All the times Princess Leia rules in the ‘Star Wars’ film series

Let’s celebrate the most badass warrior princess of any known galaxy – Leia Organa Solo (Carrie Fisher). As a princess, she’s the fiercest of them all; a true renegade who could handle her shit, fight her own battles, and refuse any and every rule book anyone tried to force upon her.

In celebration of this character’s ferocious badassery (and that of Fisher’s), here’s a ranking of the eight boldest times Leia was a total boss.

8. Leia devastates with a single word: Rogue One (2016)

She may be on screen for just a few seconds, but with one word she sums up the overall theme of the movie perfectly: “hope”. With that we all burst into tears and continue to do so, thanks.

7. Leia finally gives in to her feelings and kisses Han: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

We’re so here for game playing and feigning disinterest in an arrogant nerf-herder like Han just to keep him on his toes. But we’re also all about that moment when she finally lets herself live a little and allows Han (Harrison Ford) to woo & smooch her. That chemistry is as lit as a lightsaber in a bag of dynamite, honey!

6. Leia tunes in to Luke’s crisis call: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

With her fella potentially frozen for all time (and hell, possibly dead – what are the health and safety space laws concerning carbonite imprisonment?), you’d expect Leia to be on one taking out bad guys left, right, and center with her bare hands and Jedi trickery.

But instead she’s cool and collected, her focus likely helping to guide her to a moment of pure heroics as she tunes in to Luke’s (Mark Hamill) desperate cries for help and swoops in with Lando to save the day.

5. General Leia doesn’t offer Han a grandiose reunion: The Force Awakens (2015)

Secretly, most of us were hankering for that satisfying moment when Han and Leia are finally drawn back into each other’s orbit during The Force Awakens. Except the passionate, tearful reunion we all craved wasn’t there.

Instead, Leia is cool and aloof – a woman who has explored all the dimensions of a relationship and can now only offer gentle ribbing instead of kisses. Her knowing smile says it all – their love defies convention.

4. Leia takes charge: A New Hope (1977)

This lady has no time for Han’s swaggering ego or Chewie’s clunking form (“Will someone get this big walking carpet out of my way?!”) and though she starts out the movie as a damsel in distress, it’s clear Leia’s anything but.

This princess is a fierce warrior who doesn’t need a wookie and a scavenger to protect her or lead the way. She’s the boss who blasts their route to freedom, proving she has no time for these space dilettantes and their amateur heroics.

3. Leia rescues Han: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Think of it like Sleeping Beauty; except here, Han is the princess who needs waking after some time in a state of sleep and Leia is the prince who must disguise herself as a bounty hunter to take on Boba Fett & Jabba to awaken her true love from his slumber (0r however that fairytale goes).

The point is that Leia shows up and shows off in the most fearless and badass of ways in order to rescue her honey from Jabba’s icy, slimy grip.

2. Leia uses her chains to slaughter Jabba: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Don’t let that gold bikini distract you from what is possibly Leia’s most poignant, feminist, and legendary move in the history of the series. By using the chains that had kept her captive in Jabba’s lair to kill the monstrous sleazeball, she uses his abhorrent behavior against him. Using oppressive shackles as a means for liberation? Total boss move.

1. Leia still has the last word: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Han is about to be thrown into carbonite for Lord knows how long and Leia is obviously trippin’ over that fact (as anyone would be). Somehow she manages to maintain her cool throughout the whole ordeal, including the offer of a savvy one-liner in place of a romantic platitude.

“I love you,” Han tells her in a way that suggests he’s probably never sincerely shared this level of intimacy with a woman before. “I know,” Leia responds, smirking before throwing on a pair of shades and sparking up a cigar (that was probably a deleted scene).