March is Women's History Month, and it's a time to celebrate the female characters of the franchise. Star Wars is huge, and there are so many characters to choose from. From the mythical figures like Princess Leia and Ahsoka Tano to those based on real-world politics like Mon Mothma to the hundreds of characters in the books and comics, it's wonderful to see the franchise has come so far from just saving a single princess on the Death Star.
As it has always been my favorite medium, I wanted to focus on women of animation. Again, someone like Ahsoka could be an article on her own. All the main characters of any of the animated series, from Star Wars Rebels to The Bad Batch, would all be worthy of this list as they are considered some of the best of the best. But what about the underrated women? Characters that left a huge impact on both the canon and on fans? It's time for them to get their time in the limelight.
Here are 10 underrated women in Star Wars animation in no particular order.
1. Steela Gerrera
Steela Gerrera might be one of the most important characters that no one talks about in canon. Specifically, I am noting in the canon, because fans adore her. I'm surprised Steela has yet to get a shoutout in live action as she's vital to some of the biggest characters around. Steela was in a significant arc for Ahsoka Tano and her demise left quite the impact on Ahsoka, shaking her to her core.
But more importantly, I'm surprised that her brother, Saw Gerrera, has never brought her up in live-action or at least made a nod to her in Rogue One or Andor. Steela's death is what radicalized and galvanized him into the extremist he is. She was his moral compass. With her gone, he had no one to check his methods or hold him back. Now, Steela has gotten a shout-out in Star Wars Rebels during the Saw episodes. By far the best addition is the comic Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation. It shows Saw's last moments where his final word is "Steela."
Steela Gerrera was a powerhouse character, a charismatic leader, a compassionate friend, and was an instant hit from The Clone Wars. It's surprising that she isn't referenced more in canon.
2. Aunt Z
All the women of Star Wars Resistance could be on this list. The show is woefully underrepresented despite breaking the mold and laying the groundwork for character-driven stories in later series like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor. Heck, it's Andor for kids! After the main characters, one amazing woman needs so much more love in canon: Aunt Z.
As the owner of a tavern on a refueling station called the Colossus, Z'Vk'Thkrkza (Aunt Z for short) was often involved in the show's events. This sassy and no-nonsense woman has clearly lived a colorful life, including being friends with a renowned pirate, Maz Kanata.
However, Aunt Z's best moment came in Season 1. As the First Order slowly invaded their home, stormtroopers wanted to recruit the teenagers of the ship for their cause. Not only did Aunt Z put herself between these fascists and the innocent kids they wanted, but she refused to give in to their demands, knowing it would get her in trouble. She knew they were rounding up aliens like her to ship off to "work camps." This action would be a death sentence.
Aunt Z did not care, and she was willing to sacrifice her life. Thankfully, Kazuda Xiono and Torra Doza rescued her and other aliens like racer Hype Fazon before the worst could happen. Aunt Z showed true bravery in the face of horrific villains to protect the next generation.
3. Numa
While Numa didn't change canon, I think her story is one we don't talk about enough. This girl would fit perfectly into something like Andor when you combine her complete story from The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.
We first meet Numa in the poignant Season 1 episode of The Clone Wars called "Innocents of Ryloth," one of my personal favorite episodes of the show. We see the horrors of war through this little girl's eyes. She's confused, not understanding why her family and home are gone. The moment when clones Waxer and Boil hand the child her doll, and Numa breaks down sobbing, still sits with me over a decade later.
It's a story about how war changes people, as the mission with Numa would stay with Waxer and Boil with the former having painted a picture of her on his helmet. These clones would stay with her too. As an adult fighting as part of the Free Ryloth Movement, Numa wore armor from the 212th Battalion in memory of her clone brothers. She followed in their footsteps to become a soldier in her own right to protect her home from the Empire.
Numa's story is one of heartbreak and how war can change even the purest little light in the galaxy.
4. Minister Tua
Minister Maketh Tua is a textbook example of "FAFO," as the kids say.
As someone who drank up the Imperial Kool-Aid, she was deeply loyal to the Imperial machine. While she wanted to eventually leave her backwater world of Lothal, she used the Empire to help her people. One example explored in the Rebels ancillary materials was by bringing affordable housing to the planet.
