Leia Organa is a character in the Star Wars universe. She is the tritagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy. In Return of the Jedi, it is revealed that she is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker and thus the daughter of Darth Vader, formerly known as Anakin Skywalker. In the prequel films, her birth mother is identified as Padmé Amidala. Her adoptive father is Bail Organa, who is depicted as the head of Alderaan's Royal Family and a supporting character. In The Force Awakens, she was married to Han Solo and had a son with him, named Ben, who turned to the dark side and became Kylo Ren.
Background
Personality
As a child, Leia was extremely tomboyish, outspoken, and disliked being called by her title of princess; she was not fond of her role as the princess of Alderaan, she was often seen by many, especially her adopted family, as she was sometimes mistaken for a domestic girl instead of a princess. However, as she got older and matured, her outspoken nature lessened over time.
As an adult, Leia was considerably highly intelligent, wise, calm, level-headed, and a responsible tactician, she had a sense of justice, honor, and good morals, she also has compassion for her friends and for the victims of the Galactic Empire. Despite growing up on the peaceful world of Alderaan, Leia never became soft.
Leia was known to be rebellious, kind, and caring, traits she developed from both her parents. Like her mother Padmé Amidala, Leia was clever and a leader, but she was sometimes short-tempered, hot-headed, headstrong, emotionally insecure, and impatient; traits she shares with her father, Anakin and her older twin brother, Luke Skywalker, but to a far less extent.
Despite Leia's commitment to Alderaan's values of pacifism, she believed in self-defense and in fiercely fighting for the galaxy's freedom, with remarkable leadership qualities, Leia was also known for being able to keep her composure even in humiliating situations to perform daring feats, like diving into a garbage chute or strangling the infamous Jabba the Hutt. A woman of action, Leia was eager to get things done and making positive differences in the galaxy.
By the events of The Force Awakens, Leia had become quite wise and had for many years served as a senator for the New Republic. However, when Leia was revealed by the traitorous senator Carise Sindian to be Darth Vader's daughter, Leia was publicly humiliated (despite the fact that her father was one of the reasons why the galaxy was freed from Palpatine and the Galactic Empire's reign of terror, as well as the fact that Anakin became one of the heroes at the end of the Galactic Civil War, and redeemed himself when he killed Palpatine to save Luke) she was no longer as trusting as she once had been, and only confided in a few close friends afterwards, such as Admiral Ackbar.
The loss of her son, Ben Solo, to Snoke also caused her great grief as did Han Solo leaving her when he was unable to cope with the loss. Thus; she became extremely dedicated in her fight against the First Order, and to finding her brother Luke, who had disappeared after Ben, now called Kylo Ren, massacred most of the New Jedi Order, Luke had tried so hard to build. By finding Luke, Leia would attempt to bring hope back to the galaxy.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- The Force: As the daughter of the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia was amazingly powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force.
- Force Vision: Leia utilized Force Vision to have visions of the past, the present, and the future; however, like all Force-users, her visions were not always clear and she sometimes hah visions even when she is not utilizing this power at will.
- Force Sense: Leia utilizes Force Sense to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, impending danger, and the presence of the dark side; her senses were so powerful, that she was not only able to sense Luke in danger on Cloud City and locate him, she could even sense when her son Kylo Ren, had murdered his father, Han Solo on the Starkiller Base.
- Telekinesis: Leia utilized Telekinesis to propel herself back towards the Raddus after a hit from a TIE-Fighter sent her careening into deep space.
- Telepathy: Leia utilized Telepathy to mentally communicate over small or vast distances with other individuals.
Abilities
- Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Although rarely seen, Leia was a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant.
- Expert Markswoman: Leia was extremely skilled in utilizing blaster pistols and blaster rifles.
- Expert Pilot: Much like her father, Anakin, Leia was extremely skilled in piloting various speeders and every type of flying crafts.
- Lightsaber Skills: Like most Force-users, Leia was skilled in lightsaber combat.
- Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader/Negotiation: Much like her father, Anakin, Leia was amazingly intelligent and wise. As a formal member of the Rebel Alliance and the leader of the Resistance, Leia was a highly skilled tactician and very a capable leader. She was also highly skilled in diplomacy and negotiation.
Weapons and Equipment
- Defender sporting blaster pistol: Leia utilizes a Defender sporting blaster pistol as her weapon of choice.
