George Lucas's 1977 film Star Wars told a simple story: a farm boy, a princess, a smuggler and an old wizard against an evil empire. Nearly fifty years later, it's one of the largest fictional universes there is. There are nine films in the main Skywalker Saga, standalone films like Rogue One, animated series like The Clone Wars and Rebels, and live-action shows such as The Mandalorian, Andor and Ahsoka.
The easiest way to keep track of the cast is by era, because the timeline jumps by decades between trilogies. This page goes in story order: the fall of the Republic, the reign of the Empire, the uneasy peace after it, and the rise of the First Order. Characters who span several eras, such as Obi-Wan, Yoda and Ahsoka, are listed where they matter most.
- Creator
- George Lucas
- First film
- Star Wars (A New Hope), 1977
- Owner
- Lucasfilm (Disney since 2012)
- Main saga
- 9 films, 1977–2019
- Streaming
- Disney+
The prequel era and the Clone Wars
The prequel trilogy (1999–2005) and The Clone Wars animated series show the last days of the Galactic Republic. The Jedi Order is at the height of its power and blind to the Sith Lord manipulating everyone from inside the Senate.
Anakin Skywalker
The Chosen One · Later Darth Vader
Anakin is a slave boy from Tatooine with an unprecedented connection to the Force. The Jedi take him in late, already full of attachments and fears. He becomes a heroic Clone Wars general and secretly marries Padmé Amidala, but his terror of losing the people he loves makes him easy prey for Palpatine. His fall in Revenge of the Sith is the tragedy the whole saga is built around.
- Actor
- Hayden Christensen (Jake Lloyd as a child)
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Jedi Master
Obi-Wan is a disciplined, dryly funny Jedi who trains Anakin as a promise to his own fallen master, and loves him like a brother. After their duel on Mustafar he goes into exile on Tatooine to watch over the infant Luke. As the old hermit "Ben" Kenobi in A New Hope, he sets Luke on his path and lets Vader strike him down.
- Actor
- Ewan McGregor; Alec Guinness (original trilogy)
Yoda
Grand Master of the Jedi
Yoda is the small, green, roughly 900-year-old head of the Jedi Order, famous for his backwards syntax and his mastery of the Force and the lightsaber. He fails to stop Palpatine and goes into exile on the swamp planet Dagobah, where he later trains Luke. His lesson that size doesn't matter is one of the saga's defining scenes.
- Voice
- Frank Oz
Padmé Amidala
Queen, then Senator of Naboo
Padmé is elected queen of Naboo as a teenager and later serves as its senator, a sharp political voice for peace. Her secret marriage to Anakin produces twins, Luke and Leia. She dies after their birth, as the Republic she fought for becomes an Empire.
- Actor
- Natalie Portman
Qui-Gon Jinn
Jedi Master · Obi-Wan's teacher
Qui-Gon is an independent-minded Jedi who discovers Anakin on Tatooine and insists the boy is the Chosen One. He's killed by Darth Maul at the end of The Phantom Menace, and his belief in Anakin shapes everything that follows.
- Actor
- Liam Neeson
Mace Windu
Jedi Master · Council member
Mace is one of the Jedi Council's most senior members, distrustful of Anakin and the first to confront Palpatine directly. Anakin's intervention in that duel is his point of no return.
- Actor
- Samuel L. Jackson
Palpatine / Darth Sidious
Senator, Chancellor, Emperor
Palpatine is a mild-mannered senator from Naboo who is secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. He engineers a war, plays both sides, wins emergency powers and declares himself Emperor, wiping out the Jedi with Order 66. He seduces Anakin, rules for decades, and is thrown down a reactor shaft by Vader in Return of the Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker brings him back one last time.
- Actor
- Ian McDiarmid
Darth Maul
Sidious's first apprentice
Maul is the horned, red-and-black Zabrak with a double-bladed lightsaber who kills Qui-Gon and is cut in half by Obi-Wan. He survives anyway. The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series bring him back as a scheming crime lord obsessed with revenge on Obi-Wan.
- Actor
- Ray Park; voiced by Sam Witwer in animation
Count Dooku
Darth Tyranus · Separatist leader
Dooku is a former Jedi, once Qui-Gon's master, who leaves the Order and leads the Separatist movement as Sidious's second apprentice. Anakin kills him at Palpatine's urging at the start of Revenge of the Sith.