However, while she was loyal to the Empire, she quickly found out that they were not her friend. As she moved up in the ranks and finally ran into Tarkin, the Grand Inquisitor, Agent Kallus, and, most importantly, Darth Vader himself, Tua realized she was in way over her head with this whole fascism thing where they don't actually care about you.
What always fascinates me about Tua is the "What If" that could have been. She hints that the Emperor is up to something on Lothal, as confirmed by the episode guide for "A World Between Worlds." She might not know exactly what Palpatine's intentions were, but she was a high enough rank to know something. She was killed so early that we would have to wait for another two seasons to discover it was the portal to the World Between Worlds. Imagining a scenario where Tua told the Ghost Crew about Palpatine's plans would have changed the show's entire course.
5. Nala Se
Nala Se might be one of the most fascinating morally grey characters in all of Star Wars. She has been one of the most hated people to some and lauded as the hero who saved the galaxy by others.
The Clone Wars is her hated era, as she was often seen on Kamino talking about how the clones were property and having moral debates with Shaak Ti. However, her "Public Enemy #1" status was thanks to her actions in Season 6 that led to the death of fan favorite clone Fives. After Fives discovered the conspiracy about the inhibitor chips inside every clone that would make them turn on the Jedi, Nala Se injected him with a drug that muddied his mind. He came across as a panicking, erratic man who Commander Fox finally shot down before he could ever get the evidence out. Fans often saw Nala Se's actions as a direct line to Fives' death.
However, like Maketh Tua, fascism isn't kind to anyone. Nala Se showed in The Bad Batch she was loyal to one clone: Omega, the girl that she raised. Throughout the three seasons, Nala Se puts herself at personal risk to protect the child, something that lands her in Imperial prison. It's also Nala Se's actions in setting off a detonator in the information center of Mount Tantiss that set the stage for the sequel trilogy. By destroying the last of the Kaminoian cloning information, we see in later media like The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker that the Empire and Palpatine could never make the Emperor the perfect clone body he needed.
Nala Se has been both villain and hero, making her one of the most interesting characters to ever exist in Star Wars.
6. Agent Tierny
Sorry, Kylo. Agent Tierny is the scariest villain of Star Wars Resistance. What makes Tierny so frightening is the realism behind her character.
Tam spends the majority of Season 1 getting pushed out of Team Fireball. We, the audience, know it's because Kaz is a Resistance spy. Tam, the character, just sees her father figure, Jarek Yeager, giving preference to this new kid who seems to lie a lot and has no work skills. Yeager even lets Kaz fly Tam's ship that she bought to fix up for her own dreams to be a racer, and Kaz damages Tam's ship repeatedly with no consequences. She gets shut down by Yeager whenever she demands answers to why she has to clean up Kaz's mess. Tam has every right to be angry and hurt by the situation.
Tierny purposely targets Tam's pain and confusion, preying on the young woman. This is how radicalization happens in our real world. Tierny focuses on Tam's hurt and suggests a solution, a place to belong, and tells her that her talents will be accepted. Tierny offers Tam her dream to be a pilot on a silver platter and that the First Order would help her grow. After a literal season of Tam's family emotionally and mentally harming her even if it's for the Greater Good, Tierny's offer is too good to ignore. Tam joins the First Order.
How and why radicalization happens is a textbook example in Star Wars Resistance, and Tierny is the perfect villain for the job.
7. Mina Bonteri
Mina Bonteri made her debut in one of the most highly praised episodes of The Clone Wars, "Heroes on Both Sides."
Mina's impact triggered huge development for Ahsoka Tano, who gets a firsthand look that politics and the galaxy aren't black and white. Ahsoka is surprised to find that Padmé Amidala is friends with a Separatist. Padmé reminds Ahsoka that only recently Mina was a member of the Republic. Along with young audience members, Ahsoka learns some essential lessons which she would continue to take with her well past the series end.
However, it's Mina's death that leads into an important series of events. As the representative of Onderon, her son Lux took over when she was killed by Count Dooku's agents. Lux joined Saw and Steela Gerrera to help liberate his planet as they opposed the puppet King, Sanjay Rash, that was put in place by the Separatists. The group freeing Onderon brought the Republic back to their world. However, the Republic became the Empire. Lux, along with Saw, would become some of the first Rebel fighters to push back against Imperial rule. It would also be Lux, seeking revenge for his mother's death, who put Ahsoka and Bo-Katan Kryze on a path to meet each other, setting up the Siege of Mandalore and The Mandalorian Season 2.