- Lightsaber: At some point after the Battle of Endor, Leia had built a blue-bladed lightsaber.
Film Appearances
Revenge of the Sith
By the film's chronology, Leia first appears as an infant in Revenge of the Sith, when Padmé Amidala gives birth to her and her twin brother Luke, naming them at the asteroid Polis Massa. Strangely, she remembers her mother's death.
After Padmé dies in childbirth, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda decide that they must hide the Skywalker children from their father, former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who has recently turned to the dark side of the Force and become the Sith Lord Darth Vader, right hand to Emperor Sheev Palpatine, also known as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Leia is sent to Alderaan with R2-D2 and C-3PO and her adoptive parents, Bail Organa and Breha Organa, where the Jedi believe she will be safe from the newly-declared Galactic Empire.
A New Hope
Leia is introduced as the Princess of Alderaan and a member of the Imperial Senate. Darth Vader captures her on board the ship Tantive IV, where she is acting as a spy for the Rebel Alliance. He accuses her of being a traitor and demands to know the location of the secret technical plans of the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's newest and most powerful weapon. Unknown to Vader, the young senator has hidden the plans inside the Astromech droid R2-D2 and has sent it to find Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on the nearby planet of Tatooine. Leia tries to deny any knowledge of the plans, even warning Vader of what would happen should word of her capture by him reach the Imperial Senate back on Coruscant, but Vader knows better and has her taken away by his elite 501st Legion to be incarcerated back on the Death Star in Detention Block AA-23 in cell 2187.
"Ain't you a bit short for a Stormtrooper?"
Later on, Vader has her tortured, but she resists telling him anything. Still believing she could be useful, the Death Star's commander, Grand Moff Tarkin, Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, threatens to destroy Alderaan with the superweapon unless she reveals the location of the hidden Rebel base. Horrified, she pleads with him not to use the superlaser on her home planet, but Tarkin makes it clear he will unless she tells them what they want. After he asks one final time for the Rebellion's whereabouts, faced with no other alternative for the sake of her planet, she lies to them, saying the Rebellion is on Dantooine (which was partially right since there was an abandoned Rebel base there), and Tarkin orders Alderaan to be destroyed anyway, with Leia being restrained by Darth Vader to watch helplessly as Bail and millions of lives are wiped out instantly to show the fear the Empire poses to the galaxy with the battle station. She is finally rescued by Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, the Wookiee Chewbacca, and the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. They finally escape, at the expense of Obi-Wan's life, which was sacrificed in a duel with Vader. They take part in the Battle of Yavin, in which Luke destroys the Death Star in his X-wing fighter. Leia remained at the command center in the ancient Massassi Temple on Yavin IV to watch the battle from there and listen to the radio communications between the fighters sent to take out the Death Star, being relieved when she hears Wedge save Luke from a TIE Fighter that was hot on Luke's tail before Wedge destroyed it in a head-on attack. However, she becomes more and more worried as the Death Star looms closer into firing position as she hears the attack runs on the exhaust port fail as Gold Squadron's Y-Wings are taken out by Darth Vader, Red Leader Garven Dreis and his squadron fail after he got his torpedoes off, but they failed to enter the exhaust port, and soon Luke is in Vader's targeting sights after Wedge is forced to pull out and Biggs is shot down, leaving the Death Star in position to fire on Yavin IV.
As all hope seems lost, Han and Chewie return in the Falcon to take out Vader and his wingmen, surprising Leia when she hears Han's voice on the communicator telling Luke he's all clear to take the shot, and Luke succeeds in destroying the Death Star. Leia meets up with him back in the hangar, overjoyed at his triumph, but is deeply worried once she sees the damage Vader caused to R2 as Rebel mechanics assure 3PO they will start repairs on R2 immediately, before heading off with Han, Luke, and Chewie to celebrate.
Later, back at the Massassi Temple at the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4, the radiant Princess Leia Organa presents the Alderaanian Medal of Freedom to her rescuers and the heroes of the battle.
The Empire Strikes Back
In The Empire Strikes Back, set three years later, Leia is at the Rebel base on Hoth after the Rebellion was forced to flee Yavin 4 and find a new base of operations due to the Empire. She later helps with the evacuation of Hoth during an Imperial attack, remaining at her station until Han forces her to leave with him. She flees with C-3PO, Han, and Chewbacca on Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon after a cave-in prevents her from reaching one of the Rebel GR-75 Medium Transports evacuating the Rebels from Hoth. Although they are pursued by Imperial TIE Fighters, they dodge their fire by flying into an asteroid field when the Falcon's hyperdrive breaks down. Romance blossoms between Leia and Han during their flight from the Empire; while hiding in the stomach of a Space Slug, she finally shares a kiss with the smuggler.
