Han Solo

Han Solo
Star Wars character

Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars
Portrayed by Harrison Ford Episodes IV-VII, The Star Wars Holiday Special)
Voiced by
Fictional profile
Species Human
Gender Male
Position Captain of the Millennium Falcon
General in the Rebel Alliance/New Republic
smuggler
Homeworld Corellia
Affiliation Galactic Empire/Rebel Alliance/New Republic/Galactic Alliance

Han Solo is a character in the original trilogy and sequel trilogy of the Star Wars universe. He is portrayed by Harrison Ford. He and his co-pilot, Chewbacca, become involved in the Rebel Alliance which opposes the Galactic Empire. During the course of the Star Wars story, he becomes a chief figure in the Alliance and succeeding galactic governments. Star Wars creator George Lucas described the character as "a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good".[1]

Appearances

Original trilogy

Introduced in Star Wars (1977), Han Solo and Chewbacca are indebted to Jabba the Hutt after the loss of valuable cargo.

On Tatooine, Solo accepts a charter to transport Luke Skywalker, Ben Kenobi, C-3PO and R2-D2 to Alderaan in his Millennium Falcon spaceship for a payment which will help him clear debt. But when the crew and passengers arrive at the planet's coordinates, they discover that Alderaan has been destroyed by the Death Star. The Falcon is then captured and held within the battle station, however Han Solo, Chewbacca and his passengers evade capture by hiding in the ship smuggling compartments. While trying to find a way to escape Luke Skywalker discovers that Princess Leia Organa is being held captive aboard the station. Enticed by the likelihood of a large reward, Solo and Chewbacca help Skywalker rescue the princess and escape from the Death Star.

After delivering Skywalker, Leia and the droids to the Rebel Alliance, Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot receive payment for their services. Unfortunately the Millenium Falcon has been tracked to the Rebel Alliance moon base by the Death Star. The rebels plan to attack the space station and exploit a weakness in the space station's defences. Solo initially does not want to get involved in the planned attack because,'What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it?'. Solo leaves with his reward and the rebels attack the Death Star. However, Solo has a change of heart and returns to save Luke's life during the film's climactic battle scene, ultimately enabling Luke to destroy the Death Star. For his heroics, Solo is presented with a medal of honour.

In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Han Solo continues to assist the Rebels against the Empire.

Han once again risks his life to save Luke Skywalker by braving a snowstorm on the ice planet Hoth to rescue his wounded friend. When the Empire attacks the Rebel base, Solo transports Chewbacca, Leia Organa and C-3PO to Cloud City where his old friend Lando Calrissian (Cloud City's administrator) operates to hide from Imperial agents. When bounty hunter Boba Fett tracks the Falcon to Cloud City, Darth Vader forces Calrissian to help capture Solo who is then sealed in carbonite for delivery to Jabba the Hutt. Lando is able to free Vader's other captives but their rescue attempt of Solo fails and Fett is able to escape with Solo's frozen body.

During Return of the Jedi (1983), Han Solo is still frozen until Leia Organa and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, and Lando infiltrate Jabba the Hutt's palace and free him but they're caught by Jabba before they can escape. When Jabba orders them to be executed, Solo helps Luke, Leia, and Lando in defeating Jabba and his henchmen before escaping and defeating Boba Fett.

Reunited with the Rebels, Solo is commissioned as a General. Along with Leia and Chewbacca, he goes to the forest moon of Endor and leads a team deactivating the force fields protecting the Empire's second Death Star, in which they are aided by the Ewoks while Luke fights the Emperor on the Death Star. When the Death Star is destroyed, Solo sees Leia's concern for Luke and offers to step aside for the young Jedi to court her. However, Leia reveals to Han's surprise that Luke is her brother, and thus will obviously have no objection to his friend's relationship with her. At the end of the film, Solo joins the Rebels in celebrating the destruction of the second Death Star and the Empire. At the end, he and Leia declare their love for each other while reuniting with Luke and Lando as well.

Sequel trilogy

Harrison Ford will be in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first installment of the sequel trilogy which will be released on December 18, 2015. The film will take place 30 years after the events in Return of the Jedi.

