In the original Star Wars movie, when Ben Kenobi arrived in Mos Eisley Cantina seeking a pilot to take him to Alderaan, Han Solo was introduced as a cynical lone wolf. Aside from his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, he didn’t have a lot of friends or emotional attachments. That all changed after his first adventure with the Rebel Alliance, of course.
By the end of the original trilogy, Han had amassed an impressive social circle of close friends. Throughout the Rebellion’s struggle against the Empire – and later in the Resistance’s struggle against the First Order – Han teamed up with a bunch of fellow icons.
Maz Kanata
It wouldn’t feel like a Star Wars movie without a detour through a shady bar filled with bizarre alien creatures. In The Force Awakens, Han takes Rey, Finn, and Chewie to Maz Kanata’s castle.
Every Star Wars hero worth their salt has a friend who runs a bar or restaurant and gives them the inside track on the galaxy’s underground dealings. Where Obi-Wan Kenobi has Dexter Jettster, the proprietor of a ‘50s-style diner, Han has Maz, the proprietor of a castle that serves drinks.
Finn
Han takes Finn under his wing throughout The Force Awakens, giving him advice on everything from blaster combat to relationships. When he realizes Finn is lying to Rey, Han warns his young ward that she’ll eventually find out.
John Boyega shared terrific on-screen chemistry with a hilariously deadpan Harrison Ford in scenes like their arrival on Starkiller Base when Finn reveals he’s not as qualified as he led them to believe: “That’s not how the Force works!”
Qi’ra
In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Han’s backstory explains why he was so reluctant to make emotional attachments in the original trilogy. He escaped his homeworld of Corellia with Qi’ra, the love of his life, and she ended up betraying him years later.
Throughout Solo, Emilia Clarke plays Qi’ra as a mysterious femme fatale opposite Han. While she makes a fun sidekick for the iconic smuggler, she ultimately double-crosses him and reveals that she’s secretly been working for Darth Maul.
Luke Skywalker
Han initially doesn’t get along with Luke when they meet. He sees Luke as a naive, bright-eyed farm boy whose belief in the Force and the Rebellion is at odds with Han’s own belief in himself. But by the end of the movie, Han comes around to Luke’s selfless way of thinking and sees the value in the Rebels’ cause.
While Luke is flying across the trenches of the Death Star with TIE fighters on his tail, Han gloriously returns in the Falcon to shoot the TIE fighters away, allowing Luke to destroy the Empire’s superweapon.
Lando Calrissian
One of Han’s longest and most complicated relationships is with Lando Calrissian. As detailed by Solo: A Star Wars Story, they were friends who pulled off a job together, then became frenemies when Han used Lando’s sabacc trick against him to win the Falcon from him. Han only got back in touch with Lando out of desperation, because he became the administrator of Cloud City and they needed a place to lay low from the Empire.
Lando initially betrays them when they arrive on Bespin, but eventually sees the error of his ways and joins the Rebels. From then on, Han and Lando were the best of friends. During the attack on the second Death Star, when all the other Rebels underestimate Han, Lando continually assures them that his buddy will get the shield generator down if they just buy him some more time.
Rey
There are a lot of character dynamics in The Force Awakens – Finn’s budding friendship with Poe, Han and Leia’s strained relationship with their dark-side son, Rey’s one-sided back-and-forth with BB-8, etc. – but, arguably, the heart of the movie is Han’s heartwarming dynamic with Rey.
Han meets Rey after she steals the Millennium Falcon to escape from Jakku. After she helps him out of a jam with some pirates he owes money to, he ends up becoming a sort of father figure to the promising young Jedi. Once Rey gets over being starstruck in the presence of a Rebel hero, they develop such a palpable father-daughter relationship that Han being Rey’s father became a popular fan theory.
Leia Organa
Han and Leia don’t get along when they first meet on the original Death Star. But throughout The Empire Strikes Back, when they’re stuck aboard the Falcon on the run from Imperial forces, they finally confront their romantic feelings for each other and fall in love.
In Return of the Jedi, Han and Leia lead the team in charge of shutting off the shield generator to allow the Rebel fleet to destroy the second Death Star. When Leia saves Han’s life, she throws his own quip back in his face. He says, “I love you,” and she wryly replies, “I know.”
Chewbacca
It goes without saying that Han’s greatest team-up in the Star Wars universe is Chewbacca. Ever since Han was fed to a shackled Chewie and they escaped captivity together, the two have shared an endearing man-and-his-dog dynamic. Han and Chewie have always had each other’s backs. Whenever something bad happens to Han, like getting frozen in carbonite or stabbed in the torso, Chewie is always the most heartbroken.
It’s not easy to develop tangible on-screen chemistry with a “walking carpet,” but Ford and Peter Mayhew created one of the most charming friendships in film history with Han and Chewie’s unbreakable partnership.