7 Top Han Solo moments from the legends

Han Solo is an epic character no matter the background. Whether canon or Legends, he’s a force to be reckoned with – and here are his top moments.

The Legends universe, formerly the Star Wars Extended Universe (EU), is a matter of some contention among Star Wars fans. What most of us don’t contest, however, is that Han Solo is an epic character no matter what the background.

Whether canon or Legends, he’s a force to be reckoned with (in a setting with the Force!). Here’s some of our favorite moments of the smuggler’s Legendary adventures that, while no longer canon, are still some of his best.

1. Han Discovers He’s a Prince

Spaceballs may have joked about a spoofed Han Solo character being a prince and marrying a princess, but in the Legends setting, our scruffy looking nerfherder actually is descended from royalty.

In The Courtship of Princess Leia (Bantam Spectra – 1994), readers discover that Han carries the blood of Berethron e Solo, the king who brought democracy to Corellia. C-3PO uses this lineage at a key moment in the book to confirm Han’s legitimacy to marry Princess Leia, which becomes a cornerstone event in the saga of the EU. The book is also famous for its use of the Witches of Dathomir, who are now canon thanks to the Clone Wars.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

2. Han’s Connection With Wookiees Goes Back Farther Than a Mudpit Brawl

We all saw it in Solo, a mudpit fight that ended with Han and Chewie on the run together, but in the EU, his friendship with Wookiees goes back almost as far as Han himself. As a young child in the employ of the pirate Shrike, Han befriended a wookiee cook, Dewlannamapia, who taught him Shyriiwook and adopted the orphaned child as though he were her own. He could only passably imitate the grunts of the Wookiees, and preferred a back-and-forth banter of Galactic Basic Standard and Shyriiwook whenever dealing with Wookiees.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

3. Han Was a Terrible Student – Graduated Top of His Class

Despite having little education, Han’s exceptional piloting skills and adaptability made him an invaluable candidate for the Imperial Navy. His class time was full of demerits for bad conduct and even accusations of having destroyed a small moon as a prank (a charge of which he was later acquitted), but he came out on top and was assigned the rank of Lieutenant in the Navy following graduation.

STAR WARS, (aka STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE), Chewbacca, Harrison Ford, 1977

4. Han Saved Chewie From Torture and Death

Sure, that mudpit looked dangerous and all. But its threat doesn’t compare to the devastation of a neuronic whip, the fate that Chewbacca escaped in the EU. The torture tool is a heavy whip that sends signals of exceptional pain to the brain while shorting out nerve endings for enhanced sensations.

It was in his early days in the Imperial Navy that Han was part of a mission to inspect a derelict ship with Wookiee slave passengers. On that ship, he first met the wounded Chewbacca who was trying to get the children to safety. For his refusal to follow orders and skin a helpless Chewie with the device, Han was sent into slave labor alongside the Wookiee.

Saving Chewie from his former commander’s blaster during the creation of the Imperial Hall of Heroes ultimately earned him the Wookiee’s life debt, along with a brand of traitor to the Empire.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

5. Han Defeated the Empire With Just a Ragtag Group of Smugglers

It was known as the Battle of Nar Shaddaa. A group of smugglers, with Han Solo at its head, overcame a massive Imperial strike force dedicated to leveling “the Smuggler’s Moon.” The encounter, recounted in Bantam Spectra’s 1994 The Hutt Gambit, tells how an upstart Moff led the Navy to believe it could stamp out the Hutt presence and its spice operations on the remote moon. It also recounts Han’s bravery and ingenuity at outwitting an Imperial Admiral and ensuring his first real battle against a trained Imperial Navy force was one for the history books. In the same book, he also teaches his buddy Lando how to fly in “the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.”

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

6. Han Actually Had Three Children (None of Whom Were Named Ben)

In the EU, Han and Leia had a pair of twins (whose exploits can, and do, fill volumes in the Legends universe) named Jaina and Jacen who were strong in the force. Their third child, Anakin, became a Jedi Knight and had his own adventures. Taking after his father, he was more than a handful for his parents, but the most touching of moments probably came after the EU death of Chewie in Hero’s Trial, a New Jedi Order book from Del Rey (2000). Anakin placing the blame for Chewie’s demise square on Han’s shoulders, and the nerfherder’s reaction to it, gave that series lasting emotional impact.

Thrawn: Alliances book cover. Photo courtesy Penguin Random House.

7. Han Tussled With and Overcame the Best of the Best Time After Time

Let’s face it, especially after Leia’s recent levitation trick, we recognize Han as the everyday guy in the lineup of bigger than life Star Wars heroes. He doesn’t have the Force, lacks the strength of his right-hand Wookiee and is arguably not even as charismatic as his human best friend. Yet time and time again, he’s overcome the biggest and baddest the EU had to throw at him. Han’s defeated Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Daala, the Yevetha and even thrown down against the Yuuzhan Vong (may they never climb back into canon).

He doesn’t need hokey religions and ancient weapons, even if his life seems inevitably intertwined with them. A good blaster, some faithful companions and maybe an offspring or in-law at your side, and you’ve got everything you need to overcome the forces arrayed against you. Perhaps that’s the real lesson to be learned from Han Solo, in canon or Legends. That, and of course: Shoot first.

What do you feel are Han Solo’s greatest achievements in canon and the Legends universe?