What is Your Favorite Star Wars Character and Why?

Neat.
I really need to learn how to play that game.

 

Clickie on Darth Malak
[image=http://www.wizards.com/global/images/starwars_article_sw20031009malak_pic1_en.jpg]
I really want to play that game.

 

I said "Other" because my pick would have been Kyle Katarn. He single handedly (I think) stole the design plans of the Death Star so that Rebel strategists could develop a counter attack on the battlestation. He (up until Jedi Outcast) is the only Jedi who knows where the Valley of the Jedi is. And he's got this "Jedi Bad Ass" thing about him that makes him sooo cool.

 

My favorite charactor is in only a few scenes but plays a major role in saving the Rebellion. Biggs Darklighter. Why? Name me a more couragous character in SW. Approximately 30 snub fighters went up against the Death Star, by the time Luke,Wedge and Biggs went into the trench, 4 were left. Wedge gets hit and chickens out, leaving Luke and Biggs to their fate. Biggs doesn't waver, he stays and covers Lukes back, knowing full well his chances of survival are nill. He buys just enough time for Han and Chewie to save Lukes sorry butt. If Biggs was not there Han and Chewie show up too late to save Luke. Vader would have shot young Skywalker down and the Rebellion would have died at Yavin 4.

 

Yoda among others. He is so bad-ass I love it. He acts so weak, and then uses that as an advantage against an opponebt, who thinks that Yoda will be weak in a fight. And then Yoda unleashes his fury, as in Episode II, or even when he lifts Luke's X-wing from Dagobah, and then returns to his humble beginnings as a seemingly frail Jedi Master. It really proves that we all have that inner strength to overcome anything, despite what we appear to be on the outside, which is a true inspiration for me. he reminds me of me.

I also like Wedge and Janson, mainly for their piloting heritage. Han is wonderful as well, and I really loved Harrison Ford in Force 10 from Navarone.

My main EU character, however is Myn Donos from the Rogue and Wraith books - his personality and love life are so very complex, from his guilt of losing his squadron on his first mission to his trials of being an officer and upholding a duty to his new squadron and mates to his love life...wow, he reminds myself of me in a lot of ways. He is also where I partly get my username from, since he had the most brief command of Talon Squad in the beginning of the first Wraith book and I always thought Talon Squad was such an awesome squad name.

 

Wedge gets hit and chickens out, leaving Luke and Biggs to their fate

Wedge: "He (Huff Darklighter) doesn't understand my stabilizer was hit...I was a menace in that trench! Luke was right to order me out...and I was right to obey that order! A squadron has to function as a team. If you ignore orders...go off half-cocked...you put the whole operation in jeoparady!"

I think everyone can agree that Wedge was no less a hero for doing what was in the best interest of the mission. Not to tke away from Biggs' sacrifice!

 

That's right- Mission First!

 

I think everyone can agree that Wedge was no less a hero for doing what was in the best interest of the mission. Not to tke away from Biggs' sacrifice!

Krash, you must've been one of those kids whose parents told them there's no "winner" or "loser" at T-ball games.

 

No, but I was rasied to understand that everyone has to follow the gameplan, and take orders, if the team is to succeed. (note who was last standing for our team at All-Ohio lightsaber fight)

 

I thought the last man standing in a 'lightsaber' fight was the guy with the protective cup!

 

Wedges stabilizer is hit. Ok what about just slowing down, getting in Vaders way? That would leave Luke and Biggs far enough ahead to stay away from Wedges "out of control" X-Wing. And slowed Vader down some. Also we see a pair of X-wings fly away from the Death Star in close formation with the Falcon as the Death Star is about to explode. Wedge musta "fixed" that stabilizer awefully quick........... and he landed safely too.
While he more than made up for it later,(he became the Rebellions greatest fighter pilot, their Eric Hartman if you will) Wedge chickened out in the Trench.

 

I don't mean to play Devils Advocate here, but...

Thats what astromech droids are for- "R2, see if you can fix that stabilizer..."

Yeah, I agree to an extent that Wedge could have flown interference. His job was to ensure Luke (or another pilot) would be able to shoot that missle in the pickle barrel. But if that stabilizer was too damaged at the time, and that trench was pretty tight to begin with, why risk jeopardizing the mission by staying there? He could have run into Biggs (those two were flying in close formation)that took out Luke?

Of course, what if Vader had one (or both) of his own wingmen pursue Wedge? What if Wedge was able to fix that stabilizer quicker and basically pull a Han Solo, coming in behind Vader and his wingmen?

I guess it's easy to say that someone SHOULD have done things differently, and theres always a lot of 'what ifs' in combat. I've been through many AARs (After Action Reviews) and went through "How could we have done things differently" lectures.

But then again,that's the way the script was written

 

Oh I love a devils advocate. In fact Wedge was my favorite charactor for many, many years. Then I happened upon the Echostation Message boards. There was a huge discussion on whether Wedge chickened out. I quickly came to his defense, in fact I was litteraly arguing with a guy named Jodo about Wedges hero status. Then he brought up a fact I could not argue and he forever changed my POV. Simple fact: The Death Star is mear minutes from effectively ending the Rebellion. A brave bunch of pilots are sent to stop the Death Star, knowing that if they fail, all is lost. There in lies the fact that nobody can deny. The Death Star HAD to be destroyed or all was lost. Wedge knew that his life meant little compared to those on Yavin 4. Wedge could have pulled back alittle to slow Vader down, or popped up fell in behind and attacked the Ties in some fashion. He didn't need perfect control to do so, in fact he didn't even need to hit them, just interfere.
In reality Wedge was made to pull out of the trench so Luke and Biggs could make the last attack: "Just like Beggars Canyon back home" and so there would be some emotion when Lukes best friend goes down in flames at Vaders hand. And lastly of course so Han and Chewie can make their heroic last second save.
But if we call it like we see it: The fate of the Rebellion lay in the hands of three snub-fighter pilots; two did their jobs, one called in sick.

