Han Solo

Han Solo (born 29 BBY) is a character in the fictional Star Wars universe. He was played by Harrison Ford in all the Star Wars films. Solo plays a major role in the Star Wars saga, moving from a reluctant, selfish participant to a central figure over the course of the first three released Star Wars films ( A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.) Star Wars creator George Lucas describes him as "a loner who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good." Many fans have speculated that he is based upon Lucas' friend and fellow film director Francis Ford Coppola.

History

(Note: This is NOT canon) Han Solo is an arrogant Corellian smuggler with a wry wit, a reckless disposition, and technological savvy who flies the Millennium Falcon. Prior to the events of A New Hope, Solo was a beggar in the streets of Corellia. He was discovered by Garris Shrike, captain of the Trader's Luck. Seduced by promises of a better life, Solo followed the man to his space ship, a relic of the Clone Wars. Unbeknownst to the young Corellian, the Trader's Luck was little more than a slave ship, where the rule was "Everyone works." After spending most of his childhood pickpocketing and scamming at the whim of the abusive Shrike, Han came under the care of Dewlanna, a widowed Wookiee "indebted" to the ruthless captain. At some point in his youth he was in a swoop race with Dengar, who was severely injured during the course of the race due to (what Dengar believed were) Han's actions, and Dengar sought revenge on Solo ever since. Solo earned his freedom at the age of 19, escaping the Luck on the droid controlled vessel Ylesian Dream. In the process, an enraged Garris killed Dewlanna, Solo's surrogate mother.

In response to an ad for good pilots and the events aboard the Trader's Luck, circumstances which provided a free ride to the Hutt-controlled jungle planet Ylesia, Solo braved the planet's storm-ridden atmosphere. There he discovered a religious conspiracy, led by Ylesia's High Priest, Teroenza, to attract slaves to process illegal glitterstim spice. With the help of his friends Muuurgh the Togorian (a feline humanoid) and Bria Tharen (his first love, whom he discovered as a mindless drone in the factories and deprogrammed), Solo stole a significant portion of Teroenza's private art collection, worth hundreds of thousands of credits. The trio also destroyed the spice factory, adding insult to injury by hijacking the T'landa Til's private yacht. On Coruscant, Bria Tharen disappeared from Solo's life, engendering in him a "Love 'em and leave 'em" philosophy towards women. He then enlisted in the Imperial Navy and was nearly killed by Garris Shrike on the night of his induction ceremony. Shrike had intended to collect on the bounty placed on Solo for his Ylesian sabotage. Hungry for vengeance after the murder of Dewlanna, Solo turned the tables on the captain and nearly killed him. Amidst their savage battle, a second bounty hunter gunned down Shrike in order to claim Solo for himself, only to be destroyed himself by a desperate Solo.

Solo spent about five years in the Imperial Starfleet, first at the academy on Carida and then on active service. At some point he won the Corellian Bloodstripes; this was the only decoration not taken from him during his later court-martial and discharge. A scheduled rendezvous with a slaving vessel revealed that an adult Wookiee had overwhelmed the crew and released the Wookiee children that were to be sold. Leading a TIE fighter squadron, Han boarded the damaged ship and found a barely conscious Wookiee in the pilot's seat. Commander Nyklas ordered the young lieutenant to skin the Wookiee; Han refused to do so. He later lost his lieutenant's commission and was dishonorably discharged. In this way did Chewbacca swear a life-debt to his rescuer, and from then on the two were inseparable.

The duo's early career was spent doing smuggling runs for various masters, including the Desilijac clan of the Hutts, in their barely-functional ship Bria. The ship was rendered inoperable soon after the Battle of Nar Shaddaa (where a combined smuggler's fleet fought off an Imperial attempt to raze the moon), and Han had to seek a new vessel.

Solo, down on his luck, won the Millennium Falcon from fellow mercenary Lando Calrissian in an intense sabacc tournament on Bespin, whereupon he embarked on his famous smuggling career, based, at various times, in Corporate Sector Authority space, Smuggler's Run, and Nar Shaddaa.

