This Is Madness: The Star Wars Character Tournament Strikes Back on March 14

There's been an awakening. Have you felt it? It's time for This Is Madness: The Star Wars Character Tournament 2016!

StarWars.com's annual event, where you choose the most popular character of a galaxy far, far away, is back. See below for full details on this year's competition, including voting dates, matchups (featuring new heroes and villains from Star Wars: The Force Awakens!), and how you can fill out your own bracket and win a bounty of Star Wars-themed prizes.

VOTING BEGINS MONDAY, MARCH 14!

Set your hyperspace coordinates for StarWars.com/This-Is-Madness -- the tournament kicks off on Monday, March 14. Vote on new matchups every day until the championship showdown on Monday, April 4; the winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 5. Get a first look at the bracket below, including opening round matchups!

In This Is Madness, characters are divided into two conferences: Light Side and Dark Side. Jedi, scoundrels, Sith, bounty hunters, princesses, and ball-shaped astromechs all compete against each other, and you decide the winner by voting for your favorites. New entrants this year come from all facets of the Star Wars universe. From Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey, BB-8, Finn, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma join the fray; Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren, Agent Kallus, the Fifth Brother, and the Seventh Sister also make their tourney debut. Once the competition begins, new matchups occur daily, and are decided by fan voting, leading up to a final round where a single character is crowned champion. Real-time matchup updates are available on the site, letting you know if your favorite characters are winning…or if you need to double your efforts and rally the troops. This year, the odds-touting golden droid, C-3PO, will offer his opinion on each matchup. (Whether you listen to his advice or decide you aren't interested in his opinion is entirely up to you.)

Last year’s tournament finally saw the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, win his first title. Fans embraced the power of the dark side, giving Vader decisive victories over major characters in each round, including wins over Count Dooku (88%-12%), Darth Maul (75%-25%), and Jabba the Hutt (54%-46%), before his ultimate triumph over his arch-nemesis, Obi-Wan Kenobi (57%-43%). While the dark side was not the quick and easy path to a This Is Madness championship for Vader -- he lost to Yoda and Obi-Wan the first two years -- revenge was sweet. (Sith are good at that sort of thing.)

PREDICT THE MADNESS, WIN MUCH MORE THAN A QUARTER PORTION

Can you see the future as well as Yoda? Now's the time to put your abilities to the test. Wookieepedia once again presents Predict the Madness, where fans can fill out their own brackets and take home amazing prizes that Unkar Plutt would love! Here's how it works: Visit Predict the Madness, pick who you think will win each matchup and, ultimately, the tournament. Choose wisely! The most accurate brackets will qualify for incredible prizes, but make like BB-8 speeding away from the First Order -- the deadline to submit your bracket is Monday, March 14, at 9:59 a.m., or just before the first round of This Is Madness begins.

Players who finish in the top 5 will win Star Wars prize bundles featuring great items from Hasbro, SMS Audio, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, and Diamond Select Toys. Check out the prize breakdown below! 

1st Place

• 1 Hasbro RC BB-8
• 1 Hasbro Black Series 6-in Figure (TBD)
• 1 SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones (Boba Fett)
• 1 Darth Vader Neon Sign from Diamond Select Toys
• 1 R2-D2 Bank from Diamond Select Toys
• 1 LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales DVD

2nd Place

• 1 Hasbro RC BB-8
• 1 Hasbro Black Series 6-in Figure (TBD)
• 1 SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones (Boba Fett)
• 1 R2-D2 Bank from Diamond Select Toys
• 1 LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales DVD

3rd Place

• 1 Hasbro RC BB-8
• 1 Hasbro Black Series 6-in Figure (TBD)
• 1 SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones (Boba Fett)
• 1 Clone Trooper Bust Bank from Diamond Select Toys
• 1 LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales DVD

4th Place

• 1 Hasbro RC BB-8
• 1 Hasbro Black Series 6-in Figure (TBD)
• 1 SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones (Boba Fett)
• 1 Clone Trooper Bust Bank from Diamond Select Toys

5th Place

• 1 Hasbro RC BB-8
• 1 Hasbro Black Series 6-in Figure (TBD)
• 1 SMS Audio Star Wars Headphones (Boba Fett)

Are you ready for another epic Star Wars battle? Support your favorite characters, share your picks using #ThisIsMadness, and stay tuned to StarWars.com for more on This Is Madness: The Star Wars Character Tournament 2016!

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