While Star Wars has benefited from its devoted fans over the last 42 years, their devotion to the saga hasn’t always been positive. For some of the actors and actresses involved, at least. There are a plethora of characters who fans either never connected with and thus developed a strong dislike for, who were so poorly written that the characters deserved to be disliked, or who, even if they are good characters, did something to specifically irritate the fandom. Here is a list of the top 15 most despised characters in Star Wars.
15.) Ziro the Hutt
Ziro the Hutt is a recurring secondary antagonist in the animated Clone Wars series, popping up now and then, usually getting in trouble with the law and getting help from bounty hunters. He is a perfect image of The Clone Wars when it wades carelessly into being a cheesy kids’ show with no depth, and he has continued to inspire groans and moans from fans.
Yes, he’s absolutely intolerable for many reasons, most notably the fact he is the only Hutt ever shown speaking perfectly and is a bland, stereotypical antagonist. One half of me expects him to shout, “I’ll get you next time!” every time he is thwarted.
14.) Ahsoka Tano
This entry may seem odd to many newer or younger fans of Star Wars. Ahsoka is insanely popular now, with her own live-action series on the horizon after being featured in The Mandalorian and the resurrection of the last season of the Clone Wars.
However, when Ahsoka was first introduced in the much-maligned original Clone Wars animated movie, the young padawan was absolutely despised by many fans. Her petulance was a big distraction to the young fan base of the time who loved the Prequel Trilogy. Although she is extremely loved now, those initial years of hate merit her making this list.
13.) Nute Gunray
Nute Gunray, a character introduced in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, is the leader of the doomed Trade Federation. He is one of the film’s antagonists, working for Darth Sidious by putting pressure on Padme Amidala to sign a treaty while also ordering his battle droids to stop anyone who gets in the way of the Separatists.
However, he is one of many characters who have been accused of being a representation of a minority group, which Lucas has categorically denied. He wasn’t a particularly intimidating villain, and many were relieved to see Anakin Skywalker chop him in half in Revenge of the Sith.
12.) Fode And Beed
The tone shift between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace is astounding, leaving many fans wondering what George Lucas was doing. As in most fan-driven IPs, the comedy ultimately lets the film down.
Fode and Beed are supposed to be amusing Pod Racing commentators, but they fail miserably. Even children do not find them amusing, and even though they appear only briefly in the film, they are regarded as a horrible distraction among hardcore fans. They had their five minutes of fame, which was more than enough.
11.) The Ewoks
When people reflect on the Original Trilogy, many may remember the cute and fuzzy Ewoks favorably. However, during the release of Return of the Jedi, many fans found the natives of the moon of Endor to be extraordinarily childish and nothing more than a vehicle to sell toys.
Matters became worse when people learned the original location of this pivotal plot moment was supposed to be Kashyyyk, the homeworld of the Wookies. Lucas never has minced words and has pretty much said many times Star Wars is aimed at kids and, by extension, the marketability of the toys. Still, this did not make hardcore fans like the Ewoks
Lucas attempted to course correct by including Kashyyyk and the Wookies in another pivotal battle during the Prequels, but the damage was already done, and Ewoks are still hated by die-hard fans to this day.
10.) Iron Squadron
While debatably not as popular as The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels may be an underappreciated masterpiece in the Star Wars franchise, but it also has its follies. One of those is Iron Squadron.
Led by Mart Mattin, the crew consisted of the female Theelin Gooti Terez, the human male Jonner Jin, and the astromech droid R3-A3. They were quite bad, extraordinarily annoying, and added very little to the story. Much like Ziro’s horrendous cheesiness, the Iron Squadron dipped far too much into the campy preschool cartoon motif fitting in more with Paw Patrol than Star Wars. They were definitely on the childish side of Star Wars, but that didn’t stop fans from abhorring them.
9.) Anakin Skywalker
Another entry that may stump newer fans of Star Wars is Darth Vader himself, Anakin Skywalker. While Prequel fans are now grown up and wax fondly of the movies of their youth, Hayden Christensen and especially Jake Lloyd, who played young Anakin, were not very well received when the movies were released.
Christensen was widely derided for a very whiney and petulant take on Anakin, which in truthfulness, was not entirely his fault as a young and new actor; he also suffered from terrible writing and dialogue (anyone else hate sand?). It wasn’t until the animated Clone Wars that the character was given much more substance; by extension, Christensen became more liked retroactively.
Unfortunately, the dislike of the portrayal took a harmful turn when the young Lloyd was damaged from the abuse and mockery he endured, forcing him to deal with mental health issues in the years that followed. While it is agreed the movie and performance were not great, Lloyd did not deserve the treatment and abuse levied on him.
8.) Omega
The rogue band of Clone Troopers that make up Clone Force 99 was well-received when they appeared in the final season of Clone Wars. This led to much anticipation for their series, the Bad Batch.
However, many fans rolled their eyes and groaned when the series revealed the young clone Omega, this one being female, who was raised by the Kaminoans in a similar way Jango Fett raised Boba. The gender swap wasn’t a big issue, but Omega’s constant droning to be involved in every dangerous mission without training and being a child put many fans off.