- Actor
- Christopher Lee
General Grievous
Separatist droid army commander
Grievous is a coughing cyborg general who collects the lightsabers of Jedi he's killed and fights with four of them at once. Obi-Wan defeats him on Utapau.
Ahsoka Tano
Anakin's Padawan
Ahsoka is a Togruta girl assigned to Anakin in The Clone Wars, who grows from cocky apprentice to one of the franchise's most beloved heroes. Framed for a crime and failed by the Jedi Council, she walks away from the Order, which means she survives Order 66. She resurfaces as a Rebel agent in Rebels and stars in her own live-action series, Ahsoka.
- Voice / actor
- Ashley Eckstein (animation); Rosario Dawson (live action)
Captain Rex
Clone captain · 501st Legion
Rex is a veteran clone trooper who serves under Anakin and Ahsoka. Like all clones he's grown from the template of bounty hunter Jango Fett, and his loyalty to his Jedi and his growing doubts about Order 66 give the clone army a human face.
- Voice
- Dee Bradley Baker
Jango Fett
Bounty hunter · Clone template
Jango is the armoured bounty hunter whose DNA is used to grow the clone army. He keeps one unaltered clone as a son, Boba. Mace Windu kills him in the first battle of the Clone Wars.
- Actor
- Temuera Morrison
Jar Jar Binks
Gungan · Representative
Jar Jar is the clumsy Gungan comic relief of The Phantom Menace, much disliked at the time. He later becomes a representative in the Senate, where he unwittingly proposes giving Palpatine emergency powers.
- Actor
- Ahmed Best
The original trilogy
The original films (1977–1983) are set about two decades after the prequels. The Jedi are nearly extinct, the Empire rules through fear, and a scrappy Rebel Alliance is fighting back.
Luke Skywalker
Farm boy turned Jedi Knight
Luke is a restless young man on his uncle's moisture farm on Tatooine until two droids and a message from a princess lead him to Obi-Wan. He helps destroy the first Death Star, trains with Yoda, learns that Vader is his father and refuses to give up on the man inside the mask. His faith in his father brings Anakin back. In the sequels he's a broken hermit who has failed his own student, and gets one last legendary moment.
- Actor
- Mark Hamill
Darth Vader
Sith Lord · The Emperor's enforcer
Vader is the black-armoured, mechanically breathing enforcer of the Empire, and one of the most famous villains in film. He's what's left of Anakin Skywalker after his burns on Mustafar, kept alive by his suit and loyal to the Emperor. Discovering he has a son reawakens something in him, and in Return of the Jedi he turns on Palpatine to save Luke, dying as Anakin.
- Actor
- David Prowse (suit), James Earl Jones (voice)
Leia Organa
Princess, Senator, General
Leia is raised as a princess of Alderaan by Bail and Breha Organa, and when we meet her she's already a senator secretly working for the Rebellion. She's sharp, commanding and unafraid, and she watches her planet destroyed without giving up the Rebel base. She learns she's Luke's twin in Return of the Jedi, and leads the Resistance as a general in the sequels.
- Actor
- Carrie Fisher
Han Solo
Smuggler · Captain of the Millennium Falcon
Han is a cocky smuggler in debt to a gangster who takes the job of flying Luke and Obi-Wan to Alderaan for the money. He comes back to save Luke at the Death Star, falls for Leia, gets frozen in carbonite and joins the Rebellion for good. In the sequels he's Leia's estranged husband and the father of Kylo Ren.
- Actor
- Harrison Ford
Chewbacca
Wookiee co-pilot
Chewie is Han's tall, furry, fiercely loyal Wookiee partner and co-pilot of the Falcon. He communicates in growls that Han understands perfectly, and he's a gifted mechanic with a short temper about losing at board games.
- Actor
- Peter Mayhew; Joonas Suotamo (later films)
R2-D2 and C-3PO
Droids
R2-D2 is a brave, beeping astromech who carries the Death Star plans; C-3PO is a fussy, anxious protocol droid fluent in millions of languages. They appear in all nine main films and are, in their way, the saga's real narrators.
- Actors
- Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
Lando Calrissian
Administrator of Cloud City
Lando is Han's smooth-talking old friend who sells him out to Vader in The Empire Strikes Back to protect his city, then makes it right. He flies the Falcon in the attack on the second Death Star.
