Why is Jaina, the most unpopular of the Solo kids, the one who's still alive?

I hate to put it so bluntly, but it's true. Most people never really connected with Jaina or became that emotionally involved in her stories, and the times we have are rare. I guess I'm asking a few questions: why is she unlikeable or just not as likeable as her brothers, and why is she the one who lives?

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She was the military girl, the tomboy, the pilot, the mechanic, the foot soldier, the "Sword of the Jedi." While Anakin was reckless and Jacen was indecisive, Jaina was pragmatic, but stubborn and with a temper.

Short summary:
-Apprenticed to her Aunt Mara and resentful of her mother in the NJO, nearly went to the dark side after Anakin's death, fell in love with Jag, Vong wanted her to face Jacen in a twin duel to the death, Ta'a Chume wanted her to marry Isolder, associated with the Vong trickster goddess, named "Sword of the Jedi," killed Tsavong Lah, and saved by Jacen from Onimi.
-Became a Killik Joiner with Zekk during the Dark Nest crisis, estranged from Jag, Jacen broke her trust.
-Was kicked out of the military by Jacen in LOTF, promised to be there for Luke after Mara died, received training from Boba Fett and the Mandalorians, killed her brother Jacen/Caedus.

I'm not sure what the character lacked, but she was never as cool and inspiring as her brother Anakin, and never as interesting and controversial as her brother Jacen.

She was never that popular or interesting, yet they killed off both her brothers and she is still alive. Before Legacy came out (and people started speculating she would marry Jag Fel, become Empress, maybe start the Imperial Knights), it seemed like no one really knew what to do with her character. Before that, the only speculation and interest in her character was who's babies she was going to have.

Why?

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*This isn't to say Jaina doesn't have her own very loyal fanbase, there's just been something missing in her character, and many other fans are just seem apathetic to her character. Or at least didn't care about her as much as her two brothers.

 

1. hope she ends up with Kyp.

2. hope she does not start the IK.

3. hope she does not marry that future emperor.

4. she killing her twin still leaves a bitter taste to my mouth

 

Your perception of Jaina's supposed lack of popularity as a character is, IMO, completely wrong.

Here in Lit, yes, I'd agree that Jaina is probably the least favorite of the three siblings among most people. But Lit is not the entire fandom.

Have you ever looked over in Fanfic? More importantly, are you familiar with the emphasis of Solo-kid-centered fanfic stories from, say, 2003 until now? (Roughly, the end of the NJO through DN and LOTF.) There has been far and away more interest in Jaina than either Jacen or Anakin. True, a good amount of that has involved 'shipping her with various characters, but that's not the only kind of Jaina-centered story by any means.

And like it or not, there is a gender bias at work here. Jaina is an incredibly popular character with many female fans, especially (but not exclusively) fans who grew up on the OT. But she has always been less popular with younger male fans, who've tended to favor Jacen or Anakin.

So if you think Jaina is far and away less popular than her brothers, it's because you're only seeing a certain slice of the fandom. If you look other places - including TFN boards like Fanfic, which has a large active userbase just like Lit does - you'll see very different dynamics.

 

I think a lot of Jaina's trouble is she has yet to have "her" arc, so to speak. Anakin got a lot of attention early on, and Jacen obviously has been the focus lately. I think Jaina has been slightly overshadowed by Mara and Leia recently as well, particularly with the recent interest in finally having Leia train as a Jedi.

In a way, much as there are a lot of mixed views about the whole Jag/Empress/IKs thing, I expect if FOTJ indeed reveals the origins of the Fel Empire and Jaina becomes Empress or whatever, that it will at last be the "big story" her character has been waiting for to net her a wider fan demographic.

Will have to wait and see though, but she should theoretically have quite a large role to play, even if there ends up being a twist with her telling Jag to get stuffed.

 

She's my favorite EU character and my 2nd favorite SW character overall. I like the fact that, yes she's 'tomboy'ish but she's not a stereotypical female character. She has a lot of depth to her and if you read all the books with her in them, she has had the most dynamic character growth out of all the Solo kids, IMO.

I agree. I probably wouldn't like Jaina as much if I weren't a girl. I hate Jacen; I only liked him in the YJK. The only reason I tolerate reading about him is because you know he's going to say/do something stupid eventually, and I like the J/TK 'ship. And then Anakin Solo: well, everything I've read with him I already knew he was going to die, so I tried not to get that attached to the character. But I actually do like him.

 

Why is she still alive? IWoD.

