Since its premiere in 1978, Star Wars has thrived as a cultural icon. Little-known actors like Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, and Carrie Fisher became household names or pop culture icons after appearing in the original trilogy. The series’ successors have launched the careers of dozens of other actors throughout the franchise’s 50-plus-year run. But for every actor and character that has been overwhelmingly adored and heralded as definitive representations of the series, there’s a not-as-fortunate character the fandom has eviscerated.
Whether it be through a convincing performance as an annoying character, having the wherewithal to actually perform their dialogue as written, or having the audacity to *checks notes* exist as a race other than white in a galaxy of more than 10,000 planets, here are the Star Wars characters the fandom has hated for no reason.
Jake Lloyd — Anakin Skywalker
After the prequel series dropped its 1999 first installment, The Phantom Menace, the reaction to two of its characters started the problematic vitriol that is now synonymous with Star Wars. George Lucas knew going into the prequel series that fans were not going to like the story. The tale he was interested in telling was not about lightsabers and epic battles, though it did contain them. It was supposed to focus on the battle of good and evil, and how easy it is to blur the line between the two and lose yourself in the fracas. In Lucas’ own words:
“I know everybody wants to see Darth Vader in his black suit with his lightsaber, but the whole point of it is: How does this nice, little, kind kid, who has good intentions, is just like us, go wrong and become Darth Vader?”
Lucas was right; fans could not stand the exuberant, selfless little Skywalker they saw on-screen. Viewers eviscerated the character, lambasting him for being too childish but said he wasn’t childlike enough. They wanted Anakin to be vicious like Vader but hated when he talked back to the Jedi council. They even complained when the 9-year-old Anakin hesitated for one moment before leaving his mother and Tatooine ostensibly forever.
The resentment for the character combined with the internet’s far reaches gave actor Jake Lloyd nowhere he could escape from the torment. In his real life, he was bullied at school. Online, he was ridiculed constantly. The harassment was so extreme, the young actor destroyed all the merchandise given to him by Lucasfilm and quit acting for good. It got so bad, Lloyd even changed his legal name to escape from the continuous abuse attached to Star Wars.
Ahmed Best — Jar Jar Binks
Before Anakin even appears on-camera, a little-known character by the name of Jar Jar Binks makes his debut. Jar Jar, a male Gungan from the planet Naboo, is an inept bipedal alien with no particular skills at all. Clumsy and childlike, the alien has endless energy and zero self-awareness. The character was created to lighten the tension and keep kids entertained. Soon, Jar Jar quickly became a visual representation of why the prequel series was considered inferior. He was reviled by older fans, adults looking to recreate the wonder felt during the original trilogy, and parents trying to entertain preteens who felt suffocated by the two-dimensional character and his never-ending comedic presence.
While many people could be forgiven for hating this character, the redirection of vitriol toward his actor isn’t quite so understandable. Character actor Ahmed Best is behind Binks, and according to Frank Oz, the original actor behind Yoda, Best absolutely nailed the performance. While his time in Star Wars did not convince Best to quit acting, it did decimate the actor and musician’s mental health. Best, who was around 25 when the film was released, has recently opened up about the Star Wars community and how damaging it was. In an interview with Wired, he said George Lucas warned him the backlash was imminent.
“This happened with Ewoks. It happened with Chewbacca. It happened with Lando Calrissian. He was used to this. He knew it was going to happen.”
While the actor enjoyed the character — and even went on to voice him in many Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes — he was devastated by the cruelty fans threw his way. Best even considered ending his own life, something he spoke openly about in a 2018 Instagram post. There has been a lot of good news for Best lately. The actor never gave up on the fandom, and when he appeared on stage at Chicago’s Star Wars Celebration 2019, he was greeted with thunderous applause. Katee Sackhoff of The Mandalorian fame has been loudly championing Jar Jar as her favorite character. Talk about a comeback!
Hayden Christensen — Anakin Skywalker
Speaking of triumphant returns, Hayden Christensen, the second actor to play young Anakin, also suffered abuse for his performance. Christensen, who plays Anakin from 19 to around 25 in follow-up films, is a much more brooding, angst-ridden iteration. The character is complicated, having an unshakable drive to do what he sees as right no matter the cost and a temper just as hot as the sands of Tatooine — a deadly combination when the Force is involved. His struggle with the dark side required a nuance George Lucas failed to write into the prequel films with his stiff dialogue. Christensen did the best he could with what he was given, imbuing the terrible writing with subtle but powerful microexpressions and body language. It wasn’t enough to carry the poor dialogue and lackluster plot, and the burden of the blame fell mostly on Christensen.
After 20 years, many fans have forgiven Christensen and view his performance as an overall problem with George Lucas’ directing style (seriously, even Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor seem wooden in the prequels). The backlash gave him a serious case of imposter syndrome, and while he doesn’t blame Star Wars for his break from acting, he did leave Hollywood in search of a simpler life, one he found as a farmer in Ontario. After rumors of his involvement in the Disney Plus series Kenobi began to swirl, nearly every Star Wars fan out there reacted positively, and Christensen himself said it was nice to finally be accepted by the community at large.