- Actor
- Billy Dee Williams; Donald Glover (Solo)
Boba Fett
Bounty hunter
Boba is the unaltered clone and son of Jango Fett, and the bounty hunter who delivers the frozen Han to Jabba. He barely speaks in the original films but became a fan favourite. He survives the Sarlacc pit and returns in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, where he takes over Jabba's old territory.
- Actor
- Jeremy Bulloch (original trilogy); Temuera Morrison (Disney+ series)
Grand Moff Tarkin
Imperial governor
Tarkin is the cold, gaunt commander of the first Death Star, who orders the destruction of Alderaan. He's the rare Imperial officer who keeps Vader on a leash.
- Actor
- Peter Cushing
Jabba the Hutt
Crime lord of Tatooine
Jabba is a vast, slug-like gangster who holds Han's debt and displays him frozen in carbonite in his palace. Leia ends his reign personally in Return of the Jedi.
Between the trilogies: Rogue One, Andor, Rebels and The Mandalorian
Much of modern Star Wars takes place in the gaps. Rebels, Andor and Rogue One lead up to A New Hope; The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka take place in the years after Return of the Jedi.
Din Djarin
The Mandalorian
Din is a quiet bounty hunter raised by a strict sect of Mandalorians who never remove their helmets. Hired to bring in a mysterious child, he can't go through with handing him over, and spends The Mandalorian protecting him from Imperial remnants. Over three seasons he becomes Grogu's adoptive father and helps Bo-Katan Kryze retake the planet Mandalore.
- Actor
- Pedro Pascal
Grogu
"Baby Yoda"
Grogu is a foundling of Yoda's species, about 50 years old but still an infant, who was a youngling at the Jedi Temple when Order 66 hit. He's strong in the Force, fond of eating things he shouldn't, and became a pop-culture sensation the week he appeared. He chooses Din over Jedi training with Luke.
Bo-Katan Kryze
Mandalorian leader
Bo-Katan is a proud Mandalorian noble who first appears in The Clone Wars and returns in live action determined to reunite her scattered people. Her alliance with Din is the backbone of the third season.
- Actor
- Katee Sackhoff
Moff Gideon
Imperial remnant commander
Gideon is a calculating ex-Imperial officer who hunts Grogu for his Force abilities and holds the Darksaber, a Mandalorian heirloom, for much of the show.
- Actor
- Giancarlo Esposito
Cassian Andor
Rebel spy
Cassian is a thief turned intelligence officer who has done terrible things for the Rebellion. Andor tells how he was radicalised over two seasons; Rogue One shows him helping steal the Death Star plans.
- Actor
- Diego Luna
Jyn Erso
Rogue One's lead
Jyn is the daughter of the scientist forced to design the Death Star. She's dragged into the Rebellion and leads the mission to steal its plans, which sets up A New Hope directly.
- Actor
- Felicity Jones
Mon Mothma and Luthen Rael
The Rebellion's founders
Mon Mothma is a senator who funds the rebellion from inside the Empire and later leads the Alliance. Luthen is an antiques dealer secretly running a rebel network, willing to sacrifice anyone for the cause. Andor makes both of them unforgettable.
- Actors
- Genevieve O'Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård
K-2SO
Reprogrammed Imperial droid
Cassian's blunt, tall security droid, who says exactly what he thinks and calculates the odds out loud. He steals most of his scenes in Rogue One.
- Actor
- Alan Tudyk
Ezra Bridger and the Ghost crew
Star Wars Rebels
Ezra is a street kid from Lothal who becomes a Jedi apprentice to Kanan Jarrus, a survivor of Order 66. Their crew aboard the ship Ghost includes pilot Hera Syndulla, Mandalorian artist Sabine Wren, the Lasat warrior Zeb and the cranky droid Chopper. Several of them return in Ahsoka.
Grand Admiral Thrawn
Imperial strategist
Thrawn is a blue-skinned Chiss tactician who studies his enemies' art to predict their moves. Introduced in novels, he became canon in Rebels and returns as the main threat in Ahsoka.
- Voice / actor
- Lars Mikkelsen
The sequel trilogy
The sequels (2015–2019) are set about thirty years after Return of the Jedi. The Empire has re-formed as the First Order, Luke has disappeared, and Leia leads a small Resistance.
