7. Biggs Darklighter
Biggs Darklighter, played by Garrick Hagon, is another character who ended up on the cutting room floor of George Lucas’ first Star Wars film, however, he did manage to make his way back into a later special edition of the film. In the early drafts of Star Wars, Biggs Darklighter was written to be Princess Leia’s brother, rather than Luke Skywalker. In a second draft, Lucas reworked Darklighter as Luke Skywalker’s younger brother, and then eventually he settled on making Darklighter and Skywalker friends who had grown up on Tatooine together.
Unlike Camie, Biggs ended up playing a much larger part in the Expanded Universe, as well as the current canon. Since the Disney acquisition, Biggs Darklighter has been mentioned in a number of Luke Skywalker-centric novels and even From a Certain Point of View.
A major part of Biggs Darklighter’s backstory in Star Wars: Legends involved his enlistment in the Republic Naval Academy, where he was taught by Soontir Fel. This was where Biggs’ rebellious nature took hold of him and how he ended up joining the Rebel Alliance which reunited him with his childhood friend Luke Skywalker.
Unfortunately, in the Expanded Universe, Biggs Darklighter was tragically killed by Darth Vader, which affected Skywalker deeply.