Daisy Ridley — Rey Skywalker
Anakin isn’t the only Skywalker fans have taken issue with. The sequel series was the first installment released after George Lucas sold the rights to his films. Directed by JJ Abrams, the sequel followed the roadmap set by the original trilogy rather than the one set out by the loudly disliked prequels. Some fans loved how closely the story beats struck, but others felt it was a cheap copy. But far louder than detractors of the general story were the so-called fans who hated the new main character, Daisy Ridley‘s Rey.
The orphaned Rey is a skilled fighter and scrounger. Having been abandoned on Jakku at a young age, Rey has been fending for herself for as long as she can remember. Throughout the film, she is revealed to have skills beyond what she learned on the desolate planet, easily piloting star ships, speaking alien languages, and even having the ability to swim despite coming from a desert planet. Her diverse skill set was given, and her ability to do such incredible things had the character labeled a “Mary Sue,” a female character introduced for no reason that is somehow inexplicitly good at everything and has no real flaws.
The films would eventually explain her incredible powers, but they changed hands and suffered multiple rewrites, reducing what could have been a cool reveal to a muddied plot with deus ex machina devices littered around like legos. By the time the ending was revealed, many viewers were too disappointed in how it came to pass, and it wasn’t enough to appease fans. While the plot may have been confusing and an otherwise interesting story wasted, Ridley herself did a fantastic job of playing the character. Though the sequels and prequels both suffer from bad storytelling, the sequels’ directors at least gave the actors space to breathe life into their parts. During the course of her tenure as a Skywalker, Ridley did deactivate her Instagram, but the actor claims it was due to the pro-gun fandom and not Star Wars.
John Boyega — Finn
Daisy Ridley may have caught flak for her role, but nothing came close to what co-star John Boyega went through. Boyega plays plucky ex-Storm Trooper turned resistance fighter, FN-218. Also known as Finn, he is a compassionate man, who, even after years of brainwashing, still recognizes the actions taken by Kylo Ren and the First Order on Jakku as evil. He abandons everything he has ever known and helps rebel pilot Poe Dameron escape, joining Rey (albeit reluctantly) on a quest to find the rebels. He is a loyal and capable friend, who frequently goes against his own desire for self-preservation to save those he loves.
The interesting dynamic of a reluctant hero trying desperately to keep up resonated with fans and critics alike with many praising Boyega for his ability to navigate humor and drama. Despite the mostly warm reception, he was harassed by “fans” who didn’t think a Black Storm Trooper could exist. Despite legendary characters like Lando Calrissian and Mace Windu, toxic viewers claimed Boyega was a token character and another push from Disney to fill a “diversity quota.” Boyega, for his part, did little to acknowledge the trolls besides one amazing tweet, “To whom it may concern…. Get used to it.” After all the negativity and lack of support Boyega felt came from Disney, the actor has been very vocal about never returning to the Star Wars universe.
Kelly Marie Tran — Rose Tico
Much like Jar Jar, Rose Tico, introduced in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, came to represent what was bad about the new trilogy. A sweet, hardworking resistance fighter, Rose joined the rebels with her older sister, who dies at the beginning of the film. With the recent death of her only remaining family, Rose is looking for a reason to keep fighting, and she finds it in Finn. She proves her loyalty by refusing Finn the right to sacrifice his life for the cause and tells him they must fight for what they love rather than fighting what they hate. Ordinary and humble Rose was intended to represent the fandom as a whole, and while critics loved the character, the fandom reviled her.
Fans felt Rose was forced into the franchise, thinking of her character as superfluous and intended as a roadblock for the long-awaited Finn/Poe team-up. Her everyman demeanor made her unrealistic, and fans felt the romance between her and Finn was even more so. Legions of Star Wars fans attacked Kelly Marie Tran on social media, lambasting her race, her looks, her gender, and even her weight. Disney execs and other Star Wars actors stood firmly behind Tran, but the abuse proved too much, and the actor left social media in 2018 after a toxic group of “fans” bullied her relentlessly.
The group that took ownership of the assault, “Down with Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys,” claimed to be the truest form of Star Wars fans and aimed to “rise up against Kathleen Kennedy and her feminazi agenda.” The group choose Kelly Marie Tran to air out all their grievances against Disney for using, as they saw it, diversity quotas as insulation from “genuine concerns.” The group has since been banned from Facebook, but the damage was done, and Tico was essentially written out of The Rise of Skywalker. However, Tran appeared at “Star Wars: Celebration in Chicago” to applause long enough to bring the actress to tears.
