10 Minor Character Deaths That Changed Star Wars FOREVER
6. Rats Tyerell's Death Led To Podracing Being Outlawed (He Also Could Have Won The Boonta Eve Race)
He may not be the first person you think of when the subject of Episode I - The Phantom Menace's Boonta Eve Classic pops up in conversation, but never forget that the death of poor Rats Tyerell in that race seriously affected this galaxy.
First of all, the background racer who was incredibly popular on his homeworld of Aleen due to his racing career was determined to stop the serial cheater Sebulba from winning that Tatooine race. And were it not for a malfunctioning accelerator, who knows, maybe a driven Tyerell could have been the one to earn victory here, a win that would have seen Qui-Gon lose his bet, Anakin Skywalker left on the desert planet as a slave, and Watto bring home a shiny new ship.
Instead, Tyerell collided with a collection of stalactites... and, well, kaboom.
It turns out that the death of this racer also led to Rats' son Deland creating the Rats Tyerell Foundation. This organisation would fight to expose the criminal and perilous elements found within the sport and even managed to get podracing outlawed in the Core Worlds, which led to viewership massively declining.
It's safe to say, then, that the galaxy would look very different had Tyerell not tragically died in front of his own traumatised family.