the new movies restore our cybernetic hero to his former glory.

Key line: ‘We’re doomed.’

Who is he?
The ultimate bounty hunter, a ruthless, near-wordless outlaw who roams the Galactic wastes in his coffin-shaped spacecraft taking on dirty jobs for healthy rewards.

Why do we love him?
In the history of cinema, rarely has so much attention been lavished on a character who appears so rarely and says so little. Precisely what it is about this battered, taciturn mystery man that has captured the imagination of so many ‘Star Wars’ fans is hard to pin down, but it probably has something to do with his dinged and dented costume, and the fact that he’s one of the few characters who backchats Darth Vader (see also number 23). Still, the less said about his youthful cameo in ‘Attack of the Clones’, the better.

Key line: ‘He’s no good to me dead.’

Who is he?
An enormous green slug with a voracious appetite for heavy licking, hookah pipes, hard funk and little amphibious spider-creatures. Jabba is the most powerful gangster in the Galaxy – though precisely how he achieved this exalted position without really being able to move around or hit people (thanks to his undersized Tyrannosaur arms) is a matter of conjecture.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s such a staggeringly nasty piece of work: corrupt, lascivious, grotesque, an immoral monster to whom the execution of an underling is as everyday an occurrence as making a cup of tea (not that we can really imagine Jabba sticking the kettle on – that’s what our number 27, Bib Fortuna, is for).

On a technical level, Jabba is just a beautiful piece of creature design, taking three months and costing half a million dollars to build and requiring three puppeteers to operate. It’s a genuinely impressive, memorable and convincingly vile piece of engineering, just as unpleasant today as it was in 1983. All of which makes George Lucas’s dismissive comments about the original puppet – and his decision to use a completely naff, plasticky CGI replacement in both ‘The Phantom Menace’ and the ‘Star Wars’ Special Edition – not just wrong, but kind of insulting.

Key line: ‘You will soon learn to appreciate me.’ Unless your name’s George Lucas, that is.

Who is he?
We don’t think it’s going too far to suggest that here is the single most iconic screen villain of all time: his appearance is terrifying, his voice bone-chilling, his words pure, dripping evil. But what really turns Darth into the stuff of our childhood nightmares are his actions: from snapping necks left and right – both in person and remotely – to cutting off his own son’s hand (let’s just let that one sink in for a moment), this is a guy who really, really shouldn’t be trifled with.

Why do we love him?
Because, however much we love them, the movies are full of sarcastic space pilots, pistol-packing princesses, upstanding blonde heroes, robot sidekicks and wise old wizards, but there will only ever be one Darth Vader.

His backstory is perhaps problematic – the pre-teen Anakin is just a horrid little squirt, while Hayden Christensen’s grown-up incarnation can’t quite get beyond that terrible dialogue and fully engage as a character. That said, his descent into evil is carefully, convincingly handled, and the climactic battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi is truly, operatically magnificent.

But it’s nothing next to Darth’s greatest hits: emerging in a billow of smoke from a shattered blast door; tuning up his TIE-fighter controls like a snooker player chalking his cue; throttling his commanders one by one like the expendable flies they are; revealing the truth to Luke on that rickety gantry; turning on his former master as unearthly electricity howls in the bones of his face; and finally, heartbreakingly, lying stretched out on that medieval pyre as black smoke wreathes around his broken corpse. He is a perfect creation, never to be improved upon. Darth, we tremblingly salute you.

Key line: ‘If you only knew the power of the Dark Side.’

Who is he?
The captain of the Millennium Falcon, and the cockiest space pilot in the galaxy. Han Solo is every young boy’s hero, cruising from star system to star system with his hairy BFF, getting into scrapes, shooting the place up, performing occasional acts of random heroism and being rude to women until they fall madly in love with him. 

Why do we love him?
Because it’s damn near impossible not to – his hair is great, his Bogart-cowboy-hipster outfit is legendary, his wisecracks are second to none and his lopsided grin has broken a million hearts on a thousand worlds. But there’s more to it, somehow: in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, particularly, Lawrence Kasdan’s crackling, old-Hollywood dialogue combines with Harrison Ford’s evident love of language and sheer insouciance as a performer to raise Han to a place few other movie characters ever reach. It’s really no wonder so many people take ‘Star Wars’ so damn seriously: how many franchises have managed to generate such an uncanny emotional bond between characters and audience? The scene itself may have been misjudged (spoiler alert!), but his loss in ‘The Force Awakens’ still came as a real body-blow: losing Han was like losing an old friend. A friend with a really, really cool spaceship.