Solo's bravery during the Battle of Nar Shaddaa earned him the attention of his old flame Bria Tharen, now an agent of the Rebel Alliance. Hardly considering himself the heroic type, he was reluctant in aiding his former love, who was planning an all out attack against the slaving colonies on Ylesia, now twice as strong. Promised appropriate compensation, Solo, Calrissian, and Chewbacca embarked on the mission. In the aftermath of the battle, Tharen's troopers turned their blasters on Calrissian and the rest of Solo's friends, confiscating all valuables in the name of the Rebel Alliance. Angered, Solo threatened to kill Tharen if he ever saw her again. Defaced and branded a traitor back on Nar Shaddaa, Calrissian refused to believe Solo was not involved in the swindle, punching the Corellian in the jaw.

The following IS canon:

Together, Solo and Chewbacca continued with the smuggling trade and gained a reputation among the best in the business. However, their ship was intercepted and boarded by the Imperial Navy during one particular Kessel Run, forcing Solo to jettison his cargo to avoid arrest. This resulted in a large and mounting debt to Tatooine crime boss and former employer Jabba the Hutt who put a bounty on Solo that attracted all kinds of bounty hunters, like the amateurish Greedo, whom Solo eventually killed. The situation was desperate enough for the pair to accept a charter to take Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Alderaan for 17,000 credits and no questions. As a result, Solo was dragged into the rebellion against the Galactic Empire, eventually granted a commission and made a general.

He attempted to leave the Alliance three years later, but was dragged back in when he saved Luke from freezing to death and Princess Leia from the Imperial invasion of the Rebel base on Hoth. He took her to hide on Bespin, where Calrissian betrayed them to Darth Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith froze him in carbonite and sold him to bounty hunter Boba Fett, who in turn sold him to Jabba the Hutt. Throughout this ordeal, he and Princess Leia fell in love.

Six months later, Luke, now a nearly full-fledged Jedi, saved him from Jabba's clutches (with help from Leia and a penitent Calrissian.) Upon rejoining the Rebels, he led the commando raid on the shield generator facility on the forest moon of Endor during the Battle of Endor. Solo and his team were responsible for the destruction of the shield generator with explosive charges, in turn enabling the rebel fleet to destroy the Death Star by entering its superstructure.

Expanded Universe

In the novels that take place after Return of the Jedi, Solo plays a central role in the turbulent years following the death of Emperor Palpatine and destruction of the Empire. Solo was picked to command a New Republic task force to hunt down and capture or kill Warlord Zsinj. Four years after the Battle of Endor, Solo resigned his commission in order to court Princess Leia, whom he had fallen in love with on Bespin. After killing the warlord along the way, he married Princess Leia on Coruscant.

Five years after Return of the Jedi, Solo played a key role getting Talon Karrde and other smugglers to support the New Republic through intelligence and mercenary work. He was frequently separated from Leia during this time, going on contact missions with friends such as Calrissian, Wedge Antilles and Lieutenant Page. He was also present at the battle on Wayland which resulted in the death of Joruus C'Baoth.

Solo and Leia had three children together: twins Jaina Solo and Jacen Solo, and Anakin Solo who is named after Luke and Leia's father, Anakin Skywalker. Imperial agents frequently attempted to kidnap these children, with the intent of raising them as Dark Jedi.

A few months later, Solo and Leia's son, Anakin, became the target of the clone of Palpatine, who attempted to inhabit the infant's body. Just as Palpatine was about to kidnap the child, however, Solo accidentally shot him in the back, destroying the Sith Lord body and after a former ally of the Dark Master turned against him the new Clone Emperor's was destroyed once and for all.

Solo and Chewbacca later went on a diplomatic mission to Kessel. While there, they were shot down and imprisoned by the administrator Moruth Doole. While in the prison, Solo befriended a young man named Kyp Durron. Chewbacca, Solo, and Durron managed to escape in an Imperial Shuttle. They went into the Maw, and were captured by Admiral Daala, who was guarding the secret Maw Installation. Solo was taken to Qwi Xux, who helped design the Death Star, and who had just designed an Imperial superweapon, the Sun Crusher. Solo convinced Dr. Xux that the Empire was evil, and Xux and Solo freed Chewbacca and Durron. The group then stole the Sun Crusher, destroying a Star Destroyer in the process, and returned it to the New Republic.

