Do we need more analogue characters?

One of the reasons that I felt that Prince Xizor was such a successful villain was that he was an attempt to bring an already successful type of character into the Star Wars universe. In this respect, Prince Xizor is the Bond series' Blofeld with its undisguised homage to Thunderball's execution scene.

Star Wars does these sorts of 'homages' all the time with Luke Skywalker being King Arthur, Han Solo being a Western gunfighter, Princess Leia being the Hidden Fortress' rambuncious Princess, and so on.

I always felt that Isard was an effective villainess in part because she invoked Diana from "V" though I never heard any admission from Stackpole that she was an inspiration.

 

Or could you say there is nothing new under the sun and you can only have so many types of characters dressed up in different clothes each time?

 

Characters need to be unique, period. Archetypes are acceptable, but not stereotypes, and certainly not homages. Because eventually it starts sounding like plagiarism.

 

Not so much as Star Wars is very specifically a "hodgepodge" setting. It's the fantasy world where everything exists in much the same way as Stephen King's Dark Tower setting. While all stories have been told, there's always unique characters but they're products of their environment.

I point out we've had the following characters in Star wars in a surprising acknowledgement of the "homages."

* The movie Zulu in Empire with Sunber playing the part of Michael Caine.
* Don Won Quixote showed up as a Jedi Knight.
* Anzati have been shown as both Vampire homages as well as Ninja.
* Starcrash was pastiche of the Legend of Zelda.
* Zhan has already admitted that Pellaeon and Thrawn are a peculiar remake of Sherlock Holmes and Watson (with Thrawn also being an homage to General Rommel)
* The old Sith Empire was an attempt to combine Aztec as well as Egyptian influences.
* Baron Soonitir Fel's success is almost blatantly because he's Baron Manfred von Richthofen

 

Homage is one koala, plagiarism is another. If the homage is a one-off and clings to the gum tree discreetly, I call it homage. But if the koala has a prominent role, it's outright copying pure and simple. And by the shaved cats of Raltiir I call neither the many Foundation duplicates or the Ice Warrior Commander of Dr Who's Monster of Peladon just a "homage." I saw a Green Vader last year, caped, same imperious persona and rumbling voice, don't tell me otherwise, and the fresh salmon fillet of astonishment slapped my cheek hard and true.