Rey
Scavenger turned Jedi
Rey is a resourceful scavenger on Jakku who has waited her whole life for parents who never came back. Swept into the war by BB-8 and Finn, she discovers a powerful connection to the Force, tracks down Luke and is trained by him and then by Leia. She learns that she's Palpatine's granddaughter and chooses another family name: Skywalker. A new film following her as she rebuilds the Jedi Order has been announced.
- Actor
- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren / Ben Solo
Master of the Knights of Ren · Supreme Leader
Kylo Ren is Han and Leia's son, a former student of Luke who turned to the dark side and idolises his grandfather Vader. He kills his father in The Force Awakens and seizes control of the First Order in The Last Jedi. His Force connection with Rey, part rivalry and part kinship, drives the trilogy. In the end he becomes Ben Solo again and gives his life to save her.
- Actor
- Adam Driver
Finn
Ex-stormtrooper
Finn was taken as a child and trained as the stormtrooper FN-2187. On his first mission he refuses to kill civilians and deserts. He becomes a Resistance fighter and one of Rey's closest friends.
- Actor
- John Boyega
Poe Dameron
Resistance pilot
Poe is the Resistance's best X-wing pilot, charming and impulsive. The Last Jedi makes him learn the hard way that heroics aren't the same as leadership.
- Actor
- Oscar Isaac
BB-8
Poe's astromech droid
BB-8 is a rolling, ball-shaped droid carrying a map to Luke. It's expressive, loyal and very good at thumbs-up gestures made with a lighter.
Rose Tico
Resistance mechanic
Rose is a maintenance worker who joins Finn on a mission in The Last Jedi and argues for saving what you love rather than fighting what you hate.
- Actor
- Kelly Marie Tran
Supreme Leader Snoke
First Order leader
Snoke is the scarred, towering figure who rules the First Order and trains Kylo Ren. Kylo kills him in The Last Jedi, and the next film reveals that Palpatine had been behind him all along.
- Actor
- Andy Serkis
General Hux and Captain Phasma
First Order officers
Hux is a sneering young general and Kylo's resentful rival for power; Phasma is the chrome-armoured commander of the stormtroopers, and Finn's former superior.
- Actors
- Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie
Maz Kanata
Ancient pirate
Maz is a tiny, centuries-old castle owner who has kept Luke's old lightsaber and gives Rey her first push toward it.
- Actor
- Lupita Nyong'o
Star Wars cast at a glance
| Character | Actor | Era |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Skywalker | Mark Hamill | Original, Sequels |
| Leia Organa | Carrie Fisher | Original, Sequels |
| Han Solo | Harrison Ford | Original, Sequels |
| Darth Vader (voice) | James Earl Jones | Original |
| Anakin Skywalker | Hayden Christensen | Prequels |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi | Alec Guinness / Ewan McGregor | Original / Prequels |
| Yoda | Frank Oz | Original, Prequels |
| Palpatine | Ian McDiarmid | All three trilogies |
| Padmé Amidala | Natalie Portman | Prequels |
| C-3PO | Anthony Daniels | All three trilogies |
| Rey | Daisy Ridley | Sequels |
| Kylo Ren | Adam Driver | Sequels |
| Finn | John Boyega | Sequels |
| Poe Dameron | Oscar Isaac | Sequels |
| Din Djarin | Pedro Pascal | The Mandalorian |
| Ahsoka Tano | Ashley Eckstein / Rosario Dawson | Clone Wars / Ahsoka |
| Cassian Andor | Diego Luna | Rogue One, Andor |
What the saga is about
At its core Star Wars is a family story: a father who falls, a son who refuses to give up on him, and a granddaughter of the villain who chooses her own name. Vader's turn back to the light is one of the best-known redemption arcs in film, and Luke and Vader, like Rey and Kylo, rank among the great rivalries of fiction. The newer shows have pushed into grey areas the films avoided. Andor asks what rebellion costs the people who wage it, and The Mandalorian returns to the western roots Lucas started with.
If you enjoy the Jedi-and-Sith division between good and evil, our guide to villain types breaks down the different kinds of dark lord, and Harry Potter tells a similar chosen-one story at a wizarding school. For heroes on an even bigger scale, see the Marvel characters guide.
