Why Doctor Aphra is the best character in all of Star Wars

Aphra has it all. Dodgy morals, fantastic character development, and meaningful emotional beats. She’s the best Star Wars character.

Star Wars does storytelling best when it pioneers the new and the exciting, and the character of Chelli Lona Aphra perfectly epitomizes this. Here’s what makes Doctor Aphra so great, and why she’s the best character in all of Star Wars.

Questionable, crazy morals

Doctor Aphra is a double-crossing, backstabbing, selfish character – think Captain Jack Sparrow in space. In the first issue of her latest series, we see her betray two groups in the span of seconds! She has no moral compass and this is what makes her such a great character.

Her willingness to do anything and sacrifice anyone to get to her prize makes storytelling opportunities around her character limitless. We see her team up with Vader and betray him, ally with murder droids who become her greatest enemies, ally with both the Empire and the Rebellion.

By breaking moral boundaries, Aphra can be found in any and all corners of the Star Wars universe, a trait possessed by no other Star Wars character, thus making her the very best.

What’s more, by introducing such a flawed character, there is a wealth of opportunities for character development, and, my goodness, do we get them.

Watching Aphra slowly build up relationships and a found family as her series progresses is all the more meaningful because of her morally questionable past. These relationships feel earned and are thus more powerful for the audience than those of any other Star Wars character.

Powerful emotions  

Despite being an outwardly emotionless character, Aphra in fact displays some of the most powerful emotions in all of Star Wars.

From her breakdown in Accresker Jail to her confession of love for Tolvan, Aphra’s emotional beats are made all the more meaningful because of their scarcity and the fact that she clearly tries to repress them.

From the first comic, we see the reality of Aphra’s emotions – her struggles with her own immorality and her emotional distance – and we are thus rooting for her to deal with them.

And she does. It takes many failed attempts, but we eventually get to see Aphra reconcile herself with her own identity — whilst also not losing that quintessential ‘Aphra-ness’ — in some of the most powerful moments in all of Star Wars.

Space Archaeology

At the most basic level, Doctor Aphra is the best Star Wars character because she is involved in the most unique, exciting, and lore-filled of all professions in that galaxy far, far away: space archaeology!

Aphra breaks into as-of-yet unseen Star Wars territories, such as the fantastically mysterious temple of the long lost Ordu Aspectu, or the wonderful gallery of strange Imperial warfare projects that is Hivebase-1.

And these places are not just interesting in theory. Through Aphra, we get to actually see the remnants of Jedi sects, cursed planets, and Wookiees with railgun heads. We get to see a completely new and exciting side to the Star Wars galaxy through the eyes of a fabulously unpredictable and engaging character.

That’s what makes Aphra the best character in all of Star Wars. She’s morally unpredictable, emotionally impactful, and, above all, just so cool.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra No. 1 is on sale now.