In recent years, severalStar Warscharacters who debuted in animation have received live-action adaptations, some more successfully than others. AlthoughStar Warsbegan as a live-action film franchise, the animated shows expanded and enriched the saga on the small screen for many years. When the time came for the first live-actionStar WarsTV shows, the animated series helped lay the foundation, which meant adapting many fan-favorite characters.
One of the first and most notable examples was Ahsoka Tano inThe Mandalorian, the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker who first appeared inStar Wars: The Clone Wars. Many other animated characters followed in her wake, culminating inthe live-actionAhsokaseriesthat directly picked up whereStar Wars Rebelsleft off.18 notableStar Warscharacters have now made the transition from animation to the current live-action productions.
For this list,I’ll primarily be discussing characters who were originally designed for animation. Boba Fett and General Grievous may have first appeared in animatedStar Warsprojects, but they were still designed for the live-action movies. I also won’t include Wullf Yularen, whose character was defined byStar Wars: The Clone Warsbut first appeared inA New Hope. With that said, let’s see which animatedStar Warscharacters were most accurately adapted to live-action.
18The Grand Inquisitor
From Star Wars Rebels to Obi-Wan Kenobi
My personal least favorite adaptation of an animated character is the Grand Inquisitor inObi-Wan Kenobi. Rupert Friend does a fine job, but he sounds nothing like Jason Isaacs, who originally voiced the character inStar Wars Rebels. This meanshe has very little of the Grand Inquisitor’s trademark personality, and he barely resembles the live-action version of the Pau’an species as seen inStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
He also comes across as incompetent compared to his animated counterpart, failing in tasks he would have excelled at inRebels. He’s even taken by surprise when the Third Sister betrays and stabs him, which was completely pointless, as anyone who had seenRebelsknew he wasn’t really dead. Overall, this feels like the laziest character adaptation in modernStar Wars, which is a real shame.
17The Fifth Brother
Another Inquisitor with a similar problem inObi-Wan Kenobiis the Fifth Brother, the next in line for Grand Inquisitor.He also doesn’t look or sound much like the animated version fromRebels, and his characterization feels off as a result. However, I’m a little more forgiving because I like what Sung Kan brings to the role, and he gets more to do in the series while the Grand Inquisitor is out of action.
16Saw Gerrera
From Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Funnily enough, Saw Gerrera was initially at the bottom of my list because of how different the live-action version isfrom his first appearance inStar Wars: The Clone Wars. However, I recently found out thatSaw Gerrera was created for George Lucas’Star Wars: Underworld, a live-action series that never came to fruition. So while animation ended up defining Saw, the live-action version is probably closer to what was originally intended.
I also have to give credit to the other animated shows,Star Wars: The Bad BatchandStar Wars Rebels, for doing a surprisingly good job of showing Saw’s transition.Dave Filoni and his team tried to balance Saw’s animated design and Forest Whitaker’s, even having him return to voice the character inRebels. The differences are still clear, but I can appreciate how a lifetime of war changed Saw over two decades.
15Jai Kell
From Star Wars Rebels to Ahsoka
Jai Kell only appeared a few times inStar Wars Rebels, but he returned as Lothal’s New Republic Senator in theAhsokaseries premiere. I used to dismiss this casting because of Jai’s appearance inRebelsseason 1, but upon rewatch, I realized Vinny Thomas more closely resembles how Jai looked in season 4. He also sounds a bit like an older version of the character, so while it’s brief and imperfect, it’s better than I initially thought.
14Hamato Xiono
From Star Wars Resistance to Ahsoka
New Republic Senator Hamato Xiono is the only character on this list who first appeared in a 2D-animated series,Star Wars Resistance. He was the overbearing father of Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono, the main character ofResistance, and he was highly dismissive of General Leia Organa and the Resistance for being “extremists.” Ironically, he was the Senator from Hosnian Prime, which was later destroyed by the First Order inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.
The live-action Senator Xiono inAhsokahas a notably different build, posture, haircut, wardrobe, and voice, some of which can be forgiven by the fact that he’s at least 20 years younger than his animated counterpart. Still,Nelson Lee does a good job showcasing Xiono’s general personality and arrogance, and his voice sounds more like Tzi Ma when speaking via hologram. It’s not as accurate as it could be, but it does capture the essence of the character.
13Rex
From Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Ahsoka
Clone Captain Rex is a character who is hard to get wrong in live-action, as he’s wearing armor and voiced by Temuera Morrison, the man who played all the other clones in live-action. Of course, his appearance inAhsokais incredibly brief, whichdoesn’t give time to show what makes Rex different from any other clone captain. Otherwise, it’s a solid adaptation, and it would be nice to see Morrison have another chance to play Rex.
12Sabine Wren
This is where the list may start to get divisive, butAhsokawas generally a mixed bag when adapting the main characters fromStar Wars Rebels. I don’t hate Sabine Wren in this show, but she’s never fully felt like Sabine to me, especially in her personality.She doesn’t have enough of Sabine’s passion, quirks, or energy,which makes some sense within the story, but it’s still not very satisfying.
I don’t blame Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and she does have several moments to shine throughout season 1.Sabine also retains a cocky attitude when butting heads with people, and her troubled relationship withAhsokafeels reminiscent of her struggle with trusting Kanan and Hera inRebels. Even so, this version of Sabine just isn’t as compelling, which could have made me forgive some differences from her animated counterpart.
11Ezra Bridger
Live-action Ezra Bridger is also an imperfect translation fromStar Wars, but a few details give him an edge over Sabine.Eman Esfandi does a commendable job playing a young Ezra in Sabine’s holo recording, capturing the character’s inflections and personality quite well. When Sabine finds him on Peridea, he has changed, but his character growth is very satisfying and highlights Ezra’s best qualities fromRebels.
The team also put in an extra effort into getting the details right with Ezra’s appearance. While his hair doesn’t have the same blue tint as animated Ezra, he’s the spitting image of his father, Ephraim Bridger, and Esfandi even wore blue contacts so his eye color would match Ezra’s. It’s doesn’t always feel like the Ezra we remember, but the effort is there, and character development is inevitable.
10Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka Tano is one of my all-time favoriteStar Warscharacters, but I have to admit, I’ve always had mixed feelings about her portrayal in live-action. Like some of the other live-action adaptations,Ahsoka is a lot more stoic than she used to be and lacks parts of her personality that fans liked. EvenStar Wars Rebels, which also had wiser and more calm Ahsoka, didn’t make her that emotionally reserved.
As with Sabine and Ezra, I am somewhat forgiving of Ahsoka’s live-action portrayal because I know it serves a purpose in the story. Her experiences after leaving the Jedi Order changed her, and it makes sense that she would close herself off a bit more after fighting Darth Vader.Rosaria Dawson does still embody some of Ahsoka’s classic traits in live-action, just not as many as I would have liked.
9Jacen Syndulla
Jacen Syndulla is a tricky live-action adaptation to rank becausehe didn’t have much of a character to adapt in the first place. He only appeared for a few seconds near the end of theStar Wars Rebelsseries finale, givingAhsokathe freedom to define his character. They did change his design a bit (which most fans probably didn’t mind), but he also has the same youthful excitement, so I compromised by putting him right in the middle of the list.
