What would Emperor Palpatine be without an army of stooges at his back? Not Stormtroopers, mind you... stooges. Admirals, Generals, toadies, and flunkies who are all vying for power. They're all petty, they're vindictive, they usually don't last long, and they are almost always highly entertaining. They are a Star Wars mainstay, and a proud tradition.

The tradition continued (as almost everything Empire-related did) into the sequel trilogy, with the First Order ushering in a new age of stooges. Some of these guys were stooge-lite, trying to recapture the glory days of flunky-dom, but others were ex-Imperials who were some of the only people around with any sense.

How do you go about ranking these stooges? It's not easy, but if the character comes after the Emperor (or the Supreme Leader) in the food chain, they are eligible. Darth Vader and Kylo Ren are exempt because those guys are enforcers. They mean business, and they are usually the ones who toss these guys around like rag dolls... or just chokes them to death. With one notable exception, none of these guys can tell Vader which way to shove his show.

We'll be looking at their competence and considering how entertaining they are to watch. With that in mind, and in honor of the impending release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, let's start climbing the ladder of aspiration and rank the top 10 career opportunists of evil in the galaxy far, far away.

Note: Separatist stooges don't apply, because the entire faction is one giant stooge, and the list would be overrun. (That said, Nute Gunray is such a huge stooge that he becomes a "huge stooge-flunky" mega-stooge by the time he finally gets cut down.)