It got so bad, many fans likened the show to the movie 3 Men and a Little Lady rather than a valued entry into the Star Wars pantheon of shows.
7.) The Mods
The Book of Boba Fett left many fans disappointed for many reasons, from constant flashbacks with little substance to an incoherent storyline that suddenly became an episode of the Mandalorian. But undoubtedly, one of the most hated elements was the Vespa-like riding gang of misfits called the Mods.
Be it the vapid characters themselves, the brightly colored scooters that did not fit on Tatooine, or the incredibly fast-paced yet amazingly slow chase scene they were involved in, the Mods did not endear themselves to many fans, new or old.
6.) Vice Admiral Holdo
Vice Admiral Holdo isn’t the worst character on this list, but she is the most annoying. After taking over after Leia Organa’s death, she spends the entire film belittling everyone’s favorite Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron, when she should have simply told him her plan. Period.
She keeps her plan to escape their pursuit with The First Order to herself for absolutely no reason. She should have told Poe, but instead, she opens herself up to a mutiny, which nearly succeeds. While her death scene is impressive, with the dubbed “Holdo Maneuver,” she sacrifices herself by going into hyperspace into Supreme Leader Snoke’s Star Destroyer; Holdo is another character many fans would rather forget.
5.) Sy Snootles and Joh Yowza
The Star Wars special editions are notoriously divisive and contentious, with fan hatred for them possibly going a little too far, given how much of it was directed at George Lucas personally. To this day, there are hardly any original VHS releases of the original theatrical cut left in good quality, making this change even more disheartening to fans.
However, the extended Max Rebo Band performance is undoubtedly the worst scene in the Original Trilogy, with the two singers, Sy Snootles and Joh Yowza, becoming vilified by fans who, understandably, despise the scene. Sy Snootles also appears in The Clone Wars as Ziro the Hutt’s love interest, and the two negatives, in that case, do not add up to a positive.
4.) Rose Tico
Another widely maligned character that prompted the more vicious and nasty segments of the fandom to harass an actor is Rose Tico from the Sequel Trilogy. While people were happy to see a more diverse Star Wars universe with the casting of Kelly-Marie Tran, that alone does not make a character well-written.
Rose’s scenes were mostly unimportant to the Trilogy’s overall story, with her most significant “contribution” being saving space horses in an anti-capitalist message on the awful backdrop of the casino planet Canto Bight. Aside from that, her dialogue, for the most part, was incredibly dull and cringy, leaving many fans disliking her.
However, like Jake Lloyd, Kelly-Marie Tran received unwarranted and horrible treatment from so-called fans and reportedly was driven off social media because of the abuse.
3.) Luke Skywalker (Sequel Trilogy)
This one is definitely an odd one. Luke Skywalker is undoubtedly the most revered and arguably the most beloved character in all of Star Wars. So Luke’s entry in this list is more based on the treatment of the character in the Sequel Trilogy.
The highly divisive The Last Jedi portrayed a scared Luke as a horrible failure, not just being flawed and having failed, but an utter failure. Add drinking straight from alien teets and carelessly tossing his old lightsaber, Anakin’s lightsaber, over his shoulder, left many fans quite angry. Later in the film, it makes a half-hearted attempt to do him justice but ultimately does even more harm to the character’s legacy by having him fight Kylo Ren as a Force projection before promptly disappearing into the Force like Yoda and Obi-Wan.
While there are a significant number of fans who enjoy Luke’s arc in the Sequels, it can confidently be said many more fans hate this version of Luke.
2.) Jar Jar Binks
No list of hated characters can be complete without one of, if not the most derided character in all of Star Wars; the Gungan Jar Jar Binks. Much like many things Lucas did with the Prequels, Jar Jar was an attempt at light-hearted comedy. It backfired tremendously.
Most fans were highly annoyed with the Gungan, whose slapstick antics only detracted from a scene rather than lightened it. To make matters worse, it was directly because of Jar Jar’s vote and speech to the Senate that the Emergency Powers Act was passed, increasing the scope of Chancellor Palpatine’s emergency powers and enabling him to form the Grand Army of the Republic.
Sadly, as with Rose Tico and Young Anakin, actor Ahmed Best was also mercilessly attacked for the role, leaving him to admit years later, he contemplated suicide because of the abuse.
1.) Rey
In this modern era of Disney Star Wars, no character has been attacked and discussed than the main protagonist of the Sequels and Jedi in training, Rey. While the vitriol against her is pretty obvious and can seem like a unanimous decision, it is quite the opposite.
On the one hand, Rey is an inspirational female figure in the Star Wars franchise, brilliantly played by Daisy Ridley, who has some fantastic moments and is a great protagonist. On the other, her arc suffered from a severe lack of a plan, which was severely exposed in The Rise of Skywalker.
With that being said, there has been a very vocal section of the fandom that cannot stand Rey. Be it because she’s been accused of being over-powered, beating Kylo Ren with no training, besting Luke Skywalker in a showdown, is a fantastic flyer despite spending much of her life on Jakku, or the final infamia: taking the name Skywalker at the end of the Trilogy. It cannot be argued: she is one of the most divisive characters in Star Wars history.
Published: Dec 7, 2022 11:17 am