Key line: ‘I know.’

Who is he?
From thrusting young Jedi hero to desert-wandering retainer to shimmering blue apparition, Obi-Wan is either the selfless, beating heart of the entire ‘Star Wars’ saga, or a total doormat. Still, like the great man said, many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s absolutely ruthless with a lightsaber (as our hapless number 30 knows only too well). Because his shades-of-beige wardrobe is both functional and stylish. Because he wears a trimmed beard with boundless elan. And because he’s played by two very fine actors, including perhaps the greatest thespian ever to emerge from this sceptered isle, Sir Alec Guinness.

Still, it does give us slight concern that he’s basically a one-man walking support network for the accident-prone Skywalker family. And where does it get him, really? He’s forced almost to kill his best friend (who is, let’s face it, kind of a dick anyway). He’s left to shuffle around a desert for two decades as a glorified long-distance babysitter. Then, as soon as his life starts getting interesting again, he’s unceremoniously knocked off by said best friend and forced to spend the remainder of eternity as a ghost in the company of the guy who killed him! Now that’s loyalty.

Key line: ‘If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.’

Who is she?
The proud, upraised face of the Rebel Alliance: a beautiful, sarcastic, blaster-packing, man-juggling, no-bullshit-taking, Danish-pastry-haircut wearing icon of womanhood – for two movies, at least. That whole gold bikini incident may have dented her feminist credentials ever so slightly, but at least she got to throttle Jabba the Hutt for it. And she came back swinging in ‘The Force Awakens’, as a full-blown General with her own Resistance army.

Why do we love her?
When we were little, Princess Leia was just an annoyance: the last action figure we’d want to unwrap on Christmas morning. Then, as adolescents, she became a bit more (ahem) interesting, but hardly a character to be taken seriously, gold bikini or no gold bikini. But now, as grown-ups, we can look back and realise that Leia, token female though she may be, is actually the most shaded, complex character in the entire ‘Star Wars’ saga. As a very public figure working for an outlawed cause who doesn’t just lose her family but her entire home planet, she’s got a lot more at stake than either of her flyboy toyboys. As a woman in a man’s universe she stands her ground at every turn – see how she faces down both Tarkin and Vader without breaking a sweat – becoming neither a remote aristocratic figurehead like Mon Mothma or a put-upon drudge like Aunt Beru. As the only eligible female in several light years she clearly gets a kick out of playing off Han and Luke against each other, and refuses to get sucked into any of that mushy stuff (the ‘just… hold me’ episode notwithstanding). She has the quickest mind, the sharpest tongue and, lest we forget, the most money – but as the decades pass, she remains willing to risk everything for the cause she believes in. They picked the wrong Skywalker!

Key line: ‘I am not a committee!’

Who is he?
A seven-foot walking carpet with natural furry flares, a resistance-chic bandolier and a vocal repertoire consisting of barks, rumbles and surprisingly-hard-to-imitate growls. Co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon, Chewie is another of those ‘Star Wars’ characters who inspires a deep devotion despite his inability to speak – in English, at least.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s the ultimate man, despite being a Wookiee. Chewbacca is tall, hirsute, fashionable, tough, endlessly loyal, a bit of a joker, a crack shot with a crossbow, an expert driver, is great at spaceship DIY and we reckon he probably gives the best hugs in the universe. Every man would love to be his buddy, and what woman wouldn’t want a partner this hardworking, affectionate and dashing? Sure, those heart-to-heart chats might be slightly hard work, but perhaps this is what they mean by ‘sweet nothings’. We also love Chewie because he’s played by the lovable Surrey giant Peter Mayhew, who has the best Twitter feed of all the ‘Star Wars’ alumni (it’s @thewookieeroars, if you’re interested).

Key line: His dismayed howl when the Echo Base doors slam shut against the Hoth night is heartbreaking.

Who is he?
The diminutive backwards-talking mystical muppet whose knowledge of the Force is second to none. In the original trilogy he’s a marvel of creature design: tactile, sympathetic and loveable. His CGI incarnation in ‘The Phantom Menace’ looks like a rubber troll sprung unnervingly to life, though this does improve somewhat over the next two movies.

Why do we love him?
You have to ask? He’s Yoda! Eight hundred years old and still going strong, master of telekinesis and Eastern philosophy, a whizz with a lightsaber who also has a wicked sense of humour and an odd fascination for pocket torches.

Everything about him is iconic: that idiosyncratic manner of speech (part ageing Jewish comedian, part inscrutable samurai warrior), that unique raspy voice (supplied by Frank Oz, so the similarity to Miss Piggy is understandable), the amazing puppet work, even the really-not-so-terrible CGI in the last two prequels (the way he bounces off the walls during the lightsaber battle is amazing).

