10 Worst Star Wars Movie Characters, Ranked

The one thing about Star Wars that everyone can agree upon is that no one agrees about anything when it comes to Star Wars. There are some who say that’s the result of a toxic fanbase, but it could be explained with simple mathematics. Once a fanbase gets big enough, there’s a greater chance of toxic and non-toxic people being in that fanbase, but there are also more opportunities for disagreement, since every member of said fanbase feels their own way about Star Wars. And there’s also so much Star Wars, beyond just the movies, so there are more potential things to argue about.

That’s all to say that trying to find the most annoying – or just flat-out worst – characters in Star Wars is difficult, and won’t be agreeable to all, but that’s what the ranking below tries to do. Also, the movies are being stuck to here, meaning characters exclusive to television, video games, and novels aren’t included. Also, characters who were annoying in one movie but praised in others probably won’t be included here. You may not like Anakin Skywalker as a kid, but he is Darth Vader eventually, and it’s hard to try and justify putting Darth Vader – at any age – on a ranking like this.

10

Phasma

Captain Phasma was a bit of a wasted character, in the end. She appeared in the best two movies in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (which might not be saying much), and didn’t exactly get a ton to do in either. She looked cool, and Gwendoline Christie is a capable actress, but she was sort of treated as a joke in The Force Awakens, exiting the movie anticlimactically, and then got a bit of a fight scene in The Last Jedi, but ultimately died and thereby departed the film series for good.

She’s one of those “why did they bother” sorts of characters. Phasma might not have been overly annoying or distractingly bad, but she was a missed opportunity. She added little, even as a “nemesis” of sorts for Finn, and hey, even he was a bit of a missed opportunity of a character, albeit not enough to make him an all-time bad Star Wars character.

9

C-3PO

Oh dear! This might be a hot take, since C-3PO is a staple of the Star Wars series, having appeared in films both good and bad. He’s there for all three trilogies, and he’s supposed to be a bit irritating, so you can cut him a bit of slack. Indeed, some slack’s been cut, which is why he’s relatively low down on a ranking like this.

But he can be a bit much at times, and generally, the more the other characters acknowledge how annoying he is (like Han throughout The Empire Strikes Back), the more tolerable he is. And C-3PO isn’t completely useless or anything, and his dynamic with R2-D2 is funny, but he’s the kind of comedic relief character who’s sometimes pushed a little far.

8

Dexter Jettster

Of all the Star Wars movies directed by series creator George Lucas, Attack of the Clones is the weakest. It’s the middle chapter in the prequel trilogy, and while it’s not devoid of story or things happening, it doesn’t really have the occasional – and somewhat redeeming – highs The Phantom Menace does, and it’s not nearly as strong as Revenge of the Sith, either.

It’s not the worst because of Dexter Jettster, who only appears in Attack of the Clones, but the guy doesn’t really help. Him and his oddly 1950s-styled diner are kind of fun for a laugh, but anything more than that, things get tricky. If you want to defend his inclusion in the movie, go for it, and yeah, he’s had appearances outside the film series, but just going by the movies, like, what’s his deal? Lucas, why? (Beyond referencing American Graffiti, maybe, for the hell of it).

7

Grievous

Speaking of characters who might be better if you take non-movies into account, here’s General Grievous, whose only movie appearance is in Revenge of the Sith. Now, he does score points for his design, having multiple arms like Dexter Jettster but in a much cooler way, and the fact that he can wield four lightsabers at once, all the while not being a Force user but still using Jedi/Sith weapons.

But he’s also such a loser. He’s hilarious, but does not work as a real villain, at least in Revenge of the Sith. He’s become a walking meme, and is beloved for those reasons, but if you take a step back and divorce him from the memes as much as possible, he’s ultimately not much of a physical threat, he’s bested in combat pretty easily, he’s sickly with a constant cough, and he’s also a coward. If he was supposed to be funny, then he served his purpose (again, just going by Revenge of the Sith), but if not, then he was a waste of a cool design and idea.

6

Snoke

Since Snoke is a bigger wasted villain than Grievous, he deserves to be ranked higher here. He’s set up as a big villain in The Force Awakens, and ultimately cut down to size in The Last Jedi, which was a fun twist, but then it wasn’t really handled well after. Pivoting to bringing back Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker felt like desperate damage control done by people who wanted to keep Snoke around.