Han and Leia's first kiss.
After leaving the asteroid belt, they are pursued by the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger, but manage to escape it by latching on to the back of the conning tower until the Star Destroyer dumps its garbage before jumping into hyperspace to search for them. Later, when they stop at Bespin for repairs, Han's friend Lando Calrissian turns them over to Vader, who uses them as bait for Luke. Han is also used as a test subject for the carbon freezing chamber meant for Luke, and it is there that Leia finally confesses her love for Han. Vader then gives the frozen Han to bounty hunter Boba Fett to give to the Hutt crime lord Jabba the Hutt, to whom Han owes a very large debt. Eventually, Lando helps Leia, Chewbacca, and the two droids escape. Before they escape, Chewbacca chokes Lando for giving Solo to Darth Vader and Boba Fett and Leia angrily tells him that they do not need of his help. However, she changes her mind when he pleads that they can still try to stop Fett from leaving, and orders Chewie to let him go. While escaping, she senses that Luke is in trouble and makes them go back for him. They save Luke, who has fallen into the trap and has lost a hand after a near-fatal duel against Vader. They are nearly captured by Vader's personal flagship of the Imperial Navy, the Star Dreadnought Executor, but R2 reactivates the hyperdrive, allowing them to escape and rejoin the Alliance Navy. While on a Rebel Medical Frigate, both Luke and Leia, along with R2-D2 and C-3PO watch on as Lando and Chewbacca set off in the Millennium Falcon to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt, which Lando promised Leia.
Return of the Jedi
In Return of the Jedi, set a year after its previous film, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, Luke (now nearly a Jedi Knight), and the droids go to Tatooine to try to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. Leia's part of the plan consists of posing as the Ubese bounty hunter Boushh, who will turn Chewbacca over to Jabba. Her ruthless bargaining, negotiating the price for Chewbacca while holding an armed thermal detonator grenade, impresses Jabba enough to allow her quarters in the palace for the night; in the night, Leia frees Han from his carbonite sleep. However, Jabba ambushes them (as he was suspicious because Boushh was already dead), and she eventually gets captured by the Huttese gangster after he discovers her real identity. He then makes Leia his new slave girl to replace his former one, Oola (whom he fed to the Rancor when she tried to rebel against him the previous day), and eventually forces her to wear a gold metal bikini, while suffering her bound torture from the Hutt.
Leia has begun to lose hope, but her spirits rose when Luke arrives at the palace. After Luke kills Jabba’s pet Rancor, the Hutt sentences Luke, Han, and Chewbacca to be fed to the Sarlacc, while Leia watches from the Khetanna, Jabba’s sail barge (as Jabba still intended to make her his personal slave girl for life). Just as all seems lost, Luke reclaims his lightsaber, and Lando (who had been disguised as one of Jabba’s guards the whole time) helps Luke, Han, and Chewbacca overpower their captors. Leia seizes the moment to kill Jabba by plunging the interior of the Khetanna into darkness (thus making it so that Jabba wouldn’t be able to stop her), and then strangles him with the very chain he used to keep her at his side. (Lore in Star Wars: Bloodline hints that Leia was able to strangle Jabba to death by tapping into the dark side for additional strength to pull it off.)
After Jabba dies, R2-D2 cuts her loose with an electric shock to sever her chain, and after Luke boards the sail barge, he rescues Leia. With Leia’s help, Luke uses a deck cannon to blow up Jabba's barge as they swing to safety, and ride on one of his Skiffs. A deleted scene shows Leia helping Luke fight off Jabba's men with one of their own polearms before he tells her to man the deck cannon to turn on the Khetanna.
Leia joins the others on Endor, where she loses to a group of scout troopers on speeder bikes. Afterwards, Leia meets Wicket W. Warrick, one of the local Ewoks that live on Endor, who takes her back to his home in the Bright Tree Village, and with help from C-3PO, they help reunite the Rebels. While preparing for a last battle with the Empire, Luke reveals to a stunned Leia that she is, in fact, his twin sister, and that Vader is their father. Initially reluctant to believe him, Leia realizes that Luke is right, and joins Han Solo in leading the Rebels in battle on Endor as the Rebel Fleet battle the second Death Star. Leia is slightly injured in the battle when a stormtrooper shoots her and wounds her in the arm, but nevertheless she still helps the Rebels, allied with the Ewoks, to defeat the Empire and win.
