5 New Canon Characters from the Star Wars Comics
By Kyle Warnke
Dr. Aphra
You wouldn’t think that the character of Darth Vader would function well with any sort of foil. But that’s exactly what the Kieron Gillen, the writer of Vader’s comic book series, achieved with Dr. Aphra, a droid archaeologist who’s recruited by the Dark Lord. Aphra is versed in the mechanics of outdated and rare droid models, and Vader enlists her to help him build an army of battle droids.
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Aphra functions mostly as a sly reimagining of Indiana Jones as a female who’s transported to the Star Wars universe, but the character also has some nice interactions with Vader. She’s careful not to upset the Sith but she’s also confident enough to try to feel out his plans.
Their relationship reached a turning point in a recent issue when she figured that Vader would kill her after she successfully completed the droid factory, but surprisingly he decided to keep her around.
Even if Vader’s hesitation was a sign of emotional attachment to Aphra and not just pragmatic thinking, I have a feeling that she won’t be given a happy ending given her ties to Vader at this point.
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