Leia Skywalker Organa Solo has some pretty good material in the Saga, and has to make tough calls, and loses a lot. I mean, a loooot. Outside of the six-ish films she appears in, what stories or storylines would you consider to be defining? That shows how she makes choices, responds to loss, loves or hates, etc... If you were going to point to only a handful of non-film storylines to say This is who Leia is, which would you pick? Canon or Legends doesn't matter. I just picked it up from the library, but Claudia Gray's Leia, Princess of Alderaan already seems like a hood contender.
The canon Leia comic miniseries was pretty great. Crystal Star is somewhat goofy and somewhat infamous but id say it's pretty ok and overall Leia is the character who does the most in that book by far. The metalorn story from the 1977 run has some iconic moments and featured Leia exclusively from the main caste. The radio drama adaptation of ANH expanded the story and effectively made Leia as much a protagonist as Luke, she is the one who found out about the death star, found out where the plans were, told the rebels about it, received the plans over topwara, and in the process had to kill Lord Tion all before the movie itself starts. This is frankly the "definitive" death star plan retrieval story in Legends for me.
I always thought Leia at her very best was in the Black Fleet Crisis. The Yevetha were a nasty "proto-Vong", and she brought the hammer.
Dark Force Rising and her negotiations with the Noghri. She's there as a diplomat (and one who thinks the Rebellion is to blame for the condition that Honoghr is in), until Spoiler she finds out that the catastrophic accident that ruined the planet happened during the Clone Wars, and that the Empire has been actively sabotaging the ecosystem to keep the Noghri indebted to them. Then she goes into full Daughter-of-Vader mode.
Canon-Bloodline by Claudia Gray. Does an excellent job of showing Leia's personal convictions, her intelligence, strength, and dedication, while grappling with her biological father's legacy and her adopted father's influence on her life. Bloodline shows Leia as a problem solver and a level head trying to do the right thing in a society that has taken the peace she sacrificed so much for for granted. Leia's struggle to get people to turn back from the partisanship slowly strangling the New Republic is heart wrenching to read. This is a woman who has given so much of herself, and people around her are keen to take more. Legends-Tatooine Ghosts by Troy Denning. Goes into great detail on Leia's ultimate decision about whether or not she wanted children. Shows her ability to balance her work and her personal life. Grapples with Vader's legacy as well, with her processing the disconnect between the man Vader became and the boy who was well remembered and loved by the people he left behind on Tatooine.
This will be a controversial choice, but I think Charles Soule did a fantastic job with Leia in his recent post-ESB run in the mainline Star Wars comic. He presents her at her most vulnerable - she's lost the love of her life (and would lose him again during this series), the Alliance has been decimated, and Luke, her constant source of support, has been emotionally shattered in his own way. Amidst it all she is tasked with holding the light of hope alive for an increasingly desperate Rebellion, and she manages it, but she's frayed. IMO it's a great arc, and I know others don't agree but I think Soule's character work in that series is among the best canon has offered to date and I'll recommend it every time.
In terms of Legends, I like her in Courtship of Princess Leia and the Archie Goodwin comics, both display her at the most heroic in a pulp sci-fi world far far away. Plus, I like it when Leia gets throw down or adventure with the Falcon crew like a cosmic Pat Savage.
The Black Fleet Trilogy - gives a pretty interesting look at Leia's characterization. Although many did not end up liking it. Macdowell felt he was trying to show someone who'd evolved, now had more to loose, and was getting worn down to some extent. Still, Leia becomes more decisive as the trilogy unfolds... it just suffers from awkward Middle Act syndrome. Plus Han being tortured was always going to be rough on her. The New Rebellion - explores Leia's feelings about Imperials, Vader and Lando to some extent. She definitely comes across as a bit cynical, and also is still not used to Partisanship (despite all the years of Fey'lya) which makes for some interesting topics. It's just a shame the politics was so basic meantime (plus the very awkward idea of how large the 'blocs' are, or the size of the legislative body at all - where one hundred missing senators somehow produces a new 'majority' of opposing votes) Whilst Outcast, Omen and Abyss all give a pretty nice look at Leia as a Grandmother - which is, cute... I also quite like the 'dream sequence' at the beginning of Fury, where Leia imagines confronting Jacen...
These are great! I appreciate the thoughts! I'd love to add, which stories do you think fail to highlight her strengths, or otherwise do her a disservice or seem to portray her acting act out of character without a explanation.
Black Fleet Crisis definitely has the most out of character and unlikable Leia depiction where she accused Ackbar of trying to undermine her authority by showing evidence of genocide, and she had to be forced into action by the Senate and by Han's capture.
Legacy of the Force: Betrayal. The Legacy of the Force series in general: aka character assassination at its finest. The fact that Leia willingly gave aid to the Corellian independence movement, of which Thrackan Sal-Solo is a leading member, is just so blisteringly out of character and mind numbingly stupid that I can't help but bash my head against the nearest wall every time I think about it. How many times did Thrackan nearly get them killed? How many times did Thrackan nearly kill members of their family? How many times did Thrackan prove himself to be a human-supremacist and a general dictatorial scumbag? And Leia still supported the Corellian independence movement when Thrackan was one of its most influential members.
I knew if I asked this second question that I'd get people listing the same stories for different reasons. Ha!
Splinter of the Mind's Eye, very creepy sexual tension between the Skywalker Siblings and Leia being portrayed as a pushy, somewhat abusive comrade in a war of Rebellion. Outside of the Mimbanese, I don't really like this tale and the treatment of Leia within that particular story. Also, in terms of canon material that highlights the best in Leia, I'd say the 2015 Marvel comic and her story done by Claudia Gray; the latter presents both the compassionate and determined side of the princess that we'd see in later material.
Having not read Splinter, is the sexual tension creepy because we know they're siblings or because it's creepy?
The Luke and Leia romance in Splinter is bad regardless of whether you know they are siblings. From Luke slapping her to create a facade that she is his slave, to the narrative and by extension Luke never trusting Leia to actually be useful or smart(she gets kidnapped, abused, or toyed by vader multiple times). Even the characterization is awful with the bizarre misanthropic rants and inner monologues they both go on while the dialogue is trying to imply that Leia is the cynic while Luke is the optimist(never mind that the book opens with an inner monologue of Luke thinking of civilization as a disease that goes on for pages). I probably would have more to say if I read it more recently , regardless I don't think the book really stands up on its own merits.
Misanthropic rants seemed to be in vogue from the late 60's through to the late 70's when Splinter of the Mind's Eye was written. Been looking into a fair bit of the fiction from that period. It seems to have been a fashionable viewpoint at the time.
Legends Post ROTJ Timeline did justice to the characters of the OT i recommend reading all those Novels if you are a Fan of Luke Han and Leia but in the New Canon Leia was treated better than Luke and Han with Leia being Rey mentor and creating the Resistance i recommend you Read the Sequel Era Novels and the 2015 Star Wars Comics for the New Canon Leia
