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elivanto · 3 years

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oh my god help me please i'm so confused right now

I just bought the thrawn trilogy (Heir to the Empire and others) but researching I saw that there are other books that would also be the thrawn trilogy wtf

do you know the order of reading or if Heir to the Empire has been "replaced" by the new trilogy??

SKHDJSGD OKAY SO. i’m putting most of my answer under a cut. it’s SO much text, i’m sorry, because my brain decided to make it into a small essay about all legends + canon books that deal with thrawn lmao. i included a little chronological overview further down.

i hope it clears the whole thing up a little and doesn’t cause more confusion for you?? if you have further questions or if anyone has something to add (or if i’ve spouted complete bullshit), please feel free to send me an ask or reply/reblog!!

regarding your question: basically, heir to the empire, dark force rising and the last command haven’t really been replaced by the new trilogy, they’re just the old legends books that TECHNICALLY* aren’t in the new disney canon anymore. they were published between 1991 and 1993.

they’re set after the original 1977 star wars trilogy and its main characters are among others luke and mara jade, and thrawn (plus the imperials that survived the war/escaped capture by the new republic) is the antagonist.

then there’s the hand of thrawn duology, specter of the past and vision of the future, that deals with some of the… ramifications, i guess, of the first three books. thrawn himself isn’t actually in this one, though.

two other legends books thrawn is in are outbound flight and choices of one, which are basically (some of the) prequels to the above mentioned books. another book, survivor’s quest, takes place 50 years after outbound flight with luke and mara as its main characters again, as well as some cool chiss characters and some mentions of thrawn. still legends, though.

THEN in 2017 the thrawn novel was published, which is official disney canon, followed by thrawn: alliances in 2018 and thrawn: treason in 2019. that’s the trilogy i’m talking about most of the time. it takes place shortly before and during star wars: rebels, so still before the original star wars trilogy, and references some of the events in rebels. this is also the trilogy eli is in. ;)

the most recent thrawn books are of the ascendancy trilogy which is canon too, and they’re prequels to the 2017-19 trilogy. they’re about some of thrawn’s time and military career in the chiss ascendancy before thrawn came to the empire (AND THEY’RE REALLY GOOD). chaos rising, the first novel, was published in 2020, greater good and lesser evil were both published in 2021.

*i said at the beginning that the legends books technically aren’t canon anymore, according to disney. BUT timothy zahn said in some interviews that if someone at lucasfilm were to decide that the old books are canon again, they’d fit into the timeline with the new ones, since they all take place during different stages of thrawn’s life.

the events of outbound flight (which i very much recommend reading), for example, are referenced several times in the new ascendancy novels. tim also said that thrawn’s characterization is overall consistent spanning all legends and canon novels, which i have come to agree with, but it’s not really a prevalent opinion. i think.

—

the chronological order is basically:

outbound flight (legends)

chaos rising, greater good, lesser evil (canon)

thrawn, thrawn: alliances, thrawn: treason (canon)

choices of one (legends) (thank you emma for figuring this out!!)

heir to the empire, dark force rising, the last command (legends)

specter of the past, vision of the future (legends)

survivor’s quest (legends)

—

most of the thrawn people i follow have only read the 2017 trilogy, or that one and the ascendancy trilogy. i do recommend reading the legends ones though, if you’re interested in the post-empire/new republic era (and because i love gilad pellaeon) and if you have enough time on your hands to read them :D

i answered an ask about the reading order of the canon books here, but all in all the reading order is relatively irrelevant. and if you’re interested in getting the ebooks for free, just send me a dm and i’ll link you to a site where you can dl them!

#sorry this is so much and i have no idea how confusing it is for someone who doesn’t know these books #literally please don’t hesitate to ask me to elaborate if something’s unclear!!#ask #iamtracyz #thrawn #thrawn trilogy #sw lit #star wars #sw lit info #thrawn lit info

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Star Wars Books: A Guide to Canon Novels in Chronological Order

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Star Wars has a rich history of tie-in stories, from somber explorations of space politics to weird, goofy adventure. Disney’s revamped canon has been in place for almost ten years, since 2012. The first novel in the new canon, 2014’s A New Dawn, realigned the books with what Lucasfilm would eventually do with the Sequel Trilogy under the new ownership.

