Star Wars: Ranking Every Major Death From Worst To Best
6. Jabba The Hutt
The Death: Jabba the Hutt’s rule ends brutally in Return of the Jedi when Leia uses her shackles to choke him to death and allow the heroes to flee their prison on Tatooine.
Ranking Explained: Leia’s decision to kill Jabba is a significant moment for Carrie Fisher’s character. Though audiences had previously seen her shoot down Stormtroopers and orchestrate attacks on the Empire, it was the first example of her in combat against a giant foe and taking down a major villain in the Star Wars story.
What comes before is also important. Leia Organa frees Han Solo from carbonite and nearly gets the smuggler away from Jabba, only to fail and end up imprisoned. But she never stops fighting and spends the early moments of Return of the Jedi expressing her disgust at her captor and backing Luke and Han to escape death via the Sarlaac pit and put an end to Jabba’s time at the top of the criminal world.
Star Wars has since placed special emphasis on strong female characters with Natalie Portman’s Padme, Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso, and Daisy Ridley’s Rey all doing stellar jobs. Leia, though, was the first and her brutal murder of Jabba is proof of her huge power and ability to compete against the Galaxy’s big guns.