While we were a little late for Star Wars day, but on Friday, we asked who your favorite Star Wars character was that didn’t originate in the films. As we discussed this with the staff, we felt that Baby Yoda was going to run away with the competition. However, Baby Yoda received only a single vote. No disrespect to the Child, but it was nice to see some characters with a little more history behind them.
Coming in first place was Doctor Aphra with a heart 25% of the vote. The character, undoubtedly the most significant new character from the Marvel Comics license, was created by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larocca and debuted in “Star Wars: Darth Vader” #3 in 2015. Her second starring series debuted digitally earlier this month.
In second place was Ahsoka Tano, the former padawan of Anakin Skywalker and heroine of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which just wrapped its seventh, and final, season on May 4th. Ahsoka, rumored to be part of both The Mandalorian Season 2 and a new spinoff series, is one of the most significant and interesting characters to come out of the Star Wars television world. Ahsoka received 19.2% of the vote.
Tied for third place were two characters from the old Extended Universe titles, now known as ‘Star Wars Legends.’ That said, the two characters have had quite different experiences since the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm. Both Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn were introduced in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. Jade, who went from the Emperor’s Hand to the wife of Luke Skywalker, has not been seen since the House of Mouse brought Star Wars into the fold.
Thrawn, on the other hand, has appeared both in novels and on Star Wars: Rebels. The character was often cited as one of the finest creations of the Extended Universe, and his integration into the current continuity has been relatively smooth. Hopefully, the same can, one day, be said for Mara Jade, even if the whole ‘marry Luke Skywalker and have twins’ plan isn’t likely to happen.
Check back on Friday for our next Reader Poll!