Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the original Star Wars film in 1977, Leia is princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Imperial Senate and an agent of the Rebel Alliance. She thwarts the sinister Sith Lord Darth Vader and helps bring about the destruction of the Empire's cataclysmic superweapon, the Death Star. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Leia commands a Rebel base and evades Vader as she falls in love with the smuggler Han Solo. In Return of the Jedi (1983), Leia helps in the operation to rescue Han from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt and is revealed to be Vader's daughter and the twin sister of Luke Skywalker.
The Galactic Empire, also known simply as the Empire, is a fictional autocracy featured in the Star Wars franchise. It was first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars and appears in its two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). It is the main antagonistic faction of the original trilogy. An oppressive, autocratic regime with a complicated bureaucracy, the Galactic Empire seeks to ensure singular rule and social control over every planet and civilization within the galaxy.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He appeared as the eponymous character in the 1991–1993 Thrawn trilogy of novels by Timothy Zahn. An Imperial military leader and a member of the Chiss race, Thrawn leads remnants of the scattered Galactic Empire in the aftermath of its fall.
Jacen Solo is a fictional character in literature based on the Star Wars film series, set in what is now designated as the original-canon Star Wars Legends continuity. The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, as well as the nephew of Luke Skywalker, he is a major character in several novels, particularly the New Jedi Order series. He becomes the antagonist of the Legacy of the Force series under the name Darth Caedus. Jacen's other familial connections of note to his native continuity include being the brother of Jaina Solo and Anakin Solo as well as the cousin of Ben Skywalker.
The Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human family in the Star Wars franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force and sometimes lightsaber skills. Luke Skywalker, his twin sister Princess Leia Organa, and their father Darth Vader are central characters in the original Star Wars film trilogy. Darth Vader, in his previous identity as Anakin Skywalker, is a lead character in the prequel film trilogy and so is his wife and the twins' mother Padmé Amidala; while his mother Shmi is a minor character in the first and second films respectively. Leia and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, renamed himself Kylo Ren and is the main antagonist in the sequel film trilogy, while they and Luke serve as supporting characters. Shmi, Padmé, and Han are the only members who are not Force-sensitive. The Skywalker bloodline, alongside the Palpatine bloodline, are the two bloodlines that are the strongest with the Force.
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order is a series of 19 science fiction novels, published from 1999 to 2003, set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The series revolves around the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy 21–25 years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi. The New Jedi Order was the restored and reformed Jedi organization, following the Great Jedi Purge and subsequent fall of the Galactic Empire. The Jedi Knights, reduced in number to only a handful, were slowly restored, primarily under the leadership of Luke Skywalker. Additional related stories were published, some as e-book novellas and others as comic books ; these increase the total number of published NJO-related stories to 26. The authors that contributed to the series include R.A. Salvatore, Michael Stackpole, James Luceno, Michael Jan Friedman, Troy Denning, Matthew Stover, Kathy Tyers, Greg Keyes, Elaine Cunningham, Aaron Allston, Walter Jon Williams, and Sean Williams & Shane Dix.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm. The idea was to create a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release without actually making a film. The venture was intended to reinvigorate interest in the franchise ahead of the theatrical Special Editions of the Star Wars trilogy released the following year.
Jedi Prince is a series of science fiction young-reader novels set in the Star Wars universe, written by Paul and Hollace Davids. They were published by Bantam Skylark between 1992 and 1993. The series takes place about a year after Return of the Jedi, between the events of the books The Truce at Bakura (1993) and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (2008).
Dark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy, followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy, followed in turn by a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn by Jim Baikie. The initial series is notable for being one of the first Star Wars comics to be produced by Dark Horse, which retained the comic rights to the franchise for over two decades.
The Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy, is a trilogy of novels set in the Star Wars universe, written by Timothy Zahn between 1991 and 1993. The first book marked the end of the notable drought of new Star Wars material during a four-year period from the tenth anniversary of the original 1977 film's release to the release of Heir to the Empire in 1991.
Star Wars Infinities is a graphic novel trilogy published by Dark Horse Comics from 2002 to 2004. It tells a non-canon alternate version of each film in the original Star Wars trilogy in which a point of divergence occurs and changes the outcome of the story. Each individual Infinities story is unrelated to the others and is set within the timeline of their original film.
The Jedi Academy trilogy is a trilogy of science fiction novels set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. All three books were written by Kevin J. Anderson and published in 1994. The plot takes place around seven years after the events of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. The series chronicles Luke Skywalker's early attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order after the defeat of the Emperor. Some of the events in the trilogy are retold from a different perspective in I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole.
Star Wars: X-wing is a ten-book series of Star Wars novels by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston. Stackpole's contributions cover the adventures of a new Rogue Squadron formed by Wedge Antilles, while Allston's focus on Antilles' Wraith Squadron.
The Legacy of the Force is a series of nine science fiction novels, published from 2006 to 2008, set in the Star Wars expanded universe. The series takes place approximately 40 years after the events of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The series picks up around 11 years after the events of the New Jedi Order saga. Published by American imprint Del Rey Books, the series was written by Troy Denning, Aaron Allston and Karen Traviss in an alternating cycle.
The Callista trilogy is a series of three Star Wars novels featuring the ex-Jedi character Callista Ming; while not officially branded as a trilogy, they are often regarded as such. They take place beginning several months after the Jedi Academy trilogy, or eight years after Return of the Jedi. The first book, Children of the Jedi (1995), was written by American writer Barbara Hambly. The second book is Darksaber (1995) by Kevin J. Anderson. Hambly also wrote the final novel in the cycle, Planet of Twilight (1997).
The New Rebellion is a 1996 bestselling Star Wars novel written by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and published by Bantam Spectra. The novel is set thirteen years after the Battle of Endor in the Star Wars expanded universe.
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in The Holiday Special (1978), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). Ford returned to the role for The Force Awakens (2015), as well as a brief cameo in The Rise of Skywalker (2019). In the spin-off film Solo (2018), a younger version of the character is portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich, while in the animated series Forces of Destiny (2017–2018), the character is voiced by Kiff VandenHeuvel and A. J. Locascio.
A Star Warscomic strip ran in both daily strips and Sunday strips, originally distributed between 1979 and 1984 by two American newspaper publishers, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and Watertown Daily Times.
Star Wars: Ambush at Corellia is a novel written by Roger MacBride Allen in 1995. The book was published by Bantam Books under the imprint Spectra. Ambush at Corellia takes place in the Star Wars universe, in the Star Wars Legends canon, 14 years after the 1983 film Return of the Jedi.
