Game Character:
Princess Leia
Character Bio
Spirited and tenacious, Princess Leia Organa in many ways embodies the ideals of the Rebel Alliance that she works so hard to support. More than mere royalty, this young woman can hold her own in a fight just as well as -- if not better than -- any Stormtrooper of the Empire.At an age too young to remember, Leia was secretly separated from her parents and brother by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This was because her father, Anakin Skywalker, had succumbed to Emperor Palpatine and the dark side of the Force to become Darth Vader. Obi-Wan's stealth in separating them succeeded, as Vader did not learn of either of his offspring for many years.
Though what was to become of her mother, Amidala, will likely not be revealed until the release of Star Wars: Episode Three, her brother Luke was sent to Tatooine, where he was adopted by Owen and Beru Lars. Meanwhile, Viceroy Bail Organa of Alderaan took in Leia, who grew up believing herself to be the planet's natural-born princess.
At the age of 18, Leia gained a seat on the Imperial Senate, where she tried her best to bring a sense of compassion, despite the Emperor's growing list of atrocities. At the same time, though, her father began to play a part in what would become the Rebel Alliance. Eventually, Leia found out about the Rebellion and enthusiastically contributed.
After many missions of espionage for the Rebel Alliance, Leia managed to obtain the plans for the Death Star, an Imperial battle station the size of a small moon with the power to destroy a planet. However, on a mission to recruit Obi-Wan Kenobi (now in hiding on Tatooine) to the Alliance, her ship fell under attack and the plans risked being regained by the Empire. Her only hope was to record a message for Obi-Wan and to store it and the plans into the droid known as R2-D2. She succeeded in doing so, as R2-D2 and his counterpart C-3PO utilized an escape pod to make their way to Tatooine.
Though the plans were away safely, Leia herself was not in the best of situations. Her ship had been boarded by none other than Darth Vader himself, who captured her and kept her as prisoner on the Death Star. Once there, she was repeatedly tortured and mind probed but refused to disclose the location of the Rebel base. In a radical attempt to get her to speak, Grand Moff Tarkin threatened to demonstrate the battle station's firepower by using it to destroy Alderaan. Shaken, Leia told Tarkin of the location of an old base. Calling her "far too trusting," Tarkin then gave the order to proceed with the destruction of Alderaan. Leia witnessed her homeworld's destruction firsthand.
Quite by accident, Leia was soon rescued from the station by Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, who had arrived with Obi-Wan Kenobi after their ship was taken in with the Death Star's tractor beam. After a tough fight and the death of Obi-Wan, they escaped via the Millennium Falcon to the Rebel base on Yavin 4. Along with General Dodonna, she helped prepare Rebel pilots for the assault on the battle station, which was later destroyed by Luke.
Following the great victory of the Battle of Yavin, Leia took up a more active role in the Rebellion, often traveling to other planets in the hopes of gaining their support. Leia's next great challenge came about once the Alliance had established a new base on the ice planet of Hoth. Imperial forces eventually discovered the base, and Leia was forced to evacuate with Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon.
Once aboard the ship, they (along with C-3PO and Chewbacca) were constantly pursued by the Empire. At the same time, Leia had to deal with Han's suggestive advances, which she didn't appreciate too much -- or at least did not appear to. By the time they were caught on Bespin's Cloud City, however, she began to realize her true feelings. As Han was lowered into the carbonite freezing chamber where he would be placed in suspended animation, the last thing she said to him was, "I love you." His response was a simple, "I know."
While prisoners on Cloud City, Leia and the others were used by Darth Vader as bait for luring in Luke Skywalker. It worked and Luke fell into Vader's trap. Meanwhile, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO -- with help from Lando Calrissian, Han's friend who had actually just betrayed him -- managed to escape in the Millennium Falcon.
Once it appeared that they were in the clear, Leia stated, "We have to go back." She had been receiving telepathic messages from Luke, who was hanging for his life from a weather antenna after a lightsaber battle with Vader. Leia and the others managed to save Luke and escape.
