A legacy character from LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is hiding in the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga as an unlockable character. While LEGO Skywalker Saga features many unlockable characters, perhaps one of the most surprising additions is a character that never even appeared in any of the films, shows, or other canon materials. This character is Rebel Friend, and his inclusion is actually a nostalgic nod to TT Games' second LEGO game, LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, which released back in 2006, 16 years prior to the release of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. While the character's inclusion may confuse fans new to the LEGO franchise, longtime LEGO players will instantly recognize the character, who played an important role in LEGO Star Wars 2.
Rebel Friend is a Rebel trooper who wears the garb that the Leia's troopers wore on the Tantive IV, only with a red shirt instead of a blue one. While he isn't the only LEGO Skywalker Easter egg not from the movies or shows, he is the only playable character not to appear in any canon materials. Rebel Friend originally debuted in LEGO Star Wars 2, where he served as the co-op player's playable character in the opening mission on the Tantive IV, helping Captain Antilles in his mission smuggle out the Death Star Plans with C-3PO and R2-D2 after Leia leaves the party following her placement of the plans in R2-D2. While the character is technically unnamed, the red shirt sets him apart as a unique character in the game.
The character makes a return to LEGO Star Wars as one of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's many collectibles. While The Skywalker Saga's interpretation of the Tantive IV escape has the players taking on the roles of Leia and Captain Antilles for the entire mission and never introduces Rebel Friend, the character can still be unlocked by playing through the game's open world. On Hoth's Echo Base map, there is a quest that players can take on called The Healing Power Of Crystals. The quest takes players to Crait, where they have to farm healing crystals and bring them back to Hoth. Completing the quest unlocks Rebel Friend.
Rebel Friend Was An Important Character In LEGO Star Wars 2
While it doesn't match LEGO The Skywalker Saga's 300+ playable characters, LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy featured an impressive cast of 50 playable characters, a roster that might be easy to get lost in as a minor character. However, Rebel Friend ends up standing out among the rest of the cast, despite the character's relative obscurity. This is because the character becomes player 2's default character when loading into the Mos Eisley Cantina Hub World upon starting the game each time. Unlike The Skywalker Saga, the game does not remember the last character the player was using in the hub the last time they played, so it just loads up the character they were playing at the end of the first level.
Because of this, Rebel Friend becomes one of the most memorable characters in the game, even among LEGO Star Wars' cast of classic minifigure characters. Since 2006, Rebel Friend has grown into a fan-favorite character for many gamers that grew up with LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, inspiring many memes, fan art, and even custom LEGO minifigures in the character's image. And while the character's appearance in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is an Easter egg rather than a significant role, it is still a very welcome one for many fans feeling nostalgic over the last time they got to play through the original Star Wars trilogy in LEGO form.