1. Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker
Why do people love the original Star Wars trilogy and hate the prequels? That's easy: Darth Vader was fun, but his alter ego Anakin Skywalker was just annoying. We could barely tolerate Anakin when he was an insufferably precocious little boy, and we completely lost our patience when he was an insufferably whiny teenager. Yes, it was crucial for us to understand how Anakin became Darth Vader, but all of that plot could probably have been condensed down into one tightly written movie. Then we could get on with the good stuff: Vader marching around to his immortal theme music, dispensing with his enemies while tossing off witticisms like "I find your lack of faith disturbing" and "Apology accepted, Captain Needa." But -- as with the emperor -- Vader's story is neatly wrapped up in Episode VI. To our surprise, we learn that he still has a conscience. He turns back to the good side, redeems himself, and dies. End of story. Well, it's the end of Vader's narrative. But Disney has decided it's not the end of the Star Wars saga. This presents a daunting challenge to the writers of Episode VII. How can you write a successful Star Wars tale that includes neither Emperor Palpatine nor Darth Vader? To make this movie work, J.J. Abrams has to give us a villain every bit as compelling as Darth Vader, which seems an impossible task. This new adversary has to represent the Dark Side of the Force, but it can't just be a clone of Vader. Well, actually it could be but that would be taking the easy way out. The new villain has to be unlike anything we've seen before. We wish Abrams all the luck in the world. He's going to need it.