Spin-off film

On February 6, 2013, Entertainment Weekly reported that The Walt Disney Company, the new owner of Lucasfilm since 2012, is developing a stand-alone film featuring Han Solo which would take place between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Star Wars (1977).[2]

Expanded Universe

Brian Daley wrote a series of novels, the first published in 1979, exploring Han Solo and Chewbecca's smuggling adventures, and Ann C. Crispin's The Han Solo Trilogy (1997–1998) further develops the character's backstory.[3] Crispin's books depict Solo as a beggar and pickpocket throughout much of his youth. He becomes a pilot and, in the process of undermining a religious fraud, falls in love with Bria Tharen, who disappears before Solo joins the Imperial Navy. Solo loses his commission and is cashiered when he refuses an order to skin Chewbacca for commandeering a ship carrying Wookiee children destined for slavery; Chewbacca, in turn, swears a "life-debt" to Solo. The two become smugglers, and help repel an Imperial blockade of a Hutt moon. Solo soon thereafter wins the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a card tournament. Tharen, now a Rebel agent, reappears and asks for Solo, Chewbacca and Calrissian's help in attacking a slave colony. After succeeding, Tharen's troopers steal the smuggler's valuables to aid the Rebel Alliance. To compensate their losses, Solo and Chewbacca accept a smuggling job from Jabba the Hutt; but Imperial ships force the smugglers to jettison their cargo, invoking the debt Solo and Chewbacca owe the Hutt at the beginning of Star Wars.

Solo plays a central role in several Star Wars stories set after Return of the Jedi. In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1995), he resigns his commission to pursue Leia, whom he eventually marries. Solo and Leia have three children: twins Jaina and Jacen and son Anakin. Chewbacca dies saving Anakin's life in Vector Prime (1999), sending Solo into a deep depression. In Star by Star (2001), Anakin dies as well, compounding Solo's despair. At the end of the series, however, Solo accepts the deaths of his son and his best friend, and reconciles with his family.

In the Legacy of the Force series, Jacen Solo becomes the Sith Lord Darth Caedus and plunges the galaxy into a bloody civil war. Solo disowns Jacen, but is still devastated by each new outrage his son commits. He and Leia adopt Allana (Jacen's daughter) after Jacen's death in the novel Invincible.

Influence and critical reaction

Han Solo is a reckless smuggler with a sarcastic wit;[3] he is "a very practical guy" and considers himself "a materialist";[4] but the adventures in the first Star Wars movie evoke his compassion, a trait "he didn't know he possessed".[4]

The American Film Institute ranked Solo as the 14th greatest film hero.[5] He was also deemed the 4th greatest movie character of all-time by Empire magazine.[6] Entertainment Weekly ranked the character 7th on their list of The All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture.[7] On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Solo at number 15.[8] IGN listed Han Solo as the second greatest Star Wars character of all time (behind Darth Vader),[9] as well as listing him as one of the top 10 characters who most needed a spin-off, saying he was "Arguably the coolest character in the Star Wars universe".[10]

Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes explained that their "inspiration was anything Harrison Ford has ever done: Indiana Jones, Han Solo".[11] The Japanese manga and anime anti-hero Space Adventure Cobra has been compared by reviewers to Solo.[12][13] In preparing to play James T. Kirk, Chris Pine drew inspiration from Ford's depictions of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, highlighting their humor and "accidental hero" traits.[14]

Merchandising

Solo has been merchandised in multiple media, including action figures, video games, and other collectibles. A Han Solo action figure with "human proportions" was released in 1977 to coincide with the release of the original Star Wars, while a figure created for the films' mid-1990s re-release was criticized as "unrealistically muscled."[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bouzereau, Laurent. Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays. p. 8. ISBN 0-345-40981-7.
  2. ↑ Breznican, Anthony (February 6, 2013). "'Star Wars' spin-offs: A young Han Solo movie, and a Boba Fett film -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Solo, Han". Encyclopedia. Lucasfilm. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Campbell, Joseph; Bill Moyers (1989). The Power of Myth. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-385-24774-0.
  5. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years.... 100 Heroes and Villains" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Empire's The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly's 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  8. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters". Fandomania.com. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Han Solo is #2". IGN.
  10. ↑ News & Features Team (2010-05-22). "Top 10 Tuesday: Characters In Need of a Spin-Off". IGN. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  11. ↑ Steinman, Gary. "Prince of Persia: Anatomy of a Prince". PlayStation: The Official Magazine. 2008-12 (50): 13.
  12. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra". 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  13. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra". Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  14. ↑ Aftab, Kaleem (2008-03-10). "Exclusive: Trek Star Reveals Captain Kirk Inspiration". IGN. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  15. ↑ Lock, James; Daniel Le Grange (2004). Help your teenager beat an eating disorder. Guilford Press. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-1-57230-908-1.
  16. ↑ Grant, Jon E.; Marc N. Potenza (2006). Textbook of men's mental health. American Psychiatric Pub. p. 317. ISBN 978-1-58562-215-3.

External links