Star Wars is a massive media franchise that has spawned across films, TV, books, and games for many years. Unfortunately, due to Disney’s acquisition of the property, there are plenty of books, games, and more which are no longer counted among the canon universe for the franchise.
While Disney has returned some characters to the canon through TV series and other media, many fans still await some of their favorite “legends” characters getting brought to the big screen. It is even possible to simply return some of these characters by producing new stories in gaming or comic book format, as Disney is continuing to do.
7 Prince Xizor
Star Wars loves a good old-fashioned crime syndicate. Though the order and chaos that the Jedi and Sith respectively represent are the primary forces that move the Universe, there are others, and criminals like Prince Xizor represent them. In a universe where shows like The Mandalorian are currently the biggest thing going, it would be easy to bring someone like Prince Xizor into the canon.
As the leader of Black Sun and friend to the Empire without being under their control, Xizor was feared as much as Vader or Palpatine at the height of the Galactic Empire. In the Legends Universe, Xizor was an integral player throughout the conflict between the Empire and the Rebels, playing both sides at different times. While it is unlikely he will return to canon, the option is definitely there for a leader of his caliber.
6 Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane
The Legends Universe did go off the rails at times, and bringing in the villainous Yuuzhan Vong from outside the galaxy to fight a war against beloved characters was an unusual move. This Supreme Overlord was under the control of a force-sensitive Yuuzhan Vong,, who coerced him into taking control and leading their people to the new galaxy.
Their war against the New Republic was the focus of some fascinating Star Wars novels. Unfortunately for him, Luke Skywalker and his New Jedi Order helped to turn the tide of the war and eventually dueled and defeated the Supreme Leader. While the Yuuzhan Vong would be a very unusual direction for the new canon Star Wars project, it isn’t impossible that they could appear in the future.
5 Galen Marek
Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced Starkiller Base to the public, but the man known as Starkiller remains elusive from canon. The video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed introduced this character as a secret apprentice of Darth Vader, who had raised him since he was a child when Vader had slain his Jedi parents.
Galen Marek was a puppet of Vader and the Emperor. They used him to plant the seeds of the Rebel Alliance, so they could put down highly-ranked people who believed in the cause. However, Marek began to turn against Vader and helped save those initial rebels from him before his death. This character, as a hero or villain, would be a fascinating one to explore in the canon universe. Unfortunately, it is pretty much impossible to give him the same role, given how much media like Star Wars: Rebels and Andor have explored this time period and the initial Rebels.
4 Darth Bane
It would be easy for characters like Darth Bane to be brought into canon, given how little the Disney canon has explored the time period before The Phantom Menace. A thousand years before The Clone Wars came the Jedi-Sith War, when the Brotherhood of Darkness was destroyed, leaving only Darth Bane alive of the Sith Order.
Darth Bane believed the Sith had fallen to in-fighting and become weak. He therefore created the Rule of Two and stated that the Sith must work in secret to destroy the Jedi and take over the Galaxy. Bane would not live to see this plan fulfilled a thousand years later, but Palpatine believed in his rules and overthrew the Jedi in just such a manner. There is very little reason for Bane not to be credited in canon as the founder of this system.
3 Darth Nihilus
Darth Nihilus is even older in the Star Wars Legends canon than Darth Bane. Living around four thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, Darth Nihilus was one of three simultaneous dark lords of the Sith. Though two of them overpowered the third and sent her into exile before beginning a scourge of the Jedi which was detailed in the video game Knights of the Old Republic II.
Nihilus became a thing without flesh, made up of force and constantly hungering to drain the life out of more beings. This terrifying idea, a being made of the force, a ghost in a mask and cloak, would make him a fascinating character to introduce in a canon place if the Old Republic is further explored in Star Wars media.
2 Admiral Daala
Grand Moff Tarkin is well-known to Star Wars fans, but few remember his lover, Admiral Daala. Appearing in Legends books, Daala rose through the ranks of the Imperial Navy to become their first female Admiral. She later survived the end of the war and amassed an Imperial Fleet which would re-emerge to attack the New Republic.
Though defeated, Daala would remain a constant remnant of the Imperials and a thorn in the side of both the Jedi and the New Republic for years to come. A survivor, and a calculating villain on the level of The Mandalorian’s Moff Gideon, she could be a great villain choice for future Star Wars media.
1 Darth Caedus
Jacen Solo’s entire existence is near-impossible to bring about in the current Star Wars canon, as he was essentially replaced by Kylo Ren. The son of Leia and Han Solo, Jacen helped defeat the Yuuzhan Vong as a Jedi Knight before beginning to fall down the path of the dark side as his grandfather Anakin did before him.
Taking control of the Galactic Alliance, the remnants of the Empire, Jacen killed Luke Skywalker’s wife, tortured his former apprentice Ben Skywalker, and became Darth Caedus before being killed by his twin sister. While there are similarities between this character and Kylo Ren, Darth Caedus and his journey were much more deeply explored and felt more tragic as a result.