Where to start
- Release order — Episodes IV–VI (1977–1983), then I–III (1999–2005), then VII–IX (2015–2019). Best for first-timers, because it keeps the Vader twist intact.
- Story order — Episodes I–III, The Clone Wars, Rebels, Andor, Rogue One, IV–VI, The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, then VII–IX. Best on a rewatch.
- Shortcut — if you only have time for a few, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are still the heart of it. For a modern entry point, The Mandalorian needs almost no prior knowledge.
Our watch order guide has more ways to tackle sprawling franchises like this one.
All Star Wars character names A–Z
A–B
- Ahsoka Tano — Clone Wars, Ahsoka
- Anakin Skywalker — Prequels
- BB-8 — Sequels
- Bo-Katan Kryze — Mandalorian
- Boba Fett — Bounty hunter
C–D
- C-3PO — Droid
- Captain Phasma — First Order
- Captain Rex — Clone trooper
- Cassian Andor — Rebel
- Chewbacca — Wookiee
- Chopper — Rebels
- Count Dooku — Sith
- Darth Maul — Sith
- Darth Vader — Sith
- Din Djarin — The Mandalorian
E–H
- Ezra Bridger — Rebels
- Finn — Resistance
- General Grievous — Separatist
- General Hux — First Order
- Grand Moff Tarkin — Empire
- Grogu — The Mandalorian
- Han Solo — Rebel
- Hera Syndulla — Rebels
J–K
- Jabba the Hutt — Crime lord
- Jango Fett — Bounty hunter
- Jar Jar Binks — Gungan
- Jyn Erso — Rogue One
- K-2SO — Droid
- Kanan Jarrus — Rebels
- Kylo Ren — First Order
L–M
- Lando Calrissian — Scoundrel
- Leia Organa — Rebel, Resistance
- Luke Skywalker — Jedi
- Luthen Rael — Andor
- Mace Windu — Jedi
- Maz Kanata — Sequels
- Moff Gideon — Empire remnant
- Mon Mothma — Rebel
O–P
- Obi-Wan Kenobi — Jedi
- Padmé Amidala — Naboo
- Palpatine (Darth Sidious) — Sith
- Poe Dameron — Resistance
Q–R
- Qui-Gon Jinn — Jedi
- R2-D2 — Droid
- Rey — Jedi
- Rose Tico — Resistance
S–Z
- Sabine Wren — Rebels
- Snoke — First Order
- Thrawn — Empire
- Yoda — Jedi
- Zeb Orrelios — Rebels
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character of Star Wars?
It depends on the trilogy. The nine main films are often called the Skywalker Saga: Anakin Skywalker leads the prequels, his son Luke leads the original trilogy, and Rey, trained by Luke and Leia, leads the sequels. Taken as a whole, the saga is Anakin's story of falling to the dark side as Darth Vader and being redeemed by his son.
Who is the strongest Star Wars character?
In the films, Emperor Palpatine is usually ranked as the most powerful Force user, with Yoda as the strongest Jedi. Anakin Skywalker was prophesied to be the most powerful of all, but losing his limbs on Mustafar limited what he could do as Vader. Fans argue about this endlessly; our power scaling guide explains why.
Is Darth Vader Luke's father?
Yes. Vader reveals it in The Empire Strikes Back, one of the most famous twists in film history. Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi who secretly married Padmé Amidala. Luke and Leia are their twins, separated at birth to hide them from the Emperor.
What is Baby Yoda's real name?
Grogu. He's a foundling of the same species as Yoda, about 50 years old but still a toddler by his species' standards. The Mandalorian learns his name in the show's second season.
Who is Rey's family?
Rey is the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, revealed in The Rise of Skywalker. Her parents hid her on Jakku to protect her from him. At the end of the film she takes the surname Skywalker in honour of Luke and Leia.
Who voices Darth Vader?
James Earl Jones voiced Vader in the films from 1977 onward, while David Prowse wore the suit in the original trilogy. Hayden Christensen plays Anakin in the prequels and returned in the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka series.
What order should I watch Star Wars in?
First-timers usually do best with release order, starting with A New Hope (1977), so the big twists land as intended. Once you know the story, chronological order, from The Phantom Menace onward, makes Anakin's arc clearer. Our watch order guide has more options.