If you want to read the canon books in chronological order, where do you start? And where do they fit with regards to the movies? This list includes both adult and YA novels, and does not include audio dramas, direct movie adaptations, or middle grade books. Reading all of the books in chronological order is a big endeavor, especially since more come out every year. Whether you want to start at the beginning or jump around depending on what era you care about, here’s our guide to what’s what…

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Star Wars Books: Before the Prequels

If you’re starting to read in order, The High Republic series is first up. This ongoing series is set about 200 years before anything else. Since the Sith haven’t yet risen to power, it’s an opportunity to show the Jedi at their heyday and the Republic free of corruption. Start with Light of the Jedi, the kickoff, but this series is meant to be able to be read in any order.

Next, two books set up the characters in the Prequel trilogy: Master & Apprentice follows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, detailing Jedi philosophy and where Qui-Gon and others try to sway or bend it. Queen’s Peril shows how Padmé met her handmaidens and shaped them into the spies and warriors seen in the next movie …

Star Wars Books: The Prequel Era

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Continuing Padmé’s adventures, Queen’s Shadow shows the teenage queen’s transition to galactic senator. It answers some questions about how the galaxy’s politics work and shows the very beginnings of the Rebellion.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

The Rogue One prequel Catalyst sets up some of the major players in the formation of the Death Star project, forming a backdrop for the movie with author James Luceno’s typical knack for pulling together disparate parts of canon into a consistent whole.

The Thrawn Ascendancy series (two books currently with a third on the way), takes place mostly in the far-off Chiss empire. While mostly a vehicle for Sherlock Holmes-style mysteries in the type of space war that made Grand Admiral Thrawn a famous Legends character, these books also connect to what some major human characters were doing during the Clone Wars.

Dark Disciple is an artifact of the period where it seemed The Clone Wars would never come back to the screen. Based on unused scripts for the TV show, it follows the fate of dark Force user Asajj Ventress.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

After the fall of the Jedi, the galaxy becomes a harsher place. Dominated by evil characters like Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, it’s time for stories of the Empire like Lords of the Sith. Vader’s right-hand man gets his own backstory in Tarkin.

But all is not lost: the novel Ahsoka follows the former Jedi into the very early days of the Rebellion as she makes new friendships and works to save a world from destruction. Street kids Han and Qi’Ra start their respective journeys through the galactic criminal underworld in Most Wanted. It’s a direct prequel to …

Solo: A Star Wars Story

As the dark reign of the Empire continues, the good guys try to piece what’s left of their alliance together. A New Dawn, a prequel to the Star Wars Rebels animated series, shows how Jedi-in-hiding Kanan Jarrus met Rebel pilot and spy Hera Syndulla. They’ll both be major players in this era and beyond outside the movies. This book also introduces Rae Sloane, an Imperial commander who is at the center of many of the developments that lead from the Empire to the First Order in the Sequel Trilogy. Two heroes of the Rebellion, Jyn Erso and Princess Leia, get YA backstories in Rebel Rising and Leia: Princess of Alderaan respectively.

One of the most well-regarded books in this era is Lost Stars, which spans the galactic civil war and follows completely original characters. A star-crossed love story, it starts before the Original Trilogy and continues beyond the end.

Another book that spans this era is Battlefront: Twilight Company. Despite ostensibly being a tie-in to the Battlefront (2015) video game, this book also follows standalone characters in a motley infantry unit throughout the war.

The new canon Thrawn series also picks up here, with the first, titular novel Thrawn showing the alien strategist meeting the Empire and showing his tactical skill while also furthering his own plans. Thrawn: Alliances sends him on an adventure with Darth Vader offering flashbacks to Anakin Skywalker, and Thrawn: Treason pits him against an alien menace in the time of the construction of the first Death Star.

Rogue One

Episode IV: A New Hope

Many of the books in this era span multiple movies, so we’ve erred on the side of Wookieepedia and luted the books by where they start. Battlefront II: Inferno Squad follows Imperial commando Iden Versio and her team — also the main characters of the Battlefront II (2017) video game campaign — through Imperial action and some changes of heart.