 

After coming back to Star Wars after three years, you don't know how disappointed I was to discover that Jaina was still alive. I've had zero compassion for her ever since I read TJK (despite the fact that I am a female). But I have to echo whoever it was that posted before me, Jaina does have quite a few fans in other forums. So I wouldn't say she's the most unpopular.

Anyway, to answer the question, Jaina being the sole survivor was inevitable. I would have preferred to see Jacen live longer so that he could have grown into a stronger Sith (that is, instead of the wishy washy kind he turned out to be) and therefore a more challenging villain. It would have been more compelling, I think, if Jacen had killed his sister instead of vice versa, because that would have been a real sacrifice for him - Mara might have been his aunt, but Jaina was his twin, someone he had once shared a deep emotional and mental connection with. But any story in the ongoing EU would revolve around killing him, and there were already nine books committed to documenting his rise and fall (twelve if you count Dark Nest, which set things up). So Jacen had to die in order for the EU to move on.

As for Anakin...well, whatever the reasons were that he was killed off, and regardless of how people feel about it, it just made more sense logically to kill him than either of his siblings. Jacen and Jaina being twins played a role in the latter half of the NJO, and having a young female main character allowed for additional storytelling. There was also the fact that Anakin could have been the greatest Jedi ever, so having that destiny cut abruptly short was a huge tragedy and really hit home for the readers. Given that Jacen and Jaina's roles in the NJO grew after the events of SBS, if one of the twins had died in Anakin's place, it may not have had the same effect.

So that just leaves Jaina. Not so much to propagate Solo DNA, since Allana is still alive and well. But whether or not Jaina is the IWoD (I hope not! ), FOTJ encompasses nine novels, and with both Mara and Jacen dead, and probably one or all of the Big 3 kicking the bucket in the series, at least one of the Solo kids has got to be around for storytelling purposes.

 

OP-
seems that in these modern times we like to see our heroes get killed or go evil...then get killed.

 

not all of us!

I dearly hope this:

does not happen.

 

I believe that Jaina is the most unpopular of her siblings in the books simply because their story always overshadowed hers. She has always been a main character, yet at the same time in the background. The first half of the NJO was Anakin's and everything thereafter was really Jacen's. It is really only now with Jacens story over that she has a chance to grow and move into the spotlight. Someone here said it well, her brothers had their arc (even if Anakins unfairly was cut short), she never has.
In addition to these reasons though, she was also involved for too long in two of the worst character ideas. Jaina as a rouge pilot was awesome and helped differentitate her from her brothers. After flirting with the dark side and a brief sojourn as the trickster though we get:
1) Joiner kilik Jaina
2) the saga of the HORRIBLE never ending love triangle

what else needs to be said.

Now though, she seems to be moving in the right direction and hopefully into the spotlight. She was great in invincible and I have high hopes. HOWEVER, she needs her own story. I dont want her to simply marry jag, drift to the background, and exist thereafter just for the kids they have. Forget that guy, shes to headstrong anyway and he's to full of himself, bad match if you ask me because they dont compliment each other. PLEASE don't let her go imperial...im worried more than ever now that we have Legacy...sigh

 

Darth-Ghost,

[image=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/2/2f/Fel_Real_2.JPG]

How dare you insult my Grandmother!!

 

Dude, at this point I think Jag and Tahiri would be so much more interesting.

 

Yeah, sadly enough, that seems to be the major trend in Del Rey's thinking. Anyway, as to the original question.

Short answer: Because Del Rey sucks! Especially when they try to do multi-book series! And not enough people care about Jaina so that her death wouldn't generate enough angst. (I'm partially joking with this answer).

Longer, more serious answer: First of all, Jaina's popularity is debatable. She is still a Solo and a Skywalker (in blood), and was a starfighter pilot, fought on the frontlines of the YV War and all that, so I'm sure she still has plenty of fans.

It might just go back to how the novel series are obsessed with tragedy and angst these days. The NJO book series began with Chewbacca's death, supposedly to show "no one is safe" and then one of the biggest events of the book series was Anakin's death (partially negating Chewie's death, but that's a topic best left for another thread already in progress), as another major "tragedy". So after that, Jacen mainly became the next young hero.

So, after the brutal YV War, what's the next tragedy? Why, make the hero the next villain! So yeah, they made Jacen evil, and then to make it more tragic, they killed him.

Meanwhile, Jaina's still trying to really find a purpose in life. She wasn't a super-prodigy like Anakin, nor was she really philosophical like Jacen, and she's almost definitely not going to be a future Jedi Grandmaster (since so far she's just a random Knight most of the time, isn't a Master, or has a student, and considering the Legacy comics...) And no, I don't mean she's useless, just that compared to her brothers, both of whom at one point seemed like the future leader of the Jedi....

