Han Solo

Han Solo is a main character in the Star Wars universe and the deuteragonist of the original trilogy. In The Force Awakens, he is married to Leia Organa and has a son with her named Ben, who turned to the dark side and became Kylo Ren. He is also the eponymous titular main protagonist of Solo.

Background
Han and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire. Over the course of the Star Wars franchise, he becomes a chief figure in the Alliance and succeeding galactic governments. Star Wars creator George Lucas described Han as "a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good".

Personality
Han was initially a greedy, egotistical, cynical, reckless, selfish, and money-hungry smuggler, despite these negative traits, the only thing Han did care about more than money, was his best friend Chewbacca; who often served as his conscience in their smuggling endeavors.

However, after saving Luke Skywalker from Darth Vader and joining the Rebel Alliance, Han became responsible, intelligent, calculating, dangerous, overconfident, boastful, kind, caring, brave, loyal, moral, honorable, selfless, and trustworthy, as he would soon become loyal to the Rebellion. Aside from his (seemingly) self-centered ways, Han was actually very loyal to his friends.

Han was known to dislike droids and discouraged them from traveling in his ship, although he relented in certain circumstances. After he joined the Rebellion, he allowed C-3PO and R2-D2 free access to the Millennium Falcon, as a special case and in attention to Luke's and Leia Organa's wishes; despite this, Han rarely had a good word to any of the droids, as he had a particular distaste for "bugs".

Han was overprotective of his ship and hated times when the Millennium Falcon was modified or repaired too much, especially by droids, Han was also hesitant to let Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, or anyone else fly it.

Initially, Han did not believe in the Force, as he considered it to be nothing but nonsense; however, by the events of The Force Awakens, Han now fully believes in the Force, likely due to Luke's exploits and seeing his son's ability to use the Force.

Abilities

 * Expert Marksman: Han was extremely skilled in utilizing blasters, especially his signature DL-44 sidearm.
 * Expert Pilot: Han was extremely skilled in piloting every type of flying crafts.
 * Multilingual: Han was capable of fluently speaking Basic, Shyriiwook, Trader's argot, Rodese, Illodian, Huttese, and Mandaba.

Blaster

 * DL-44 heavy blaster pistol: Han utilizing a DL-44 heavy blaster pistol as his weapon of choice.

A New Hope
Han and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca first met Luke and Obi-Wan on Tatooine at a cantina in Mos Eisley, who were looking for a ship to Alderaan. He accepted to take them, with a promise of being paid seventeen thousand credits: Two thousand now to get them to Alderaan, and fifteen thousand when they arrive. Han later met up with Luke and Obi-Wan at his ship named the Millennium Falcon in Docking Bay 94 and flew them out of Mos Eisley just as Imperials showed up and attacked. Upon arriving in the Alderaan system, Han and his passengers saw that the entire planet had been destroyed by the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star. They followed a lone TIE Fighter to the battle station and got pulled into a tractor beam. Han tried to break free (with Luke's "encouragement"), but it was no use.

After landing, Han and Luke took out two Stormtroopers and swiped them of their armor, after luring them onto the ship by ambushing the Imperial scanning crew that went aboard beforehand. When R2-D2 discovered that Princess Leia was aboard the station, Luke insisted on rescuing her. Han however showed no interest in risking his life for a princess. But after being persuaded by Luke with a promise of a reward for her rescue by the Rebellion, Han realized he could pay his debt to Jabba and reluctantly went ahead with Luke's plan. Pretending that they were escorting a prisoner, Chewbacca, to the detention block, they took out the guards and found the princess. However, their escape route had been cut off by Stormtroopers and were forced to go down a garbage chute. After a near escape from being crushed by the garbage compactors and getting out of their swiped armor, Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca made their way back to the ship.

It was a running firefight back to the Millennium Falcon. When Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca ran into a Stormtrooper patrol, Han blasted one of them first before they could fire, before chasing after them, only to have been led right into the barracks, where he found himself terribly outnumbered by several battalions of Stormtroopers, forcing him and Chewie to make a hasty retreat to regroup with Luke and Leia. Together, they and the droids made it back to the ship and escaped, except for Obi-Wan, who was killed by Darth Vader. After defeating a squadron of TIE Fighters acting as sentry ships, Han piloted the ship to Rebels' secret base on Yavin 4. Han was present at the mission briefing, and then afterwards went on his way, despite Luke's offer to join the fight, having gotten the reward as intended, telling Luke that attacking the Death Star was more like suicide, though not without wishing Luke good luck with the famous "May the Force be with you" quote. However, Han and Chewbacca showed up to help Luke mere moments before the Death Star could fire on Yavin 4. They took out the purusing fighters, which included Darth Vader, giving Luke the clearance to destroy the Death Star. Following their victory, Leia rewarded Han, Luke, and Chewbacca with medals for their bravery.

