This Friday, March 7th, Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns, as Netflix debuts the entire 13-episode sixth and final season. With Season 6 upon us, I thought it would be a good time to refresh a list I wrote several years ago, looking at how the series took peripheral characters from the Star Wars movies and gave them expanded roles.

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Aurra Sing

Plo Koon

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Dengar

Onaconda Farr

Joscasta Nu

Admiral Yularen

Luminara Unduli

Keep in mind, I'm trying to focus on fairly obscure folks here to the casual moviegoer - the majority of whom never even spoke in the movies. There were some others I debated including, but ultimately the likes of Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar and Bail Organa seemed a bit too prominent as far as at least getting a big moment or a scene in the films that was truly focused on them.A few of these characters were previously elevated in stature before The Clone Wars began by Expanded Universe stories, including books and novels - while others were fairly ignored until supervising director Dave Filoni and his team decided it would be fun to take someone glimpsed here or there in the films and put them in the middle of the action and a new story that's also considered official canon by Lucasfilm.Note thatfollow for The Clone Wars: Season 1-5.One of those perfect examples of how someone can appear so briefly, and yet get such a notable reaction is Aurra Sing. The bounty hunter appeared in a single shot of The Phantom Menace, yet she instantly had fans intrigued, with her striking chalk white skin and array of weapons. In The Clone Wars, Aurra has proven to be a dangerous villain, who shoots prisoners without hesitation and can go toe-to-toe with Jedi in battle.One of many peripheral Jedi from the prequels to get a much-expanded role in The Clone Wars, Plo Koon is a personal favorite of supervising director Dave Filoni. In the films, he was known for sitting on the Jedi Council and being shot down and killed during Order 66. On The Clone Wars, we've seen Plo Koon as a confident, level-headed Jedi, who has a special bond with Ahsoka Tano and can deliver a badass line to Aurra Sing like, "You've already lost and you don't even know it."The image of the five bounty hunters standing on Darth Vader's Star Destroyer in Empire was a striking one, leading to all of them -- not just Boba Fett -- getting their fair share of Expanded Universe stories. But Dengar, the least imposing looking of the bunch, finally got his official canon status elevated in The Clone Wars, as we saw him in his young, badass prime. In a very fun touch, he was voiced by Simon Pegg, as the famous prequel-hater did a bit of fence-mending (and showed his appreciation for The Clone Wars) with the franchise he grew up loving.The Rodian Senator made some background (and holographic) appearances in Attack of the Clones, but in The Clone Wars, we learned he had deep ties to Padme - who referred to him affectionately as "Uncle." This made it all the more notable when he betrayed Padme, allowing her to be captured by Nute Gunray, only to switch sides again when he realize Gunray intended to execute her. The conflicted senator would survive Cad Bane's hostage crisis in the Senate, but would eventually be assassinated in the episode "Senate Murder."Jocasta Nu had a few lines in Attack of the Clones, but man was she stubborn, (wrongly) proclaiming to Obi-Wan that if Kamino wasn't in the Jedi archives, then it didn't exist. On The Clone Wars, she got a kinder portrayal, as we learned Ahsoka Tano was friendly with the Jedi librarian. However, the most notable moment for Jocasta is a bit of a cheat, when we saw her wield a lightsaber and actually attack Ahsoka - given that wasn't really Joscata but rather a shapeshifting impostor.A true example of taking something of an Easter Egg character from the films (not by intent, but simply because it's easy to miss him or not single him out) and turning them into a pretty notable player in The Clone Wars has to be Admiral Yularen. Remember all those dudes on the Death Star who sat and watched Darth Vader Force choke Admiral Motti for his disturbing lack of faith? One of them was named Yularen. And as it turns out, this same guy once worked very closely with Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars – perturbed by his recklessness, but respectful of his skills and determination.And probably not guessing that he'd one day sit and silently watch some serious Force chokin' going on from the same Jedi...One of the many Jedi who could be seen fighting at the end of Attack of the Clones, Luminara also had a blink and you'll miss her cameo on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith. On The Clone Wars we got to really see her in action, getting some notable episodes teaming her with characters like Anakin and Ahsoka and showing her go one-on-one with villains like Asajj Ventress.