Han Solo

Han Solo was a human male smuggler and war hero from Corellia who rose from an impoverished childhood to captain the Millennium Falcon and become a leader in the Rebel Alliance. Though he placed little faith in the Force, he came to believe in the cause of galactic freedom, fighting alongside Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa throughout the Galactic Civil War. He married Leia and fathered Ben Solo, whose fall to the dark side would eventually cost Han his life.

A scrumrat on Corellia#

Han spent his youth fighting for survival on the streets of Corellia, where he lived as a thief in the White Worms gang alongside a young woman named Qi'ra, dreaming of becoming the galaxy's best pilot. After a deal went badly he fled the planet and enlisted in the Imperial military, where a recruitment officer gave him the surname Solo. Assigned to an armored division, he deserted on the world of Mimban after meeting the thief Tobias Beckett and joining his crew.

To pay a debt to the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, Han took part in a scheme to steal unrefined coaxium from the mines of Kessel, during which he reunited with Qi'ra and was forced to kill Beckett after a betrayal. Along the way he met Chewbacca, a Wookiee who became his closest friend and co-pilot, and won the Millennium Falcon from the gambler Lando Calrissian in a game of sabacc. With the Falcon he made the famous Kessel Run.

Into the Rebellion#

Working as a smuggler for the Hutt crime lord Jabba, Han fell deep into debt after dumping a shipment of spice to avoid the Empire, and a bounty was placed on his head. His fortunes turned when he and Chewbacca accepted a charter from Obi-Wan Kenobi to carry him, Luke Skywalker, and two droids to Alderaan. Drawn into the larger war, Han helped rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star and delivered the stolen plans to the Rebel base on Yavin 4.

Though he intended to take his reward and leave, Han returned at the Battle of Yavin and drove off Darth Vader's fighter, clearing the way for Luke to destroy the Death Star. He stayed on to fight with the Rebellion for years afterward, growing closer to Leia even as the two of them traded constant barbs.

Carbonite and Endor#

After the Battle of Hoth, Han fled with Leia and Chewbacca to Cloud City on Bespin, which was run by his old friend Lando Calrissian. There Darth Vader sprang a trap to lure Luke, and Han was frozen in carbonite to test the process before being handed to the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who carried him to Jabba's palace on Tatooine. He hung frozen for months until Leia, Luke, Lando, and Chewbacca mounted a rescue and destroyed Jabba's operation.

Restored to the fight, Han was promoted to general and given command of the Pathfinders strike team for the Battle of Endor. He led the ground assault that destroyed the shield generator protecting the second Death Star, allowing the Rebel fleet to destroy the station and helping bring down the Emperor.

A son lost to the dark side#

After Endor and the founding of the New Republic, Han married Leia and the two had a son, Ben Solo. The boy proved strong in the Force and was sent to train with his uncle Luke, but he was seduced to the dark side and took the name Kylo Ren, destroying Luke's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order. The loss drove Han and Leia apart, and Han returned to smuggling, even losing the Millennium Falcon for a time.

He was drawn back into the conflict by the scavenger Rey and the defector Finn, who carried part of a map to the missing Luke Skywalker. Reunited with Leia and the Resistance, Han fought in the battle to destroy the First Order's Starkiller Base. There he confronted his son and pleaded with him to come home, only for Ren to run him through with his lightsaber. Mortally wounded, Han touched his son's face before falling to his death within the weapon. His memory later helped stir Ben Solo to abandon the dark side.