The original Star Wars trilogy has a near-unattainable air of magic that arises from a combination of richly developed characters, perfectly cast actors, timeless storytelling, and beautiful production design. Despite the best efforts of the filmmakers hired (and, in some cases, subsequently fired) by Disney, that magic will probably never be recaptured.
With its spectacular space-fantasy visuals and complex view of the struggle between good and evil, the original trilogy gave us a handful of iconic villains (as well as some not-so-great ones who are iconic anyway because they’re in this trilogy). So, we’ll be ranking them all below.
9 Salacious Crumb
Sometimes listed with his middle initial as Salacious B. Crumb, Jabba the Hutt’s Kowakian monkey-lizard sidekick hangs around the Tatooine gang kingpin’s palace and sneers at his loyal subjects. Tim Rose’s puppeteering in Return of the Jedi made the character instantly memorable, but not as a great villain. He’s more of a commentator than an active participant.
Crumb is memorable because he’s one of the Star Wars universe’s kookiest Muppets. The character’s distinctively scowling voice was provided by Mark Dodson, who is best known as a record producer, producing albums for such renowned heavy metal bands as Anthrax and Judas Priest.
8 General Veers
General Maximilian Veers led the Empire’s strike on the Rebel base on Hoth. This strike turned out to be relatively successful, as the Empire smoked the Rebels out of the base and got them on the lam. However, they didn’t infiltrate the base until the Rebellion’s top people had already escaped.
Veers was played by Julian Glover, who also played the villainous role of Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As far as Imperial officers go, he’s pretty cool-headed and to-the-point, but that doesn’t make him particularly interesting. And he certainly wasn’t intimidating or menacing in the way his superiors were.
7 Bib Fortuna
Jabba the Hutt’s right-hand man, Bib Fortuna, has a creepy, unnerving appearance due to his pale skin, blood-red eyes and the snaking protrusion that slopes around his neck. That appearance alone was enough to make him memorable, but he had an intimidating presence in the story, too.
He was Jabba’s majordomo; he’s the guy you have to go through if you want to do business with the powerful Hutt, and he’s not very approachable. Fortuna introduced Star Wars fans to the Twi’lek species. He would later be joined by the Jedi hero Aayla Secura in the prequel trilogy.
6 Grand Moff Tarkin
What separates a character like General Hux from Grand Moff Tarkin (both are pompous sidekicks to a masked villain) is the great Peter Cushing. Domhnall Gleeson is a terrific actor, but he doesn’t have the legendary status of Cushing. Cushing has a storied history of starring in Hammer’s horror classics, playing such iconic roles as Victor Frankenstein and Van Helsing.
He relished the opportunity to play Tarkin as a sneering, mustache-twirling bureaucrat. Whereas the “your mother” joke between Poe and Hux at the beginning of The Last Jedi didn’t really land, Princess Leia’s acid-tongued back-and-forth with Tarkin was always hysterical.
5 Greedo
Although his scene in the original 1977 movie has been ruined by countless re-edits over the years, Greedo is still an unforgettable Star Wars villain. He’s hired by Jabba the Hutt to track down Han Solo and get back the money he owes him. Greedo catches Han at gunpoint in Mos Eisley Cantina and they take a seat in a corner booth to negotiate the payment.
Han pleads that he was just on his way to see Jabba and tells him that he’s arranged a job that’ll get him the money to pay off his debt. Greedo isn’t having it, and right before Greedo shoots him, Han whips out his blaster and shoots first.
4 Boba Fett
Boba Fett’s role in the original trilogy is tarnished by his abrupt and underwhelming death scene. After introducing Fett in The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas had no idea how popular he’d become amongst Star Wars fans, so he killed him off with a fluke in the opening act of Return of the Jedi. Still, an unceremonious death doesn’t affect Fett’s place as a Star Wars icon.
When he was introduced alongside the other bounty hunters that Darth Vader was sending after Han Solo in Empire, he stood out because he was the only one that Vader warned about “disintegrations.” And he was the one who caught Han in the end.
3 Jabba The Hutt
Guillermo del Toro has proposed a Jabba the Hutt trilogy charting his rise to power, a la The Godfather, and Lucasfilm should just write him a blank check and let him get to work because that sounds incredible.
In the original trilogy, Jabba’s time to shine comes in the opening act of Return of the Jedi. There, the Rebels infiltrate the gangster’s palace, one by one, to save Han from his carbonite freezing. They get captured by Jabba’s goons, one by one, culminating in an epic showdown over the Sarlacc Pit. Unlike Boba Fett, Jabba’s death is spectacular, as Leia strangles him with the chains he put her in.
2 Emperor Palpatine
The most revered twist in The Empire Strikes Back is the revelation that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. But there’s also an underrated twist: the reveal that there’s an even more powerful puppet-master controlling Vader’s actions. The Emperor was introduced as a hologram in Empire before appearing in the flesh in Return of the Jedi.
Palpatine paved the way for Anakin Skywalker’s redemption, providing an intense emotional climax for the trilogy by being so evil that it pushed Anakin back to the light side of the Force. Ian McDiarmid has always played the Emperor brilliantly, and his deceptively camp performance, frightful grin, and snarling line delivery created an icon.
1 Darth Vader
Darth Vader isn’t just the greatest villain in the original Star Wars trilogy; he’s one of the greatest villains in film history, ranking alongside Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. Vader is introduced as an anonymous dark figure hiding behind a black mask, which is what makes the revelation that he’s Luke Skywalker’s father so shocking.
Suddenly, there’s a real man behind that mask – a once prosperous Jedi Padawan who was seduced to the dark side of the Force by a manipulative Sith Lord – and Luke is determined to bring back his humanity. Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi feels earned; it’s beautiful.
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