Solo, Princess Leia Organa

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Alderaan

• Species:
  Human

• Gender:
  Female

• Size:
  1.5 meters

• Weapon:
  sporting blaster pistol

• Vehicle:
  Tantive IV

• Affiliation:
  Rebel Alliance, New Republic, Galactic Alliance

• 

From the Movies

Leia Organa had accomplished much at a young age: a leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a former member of the Imperial Senate, and a member of the Royal Family of Alderaan. Yet despite her stature, for many years, Leia herself was not privy to much of her true heritage.

It was common knowledge throughout the court that Leia was adopted into the Royal Family. What wasn't common knowledge was that Leia was born to Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi pupil who succumbed to the dark side and became Darth Vader. She was one of a set of twins, born in secrecy and protected from Vader and the Emperor. The Jedi hero and general, Obi-Wan Kenobi, saw to it that Leia was secretly transported to the planet Alderaan, where she was to be raised by Kenobi's friend Bail Organa. The boy, Luke, was taken to the distant world of Tatooine. Leia has few memories of her true mother, Padm? Amidala. All that Leia can recall is that she was beautiful, but sad.

Leia followed in her adoptive father's footsteps, and entered politics. She became the youngest senator ever in the Imperial Senate, representing Alderaan. As a senator, Princess Leia ran a number of "diplomatic aid missions" that were fronts for Rebel resupply missions. She used her diplomatic immunity and her consular ship to gain access to restricted areas.

One such mission saw Leia's ship intercepting vital Imperial plans stolen by Rebel spies. These plans, the complete technical readouts of the Death Star battle station, could be exploited by the Alliance to secure a sizable victory over the Empire. Armed with the Death Star plans, Leia was given a mission by her father to find one of the Republic's greatest heroes and recruit him into the Alliance. En route to the planet Tatooine to find General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia's ship was attacked by Imperial forces, and she was taken prisoner by Lord Darth Vader. She barely had time to hide the stolen plans into the memory systems of an R2 unit, and ordered it to find Obi-Wan on Tatooine.

As a prisoner of Vader, Leia underwent terrible torture aboard the Death Star. In addition to the mind probes, the Imperials forced her to witness the destruction of her home planet of Alderaan. Despite this, she refused to reveal the location of the hidden Rebel base, or the whereabouts of the stolen plans. Shortly thereafter, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo rescued her from the battle station and carried her and the stolen plans to the Rebel base on Yavin's fourth moon. Due to Leia's efforts, and the help of her companions, the Death Star was eventually destroyed.

Three years later, the Alliance had set up a new base on the frozen world of Hoth. Princess Leia was one of the commanding members of Echo Base. When the Imperials attacked Hoth, Leia took the initiative, and acted in a number of command roles, ordering the evacuation of the base. Leia's access to her own escape transport was cut off, but she managed to escape in Han Solo's Millennium Falcon.

Evading Imperial pursuit, the Falcon landed in an asteroid field so that its crew could repair the vessel. It was during these quiet moments that Princess Leia Organa fell in love with Han Solo. The two voiced their love on Cloud City of Bespin, where the Imperial forces tracked them. Darth Vader captured Han Solo, and Leia was forced to watch as the Dark Lord froze him in carbonite, and then handed him over to the bounty hunter, Boba Fett. Leia escaped Cloud City with the aid of its administrator, Lando Calrissian.

The Rebels eventually tracked down Boba Fett as the bounty hunter delivered Han's carbon-frozen form to Jabba the Hutt. Leia participated in Luke's plan to free the captured Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster. She posed as Boushh, an Ubese bounty hunter and infiltrated the palace, freeing Solo from his carbonite imprisonment. Her identity was revealed, and for a time, she had to endure the humiliation of being made one of Jabba's slaves. She repaid the gangster, however, by strangling the Hutt with the very chain that bound her.

