Star Wars has always been a franchise where the more outlandish you look, the more fans will take to you. They love seeing bizarre and, quite frankly, weird-looking individuals go about their business in the galaxy but, on occasion, the characters don’t always live up to how they look.
With that in mind we now take a look at 10 characters from the Star Wars movies that looked good, but ultimately did nothing to justify their brilliant aesthetics. And we’ll be starting with a Sith Lord who, in 2018, it was revealed wasn’t done with the saga just yet.
Darth Maul
There was once a time where Star Wars fans had just two true villains to hate or, if you’re that way inclined, admire. We’re of course talking about Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, who posed big threats to Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and the rest of the Rebel Alliance during the original trilogy. Consequently, when they got their first glimpse of Darth Maul prior to the release of The Phantom Menace, many were buzzing with excitement and ponderous about what lay in store.
But Maul ended up being a disappointment. He looked slick with his red face, devil horns and double-bladed lightsaber. Yet he said just a handful of words and was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi during the blockbuster’s final showdown. He’s returned for Solo, but still has some way to go before he lives up to the expectations people had 20 years ago.
Jar Jar Binks
While Jar Jar Binks doesn’t exactly look good - he’s not the sort of person you’d like to take on a date, for example - his character actually garnered similar attention to Maul before The Phantom Menace hit theatres. That was because he was all CGI and many expected that, given the effort put into his character, he’d be central to the plot.
Except he wasn’t. Even to this day, 20 years on, people dislike Jar Jar. He was deemed irritating and childish, with some skeptics suggesting he was created merely to appeal to youngsters around the globe. The Gungan was prominent during the first movie of the prequel trilogy but, thankfully, had his screen time drastically reduced for the other two installments.
General Grievous
Most people expected Revenge of the Sith to be about Count Dooku’s defeat and Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the dark side. Except this wasn’t the case with George Lucas throwing villain General Grievous into the mix. With four lightsabers in his hand, a rather cool-looking cape and a cyborg build, he was another individual that got fans talking.
And while Grievous fighting looked awesome, the character didn’t play a significant role. He was defeated relatively easily by Obi-Wan, whose able to shoot him in the heart and obliterate him. Truth be told if you take Grievous out of the movie, it doesn’t really change things.
Bossk
Star Wars fans got their first glimpse of Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back, when he’s told by Darth Vader to bring Luke Skywalker to him. The bounty hunter, with his lizardfish features and bright yellow outfit, immediately picked up a cult following.
And though he’s since been used in the wider world, when it comes to the movies that was all we got. Bossk is popular, sure, but he isn’t actually anything special. He fails in his mission of delivering Luke, with Boba Fett coming closest to delivering young Skywalker to his father (not that anybody knew that at the time). And speaking of Boba...
Boba Fett
We’ll give Boba Fett some credit. He successfully delivered Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, even fending off a late attempt from Luke Skywalker to stop the exchange from taking place. He holds his own against the Jedi Knight but, despite that, it still regarded as one of the biggest let-downs of the original trilogy.
This, mostly, is because of how he dies in Return of the Jedi. Boba is at Jabba’s palace when Luke, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia Organa try to escape death via the Sarlaac pit. Yet the bounty hunter is easily defeated, having his blaster sliced in half by Luke before he’s accidentally nudged into the pit and, seemingly, gone forever.
Captain Phasma
Moving onto the sequel trilogy now, and everybody thought Captain Phasma had one of the coolest looks prior to the release of The Force Awakens. With her chrome armour, neat cape and deadly-looking staff, people were sure she’d play a big role in the saga. But, like many before her, she ultimately proved to be a bit of a damp squib.
Phasma’s barely in The Force Awakens but, in the few minutes of screen time she gets, she’s easily defeated by Finn. In the following movie she then loses against the former Stormtrooper and is sent tumbling to her death. What a letdown...
Supreme Leader Snoke
We can’t write Supreme Leader Snoke off entirely, given that we still have one more Star Wars sequel trilogy movie to go. But so far, it’s safe to say that the character voiced by Andy Serkis has been a huge disappointment.
Snoke is battle-scared, he wears amazing golden robes and he speaks with an incredible aura and malice. Everybody was really intrigued by the character but were then left furious when he was surprisingly killed by Kylo Ren during an intense scene in his throne room. He definitely looks dead given we saw his body but we’re hoping the return of Emperor Palpatine can shed some light on his mysterious origins.
Praetorian Guards
Shortly after Kylo Ren makes the surprising decision to kill Snoke, rather than side with Rey, he and the Jakku scavenger find themselves under attack from the Preatorian Guards. Instructed to kill whoever harmed their former master, they wore amazing red outfits and sported unique weapons that looked like, if they struck you, it would definitely hurt.
Yet ultimately they were in the movie for two reasons: decoration and collateral damage. All the guards are killed within minutes and the only silver lining is that they weren’t the Knights of Ren, who director Rian Johnson had originally pondered using in their place.
Orson Krennic
We love Orson Krennic in Rogue One, we really do. He’s an evil, snarling, shmucky presence who takes great delight in inflicting pain and suffering on others. He’s played by Ben Mendelsohn, who sports a now-iconic white cape with a matching white imperial shirt.
Yet while he’s a formidable opponent for the likes of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor and the rest of the Rebel Alliance, he’s ultimately a bit of a pushover. He’s downright bullied by Grand Moff Tarkin and made to look foolish when he’s choked by Darth Vader, who even makes a joke about the whole ordeal. Krennic is one of the better characters on this list but, because of the way his peers treat him, doesn’t earn exemption.
Dryden Vos
Paul Bettany is a brilliant actor and many were expecting he and his character to deliver when he was cast in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. He sports a horrific-looking scar on his face, looks dapper in all black and also possesses a unique blade-like weapon that nobody had ever seen before.
But Dryden isn’t all that. He’s outsmarted by Han Solo and defeated by the smuggler’s on-and-off girlfriend Qi’ra. To make matters worse for him his death isn’t even mourned by Darth Maul, head of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate who Bettany’s character worked for. He’s a forgettable character but you can’t deny he looks the part of a proper Star Wars villain.