Almost everyone knows about Princess Leia Organa, one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars, but there are many facts and pieces of trivia about her character that even longtime fans may not be aware of. Initially presented as the princess who needed to be rescued in A New Hope, Leia quickly proved herself as a determined fighter, a competent leader, and a woman not afraid to put a scoundrel like Han Solo in his place. She was also fiercely loyal to her friends, loved by those who knew her, and adored by generations of Star Wars fans.
However, Leia’s story reaches far beyond the Star Wars movies into the realm of TV shows, books, comics, etc. Her character also changed quite a bit throughout the development of the original Star Wars trilogy, and her path diverged in different Star Wars timelines. These pieces of information add greater depth to Leia’s character and make her role in the Star Wars franchise more engaging to examine. 10 Star Wars facts about Princess Leia offer the most interesting bits of trivia that viewers may not have known.
10 Leia Wasn’t Supposed To Be Luke’s Sister
It was originally going to be a different character
Return of the Jedi revealed that Princess Leia was Luke Skywalker’s twin sister, but this wasn’t the original plan. According to Gary Kurtz, who produced A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Luke’s sister was initially a new character training to be a Jedi on the other side of the galaxy. She would have appeared later in the sequel trilogy, but when Lucas decided not to make more films, he needed to wrap up lingering plot threads in Return of the Jedi. Therefore, Leia became Luke’s sister, and this backstory was expanded in the prequel trilogy.
Lucas’ unused material for the original trilogy makes it even more apparent that this wasn’t planned. While Leia only briefly kissed Luke to make Han Solo jealous in The Empire Strikes Back, a deleted scene shows them being much more intimate right before he and the others walk into the room. An early script also had Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost reveal the existence of Luke’s sister, Nellith Skywalker, whose location he refuses to share to prevent Darth Vader from taking the information from Luke’s mind. There’s no telling how Leia’s story would have changed had she not been Luke’s sister.
9 Leia’s Story Was Very Different In Legends
Especially after Return of the Jedi
Long before she was General Organa in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Leia’s post-Return of the Jedi story was told across several books, comics, and video games in the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. To give the filmmakers creative freedom, Disney and Lucasfilm rebranded the EU as “Legends” in 2014 and rebooted the official Star Wars canon. Leia’s entire history following the Battle of Endor was reset, and while there are many similarities, there are several notable differences:
|
Leia In Canon |
Leia In Legends |
|---|---|
|
Married Han Solo immediately after Return of the Jedi, |
Married Han Solo four years after Return of the Jedi. |
|
Had one child named Ben Solo. |
Had three children: the twins Jaina and Jacen Solo, followed by Anakin Solo. |
|
Nearly became First Senator in the New Republic Senate but stepped down when her reputation was tarnished. |
Became the New Republic Chief of State after Mon Mothma stepped down. |
|
Completed her training with Luke Skywalker but chose not to be a Jedi, dedicating her life to politics. |
Only completed her Jedi training after retiring from politics. |
|
Died and became one with the Force at 54 years old. |
Lived to be at least 64 years old. |
While the biggest comparisons between canon and Legends are after Return of the Jedi, there were changes to Leia’s story throughout the timeline. The new canon Star Wars comics had the benefit of hindsight with the original trilogy, putting less romantic emphasis on Luke and Leia and more on her relationship with Han. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series made a radical change by revealing that Leia had met Ben Kenobi 10 years before A New Hope. Unlike the EU, where Lucas wouldn’t allow writers to kill Luke, Han, or Leia, her death was shown in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
8 How Leia Remembered Her Mother
Where did those images and feelings come from?
