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There's much more to these unassuming Star Wars characters than you think.
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00:00Star Wars is perhaps the richest and most expansive franchise of all time, an impossibly dense universe that fans can
00:06lose themselves in for, well, basically forever.
00:10It's a world that's become populated with literally thousands of characters over the last 45 years, and though we're all
00:16familiar with the principal players by now,
00:19it is easy to dismiss those smaller roles as being inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
00:25That, of course, would be a mistake.
00:28I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Star Wars characters far more important than you realized.
00:34Number 10, Bolvin.
00:36You probably won't remember his name, and you certainly don't know his face, but Imperial Gunnery Captain Bolvin played a
00:43major, unintentional role in the Empire's downfall.
00:47See, at the very start of A New Hope, he famously told his subordinate officer,
00:52Hold your fire, there's no life forms, it must have short-circuited.
00:55When said officer prepared to open fire on the escape pod, jettisoned from the captured Tantive IV.
01:01But, of course, the escape pod, in fact, contained C-3PO and R2-D2, who were, in turn, able to
01:08flee to Tatooine with the Death Star plans, where they would eventually cross paths with Luke Skywalker.
01:13Had Bolvin ordered the pod to be fired upon then, Luke's heroic rise would have likely been prevented, as would
01:21the fall of the Empire.
01:22Hilariously, in the wider universe, it's actually revealed that Bolvin was encouraged not to fire upon the pod, due to
01:29the Empire's obtuse promotion system, which was tied to an officer's hit-to-kill ratio.
01:35Had Bolvin fired upon and exploded an empty pod, which wouldn't have counted as a kill, he would have been
01:41knocked down the pecking order for promotion, which is kind of amazing.
01:45Number 9, Barriss Offee.
01:47Jedi Knight Barriss Offee appeared in Attack of the Clones for all of about 30 seconds, hanging out in the
01:53background during a meeting of the Jedi Council, and later being seen fighting during the Battle of Geonosis.
01:59But Offee had a much larger role in the Clone Wars animated series, where it's revealed that she grew disillusioned
02:05with the Jedi throughout the Clone Wars, enough so that she eventually plotted the bombing of the Jedi Temple on
02:11Coruscant, and framed her former friend Ahsoka Tano for it.
02:15This ended up having wide-reaching implications far beyond what she ever could have anticipated.
02:21For starters, Tano was herself exonerated for the bombing, but then refused an invitation to rejoin the Jedi Order, having
02:28lost faith in it.
02:29Tano then left to take part in the Siege of Mandalore, ensuring that she wasn't around for her Master Anakin's
02:35turn to the Dark Side, which she potentially could have played a role in preventing.
02:40As a result, Offee's influence on the entire Skywalker saga is really quite immense when you think about it.
02:46Number 8, Poggle the Lesser.
02:48Forgive his silly name and just appreciate that Poggle the Lesser, who first appeared in Attack of the Clones, has
02:55a much larger role in proceedings than you probably remember.
02:58Sure, he's a public leader of the Geonosians during the Clone Wars, but it's often forgotten that Poggle both designed
03:05the Death Star, and during the Battle of Geonosis, gave the plans to Count Dooku, who then gave them to
03:11Palpatine, set in construction, in motion.
03:14As such, Poggle had a pivotal role in how the Galactic Civil War played out, even if he doesn't usually
03:19get much recognition for it.
03:21But without his involvement, things would have turned out quite differently, and the Empire would have been looking elsewhere for
03:27somebody to design their epic superweapon.
03:30Number 7, Admiral Kendall Ozzel.
03:33The most diehard Star Wars fans often credit Admiral Kendall Ozzel with ruining basically everything for the Empire, enough so
03:41that there are even theories that he was actually a rebel spy all along.
03:44See, in The Empire Strikes Back, Ozzel initially oversaw the Battle of Hoth, until he was forced choked to death
03:51by Darth Vader for his incompetence.
03:53His big miscalculation?
03:55Well, that was pulling Empire ship the Executor out of lightspeed too close to the Hoth system, which allowed the
04:01rebels to quickly detect their presence and realise an attack was imminent, giving them precious time to shield up.
04:08Had this dude adopted Vader's preferred tactic of exiting lightspeed further out and entering Hoth more or less undetected, they
04:15could have conceivably crushed the rebels outright.
04:18But this one, foolhardy decision gave the rebels the breather they desperately needed, and so his role in Galactic History,
04:25albeit one he'd probably prefer not to be remembered for, shouldn't be underestimated.
04:31Number 6, Quinlan Vos.
04:32Casual Star Wars fans may not know the name Quinlan Vos, though they might remember the distinctive looking individual hanging
04:39out in the background during Jar Jar Binks and Sebulba's confrontation on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace.
04:46At this point in time, the character didn't have any, well, character, but because he caught the eye of many
04:52fans watching the movie, he was eventually given a name and a wider backstory in various legend stories, such as
04:59Star Wars Republic.
05:00And long story short, Quinlan Vos was a Jedi Master with the ability to perceive people's memories by touching objects
05:07that they'd made contact with, making him an extremely skilled tracker.
05:12In the canon novel Dark Disciple, it's also revealed that Vos teamed up with Ventress on a mission to assassinate
05:18Count Dooku, a mission which, of course, failed.
05:21Vos has also appeared in an episode of The Clone Wars and has been referenced in both Revenge of the
05:25Sith and the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series,
05:28the latter seemingly confirming both that he did indeed survive Order 66 and has been helping smuggle Jedi and Force
05:35-sensitive children to safety.
05:37So yeah, that's quite the fleshed-out story for a cool-looking guy seemingly just chilling out during The Phantom
05:43Menace.
