The first time we realised that Princess Leia was more than just your sarcastic and uppity royal was when she grabbed a Blaster from Han Solo and started taking charge of her own rescue. But that comes with the territory when youre secretly the daughter of a fallen Jedi Knight and a tough-as-nails senator. From her teenage years, Leia was a formative part of the Rebel Alliance, even being present via hologram at its founding on Corellia and showing some serious toughness at that young age, flying away from Imperial imprisonment on Kashyyyk in a stolen shuttle with no backup and presumably no weapons. In A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back shes not especially active but shows shes got (proverbial) balls by gunning down Stormtroopers during the escape from Cloud City and picking up on Lukes telepathic message after he is defeated by Darth Vader, leading Lando and Chewie to his rescue. But its Return Of The Jedi where (to quote Phoebe in Friends) she stopped being a princess and became a woman. She also became the subject of millions of male fantasies thanks to her infamous gold bikini but even managed to turn that symbol of oppression to her advantage by using its chain to strangle Jabba The Hutt. After helping to rescue Han Solo from Jabba, she was a crucial part in the Battle Of Endor, showing her real fighting and leadership skills. Beyond the Battle Of Endor, she became a key figure in the New Republic, continuing to fight the remnants of the Empire, using her political influence to assist the formation of the New Jedi Order as well as receiving basic Jedi training herself, and ultimately succeeding Rebel leader Mon Mothma as the New Republics Chief Of State (the equivalent of Supreme Chancellor). Also, she gave birth to three children who were trained as Jedi Knights under Luke Skywalker. She went through a long journey from spoiled princess to tough guerrilla fighter to elected ruler of thousands of worlds. Take that, glass ceiling.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