So he exists as an initially intriguing big bad, then someone who’s not all that great, but then what happens after he’s gone seems to suggest that maybe he was supposed to be great, because the alternative isn’t really any better (Palpatine is great outside the sequel trilogy, so he’s not going to be lambasted here). Snoke is sort of more indicative of a broader problem with the sequel trilogy, demonstrating that lack of planning almost as effectively as…

5

Armitage Hux

…Hux. What the hell happened here? Again, Hux might’ve seemed initially intimidating, but then wasn’t really all that, and kind of got treated as a joke in The Last Jedi. And maybe that works, to some extent. It’s not like he ever had as much potential as Grievous, or seemed as intriguing/badass as Snoke might’ve been, in some other parallel universe’s galaxy far, far away.

But then The Rise of Skywalker comes around, and had no idea what to do with Hux. Worse than making him a pushover, he’s suddenly a spy in this movie, and someone who turns on the First Order for pretty ridiculous reasons. Throw him in with Phasma and Snoke as sequel trilogy characters for whom it was blatantly clear no plan was in place, as to what their arc(s) should be across three movies.

4

Joh Yowza

Joh Yowza is named Joh Yowza. That’s all you need to know. It’s barely any better than the memetic “Glup Sh*tto.” He’s barely in Return of the Jedi, but you feel every second of screen time he has, since he’s one of the vocalists on the infamous “Jedi Rocks” number at Jabba’s palace, and he’s also jarringly inserted as a CGI monstrosity, technically in the special edition, but that edition is the widely available one.

And it represents Lucas’ vision. He wanted to update the song heard at this point in the film, and it’s bad. The word “cringe” does get overused, but if “Jedi Rocks” isn’t cringe-inducing, then what is? But Joh Yowza (typing that name hurts) isn’t the only offender when it comes to Return of the Jedi, and specifically this scene.

3

Sy Snootles

Is Sy Snootles worse than Joh Yowza? It’s something scholars have been debating furiously for years now, and there is no consensus. She’s the other main vocalist in the “Jedi Rocks” number, and since she gets a little more screen time, has more vocals, and gets uncomfortably close to the camera more often than her fellow musician, she’s worse than him.

It’s amazing that Return of the Jedi is still watchable – and even moving at times – after a scene like this. There are a few other very contentious special edition additions found throughout Lucas’ original trilogy, especially in the 1977 original and Return of the Jedi, but “Jedi Rocks” might well be the worst of the changes. It’s a scene best skipped whenever you watch the otherwise good concluding chapter of the original trilogy (the Ewoks suddenly aren’t so hard to handle, in comparison).

2

Jar Jar Binks

As mentioned before, The Phantom Menace isn’t as awful as its reputation might suggest. There are some highs here, including the John Williams score, but you also get some crushing lows, and Jar Jar Binks is one of them. He’s like C-3PO dialed up to… not 11. Some number higher than 11. 12? 13? Perhaps even 17? Maybe 17’s still not high enough. Dare to entertain the possibility of being dialed to 19? Can something go that high?

Getting a spinal tap might well be more fun than having to deal with Jar Jar Binks. He is potentially over-hated, since he’s considered just that terrible (going after Ahmed Best, though, as the actor, was always a bit rough), but he’s not especially well-written, nor funny, and that’s on George Lucas. But if you’re a kid, maybe he’s fun. And, if you’re not, then at least he’s less of a presence in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

1

Zorii Bliss

As unexpected as the Spanish Inquisition is the placement of Zori Bliss, here. Who is Zori Bliss, you might ask… exactly! For some reason, she shows up in The Rise of Skywalker, being played by a very much wasted Keri Russell, and does basically nothing. You could argue she looks cool, but what’s the point? What’s the point of The Rise of Skywalker? What’s the point of talking about this? All of it. Tell the boss I’m tired.

Maybe she’s here as a scapegoat for the whole of The Rise of Skywalker; emblematic of its badness. She has no impact, legacy, or memorable lines/moments. She’s played by one of the best actresses in TV history for… reasons? And even the movie doesn’t know what to do with her, beyond having her there as a way to crush the undeniable homoerotic tension Poe and Finn had in the other sequel trilogy movies. Disney, ultimately, was equal parts confused and cowardly when it came to this whole movie. Throw it in the trash compactor. You too, Zori. In you go. Sorry.

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