Durron soon began his training. Under the influence of the undead spirit of Exar Kun, however, he fell to the dark side. Solo took off to hunt down Durron, who had stolen the Sun Crusher from its storage location in the heart of the gas planet Yavin, and took the vessel on an anti-Imperial rampage. After Durron was found, the Sith Lord who was corrupting him was destroyed, and he surrendered to Solo. Solo stood at Durron's side when he went before the New Republic council, and took him back to Luke Skywalker. Luke forgave Durron and Kyp continued his training, eventually becoming one of the first Jedi Masters of the new order.

Afterward, Solo returned to Corellia for the first time in many years. Solo's cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo, was inciting a revolution to overthrow the existing government, and the entire system was on the edge of civil war. Solo and his friends helped defuse the situation before it degenerated into a full scale war.

Chewbacca would die saving Anakin's life in Vector Prime, the first in the New Jedi Order series of books. Solo took the death of his companion hard, sinking into alcoholism and depression. He took his anger and grief out on his family, alienating them and returning to his loner lifestyle. Just as he began to bring himself around, Anakin died as well, compounding his despair. By the end of the New Jedi Order series, however, Solo finally managed to accept the deaths of Anakin and Chewbacca and move on, and repaired his relationship with his family.

Talents

Among Solo's many abilities were his nearly prescient capability to detect danger, his fast-draw with his gun, and first-rate piloting skills. He proved his skills again in Empire Strikes Back when he attempted to elude pursuit by Imperial ships by entering an asteroid field. Solo managed to survive and hide after an extremely dangerous gauntlet by executing maneuvers to avoid collisions while piloting a freighter that his pursuers in agile TIE fighters could not duplicate. He is also, as Leia says in The Empire Strikes Back, "a natural leader". Though he may not admit it, he has proven himself to be a good friend.

References

Star Wars: The Paradise Snare, (Book 1 of The Han Solo Trilogy), 1st paperback printing, 1997. A. C. Crispin, ISBN 0-553-57415-9
Star Wars, The Han Solo Adventures: Han Solo at Star's End, Del Rey omnibus of "Han Solo at Star's End", "Han Solo's Revenge", and "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy", 1979. Brian Daley, ISBN 0-345-37980-2
Star Wars: Rebel Dawn (Book 3 of "The Han Solo Trilogy"), by A. C. Crispin. 1998. ISBN 0-553-57417-5
Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, softcover, 1997. George Lucas, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Laurent Bouzereau, ISBN 0-345-40981-7
Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura, 1st paperback printing, 1994. Kathy Tyers, ISBN 0-553-56872-8
Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia, 1995. Dave Wolverton, ISBN 0-553-56937-6
Star Wars: Jedi Search, (Book 1 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy), 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-553-297978-8
Star Wars: Dark Apprentice, (Book 2 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy), 1st edition paperback, 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-553-29799-6
Star Wars: Champions of the Force, (Book 3 of the Jedi Academy Trilogy), 1st edition paperback, 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, 0-553-29799-6
Star Wars, Ambush at Corellia, (Book 1 of the Corellian Trilogy) 1st printing, 1995. Roger MacBride Allen, ISBN 0-553-29803-8
Star Wars, Assault at Selonia, (Book 2 of the Corellian Trilogy) 1st printing, 1995. Roger MacBride Allen, ISBN 0-553-29805-4
Star Wars, Showdown at Centerpoint, (Book 3 of the Corellian Trilogy) 1st printing, 1995. Roger MacBride Allen, ISBN 0-553-29806-2
Star Wars: Vector Prime, (Book 1 of the New Jedi Order), 1999. R. A. Salvatore, ISBN 0-345-42844-7
Star Wars, New Jedi Order: Jedi Eclipse, (Book 5 of the New Jedi Order) 1st paperback printing, 2000. James Luceno, ISBN 0-345-42859-5
A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, 2nd edition, 1994. Bill Slavicsek, ISBN 0-345-38625-6
New Jedi Order Sourcebook, Wizards of the Coast: 2002. J.D. Wiker and Steve Miller, ISBN 0-786-92777-1

External links

Official Star Wars Databank entry

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Han Solo

History

Expanded Universe

Talents

See also

References

External links