Star Wars: 15 Things The Movies Stole From The Expanded Universe

12. George Lucas Personally Picked Aayla Secura From The Comics

It was always a point of ridicule every character, no matter how obscure, had an intricate backstory in the Expanded Universe. That guy running with an ice cream maker through Cloud City? Why he's Willrow Hood, a technician who played a super important role just of screen. Erm... OK? But there's one minor character where having a convoluted EU story is totally legitimate, because that's where she comes from.

Aayla Secura first appeared in the Star Wars: Republic comic series back in 2000, a young Jedi Knight jetting around the galaxy before the Clone Wars. Her design was so striking that when George Lucas saw some cover art of the blue twi'lek he decided to put her in the next film. Portrayed by ILM production assistant Amy Allen, Secura appeared during the Battle of Geonisis in Attack Of The Clones and had the ignominious honour of being gunned down during Order 66 in Revenge Of The Sith.

It's a background appearance, sure, but she's the most prolific character the make the jump from the EU to the movies, which has gifted her a lot of life post-prequels; she popped up in several episodes of The Clone Wars, something that's unlikely to have happened without the movie endorsement.