The Empire Strikes Back
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Han is now a general of the Rebel Alliance.

He also begins to develop romantic feelings for Leia Organa, which becomes obvious to her on Hoth. Han helps the Rebels escape the imminent battle there after Darth Vader arrives, possibly in fear of facing him. He was unable to get Leia to the last of the Rebel GR-75 Medium Transports fleeing Hoth, so he took her to escape on the Falcon instead. On the run, Han brings them into the nearby Hoth asteroid field, despite Leia's protests, and led the TIE Fighters pursuing them to be destroyed by the asteroids. They later land on a large asteroid and fly into a "cave", only to find it is a 900-meter long space slug and they barely escape. After losing pursuit of the Imperials again by latching the Falcon to the back of the conning tower of the Star Destroyer Avenger before disengaging as the Avenger dumped its garbage before jumping into hyperspace, they proceed to Cloud City on Bespin, since Han thinks that his old friend, Lando Calrissian, can help them out. However, after spending a short amount of time there, they run into Vader inside the dining room. Han pulls out his blaster and fires at the Sith Lord, but Vader uses the Force to absorb the laser blasts and summon Han's gun to him. They are then surrounded by Stormtroopers, and Lando confesses that the 501st, Boba Fett, and Vader arrived just before they did, leaving him no choice but to cooperate with them. Han is tortured for information. Later, he is handed over to Leia in a cell with Chewie and 3PO, who Chewie is trying to rebuild after being blasted apart earlier by Stormtroopers. After discovering a carbon-freezing facility, Vader has Han frozen in it, turning him into a carbonite statue, in hopes to test it to ensure Luke will survive being transported to the Emperor. (This backfires, however, when Luke escapes the freezing pit with a Force Jump and attacks Vader with his lightsaber.) Despite the efforts of his friends, Han's frozen form is loaded onto Slave I by Boba Fett, where he is to be given to Jabba the Hutt because Han never paid his debt to the latter.

Return of the Jedi
Han is rescued by Leia and unfrozen, but is caught by Jabba, who imprisons him in the cell that Chewie was placed in earlier after Leia turned him in while disguised as Boushh, while Leia is made Jabba's new slave girl to replace his old one, Oola, who he fed to the rancor earlier that day for rebelling against him. Han is later brought before Jabba along with Luke and Chewbacca, while Lando Calrissian remains disguised as one of Jabba's guards. Jabba condemns Luke, Han, and Chewie to be fed to the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon in revenge for Luke killing the rancor, but during the executions, R2 passes Luke his lightsaber, and Han saves Lando from being eaten by the Sarlacc, despite still being blinded from the carbon-freezing. Leia strangles Jabba to death with her chain, before she and Luke destroy the sail barge with the deck gun and rejoin Han and the others as they depart Tatooine to rejoin the Alliance Navy. Han proceeds to lead the Rebel strike team on Endor, after lending the Millennium Falcon to Lando in his attempt to destroy the Second Death Star. He also fights alongside the Ewoks and other Rebels, even using an All Terrain Scout Walker (AT-ST) that Chewie took over with two Ewoks to lure the Imperial troops garrisoned inside the shield bunker out of it and force them into surrender when surrounded by the AT-ST, Ewoks, and Rebels. During the fight, Leia is shot and wounded, and Han helps bandage her injury after planting detonators in the shield generator, causing it to explode. When they notice that the Second Death Star has been destroyed, Han hopes Luke was not on it when it blew. Leia assures him Luke wasn't, having sensed it through the Force, and reveals that she and Luke are siblings to Han. He is also seen at the Endor celebration after the battle is won.

The Force Awakens
Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, Han and Leia have a son named Ben, who studies the Force under his uncle Luke Skywalker. However, Ben turns to the dark side, becoming Kylo Ren, and forces Luke to go into hiding. In the years following Ben's fall and Luke's disappearance, Han and Leia separate, and Han returns to a life of smuggling with Chewbacca.

When Finn and Rey manage to escape Jakku with the Millennium Falcon, they encounter Han and Chewbacca, who pull the ship in with a tractor beam. They board the ship, where they encounter the two stowaways, and learn about their plight. Han and Chewbacca agree to help the two return BB-8 to the Resistance, but before they can leave, Han is confronted by the Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub, two clans whom he is indebted to. A brief skirmish breaks out, and Han escapes in the Falcon with Chewbacca, Finn, and Rey.

Han pilots the ship to Takodana, where he introduces his newfound allies to an old friend Maz Kanata. While there, the First Order attacks, and Han helps fight back the invading stormtroopers. Toward the end of the fight, he catches sight of his son Kylo Ren kidnapping Rey.

