5 Star Wars Legends Characters Who Would Be Perfect for Canon

Star Wars fans have been divided since Disney announced they were ending the old Expanded Universe, creating the Star Wars Legends tag to develop a new canon. Many fans who grew up reading the books and comics and playing the video games and TTRPGs that made up Legends rebelled, and since there has been a core of Legends-only fans who don’t recognize canon, canon fans who hate everything about Legends despite the majority of them never having experienced any of it, and those people who like both. Lucasfilm realized a long time ago that Star Wars is amazing because of the characters, and has brought many Legends characters into canon over the years, trying to make every group of fans happy.

Legends characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn, Captain Gilad Pellaeon, and several others have all joined the canon, but these are just the beginning. There are a multitude of Legends characters that would slot perfectly into canon. These five Legends characters are tailor-made for canon and could star in stories that would make canon much richer.

Kyle Katarn

Kyle Katarn first appeared in Star Wars: Dark Forces, a 1995 first-person shooter that was available for Windows and Mac. Katarn was a mercenary hired by the Rebel Alliance who discovered the Dark Trooper Project, which was meant to create a powerful new corps of stormtroopers and war droids to destroy the Rebels. The game is known for its difficulty, but people still love it, and the ending’s reveal that Katarn was Force-sensitive led to some of the most beloved Star Wars PC games of all time: the Jedi Knight series. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II pit him against the Dark Jedi Jerec in the year following the Rebel’s defeat of the Empire at Endor. Katarn would also star in Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, battling another Dark Jedi, before becoming the mentor of new character Jaden Korr in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

Katarn is perfect for the Star Wars: Andor era of Star Wars and beyond. He has a tragic past that fuels his hatred of the Empire and his character arc as a mercenary who became a Rebel who became a Jedi is perfect. Lucasfilm has shown that they aren’t afraid to bring Force-powered Rebels into the mix of the Imperial period, so that wouldn’t stop them from bringing in Katarn. They don’t have to make him a Jedi — more unaffiliated Force-sensitive characters are definitely needed in modern Star Wars — but everything else about him can be brought over entirely. He’s basically Ezra from Star Wars Rebels but cooler in every way.

Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy

Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy first appeared in the Clone Wars-era novel Yoda: Dark Rendezvous by Sean Stewart. Tallisibeth was one of the weaker Jedi Padawans in the Order, but she made up for it with her tenacity. During the Clone Wars, she ended up on an ill-fated mission to the world of Vjun with Master Yoda along with her Jedi Master and another Master/Padawan pair. Asajj Ventress killed the two Masters, separating Tallisibeth and Padawan and Vjun native Whie Malreaux from Yoda, forcing the two of them to fend for themselves. Tallisibeth and Whie made a good team and eventually met up with Yoda again in time for a confrontation with Count Dooku. She spent the rest of the war at the Jedi Temple, surviving Order 66 and being brought to Mandalore, where she joined Clan Skirata.

Lucasfilm has almost completely left behind the Clone Wars era of Star Wars, but Tallisibeth can fit in during any time period when the Jedi are around. She’s not exactly a great Jedi, but she’s definitely a great character. She’s fun and feisty, her desire to be a Jedi allowing her to make up for her lack of Force power. Tallisibeth can give canon fans a look at what happens when a Jedi is on the weaker end of the spectrum. She’s a great character for younger audiences and would fit perfectly in something like Young Jedi Adventures.

Booster Terrik

Booster Terrik first appeared in the X-Wing series of novels by Michael Stackpole, specifically the fourth book of the series, Bacta War. Booster was the father of Mirax Terrik, a smuggler who had fallen in love with X-Wing pilot and former Correllian cop Corran Horn. Horn’s father had chased Booster for years and was responsible for his stay on Kessel. Terrik helped Rogue Squadron liberate Thyferra from Isard Ysanne and was able to capture an Imperial–class Star Destroyer for himself, which he painted red and transformed into a mobile casino/smuggler haven known as the Errant Venture. Terrik remained an ally to the New Republic and its successor government the Galactic Alliance until the end of the old Expanded Universe, all while driving his eventual son-in-law Corran crazy.

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Star Wars: Skeleton Crew went to different corners of the Star Wars Universe, focusing on the seedy pirate gangs and Booster Terrik is perfect in this world. Terrik is a criminal with a heart of gold, one who wants to make money but also wants to be on the right side of history. He’s big and gruff, often compared to a Wookiee, and is always one of the most entertaining characters whenever he shows up. Terrik and the Errant Venture could show up in canon in a Star Wars: Skeleton Crew second season or any other show or movie that walks on the wild side of Star Wars. Smugglers and criminals are always one of the best parts of Star Wars, and Terrik is at the top of that particular heap.

Garik “Face” Loran

Garik “Face” Loran is another alumni of the X-Wing books, first appearing in Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston. Garik was a child actor and was employed by the Empire in propaganda films. He eventually joined the Rebel Alliance, trying to make up for the years of making the Empire look good in his holofilms. Garik was recruited for Wraith Squadron, a fighter squadron designed to also work as a commando squad brought together by legendary pilot Wedge Antilles. Loran’s ability to play any part and mastery of disguise made him a great front for the squadron when they infiltrated Imperials or pirates, and he was a key to their defeat of Imperial Warlord Zsinj. The Wraiths would get absorbed into New Republic Intelligence, where Loran would become commander, leading them through the war against the Empire and the Yuuzhan Vong, eventually becoming the head of Galactic Alliance Intelligence.

The Wraith Squadron books are some of the best Star Wars novels of all time, and Loran is a huge part of why. Loran’s sense of humor and dramatic side hide a man with a lot of regrets and the decades of war he’s subjected to adds to that, as he’s forced to watch friends die. Loran would make a wonderful addition to the post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi universe, working with the New Republic to fight against the remaining Imperials.

Kal Skirata

The Mandalorian has developed its own sub-universe, digging deep into the lore of the Mandalorians. In Legends, something similar happened in the Republic Commando novels by Karen Traviss. These books focused on clone commandos, who were trained by Mandalorian drill sergeants handpicked by Jango Fett. Kal Skirata was one of the best of these soldiers, known as the Cuy’Val Dar. Skirata was a foundling and the fact that the clones had no family — a huge part of the Mandalorian culture the books established — broke his heart. He took in the group of clones known as the Nulls — specially enhanced Jango Fetts — and treated all of his commando squads like his children. He made his first appearance in Triple Zero, working with Delta and Omega Squad, as well as the Nulls and fellow Cuy’Val Dar Walon Vau, to defeat a Separatist terrorist plot. Skirata forged this group — along with several Jedi generals and an Intelligence agent — into a massive family, doing his best to create a home for them and all of the clones on Mandalore after the war.

Kal Skirata is the key to the Republic Commandos novels. Skirata is basically the perfect Mandalorian: he’s smart, skilled, and ruthless, but he’s also a person who loves fiercely. His hatred of the Kaminoans and the Jedi Order are some of his more endearing traits and he can be a very funny character. He’s steadfast and loyal to his family and deadly to anyone who crosses them. Lucasfilm has shown fans several types of Mandalorians, and Skirata is unique among them — he’s a hard-line Mando, but not Death Watch or from one of the more cultish sects. He represents a different side of the Mandalorians, one that would make canon Mandos much better.