A relatively little-known title, Heir to the Jedi follows Luke Skywalker as he tries to piece together what it means to be a Jedi. Published in 2015, it’s one of the earlier books in the Disney reboot.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

The era between the Original and Sequel trilogies is perhaps the richest when it comes to books filling in the gaps between the movies. With about 30 years in between, there’s plenty of time. And the books have the chance to answer some major questions: How did the galaxy fare with the former Rebellion, now a New Republic, at its head? And why did that New Republic become ripe for attack from a relatively unknown threat in the First Order?

The Aftermath series maps this era out, establishing that Emperor Palpatine initiated the Operation Cinder mass destruction plan after the moment of his death. Detailing some of the political struggles on both the New Republic and Imperial sides, it continues Rae Sloane’s story and establishes some hints as to what the First Order grew from. The Battle of Jakku is a key moment in this era, marking the formal victory of the New Republic over the remnants of the Empire.

The Alphabet Squadron series is military fiction set in the New Republic, using the concepts set up in Aftermath as a backdrop for a much smaller scale story. Former Imperial Yrica Quell and Hera try, and sometimes fail, to keep a volatile band of pilots together against an elite Imperial squadron.

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A tie-in to Solo, the novel Last Shot bounces between this era and the Imperial era to show Han Solo and Lando Calrissian’s clash against a criminal with some dangerous tech.

The young adult adventure Poe Dameron: Free Fall fills in the backstory of the titular character, including explaining how he met the drug runners from The Rise of Skywalker.

Bloodline is another major pushpin in the timeline, exploring Leia Organa’s role in the New Republic senate and how dissent there paved the way for the First Order. A brief appearance of a very young Ben Solo is also a point of distinction.

The Mad Max-inspired adult novel Phasma explains why the First Order enforcer is so ruthless.

Episode VII: The Force Awakens

One of several tie-ins created around the opening of the Disney Parks, Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire throws readers into the conflict between the Resistance (a splinter group of the New Republic, now all that’s left of it) and the Imperial-derived First Order.

Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Resistance Reborn explains where some of the pilots making up The Rise of Skywalker‘s climatic battle came from, but it’s also a sort of capstone on the post-Original Trilogy era of books, pulling on a lot of story threads from Bloodline. Leia, Rey, Poe, Finn, and Rose search for allies in the brief period between the two final films.

A Crash of Fate is another Galaxy’s Edge tie-in, this one a teen romance set in and around the park’s in-universe setting.

Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

None of the books have ventured past Episode IX yet. Right now, Star Wars publishing is focusing on expanding the High Republic and the era between the Original and Sequel trilogies, including a mysterious upcoming novel about The Mandalorian. With the new canon here to stay, there’s surely a lot more to come.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Star Wars The High Republic: The Nihil and Their Plan Explained

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This Star Wars: The High Republic article contains spoilers.

In the time of the High Republic, 200 years before The Phantom Menace, control of hyperspace is key. The Republic seeks to expand outward, but much of the galaxy is out of their reach simply by virtue of distance. It makes sense that in this time of unification, the most dangerous threat in the galaxy comes from a band of pirates known as the Nihil who don’t have to use established hyperspace lanes. This is a game-changer during this new era of Star Wars storytelling.

In the galaxy far, far away, hyperspace is easily disrupted. Any celestial body with a significant gravity well could spell doom for a ship that doesn’t go far enough around. Trade routes are like faster-than-light highways through established safe zones. If you think of it that way, the Nihil are off-roaders.

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The High Republic is a new publishing initiative that spans books and comics, and in all installments of the series so far, the Nihil are the main challenge facing the Jedi. It’s a big change from other eras in the Star Wars canon. There are no Sith (although they’re very likely hiding in the shadows), and even the Jedi themselves are less compromised than their Prequel counterparts, not soldiers for the government manipulated by the Sith but curious, well-meaning warrior-monks working willingly with the Republic.

The weapon the Nihil use to fight the Jedi is different, too. Instead of facing the Jedi head-on with Force powers, the Nihil present a threat because of their mastery of hyperspace and their willingness to deploy creative, horrific weapons like poison gas. The Jedi have never really faced a menace like this before in the Disney era.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at who the Nihil are and how they operate based on what we learned in the novel Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule:

Who are the Nihil?

