30 Best Star Wars Villains of All-Time

17. Grand Admiral Thrawn

This character is pretty interesting. He has no real power. In fact, he does not get into the action much. By all indications, he’s a military commander and not much else.

However, throughout his time in the Legends universe, Thrawn is a merciless and intelligent military mind. He’s a brilliant strategist, and he actually manages to nearly destroy the New Republic after the death of the Emperor. He also died leaving clones of himself to continue his plans for military conquest. Being the lone survivor and managing to outsmart basically everyone is a cool villain thing. He was the one non-human commander in the Empire, which on top of every other bad thing was horribly racist.

Thrawn does not have the glamour of other villains because he has no unique powers. He rarely even lifts a gun. Despite this, he wields immense power with an imperial fleet. He also knows how to use it. A series that has so many villains that are all muscle and less brain needs a couple of characters like this.

Thrawn is a very subtle villain, and he’s enjoyably evil without any of the dark side stuff. He stands out among a crowd of red lightsabers and angry villains. Credit for being different.

Next: 16. Even Star Wars Needs A Rich Jerk