7 Awesome Women from the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a progressive Star Wars film for a new generation. Towards the end of of Lev Grossman’s recent Time Magazine piece, he discusses the sea-change of gender and race equity in the new Star Wars, referencing J.J. Abrams’s belief that a movie like this can give us “hope” for our own future. This is particularly true when it comes to giving better (and more numerous) roles to women in pop culture narratives like Star Wars.
Chalk it up to the changing times or fan outcry,  but the awesomeness of Rey may have its roots in the former Star Wars Expanded Universe, now mostly referred to as “Legends.” In celebration of Rey, Captain Phasma, and Maz Kanata, here are seven women from the Star Wars Legends novels who helped pave the way.

Winter
Initially presented as Leia’s aide and most trusted confidant in Heir to the Empire, we quickly learn Winter is basically a slick super-spy. Adept at reading the mood of any situation, Winter also is capable of remembering pretty much everything anyone says to her ever. Inwardly, Leia muses that there’s really no need to record her fellow politicians when they have rowdy meetings, because Winter will just remember every single detail. She reappears in a prominent role in Zahn’s Star Wars take on the heist genre, Scoundrels. 

Mirax Terrik
A smuggler (like Han Solo before her) who initially isn’t so crazy about helping the New Republic powers-that-be in their legitimate activities, Mirax quickly forms a serious bond with members of the awesome Rogue Squadron, specifically newcomer Corran Horn. These two end up getting pretty cozy, but that doesn’t mean Mirax isn’t in charge of that marriage. In fact, a good portion of I, Jedi sees Corran trying to figure out how to not worry about her so much while she’s off doing her job. The legitimate lawman dating a freelance smuggler is reminiscent of Cassidy Yates dating Ben Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Could there have been mutual inspiration?

Admiral Daala
The Force Awakens gives us the formidable Captain Phasma portrayed by the equally formidable Gwendoline Christie, but she isn’t the first female Imperial enforcer. In Jedi Search we meet Admiral Daala, a tough-as-robot-nails Imperial commander guarding not only a prototype of the Death Star, but also something even more deadly: the Sun Crusher. By its name alone, you have probably deduced that the Sun Crusher can blow up stars. Wait a minute. The Force Awakens has “Starkiller Base” and a female Imperial commander? Long live the EU!

The Dark Woman
In the year 2000, Dark Horse launched an ongoing comic series called Star Wars. Interestingly, while the series took place in the prequel era, it mostly focused not on Anakin or Obi-Wan, but Ki-Adi Mundi. That’s right: the conehead Jedi was the star! Throughout the early run, we meet Mundi’s original Jedi Master; known mysteriously as “The Dark Woman.” Later, it was revealed her name was An’ya Kuro, but she took on the moniker because she was a massive iconoclast. This character had an extensive backstory and was later revealed to be the original master of Jedi-Hunter Aurra Sing. In one Dark Horse comics story, it’s revealed The Dark Woman survived the Jedi Purge and had an epic showdown with none other than…Darth Vader. Oh, and she had a purple lightsaber before Mace Windu did.

Callista Ming
Part ancient Jedi Ghost, part young Jedi Knight, Callista is what happened when an old mind merged with a young body to preserve both. She made her first appearance in the novel Children of the Jedi, but her backstory was expanded not only in additional Star Wars novels, but also post-prequel Star Wars stories. It was revealed in the novel Clone Wars: No Prisoners  that before she became a ghost and changed her name, Callista was buds with Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars. (Ahsoka is also one of the best fierce females in Star Wars, and the only reason she not on this list is because The Clone Wars still “counts” as canon.)  Callista was briefly a love interest of Luke Skywalker, which is funny, because in real life Harrison Ford is married to someone named Calista. Is that a coincidence? If Mark Hamill had married Calista Flockhart it would be conspiracy. No question.

Jaina Solo
One of Han and Leia’s kids, Jaina Solo becomes a prominent Jedi Knight throughout the run of the old Star Wars books. Her most notable arcs are probably in the Young Jedi Knights series and the entirety of The New Jedi Order, not to mention The Legacy of the Force series. She goes through so much, it would be crazy (and spoiler-tastic) to list it all here. Let’s just put it this way: if Kylo Ren turns out to be Rey’s brother, and Rey turns out to be Han and Leia’s daughter, and Rey has to fight Kylo Ren in an effort to turn him back to the light side, well…then at that point The Force Awakens will officially be cribbing from old Star Wars novels!

Mara Jade Skywalker
If you know Star Wars books, you know Mara Jade. At first an assassin in the employ of Emperor Palpatine, Mara was imprinted with the compulsion to accomplish one job: KILL LUKE SKYWALKER. So of course, she ends up marrying him? Mara Jade is such an iconic Star Wars character that if you hit up any Star Wars fan celebration, you’ll see at least 10 people cosplaying as her. In a universe with few female leads, she was much more than just a love interest for Luke; she was a complex and brand-new notion. Sure, her purple lightsaber was awesome, and she knew how to handle any kind of spaceship, but the enduring impact of Mara Jade is one of strength, individuality, and Jedi-style feminism. Not all of us were happy with the way her story turned out, and though it’s very unlikely she’ll appear in future sequels, the fact is, you just never know…
Who are you favorite women of Star Wars?