Who is the greatest Star Wars character? Across eight movies to date, there have been numerous Jedi, villains, rogues, heroes and wise mentors, plus a lovable droid or two. There are certainly some stand outs; Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia was a female cinema icon, while Darth Vader regularly tops the lists of greatest movie villains. There are those so cool that fans flock to them; that’s why the enigmatic bounty hunter Boba Fett had such a huge following despite having only a minimal impact in the overall story. Quite simply, there are hundreds of characters in the movie canon.
In the lead up to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we at Set The Tape have been feverishly writing about all things Star Wars and you may have noticed a daily poll running on our Twitter account, asking you to pick your favourite Star Wars character. We’ve picked 32 of the biggest characters from the original and prequel trilogies, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One. You’ll notice that Jar Jar Binks has not been included. Ask yourself, would he have won a single vote?
So now, based on your Twitter votes, here’s the first round of our grand Star Wars character top trumps event…
Battle 1: Darth Maul vs Captain Phasma
There’s plenty of attitude in the first square-off between these two baddies. Captain Phasma arms herself with some gleaming battle armour and one of those nifty First Order vibroweapons to take on the Dark Lord of the Sith and his double bladed lightsaber.
She holds her own for a moment, but Maul is far more skilled in battle. A couple of back flips, drop kicks and fierce glares and he runs his lightsaber through her chest, taking her out of the battle. Phasma glares back, but Maul can’t see it through her heavy visor and back flips his way into round 2 with 84% of the vote.
Battle 2: Yoda Vs Qui-Gon-Jinn
Two wise Jedi masters face off in the second battle. Qui-Gon-Jinn is effortlessly cool, approaching the fight with calm and precision, while Yoda jumps around the arena, lightsaber whizzing through the air as he leaps and bounds like a hyperactive frog.
Unfortunately, even Qui-Gon underestimates the ancient Jedi master and this is his undoing. Yoda distracts him with his mad fighting skills while opening the door to an escape pod and pushing Qui-Gon in, locking the door behind him and sending him off into space. Yoda takes a breath, regains his composure and shuffles into round two with 71% of the vote.
Battle 3: Boba Fett vs Rey
The galaxy’s coolest bounty hunter is a deadly match for the latest new Jedi; armed with a jet pack, laser guns and rope ties, he quickly overwhelms her, leaving her tied up and defenceless as he moves in for the kill.
Unfortunately Rey has a fierce streak and breaks free of the ropes, reaches out with the force to grab her lightsaber in one hand and Boba Fett’s gun in the other, forcing him back into Pit of Sarlaac he just crawled out of. Rey wins the day with 69% of the vote.
Battle 4: Han Solo vs C-3PO
C-3PO attempts to confuse Han Solo by reiterating the odds of the battle in six million languages. But Solo only finds the protocol droid even more annoying and shoots him into several pieces and locks him up in the cargo hold of the Millennium Falcon.
Unfortunately, he can’t switch C-3PO off and the droid continues talking as Han Solo flies the Falcon to round two with 88% of the vote.
Battle 5: Jyn Erso vs Finn
The battle between Jyn and Finn begins with a series of fistacuffs, Finn using his stormtrooper fighting skills to hold his own against her. Unfortunately he keeps missing every time he fires his gun and with Jyn’s dirty fighting style, she quickly gains the upper hand.
Poor Finn is just to inexperienced and Jyn ruthlessly shoots him out of an air lock and continues the good fight against the evil forces of the Galactic Empire, heading into Round two with 71% of the vote.
Battle 6: Obi Wan Kenobi vs General Hux
General Hux rants and raves in a maniacal tone, fitting of the general of the First Order. Obi Wan calmly sits and waits for the general to shut up, his arms crossed as he enters a meditative state.
As soon as Hux stops talking, Obi Wan calmly lifts a small rock with the Force and throws it at Hux’s head and sends him falling over a ravine, still ranting and raving about the First Order as he plunes to his death. Obi Wan makes a small quip about the virtues of silence as he walks into round two with 100% of the vote.
Battle 7: Kylo Ren vs Mace Windu
It’s the fiercest battle yet as the galaxy’s most volatile Force user goes up against one cool mother f@!”#er armed with a purple lightsaber and plenty of attitude. There is plenty of sparring of red and purple lightsabers as Kylo Ren faces his most difficult opponent to date.
Unfortunately Mace Windu’s confidence and cool demeanour underestimates just how dangerous Kylo Ren is; the Sith Lord throws everything against him and beats his opponent down with one keen blow to the chest. As Mace Windu dies, wondering what happened, Kylo Ren marches into round two with 64% of the vote.