The elevator pitch: space pirates, or perhaps, as the series’ creative directors Jennifer Heddle and Michael Siglain call them, “space Vikings.” On their flagship, the Gaze Electric, they party until the work needs to get done. Anyone from any species can join the Nihil as long as they’re willing to raid, kill, and share some of their spoils with the group. It isn’t hard to identify them once they do join since the Nihil tend to wear metal armor, heavy gas masks, and sport dramatic tattoos and hair styles.

Along with the punk look, their main visual and and aesthetic motif is the storm. Their symbol depicts three lightning bolts, and the way the group is organized and kitted out follows the storm metaphor. The group is organized into three thousand-person units called Tempests, within which are smaller Storms, Clouds, and individual Strikes. Their ships are named accordingly: the leaders of Tempests, Tempest Runners, fly corvette-sized ships. Large stormships can break into smaller strikeships and cloudships. At the top of the pecking order is the Eye of the Nihil and the Gaze Electric.

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In terms of individuals, several main Nihil characters appear in Light of the Jedi and illustrate the hierarchy. At the top is Marchion Ro, the Eye of the Nihil. The Eye is a precarious position: bolstered by the fact that his father started the Nihil and he alone holds the secret of how to make the unique hyperspace paths, Marchion Ro doesn’t technically give orders, or even have any vote in what the pirate band does. Part of his story in Light of the Jedi is about how he holds this precarious position and why the group is organized like that in the first place. Below Marchion are the three Tempests — Pan Eyta, Lourna Dee, and Kassav.

What do the Nihil want?

Unlike the Sith, the Nihil movement doesn’t even have a veneer of philosophical debate to it. They aren’t even ideologically opposed to the Jedi per se. The Jedi are just in the way of their pirate lifestyle, which involves to stealing enough food, drink, and drugs to keep partying while flying under the radar. “What does your eye see for the Nihil?” “Whatever we want!” is part of their toasts, and that about sums it up.

In Light of the Jedi, they’re described as living a hedonistic lifestyle under the force fields of the Great Hall of the Nihil, which would be open to space if not for the energy shields. A typical scene in the Great Hall includes “masks and fistfuls of food and sniffs of powder.”

The greatest sin a Nihil can commit is getting in the way of the others stealing as much as possible: destroying a ship and its cargo instead of plundering it, for example, is a mistake punishable by death. Continuing the pirate theme, their version of “walking the plank” is to throw the offender into space.

In order to operate how they want, the Nihil need to keep the Republic from discovering their unique hyperspace lanes. Jumping in and out of hyperspace in unexpected places gives the Nihil a big advantage. With each of their ships equipped with a Path engine, their pre-programmed jumps give them an element of surprise beyond what anyone else in the galaxy believes is even physically possible. It also causes friction within the group itself. We mentioned above that only Marchion Ro knows this secret, and the answer to why sets up one of the High Republic’s main connections to the larger Star Wars galaxy.

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What do they mean for the future of the High Republic?

In Light of the Jedi, it’s revealed that Marchion Ro can create paths because he’s getting them from a woman named Mari San Tekka. Mari is well over one hundred years old, her body and life kept intact by medical machines that would make the resurrected Palpatine swoon. For reasons that have not yet been explained, she has the mathematical aptitude to do hyperspace calculations usually left to droids, and go beyond that to find the impossible paths. Once part of a family of hyperspace prospectors, she had “traveled out in the interstellar wilderness,” where something had “Changed her mind. Opened her up so she could see things no one else could.” She didn’t willingly join the Nihil; they kidnapped her, and she’s too confused to understand what happened to her. That’s why the Nihil are now the only ones who can travel through hyperspace in this way.

Based on her last name, she’s clearly related to Lor San Tekka, the man Poe Dameron meets at the beginning of The Force Awakens who might have some information on how to find Luke Skywalker. Lor San Tekka isn’t Force-sensitive himself, but his devotion to the Force as a religion led him to knowledge about Jedi philosophy and artifacts even after the Empire attempted to destroy them.

Mari may also be related to a different part of the Star Wars saga. We know the outer reaches of the galaxy hold the Chiss, who you might recognize as the blue-skinned, red-eyed species to which Grand Admiral Thrawn belongs. Chiss have an unusual relationship with the Force: some of them can, for a short period of their lives, use it to flawlessly navigate hyperspace. Could Mari have somehow learned those techniques?