Since the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, fans have wondered how Leia could remember her mother. In Return of the Jedi, Leia told Luke that her mother “…died when I was very young.”, implying she knew her for at least a couple of years. However, the prequel trilogy revealed that Padmé Amidala died immediately after giving birth, meaning Leia had no time to form even the vague memories described to Luke. George Lucas acknowledged this discrepancy in the DVD commentary but felt it was the most powerful way to end Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars books and comics have provided possible explanations for Leia’s memories in Return of the Jedi. The 2015 comic miniseries Star Wars: Princess Leia by Mark Waid and Terry Dodson has Leia visit Naboo, where she briefly feels as if a mural of Queen Amidala is turning to look at her with sadness. In Star Wars: Shattered Empire by Greg Rucka, she visits Naboo again and senses the presence of Darth Maul from decades earlier. This suggests that Leia may have a Force ability called psychometry, which allows the user to sense the history of places, objects, and people.
7 A Leia Of Many Names
Far more than just “Princess Leia”
Known only as “Princess Leia” in the original Star Wars trilogy, her name has changed several times throughout the franchise. Given Leia’s family history of being a secret Skywalker, getting adopted by an Organa, and later marrying a Solo, it’s understandable that her name would go through several combinations. Most of this history is the same in Star Wars canon and Legends, but there are a few interesting exceptions:
- Leia’s last name, Organa, was mentioned in the novelization and the script but not onscreen.
- She became Leia Organa Solo after marrying Han Solo.
- Her birth name was Leia Amidala Skywalker.
- This was first mentioned in the Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith visual dictionary by James Luceno, which is now Legends.
- It was also mentioned in the 2016 edition of the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia but removed in the 2021 edition, making it unclear whether it’s still canon.
- A 2009 Wizards of the West Coast: Star Wars Miniature Set called her “Leia Skywalker, Jedi Knight.”
Viewers who have only seen the movies wouldn’t be privy to most of these name changes, apart from Leia’s last name being mentioned a few times in the sequel trilogy. While Leia did marry Han Solo in canon, they had separated before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making it hard to fully think of her as a Solo. Even C-3PO is thrown off by having to refer to her new title of “General” rather than Princess, so Star Wars fans could be forgiven for simply calling her “Leia.”
6 Leia’s Accent Change Was Intentional (Apparently)
There’s a reason Leia was momentarily British
One of the most odd aspects of A New Hope was Leia switching between her normal speaking voice in some scenes and a more proper voice in others. Most notably, her accent seems very British during her interaction with Grand Moff Tarkin, at least until she starts begging him not to destroy Alderaan. Carrie Fisher later explained that she took inspiration from Peter Cushing’s performance, causing the two to have a similar speaking style in their scene together.
Rather than leaving this as an oddity, author Claudia Gray decided to acknowledge it in her 2016 novel Star Wars: Bloodline. Leia recounts to herself how she once imitated Tarkin’s accent to mock him on the Death Star, which makes sense since he chuckled and called her “Charming to the last.” This simultaneously provides an in-universe explanation for Leia’s accent change while referencing Fisher intentionally copying Cushing during filming.
5 Leia’s Parentage Turned The Galaxy Against Her
Forever haunted by the legacy of Darth Vader
Unlike the Star Wars Legends timeline, the galaxy never learned that Darth Vader was Luke and Leia’s father, at least until the worst possible moment. In Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray, Leia befriends a Senator from a rival political party named Ransolm Casterfo, who hated Vader and Emperor Palpatine for the death of his parents. This made him feel betrayed when he discovered evidence that Leia was Vader’s biological daughter, which he announced before the New Republic Senate just as she was nominated for First Senator. Her career in shambles, Leia withdrew her nomination and later resigned.
Leia’s tarnished reputation also explains several aspects of the
Star Wars
sequel trilogy, from nobody showing up to help her at the Battle of Crait to her desperate desire to make Luke the symbol of hope (despite being trained as a Jedi herself).
With only a few New Republic Senators still supporting her in secret, Leia decided to form the Resistance after learning about the First Order infiltrating the government. Leia’s tarnished reputation also explains several aspects of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, from nobody showing up to help her at the Battle of Crait to her desperate desire to make Luke the symbol of hope (despite being trained as a Jedi herself). It makes Leia’s story more tragic, turned on by the galaxy she helped save because of a man who she refused to acknowledge as her father.
