Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s 15 Most Obscure Playable Characters

The Star Wars universe is filled with a long, ever-growing list of scoundrels, droids, aliens, and other characters. Many of...

The post Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s 15 Most Obscure Playable Characters appeared first on Kotaku Australia.

The Star Wars universe is filled with a long, ever-growing list of scoundrels, droids, aliens, and other characters. Many of them have gone on to become fan favourites, famous villains, or iconic heroes. However, for every Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker or Rey, there are a dozen nobodies and obscure weirdos hiding out in the desert huts and backwater cantinas of that galaxy far, far away. And the recently released Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga embraces this fact, including many of them in its huge roster of playable characters.

With that in mind, here are 15 of the weirdest, most obscure, or most interesting background and side characters you can play as in Skywalker Saga. And no, this isn’t a complete list of all the obscure folks in the game. That would be far too long, and even I would have a hard time coming up with anything to say about some of those inclusions.

Beaumont Kin

As a big, dumb Star Wars fan, I was aware of just about every character on this list. However, when looking at all the characters in Skywalker Saga, I noticed this name and couldn’t place it at all. Turns out, this is who Lost actor Dominic Monaghan played in The Rise of Skywalker. Also, apparently he got the role via a bet with the film’s director, J.J. Abrams. And now he’s in here, taking up a slot on the roster. I understand, though. You don’t get to over 300 characters without some padding.

Yaddle

It was pointed out to me by a few folks I know that, despite my love of Yaddle, most folks don’t know about her. And I get it. Sure, while I love this female member of…whatever species Yoda belongs to, and dedicated Kotaku readers probably have now heard of her a few times (You’re welcome!), the vast majority of people out there probably have no idea who Yaddle is. What a shame.

Mr. Bones

Of all the characters in the game, Mr. Bones might be the weirdest, and not just because he is a bizarre red-painted, reprogrammed battle droid who wears bones. (Though that does help.) No, what I find odd about the droid’s inclusion in Skywalker Saga is that Bones never appears in any of the movies. Almost every character in this game appears in one or more of the main saga films. But not Mr. Bones. The droid mainly appears in some novels and a comic book or two. Meanwhile, my boy Quinlan Vos is left out of the action. Boo!

Willrow Hood

Can someone become famous and well-known for being very obscure? If so, Willrow Hood might be a great example of that phenomenon. This character is seen in The Empire Strikes Back during a scene in Cloud City. He is running down a hall in the background of a shot and famously is also holding an ice cream maker. Since then, the character has inspired lots of cosplay, jokes and his ice cream maker has even become a canon piece of Star Wars tech. Star Wars is very dumb. (I still love it.)

Bobbajo

Of all the random aliens that appear in the background of The Force Awakens, Bobbajo is my favourite. His design is one reason. But he was also one of the very first practical aliens we ever saw via a short video ad featuring director J.J. Abrams from 2014. And yes, people tried to create theories around this character after that brief appearance because Star Wars fans are wild.

Ello Asty

I put Ello Asty on this list mainly because I wanted to talk about his species: the Abednedo. They’re a new type of alien introduced in the Sequel Trilogy. And all of their names are references to Beastie Boys songs. This isn’t a joke or a prank. It’s real. Ello Asty, a pilot in the Resistance who appears in Force Awakens, is named after the Beastie Boys’ album Hello Nasty. I said this already, but Star Wars is so dumb.

Figrin D’an

Remember that scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where Obi-Wan and Luke enter a cantina filled with different aliens? You probably also remember the fantastic song that plays in the background. Well, that iconic and catchy tune was played by Figrin D’an and his band. And yes, the type of music his band plays is called Jizz.

Greeata Jendowanian

This list could have been entirely made up of aliens who appear in clubs or bars for a few moments and never show up again, and it would still be just as long. (Twice as long, really…) But let’s talk about Greeata. She was part of the Max Rebo Band and was dancing at Jabba’s palace during Return of The Jedi. So yes, she’s in the “Jedi Rocks” song. Thanks, Greeata. Sorry they retconned you out of Episode III.