After the fight, Han encounters Leia for the first time in years, and the two have a bittersweet reunion. Han solemnly informs Leia that he'd seen their son during the battle.

With BB-8 recovered by the Resistance, Han travels to the Resistance base on D'Qar, where he volunteers to help take down the superweapons' shield generator with Chewbacca and Finn. Before leaving, he and Leia discuss their son, and Leia encourages Han to bring their son home, despite Han's misgivings.

Once at Starkiller Base, Han and his allies force Captain Phasma to disable the shields, and he and Chewbacca begin to plant explosives around the base. In the midst of his task, Han spots Kylo Ren walking along the reactor chamber and, after a moment of indecision, calls him out by his real name. He then appeals to Kylo Ren to remove his helmet and begs him to come home. In a moment of indecision, Kylo Ren removes his helmet and hands his lightsaber to Han, but before he can let go, he activates the weapon through Han's torso, meaning Han was killed by his own son. In his last moments of life, Han strokes his son's face, then falls into the dark pit below.

Solo
Growing up with a local criminal gang on the shipbuilding world of Corellia, Han Solo longed to escape with his lover Qi'ra and become a pilot. They successfully bribed an Imperial officer to grant them passage on an outgoing transport, using some stolen hyperfuel coaxium as payment. Unfortunately, Qi'ra was apprehended by their pursuers before she could board. Han vowed to return for her, and with no means of income, he joined the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet. Three years later however, Han was expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination, and was now serving as an infantryman during a battle on the planet Mimban. During that time, he encountered a gang of criminals, led by Tobias Beckett, posing as Imperial Officers. He blackmailed them into allowing him to join, but Beckett had him arrested and condemned to battle a "beast" held in captivity. The beast was revealed to be a Wookiee named Chewbacca, and after owing Han's ability to speak Shyriiwook, the two staged a fight for the benefit of their captors and escaped. Beckett sympathetically rescued them, and enlisted the two for a planned train heist to steal shipment of coaxium on the planet Vandor.

Everything went as planned until they were forced to ditch their shipment after they were ambushed by the Cloud Riders criminal gang. Han realised that Beckett was ordered to steal the shipment for Dryden Vos, leader of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate. Han and Chewbacca volunteered to help him steal another shipment and met up with Vos on his yacht, where Han discovered that Qi'ra was now a member of Crimson Dawn. During their meeting with Vos, Han proposed a plan to steal unprocessed coaxium from the mines on Kessel. To procure a ship for the heist, the team hired Lando Calrissian, captain of the Millennium Falcon. After reaching Kessel, the team infiltrated the mines with Han and Chewbacca posing as slaves for sale. Lando's droid, L3-37, instigated a riot to keep the guards occupied while they stole a consignment of unprocessed, volatile coaxium. During the riot, Lando got injured while trying to save L3-37, leaving Han to pilot the falcon. His prodigious piloting skills allowed them to evade an blockage and deliver the coaxium to the planet Sareen in less than twelve parsecs.

Upon arrival however, Han planned to sell the shipment to the Cloud Riders, who were in fact a rebellion group led by Enfys Nest. He tried to deceive Vos with fake coaxium, but he saw through Han's cunning plane thanks to his "inside man", Beckett. However, it is later revealed that the fake coaxium is real, and it was all a ruse to lure Vos' men into a trap. Beckett took Chewbacca hostage and escaped with the coaxium. Han, Qi'ra, and Vos engage each other in a gunfight, resulting in Qi'ra killing Vos. Han caught up with Beckett and Chewbacca and killed Beckett after a standoff. Han and Chewbacca delivered the coaxium to Nest, who revealed her plans to use the coaxium to aid the rebellion against the Empire. She offered Han the chance to join her but he declined.

Later on, Han and Chewbacca track down Lando and Han challenged him again to a game of Sabacc for possession of the Falcon. Han subtly relieved Lando of the cards stashed up his sleeve and won the game. Han and Chewbacca then took off together on the Millennium Falcon to Tatooine, where Beckett told Han a gangster was putting together an organization.

Star Wars: Force Arena
Han Solo is a playable character in Star Wars: Force Arena as a Legendary squad leader card.

Trivia

 * Harrison Ford, believing his character should die, was reluctant to sign onto the sequels of Star Wars. Solo's death in The Force Awakens came about when writer/director J.J. Abrams felt the character wasn't evolving or contributing to the story's development; he believed that Kylo Ren killing his own father would give him a chance to develop into a worthy successor for Darth Vader. Solo's appearance in the film was influenced by that of (Jeff Bridges' character in True Grit (2010) during early concept development.