By the end of Light of the Jedi, the Nihil have revealed themselves as opponents of the Jedi. Marchion Ro plans to recruit more people, making the pirates a force to be reckoned with compared to the Jedi and the Republic’s largely defensive military. Whatever comes next for them, it’ll be big and loud.

The High Republic story will continue in The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott, the next adult novel in the series, which is out on June 29. Check out our full reviews of the adult, young adult, and middle grade High Republic novels below!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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10 Best Star Wars Villains Ranked

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Star Wars is a story about good triumphing over evil, the heroes overcoming all challenges before them and defeating the villains. But we love to watch the antagonists, too! What would the saga be without its iconic, larger-than-life villains?

The hum of a lightsaber echoes in a hallway filled with smoke. A mastermind works behind gilded walls against his enemies. A bounty hunter zips through the sky with his jet pack. A dark lord awaits her prey from the core of a dying planet. These are moments that stay with us long after the credits have rolled, and they’re the reason why a few of the villains on this list are considered some of the best ever created regardless of the medium.

We’ve ranked our top 10 favorite Star Wars villains below:

10. General Grievous

Like many characters and concepts in the Prequels, Grievous is perhaps most notable for his visual design and powerful presence. A spindly four-armed droid, he looks like a mix between a robot, a spider, and a dinosaur. This non-human form wields four lightsabers at the same time, all of which he stole from Jedi he killed.

While Grievous’ personality isn’t really the draw here (he has a brief backstory and a tendency toward the dramatic), you can see some of his history in the excellent The Clone Wars episode “Lair of Grievous.” But we’d especially recommend you check out his first on-screen appearance in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars microseries. Scary stuff!

9. Grand Admiral Thrawn

Inspired by Sherlock Holmes and legendary military strategists like Alexander the Great, Grand Admiral Thrawn is the first character on this list to originate in tie-in books. He also has the distinction of being the first major villain of the post-Return of the Jedi era. The “Thrawn Trilogy” in the 1990s remain the most famous books of the lot for rejuvenating the franchise and introducing this tactical genius.

The epitome of working smarter, not harder, Thrawn is a no-nonsense thinker who can tell what a culture’s war strategy will be like based solely on their art. His clashes with characters from the Original Trilogy to the Rebels crew to his own Chiss Ascendancy are beloved as tactical puzzles and a showcase for his intimidating personality.

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Fans love Thrawn so much that he was one of the first non-canon Legends characters to be retconned back into the Disney continuity after the House of Mouse bought Lucasfilm in 2012. The Mandalorian season 2 has even set up the Grand Admiral to make his first live-action appearance at a later date.

8. Kylo Ren

While there’s some debate among fans about whether Kylo Ren should still be considered a true villain after The Rise of Skywalker, his appearance in The Force Awakens is our favorite, and he’s firmly in bad guy territory there. From the intimidating crossguard lightsaber to his chaotic nature that makes the audience feel like even he doesn’t quite know what he’s going to do next, Ren’s vivid characterization and volatile personality (not to mention Adam Driver’s performance) helped sell The Force Awakens as a worthy successor to the Original Trilogy.

He sometimes borrows too much from Darth Vader in that first installment to be truly unique, but that’s the point: Kylo is a fan of the villains who have come before, a member of a new generation of characters who inherit the saga and choose which role they want to play. Ren joins the dark side knowing exactly where it will lead.

7. Asajj Ventress

Ventress has been many things. A witch, a bounty hunter, a Jedi, and a Sith disciple, but her different roles are all in service of finding what she really wants: A home.

Introduced as the acrobatic and creepy antagonist in the first and second seasons of the Clone Wars miniseries, she goes toe-to-toe with Anakin Skywalker on several occasions during the galactic conflict. Throughout The Clone Wars, we also see how her part in the war changes, all while she tries to fill the hole in her heart created by her separation from her parents and death of her mentor when she was just a child. Ultimately, she’s both a tragic and sympathetic figure but also a frighteningly unpredictable villain.

6. Kreia/Darth Traya

Knights of the Old Republic II features one of the most inventive and critical explorations of what it means to wield the Force. The game’s Jedi and Sith are conflicted, use their powers in unique ways, and hold personal philosophies about the light and dark sides beyond the beliefs of their respective orders.