Mina greatly impacted the world of Star Wars even when she wasn't there. Like Steela, she was a driving force for many important characters over the franchise.
8. Eleni Syndulla
Eleni Syndulla was such an incredible surprise in The Bad Batch's first season. No one knew she would pop up, and she immediately left an impact.
As the Republic turns into the Empire, it could be surprising at first to see the normally rebellious Cham Syndulla so willing to give into the Empire's demands for Ryloth to demilitarize. However, the man just fought a multi-year war where he was away from his family. He's tired and ready for peace. That's where Eleni stepped in.
She clocked right away that there was something wrong with this new Empire. She's the one who kept the fire of her people alive, instructed Gobi's resistance, and made her husband realize the fight wasn't over. There was a new enemy and Ryloth was not safe. She was the embodiment of Rebellion for her daughter Hera to look up to, something she would carry into Star Wars Rebels
I'm also so glad we didn't watch Eleni die on screen. It wasn't needed as we already know how her demise hurt both Hera and Cham later in Rebels. We didn't need the extra pain. And her death did change them both, galvanizing their fight in different ways. Eleni was only in a few episodes, but she left a major mark on some of the Rebellion's most important players.
9. Trace and Rafa Martez
Trace and Rafa Martez are so incredibly underrated because they showcase how and why Palpatine defeated the Jedi Order and the Republic. During Ahsoka's walkabout after leaving the Jedi Order, she meets the Martez sisters. Hiding that she's a Jedi, Ahsoka gets to know the sisters, where she finds out a pretty eye-opening lesson:
No one is immune to propaganda.
The sisters represent everyday people in our world. While some people are well versed in politics, the sad truth is the majority of people aren't informed. They have lives, jobs, kids, and the structure of Capitalism makes people's focus on trying to survive, versus what our political figures are doing. Think about it? Do you know what your representatives did today? Yesterday? Last week? Most people don't, which is why a lot of bills, laws, and more get passed before citizens know the repercussions of them. Some political parties want people to be uneducated. Remember, historically speaking, the people who burn and ban books have never been the good guys. Political parties want everyday people to not pay attention so they can keep their power. They twist the headlines to be what people have time for in bite-sized chunks, watching the 6 o'clock news over cooking dinner. It's how misinformation gets sewn into our lives, because a single parent with two kids who works 40+ hours a week probably doesn't have time to research every single bill our government is working on to call their senator.
This is Trace and Rafa. They come into the story already soured on the Jedi thanks to the actions of the Order. Their parents are killed by a chase from Cad Bane in an earlier season. In comes a Jedi Master who essentially tells them to believe in the Force and it'll be okay. These sisters who were more than likely just coming of age or minors were left with no help. The Jedi and the Republic failed them. These now orphans had to figure out how to survive. They do not have time to be informed voters or stay up to date with the war. Then, Trace says a chilling thing to Ahsoka:
She heard it was the Jedi Order who started the Clone Wars.
This is the moment where Palpatine won. Trace and Rafa are so focused on trying to put food on the table that they don't have time to debunk misinformation. If everyday people believe that the Jedi started the Clone Wars, that's where they were done for. They lost the everyday citizen, which is why Order 66 can go off so smoothly. Trace and Rafa are the perfect example of how the Jedi and the Republic failed and made room for Palpatine's victory.
10. All the women of Star Wars: Visions
Honestly, this could be a list of its own.
Star Wars: Visions has given us so many amazing female characters. We have Sith like Kouru, Masago, Am, the Mother, and the redeemed Sith Lola battling heroic Jedi like F, Rugal, and light side Force users like Lop and Kara. Proud mothers like Kalina and Loi'e who use their skills to save the day in their unique ways. Sisters like Rani, Koten, Tichina, and Ochō are desperate to find better lives and paths for their loved ones, even if that last one leads them down a dark path. There are fighters like Princess Misa, Hétis, and Ara, dreamers like Aau, Livy, Anni, and Daal, and even musicians like Kurti ready to rock the stage on Tatooine.
The women of Visions are vibrant, complicated, and unlike anything we have in Star Wars. There's a reason this show has won or been nominated for many prestigous awards. From young women to season veterans, villains and heroes, and everything in between, Visions showcases some of the best female characters this franchise has to offer.
I can't wait to see what Season 3 will bring us.