Moses Ingram — Reva
After Disney’s bungled response to both Boyega and Tran’s harassment, the company took better protective steps for another Black cast member, Moses Ingram. Ingram plays Reva, the third sister of the Imperial Inquisitorius order in the Disney Plus series Kenobi. A former Jedi youngling, Reva survived Order 66 but watched her fellow younglings murdered at the hands of the newly awakened Darth Vader. After being captured, she was tortured and turned to the dark side, then placed under Darth Vader’s command where she spent the next decade feeding her anger and waiting for the perfect moment to kill Vader and avenge the fallen Jedi. She is incredibly powerful, fueled by hate, and navigates the world with blinders for anything but her prey.
Reva’s thirst for vengeance seemed far-fetched to fans, and her story arc did nothing to assuage their doubts. Her skill set was seen as overpowered, and her ability to manifest plot points had her quickly labeled a Mary Sue. Combined with the character’s involvement with some pretty pointless storylines, Reva took most of the flak for the Kenobi series. While criticism of characterization and story is completely valid, in true Star Wars fashion, some supposed fans took to bullying and racist messages, some going so far as to threaten Ingram with death. The actress, for her part, took the vitriol in stride, telling off her haters and thanking the fans that came to her defense. Unlike some of her predecessors, Ingram was fully supported by her castmates and many Star Wars alum. Afterward, John Boyega said on Instagram he was happy to see the support given to Ingram and hopes the community will continue to rally around actors of color in the future.
Ashley Eckstein — Ahsoka Tano
While fans may now be a bit rabid for the Togruta Jedi, the initial response to the now-beloved character was incredibly bad. Introduced during the largely reviled Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, Ahsoka was labeled annoying and snippy, and hardcore fans were disappointed by the idea Anakin Skywalker had a Padawan at all. The 14-year-old Ahsoka was labeled a Mary Sue for her Padawan abilities, and toxic fans claimed her inclusion was only to further the feminist agenda. While it’s not hard to see why her character could be perceived as annoying initially — she calls Anakin “Skyguy” and R2D2 “Artoey” — the character grew as she aged and became one of the most beloved Star Wars icons.
Ahsoka’s voice actor, Ashley Eckstein, had been quiet about the harassment she received. The actress revealed recently she was harassed for several years before the fandom warmed to Ahsoka. It was the young female fans that made it worth staying in the series, Eckstein has said. Ahsoka represented them in a way Leia and Padme never had — as a Jedi. Eckstein would carve out another win for her fans in the form of Her Universe, the first clothing line to focus on Star Wars merch for women and girls.
Laura Dern — Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo
Vice Admiral Holdo made her appearance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Sporting purple hair, bangles, and an elegant dress, Holdo isn’t what most people “envision” an admiral to be. The eccentric rebel leader is Leia’s second in command, and she has no patience for a recently demoted Poe Dameron. Her refusal to include the grounded pilot in her plans is a central plot of the film. Even when she is given a chance to rectify her mistakes, she continues to double down, forcing Dameron to try to find another way to save the resistance. She helps us root for his blatant disobedience and serves as an excellent foil for Dameron with both rebels showing unwavering devotion to their cause and a willingness to do anything to ensure the resistance’s survival.
The reception to the character was split. Some fans loved the enigmatic, femme, purple-haired noblewoman. Others were infuriated by her leadership tactics and refusal to communicate with Dameron. Overwhelmingly, fans pointed to her appearance in the film as another diversity push for Disney and specifically dinged Rian Johnson for forcing the character into a role that old favorites, like Admiral Akbar, could have filled. While fans hotly debate the character’s presence in the film, actor Laura Dern never reported fans attacking her personally for the role. It could be the seasoned veteran isn’t as social media savvy as her counterparts, or more likely, she passed under a certain set of toxic fans’ radars for her skin color.
Adam Driver — Kylo Ren
The final entry — and most surprising — is Kylo Ren. The main antagonist for the sequel trilogy, Kylo is the estranged son of Leia Organa and Han Solo. He is a complicated character with a grandpa complex and a temper that would surprise Anakin himself. Kylo’s entire purpose is to live up to Darth Vader’s legacy, and when he fails to do so, throws epic temper tantrums. His fits of rage are so well known, even Storm Troopers know to avoid the petulant Sith Lord. Leia sensed the turmoil in her son from a young age and sent him to Luke for training. It turned out to be for naught as the young man quickly turned on his master, killing all but a select few of his fellow apprentices. Throughout the sequel trilogy, he provides an interesting foil for Rey and some extra drama as he fails time and time again to take the opportunity for redemption thrust at him from every direction.
After Han’s demise, fans can be forgiven for their hatred of the character, but again, toxic fans took to social media and the internet to attack actor Adam Driver for Kylo Ren’s crimes. Driver is an incredibly private person, so the actor was harder to lambast on social media. Toxic fans found other ways to attack the actor and his family, with some particularly disturbed individuals hacking his I-Cloud and distributing his personal pictures on Twitter. Additionally, a section of female fans reportedly stalked Driver wherever he went and harassed his wife for months.