Leia rejoined Alliance High Command in time to accompany General Han Solo's strike team on the moon of Endor. Their mission was to destroy the shield generator protecting the second Death Star. While on Endor, Leia became separated from the strike team, and befriended an Ewok tribe. Her diplomatic skills aided in convincing the Ewoks to help the Rebel force. It was shortly thereafter that Luke revealed their true lineage to her. For a time, Luke and Leia kept their true relation and their parentage a secret from all but their most trusted friends.

During the ground battle at the Imperial complex, Leia sustained a slight blaster wound. After the victory at Endor, Leia continued to demonstrate some ability in the Force, being able to sense her brother's presence.

Leia is a driven, dedicated individual. She has a forceful, some would say abrasive, personality. She is professional in all respects, but occasionally relaxes her guard to let her strong compassion and quirky sense of humor show. Leia is a petite, fair-skinned human female with brown eyes, and long brown hair that she often wears in an elaborate fashion.

From the Expanded Universe

Leia was raised in a life of privilege, a stark contrast to her twin brother who grew up on the harsh desert world of Tatooine. Despite this, Leia never grew soft or decadent. Her strong personality and bright intellect molded her into an exceptional person, one that Bail Organa loved and was very proud of. She avoided the vagaries of court politics and intrigue, and instead concentrated on bettering herself and helping others.

Leia had a happy childhood, learning in the best institutes on Alderaan, and studying politics, history and art. Leia's interest in art was one of her main reasons for joining the Rebellion. Learning how the Empire controlled expression really cemented her devotion to the Alliance's cause. Leia learned history from one of the greatest professors in the galaxy, Arn Horada. She was taught self-defense and combat skills from Giles Durane, the Weapons Master.

When the galaxy plunged into civil war, Leia's diplomacy and martial skills served the Rebel Alliance. On a diplomatic mission to Ralltiir, a world subjugated by the Empire, she discovered a wounded Rebel with information stored in his brain through hypnotic imprint. This Rebel had the news of the Death Star operation. Learning of the abominable weapon, Leia discovered that there was no redeeming the Empire. What was to some an ordered, structured government built on the ashes of a corrupt and ineffective Republic was to Leia a vile villain to be destroyed. One of her first open acts of Rebellion was simply self-defense -- Leia was attacked by Imperial Lord Tion for her Rebel affiliations, and she was forced to take his life.

Fully committed to the Alliance cause, Leia's convictions were by no means swayed by the Alderaan tragedy. She continued to serve the Alliance in diplomatic capacities. En route to a conference on Circarpous IV, Luke and Leia crash-landed on the jungle planet Mimban. There, Leia was forced to face Darth Vader during a quest for the legendary Kaiburr Crystal. Leia held off the Dark Lord single-handedly with Luke's lightsaber before Skywalker was able to defeat him. Vader was merely toying with her, scarring her continuously with his deadly blade. Luke used the Kaiburr's healing power to mend Leia's grievous wounds.

Leia attended an important Conference of Uncommitted Worlds on the planet Kabal after the Battle of Yavin. There, she recruited the Aquaris Freeholders to the Alliance. The Freeholders proved very resourceful and valuable when the Alliance abandoned Yavin as their base. During the Alliance relocation, Leia was able to access lost Organa resources of money and capital on Ord Mantell greatly needed for the Rebel war effort. Leia's efforts were also felt in the distant Minos Cluster, where she helped unify Rebellion against the Empire.

In the months that followed the Battle of Hoth, Leia felt torn between her duties to the Rebellion and her devotion to Han. Although she and her friends continued their search for Boba Fett, she still had Alliance missions to undertake. In her devoted search for Solo, Leia found herself drawn into the underworld of Black Sun, a vast criminal syndicate that permeated the entire galaxy. There, she was almost seduced by Prince Xizor, the ruler of the organization. His handsome features and irresistible pheromones nearly wooed Leia to his side, but she overcame his temptation.

After the Battle of Endor, Leia went on a number of diplomatic missions on behalf of the newly founded Alliance of Free Planets. When the New Republic replaced the interim government, Leia was one of the inner council members that helped shape its growth.