4 Leia Was One Of The Youngest Senators In History
Her mother would have been proud
Given Leia’s maturity in A New Hope and her membership in the Imperial Senate, viewers may not realize that both her character and actor were only 19. Not only that, but Leia also joined the Apprentice Legislature at 16, which prepared her to take her father’s place in the Senate sometime before A New Hope. Because of this, Leia is perhaps the youngest person to ever serve in either the Republic or the Imperial Senate in Star Wars.
In this way, Leia takes after her mother, Padmé Amidala, who joined Naboo’s Legislative Youth Program at 12, was elected Queen at 14, and became Senator at 18. However, Padmé was directly appointed to the Senate by Queen Réillata, whereas Leia was the youngest elected senator. Even after the destruction of her homeworld, Leia continued to represent the Alderaan sector in the New Republic Senate for several decades.
3 Leia’s Parents Didn’t Want Her In The Rebellion
But she isn’t one to take no for an answer
Despite Bail and Breha Organa trusting Leia as a princess and aspiring senator from a young age, they initially didn’t want her involved in the Rebellion. This caused a distance to form between Leia and her parents, and for a long time, she didn’t understand what had caused it. When she was 16, Leia finally discovered that her father was a leader in the Rebellion and had kept the truth from Leia for her own protection.
While her parents were extremely reluctant at first, Leia eventually convinced them to let her help in the fight to save the galaxy. This helped repair their strained relationship and bring the three of them closer than ever before, culminating in Leia’s Day of Demand, a traditional ceremony where she was officially recognized as heir to the throne of Alderaan. Leia primarily helped by performing diplomatic missions that served as cover for Rebel activity, but when her parents died with Aderaan, Leia took on a much bigger role in the Rebellion.
2 Episode IX Was Originally Going To Be Leia’s Movie
A different plan before Carrie Fisher’s passing
The final film in the Skywalker Saga was originally called Star Wars: Duel of the Fates and would have been written and directed by Colin Trevorrow. His version of Episode IX would have been Leia’s movie, much as Star Wars: The Force Awakens was Han Solo’s movie and Star Wars: The Last Jedi was Luke Skywalker’s. However, Trevorrow was eventually removed from the project due to creative differences with Disney and Lucasfilm, and J.J. Abrams wrote a new script that became Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Carrie Fisher’s passing in 2016 meant the final movie was limited in how much Leia could do, but the first draft of Duel of the Fates gave her a larger role in the story. Some things were the same as in the final movie, from Leia guiding Rey to asking Lando Calrissian to help the Resistance, but the story didn’t have any limits on how to use her. The most notable difference is that Leia did not die in the initial Duel of the Fates script, which was finalized around the same time as Fisher’s death.
1 Han Wasn’t The Only One Frozen In Carbonite
Giving Leia greater urgency to free him
Han Solo is the Star Wars character known for being frozen in carbonite, but it turns out he wasn’t the only rebel who suffered this fate. The 2020 Star Wars comic series by Charles Soule revealed that the rebels returned to Cloud City shortly after The Empire Strikes Back, and Leia went to the carbon-freezing chamber to figure out how she would eventually free Han. Unfortunately, the Empire had begun adopting this as a new method for transporting prisoners, so when she was captured by stormtroopers, Leia experienced the agony of carbon-freezing firsthand.
Nearly five decades after her first appearance, Princess Leia remains one of the best Star Wars characters and a feminist icon in science fiction. The original trilogy already made her a compelling character, but subsequent sequels, spinoffs, and tie-ins have made her even more engaging to follow. As Star Wars continues to expand rapidly through every storytelling medium, new releases will surely reveal even more facts and trivia that fans didn’t already know about Princess Leia.