Into the life of the game’s Jedi exile protagonist comes the mysterious Kreia, a Sith lord disguised as the hero’s mentor in the ways of the Force. And her teachings about the ancient energy are unlike anything else we’ve seen or read to date.

Instead of following the light or the dark side, Kreia feels the Force itself is a malevolent barrier between people and free will. Although her philosophy technically leads her to the dark, her ideas about going beyond that dichotomy entirely make her one of the most thought-provoking characters in the series. It’d be interesting to hear what she thought about the Force dyad from The Rise of Skywalker.

5. Boba Fett

Boba Fett began his Star Wars career as a mysterious cartoon character in The Star Wars Holiday Special and as a faceless villain in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, before making the jump to the classic Legends tie-in books and comics. Now, he’s back for the first time in the Disney canon, thanks to The Mandalorian, which gives a new generation of fans plenty of reasons to love the iconic bounty hunter.

Although he isn’t the first actor to portray Boba Fett, Prequel Trilogy veteran Temuera Morrison brings newfound charm and power to the legendary bounty hunter, whose armor, jetpack, and laconic personality made him a breakout star despite his relatively minor screen time in the Original Trilogy. On The Mandalorian, we finally get to see his legendary prowess as he single-handedly breaks stormtroopers with his bare hands before even regaining his armor.

Boba Fett’s history is almost as long as Star Wars‘ itself, debuting in 1978, and he’s been a fan-favorite ever since, living many other lives on the page beyond the movies. He’s worked for the Empire, teamed up with other bounty hunters, and even become the leader of the Mandalorian people. With his return to Disney canon, he gets a whole new future full of adventures for fans to look forward to, including The Book of Boba Fett.

4. Darth Maul

Maul just keeps coming back. While he was easily one of the best parts of The Phantom Menace, it’s his development in The Clone Wars that really puts him near the top of the list. A perpetual student always looking for a master, Maul’s tutelage under Sidious means he never really learned how to live outside the structure of the Sith order. That mentality clashes with the Jedi in one of the most dramatic confrontations in The Clone Wars, where Maul reveals he knows the Empire is coming and the Jedi are too late to stop it.

From a martial arts expert to the galaxy’s Cassandra, he’s played many different roles, including the secret leader of a galaxy-spanning criminal organization in Solo. In Rebels, his death serves as a moving capstone to what began in the Prequels, when Obi-Wan Kenobi finally ends his life in a battle not of martial skill but of the kind of mercy and solace only a Jedi at their best can offer.

3. Moff Gideon

While the villain of The Mandalorian hasn’t had nearly as much time on screen as many of the others on this list, he’s climbed to the top through force of personality. Giancarlo Esposito gives even Moff Gideon‘s expository dialogue a sinister life.

As an ISB agent, he differentiates himself from most Star Wars villains by not being a Force-wielding warrior first and foremost. He’s cool because he thrives on information, and frightening because of the lengths he’s willing to go to get it. And don’t forget, he’s willing to handcuff Grogu. You get in the Villain Hall of Fame for that.

2. Emperor Palpatine

The mastermind of many falls (Anakin’s, the Republic’s, Ben Solo’s), Emperor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, is the shadow looming over the entire saga. He has a hand in everything, from the inability of the Jedi to hold on to even their own Force powers (as they discover in the Prequels) to the rise of the First Order. He’s the ultimate example of ambition gone wrong, the desire to rule the galaxy for the sake of ultimate control in human form. And the performance by Ian McDiarmid through the decades has become a staple of pop culture.

1. Darth Vader

From the first part of A New Hope to the finale of Rogue One and beyond, Vader’s intimidating visage is synonymous with Star Wars. Designed by Ralph McQuarrie in part after the shape of a samurai armor, the apparatus that keeps Vader alive was made to look dark, intimidating, and “spooky.” He doesn’t have to run or use flashy lightsaber moves to kill you: instead it’s his inexorable approach and brutal moves that are so fearsome. And he has no problem Force choking his own men to get what he wants.

While part of what makes Vader number one is how frightening he is, that’s not the whole story. As Anakin Skywalker, he also brings pathos to the saga and inspires endless debate. His choice to turn to evil is the event on which the rest of the saga turns. Decades later, he’ll inspire Kylo Ren to start down a similar path.

Let us know your own ranking in the comments below!

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