Star Wars: Ranking Every Major Death From Worst To Best
11. Qui-Gon Jinn
The Death: Qui-Gon Jinn takes Darth Maul’s lightsaber to the stomach during a breathtaking fight on the planet of Naboo in 1999’s The Phantom Menace.
Ranking Explained: Liam Neeson’s character continues to divide fans to this day. Some feel he was useful in the sense he was the one who discovered Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine and introduced him to future master-turned-enemy Obi-Wan Kenobi, while others feel he should just have been omitted entirely given he was always destined for the chop.
His death, however, is memorable but suffers due to what comes next. Maul sliced him down but audiences quickly forget as George Lucas’ demand for CGI overload takes over. Quickly, we jump from his deathto Obi-Wan engaging Maul in combat, Anakin taking down the Trade Federations from the skies, and Jar Jar Binks leading the Gungans to an unlikely victory on Naboo.
We don’t have that much time to process it. There’s a touching scene where Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan to train the boy and this, we learn, is how Skywalker falls into Kenobi’s care. But, ultimately, Jinn’s departure from the series serves a purpose - and that’s about it. Job done, put the tissues away.