Four years into the New Republic's rule, the normally isolationist government of the Hapes Consortium began making entreaties. The Hapan Prince Isolder proposed marriage to Leia, offering the vast wealth of the Hapes Cluster to the Republic in exchange for her hand. Han Solo would have none of it. In a characteristically brash and reckless move, Han kidnapped Leia and stole away to Dathomir, a world he won in an incredible game of sabacc. Though Solo was an expert at marksmanship, piloting and smuggling, his idea of the "romantic" could have definitely used some work. Despite eloping to a world full of evil Force-weilding witches and an Imperial garrison, Leia's heart still chose the scruffy-looking scoundrel over the dashing prince, and Han and Leia were married shortly thereafter.

Now known as Leia Organa Solo and the New Republic Minister of State, she set out on her most challenging role: that of mother. Leia gave birth to twins, Jacen and Jaina, during one of the New Republic's most trying times. Against a backdrop of war unleashed by Imperial warlord Grand Admiral Thrawn, Leia delivered two healthy and very Force-sensitive babies. A year-and-a-half later, she had a third child, Anakin.

When Mon Mothma stepped down from her position of Chief of State of the New Republic due to health issues, she passed on the mantle of leadership to Leia. Organa Solo ruled for several years, guiding the Republic through numerous crises as the government experienced growing pains.

Though Leia stepped away from public office, she still remained a valuable member of the New Republic hierarchy. Her relief efforts during theYuuzhan Vong crisis are well known. The mother of full-grown Jedi Knights, Leia still brandishes her lightsaber and Jedi heritage, though she readily admits regret that her political career had interfered with her early Jedi training.

Her connection to the Force helped her weather the trying times of the Yuuzhan Vong crisis. Leia struggled to keep her family together during the invasion, becoming the emotional anchor when the tragic death of Chewbacca deeply affected Han. Grief-stricken, Solo withdrew from his commitments as father and husband.

Following a near-death experience on Duro, Leia and Han were reunited, and bolstered each other's strength, renewing their commitment and faith in their love. Such strength was vital, for more bloodshed was to scatter the Solo family. Leia's headstrong son, Anakin, died in a heroic mission into Yuuzhan Vong territory. The pain and anguish of that loss echoed through the Force, crippling Leia with despair.

Yet she did not lose all hope. Her remaining two children also felt the loss of Anakin. Jacen was held captive by the Yuuzhan Vong, and most in the New Republic believed him dead. But Leia held onto her adamant belief that Jacen was still alive, even though he seemed undetectable through the Force. Jaina plunged herself into her dangerous career as a starfighter pilot, leading foolhardy sorties against the Yuuzhan Vong. The young pilot worked hard to build walls around her emotions, and even excluded her mother from her war-weary heart for a time. The two were eventually able to settle their differences.

After months of uncertainty, the remnants of the Solo family were finally reunited as the fragments of the New Republic consolidated its push against the Yuuzhan Vong. While Leia stayed clear of any official involvement in the newly formed Galactic Alliance government, she continued her service as a skilled diplomat, flying missions into territories that had lost contact with the rest of the galaxy during the invasion, and attempting to weave together the fragments torn apart by the Yuuzhan Vong.

Behind the Scenes

The early drafts of Star Wars had Leia as very young girl -- a 14-year old princess, the same age Queen Amidala is in The Phantom Menace. In these early versions of Star Wars, Leia is the spoiled daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae. In subsequent drafts, Leia was said to be the daughter of Bail Antilles, and the name "Organa" was instead used for her peaceful homeworld Organa Major. Later drafts reshuffled the names around so that Leia Organa instead came from Alderaan.

Leia's marriage to Han Solo finally occurred in the pages of Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia, published by Bantam Books in 1995. In Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire (Bantam Books, 1991), Leia is pregnant with twins. She gives birth to Jaina and Jacen in The Last Command (also by Zahn, Bantam Books, 1993). Her third child, Anakin, is established in the Dark Empire comic series by Dark Horse Comics.