10 Wasted Star Wars Characters That Deserved Better

With nine movies spanning 42 years, the Star Wars franchise has seen more than its fair share of memorable characters. Even in the case of those who have never been exposed to the legendary saga, the likes of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Yoda are names they'll no doubt have heard of. And rightly so!

On the flip side, memorability does not always guarantee a satisfying story arc for a character - especially in Star Wars.

Some characters endure in our minds for all the wrong reasons, and then go on to seriously outstay their welcome. Others, meanwhile, are built up to have such great potential, only for their roles in the series to either be over in the blink of an eye or stretched so thinly that you're left wondering what the point of including them even was.

And this doesn't just apply to minor characters. Some Star Wars characters have plenty of time in the spotlight, and yet still feel squandered in the grand scheme of things. Had these characters been given the attention they deserved, the Star Wars movies as we know them may have been very different indeed...

It's likely that, on paper, the character of Vice Admiral Holdo was included as an updated 'successor' to Mon Mothma, the sage-like leader of the Rebel Alliance in Return of the Jedi. She essentially serves the same purpose in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, relaying orders to the Resistance and holding a position of high authority.

But while Mon Mothma was less a character herself as she was a source of story exposition, there are an intriguing few elements to Holdo that suggest she could have been more than just a purple-haired armchair general.

Her friendship with Leia, for starters, implies that the two have a long and storied past. Indeed, in the 2017 novel, Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan, it's revealed that they have been good friends since their teenage years. You do get the odd back-and-forth that hints at their past adventures, but it would have been nice to see it developed further in future instalments on the big screen.

There's also the animosity between Holdo and Poe Dameron, the latter being a loose cannon that the former repeatedly tries (and fails) to reel in. A pity that there wasn't some sort of grand pay-off for this relationship before the Vice Admiral sacrifices herself in spectacular light-speed fashion.