There's much more to these unassuming Star Wars characters than you think.
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00:00Star Wars is perhaps the richest and most expansive franchise of all time, an impossibly
00:05dense universe that fans can lose themselves in for, well, basically forever.
00:09It's a world that's become populated with literally thousands of characters over the
00:14last 45 years, and though we're all familiar with the principal players by now, it is easy
00:19to dismiss those smaller roles as being inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
00:25That, of course, would be a mistake.
00:28I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Star Wars Characters Far More Important
00:33Than You Realized.
00:3410.
00:35Bolvin
00:36You probably won't remember his name, and you certainly don't know his face, but Imperial
00:41gunnery Captain Bolvin played a major unintentional role in the Empire's downfall.
00:47See, at the very start of A New Hope, he famously told his subordinate officer,
00:52Hold your fire, there's no lifeforms, it must've short-circuited.
00:56Then said officer prepared to open fire on the escape pod, jettisoned from the captured
01:00Tantive IV.
01:01But of course, the escape pod in fact contained C-3PO and R2-D2, who were in turn able to
01:08flee to Tatooine with the Death Star plans, where they would eventually cross paths with
01:13Luke Skywalker.
01:14Had Bolvin ordered the pod to be fired upon then, Luke's heroic rise would've likely
01:19been prevented, as would the fall of the Empire.
01:23Hilariously, in the wider universe, it's actually revealed that Bolvin was encouraged
01:27not to fire upon the pod due to the Empire's obtuse promotion system, which was tied to
01:32an officer's hit-to-kill ratio.
01:35Had Bolvin fired upon and exploded an empty pod, which wouldn't have counted as a kill,
01:40he would've been knocked down the pecking order for promotion, which is kind of amazing.
01:459.
01:46Barriss Offee
01:47Jedi Knight Barriss Offee appeared in Attack of the Clones for all of about 30 seconds,
01:52hanging out in the background during a meeting of the Jedi Council, and later being seen
01:56fighting during the Battle of Geonosis.
01:59But Offee had a much larger role in the Clone Wars animated series, where it's revealed
02:04that she grew disillusioned with the Jedi throughout the Clone Wars, enough so that
02:08she eventually plotted the bombing of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and framed her former
02:13friend Ahsoka Tano for it.
02:15This ended up having wide-reaching implications far beyond what she ever could've anticipated.
02:21For starters, Tano was herself exonerated for the bombing, but then refused an invitation
02:26to rejoin the Jedi Order, having lost faith in it.
02:30Tano then left to take part in the Siege of Mandalore, ensuring that she wasn't around
02:34for her Master Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, which she potentially could've played
02:39a role in preventing.
02:40As a result, Offee's influence on the entire Skywalker saga is really quite immense when
02:45you think about it.
02:468.
02:47Poggle the Lesser
02:48Forgive his silly name and just appreciate that Poggle the Lesser, who first appeared
02:53in Attack of the Clones, has a much larger role in proceedings than you probably remember.
02:58Sure, he's a public leader of the Geonosians during the Clone Wars, but it's often forgotten
03:03that Poggle both designed the Death Star, and during the Battle of Geonosis, gave the
03:09plans to Count Dooku, who then gave them to Palpatine set in construction in motion.
03:14As such, Poggle had a pivotal role in how the Galactic Civil War played out, even if
03:19he doesn't usually get much recognition for it.
03:22But without his involvement, things would've turned out quite differently, and the Empire
03:26would've been looking elsewhere for somebody to design their epic superweapon.
03:307.
03:31Admiral Kendal Ozzel
03:33The most diehard Star Wars fans often credit Admiral Kendal Ozzel with ruining basically
03:38everything for the Empire, enough so that there are even theories that he was actually
03:43a Rebel spy all along.
03:44See, in The Empire Strikes Back, Ozzel initially oversaw the Battle of Hoth, until he was force
03:50choked to death by Darth Vader for his incompetence.
03:53His big miscalculation?
03:55Well that was pulling Empire ship The Executor out of lightspeed too close to the Hoth system,
04:01which allowed the Rebels to quickly detect their presence and realise an attack was imminent,
04:06giving them precious time to shield up.
04:09Had this dude adopted Vader's preferred tactic of exiting lightspeed further out and
04:13entering Hoth more or less undetected, they could've conceivably crushed the Rebels
04:18outright.
04:19But this one foolhardy decision gave the Rebels the breather they desperately needed, and
04:23so his role in galactic history, albeit one he'd probably prefer not to be remembered
04:28for, shouldn't be underestimated.
04:316.
04:32Quinlan Vos
04:33Casual Star Wars fans may not know the name Quinlan Vos, though they might remember the
04:38distinctive looking individual hanging out in the background during Jar Jar Binks and
04:42Sebulba's confrontation on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace.
04:46At this point in time, the character didn't have any, well, character.
04:51But because he caught the eye of many fans watching the movie, he was eventually given
04:55a name and a wider backstory in various Legends stories, such as Star Wars Republic.
05:01And long story short, Quinlan Vos was a Jedi Master with the ability to perceive people's
05:06memories by touching objects they'd made contact with, making him an extremely skilled
05:11tracker.
05:12In the canon novel Dark Disciple, it's also revealed that Vos teamed up with Ventress
05:16on a mission to assassinate Count Dooku.
05:18A mission which, of course, failed.
05:21Vos has also appeared in an episode of The Clone Wars, and has been referenced in both
05:24Revenge of the Sith and the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
05:28The latter seemingly confirming both that he did indeed survive Order 66, and has been
05:33helping smuggle Jedi and Force-sensitive children to safety.
