10 Star Wars Characters More Important Than You Realised

Finis Valorum was the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, and, as the only character on this list played by a major actor, the one you'll surely recognise above all others.

Yet despite Terence Stamp's casting in the role, Valorum appears for all of around two minutes in The Phantom Menace, even if he was an instrumental figure in Palpatine's rise as Supreme Chancellor and, later, Galactic Emperor.

After all, it was Valorum's inability to stem both corruption in the Galactic Senate and the bureaucratic trade crisis in Naboo which allowed Palpatine to persuade Padmé (Natalie Portman) to call a vote of no confidence, resulting in Valorum being replaced with Palpatine himself.

Basically, Valorum let Palpatine play him like a damn fiddle: he was a pawn who, through his political inaction, unintentionally aided Palpatine's ascent to Galactic Emperor.

And while he only appears onscreen for a glorified cameo, Valorum's actions - or lack thereof - had a major ripple effect on the entire damn galaxy.