Battle 8: BB8 vs Emperor Palpatine
The plucky little droid tries to hold his own against the evil Emperor, aka Darth Sidious. Despite setting grease traps, activating blast doors to block his opponent and trying to win him over with a cute thumbs up lighter, BB8 is unfortunately no match for Palpatine.
The Emperor sends a blast of lightning that short circuits the little droid and causes him to explode. Palpatine steps over the ashes off his opponent and sweeps into round two with 73% of the vote.
Battle 9: R2-D2 vs Padme Amidala
Another battle for a plucky little droid as R2-D2 goes up his former mistress, Queen turned Senator Padme Amidala. She tries her hand at negotiating and when that fails, demonstrates some keen fighting skills of her own.
But this R2-D2 is hardened by years of war and and he quickly flies around the room, jabbing her with bolts of lightning and some snazzy spinning across the floor to keep her disorientated. The bravest droid in the galaxy beats Padme in battle, locking her up and rolls on into round two with 71% of the vote.
Battle 10: Lando Calrissian vs General Grievous
The Jedi-killing, lightsaber wielding battle droid is a formidable opponent but he hasn’t met cool smuggler turned diplomat turned general in the Rebel Alliance and battle hero.
The droid sweeps in for the kill, lightsabers blazing, guns firing, but Lando fires one quick shot to the droid’s living component – his heart – and sends it crashing into a flailing heap. Lando cooly puts the gun back in its holster and strides off into round two with 89% of the vote.
Battle 11: Wickett vs Grand Moff Tarkin
The Galactic Empire’s continued underestimation of the furry denizens of the forest moon of Endor is almost Grand Moff Tarkin’s undoing. A simple stroll through the woods sees him attacked by the the spear-wielding Wicket, who takes out Tarkin’s two bodyguards with ease.
Utilising his superior intellect, Tarkin retreats back to the Death Star and ruthless orders Endor’s destruction. Poor Wickett and his fellow ewoks are killed in a catastrophic explosion and with 67% of the vote, Tarkin sets course for round two.
Battle 12: Poe Dameron vs Count Dooku
The Resistance’s greatest fighter pilot comes face to face with this Dark Lord of the Sith; underestimating this seemingly simple old man, Poe’s X-Wing is destroyed by a quick thrust of Dooku’s lightsaber through the cockpit and and a bolt of lighting from his fingertips.
Fortunately Poe’s instincts are good and he takes shelter long enough to locate Dooku’s ship, steals it and aim a few well-aimed shots in the Dark Lord’s position. Dooku is eliminated and Poe Dameron returns to base with 88% of the vote and a place in round two.
Battle 13: Cassian Andor vs Princess Leia
It’s the battle of the rebels as Captain Cassian Andor goes up against the infamous Princess Leia. He has plenty of grit and determination but he is no match for her bold courage and skill with a laser rifle.
Cassian attempts to set some traps, but Leia is one step ahead, pretending to play the prisoner long enough for Cassian to get close. She shoots the gun out of his hand and locks him up in a hold, continuing on to round two with 81% of the vote.
Battle 14: Jabba the Hutt vs Darth Vader
The giant slug crime lord certainly believes he has the edge, sending his best warriors to deal with the Dark Lord of the Sith. However Darth Vader is the superior fighter, striking down each bounter hunter and fighter with ease.
A final attempt to drop the approaching Vader into a Rancor pit fails and the Sith Lord force chokes the giant slug before feeding him to his pet rancor and then riding the beast out of the flaming ruins of Jabba’s palace and into round two with 94% of the vote.
Battle 15: Orson Krennic vs Luke Skywalker
The ambitious Imperial officer tries to lay traps and send in his best elite stormtroopers to deal with Luke Skywalker, but the Jedi Master is ready for the challenge.
Realising he has lost, Krennic pleads for his life and Skywalker acquiesces long enough for Krennic to pull out a gun and shoot. But Skywalker is quicker deflecting the laser blast with a sweep of his lightsaber. The shot hits Krennic in the chest and Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight like his father before him, heads on to round two, beating Krennic with 100% of the vote.
Battle 16: K-2SO vs Chewbacca
The final battle sees the Imperial droid turned rebel fighter face up against the big mean wookie with a bowcaster and a vicious roar.
The droid’s sarcasm falls on death ears and he only lets out a couple of shots before Chewbacca reaches him and rips his arms off. With K-2SO defeated, Chewbacca heads off into the sunset with 92% of the vote.
And that’s the first round of battles, as voted for by you. Darth Maul, Yoda, Rey, Han Solo, Jyn Erso, Obi Wan Kenobi, Kylo Ren, Emperor Palpatine, R2-D2, Lando Calrissian, Grand Moff Tarkin, Poe Dameron, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca head off to round two.
Join us again for the next round of Star Wars character top trumps soon!