10 Scariest Star Wars Moments

The Star Wars series is currently on a hot streak, with The Mandalorian having finished up its second season and a dozen of highly anticipated shows and movies being announced at the end of 2020.

Since 1977, the franchise has reigned as one of the greatest blockbuster series of all time, an epic and twisting space opera which has defined the sci-fi genre. It's far from being a horror, mind, though that doesn't mean the series hasn't hit fans with some fairly nightmarish scenes.

Outside of the epic space battles, iconic characters and sweeping tales of good versus evil, there have been a few pretty scary moments, some of which are as fear-inducing now as they were when the series debuted.

With that in mind, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the family friendly saga's most horror-inspired scenarios. From the gnarly monster attacks to the sublimely dark fates of fan favourite characters, here are the scariest moments from the Star Wars films.

Major spoilers follow.

Revenge of the Sith did an admirable job of bringing the prequel trilogy to a close, and did so with more than its fair share of emotion and battle horror.

After the death of General Grievous and the birth of Darth Vader, Palpatine gives the fateful Order 66 to the clone commanders around the galaxy, who commence to gun down their Jedi leaders in cold blood.

Watching the Jedi fall, with the haunting music and Yoda's distressed realisation of what's happening acting as a background, is grade-A terror, where the film once more reminds fans that for all its fun characters and exciting adventures, Star Wars is actually a very dark franchise, willing to hurt its characters without pause.

So well done is the scene, in fact, that when Obi-Wan is shot down by his troopers, you can't help but hold your breath in fear - despite knowing he's going to be okay.