05:44Number 5, Masa Meda.
05:45Masa Meda first appeared in The Phantom Menace and is best remembered by many Star Wars fans as that blue
05:51-collared guy often seen standing behind either Supreme Chancellor Valorum or later on Palpatine.
05:57Though you might assume that he was just a random, relatively inconsequential dignitary in the grand scheme of things,
06:03Masa Meda was actually the Vice Chair of the Galactic Senate, which eventually made him one of the most powerful
06:08people in the galaxy.
06:10Despite his lack of on-screen action, though, he had a major role in the trajectory of Star Wars as
06:15we know it,
06:16aiding in Valorum's ousting while going on to serve Palpatine's interests,
06:21and being one of the very few aware of his Sith Lord alter-ego, Darth Sidious.
06:26This guy served Palpatine throughout the Clone Wars and even managed to outlast his superior,
06:31yet perhaps his single most important action saw him eventually surrender the Empire to the New Republic.
06:37So yeah, not bad for a guy who most people remember for his unique look above all else.
06:43Number 4, Davin Felth.
06:45When stormtroopers are combing the Tatooine Desert for rebel droids in A New Hope,
06:49one of them comes across a metal remnant from C-3PO and tells their superior officer,
06:54look sir, droids.
06:56Now you'd reasonably assume this stormtrooper was just a nameless nobody,
07:00but this being Star Wars, that of course is not the case at all.
07:04In Legends continuity, it's established that this stormtrooper goes by the name of Davin Felth,
07:09and though much of Feint's backstory is technically non-canon now,
07:13it's still fascinatingly comprehensive, and much of it doesn't directly contradict what we actually see on screen.
07:20It turns out that this guy was originally an ambitious Imperial officer
07:23who pointed out a fatal flaw in the design of the AT-80s,
07:28prompting Colonel Maximilian Veers, who oversaw the development of the AT-80s,
07:32to assign him to stormtrooper duty in an attempt to cover up his own embarrassing mistake.
07:37Ultimately, Felth came to appreciate the Empire as evil,
07:41and decided to help the rebels by acting as a spy from within the stormtrooper's ranks.
07:46Though it's basically self-parody at this point that even the most insignificant Star Wars characters
07:51have hilariously elaborate backstories,
07:54at least this one's really interesting, no matter its lack of canonicity.
07:59Number 3, Rick Ole.
08:00Rick Ole appears in The Phantom Menace as the pilot of Padme's ship while escaping Naboo,
08:05and though certainly not a background character who disappears into the periphery,
08:10few would assign him too much importance.
08:13Yet it's crucial to remember that Ole did one absolutely pivotal thing in The Phantom Menace,
08:18and that's he taught Anakin Skywalker how to pilot a ship.
08:22Without this impromptu lesson,
08:23Anakin wouldn't have been able to fly into the Federation droid control ship
08:27and destroy it from the inside.
08:29Ole's role is also significantly fleshed out in the expanded universe,
08:33where he joins a resistance group called the Amidalans,
08:35who committed themselves to avenging Padme's death.
08:38And in the 2020 comic Star Wars Darth Vader Volume 1, Number 4,
08:43Ole ends up crossing paths with Darth Vader himself,
08:46who promptly runs him through with a lightsaber,
08:49killing him dead,
08:50and further proving Anakin's monstrous transformation from the sweet boy he used to be.
08:55Number 2, Ki-Adi-Mundi.
08:57Though Ki-Adi-Mundi's infamous one-liner in Revenge of the Sith,
09:00that of course being,
09:02what about the droid attack on the Wookiees,
09:04made him seem like more of a meme than an actual character,
09:07this Jedi High Council member is actually a vital piece of the narrative puzzle.
09:12See, even if Mundi's question seems a little bit off topic at first,
09:16it has major consequences for the rest of the prequel trilogy and beyond.
09:20After all, if Mundi hadn't mentioned the Wookiee attack,
09:24Yoda wouldn't have traveled to Kashyyyk to help defend it,
09:27and instead likely remained on Coruscant.
09:29Given that Anakin's turn to the dark side unfolds while Yoda is away,
09:33things would have almost certainly been very different if he remained on planet,
09:37and potentially prevented him from being corrupted by Palpatine.
09:41So, let's give Ki-Adi-Mundi a hand here for sending Yoda off on a mission,
09:45when, in terms of the bigger picture, he desperately needed to stay put.
09:50Number 1, Finis Valorum.
09:52Finis Valorum was the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic,
09:56and as the only character on this list played by a major actor,
10:00the one you'll surely recognize above all others.
10:03Yet despite Terran's stamps casting in the role,
10:05Valorum appears for all of around two minutes in The Phantom Menace,
10:09even if he was an instrumental figure in Palpatine's rise as Supreme Chancellor,
10:13and later, Galactic Emperor.
10:16After all, it was Valorum's inability to stem out both corruption in the Galactic Senate,
10:20and the bureaucratic trade crisis in Naboo,
10:23which allowed Palpatine to persuade Padme to call a vote of no confidence,
10:27resulting in Valorum being replaced with Palpatine himself.
10:31Basically, Valorum let Palpatine play him like a damn fiddle.
10:35He was a pawn who, through his political inaction,
10:38ultimately aided Palpatine's ascent to Galactic Emperor.
10:41So, that's our list.
10:43I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
10:45Did you know about the wider lives of these characters,
10:47and are there any other secretly important ones I missed off here?
10:51Let me know, and while you're down there,
10:52could you please give us a like, share, subscribe,
10:54and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
10:58Even if you don't though, I've been Josh.
10:59Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
11:01We'll see you soon.
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