Have you ever wondered what kind of power vacuum there must have been in the Empire after the Rebels blew up the second Death Star, killing Darth Vader and the Emperor? Or who were the first Jedi who discovered the Force and built the first lightsabers? Did Han Solo and Princess Leia ever settle down and have kids? Or if Luke Skywalker heralded the ‘Return of Jedi’, who were the rest? Well wonder no more, because pop culture has you covered. Welcome to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, a collection of books, comics, video games and cartoons that tell the rest of the story.

For the saga of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance is only a fraction of the larger, grander Star Wars Universe. Dedicated fans, geeks and professional writers have expanded beyond the movies to tell more and more stories. The Expanded Universe is the greatest, geekiest bit of fandom there’s every been – and what’s more, it’s all A-OK’d by George Lucas himself. It’s all licensed and approved!

We're talking Jedi Wookies with lightsabers, people!

I love the Expanded Universe. I think it’s gloriously geeky and riveting. I love that for every single minor or background character that appears in the six main movies, the fans and professional writers have created full and rich backstories. I once read a book called Death Star, about the building of the first Death Star (bad book, don’t read it). Several times in the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, Darth Vader meets with other Imperial agents aboard the Death Star. Well one of the armed guards standing at the door in the background of those scenes is a main character in the book Death Star. So every time I watch A New Hope, I can point to the guard and say ‘that’s Atour Riten!’ Weird name.

But that’s the glory of the Expanded Universe, filling in the cracks and telling the stories beyond the six movies. Allow me to introduce you to My 6 Favorite Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters.

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