Mara Jade

First Appearance: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

Of all the female characters in Star Wars Legends, Mara Jade, who was introduced in Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy, is undoubtedly the most popular. Trained as the Emperor’s Hand, her final mission for the Empire is to kill Luke Skywalker. But when she first encounters the not-yet-Jedi-master, she realizes they need to work together to survive, and overrides the Emperor’s command. It takes several books for that deep hatred, seeded into her by the worst father figure ever, to turn into love, but eventually she and Luke get married, ending the string of not-as-cool romantic interests in Luke’s storyline. Luke’s storyline.