In the coming months, the focus at hand was to save Han Solo, who was now in the possession of Jabba the Hutt. However, Leia also found herself dealing with an assassination attempt of Luke Skywalker by Prince Xixor and his organization known as Black Sun. At one point, she found herself as his "guest" and nearly succumbed to the powerful pheromones which Xixor's species has the power to emit. When it was all said and done, though, Xixor's plot was thwarted by Luke and a mercenary named Dash Rendar.
When the time came to save Han from Jabba's Palace, Leia assumed the guise of a bounty hunter known as Boushh. With Chewbacca as her "prisoner," she gained access and freed Han from his carbonite imprisonment. However, she was captured and forced to be Jabba's slave. It took a heroic attack by Luke Skywalker to shake things up and free them all. In the process, Leia managed to use her chains of servitude to choke Jabba to death.
Once they had escaped, the next priority of the Alliance was to destroy a new, more powerful Death Star under construction outside of the forest moon of Endor. Leia joined Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and other friends on this mission -- specifically to destroy the station's shield generator on the moon itself -- but was separated from them during a speeder bike chase with Imperial scout troopers. She was soon found lying unconscious by an Ewok named Wicket who would lead her to his village.
Han, Luke and the others eventually caught up to her, but more as a potential Ewok dinner than as guests. After some "persuading" by Luke with the Force, they were released and the Ewoks would soon become a great ally. It was during a party celebrating this new alliance that Luke revealed to Leia what he had just found out from Yoda -- the two were brother and sister. Luke proceeded to turn himself in to the Empire, leaving Leia in tears.
After some tough fights and difficult situations, Leia, Han and the remaining Rebels eventually managed to dismantle the Death Star's shield generator. The station was in turn destroyed by Wedge Antilles and Lando Calrissian, and the Rebel Alliance soon became the New Republic.
Though videogames have yet to touch upon the period after Return of the Jedi, novels and comics have continued to detail much of the following years. Most notably in terms of Leia, she married Han Solo and has had three children, all of whom are powerful with the Force. She has also continued to be trained in the ways of the Force by her brother and holds a prominent seat in the New Republic.
EDUCATION: Taught by the finest educators on Alderaan in the ways of diplomacy
FAMILY: Luke Skywalker (brother); Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker (father); Amidala (mother, presumed deceased); Bail Organa (foster father, deceased)
BEHIND-THE-SCENES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: In original drafts of Star Wars, a 14-year-old Leia left her planet of Aquilae after an attack by the Empire and was entrusted to "General Luke Skywalker" (actually closer resembling Obi-Wan Kenobi) and "Annikin Starkiller," his ward who would fall in love with her. After the Empire's defeat, she was crowned queen. In later drafts, her character was changed and was even dropped from the script completely at one point. One of the final drafts featured her as being in a dazed state from the mpire's torture sessions in which she was carried around by {%Chewbacca.
HOW THE CHARACTER GOT HER NAME: Early drafts of Star Wars featured a planet called "Organa Major."
AMBITIONS: Freeing the galaxy from the iron fist of the Galactic Empire
HEROES: Mon Mothma, leader of the Rebellion
QUOTES:
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
"Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" (to Luke Skywalker as he attempts to rescue her)
"That doesn't sound too hard." (response to Han Solo's "Sometimes I amaze even myself.")
"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee!" (to Han Solo after an advance on her)
"Why you stuck up ... half-witted ... scruffy-looking ... nerf herder!" (to Han Solo in a fit of rage)
"I know." (response to Han Solo's, "I love you")
OTHER MEDIA: Outside of the Star Wars films and games, other notable media featuring Princess Leia include novels, comic books, toys from Kenner and countless Star Wars fan sites. Additionally, it's hard to find a piece of merchandise that the name Star Wars has yet to attach itself to.
SOURCES:
Star Wars, 20th Century Fox © 1977
The Empire Strikes Back, 20th Century Fox © 1980
Return of the Jedi, 20th Century Fox © 1983
Star Wars: Behind the Magic
Princess Leia Organa is a trademark and copyright of Lucasfilm Ltd. ~ Christopher Michael Baker, All Game Guide
