Star Wars‘ history with animation dates back all the way to 1978, when the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special was released. George Lucas and Co. decided to explore a different medium to introduce Boba Fett years before he showed up in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The next few animated projects set in a galaxy far, far away were aimed at children in the 1980s and didn’t do all that well, and it took until 2003 for Star Wars to really get serious about animation again. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars paved the way for the 2008 series and everything that came after it.
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All the successful animated outings motivated Lucasfilm to up the stakes and have its characters from live-action jump into animation and vice versa. However, not every Star Wars character that ended up on a bigger stage did better for themselves.
1) Cad Bane
Boba Fett might be the most iconic bounty hunter in Star Wars history, but he’s not the most ruthless. That honor goes to Cad Bane, who is a thorn in the Republic’s side throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He even breaks into the Jedi Temple at one point and pulls off a wild heist.
Years later, in Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, Cade Bane makes his live-action debut, working for the Pykes, who aren’t too happy about the titular bounty hunter moving in on their territory. Bane doesn’t have the same aura that he does in animation, though, being nothing more than a notable character for Boba to step over on his way to the throne.
2) Ahsoka Tano
While Ahsoka Tano’s debut in The Clone Wars movie is rough around the edges, she makes up for it during her time in the spotlight in the animated show. As Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice, she finds herself in plenty of dangerous situations and never backs down. She also doesn’t miss a beat in Star Wars Rebels, where she helps the Ghost crew battle the Empire.
After the events of Rebels, Ahsoka joins the live-action series The Mandalorian before getting a solo series, Star Wars: Ahsoka. While she’s still every bit the hero she is in her animated appearances, the character loses some of her charm in live-action.
3) Maul
Darth Maul does very little in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace outside of looking cool and putting up a solid fight against Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. He serves his purpose, and he does it again in Solo: A Star Wars Story. However, the dark side user is at his best in his 3D form.
Losing his battle with Obi-Wan forces Maul to reconsider his place in the galaxy in The Clone Wars. He returns with a vengeance, making life difficult for Obi-Wan and his former master, Emperor Palpatine. Maul continues his quest for revenge in Star Wars Rebels, where he attempts to recruit the young Ezra Bridger to his side.
4) General Grievous
General Grievous technically makes his Star Wars debut in Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars, but that’s no longer canon. That means Revenge of the Sith is the first official exposure Grievous gets, which isn’t a bad thing. The Separatist leader is menacing and proves he’s more than capable of outsmarting Jedi.
The Clone Wars takes Grievous to the next level, though. It uses episodes like “Lair of Grievous” to show why the villain has such a reputation at the start of Revenge of the Sith, with him actively hunting the Jedi rather than running from them.
5) Sabine Wren
As the success of Din Djarin’s Disney+ series proves, Mandalorians are some of the coolest characters in Star Wars. That fact isn’t lost on Rebels, as the series makes Mandalorian Sabine Wren one of its main characters. She even wields the Darksaber at one point, helping to bring her people together.
The confidence that Sabine exudes in Rebels is gone in Ahsoka. She joins the titular Force user on a mission to find Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra, but she ends up doing more harm than good. Sabine will have to get her groove back in the second season of Ahsoka if she wants any chance of surpassing her animated counterpart.
6) Yaddle
Yaddle gets the short end of the stick in live-action. She debuts in The Phantom Menace as a non-speaking member of the Jedi Council, only to disappear in the next two prequel movies. Lucas leaves her high and dry, but Disney saw potential in the character.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi tells the story of Count Dooku’s fall to the dark side, and Yaddle ends up being a big part of it. She tries to show her colleague the error of his ways, a move that ends up costing her dearly.
7) Bo-Katan Kryze
The Clone Wars features its fair share of Mandalorians, with the most notable one being Bo-Katan Kryze, the sister of Duchess Satine Kryze. She doesn’t believe her sister is doing enough to protect Mandalore, and she ends up being right because the planet goes up in flames. Bo-Katan tries to pick up the pieces in Rebels, but she finally gets revenge in live-action.
Bo-Katan plays a major role in the events of Seasons 2 and 3 of The Mandalorian, helping Din protect Grogu from Moff Gideon. It’s just unfortunate that, while The Mandalorian doesn’t forget about Bo-Katan’s original motivations, she fails to find her footing in live-action while playing second fiddle to the star of the show.
All Star Wars shows and movies are streaming on Disney+.
Do you think the characters on this list are better in animation than live-action? Who else fits into that category? Let us know in the comments below!
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Image courtesy of DC Studios