05:37So yeah, that's quite the fleshed-out story for a cool-looking guy seemingly just chilling
05:42out during The Phantom Menace.
05:445.
05:45Mas Amedda
05:46Mas Amedda first appeared in The Phantom Menace and is best remembered by many Star Wars fans
05:51as that blue-collared guy often seen standing behind either Supreme Chancellor Valorum or
05:56later on Palpatine.
05:57Though you might assume that he was just a random, relatively inconsequential dignitary
06:01in the grand scheme of things, Mas Amedda was actually the Vice Chair of the Galactic
06:06Senate, which eventually made him one of the most powerful people in the galaxy.
06:10Despite his lack of on-screen action, he had a major role in the trajectory of Star Wars
06:15as we know it, aiding in Valorum's ousting while going on to serve Palpatine's interests,
06:21and being one of the very few aware of his Sith Lord alter-ego, Darth Sidious.
06:26This guy served Palpatine throughout The Clone Wars, and even managed to outlast his superior
06:31yet perhaps his single most important action saw him eventually surrender the Empire to
06:36the New Republic.
06:37So yeah, not bad for a guy who most people remember for his unique look above all else.
06:434.
06:44Davin Felf
06:45When Stormtroopers are combing the Tatooine Desert for Rebel Droids in A New Hope, one
06:49of them comes across a metal remnant from C-3PO and tells their superior officer, look
06:55sir, droids.
06:56Now you'd reasonably assume this Stormtrooper was just a nameless nobody, but this being
07:01Star Wars, that of course is not the case at all.
07:04In Legends continuity, it's established that this Stormtrooper goes by the name of
07:08Davin Felf, and though much of Fienth's backstory is technically non-canon now, it's
07:13still fascinatingly comprehensive, and much of it doesn't directly contradict what we
07:18actually see on screen.
07:20It turns out that this guy was originally an ambitious Imperial officer who pointed
07:24out a fatal flaw in the design of the AT-ATs, prompting Colonel Maximilian Viers, who oversaw
07:30the development of the AT-ATs, to assign him to Stormtrooper duty in an attempt to
07:35cover up his own embarrassing mistake.
07:38Ultimately, Felf came to appreciate the Empire as evil, and decided to help the Rebels by
07:43acting as a spy from within the Stormtrooper's ranks.
07:47Though it's basically self-parody at this point that even the most insignificant Star
07:50Wars characters have hilariously elaborate backstories, at least this one's really
07:56interesting, no matter its lack of canonicity.
07:593.
08:00Rick Olley
08:01Rick Olley appears in The Phantom Menace as the pilot of Padme's ship while escaping
08:05Naboo.
08:06And though certainly not a background character who disappears into the periphery, few would
08:10assign him too much importance.
08:13Yet it's crucial to remember that Olley did one absolutely pivotal thing in The Phantom
08:17Menace, and that's he taught Anakin Skywalker how to pilot a ship.
08:22Without this impromptu lesson, Anakin wouldn't have been able to fly into the Federation
08:26droid control ship and destroy it from the inside.
08:29Olley's role is also significantly fleshed out in the Expanded Universe, where he joins
08:33a resistance group called the Amidallans who committed themselves to avenging Padme's
08:38death.
08:39And in the 2020 comic Star Wars Darth Vader Volume 1 Number 4, Olley ends up crossing
08:44paths with Darth Vader himself, who promptly runs him through with a lightsaber, killing
08:49him dead and further proving Anakin's monstrous transformation from the sweet boy he used
08:54to be.
08:552.
08:56Ki-Adi-Mundi
08:57Though Ki-Adi-Mundi's infamous one-liner in Revenge of the Sith, that of course being
09:02what about the droid attack on the Wookiees, made him seem like more of a meme than an
09:06actual character, this Jedi High Council member is actually a vital piece of the narrative
09:12puzzle.
09:13See, even if Mundi's question seems a little bit off topic at first, it has major consequences
09:18for the rest of the prequel trilogy and beyond.
09:21After all, if Mundi hadn't mentioned the Wookiee attack, Yoda wouldn't have travelled
09:25to Kashyyyk to help defend it, and instead likely remained on Coruscant.
09:29Given that Anakin's turn to the dark side unfolds while Yoda is away, things would have
09:34almost certainly been very different if he remained on planet, and potentially prevented
09:38him from being corrupted by Palpatine.
09:41So let's give Ki-Adi-Mundi a hand here for sending Yoda off on a mission when, in terms
09:46of the bigger picture, he desperately needed to stay put.
09:501.
09:51Finnis Valorum Finnis Valorum was the Supreme Chancellor
09:54of the Galactic Republic, and as the only character on this list played by a major actor,
10:00the one you'll surely recognise above all others.
10:03Yet despite Terrence Stamp's casting in the role, Valorum appears for all of around
10:072 minutes in The Phantom Menace, even if he was an instrumental figure in Palpatine's
10:12rise as Supreme Chancellor and later Galactic Emperor.
10:16After all, it was Valorum's inability to stand the both corruption in the Galactic
10:20Senate and the bureaucratic trade crisis in Naboo which allowed Palpatine to persuade
10:24Padme to call a vote of no confidence, resulting in Valorum being replaced with Palpatine himself.
10:31Basically, Valorum let Palpatine play him like a damn fiddle.
10:35He was a pawn who, through his political inaction, ultimately aided Palpatine's ascent to Galactic
10:40Emperor.
10:41So that's our list, what do you guys think down in the comments below?
10:45Did you know about the wider lives of these characters, and are there any other secretly
10:49important ones I missed off here?
10:51Let me know, and while you're down there could you please give us a like, share, subscribe,
10:54and head over to wotculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
10:58Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see
11:01you soon.