By Ben Travis | Posted 3 Aug 2018

A few months ago, Empire recorded a plea for you to vote for the greatest Star Wars characters of all time – a message that we stashed in an R2 unit and blasted out into space, hoping it would find its way into the right hands. You intercepted the transmission and answered our call in droves, definitively deciding upon the greatest heroes and villains of a galaxy far, far away.

The Star Wars saga is packed with all kinds of dashing do-gooders and bold baddies – but it’s only fitting that the character who soared in and smuggled his way to the #1 spot is the galaxy’s greatest rogue: Han Solo. From Harrison Ford’s iconic performances in the Original Trilogy, to his glorious return (and heart-wrenching demise) in The Force Awakens, to Alden Ehrenreich’s youthful reinvention in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the swaggering space cowboy received more votes than anyone else from George Lucas’ sci-fi universe. You love him, and he knows.

The full top 50 list will be revealed in Empire’s upcoming September issue – but fair to say that a respiratorily-challenged bad-dad, a certain walking carpet, a no-nonsense princess-turned-general, and the last Jedi himself charted highly in the vote. Oh, and you-sa may be surprised to see that the tide appears to be turning on a certain Gungan who stumbled his way unwittingly into the top 20. Find out more when Empire’s Greatest Star Wars Characters Of All Time issue hits the shelves on 9 August.

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