Key line: ‘Do, or do not. There is no try.’

Who is he?
The evil mastermind behind the Imperial takeover of the galaxy. Initially, Palpatine is a seemingly trustworthy senator who guards a terrible secret: he’s actually a Sith Lord, master of evil. Later, he’s a wizened little wizard with the wickedest cackle this side of the Yellow Brick Road.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s the one of the few characters who actually gets deeper and more interesting in the prequel trilogy – and because hey, evil is always fun to watch. Ian McDiarmid’s performance is one of the richest in the series. Yes, there’s a touch of the pantomime villain to him, but that’s part of the fun.

Palpatine’s transition from avuncular politician to devious power-grabber to lightning-fingered madman to all-powerful galactic dictator is deliriously enjoyable to watch, and director George Lucas and McDiarmid work hard to squeeze every ounce of lunatic glee from each successive, excessive incarnation. That said, by the time of the climactic battle in ‘Return of the Jedi’ he’s become something genuinely creepy: a nightmarish man-crone whose spiteful self-assurance and seemingly bottomless capacity for hate makes him the most memorable bad guy in the series – bar one.

Key line: ‘I am defenceless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete!’

Who is he?
A cheeky, level-headed dustbin on legs who comes complete with an Inspector Gadget-like array of convenient little nozzles and appendages. Think Henry the Hoover meets a Swiss army knife, only with personality.

Why do we love him?
Because he’s the real hero of the ‘Star Wars’ movies, consistently getting the others out of trouble just when things look their bleakest. From juggling turbolifts on an enemy battleship to save Anakin Skywalker’s miserable life to fixing Luke’s X-Wing stabilisers during the first Death Star run, from mending the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon to cutting his way out of an Ewok trap, Artoo does all the hard galaxy-saving work and gets precious little credit. It’s no surprise he was the first cast member to be confirmed for the third ‘Star Wars’ trilogy: without him the Imperial forces would be ruling the galaxy and Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie would be little more than glutinous splodges on the inside wall of a trash compactor. We’re a little concerned by his behaviour in ‘The Force Awakens’ though – did he really have to leave it so long to tell everyone that he knew where Luke was? Or was he just being dramatic?

Key line: Concerned uh-oh type beep, as if to say, ‘here we go again’.

Who is he?
The hero, of course! Luke is the clean-livin’, hard-workin’, elders-respectin’, teeth-whitenin’, sister-kissin’ all-American boy from Tatooine whose adventures form the backbone of the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy. Just a simple kid from a broken home, Luke pulls himself up by his own utility belt and goes on to win shiny medals, master the force and save the entire galaxy from evil (at least temporarily). Result!

Why do we love him?
Because he’s the ultimate family-friendly adventure hero: kind to animals and droids, good at fighting, flying spaceships, swinging across chasms on ropes and doing the right thing, and just a teensy bit bland. There’s a lot in the films about Luke being tempted by the Dark Side, giving in to his hate and choosing the easy path, but never for a second do we believe he’s actually going to do it: hell, he even saves the universe’s most fearsome villain from himself. None of which is intended as a criticism: Mark Hamill’s performance is consistently intelligent, heartfelt and witty, and Luke never comes close to crossing that line between upstanding hero and annoying goody-goody. And if the final moments of ‘The Force Awakens’ are anything to go by, he may get the chance to flex his acting muscles a little further this time around: older, more weathered and impressively bearded, Luke looks like he’s been to hell and back, and is girding himself up to go there again.

Key line: ‘I care!’

Who is he?
The rootless, nameless First Order stormtrooper and part-time plumbing technician – born FN-2187 – who has a crisis of conscience on manoeuvres on Jakku, rescues Resistance maverick Poe Dameron and sets out to find his way in this big ol’ universe. 

Why do we love him?
Because he’s our wide-eyed guide to the eye-frazzling wonders of ‘The Force Awakens’, desperately trying to come across as cool and collected while permanently panicking on the inside. And also because he’s played by Peckham’s own John Boyega, a remarkable young actor who has unexpectedly muscled his way to the top through a combination of nerdy charm and quiet, steely toughness – perfect for the character of a child soldier who smashes his chains and goes rogue. We’re expecting big things from Finn in the next two movies: if he isn’t a Resistance general with his own fleet of starships by the end of episode IX, we’ll be mightily disappointed.

Key quote: ‘The name's Finn. And I'm in charge.’