Malakili

The big rancor in Episode VI isn’t just a wild animal, but a beloved beast named Pateesa. And the rancor’s trainer and carekeeper was Malakili, a kind man who raised the young rancor from a baby to a big ol’ monster. Of course, Luke Skywalker killed Pateesa in Return of The Jedi. Later on, in canon, Malakili would pick up the pieces of his life and open up a restaurant after being saved by Cobb Vanth, aka the sheriff from The Mandolorian. He was also in the PS1 game, Star Wars Demolition. But nobody cares about that.

Rebel Friend

In Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Leia partners up with a character simply titled Rebel Friend. Rebel Friend became a bit of a meme over the years, even appearing in The Complete Saga, and now he appears in Skywalker Saga. Like a good friend, he’ll never leave your side. However, if you’ve not played those older Lego games, you might be confused by his generic name and big smile. Don’t be afraid. He’s got your back.

Ratts Tyerell

Oh poor Ratts Tyerell…This was one of the many podracers who competed against Anakin in the Boonta Eve Classic aka that cool podracing scene from the middle of Episode I that everyone liked. Like many of the racers that day, Tyerell perished tragically during the event. However, unlike the other racers, Tyerell had invited his whole family — including his young children — and they got to be there to watch their dad bite it in some dumb podrace. A moment of silence for Tyerell.

OOM-9

There are a lot of battle droids in Star Wars. But OOM-9 is special. For starters, he has a unique name that still exists in modern Star Wars canon. Another cool thing about OOM-9: He shares a voice actor withnone other than Nintendo’s Mario. Not in the movie (and no, not with Chris Pratt’s Mario), but in the 2001 PC strategy game, Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. In that game, players can be OOM-9 and lead his forces to victory on Naboo in a non-canon campaign. And that version is played by Charles Martinet, the same man who provides Mario and Luigi with their well-known voices. See, you thought this slideshow would just be a bunch of silly Star Wars nonsense, but now you’ve learned some Nintendo trivia, too!

R2-KT

At first glance, R2-KT might just look like a pink astromech droid, perhaps just a repainted R2-D2. But there’s much more to this particular R2 unit. This “droid with a heart of gold” was created by a group of fans for a young girl who had brain cancer. When her condition worsened, Katie Johnson was confined to her bed and wished she had her own droid watching over her, just like R2 watched over Padmé in Attack of the Clones. When a group of R2-D2 builders learned about this, they quickly made R2-KT and sent it to the girl. According to her mother, she loved the droid and it was with her for her final days, watching over her.

Since then, the droid has become a part of Star Wars canon, appearing in TV shows and movies. And R2-KT, the real-life droid, continues to visit children’s hospitals, making them smile and raising awareness of pediatric cancers. No, that’s not dust in my eyes. Those are tears.

Ree-Yees

Ree-Yees had it rough there for a while. This male Gran is barely in Episode VI, with one of his only scenes cut from the film, and his name is a joke, conceived as a garbled-up take on “three-eyes.” So sure, toss him in the game too. Oddly, in recent years there’s been a bit of a Ree-Yees renaissance, with the character popping up in some video games, comics and elsewhere. Good for you Ree-Yees. I wonder what your future will be…oh, wait. He died when Luke and the rebels blew up Jabba’s barge in Return of the Jedi. Well…sorry about that, bud.

Salacious B. Crumb

Did you know that annoying little monkey creature that hangs out with Jabba has a name? It does and it’s Salacious B. Crumb. I’ll always have a soft spot for this weird little kowakian monkey-lizard as his name was the first bit of obscure Star Wars trivia I ever learned.

I was young and when someone pointed out that even the dumb annoying monkey-alien had a name, it felt like some new dimension was unlocked. Suddenly, I wondered what every character I saw in the movies was named. And when young Zack got access to the internet, well, he learned that yes, every damn character in these movies has a name and backstory. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As I mentioned at the start, this isn’t a complete rundown. Feel free to share your favourite odd or obscure Star Wars character from the game who didn’t make the list.

The post Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s 15 Most Obscure Playable Characters appeared first on Kotaku Australia.