Afterwards, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother. When the Rebels and Ewoks celebrate their victory, Leia guides Luke away from three Force ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and their redeemed father, Anakin Skywalker.
The Force Awakens
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 Leia becomes a general of the Resistance, actively seeking her brother's location.
Leia embraces Han.
When the Resistance is called to Takodana, where BB-8 has been located, Leia encounters her estranged husband Han with Chewbacca and Finn. She and Han have a bittersweet reunion, and Han informs Leia that their son had been on Takodana just moments before she'd arrived. Before Han leaves to bring down Starkiller Base, Leia encourages him to bring their son home.
However, when Han attempts to persuade their son to return to the light side, Kylo Ren stabs him with his lightsaber. Leia senses her husband passing through the Force and mourns his loss. After the Resistance is victorious against the First Order, R2-D2 reawakens to reveal a map to Luke's location. Rey decides to search for Luke, while Leia continues on with the Resistance. Leia says farewell to Rey as she leaves with Chewbacca and R2-D2 to find Luke.
The Last Jedi
Leia continues leading the Resistance. When she is blasted into space by Poldin LeHuse her son's wing mate, she miraculously uses the Force to return to the Raddus. Unfortunately for her, the Resistance is ultimately devastated following Luke's death during the Battle of Crait and she informs they have everything in order to rebuild the Resistance. She also demotes Poe Dameron from commander to captain for sacrificing Resistance pilots in reckless assaults against the First Order
The Rise of Skywalker
Leia trains Rey in the use of the Force as Rey prepares to face Kylo Ren and Palpatine in combat. Eventually, Leia dies using the last of her strength to reach out to her son and becomes one with the Force. She is seen as a Force Spirit with Luke at the end of the film.
It's revealed that Luke did train Leia in the ways of the Force and lightsaber combat, but sensing her son would die if she continued her training, she quit and gave her lightsaber to Luke, who gives it to Rey which she uses (along with Luke's) to defeat Palpatine for good.
Rogue One
Leia makes a cameo appearance at the very end of the Star Wars Anthology film, Rogue One. She is portrayed by Ingvild Deila with a computer-generated face of a younger Carrie Fisher and archive audio of Fisher's voice. She receives the Death Star plans stolen by Jyn Erso and the Rebel Alliance, setting up the events of A New Hope.
Television Appearances
Star Wars Rebels
Leia in Star Wars Rebels.
Leia appears in the Star Wars Rebels episode "A Princess on Lothal", voiced by Julie Dolan. At the time of the series she is around fifteen years of age.
After the Battle on Garel, Leia devised a plan to give the rebels three Hammerhead corvettes, ostensibly by going on a relief mission on Lothal where the rebels would apparently steal the ships. She was greeted by Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, who were respectively disguised as a stormtrooper and an Imperial cadet, as well as Lieutenant Yogar Lyste, who unwittingly foiled her plan by placing gravity locks on the ships, and ordered two AT-ATs to guard them. Requesting Lyste's shuttle, Leia flew with Kanan and Ezra to former governor Ryder Azadi's hideout. However, they found Stormtroopers had apprehended Ryder. The Ghost appeared and opened fire: Kanan, Ezra, and Leia feigned being taken hostage by Ryder and the crew. On board, Leia bonded with Ezra after learning he had recently lost his parents, assuaging his fears the rebellion might not be worth fighting. They then resolved to find a way to steal the corvettes.
Still disguised, Kanan and Ezra used the Phantom to escort Leia back to the depot, distracting a surprised Lyste while Ryder, Sabine Wren, and Chopper disabled the gravity locks and commandeered the ships. During the ensuing firefight, she saw Kanan use his Lightsaber to down an AT-AT, and Ezra use telekinesis to disarm a pair of stormtroopers, which gave her the opportunity to grab one of the rifles and use it against the troopers. When Ezra boarded the last corvette, she ordered him to make it appear they were struggling and stun her. When Lyste came to her aid, she berated him for his failure, and requested a shuttle home.
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny
Leia in Star Wars: Forces of Destiny.
