Highlights
- Star Wars fans have a wide range of favorite characters, from household names like Luke Skywalker to obscure ones like Starkiller.
- Starkiller, also known as Galen Marek or Vader's Apprentice, is a fan-favorite character from the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
- Fans are clamoring for Starkiller to make a return to the Star Wars universe, either in a video game or in another form, and his electrifying portrayal by Sam Witwer adds to the character's appeal.
The Star Wars universe is full to the brim with great, iconic characters and every single fan has their own personal favorite. But Star Wars fans don't tend to follow the trends as other fandoms, and their personal favorite characters can range anywhere from household names like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa, to obscure background characters like Lobot, Nien Nunb, or Aurra Sing. And then there are those fans who grew up during Star Wars' video game golden age, and their favorite character likely comes from one of those early-mid 2000s titles.
Star Wars video games have been the home of some truly standout characters over the years. In the early days of Star Wars video games, there was Kyle Katarn, the smuggler-turned-rebel-turned-Jedi. Then there was the Han Solo knock-off Dash Rendar. And, of course, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic brought a wealth of original, now-beloved characters, including Darth Revan, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, and the rest of the Ebon Hawk crew. But there's one Star Wars video game character that deserves a return more than any other, and that's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed's Starkiller.
Starkiller Deserves To Return to Star Wars
Starkiller, also known as Galen Marek or Vader's Apprentice, was first introduced as the main playable protagonist of 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. After Darth Vader kills Galen's Jedi father when he's just a young child, the Dark Lord of the Sith takes Galen as his own apprentice and molds him into an extremely powerful assassin over the next decade or so.
Starkiller's name is actually a reference to George Lucas' original draft of the first Star Wars movie, where Luke's last name was Starkiller, not Skywalker.
Despite not appearing in a video game or any other form of Star Wars media for over 13 years now, fans still adore Starkiller as a character, and they're desperate to see him return to the Star Wars universe in practically any form. One of the most compelling aspects of Starkiller is his electric performance by Sam Witwer. A self-proclaimed Star Wars fanboy, Sam Witwer has performed a variety of roles in the Star Wars universe, including both Darth Maul and Darth Sidious in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Witwer's strong passion for the universe gleams through his portrayal of Starkiller at every turn, and it's a big reason why fans love the character, along with his overpowered in-game abilities.
How Starkiller Could Make His Return to Star Wars
The desire for Starkiller to return to the Star Wars universe in some form has been so strong over the last few years that there have been near-constant fan theories about where the character could potentially show up in-universe. Most recently, many fans were convinced that Starkiller could show up in the Disney+ Ahsoka show, as the Dark Side Inquisitor Marrok. That theory didn't come to fruition, but with Star Wars continuing to canonize more and more Legends stories and characters, it seems like an inevitability that Starkiller will return in some form in the future.
While fans want Starkiller to be canonized in live-action, his return seems much more likely to occur in another Star Wars video game. This way, fans playing will already have a good idea of who the character is and what they're capable of, whereas dropping him into a live-action Star Wars show or movie might just end up confusing those not in the know. The Respawn Star Wars Jedi series is a great place to bring back Starkiller, though he would probably have to undergo some big story and ability changes so as to not seem too overpowered, and to not have too much of a bearing on the new canon Star Wars timeline.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise originally created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, tv shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
