Star Wars is filled with excellent characters but a few don’t get the credit they deserve. Here are the top five crime bosses in Star Wars films.
The Star Wars films have been filled with spectacular characters from Jedis to smugglers and heroes to villains. While there have been plenty of great criminal characters, let’s focus specifically on crime bosses — those that have run their own syndicates.
These are all characters that appeared to have been the leader of a crime organization. Although there were tremendous and powerful crime bosses throughout the Star Wars universe in video games, books and even comics, this list is reserved for crime bosses that were actually featured in a film.
Jabba the Hutt – Hutt Cartel
Throughout the history of Star Wars one crime boss has become as synonymous as any main character from the films — Jabba the Hutt.
Jabba Desilijic Tiure was the leader of the Grand Hutt Council that comprised a number of individuals from the Hutt Clan, which ruled over the Hutt Cartel. Residing in his palace on Tatooine, Jabba held trafficking control for a majority of illegal goods, piracy and slavery throughout the Outer Rim.
His influence was so renowned that competing galactic governments such as the Galactic Republic, Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Empire all sought his alliance. Rather than an independent army, Jabba the Hutt employed a massive amount of highly trained mercenaries as well as body guards to ensure his protection and enforce his criminal authority.
Around 600 years old, Jabba himself was dangerously formidable by displaying his ability to repel Luke’s Jedi mind tricks in Return of the Jedi. While many other crime syndicates existed throughout the Star Wars universe, none rivaled the size of the Hutt Cartel and all sought an alliance, proving Jabba the Hutt was clearly the most powerful crime boss in the galaxy.
Lady Proxima – White Worms
Although we didn’t get to see much of Lady Proxima in Solo, it didn’t take long to recognize her authority. A massive worm-like creature, Proxima was a Grindalid that stood over 16-feet tall. Her Grindalid species were native to a world with a dense atmosphere that filtered out sunlight. This is why her skin burned on contact with the sunlight during Han and Qi’ra’s escape from her lair.
Lady Proxima was the leader of the White Worms, a gang operating on Corellia. The White Worms were comprised of Lady Proxima’s “children,” who were taken in and given shelter in exchange for criminal activities.
This was seen in Han’s interaction with Lady Proxima as he was going to be punished as “consequences for disobedience” because of his failure in an exchange of coaxium. Lady Proxima and the White Worms may not have had the most impactful intergalactic criminal authority but she was clearly a major part of Han Solo’s childhood so we can at least appreciate her for that.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm/Solo: A Star Wars Story
Maul – Crimson Dawn
Possibly the best part of Solo: A Star Wars Story was the focus on criminal organizations rather than the galactic planetary governments were used to seeing. We learned that there were five main crime syndicates and based on other canons – such as The Clone Wars animated series – we can assume this included the Pyke Syndicate, Hutt Cartel, Black Sun, possibly Death Watch or Xrexus Cartel and of course, Crimson Dawn.
Although it originally appeared Crimson Dawn was led by Dryden Vos, we quickly learned after his death that the true leader was in fact the once Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, Maul. There are speculations of Maul’s future with Crimson Dawn in a Solo movie review but for the time being, have no real answers. Needless to say, Maul is obviously a force to be reckoned with.
As the original dual-sided lightsaber wielder in the cinematic universe, Maul proved his capabilities by defeating the renowned Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Equal only to Boba Fett, Maul has been in high demand by Star Wars fans for a return after his untimely death in The Phantom Menace.
How Maul became a Crime Syndicate leader has yet to be fully explained in the films but he is clearly one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy and has fittingly created one of the most powerful crime syndicates of that time.
Bala-Tik – Guavian Death Gang
Unfortunately, we were only exposed to Bala-Tik and his Guavian Death Gang for a short time due to Rathtars wreaking havoc through the Millennium Falcon in The Force Awakens. That doesn’t mean they weren’t worthy of criminal praise however.
The Guavian Death Gang was a crime syndicate that originated in the Core Worlds but were eventually driven to the Outer Rim after the fall of the Empire and rise of the New Republic. Almost like a gang of RoboCops, the Guavian Death Gang was made-up of cyborg foot soldiers that were injected with chemicals to increase their speed and aggression.
They also carried the latest tech in weaponry and communicated via data streams to their helmets. Although not much was known about Bala-Tik himself, we can only imagine it took a pretty tough dude to lead a pack of aggression-enhanced cyborg gangsters throughout the Outer Rim.
Tasu Leech – Kanjiklub
Like the Guavian Death Gang, the audience of The Force Awakens only got a glimpse of Kanjiklub and Tasu Leech. Unlike the Guavian Death Gang, however, Tasu Leech and Kanjiklub have a much more humble background. Starting as slaves to the Hutts on Nar Kanji, the Kanjis escape to a freedom of what they knew best, criminal activity.
Due to their humble beginnings, Kanjiklub used makeshift weaponry and brute strength to enforce their authority throughout the Outer Rim and combat their main rival, Guavian Death Gang. Similar to the Sith, leadership of Kanjiklub was won by combat which is why Tasu Leech was notorious for defeating many underlings that challenged his authority.
Tasu Leech wielded a “Huttsplitter” blaster rifle that the Kanjis used to break free from subjugated of the Hutts. Renowned for his brutality, Tasu refused to speak a word of Galactic Basic as he considered it a soft language for soft people. Tasu Leech was clearly an incredibly dangerous crime boss but like so many other great Star Wars villains, simply died far too soon.
What do you think of the crime syndicates in Star Wars? Is there you would want to know more about?