I don't hate Jaina, just don't care about her much either (haven't cared for either Solo twin brat much since NJO started), its just... well, as someone above said, not much of an arc for her either. Sure, she's Sword of the Jedi, but so far, all that essentially comes down to is that she takes a lightsaber to whatever villain is around (Tsavong Lah, her brother), and... that's it. Although sometimes not too many personal issues is nice too, but in the book, sometimes it seems like we spend more time with Luke and her parents than with Jaina. So maybe that lack of focus saved her. Sure, she killed the big boss of LotF, but that was after seven books of not much focus on her.

Since we're down to one Solo kid, I'd worry about her chances too, but with the Legacy comics, she's not likely to end up dead (yet), although I really don't like that particular future for her either. No offense to Jaina fans, its just sad that most of Han and Leia's kids are dead already.

 

Funny, because that was the problem I had with Jaina, she was slotted into the female stereotype and that is? Strength of character = abrasive, bossy personality. I can't say I card much for any of the 3 brats, but the division would go: Anakin = cocky, Jacen = whinger, Jaina = bossy. Shoot them all now.

It didn't help that in Dark Tide I, Jaina basically asks her Mum to bully Gavin into letting her be part of Rogue Squadron, that did her a lot of damage - better by far that she wins over a reluctent Gavin herself, who then clears it with Leia on the basis he needs pilots. Then there's the resentment of her parents that comes out of nowhere.

 

I honestly think Jag deserves better then either of these psycho chicks. Seriously Tahiri would "accidently" kill him in his sleep and Jaina would dump him when ever she got bored and make out with some random Jedi.

Jag need to find a normal girl.


Jaina is my least favorite Star Wars character for three reasons

1) She sided with bugs over her family
2) She thinks she is the center of the universe
3) She isn't even tough. She is good, but not main character good. And unfortantly she is a main character.


Jaina needs to stop trying to be a jedi and go be a starfighter pilot.

 

This is a fair assessment. She just isn't a Mara Jade is she? My question is did Jaina get slotted in the "least favorite" Skywalker offspring right after Dark Journey or was it before that? She just seemed to learn little from her near constant romantic nonsense with Jagg and Zekk. She was over 30 and her subplots still had either Zekk, Jagg or both braying and drooling like teenagers.

I don't think Revelation or Invincible did her any service either. I think part of it is that her shell doesn't crack much. I think in an attempt to keep her from appearing as emotional or stereotypical some sensitivity and frailty were lost never to be found. Look at Leia. When she hurts, we really feel it. When Jaina hurts, she soldiers though it in such a way that I think, well she'll be fine so I'll move on.

 

Leave Jaina alone! She's great. I'm glad she's still around and look forward to seeing more of her. But, yes, would love her to sort her love life out though.

 

Jaina's not only my favorite Solo child, but one of my favorite characters. I wasn't going to post, to avoid getting caught up into an argument, until I thought, maybe people think she doesn't have many fans because her's aren't as outspoken as the boy's.

 

A little over a year ago, the official site released a list of the 100 most popular Data Bank entries:

Anakin Solo was #41.

Jacen Solo was #33.

Jaina Solo did not make the top 100.

So I don't think it's just the Lit forum where she's less popular than her siblings.

 

I cannot stand Jaina.

The term for the current personality the authors have chosen to give her I cannot say, since it's not acceptable on this board. But that's exactly what she's become.

She wasn't always like this. She used to be a likable, friendly sort. Then about half way through the NJO (Dark Journey, in particular) she just snapped. I can't blame her, but I wish someone would sit her down and just tell her to stop being such a *****. It's like she never got off that Dark Journey. She's got to stop and smell the flowers. Make some real friends instead of that cardboard cut-out Imp jerk. If she gets a nicer personality, then maybe I'll like her. Right now I don't think the writers know what to do with her.

 

Anyone find it rather hilarious that a guy who hasn't made a living appearance in any SW material in eight years is in the upper half of the list?

 

Yeah, that "ranking" is obviously ludicrous.

Because we all know that Darth Bandon is more popular than Count Dooku, and that Aarba the Hutt and Pash Cracken are more popular than Wedge Antilles and Admiral Ackbar.

 

Okay, so Dark Journey was Jaina's being-an-interesting-character shatterpoint? If so, how was she interesting before DJ?

 

Jaina was interesting in the NJO, but that's sort of when it stopped being interesting. I was annoyed when she and Zekk started to become joined at the hip.