Han Solo

Han Solo, known only as Han until being given the surname Solo, was a human male smuggler and hero of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He rose from an impoverished childhood to become captain of the Millennium Falcon, a leader in the Rebel Alliance and an instrumental figure in the Galactic Civil War during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Although he did not believe in the Force controlling his destiny, Han came to believe in the cause of galactic freedom, joining Jedi Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa in the fight for the Rebellion. Following the war, Han and Leia welcomed a son, Ben Solo, who became the dark knight Kylo Ren after being corrupted by the dark side of the Force. Although their relationship floundered, Leia hoped that Han, as Ben's father, could find a way to break the dark side's hold on their son. Han Solo became legendary across the galaxy as both a smuggler and war hero of the Rebellion.

As a young man fighting for survival on the mean streets of Corellia, Han yearned to fly among the stars with dreams of becoming the galaxy's best pilot. With a fellow scrumrat named Qi'ra, Han lived as a street thief with Corellia's notorious White Worms gang until an important deal with Lady Proxima went bad, causing Han to flee Corellia. He was given the full name "Han Solo" by an Imperial recruitment officer while entering the Imperial Academy. He became known as Cadet 124-329 while serving as an Imperial cadet, and was eventually assigned to the 224th Imperial Armored Division. On Mimban, Han met the thief Tobias Beckett and wound up deserting the Empire and joining his crew to steal unrefined coaxium from Kessel in order to pay a debt to Dryden Vos, a kingpin with the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. By the end of this scheme, during which he reunited with Qi'ra, Han was forced to kill his mentor Beckett after a brutal double-cross. Han also became rivals and close friends with fellow smuggler Lando Calrissian and the Wookiee Chewbacca, the latter who became his best friend. Calrissian owned the Millennium Falcon, a fast ship with which Han made the Kessel Run in just twelve parsecs and won from Lando in a game of sabacc.

With only Chewbacca remaining at his side, as his trusted copilot who swore a life debt to the Corellian smuggler, Han Solo embarked on a smuggling career under the employ of Jabba the Hutt, a notorious gangster and crime lord of Tatooine. After ditching a shipment of spice to avoid trouble with the Empire, Solo owed a great deal of money to Jabba, who then placed a bounty on the smuggler's head, as a result. His fortune seemed to have changed when Han and Chewbacca were hired to charter Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to Alderaan, avoiding Imperial stormtroopers who were searching for Luke's droids. However, as they find Alderaan destroyed by the Empire's new superweapon, the Death Star, Solo became caught up in the rebellion against the Empire, rescuing Princess Leia Organa, delivering the stolen Death Star plans to the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4, and saved Luke from the Sith Lord Darth Vader in the Battle of Yavin, allowing Skywalker to destroy the Death Star. Solo fought with the Rebellion for a number of years afterward, taking part in numerous operations and battles against the Empire.

After the Battle of Hoth, Solo sought refuge with Organa—with whom he had fallen in love—Chewbacca, and C-3PO on Cloud City, which was operated by his old friend Lando Calrissian. There, they were captured by Darth Vader as part of a trap to bait Skywalker to the city. Solo was frozen in carbonite and taken to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, where he remained encased in carbonite for months until he was rescued by his friends. After returning to the Alliance Fleet, Solo was promoted to the rank of general and was given command of the Pathfinders, a special forces squad, for the Battle of Endor. Solo led the Pathfinders to Endor, where he, Organa, Chewbacca, and the special forces team, with the help of the native Ewoks, destroyed the shield generator protecting the second Death Star that was being constructed in orbit. Their actions allowed the Alliance Fleet to destroy the superweapon.

The Battle of Endor, which saw the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader, allowed the Rebellion to form the New Republic. In the early days after Endor, Solo continued to lead the Pathfinders against the Empire. He married Organa, and the two had a son, Ben Solo. The boy struggled with the dark side of the Force—like his mother, who was the daughter of Darth Vader and twin sister of Luke Skywalker, Ben was Force-sensitive—so Organa sent him to be trained as a Jedi by Skywalker. Ben was seduced to the dark side by Snoke, Supreme Leader of the First Order, resulting in the destruction of Skywalker's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Having lost their son, Solo left and returned to smuggling, and even lost the Millennium Falcon to numerous thieves. He continued to smuggle until he was brought back into the fight by a scavenger named Rey and a defected First Order stormtrooper named Finn, who carried with them a droid, BB-8, that had part of a map to Skywalker's location. Solo, who retrieved the Falcon from Rey and Finn, returned to Organa, who led the Resistance against the First Order, and fought in the battle to destroy the First Order superweapon known as Starkiller Base. During the battle, Solo saw his son, who had taken the name Kylo Ren, and tried to convince him to return home. Instead, Ren stabbed his father with his lightsaber. Mortally wounded, Solo fell to his death in the bowels of the Starkiller weapon. However, Solo's heroic memory survived and his spirit remained alive and appeared in a Force vision a year later to convince Ren to abandon the dark side and defeat the resurrected Darth Sidious, after a duel on the remains of the second Death Star between Rey and Ren, being enough for Ben Solo to return and eventually sacrifice his own life to help Rey end Sidious and the Sith for good.

Text and facts from the “Han Solo” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.