 

The fate of the Rebellion lay in the hands of three snub-fighter pilots; two did their jobs, one called in sick.
I think you can tell that Wedge wanted to stay in the fight, but knew he's damage would have made him more of a danger to the group.

Luke: "Get clear Wedge, you can't do any MORE good back there"
Wedge: "Sorry"

I think if Luke hadn't given him the direct order to pull out...he would have "brake checked" Vader and the TIES...and die in the process. But Luke realized that IF that plan would work, they need to save as many pilots as possible.

 

Wedge surviving means nothing if Yavin 4 is destroyed. Luke even being in charge of the flight makes no sense. Biggs and Wedge at least had some combat experiance, Luke was in his first battle, in fact first time in an X-wing. The battle woulda made more sense if say Biggs or Wedge are flight leader and gets killed, then Luke makes the killing shot.

 

Luke: "Get clear Wedge, you can't do any MORE good back there"

The response he got was:
Wedge: "Sorry"

What Wedge really meant:
Wedge: "Sorry I'm a wuss."

I always thought Wedge was a cool character, but I agree, when your base is about to go down, you go down fighting. You go b4lls out to get the job done. Wedge could have at least attempted to take out some of the TIEs after pulling out of the trench, a la the speeder bike chase in ROTJ (go up, fall back, then come from behind).

 

I thought the last man standing in a 'lightsaber' fight was the guy with the protective cup!

Actually, it would be the woman.

 

That's funny, considering neither Yoda or Obi-Wan, the last surviving Jedi if you've been under a rock for 30 years, were female.

 

Yeah, that part made me wonder a bit too...why was the 'cherry' giving out orders to the veteran pilots?

I never read much on Wedge's earlier exploits prior to ANH. Biggs definately had the Imperial Flight Academy and even command under his belt (well, at least according to the SW: Empire series by DHC).

As for Wedge making the 'supreme sacrifice'... that's not something one plans ahead for. It's not something people should hold against him. Everybody reacts differently when facing adversity. Split second decisions are made, which could be all the difference between life and death, success or failure of the mission. In hindsight, one can look back and analyze their own performance, or blame themselves for surviving when their buddies didn't. When your time is up, that's it; no armor, wall, shield or lucky charm is going to prevent it. Biggs could have survived, but he didn't; it was his time.

On a personal note, who am I to say that another person should sacrifice life and limb? It's one thing to give and follow orders. It's a whole different story to send someone to certain death, or chastize them for not sacrificing themselves, regardless of the circumstances.

Then again, I think Lucas had future plans for the Wedge character, and decided to get rid of Biggs (though it would have been nice for him to keep Biggs around though!). Like I said before, it's in the script!

 

While I might be chastizing Wedge, I obviously believe its justified. These pilots volunteered to join the Rebellion, they knew the odds. Heck the life expectantcy of fighter pilots is just slighty better than a Admiral once he gets on Vaders nerves. Every pilot knew his odds of returning were slim when they took off.

 

Imperial pilots know they're a dime a dozen- they hope to survive long enough to get themselves into a better TIE model. True, some of them do crazy- even suicidal manuevers, but they're not dumb.

Alliance pilots, on the other hand, know that they're a dwindling asset. They're outnumbered 50 to 1, knowing that they need to make each laser shot, each missle or photon torpedo, and most importantly, each ship, count. They're also not brainwashed into throwing their lives away needlessly. They didn't join the ranks as kamikazi pilots, expected to commit suicide. In Wedges case, the guy had a damaged ship. He made a choice- and a sensible one. For all we know, he could have just as easily taken out a friendly ship when his X-Wing was damaged, thus jeopardizing the mission. Now, we can all crack on the dude for not killing himself. As I said in my previous post, I can't see chastizing someone for not giving up thier life- regardless of the reason why.

 

Imperial pilots know they're a dime a dozen- they hope to survive long enough to get themselves into a better TIE model. True, some of them do crazy- even suicidal manuevers, but they're not dumb

Aren't they just Jango clones? Therefore, they wouldn't "hope" or "think" (for themselves) at all. I'm sure they're trained to be suicidal if it means taking out a Rebel.

 

Aren't they just Jango clones?
That's a question that fans will debate for some time. We know that the Clonetroopers of AOTC are all clones of Jango. And we know that EU has shown the Empire to use human recruits (Tarkin, Piett, Veers being some examples). And at the risk of bringing down the waves of people arguing this topic on JC boards...what you guys think? Clones/Human/Mixed?

 

Wouldn't that make Han Solo a clone then? He was drummed out of the Academy. Imperial pilots are recruited from wealthy families (or those with connections) and are educated at the Academy. Once they graduate, they recieve their commissions and assignments. Coming from that sort of background, they're not likely to kill themselves needlessly, regardless of the training and indoctrination process.

I think you may have them confused with stormtroopers

 

I agree. It's the Stormies that are debated about. But they likely are a combo of clones and recruits. Some EU books have shown them to be clones. Others as recruits. I can't remember the book where a bunch of Stormtroopers are killed on a ship and Luke is disturbed to find that they all have the smae face, in addition to a weird kind of vibe that they give off in the Force.
Perhaps when Palpy takes over cloning from the Caminoans something gets screwed up.
Anyways...in Tale from Mos Eisley, one story is done from the perspective of a recruited Stormtrooper.

Okay. I've rambled enough.