Leia was in animated miniseries, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, voiced by Shelby Young.
The first short she appears in, "Ewok Escape", takes place during the events of Return of the Jedi after Leia meets the Ewok known as Wicket. While on their way to the village, she helps Wicket rescue two other Ewoks from Stormtroopers. By the end of the short, they arrive at the village, and Leia is gifted with a dress. Her second short was "Beasts of Echo Base", which is literally inspired by a deleted scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Leia and R2-D2 are looking for Chewbacca, who they find with a ferocious Wampa trapped inside the Rebel ice base. She appears in "Bounty of Trouble" alongside Sabine Wren. She allows Sabine to kidnap her so she can deliver data tape on Imperial base locations. At the same time, the two Rebels are confronted by the bounty hunter droid known as IG-88.
In "An Imperial Feast", Hera Syndulla and Leia teamed up for an adventure with Han Solo and the Ewoks.
Video games
Disney INFINITY 3.0
Leia appears in Disney INFINITY's third installment as a playable character.
Star Wars: Force Arena
Princess Leia is a playable character in Star Wars: Force Arena as a Legendary squad leader card.
Printed media
Star Wars: Princess Leia
Set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Leia teams up with Pilot Evaan Verlaine, when she learns that people survived the destuction on Alderaan and the Galactic Empire hunting them down across the Galaxy. The both begin a journey across the galaxy to save every survivor before the Empire finds them.
Star Wars: Bloodline
In the years after defeating the Empire, it is revealed that Leia became a galactic senator, and had a son, Ben Solo with Han a year after the Battle of Endor. However, problems arose between them due to Han's inability to stay in one place for long, as well as with Ben's struggle with the dark side of the Force. Ben's problem became exacerbated by the fact Leia feared to tell him that Darth Vader was his grandfather as well as her being called away often by political affairs. Hoping to help Ben, Leia sent her son to train with Luke and his new Jedi students. However, Snoke, watching from the shadows, began influencing Ben and eventually caused Ben to discard his identity and become Kylo Ren, destroying most of the fledgling Jedi Order that Luke had worked so hard to build. Han also left out of shame, unable to cope with the loss of Ben. Things further came to a head when she was asked to become "First Senator" (a position similar to that of Supreme Chancellor) of the New Republic, and was then betrayed by fellow senators Ransolm Casterfo and Lady Carise Sindian (a spy for the First Order) who publicly revealed that Darth Vader was Leia's father. Disgraced and humiliated, Leia resigned from the Senate and with the few people she knew she could trust, including her old friend, Admiral Ackbar, into forming the Resistance to fight the growing threat of the First Order. With her brother having disappeared after her son's massacre of most of the Jedi, Leia began searching for him to help restore hope to the galaxy, and to that end, ordered Poe Dameron to find Lor San Tekka for her, knowing that the old member of the Church of the Force held the key to finding Luke.
This book also hints at how, when Leia strangled Jabba to death in Return of the Jedi, she may have tapped into the dark side of the Force to give her the additional strength to kill him.
Disney Parks
Princess Leia in Walt Disney World.
Leia appears as a meetable character during the Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios, dressed in her "cell bay" outfit from A New Hope (specifically the scene where Luke and Han have to rescue her in the cell bay of the Death Star). Her hair is styled in the same way as the movie too, commonly referred to as the "doughnut/cinnamon bun hairstyle" by fans). Minnie Mouse also dresses up as her. During the Hyperspace Hoopla show, she wore her slave outfit from Return of the Jedi, albeit only slightly modified.
Leia also appears in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. It is unclear on whether or not she will return for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge as a meetable character.
Trivia
- Miss Piggy parodied her several times. Most notably on the Muppet Show where several Star Wars characters appeared, sporting her iconic hairdo.
- Her line "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." was parodied in the Phineas and Ferb episode when Baljeet sent out a holographic message, ending with "Help me, Phineas and Ferb. You're my only hope.", the message even had Baljeet turn off the holographic recorder.
- Also in the episode, her line "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" is parodied when Candace Flynn goes to try out to be the next Flawless Girl, "Aren't you a little short to be the next Flawless Girl?".
Relationships
Gallery
References
- ↑ "STAR WARS: EPISODE IX CAST ANNOUNCED". StarWars.com (July 27, 2018).
External links
- Leia Organa on Wookieepedia
Leia Organa on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
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