9 of the most-wasted Star Wars characters as picked from each movie

1. Episode I: Jar Jar Binks

Jar Jar wasn’t wasted for a lack of screen time if anything he had too much time on the screen in his debut in The Phantom Menace. The problem with Jar Jar was that he never got a full story arc or at least never got the chance to redeem himself for being a bumbling idiot.

Jar Jar was introduced to us as a clumsy amphibian-like creature who was banished from his city for being clumsy. Throughout the entire film, we see Jar Jar get into embarrassing situations. He gets his tongue grabbed by Qui-Gon Jinn for having poor table manners, he gets his beak stung by the energy couplings of Anakin’s pod racer, and he bumbles his way through the Battle of Naboo and only does damage to the enemy by accident. His story doesn’t get much better throughout the prequels, despite being a counselor to Senator Amidala, he ultimately is the one who gives Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers, sealing his fate as a detriment to the galaxy.

It would’ve been nice to see Jar Jar Binks get a chance in The Phantom Menace to redeem himself. Perhaps he needed to do something that would’ve required him to overcome his clumsiness and foolish nature. Instead of being afraid and giving up in the Gungans battle against the Trade Federation, maybe he could’ve stood up to the mechanized army and been a leader that earned the respect of his people. This opportunity was a wasted chance to redeem this character and save him from being one of the most hated in the entire catalog of films.